Five Little Monkeys from David and Teesha Laflin on Vimeo.

Traveling at the airport from David and Teesha Laflin on Vimeo.

Interview with David and Teesha from David and Teesha Laflin on Vimeo.

At first I wasn’t sure if they were ready to memorize Bible verses. But I was completely humbled by that thought when one day Caden could re-sight word for word the whole book of “Where the Wild Things Are”. I thought “I must be teaching them diligently”.

So we started with a short simple verse, Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God”. Each morning during our devotion and prayer time we have been working on Bible verses along with learning about different virtues. God has used this time too to help me to hide his word in my heart too. We add a new Bible verse and virtue each month. I know they could handle memorizing more than that, but I have to start out small to make it a habit and not get too overwhelmed.

I’m amazed at how excited they get to say their verses and I’ve even overheard Caden tell his little brother “Do everything without complaining or arguing Caleb.”

The following video is Caden saying James 1:19-20 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. For a man’s anger does not bring about a righteous life that God desires.” And Caleb working on Ephesians 6:1 “Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother for this is the first commandment with a promise.”

Bible verses from David and Teesha Laflin on Vimeo.

We have had many highlights in our ministry these last couple of months. We have added many new illusions and the boys (Caden – three years old and Caleb – two years old) have joined the show! Here is a picture of Caleb all dressed up for our show.

We also were busy filming new promotional material to use to advertise for upcoming shows. They should be ready by the end of the month! Part of that project was filming a DVD of our show with backstage clips. Here is a sneak peak to the Laflin boys backstage.

Sneak Peak to Laflin boys backstage from David and Teesha Laflin on Vimeo.

Here is a short video of Caden (our three year old), singing her song ‘Go!’

I love this moment because that is exactly what we were doing.  We were on the road “going” to tell people about the love of Jesus through our magic show.  I wonder sometimes how to explain to our boys why we have to leave home, their surroundings, their routine, their toys and friends to go on the road.  Yancy’s lyrics: “We live in a great big world, that needs to hear about a great big love, we need to tell the story to every little boy and girl.  So Go! Go! Go!”

If you don’t have any of Yancy’s CDs or DVDs for your kids, you are missing out.  You can save 30% by entering “laflinfriend” for your coupon code.  Hurry – it expires January 1st 2013.

I tried getting a picture of the boys with Yancy this summer when we performed with her but of course Caden ran out of the picture and Caleb was not looking at the camera.

We brought all the gifts home and laid everything out.  We prayed over all the boxes and then started packing them.  I think that God has given Caden the gift of packing like his dad!  He was able to organize all those toys and fit them in the shoes boxes when I didn’t think it was possible.

Caden and David praying over our boxes

The best part was volunteering the next day at the distribution center.  We had the amazing opportunity to participate in “family day” at the distribution center.  They set up a mock orphanage and they taught our boys what it would be like to live in an orphanage: sleeping on wooden beds on the floor, not having enough food to eat and having only dirty water to drink, having to share clothes and toothbrushes because there aren’t enough.

Operation Christmas Child Distribution Center

And then the part that made me cry (well to be honest I cried four different times) was when we met Karen from Honduras.  Ten years ago she had received a shoe box as a young girl and she talked about how it changed her life and gave her HOPE.

After meeting Karen they taught the kids how to sort through the shoe boxes and they got to pack them up and put them on a pallet to be shipped out to kids in need.  We then watched a video on the journey of a shoe box and how it touched one boy’s life and how he came to know Jesus, all starting with the journey of a little shoe box of toys.

Boxes all packed up

It was awe-inspiring and sparked an excitement inside of me to start teaching my boys the delight of giving and volunteering.  If you don’t know a lot about me, helping others has been an joy/hobby of mine most of my life and what has inspired and influenced me.  It made me excited as they have become a little bit older to impress upon them the importance of being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Our Family

This Summer we traveled as a family to Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Alabama, and Tennessee.  Then, back to Texas again for another few weeks.  David had other shows mixed in that he traveled “solo” to in Indiana and throughout Nebraska.  In September, our family has already had events in New Jersey, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Colorado.  Fortunately, we had some good extra family time on the beach in SC.  It was the perfect time for our family to get away and enjoy the sun.  The boys have proven to take up swimming and water activities fairly quickly- and they loved the beach!

Enjoying a few days at the beach

Caleb loving the beach 

You would think this much traveling would make Caden and Caleb ready to be back home.  Little Caleb certainly misses his crib when we are gone, but Caden has asks daily when we get to go to another hotel!  Hopefully he remembers that all hotels do not have a beach.

The last week and a half we have been home.  Which worked out great so David could run the Denver Marathon.  Teesha and the boys came out to cheer.  They certainly made themselves known.  Many of the runners told them that they were the best cheering section of the marathon!

Caden and Caleb with David after he finished the Denver Marathon

We are certainly continuing to adjust and try and figure out how much our family can be on the road and how to balance this all.  Thanks so much for all of you who keep up with us, pray for us, and help make all of this happen.  We appreciate you all!

The day after the wedding, we loaded the van and head to TX.  We were blessed to have two of our nieces, Marysa and Cayla, on the road with us.  For two weeks we were the camp speakers at a pre-teen camp in Cedar Hill, TX.

Watch Video

We also had weekend events in Ft Worth and in Kansas City.  One of the highlights of this trip was performing in Joplin, MO.  There are still so many people in Joplin recovering from the Tornado that hit there last year.  To help in a small way and to share with those who are instrumental in the relief effort was an honor.

From one community recovering from disaster we went right into another in the middle of one.  On July 1 we were scheduled to perform in Colorado Springs, CO.  This happened to be right at the time that fires were burning up much of Colorado and many houses in the Colorado Springs area were being destroyed.  Our event there was rescheduled for 2013.  We continue to pray for so many people across our state still figuring out how to deal with the destruction the fire left to so many homes and people.

July is already moving quickly with a fun event for a Summer program here in Colorado as well as a weekend at the YMCA of the Rockies.  For the next few weeks we will head out on tour again through Texas and Alabama.

Thanks again for taking some time to keep up with all that is happening here!  We hope to see you at an event real soon