Potty Trained!

Whoa! We are nearing the end of the diaper fun-ness! Malachi has been dry for over 11 days straight (minus 1 accident where he didn't want to stop being Ironman). This includes night time where he either can hold it or he comes and wakes me up! What a rock-star! He is doing so well. We also headed upnorth near the camp that both Mike and I had worked at, where my family's cabin is. It is at 2.5 hour drive and the kiddo did great! He had to do one stop on the way up and one on the way down, but still he told us and we were able to find a rest stop and not make him go outside during the rain. I am a pretty proud momma!

The other little stinker is still working on his top teeth. The poor kid is pretty miserable. He has, what appears to be, a blister where one of his teeth will be coming in. He is trying to be smiley-you can tell, but he has fought a runny nose, cough, and fever with it all too. He has been sleeping 13+ hours at night to help take the edge off. If you could keep him in prayers that would be greatly appreciated!

Thiessen loved being up north. He absolutely loves the cabin. Though, he did get into the garbage that was left outside and decided to have a nasty incident on the carpet....gross! Otherwise he loves running in the woods, running through the shallow water that is still warm-surprisingly, and finding random sticks to devour.

As for the rest of it, we are praying for the new residents of our old house. Well I guess it can't be old house if we still own it. There have been no offers yet, but we are praying that God will use this house as a way to minister to Him. That we can deal with our realtor in a way that is honoring to Him and points to Him. We pray that as we wait for the buyer that the Lord will bless them and prepare their heart for home ownership. That they do not fear what is going on in our economy, but put their trust in the One who has the plan! And that we can be a good example of who He is based on the transactions and communications that will go on as the process continues. We pray for our "old" neighbors that they will be blessed with a neighbor who they love, one that makes coming home peaceful and not annoying. The boys and I (Amy) have also enjoyed the indoor playground once every other week on Mondays. It has been great for the boys to run around and play with toys they don't have and we have made a few "playground" friends. Below is a picture of Malachi driving around the playground.

If you could also pray for me, Amy, we at church are walking alongside a lot of hurt families. I am working with parents in custody discussions with the ex-spouse, girls being super awful to each other, depression, and many other things. Please join me as I pray to teach the kids how God has called them to something extraordinary!

Much thanks, Please tell us how we can pray for you!

The DuFrenes.

Where did September go?

Wow, it is October! It feels like only yesterday that I wrote the note on a quick "ask for help" moment in August. Well we have officially moved into the new house! It is beautiful, the boys love it, and it has already been broken in by 20+ Middle school and High school students on our bonfire night before school started. In a few weeks when the Vikings prepare for their Monday Night football game, it will be welcomed by the young adult ministry. It has opened a lot of opportunities for us and I'm pretty pumped. We also realized that our backyard neighbor used to work at Menards with Mike! God is so cool to place people in our area that we can hang out with. The boys have really relaxed and seem to love the new house too, and living close to Papa helps :)

Yesterday Nathaniel has managed to climb the stairs for the first time! We have our hands full, he hasn't quite conquered the downstairs concepts. Malachi has started really embracing being a helper too. Yesterday he was finding daddy's cell phone or the remote, or whatever and bringing them to us, "here you go mommy" We have also gotten a chance to use the indoor playground at the rec center. Malachi has loved just running and this week a few of his buddies from church joined us. Eli, Kendra, and Jarret all had a blast and it was nice to chat a little with their moms.

We have a few ministry things on the horizon that I would like extra prayer for. September was a crazy month at church. We had our Sunday kick off, HS kick off, MS kick off, SYATP, Release time kick off, lunches kick off, Harvest America, and National Day back to church. It seemed like every day there was something going on. All while we have been walking beside families struggling with divorce, financial issues, and more. It seems to have drained some of the extra tubs that had been filled this summer. As I look to October we have our normal schedule, but MEA brings activities, Trick or Treat for the food shelf and early November is our annual retreat to Trout Lake Camps. Could you keep the youth program in your prayers? I, Amy, would appreciate it if others were also holding my students up in prayer.

Mike's job is going great. He is back at flooring at the Menards. He has, as I mentioned above, made a few work connections with our neighbors which is really exciting. His biggest concern right now is figuring out what God has in-store for the old house. In a sellers market (at least if you aren't asking for much more than you paid and you bought in the buyers market) our house is still for sale. We know that God had something planned for it, but we are anxious to find out what that is.

Thank you for your prayers.

Love,
The DuFrenes!