UPDATE: Just wanted to make a quick comment re: my “Back on the bus…” post the other day. On my way to reclaim my truck from my mechanic (and yes, it was finished by day’s end), I broke down and took a taxi instead of another bus. It’s more expensive (a couple of bucks as compared to about 40 cents), but I was tired and didn’t feel like fighting the crowds for a place to stand on the bus.

But no matter, my comment is about my taxi driver. I waved him down, and was pleased to see a rather newer Toyota sedan pull up. That was a nice change from the deathtraps you sometimes end up in. I quickly negotiated a better price than the one quoted and then settled in for the trip. Here’s the thing though…my driver had to have been on the high side of approaching eighty. He was definitely…advanced…in years. He sat straight up and down (his back never actually touched the seat behind him) his hands gripping the steering wheel, and being somewhat shorter in stature, his line of sight could barely clear the dashboard. It was like being in a Mr. Magoo cartoon…

But here’s the thing…you sure wouldn’t have know it from his driving. He wove in and out of traffic like it was the Daytona 500, his hand never a few seconds away from another blast on his horn. He took on other taxis, buses and the occasional big truck, without even blinking or giving an inch.

Of course I’m assuming he actually saw them. I think he did. And as much as I appreciated his “Joie de Vivre” approach to driving, I had to ask myself what kind of reaction time an 80 year old race car driver actually had. In the end though, I figured he’d survived this long, what would be the chances of him going out the moment I was in his taxi? Actually…don’t answer that. I think we all know the answer. But anyhow, even if he did, what a way to go…in a spectacular fireball explosion the result of a head on collision with a city bus in a taxi driven by an eighty year old Mr. Magoo…

Anyhow, in the midst of the silliness, I do actually have a few prayer requests. The guys are all finishing up this school year, and will soon be going into summer holidays. Please pray that they study hard and finish well. The almost all are struggling with one class or another (or more). The truth is, their high school wasn’t a very good one, and didn’t prepare them much for university. But we’re working through that. We’ve got a couple of tutors coming each week, and Isabel continues to work closely with them to monitor how they’re doing.

We also need summer jobs for them. Sitting around the house all summer annoying Ken is not a good option. We started a landscaping business, which has gotten off to a pretty good start, although there probably won’t be enough work to keep them all busy. So some of them will need other work. Pray for decent jobs with good working environments (ie. no temptations).

And finally, a couple of the guys have decisions to make as to wether they’ll continue living with us next year and studying. Sadly, they’re under pressure from outside to leave and find jobs. It’s really not a good idea for a lot of reasons. The hardest part for me is that, one of the reasons they considering this, is because they still don’t believe that God actually has a future for them. They don’t believe they could achieve the goal of finishing their education and finding a good job. They have the dream…but since nothing good has ever happened to them, it mostly stays that…just a dream.

So please pray for the guys, and for me. As I said before, we seem to have come through the worst of an especially bad time, but issues continue to crop up from time to time. But it’s been encouraging to be able to work through these problems with the guys, and hopefully help them to learn that it’s possible to deal with difficult moments and continue on with life.

Thanks for reading and praying everyone!