Marla's Musings: May 2006

It's been a while since I wrote about what's happening at the Brenneman household. There's been some changes. First of all, Dustin has returned to live with his mother. We had him for 1 year and 5 months. We feel good about this move and are praying that things work out with him and his mom. You can join us in praying for them.

Next we have a high school graduate coming up. Kyle will graduate on Sunday, June 4. We are having his open house on Saturday, June 3 from 2-6 p.m. at our house. Anyone who wants to can come. Kyle's plans are to work full time and not go to school right away. He's pretty burned out with school work and is looking forward to not having any. He talks about getting an apartment with friends. We'll see what happens. I'd rather he waited a year or so to do that. He still feels young to me even though he'll be 19 in October. Somehow Amber felt much older at this age. I often wonder why that is.

Bob and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary on June 14. We will probably just take the family out to a nice dinner. We've been open housed out with two in a row and one next year for Jezra. I can't think of having another. We don't have the money to really get out of town together but maybe next year. I'm thankful that God knew what he was doing when he brought Bob to me. We've had a great 25 year, not without our struggles but great none the less.

In July, Bob and I will be heading out to Iowa for a conference of the training class we've been doing with Francis Frangipane. It's a 4 day conference for all who have completed at least two tracks of the In Christ Image Training. We will make this our anniversary trip together.

We'll be finished with level one of this training by the third week of June. It's been a worthwhile course. So much of what we were learning was timely and spoke into what was happening in life at that time. God is so good! He knows what we need before we do and orchestrates our lives to coincide with what He wants to teach us through our trials.

At the end of July we have a Brenneman family reunion at a cousin's place in Midland, Michigan. We always enjoy these reunions. Our kids know Bob's cousins and their kids better than any others because we have gotten together almost every year with his aunts, uncles, and cousins for 14 years now. Breanna was 1 year old when we began getting together. Bob's grandma was aging and couldn't make the trip to Indiana from Iowa anymore so Bob's aunt began these reunion so she'd be able to see everyone. Bob's grandma passed away a few years ago but we keep on having them. The cousins are beginning to have the reunions at their houses to give the aunts and uncles a break. We meet usually on Saturday and Sunday. We all pitch in to help with the big meal on Saturday noon. The out of town guests either stay with family or get a motel.

I will be working 4 days a week this summer. Kyle, Jez, and Breanna all have summer jobs. That will help them stay busy. I can't find enough work to keep them busy in the summer anymore so I'm glad they will all have jobs. Kyle and Jez work as a desk clerk at a hotel (Jez hasn't started yet but hopefully will soon). Breanna will begin working a McDonald's after school is out. They are all growing up!

That's my busy schedule. I'll try and keep up with my blog more but I can't promise anything!