Prayer Letter

I've decided to start posting our monthly ministry prayer letters here. Some of you may already receive them in email or printed form. We never tire or hearing how you pray for us and maybe how some of our ministry stories affect you or ways that you see God working in your lives! We love comments :)

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!

Those written words do not seem to be enough to express how grateful we are for the response we have received since making our financial support needs known to you.  We are so encouraged that our monthly support has increased by 7%.  We have received over $400 more in monthly support. 

Some of you have begun giving for the first time.  Thank You!

Some of you have increased your faithful monthly support by $5, $10, or even more per month.  Thank You!

We also received many generous year-end donations that allowed us to almost reach our entire goal for July through December.  Thank You!

While we rejoice in the way the Lord has provided for our financial needs, we still are not fully supported.  Please join us in praying that God would continue to raise up new people that would be excited to partner with us in our church planting efforts among the urban poor.  We are now at 72% of our monthly goal.  We believe that God can provide the remaining 28% or $1000 per month that we need to be fully supported.  We could share many stories with you of how God has provided financially for us with perfect timing and we trust He will continue to do so!

We know many of you love our ministry, but also love hearing about our two little boys.  Benjamin turns three years old this month!  It feels like he is ready to walk out the door to kindergarten already with the thoughts and ideas that he comes up with.  We are always a bit amazed by him!  Nathaniel is 15 months old and still a squirmy bundle of joy.  He loves following his brother everywhere he goes and gets all the attention with his cute dimples and ready giggles.  Anything Ben can do, Nate thinks he can do too!  I wonder where he gets that?

Serving Christ Among the Urban Poor,

Ryan, Amber, Benjamin and Nathaniel Carter

Cheap Thrills

We have finally been well for a few days! As soon as we all slept through the night again, Nate got a horrible diaper rash (neither of my boys have ever really had a diaper rash), so that put us missing sleep again and Nate just kept crying "mama" all day. It was awful. But, we are healed! We are well! We can rejoin society!

Here's what we've been doing.

This was Ben's idea.
I don't know what else to say about it, but enjoy his creativity.

Amazon box = endless fun.
We are working on day five of having this box and they are still playing with it!

The Simple Things

With all this sickness around our house there has been a direct correlation between whining and sleepiness! I am trying to relish the small things that make me smile. It helps me keep perspective!

Ben has been telling me lots of stories about "when he was a grown-up." He had the ladies at Hobby Lobby giggling when he very seriously said, "When I was a grown-up I saw a squirrel on the bird feeder." Random. A couple of days later I asked him when exactly he was a grown-up and he said, "When I was 300." Must have been his past life :)

I was getting a little jealous that Nate had totally quit saying mama. These last few days all he does is say mama! Thanks, kid. You know the way to my heart.

Nate has been talking on the phone a lot lately. When I ask "who's there?" he will put the phone to his ear. When saying goodbye to Ryan on my cell one day with Nate on my hip, he said, "BYE" for the first time. He also says "Amen" after our meal time prayers.

I ended up sleeping in Ben's bed one night when he woke at 3am and wouldn't settle back in. The next morning every muscle in my body ached. Thanks to our tax return money, we were able to immediately get him a new mattress and the boys have had a blast climbing the old one.

So glad these days are behind us. 

 And hope these days are here to stay. 

 Thank you Lord for sunshine!

 One more project down! I wrote this on the wall of the playroom. (Click the photo so see it larger.)

Nate is a bobble head. He nods yes with such vigor!

Sick!

Three weeks ago tomorrow Ryan got food poisoning. His stomach does not handle things well so he was feeling rough for a while. He was on an oatmeal, toast, apples and rice only diet for at least a week. It was awful. He would have good days and then the next he was in my recliner all. day. long. He is finally back to maybe 80% but is still being very cautious with what he eats. I am glad he is finally feeling better!

A few days after Ryan got sick the boys both got little colds. It started as nothing serious, just runny noses. Then a cough. Then Nate threw up once. Then Ryan and I got the runny nose and cough. Through it all there was a lot of whining and "hold me mama" moments. Both boys had nights where they woke and couldn't be consoled. We never knew what to expect each day.

