End of the Year

Ministry Update

Evangelism has often been described as “feast or famine.” Spring and fall are traditionally the feasting times and winter, Christmas in particular, tend to be the famine times. This Christmas season, the Lord has allowed us to minister weekly in a church in Spencer NC where I have preached and will continue to preach nearly every Sunday for several weeks in a row. While we are grateful for this opportunity to minister, we still pray for God to open doors in revival meetings. Spring is coming, complete with its busy schedule of revival meetings. Please partner with us in praying that God will send us the meetings that we need in churches where they need our specific ministry.

Family Update

One of the ways that God has provided for our family during the time of no revival meetings is by giving us deer meat. Paul got two this year himself and others gave him three more, leaving us with a total of five deer in the freezer right now, less what we have already eaten. Just this week, we tried our first jerky recipe and were quite pleased at the result, considering it was the first effort. We hope to only get better from here. We received a meat grinder for Christmas that is quite handy for processing the meat and that also opens the door for us to begin making sausage, salami, and other mouth-watering treats.

The holiday season has engendered much excitement on the part of the children, and much busyness on the part of the parents. Josiah and Abigail took part in two Christmas programs (one in our church, and one in another church two weeks later). Josiah always manages to steal the show somehow. This year, his part in the program was to quote a simple verse. He had practiced it for weeks, and knew it inside out. However, in all the excitement of the actual performance, he forgot. He stood in front of the microphone and wrinkled up his nose, rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, and tried to remember. Finally, he gave up and whispered, “I don’t remember!” This brought a much needed “mouthed” cue from the director, but since Josiah was looking at the ceiling, it did him no good. Finally, unable to stand the suspense any longer, I blurted out the first two words of the verse, and Josiah took it from there. He proceeded to give me a very long and detailed explanation after church of why he forgot, but I didn’t understand. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t stage fright.

The other program was a narrated version of the Christmas story, and had, thankfully, no speaking parts. Josiah was a shepherd and Abigail was an angel. Go figure. I wondered at the wisdom of giving five and six-year-old boys five foot long sticks in a crowd, but everyone survived. I must say that I never saw a cuter angel than Abigail.

It is a good thing for Esther that there really isn’t a Santa Claus, because she would have been on his “Naughty” list. In the two weeks before Christmas, she evidently decided to make up for the goodness of the first eight months of her life, and get into as much trouble as possible. She climbed on the bed, fell off, and gave herself a black eye. The same afternoon, she climbed up on a chair, fell off, and landed on a baby doll car seat, giving herself another bruise on the cheek beneath the black eye. She helped decorate the tree, and then undecorated it by herself. She unfolded laundry (a favorite pastime), unwrapped presents that did not belong to her, screeched, fussed, hit, bit, and spit, emptied the salt shaker on the table, chairs, and carpet, took up interior decorating and colored on the walls, floor, and bedspreads. In short, she caused a whole heap of extra work, but we decided to keep her anyway. Life is more interesting with her around.

We learned a most interesting fact today while eavesdropping on our son’s conversation with his sister. (Question: is it technically eavesdropping when the person in question is speaking at the top of their lungs?) Anyway, we overheard that the fastest, meanest fish in the world is the “caribuddha.” We sniggered at the thought of a caribou with fat lips and protruding gut, sitting “Indian style” while pondering the greater things of life on the tundra. For the time being, we have allowed the misnomer for our own amusement. By the way, this fearsome fish is allegedly “blue with black stripes.” Doubtless, they are racing stripes or, perhaps, black flames on a blue background. I think it may be distantly related to the barracuda. Getting things mixed up seems to be a trademark for Josiah, bless his heart. I will never forget the time we were talking and he mentioned something about someone named George. My mind scrambled for a moment, but I failed to think of any of our acquaintance by the name of George. “George who?” I asked. Josiah almost looked offended as he replied, “Why, George Carrius!” For those of you who are not “into” children’s literature, this is the beloved friend of the Man with the Yellow Hat. In the months since that time, the name has been modified to Carrius George, and he still remains one of the favorites. Oh, the funny things kids say!

