Homeschool Update

Because Kirk previously said I would, I must.
To be honest, I'm having more fun than I would have imagined as the teacher at the Plattner family school house. Possibly even a bit more excited than my 2 faithful students. But that's how a teacher should be, right? I have 2 precious little boys attending my school, though one of them tends to come and go as he pleases. And a 3rd little girl often will jump in insisting to be the teacher for the moment, or at least the center of attention! (I am blessed with Claudine, my house help, who's priority in the morning is to keep Daisha away!)
I have definitely found a passion in teaching, especially Bible time and Science. I'm ever so grateful for our school principal and the head of our household who is a bit more educated in education! We make a wonderful team!
Kirk and I see values in both public education and homeschooling, and so for the time being we are taking this opportunity and giving it our best, and praying that God will bless it.
Let us know if you have any helps for us, whether you're a teacher of a homeschooler yourself.

Gluing Paper Chains

Can you imagine the sorrow? Picture this scenario, you make a paper chain to count the number of days to your highly anticipated event. Day by day you get the joy of tearing off one little link. You watch as the Boa Constrictor slowly turns into a Gardner snake and then into a worm. Excitement builds as you are tearing off the last ones. And then, everything changes. Bad News! The courier for our computer just informed us that that it will arrive one week later than expected. So, here we are with sticky fingers, gluing our paper chain back together. But, in spite of the fact that our little worm just morphed back into a Gardner snake, we will keep our heads held high. I wish I would have waited to write that previous post about the blessings of going without a computer. It was easy to write when we thought we were 3 days from getting our computer. Now, I have to really try to be thankful for those hidden blessings I was referring to. Oh well, by Grace. By Grace!

Both/And

Every time one of our little computerless purgatories end, we find ourselves processing the blessings we experienced by being unplugged. (Our computer purgatory has not ended, but we hope that by early next week it will.) Each time, and it has happened too many times, we think about the extra family time that we experienced, the books we got read, the extra hours of sleep, and the benefit to relationships we experienced. If I offered you that list of guaranteed blessings added to your life through one simple life change I bet you would take me up on that offer. But, when the computer comes back, we are not going to stuff it in the closet to continue experiencing these blessings. Why? Because we think we can have both. We think we are smart enough, efficient enough, and balanced enough to enjoy the added benefits of the computer as well as avoiding its negative effects. I dont want to believe that we cant find a balance and so we have to unplug. I dont think it has to be an either/or, but we must not kid ourselves that both/and is very hard. By Grace!

All Things!

Keri started homeschooling Drew last week. Up on the wall in their little "school corner" she had their verse for the week from the second part of Colossians 1:16. ".....all things were created by Him, and for Him." What an amazing verse to start off the school year! Can you imagine having a school year framed by that thought? An education whose foundation is built on an understanding of "all things by and for." The building on our kids worldview that it is not about them, but by Him and for Him. What a blessing! I am sure Keri will be putting an update on here soon about her new role as teacher as she is diving headlong into this new school year.

Do I have to answer?

These questions were posed in a sermon the other week. They come from Richard Stearns, President of World Vision. Obviously we could add alot of issues to question #3, so many issues that we would feel justified to throw up our hands. But, when you focus down on one issue, I think the question demands an answer. Honestly, it makes my knees shake. I would recommend Richard Stearns book, "The hole in our Gospel" for further investigation into the the role of the Church in our world.

1. Had you been a German Christian during World War II, would you have taken a stand against Hitler?

2. Had you lived in the South during the civil rights conflict, would you have taken a stand against racism?

3. When your grandchildren discover you lived during a day in which 1.75 billion people were poor and 1 billion were hungry, how will they judge your response?

Bored?

This was relevant back when our computer was functioning. But, if a little stretch of boredom happens to catch you at a time you are feeling slightly silly, pull out the photo program on the computer for some genuine fun. If you have a mac, there is a program called photobooth. I am guessing there is a similar type program for a PC. The kids loved it and we laughed and laughed. There were a few of Keri and I as well, but they will stay hidden away in some top secret vault. What a hoot!

August Plattner Family Update

This month this was not sent via e-mail due to our computer being down and our "update email group" being hidden away in the dead computer.