We took Ben to the doctor, but he said it was just a little virus and prescribed orange juice (Vitamin C) and Ben thought that was grand! We are trying to keep him hydrated because he is refusing almost all food. Nate continues to eat well, but he is very clingy and I just know he doesn't feel well. 

Last night Ben threw up and today has had a fever over 100 all day. Nate has a low grade fever today. Ryan and I are mostly recovered from our colds, just a little something hanging around still. 

Taking care of sick children is so hard for me. I second guess every single decision and worry constantly about what is best for them and how to comfort them. I am wearing myself down, but I have to take care of my babies! We are never sick. Never. I am so ready for this to be over for us. 

Through it all though, I keep thinking that I must be thankful for generally great health and really great insurance! We are well taken care of, just a little sickly these days. 

But life goes on even when we are sick. So, here are a few pictures and a video I managed to get. 

Nate has mastered the fake cough!

We have had lots of long baths because they both love the bath and it calms them down in the evenings. They have been going to bed between 7pm and 7:30pm. 

One morning I was cooking a meal for friends that just adopted two new babies three months apart. The boys tore up my kitchen while I cooked and made a huge mess. I considered it a success - happy boys and a delicious meal for friends. 

Today we tried to melt crayons for a Valentine thing. It didn't quite work like I hoped. They melted, but it splattered a lot too. Some messy fun was had. 

This is how we spend most of our time. Ben loves my recliner and getting to watch Bob the Builder or Go Diego Go. Nate doesn't like to sit with his brother, but would rather me carry him around. 

This was Ben today. He fell asleep in my chair two different times, but never for long!

Ben's Singing

Ben loves to sing our "church songs" (as he calls them) and like we all did when we were kids, he put his own spin on the lyrics. He does not, however like to be videoed so I turned on the video at dinner and he whispered the song because he wasn't sure if he was being videoed or not. At the end he asked me and I had to admit it was on and he refused to do any more singing :) This video quality is terrible, I am warning you now. It is very quiet of Ben singing and noisy in the background with Nate. It is a 'grandma' video just so you can hear his sweet voice. And, he is sick right now so that funny thing he does with his mouth and nose is him trying to keep the snot from running down. Gross, I know.

On the left are the actual lyrics of the song and the right are Ben's version:
Strong tower  -  Strong tower
High and Glorious  -  I am glorious
Strong tower  -  Strong tower
Mighty in love  -  I don't know
Our refuge  -  I'm not want you
Our defender  -  I am friender
Strong tower  -  Strong tower
Lord above  -  Glorious

My cutie pies.

Lately

Nate has started to get more serious about his babbling. He makes a concerted effort to say "words" now. He knows dada and ba (ball). He quit saying mama. Seriously. I can't get him to say it no matter what I try. I say, "Nate, say mama." He responds, "dada!" He's still cute though. 

Some recent conversations I have had with Ben.

Ben: "I love you mom. You are my favorite food. But not a snack. For dinner."  

Ben: "What is he (plumber) doing?"
Amber: "His job."
Ben: "Oh, God told him to do that, so he did?"
Clearly the idea of calling is rubbing off on the little missionary kid!

Amber: "Do you have a ball Nate?"
Ben: "That's my ball!"
Amber: "Ben, we share everything."
Ben: long pause..."I don't share my legs!"

Ben got some playdoh for Valentine's Day from my mom. (Yes, I let him open it early.) And he loves it! Yesterday morning he asked, "Mom, can I play with my avacado?" I said, huh? He said, "You know, the one in the box." Oh, playdoh. He has never played with playdoh before and he is in heaven! Thanks Mama D. It did only take 24 hours though and all four colors are mixed together. But, he still thinks it is the best thing ever.

In other news...I am addicted to Cake Boss, a TLC show that I watch on Netflix. For our monthly missionary staff meal and church service, I summoned my inner Buddy Valastro and made a layer cake. It was also on the day of our strategic planning meeting which I could not attend because Ben and Nate would not exactly be helpful. So, Ryan and I used our phones on speaker for me to be able to listen in. I listened and decorated while the boys napped. Loved it!

The Mess.

 The final product.

Yum.

 

5 Steps

Nate took five steps and I had the camera on! Miracle. We were just going to get a video of him splatting on his face like he does every other time we encourage him to walk and instead he took five steps. He hasn't taken any more yet, but it's a start. He will be 14 months in eight days.