As we come to the end of the year, I like to look back and recount some outstanding blessings. We had the tremendous privilege of seeing Josiah trust Christ as his Savior in April of this year. Since then, we have seen evidence of the Holy Spirit working in his tender little heart. What a blessing to see the first of our children accept Christ! We have also gone a full year without having to admit him to either the hospital or the emergency room! Praise the Lord! He still has rough days, but they are fewer and farther between, and on the grand scale, he is so much improved. We know this is a direct result of your prayers with us. The Lord has kept us safe over thousands of miles on the roads, and we have seen several people saved this year through our ministry. What a blessing to serve our Lord! We have also had the opportunity to see some who have accepted Christ and surrendered to the ministry go on to have ministries of their own. This is such an encouragement to us. Please continue to pray for our family as we close this year and enter a new one. We would like to have twenty-five or more week-long revival meetings this year. We long to see the Lord’s hand at work in our life and ministry, and we thank you for your faithful prayers. May God bless you richly in the coming year.

Thanksgiving

Ministry Update

Sunday, the Lord allowed us to minister in Tabernacle Baptist Church of Hickory, NC.  The pastor of many years Phil Vos is quite ill with cancer right now and the church is being served by an interim pastor, Joel Spencer.  Bro. Spencer was one of the men who taught both Sarah and me when we were in college.  It was an interesting experience to preach for a former college professor.  The Lord blessed us with a man who walked the aisle to trust Christ as Savior in the morning service.  He had come from time to time in the past, being son-in-law to one of the people in the church.  It is always a blessing to see the Gospel take root in the lives of people.

Our trailer is in NC for the duration of the year, with various ministry opportunities around the area.  Thank you for all of your prayers for our ministry.

There is a significant answer to prayer that I would like to tell all of you about.  I have been praying that we could pay off our trailer and be out of debt.  It enables us to be free to take meetings in churches that can only afford to pay our fuel expenses and food for the week.  I had been praying for a certain number of people to give a certain amount toward paying off our trailer.  The first of those people gave a significant amount toward out trailer.  We are so grateful to God for the gift and we are praying that God will supply the rest of the need.

Family Update

We thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving Day.  My parents and Micah came for dinner at our house.  I say, our house, but really, we ate our dinner in the church, since there is not room for our immediate family to all sit at the table in the trailer, let alone several extra guests and a boatload of food.  Mom and I worked together to prepare the meal, and it was dee-lish!  This was the first time I had ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner, so it was an experience.  We had a lot of fun, and spent the day relaxing.  The next day, Mom and I went shopping together (a belated birthday excursion for me).  The crowds where we went were not bad at all, and the sales were great.  We had a good time looking at anything and everything we wanted to see.  This was a luxury for me, since Paul absolutely hates shopping, and when we do go shopping, I try to hurry and only browse minimally.  So, all in all, I had a wonderful day.  Paul was especially thrilled that he didn't have to endure the crowds of geriatric ladies at Hamrick's.  I almost laughed when I saw the "waiting area" at Hamrick's (just outside the dressing rooms).  It was full of frustrated, tired-looking men.  It was obvious that most of them would rather have been running with the bulls in Spain than shopping with the women in Gaffney. 

Healthwise, the family is doing very well, with the exception of Esther, who has a dreadful cold.  She seems to have caught everything this year.  I am thankful that even though she doesn't feel well, she is pretty happy most of the time.  She and Abigail are learning to play together better.  Well, perhaps I should say that Esther is learning to snatch toys with the best of them.  Abigail is getting back her own and more.  Abigail likes to be the "little mama" and tell Esther what to do.  Esther does not like to be told what to do, so many times she will "club" her sister with the most readily available object.  Sometimes this is a hand, sometimes a shoe, sometimes a toy, always a crisis.  The phrase I hear most these days is, "Mama, did you hear Esther hit me?"  I am not sure why Abigail always says "hear" instead of "see," but it makes it seem worse, doesn't it?

Abigail is now reliably potty trained!  Hooooray!  I never thought the day would come, but it has!  Celebrate with us!  She is growing up so much.  This is most evident in her speech.  She has charmed us with her little quirky phrases for so long and now we are starting to miss them.  For a while all of her r's were pronounced "oy."  It was amusing to hear her talk about something on the "floy" or someone knocking on the "doy."  One of the funniest things she ever said was when someone asked her what a lion said.  "ROY!"  She still says "lellow" (yellow) and "busketti" (Spaghetti), but her childish speech is beginning to fade.  Grab the Kleenex...

