The Roberts Family

June, 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

Time has been flying by, so we must be having fun. Scott was in China for most of April, and while his trip was productive and exciting (is exciting the right word to use for being taken to the police chief's house to spend the night?!?!), things on the home front were actually quite calm. Nobody got seriously ill, nothing major broke, and we all got along pretty well with each other.

Well, correction: one thing broke and it was my email. I suppose it's a sorry statement of my dependence on electronic communication to say that without email my world tries to come crashing down, but there you have the boldface truth. We have now been through three email servers in as many weeks and we are holding our mouths right - that's easier than holding our breath - hoping that centurytel will be a functional alternative.

Our girls competed in the annual LAD (Language Arts Development) Fair for southwest Missouri on April 29. Prior to the big day, they both submitted various writings to be judged by public school teachers across the region. It was a Saturday to remember for two reasons. First and foremost, it will be noted that Jessica (entered in the 7th/8th grade division) won 1st place in the "Personal Experience Narrative" category for her nine-page journal called "A Mime's March Madness." Katie (entered in the 9th/10th grade division) had submitted six entries in a variety of categories and brought home five ribbons: two 1st place, one 2nd place, one 3rd place, and one honorable mention. Great job, ladies!

Second, it will be noted that, while the girls were wandering the writing tables looking for their be-ribboned work(s), I was serving as a judge for the 4th grade spelling bee; and what a bee it was. I will not bore you with the details, but let's just say that Scripps-Howard has nothing on LAD when it comes to tension, drama, and sweaty palms. The bee lasted almost 90 minutes, and we went through 16 very good spellers, over 300 words, over 50 sentences, some 15 definitions, and one irate, screaming grandmother. It was intense to the point of headache, and, glutton for punishment that I am, I plan to volunteer as a judge again next year. I simply can't resist anything related to words.

May is birthday month here, with Katie's 16th on May 21 and Andrew's 7th on May 26. Our small group meeting happened to fall on Katie's actual birthday, so we had a family party the night before. She selected the menu: Golden Glazed Chicken with Noodles, applesauce, emphatically no vegetables, and a purchased New York style cheesecake. It remained a family party until the doorbell rang in the middle of supper and two of her good friends from AIM were found standing on the porch. Katie was totally surprised. (We pulled it off!) They were not able to stay long, due to other commitments, but we shared food and watched Katie open presents. Our gift to Katie was two-fold: an MP3 player and a month off academics. She seems to be enjoying both very much.

We allowed Andrew to invite several of his AIM friends for a Friday night sleepover on his big day. Aaron, John, and Kyle joined Andrew for a grand time of jumping on the trampoline, sailing down the zip line, and swimming in the creek. Andrew's requested birthday dinner was lasagna, salad, green beans, corn, garlic bread, homemade chocolate cake, and ice cream. Afterwards, he opened many wonderful presents, including the biggest quasi-frisbee I have ever seen(!), and then we had our traditional treasure hunt. I didn't think I had made the clues too hard, but it took the guys well over 20 minutes to find the treasure buried in our hamper: water guns for all the young guys, Scott, and Josiah! It was dark, but that didn't matter - out went all the males for a fierce water gun fight under the lights. They all came in soaked and happy. Rumor has it that the four boys, all in Andrew's room, stayed up till 2:30 AM, but I know for a fact that by 6:30 AM they were back out on the trampoline. We finished his party off with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, and juice, and I think it is safe to say that a good time was had by all.

In between parties, another milestone was achieved when Katie took and passed her driving test! We were both a little nervous, but afterwards, the examiner told me that I had clearly had her behind the wheel a lot (true), that she was developing good driving sense (also true), that it was nice to see a young driver who was so attentive to what was going on around her, (those umpteen reminders to check her mirrors really did pay off) and that Katie was by far the best driver she had tested all day! Although Katie really doesn't like to drive, she is now driving the AIM carpool for me and running various other errands without complaint. I am so blessed. Speaking of AIM, we are quite pleased with the growth we are seeing in all three big kids (there is no younger team for Andrew this summer 9 ), and we are very excited about Katie's involvement with AIM Branson's SALT (student leadership) team. SALT team members lead the weekly AIM Bible studies (pray, plan, prepare, present) and actively mentor the other/younger AIM students. In turn, they are mentored one-on-one and as a group by the adult AIM leaders. For Katie, this means lots of accountability - both to her mentor and her "mentees." Katie, the quiet one, is now making multiple weekly phone calls (!!!) and leading her fellow AIM students through the first session of Pressing Toward the Mark (PTM), the same discipleship curriculum we are using in China. It has been reported that during one of the PTM Bible studies, Katie actually said, "I need to be quiet; I'm talking too much." : Scott is terribly proud of Katie. Of course, we all are. She has stepped up to the plate in a significant way, and she is becoming a leader of excellence. Hmmm… "talking too much"… unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Jessica, Miss Diligent, is continuing to be seriously diligent in all areas of her life. She consistently gets up at 6:30 AM (or earlier) and does her 20-minute power walk. Even on days that I don't drag myself out of bed, Jessica is up and grinning and praising God and walking. She's diligent with her Bible reading and praying. She's diligent in doing her academics. She's diligent in her mowing. She's diligent in her chores. She's diligent to eat right, and she's lost seven pounds toward her goal of ten!!! The Bible says that the hand of the diligent will bear rule, so we are all expecting great things for Jessica. She is a super example to the rest of the family, as well as a delight to everyone around her.

Scott and I just returned from our third annual planning weekend in Newton County, Arkansas. These weekends are always a combination of fun and work, as we sleep in, walk in the woods, enjoy the scenery, and review where we've been and where we are headed financially, spiritually, marriage-wise, family-wise, physically, and socially. The first year, we came home with 16 goals. I thought that was a little much. Last year it was about 12, and this year I think we are down under ten. One of our goals is to turn off our computers at 9:30 each night. So far, we have succeeded three nights in a row. I am disciplining myself to let my computer be my tool, not my dictator.

Josiah is into physics as always. Yesterday, I tried to install a new (six-dollar!) GE Slimline wall phone next to my desk. The cord was hard-wired in and not long enough to reach the jack across the room, so I asked Josiah for his advice on the problem. He and I then spent a humorous hour digging through old phone cords, plugging and unplugging things, and ultimately disassembling the new phone. To get to that silly hard-wired plug, we ended up literally twisting and splitting the plastic shell of the handset, which broke, leaving all the phone's guts hanging out and at least one solder joint broken. I threw it in the trash and figured I'd just have to use my old phone - the one that obnoxiously cuts in and out - a while longer. However, in putting away all the junk, we found a T-connector that let us tie two phone cords together. Finally, enough length! On a lark, I pulled the mangled phone from the trash, plugged it in, and - lo and behold - got a dial tone. Amazing! Even after all that abuse, the phone works just fine. However, people are not as resilient as telephones. Relationships can strain and break completely with too much twisting and pulling. As a family, one of our goals is to stay connected with the people we care about, and we care a lot about you!

Much love,

Scott, Patty, Katie, Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew