Matthews Family Herald

We have next-door neighbors who are also followers of Jesus. They are not much younger than ourselves and the Dad, Matthew, is an E-5 in the Marine Corps. They have two kids which are very close in age to our two youngest kids, Nathan and Eden. We help one another out with various projects, like Matthew once dug a hole for a rose bush Heather wanted to plant while I was at a school. We take each other's trash in and out from the drive ways if one of us forgets. We share newspapers, magazines, and coupons. One of my favorite ways that we work together is that we share baked goods like cakes, pies, cobblers, and things like that. (Not to mention borrowing eggs, milk, and other ingredients when we are short of something for a recipe.)

Unfortunately, our neighbor had a family crisis and had to take off. So, our family is in charge of feeding their dog, watering their plants, and keeping a general "eye on the place" for them while they are away. (They gave us all their perishable foodstuffs while they left since it may be a little while that they are gone. This turned out to be a big blessing as we can never have too much food around with our family of eight)
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Micah stepped up and wanted to be in charge of this and so he takes care of everything each day and then I go behind him at the end of the day and make sure everything is locked up. Things tend to get misplaced in a big family like ours and so we have attached their set of house keys to a large hanger to make it easier to keep track of the keys.

But the silver lining in all of this (if having Godly and great neighbors isn't enough!) is that on the next day after they left, they called us up and were very excited to announce that they are again pregnant! We are very happy for them here at home as there could be no better gift that the Lord provides.

Micah did a great job performing the other night.

He performed in a humorous play based loosely off the book "Robinson Crusoe" The play was hosted by "Missoula Children's Theatre" and their website is:

www.mctinc.org

These guys fit all the props, costumes, lights and all that into the bed of a Ford F-150 and then drive to whichever school hires them. It costs about $3,500.00 for them to come and put a play on with any kids who volunteer. They practice 4 hours per day and then perform at the end.

I've included a couple of pictures of our biggest star. He had a singing part as well and I stood in awe as I listened to him sing and watched him do so with confidence. "That boy has a good voice and a great stage presence" I said. I can't wait to see what happens next with him.

The Missoula Children's Theatre tours all over the country and the world. They are supposed to be back here in September or so with a different play and all my kids want to act in it next time.

Micah is depicted here holding one of his "creations." He loves designing stuff with these.

Micah is, as we speak, trying out for the lead role in a play sponsored by the military public schools and based off of the book "Robinson Crusoe." Normally, we don't do much with the public school system but since this book is primarily from a Godly perspective and with a Godly intent, we decided to take this opportunity for Micah to develop his talent and interact with others. (And to encourage the school system to be more open to Godly things.) Hopefully, the school won't pollute the story by editing out it's most important elements.

Anyhow, Micah was rehearsing and trying to get ready but the hour was getting pretty late. Instead of staying up way past the time he should be sleeping, he felt like God told him not to worry and to go on to bed. Sure enough, a friend who is also going called this morning to tell us that Micah would not need to have something memorized after all but that the judges would hand him something and want him to do it, impromptu. So, Micah is ready both inside and out.

Regardless of what part he gets, we will be proud of him and ask for your prayers and encouragement for him. Should he get a part in the play, they will rehearse twice a day and then perform this Saturday.