August Jamaica Update
Who through worry can add one hour to his life? We spent some time pondering this verse in August. Worry can be so easy and it reared its ugly head in August. Worry that things wouldnt go our way, worry about health, worry about this and worry about that. I just read last week that "Do Not Fear" is the most often repeated phrase in the Bible. I have not verified that nor have I given it much critical thought, but no matter what it is a critical theme to consider in our relationship with God. God, as all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, all-loving, all-just Father considers our trust in His goodness as a paramount foundation in our relationship. Wow, when life feels to be unraveling a bit, this reality becomes the anchor which we so often dont even throw into the water. Waiting on the Lord, throwing out the anchor, waiting for the jerk that assures you that the anchor has caught something firm is that act of faith in which our relationship is built. Wow, I feel like these things should have been learned in my first year of faith, "Faith 101," but these lessons just keep coming and by His grace we keep walking.


School is back in session. Ok, that actually applies to September, but that is what we spent the majority of August doing, waiting for September. CCCD is here for the kids, we are here for the kids, and so when the kids are not here, things get hard. We had some visitors in August which were certainly highlights. Kirk's brother and family came which was great, but there was still alot of August that felt long and dry. The campus turns into a ghost town and life slows down. It is good that life slows down, but there were times that it felt as if it rolled to a stop. We spent August doing a few things to get ready for school and doing odds and ends.

Our family continues to experience rich blessings. Drew is growing up way to fast and he spent most of his August counting down the days until his September 1st birthday. Truitt continues to play the role of "Robin," or "Tonto as well as anyone. His days are consumed with playing with his "bruffer" and his "Daisha." Daisha is herself becoming quite the litte queen of our house as she is now marching around her little kingdom. She is doing great and daily trying to find new ways to achieve her life's ambition, getting through the front door to the great outdoors. We continue to experience the Lord's blessing on our marriage as we navigate this journey together. We continue to want to thank you for your love and support. We are thankful for God's continued provision in our lives and we walk on learning daily how to trust.

Love,
Kirk, Keri, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha

Honestly? Again?

Yep, our computer is down again. Actually, the computer itself is fine, but the power cord to give it juice is defunct. It is depressing. In reality, the computer itself has served us well. It is probably over 5 years old and has been fairly reliable. But, when we are here, when something goes wrong there are no quick fixes. So, we will be blessed with another opportunity to break our addictions and live mostly unplugged for a few weeks. We are already working on contingency plans and ways to get our situation resolved and we will see how things play out. Until then, we will be begging time on other peoples computers. Praise the Lord!

Christmas in August!

Last week, a friend named Janice came down from our church, but she did not come alone. No, she brought with her many suitcases of stuff. While it was not all for us, lets just say we were blessed! Definitely Christmas in August! We have been blessed from so many people who send care packages from the states. Its ridiculous but we are thankful!

Tortillas for Keri
Fruit snacks for the kids
Doritos for Kirk
Books for the kids
A shirt for Keri
Nuts for Kirk
Diapers for the kids
Toys for the kids
Applesauce for the kids
Books for the kids
CD's for the kids
School Supplies
and so much more

Little Entrepreneur?

A couple of weeks ago Drew came up with this idea, selling rocks. While not a wonderful product with obviously low demand, I think he was thinking that his marketing would make up for the low demand. And, he was right. As you can imagine, almost every customer that passed by bought at least one rock. It was adorable. There is no doubt that the nature of how things are bought and sold in Jamaica has rubbed off on our kids. It is not uncommon for the kids to put a box up on their head walking around saying "banana's for sale." And, his little rock stand very closely resembles many of the roadside stands that dot our highways. Little budding businessmen!

5 Years?

I often lament the passing of time. I know I am not supposed to as this world is not our home, but Drew's 5th birthday was another one of those "wake up calls." Its amazing! Some evenings we sit around the table in shock wondering, "How did this happen?" 3 kids? In Jamaica? We feel abundantly blessed and cant even put into words the reality. Anyways, all that to say, here are a few pics from Drew's birthday gathering. We had a few people over for pizza and a cake. The cake was definitely the thing Drew was anticipating the most. He was guessing for weeks whether it would be a truck or something different. Keri ended up making an adorable "farm" or "garden" as that is one of Drew's favorite things. He loved his little party and getting gifts from Grandpas and Grandmas. Drew ended the night with this little line, "I never dreamed I would be this blessed!"

Happy Birthday Drew!!!