Brotherly Love...

Loving on Zach and reading to him...

Goofing off and teasing Harley...

Joe is the kind of brother you would want. He is willing to help, he wants to protect and he loves his siblings. Of course there are also the times he pushes their buttons incessantly and teases them without end... but he is growing into a sweetheart!

Assimilation

Learning French

When Joe first saw this shirt he looked at it a bit confused. He knew it came from the USA but asked, why is it in french? We looked at the shirt and looked at him and said... 'uh what?' He said, 'yea, it says deux mille dix'. He hears that at school every day. It is not 2010 it is deux mille dix.

Joe's Question Reveals a Heart for Christ

Yesterday I was talking to Drew and our family about what we want to do when we get to Mali. As the conversation was about to move on, Joe said, "Dad, I have a question."

"When you start being a missionary in Mali and tell someone about Jesus and they become a Christian, could they become a missionary too and tell other people about Jesus?"

Simplicity does not negate profundity. It clarifies it so that we can probe even greater depths.

Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Us

Pappy and I were talking about Blacky. He is a big black bird. He's going to Michigan. Blacky is not real, but he's at Alum Rock park because there's a big bird there. And I play on it. I was in Pappy's truck, and he was driving me somewhere and he told me a story about Blacky. Blacky is my favorite story that Pappy tells. Pappy tells me different stories to me.

Where in the World?

This morning,
I asked Joe how we should decide which town or city we should live in when we move to Mali.
He said, "We should take a pool with us."
(Not really what I hoped for,) I said, "Well if we can take a pool with us, then we can go to any city."
Joe thought, "We should get a house close to a lot of other houses so we don't have to walk very far."
"Good thinking." I said.
"We should live close to a well." He continued. "Everybody's got to come to the well, and we could pray for rain for Africa."
I didn't know Joe knew what a well was. It sounds like he heard about it at church. It's interesting what things the kids pick up. Joe is really in to praying for rain. That makes a lot of sense to him. I think he's more into solving human needs than Drew is. Maybe Joe is more like his mom that way, and Drew's more like me.
Time will tell.
I asked Drew the same question yesterday. Check out his blog.
(Written by Jeff)

Fun in a stagnate pond!

Joe is just a fun kid. We hung out a lot on this trip. Drew was running around so much that I didn't see much of him around camp, but Joe and I hung out.
He's a great friend, and that makes me so happy because that's one of the reasons I named him Joe. Isn't Joe a great name for a buddy. Also scripture doesn't really find any fault in Joseph... amazing.
Hope you enjoy the video. I chose to do it in a strange format to make up for the fact that it's low quality video.

Joe or God

All of the kids have been so good during out time in Colorado. They have weathered so much change and so many people coming and going with grace and steadiness.
I was reminded of a story about Joe that happened a while back when he made a similar comment to me this past week.
We (Jeff and Joe) were driving somewhere together. Joe was just perfectly happy and content, and as I looked at him in my rear view mirror, I said, "Joe, I love you so much."
He replied quickly, "You shouldn't love me so much that it would make you stop loving God."
I don't know how much he understands the truth of what he's saying, but it makes me praise God to see that there are ideas and ideals in his mind that I don't even fully grasp.
I do love God more than my family and more than Joe. I pray for them all the time, and I pray that they will love me in the same way. Pray for Joe and our three other kids.

Colorado

I'm in Colorado because my parents choosed to go there. I'm gonna learn about French. Uncle David is teaching me. Bye.

Okay, Joe wasn't really into this. He said he wanted to... but... that's what you get this time. We're at Mission Training International. It's a completely self-contained place. So we eat, sleep, learn, and play here.

Home from School

Joe goes to school from 9 to 11:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He enjoys it, and he always returns quite proud of himself.
Today when Joe got home he was carrying a stuffed dog and a tiny suitcase into which he had stuffed a rubber snake for show-and-tell.
He came to me and asked me, "Dad, how do you spell 'chip junk?"
"c-h-i-p j-u-n-k," I said, "Why?"
"That's this guys name, and how do you spell chip?" He asked.
"c-h-i-p"
"That's the dogs name. They're almost the same, huh."

Joe Calls Them As He Sees Them

Help Out

The other day we were all sitting around the dinner table. My dad asked Joe, "Are you going to help out when the new baby comes?"
"No!" Joe shot back with a little bit of disgust.
We were all surprised. He was in such a good mood, and we were all waiting cheerfully for his sweet little, "jYes."
Someone chimed in with, "Joe, you're a really good helper."
And I asked, "Why don't you want to help?"
Questioning our intelligence Joe said, "I'm not a doctor!"
(by Jeff Frazee)

Joe and Ugly

Pappy (Joe's dad's dad) wrote this to Jeff (Joe's dad) in an e-mail.

"I told Joe this morning that something was ugly and apparently he didn't even know what that word meant. He thought about squiggly and that's what a snake was....

Anyway, I think it shows excellent parenting that your child really isn't certain what ugly meant. You should blog about that sometime!!!

Thanks,
Pappy"

Joe is pretty great. Sometimes what your kids don't know is more impressive than what they do know.

This is a picture of me. Granny was sitting next to me. I jumped on the trampoline. Granny was here to celebrate with us, to have DrewB's birthday with him. (Spoken by Joe)

Puter

Oh yeah,
This blog is called 'puter' because that is what Joe calls a computer, and that is what he said we should name his blog.
He also says mazagine in stead of magazine, and until recently, he called Crystal Lite 'Christian Life.'

Prayer

Last night we were praying for Heidi while she is in Colorado. Joe prayed that "she would come home safely." I know he must have heard that somewhere, but it sounds just as good to hear your three-year-old praying for your wife.
My dad told me that when he saw the boys yesterday he told them that he had been reading about Daniel. Drew said, "Daniel in the lion's den." My dad said that he has also been reading about Daniel's friends, and Joe launched into the whole story of the fiery furnace including how the men said, "Even if [God] does not [save us] we will not pray to your gods."
I love that boy.
Jeff

Roll out the Green Carpet

Joe told me what to write.
"Yesterday I rolled out the grass. I had something to eat. I had apricots. Paint your hand. I just want to do it!"