November 3 Update

PICNIC IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE
On the Sunday before Joyce left we had a picnic right here on this lawn on the street in front of the White House. I know we live here....but it really doesn't seem like it. Life is just flying by at it's usual pace....and I don't think living in the nation's capitol feels like a reality yet.

GOVERNMENT MEETS GHETTO

Part of the "missing magic" may be the fact that the REALITY is: part of DC (and especially the part where we live) - might be described as "Where Government Meets Ghetto". Seriously!

And that takes some getting used to. When you think of DC - you usually just think of things like the majestic government buildings....the Washington Monument...the Capitol...the White House...

But, honey, let me tell you - our neighborhood streets are NOT on the movies! Just try driving down H Street - where it seems like a bomb has gone off on the asphalt...and you will have to dodge at least 30 jaywalkers as they "mosey" their way across the street. Why did the chicken cross the road? I don't think they have ANY idea!

HOWEVER, I did have to kill some time this week - so I drove down some streets that I have not been on...and found that the more "major" streets here in Capitol Hill...like 'Constitution' are actually very pretty. It helped my perspective a little that day!

Brad and I also took the girls to the NW part of the city to the zoo this weekend...we have not really been to that part of the city - and it was BEAUTIFUL! Beautiful houses, streets, trees, etc. I think to rent a place in that part of town STARTED at around $5000 monthly ( I remember some being $9000 monthly). Now I remember why we didn't look very hard to find a place in that area! Whew!

PIZZA DELIVERY

We did have pizza delivered one night. It was Papa John's - and it was HEAVENLY. Mmmmmm.....good. I have always envied people who could have pizza delivered! Living in Huntsville for the past 11 years has made me appreciate it even more! Maybe that is why it tasted sooooooo good??! :)

SEEING A CHINA SISTER! One neat thing about living here - is that one of the families from our travel group lives about 30 minutes from us - AND they attend one of the locations for our church. (I think I mentioned the details about this a few posts ago). We don't get to attend that location (National Community Church is a multi-site church....go to http://www.theaterchurch.com/ for more info!), so we have only seen them a couple of times since being here.

However, there was a church-wide trip planned this last month to visit "Cox Farms", a big pumpkin patch/kid event...and we were so pumped to be able to spend time with Joel, Shauna, & Kylee Oswald that day! Yay! It was so neat to see Kylee and Mia together again. And of course we had to take some pics!

So precious.

PRAYER NEEDS NOVEMBER 2008:

1. Please pray for Macy and Mia. This transition has really affected their behavior (so REALLY pray for mom and dad!) - we need to get things stable, secure, happy, calm, and organized! Pray that our family will find new balance amidst new challenges. Pray that their love for one another, sharing, and kindness towards one another will grow.

2. Please pray for Brad. He wants to be learning so much this year...pray that the team he works with will have time to pour into him.

3. Please pray for God's direction in our lives...that we will know exactly where He is leading us at the close of this year of training.

4. Please pray for ME! I am attempting to tackle homeschooling a Kindergartener with no support group (yet...haven't found it yet!) Please pray that Macy will WANT to do her schoolwork and that it won't be a battle! :) (By the way she is already doing AWESOME and learning to read so quickly!)

5. Please pray that God will continue to provide for us in miraculous ways as we navigate this year in DC. Pray for favor...in all things! Thank you, and may God richly bless you for investing in Brad, Glenda, Macy & Mia McMath this year with your support or prayer! We NEED you!