Esther is not talking very well yet, perhaps because she can rarely get a word in edgewise, but her vocabulary is growing.  She can say "more, hot dog, mama, shoe, go, eat, and me-me (baby)" along with a few other recognizable words.  Of course, she can also holler "NO" with the best of them.

Josiah has his first loose tooth.  He came in last week, all worried that something was wrong with his mouth.  After a brief inspection, I reassured him that it was just a loose tooth.  He is quite excited about losing it.  I told him about the time my mom tied a string to one of my loose teeth and tied it to the doorknob (as a joke).  Before she could explain to me that we weren't really going to carry through with the plan of action, I, trusting soul that I was, slammed the door.  I still remember her gasp, the slam of the door, the yank of the string, and the scream that escaped my lips.  For those of you with loose teeth, do not let your parents try this at home.  I will say that while it is a most effective way of removing unwanted teeth, there are much better ways of becoming toothless.  Josiah evidently pictured the whole thing in his mind, because he laughed hysterically when I finished telling the story.  So much for sympathy.  Our trailer doesn't even have a doorknob so I can carry on the tradition.  Oh, well.  Maybe I will think of some other form of extraction.  Any ideas???

From Houston

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful meeting in Cathedral City, CA. There was a teenage girl saved on Tuesday night. Now we are in Tomball, TX (Houston area) for a meeting through Friday. Thank you so much for your prayers. Not only is there this meeting for which to pray, but we also have a lot of driving to do before getting back to NC for Thanksgiving.

Family Update

We are all glad to have Paul home again, as well as glad to be back in meetings again. After a day of driving, we stopped in the Mobile area to rest and fellowship with some good friends. It broke up the unbearable boredom of sitting in the truck, especially for the kids. Saturday, we headed out again and arrived in the greater Houston area around 6:30 local time. So glad to be out of the truck! We have been to this church several times and have quite a few friends here, whom we are always glad to see. We also had the opportunity of meeting the new pastor who has only been here about a month. We are praying that this will be a great week with many decisions made in the lives of Christians and unsaved.

I am happy to report that our newest new washing machine is working wonderfully. Yes– we had two new ones this past month, one of which did not work and had to be returned. Thank the Lord for warranty coverage! Anyway, the new washer is a front loader, which, in addition to being more water efficient and gentler on the clothes, also has a greater capacity. I can now fit an extra pair of jeans in the washer! The girls have found that watching the laundry spin around in the washer is quite entertaining. The first load I washed contained, among other things, Esther’s favorite blanket. All was going well until she saw her “blankums” peek out from among the other clothes and then disappear again. I think her first reaction was shock, because she looked at me as if to say, “What is my blanket doing in there?” Then for the rest of the cycle, she alternated between fear and despair, crying and hiding her face in her hands as her blanket spun just out of her reach. Although she was quite traumatized, I could not help but laugh at the drama of it all. She still looks at the washer distrustfully, and has taken upon herself to put the clothes into the washer when I do laundry – doubtless in order to rescue any of her belongings that might be in the hamper.

Abigail has made great strides in potty training, and although she has not “arrived,” she is much more reliable. I find it amazing that the promise of a tube of lipgloss has such power over a three-year-old girl! She will do almost anything to stay dry – even to going in the middle of the yard during a church dinner on the grounds. It is never a good sign when people interrupt a conversation to tell you that you need to go see what your kid is doing. Although I am sure that her pride will eventually suffer from this event, her clothes did not, and I, for one, am happy about that!

Josiah has been actively involved in Master’s Club this year, and has already earned several badges and memory awards. He absolutely loves it, and can’t wait to wear his vest to church each Wednesday. He is doing well in school, and we are fast approaching our second six-week grading period. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. Pretty soon the “holiday season” will be upon us, and then the new year. The Lord has done so many wonderful things for us this year, and provided in many miraculous ways. We are thankful for His constant watchcare and the many blessings he has bestowed upon us. For those of you who are interested, you can see our most recent family photo on our website www.paulcrow.org. (If it doesn’t come up, you may have to click on refresh.) May the Lord bless you for your faithful prayers for our family and ministry.

Teacher

Ministry Update

The Lord has blessed us with meetings right now. What a blessing to be daily seeking the mind of God for His will in what to preach. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to endeavor to make full proof of our ministry.

Family Update

It is really good to be in meetings again, and we are all making the adjustment quite well. The kids are still asking each day, “Do we go to church today?” which question will hopefully subside after another few weeks in meetings. We are well into the school year, and Josiah just received his first official report card (all A’s, in case you were wondering). He still struggles with math, but we are seeing almost daily progress now, which comes as a great relief to me.

Abigail has done remarkably well this week with her potty training. It is a good thing, because I had just about given up and was looking through the Yellow Pages to see if I could hire it out and just pick her up in a few weeks when she was completely trained. We have had a few accidents, not counting the time she (and her brother) decided to fertilize the church playground in broad daylight, but on the whole things are much improved.

Esther is beginning to talk and understand more. The child really is too smart for her own good. Last time we wrote an update, she added nearly a page of her own notes while the computer was sitting within reach. Paul came back to line after line of characters that read something like this: %^*(&^%$^&*()(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&^%#$%^&*())(*&. I guess being an evangelist’s kid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I am happy to announce that we now have a new washer! Hooray! Now I can start climbing Mount Neverest in the bedroom and whittle it down to the size of a smaller mountain range, comparable to, say, the Rockies. The Lord used Maranatha Baptist Church in Short Pump, VA, to supply this need, and we are truly grateful!

Recently, as some of you know, the hunting season began, and Paul is dreaming again of “the big one.” This has colored his conversation with innumerable references to wildlife of all varieties. It has also come to the attention of our very curious son. Lately, every time we take a trip in the truck, Josiah starts what I have dubbed, “the wildlife quiz.” The object of this game is to ask as many questions as possible about a particular animal before the truck stops moving. It usually begins as a harmless conversation between Josiah and Abigail. He will be enumerating the great powers and fearsome tactics of, for instance, a moose. Although he knows relatively nothing about moose, he will blather on for about five minutes before he comes to a scenario in the monologue that he cannot determine. Then the quiz begins. “Do moose eat trees? Fish? Grass? Birds? Snakes? Blah, blah, blah…Little boys? Cars? Lions? Potato chips? Moose are really strong – can they pick up a truck? What about a house – can they pick up a house? What about our trailer?” On and on it goes, until he asks something that we cannot answer or reasonably conjecture. Then Mama suggests that, instead of playing another round of the wildlife quiz, we should play quiet moose, er, mouse. Last time we played the quiz, he came up with this stumper: “Do bears eat electricity?” Now, tell me, how in the world are we supposed to answer that?

Josiah also enjoys telling Abigail all about everything. Last week, I got a real kick out of a conversation that I overheard between them in a restaurant. They were discussing a picture on the wall that was evidently a blowup of a comic book from days gone by. The frame showed a “happy ending” complete with a teary-eyed heroine being kissed by the main character. Abigail asked Josiah why the lady was crying. “Oh,” he said. “It’s just because he is biting her!” I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff!

Our Children

Keeping current pictures of our children is a nearly impossible task. This picture, however, gives you an idea of their corporate naughtiness.

Summer's End

Ministry Update

This summer has been a difficult one financially for us. The dark valley is over now and we can praise the Lord that He has supplied every need. October 7, the meetings start again and we are all eager to be back on the road. During the last couple weeks of down time, the Lord provided a job whereby I was able to alleviate some financial pressure. I praise the Lord for how He always provides. We covet your prayers for us as we get back on the road. As always, pray for more meetings to come in.

Family Update

The summer days are over, and autumn has officially begun. With the new season come hopes of cooler weather and beautiful foliage. There is a certain sense in which the year is coming to a close. The days are getting shorter, and the nights longer, and our children are growing up. People tell us to treasure the days when our children are small, and, to be sure, there are many wonderful memories. Some, however, I am not so sure how to categorize. In my mind’s eye, I can see Paul and myself in fifty years, sitting in our rocking chairs and reminiscing…

S: Paul, we’re getting old.

P: Yep, but you’ll always be older than me! Har! Har!

WHAP! (sound of cane hitting shins)

P: Ouch! Take it easy – I was just joking!

S: You had better be glad I am not as strong as I used to be, or I would need a shoulder replacement after that!

P: I wonder what the kids are doing these days. I sure miss the times when they were small.

S: I do, too. Do you remember the summer of ’07?

P: Sure I do – what a summer! All three of the little ankle-biters were busy that year!

S: Josiah sprinkled his legos over the floor every morning as soon as he woke up, in the event that if an early-morning burglar got into the house, he wouldn’t get too far. We never had any burglars, of course, but many were the mornings that I had to remove the imbedded legos from my feet.

P: Whatever happened to all those legos, anyway?

S: I believe most of them ended up in the super slide of our first trailer. I never tried to dig them out, because of the entire package of 450 straight pins that Esther deposited in the same slideout that summer. That girl was into everything!

P: Her favorite words were “me-me” and “no-no” – the latter because she heard it so often, I guess. She was the human pinball that year – ran into everything. She could find something new with which to injure herself every day, I believe.

S: She was particularly bad about banging her mouth. It is a wonder she still has teeth! I can’t imagine what the dentist would have thought had she been old enough to go. He would have wondered why a fifteen month old child only had three teeth, and those ones were green!

P: Ah, yes. Many thanks to Crayola for assuring us that our daughter’s favorite low-fat snack was also non-toxic.

S: And don’t forget about Abigail! That was the summer that I was trying to potty train her. She messed her clothes every day. And then the washer broke. Actually, it still worked – just leaked like a sieve. Remember that?

P: Yes. It leaked down into the storage bay and ruined a box of books.

S: And then you tried to fix it yourself.

P: Hey – the Lord called me to preach, not to fix appliances! Anyway, it turned out fine. Just because you could only use the washer outside didn’t mean we went around wearing dirty clothes. Besides, we could kind of get in touch with our redneck side that way.

S: Yes, those were the good old days. I’m glad that we can sit back and laugh about it now. It wasn’t always so easy back then. I guess, at the time, we failed to realize that they were memories in the making.

Of Books and Jokes

Ministry Update

The Lord gave me a wonderful trip to Southern IN in where I preached in the Hope Baptist Church of Lawrenceville. After closing the short meeting on Sunday, I drove to Chicago the following day to pick up a friend's trailer for him; and then I drove all the way home. Grand total for Monday: 970 miles. It is good to be with my family again in my own trailer.

Thank you for praying for our meetings.

Family Update

Things have been rather slow compared to our normal schedule this summer. Since Josiah started school three weeks ago, things have become a little busier. He is really getting back into the swing of things. He told me this morning that he was glad for all this review, because he had forgotten a lot of things! His reading has improved over the summer, and he is now the proud owner of his very own library card. We have made several trips to the library, and I am glad to have an excuse to get new books for myself as well. He is discovering Curious George, Amelia Bedelia, Paddington Bear, and various other “favorites” of children. He told me this week, that he wanted to go to the library again because he had already read all his books several times. He is definitely my son. The world could go down in flames around me while I am reading, and I wouldn’t even notice until the next chapter. When I was a kid, I always had my nose in a book at every opportunity. I am glad to pass on the trait to my own children!

Josiah is also starting out in the Master’s Club program at church. He is really excited about learning verses, and earning badges for his vest. He has expressed some desire to learn to play the piano, so we are starting that, too. So far, we have only had two lessons, and those have been rather slow, but you have to start somewhere. Pray that my patience holds out for music lessons in addition to school!

Abigail is getting taller and has graduated from a car seat to a “booster seat.” She enjoys that so much more. We are still working on the potty training. She’s making progress, but very slowly. She enjoys singing little songs that she makes up herself. This morning while I was fixing her hair, she was singing a song about how nice her mama was because “she is giving me bwaids.” It is very cute, and I enjoy hearing all the original ideas for her songs.

Esther is growing up so fast. She runs about the trailer on her stubby little legs, and tries to follow her older siblings wherever they go. She is quite vocal in expressing her displeasure, and I always know when something is not going her way. She is beginning to speak our language now, and there are a few recognizable words. She now interrupts prayers that she deems too lengthy with a hearty “ME,” which is her rendition of “amen.” She has also learned to nod her head in affirmation, and it makes us laugh when she bobs her head in answer to our questions. Of course, we would never bait her with incriminating questions…

Several months ago, our children were introduced to the concept of the great American joke, courtesy of Laffy Taffy candy. I believe, from the quality of the jokes printed on the candy wrappers, that you must have to have eaten at least two dozen pieces and be on an extreme sugar high for the jokes to be even mildly amusing. The initial joke was this: “Why did the chicken cross the playground?” The answer: “To get to the other slide.” After I thoroughly explained the joke and its original context, the kids apparently reasoned that every joke must have a chicken hero. I will not regale you with a full account of all the senseless jokes we have heard over the last several months, but suffice it to say, not even Laffy Taffy would have printed them. The kids, of course, thought they were all hilarious, and would screech with laughter after every new rendition, while I would groan and try to escape into the next room before the next chicken joke was told. Last week, however, was the crowning chicken joke. I actually laughed. I know you are all wondering… “Why did the chicken go into the trailer?” Answer: “Because he wanted to be an evangelist!”

Teen Revival

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful close to our special back-to-school revival at my home church. The first two nights were disappointing as far as visible results were concerned, but God was working. At the end of the second service after I preached on “The Lake of Fire,” a boy vomited all over the floor during the invitation. We had to cut that service short, but the largely un-churched kids held their composure quite well, considering the circumstances.

Tonight’s crowd was especially rowdy during the game and preliminary part of the service. Bro. Jim Ogle (the youth pastor at our church) and I went into a back room during the special music and begged God for a miracle to calm the hearts of these rambunctious teenagers and get them to listen to the preaching. For my part, I was struggling still when I got to the pulpit, wondering what God would have me preach. I felt led to make much of Calvary and so began my message by telling them what the Cross meant to me and how we wanted them to be saved as well. From there, we went to Titus 3 and I preached a salvation message from the first seven verses. At least two that I know of were saved, one of them coming to me afterwards and telling me boldly, “I got saved tonight.” As for the kids’ attention? God worked the miracle that we had prayed for, and the rowdiest ones sat nearly stone still throughout the entire message. It was a miracle in which God’s power was greatly on display. Thank you so much for all you who pray for our ministry.

The last two days, I was also able to speak in the opening chapel services of Ambassador Baptist College. The Lord blessed in those services as well, with some specific victories in the services.

Soon, we will be back on the road again. As always, we appreciate your prayers for us. God is still on the throne and He is still working in hearts.

Charleston

In our last update, we mentioned our upcoming trip to Charleston. The trip was such a tribute to the power of God that we feel compelled to tell everyone about it.

Sarah and I had been on only one other “us” trip in our seven years of marriage. The children’s food allergies are challenging enough for us, without trying to educate someone else enough to leave the children with them for extended time. We nevertheless decided to proceed with our plans to go to Charleston and leave all three children with my parents in Greenville, SC. As I was writing in our last update of our plans to go, I was considering canceling the trip because we did not have the money to go. Despite this misgiving, we went anyway, and the Lord worked some wonderful miracles while we were there.

In order to save costs, I had arranged for us to stay in the prophet’s chamber of Northside Baptist Church in North Charleston. On Monday night, however, the prophet’s chamber was occupied, so we had to get a motel. The church got the motel to give us their discount. After an evening down by the battery of Charleston, we returned to our motel for a night of sleep. The next morning we ate from the motel’s continental breakfast and chose some breakfast things that we could take with us for the rest of the week’s breakfast. From there, we checked out and headed once again for downtown Charleston.

