This week has been a fun and busy week – lots of work and lots of play!!
In addition to staff meeting, we had a fun team social with our Queens team in Manhattan. We went to this place called Gulliver’s Gate, which is an exhibition that boasts being the largest interactive museum of miniatures in the world. It was 50,000 square feet of miniatures showing cities and countries all around the world….it also had things that were hidden that you had to find as you were walking through. It was beyond cool and so fun to experience together. Then, we tried out this Brazilian restaurant in Hells Kitchen and it was amazing. Check out these steaks!
Then, our summer missions director’s team got together for a few days this week to plan for the coming summer. It was great to touch base, talk about plans to recruit students to come to NYC for the summer, and to put plans in place for preparing for the summer. I was bummed that I had to miss out on one night (see more info below) but I enjoyed getting to plan with them during the day while a sweet sitter watched Blake and Brynn (the girls were at school). We should have taken a picture together…ugh…next time. I have also spent time this week looking for housing for a married couple who will be with us this summer and working on the budget for the summer. We already have 2 students accepted to come back with us this summer and both of them were with us last summer – so fun that the Lord impacted their lives last summer and they loved the city enough to come back again!
We had fun playdates this week – one was with a mom from our church who I am getting to know better. I loved hearing her story of how the Lord brought her family here from Bangladesh and even despite her entire family being Muslim, the Lord lead her to our church here (New Life Fellowship church) and after reading through the book of John in the Bible with some ladies at our church, she made a decision to place her faith in Jesus. In turn, she was kicked out the house by her parents and much more, but it was neat to see how the Lord has kept her and provided for her, including providing a Godly husband through our church who was her friend throughout everything. Her family even strongly believes in arranged marriages, so this too was a very big deal. I enjoyed being reminded that God is in control, He is working on people’s hearts and drawing them into relationship with Him, the Bible is powerful and active, and the body of believers is our new family.
I took the girls to the American girl store over the weekend – they received money for Christmas to take their dolls to get their ears pierced, so after making an appointment right after Christmas (they were booked all the way until now!), we finally got to go. They loved watching the doll salon where girls were getting manicures and hairstyles to match their dolls, as well as looking around the new American Girl store in the city. So thankful that my friend Marie could join us too!
Monday was a tough day. I expected to go into Manhattan and have dinner with our summer mission director’s team, but those plans dramatically changed when Blake started being in distress because of breathing treatments. I had noticed him coughing earlier that day and I started giving him nebulizer treatments from home, but even after two treatments, and having just given the treatment two hours before (you give treatments every 4-6 hours), he was pulling hard to breathe, having a hard time talking, and breathing 54 breaths per minute (normal for a 3-5 year old is 22-34 breaths per minute. After an hour wait at the pediatric urgent care, a steroid, a breathing treatment, and lots of observation, they sent him home with strict instructions to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours until we say our doctor two days later. He was up until midnight that night because he was so hyper from the medicine, but he felt better so that was a good tradeoff. Thankfully, we haven’t had any scary incidents since then and he will see our pediatrician today to follow up.
Yesterday, the girls celebrated 100 days of school at school. We celebrated by dressing them up as old ladies. Bless it – I had no clue how to make these curlers work. I was thankful my friend Ellen was in from Boston and staying with us (she is helping to lead summer mission with us this coming summer) and she had experience with them. This curly-haired momma doesn’t have to worry about curlers, so I had no clue.
Hope you have had a good week and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!