In's and Out's

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a meeting in Quincy, MI, that was difficult in some respects. Shortly before I got there for the meeting, the pastor resigned. Despite this and other difficulties, the Lord gave real grace during the meeting and God’s people were encouraged.

Yesterday found us in southern IN at First Baptist Church in Laurel. God gave us a great service both morning and evening. Praise the Lord that after a more difficult meeting in MI, the Lord gave us a respite in Laurel.

Sunday, we start a meeting in upstate NY in the Adirondacks. Thank you all for your prayers.

Family Update

We are enjoying warmer weather this week than we had last week. I know it won’t last for long, with fall coming and our travels taking us farther north. We have met some wonderful new friends, and renewed acquaintance with “old” friends. This week, during our time off, we are able to spend time with my mom and step-dad, as well as assorted other relatives – aunts, grandparents, etc. They are all quite willing to spoil the kids, especially sweet little Esther.

Josiah, Paul, and Allen (my step-dad) went fishing today. It was raining, but they had a great time, with Paul catching the smallest fish. Ha! Josiah has his own little fish pole. Paul had him practicing his cast today in the church parking lot. Thankfully, there were no cars, or he might have brought home a Chevy for dinner. That would be worse than a carp… They came back all wet and cold, but with smiles on their faces and even a few fish in their bucket.

Abigail woke us up this morning by howling at the top of her lungs. At 3:30 am, it was because the neighbor’s dog was yapping incessantly. She, by the way, is terrified of dogs, even when they are outside and she is inside. Anyway, after I calmed her down, she let us sleep until 6:30 am before howling again. This time, Paul went to investigate, and found her sitting in a puddle of the previous day’s dinner. Gross only begins to describe my feelings for an encounter like that so early in the morning. We cleaned up all the bedding and bathed and changed her, the nervously set her on our bed surrounding her with towels and jumping every time she coughed, sneezed, or sniffed. Esther woke up in the meantime, and was crying loudly to be fed. Josiah was on his bed asking questions like, “Where is my ladder?” (we had moved it for the cleanup) and, “Can I get down now?” The whole house was in an uproar. As many of you already know, I am not a morning person, and mornings like this make me wonder why anyone would want to get up and deal with such things. They never happen in the evening, so that makes me think that sleeping in later makes your day go better. Try it sometime – it works for me!

Since we were already all awake, we just ate breakfast and hit the road. After an unintended detour in the wrong direction, we headed toward Ohio and arrived in about two hours. That’s really what people mean when they say they took the scenic route, you know. They went the wrong way. Even seasoned travelers sometimes do it. Tomorrow begins another “normal” day, I hope.

It is late, and we are all tired, so you will have to wait with bated breath for the next series of misadventures in the Crow family! Thanks for all your prayers. We need them.

Love, Sarah