I expected that we would be able to walk around the city and see some old picturesque homes and that would be the extent of our tourism in Charleston. After all, being a tourist costs money and we had none. As we were walking along the street, however, a man stopped us and asked us how we liked the city and so forth. He then told us that if we listened to a sales pitch about a vacation plan similar to a timeshare, he would give us some free gifts. He made sure that we understood there was no obligation and we got the gifts, regardless of our answer to the salesman. We knew what the answer would be, but the gifts were reason enough to listen to his speech. After ninety minutes and our firm refusal to buy, he gave us five gifts: two free tickets to a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city, two free tickets for a harbor tour by boat, two free tickets to the plantation of our choice just outside the city, a $25 gift certificate to any one of several five star restaurants in Charleston, and a $20 gift card. Now we could be real tourists all for free.

Every day, we still parked in the free parking down by the battery and walked – all to save parking fees. We lost weight on the trip and put miles on our feet, all of it in the heat of late-summer Charleston. On Wednesday night we were in Northside Baptist Church for their midweek service. As we sat there, the pastor announced that the offering that night would go to us. After the offering was counted, they gave us over $1,000! We could hardly believe our ears. In addition, someone in the church gave us $40 in cash. The Lord had miraculously provided, again. The pastor specifically instructed us to use some of the money for something fun. Thursday was fun as we finished using the last of our free activities and actually splurged a bit. We went into an old-fashioned candy store and bought some candy, we took a bicycle taxi ride, ate at a restaurant without having a gift certificate, and actually paid 70 cents to a parking meter just so we didn’t have to walk quite so far.

Not only was it a wonderful time for Sarah and me, but it was also a great time to see the hand of God at work in our life. Thank you to all of you that prayed for our trip.

At Long Last

Ministry Update

We apologize for not writing in so long. The Lord has been blessing us in meetings and travel. Every remaining Sunday in August is now full, and we have a couple of other preaching engagements as well during the month. Please continue to pray for our meetings and that the Lord would supply more meetings. We appreciate your prayers.

Family Update

Hey - we are still alive and kicking! It has been a fearfully long time since we sent out an update. The weather here in North Carolina has been stifling - hot and humid. It was well over 100 degrees several days this past week, as high as 106 yesterday! People have asked us how cool we are staying in the trailer. It has been cooler than outside, but still too hot for comfort during the day. The AC just can't keep up when it is this hot for so long. Thankfully, we were able to escape into the church and get some relief on the hottest of days. Today is cooler, and we hope it will stay that way.

Josiah had his sixth birthday this past Tuesday, and is looking forward to starting first grade in a few weeks. He has kept up his reading over the summer, and I don't think he will have any problem getting back into the swing of things. I will have to make some adjustments, though. There is a part of me that dreads going back to school. However, I will grin and bear it!

Abigail has been busy soiling our couch, carpet, bedding, and sundry other items. We hope that this long, dark valley of potty training will be over one day. I am thinking of finding out how many colleges offer Potty Training 101, and applying for a scholarship in her name. She has grown a lot this summer, and is getting to be quite a help around the house. She loves to wash dishes and cook and clean right alongside me.

Esther is finally walking. She is still not very steady, but happily toddles around the house, getting into whatever is available. She has also mastered the art of climbing down off the bed or couch, and backing down the step. She also likes to climb the bunk ladder in the kid's bedroom. I usually keep it up just because of the lack of space, but if I forget, there she is, standing on the ladder, squealing in excitement. She has gotten taller, too, and is now in danger of bonking her head when she stands up under the table. Poor thing still has no hair to cushion the blow, so I have to keep an eye on her. Her favorite word is "Eat," although she does not say it herself. She recognizes it though, and always makes a great deal of excitement when she hears it. Flapping arms, grunts, lunges toward the high chair - it is very funny to see.

We haven't had any meetings the last few weeks, so we have had the opportunity to spend some time with my family in Ohio. We also went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. That was an incredible place! The kids loved, it, and along with all the dinosaur artifacts, and flood geology, was a very clear presentation of the Gospel. The planetarium was awesome - to think that we are so insignificant when compared to the vast universe around us, and yet, God cares about each one of us in a special, eternal way. While we were watching one of the presentations, it was all I could do to keep from shouting, "Praise the Lord!" I refrained however, since we were in a dark and crowded room full of strangers. Had I "gone off" Paul might have, too, and you can imagine the resulting panic when they realized there were at least two fanatics loose in the room with them. Seriously, though, it was great!

