Generation NeXt Parenting

At first I said no.

A few months ago I got a phone call asking me if we'd be interested in hosting a foreign exchange student. At first I said no. Not because I didn't think it was a good thing. Instead, I couldn't imagine us adding one more thing to our lives.

Then, my friend mentioned they had students from the Czech Republic who needed a host family for the school year. My heart leapt. I LOVE the Czech Republic. And the more I started thinking about it the more I liked the idea. Still, I needed to talk to my family. I talked to my husband first, and he thought it was something we should consider. I talked with the kids, and they LOVED the idea, especially my 16-year-old daughter.

Next we started looking at the profiles of the students. It was so hard to choose. My family and I prayed about it, and we finally decided on Andrea.
Andy (as we call her) is 16-years-old is happy, friendly, smart, loves people and pets and ... enjoys drama and writing. She sounded like a perfect fit for our family!

We passed the family interview and I connect with Andrea online. I told her we were coming to the Czech Republic, and Andrea was so excited. She found out about the English Camp and Andrea, her mother, and her older brother came. It was great to spend a week with their family in the Czech Republic.

Then, we made plans for Andy to come into our home. We remodeled Leslie's room and I cleaned the house really good. :-) Then, Andrea arrived ... only
12 hours after we arrived home from the Czech Republic!

We've had a great three weeks spending time with our new family member.
She's great and we can't imagine life without her now.

Yesterday our family went hiking in Glacier National Park near our home.
Here is a photo of the "sisters." Aren't God's surprises the best?

P.S. Interested in hosting a student? Check out:
http://www.worldexperience.org/hostfamilies/hostbenefits.html

posted by Tricia Goyer @ 10:37 AM