Well, we are still quarantined over here. I honestly don’t know if there’s any more to write that would explain it any better and yet all of you can understand exactly.

A couple weeks ago? I haven’t written for awhile. Saturday was a bus day. I patched screw holes in the floor while Morgan, Dad, and Joe tore out all the useless and old wiring and tubing. Morgan finished the floor and was even able to start painting it with our first layer of rustoleum paint so we are definitely gaining on the project! We worked on finalizing our layout on Sunday afternoon and I think we have that mostly decided. Sunday we listened to church in the morning and called in the Shawn Becker/Gary Mininger talk in the evening. I enjoyed them immensely and was really impressed with the thought Gary had that maybe God is readying his Bride in this time. What a time to be alive, to watch nations reaching to help each other, and leaders of lands calling for cease-fires, and people the whole world over turning to Jesus for comfort in this time of uncertainty. I like to think that God is just smiling kindly down on this scared earth and rejoicing as people turn to Him.

This week, Kellie and Joe finally had their cutesy baby on Monday so we have spent this week holding Oscar or waiting on them to bring him over so we can hold him some more. I’m very excited to have another nephew. Mom and I did lots of hanging out this week. My favorite spot to be right now is out in the sun so we spent a lot of time outside. It feels like the only thing we do every day is cook and think ahead to the next meal and prepare for that. Mom and I actually did a bunch of typing for our “Voices of the Quarantine” booklet we are making. Thanks to a bunch of you, we have this cool little book full of what people have been doing, eating, making, and learning about themselves while we are all slowing down and living life at home. Last week I started teaching a couple of my previous students here at the house. They come over two days a week and we have a good time studying and working together. I think it’s a nice change for them to study with a friend, too. Thursday I went over to Hanna’s with Katie and they worked on masks while I did some drawing and it was so fun to be with friends again!

Yesterday we braved the outside world for our first trip out to shop in days. It was about 50/50 mask wearers vs. non-maskers at Save Mart. Luckily I had a run-in with this little man that made me giggle hysterically in the middle of all the panicked shoppers. I had gone down the cocoa aisle where he was, masked and gloved in long sleeves and a hat. I assumed we would walk by each other like the rest of the shoppers, but lo, as I walked towards him, he proceeded to back away from me with his cart, muttering under his breath. I stopped since I saw he was muttering, but I obviously needed to get cocoa so I just walked over and got it and he started running backwards with his cart to get away from me, but as he turned around to continue running, I guess, he ran his cart into another unmasked man coming from the other way. He hollered and shoved past the man and retreated to the end of the aisle where he eyed us suspiciously while unmasked man looked at me and shrugged and we burst out laughing. I sort of wanted to find the unhappy man again later and send Mom past him but I couldn’t find him which is good probably. So that was an interesting outing.

Today was another bus day. Morgan, Mom, and I spent the day outside taping, cleaning, and painting our bus windows black. It makes the yellow school bus look so classy already and I do NOT regret our decision to re-caulk and paint them, even though it all takes time. Morgan also got the emergency hatch removed from the ceiling where we are going to put in a skylight. Our next step is to get the wiring finished, then it’s time for insulation! One exciting thing we did this week (also the only exciting thing) was to start our appliance buying for the bus. We finally decided on a toilet, the Nature’s Head brand if you’re interested, and got it ordered! It’s compost which will take some getting used to but if that’s the worst thing about living on a bus, I’ll take it. We are so excited to be getting into the building stage!

Please continue to pray for Dillon and Renae in Mozambique. It’s very hard, as some of you with family in the mission field know, having them over there with no health care on a normal day, much less now. They worry about their families at home, and their congregations where they are. Just please remember them.

I also am going to request prayers for our little school in Honduras that we spent time at last summer. The island is in full lock-down, with people only allowed out of their homes on certain days. There are lots of the school kids that have no food, so Valerie has been collecting money and spending her day to go out buying and delivering food to different of the school children and their families. It’s hard for us to comprehend because we live here, where even in lock down, we have everything we need, while for them this could be a life or death experience. Valerie posted today saying “I had a call from a client who said he needed food this week. On my day to go out today, I called to see if I could stop by with food on my delivery, but a friend answered his phone and said he had passed away this morning. I know he had underlying health issues and he didn’t just die of starvation, but hunger and poor nutrition exacerbated it. Hunger will destroy this island before COVID does.”

We are so blessed. That’s all there is to it. We are pampered humans filled with sadness because we can’t go out for supper, or go shopping at TJ Maxx, or play volleyball, or be together for a huge Easter lunch tomorrow. I am those things too. But in the midst of our “losses”, don’t forget the starving, scared, souls around us. We have God, and that is everything, but what do they have? At this time of year when we remember how Jesus died for us, that it wasn’t so we could selfishly have whatever cushy materials we rely on. It was to live for Him and spread that love to those who don’t have Him to turn to. Let’s pray for the missionaries, the school in Honduras, the world, while we have the time.

Have a wonderful Easter, each of you. chey.