Today has been a great day and an exhausting and a day of rejuvination and deflation all in one day that the Lord made.



Brendan's choir perfomance was incredible. As I told you earlier, it was presented in a church auditorium. This was a large church auditorium with three sections and two floor levels and a blacony all around. This place was almost packed with people. It seems that this is a big deal for the citizens of Evansville. They allshow up for this event. I was stunned by the amount of people that were gathering when I arrived at the church at a bit after 1:30 for the 2:00 performance. Old people, young people, families and individuals. The program was wonderful. the choir enuciated so clearly that one could understand every word of the songs. This, in and of itself, is praise-worthy for an elementary choir director. He has a choir of about a hundred fourth and fifth graders. The select shoir, of which Brendan is a part--Tiger Tuners--is a group of about forty fourth and fifth graders. Parts are sung by the entire choir and parts were sung by the Tiger Tuners. When the Tiger Tuners sang, the others sat on the floor on either side of the risers. Brendan had one line to say and he did it well. I coud tell he was so excited waiting for his turn to say it. I was so happy for him. He had wanted to be in the choir so badly and he had made it. He had wanted a speaking part badly too, and he received the part. This was a year of accomplishments for him. I remember at the beginning of the school year, that he prayed for friends, because he didnt have any. Now he has several and he even gets invited to birthday parties. He went to one on Saturday. I am so happy for him. Please pray for strength and courage in the Lord for him. He asks God for strength and courage in his life every night in his prayers. Tonight was no exception. He is a tender boy and needs guidelines and structure. He has had that for the last six months. Please pray for all three boys. They all need structure. They can be manipulated so easily. And they are manipulated. Not Brendan so much any more (i have no idea what i punched to get this bold), but he is an anxious child. I believe this is because of the events in his life. Michael jr and Aidan are like putty at this point. Michael jr. is getting stronger, but Aidan is getting weaker in the putty area. I leave in two weeks and they return to live in indianapolis with their mother.



Michael sr. is getting better, but I can tell he is not back to where he should be. I believe the pain in his arm is gone, but the back pain around his shouder area is still bad. I believe he is very fruatrated with the difficulty of getting over the pain. Please pray for him.



Pray for all of us as the tensions seem to be getting sort of raw with the grown people in this house (Michael sr. and his mother) Michael does not talk about his feelings to me and so I believe he does not talk about them to anyone. I feel he wishes he could keep the boys, but he knows he cant unless I can help and he sees my physical condition that is greatly impaired by my wieght. He is frustrated, I believe, with me because I am not losing any weight and I am having more difficulty getting around now than I did at the beginning of my visit in June. He learned today that I was late getting the boys last Friday. I guess he learned this from the boys' mother. He is very very very upset with me about this. I got to the house in key Stone about a miute late, and the bus had already passsed the house. I followed the route and got behind the bus and the boys saw me and the bus driver let them get out and get in my car. I am thinking that the boysd' mother told Michael that I missed the bus and that Aidan was scared. Michael sr. is so frustrated with me. I can understand.



He said, "Mother, I depend on you and i told you that you must never be late picking up the boys. You have done this several times and you always tell me it is not going to happen again, but it keeps happening. It is selfish of you to be late picking them up."



Of course, I have no argument to give. All I do is feel very badly about it and only imagine how the boys' mother uses this to show that I ( and in turn Michael sr. )am not capable of taking care of the boys. Aidan being scared is stressed and exagerated. When I picked up the chidren last Friday, I asked them what they thought when I wasnt there. Aidan said he was scared and Michael jr said he wondered where I was and Brendan didnt say anything. I didnt even address Aidan saying he was scared because he seemed fine and I didnt give it any thought. I thought he was saying that for attention.(When I went to pick up the children this evening, a phone call came for Aidan from his mother before he even got into the car. he had just reached the car and was saying it was his turn to sit in the front. He had been laughing and he immediately went into the sad and whining of "I dont want to go" and "I want to stay with you." This lasts until the phone conversation is over and then all is well. This behavior is encouraged and my being late to pick them up is only fodder for the manipulator. ) This is a tough situation.



Well, I am tired and will get in the bed and hope for a better day tomorrow. Please, please pray for us all.



May God richly bless you, my loved ones. jk