Paul and I are going to Charleston, SC next week for a belated anniversary trip. The kids are staying with Grandma and Papa, so they will be in good hands. We are looking forward to some "just the two of us" time. We have not done anything special for our anniversary for four years. Sometimes, there is just no opportunity or time to do anything. I intend to take lots of neat pictures, and have a wonderful time. Pray that no hurricanes wipe us off the map while we are there. That would be very unromantic!

Sarah

In Jerusalem

Jesus told His disciples, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem..." For the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to go on visitation with my home church this evening. We talked to a teenage girl who began to weep as I preached the Gospel to her. She had gone through some real hard times since moving to Kings Mountain from Charlotte, and she seemed to have the weight of the world on her. After preaching the Gospel to her, she agreed to come to the service tonight. As always, a man stood before our teens this evening and preached the Bible. At the end of the message, the girl trusted Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord for the salvation of a soul, whether it is in a revival meeting or through normal visitation.

Paul

Roundup's Over

Ministry Update

After returning to Yorktown, VA from Canadian, OK, I was immediately immersed in Vacation Bible School and Wild West Roundup. There is no doubt about it, I was not in my comfort zone preaching to kids every night, but God gave the victory, with over ten kids saved, several surrendering their lives to God, and record attendance almost every night. We had a wonderful time with all the church staff and members of Maranatha Baptist Church, but especially with Beau and Nicole Williams and their family. It will not be long before we begin to head back towards NC for some time with the people of our own church before we head out again.

Family Update

Esther is now one. We had a lovely little birthday party for her on Wednesday, complete with streamers, balloons, and a cake that everyone could eat! That was something worth celebrating in itself! She loved digging into the cake, but seemed to not particularly care for the "stuff" all over her hands and face. We took lots of pictures. After her birthday bath (always necessary after eating birthday cake) we opened some presents. She was really excited about opening the gifts, possibly because of her previously mentioned penchant for shredding paper. She was most conscientious, though, and would hand each shred to the person sitting next to her. It was very cute!

Josiah had a blast in VBS this week. He loved it all - the games, the songs, the skits, the country store, and most of all, the boys vs. girls offering round-up. It was so funny to watch him interact with so many kids his own age. He learned quite a few new Bible verses this week, and I was very proud of him for working so hard. He wore his cowboy hat and sherriff's badge every night, and enjoyed playing cowboy. I had to tell him to leave his guns at home. He was a bit disappointed about that, but quickly got over it

We have had a great week here, and saw the Lord answer prayer. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Sarah

Indians!

Indian Update

Last night, after attending the morning service of a local independent Baptist church, we had our first service out at the Indian Baptist Mission Camp Meeting. Though the meeting does not officially start until tomorrow, there are already representatives from the Six Nation Iroquois reserve in Ontario, as well as Apache, Choctaw, and Creek, the latter two from right here in Oklahoma. With this handful of maybe 60 people, we had a service tonight. During the song service, we all sang “Amazing Grace” in English, then the Iroquois sang it in Mohawk, then the Choctaw sang it in their Choctaw, and finally it was sung in Creek. For me, it was quite emotionally moving to sit and listen (I know no Native American dialects). I realized that this gathering of people would not even exist, were it not for the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here were entirely different traditions, languages, and cultures, all made one by the blood of Christ. One day we all will sing to Jesus, “Thou…hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” To get a foretaste of that day while here on earth was a treat for me this evening.

I was asked to preach the first message tonight, and many told me afterwards how that God spoke to their hearts. I am told that this a meeting in which they call preachers from the floor; that should prove interesting. I found myself wishing that I could preach every service of the entire week, but then I had to make sure that my motivation is not pride. I would love to preach again, there is not doubt about it. We’ll pray, wait, and see.

Paul

Losing It

Ministry Update

We are at one of my favorite places in which to preach: Grace Baptist Church in Semmes, AL just outside of Mobile. The Lord is giving us another wonderful meeting this week. Although we have not yet seen anyone saved, the Lord has done a work so far among God’s people. Preaching the Pastor’s fellowship this morning was a great joy and many of the men expressed to me how the Holy Spirit had encouraged their hearts. Our meeting goes through Friday after which we head back home for less than a week.

Family Update

Well, this week has been quite interesting so far. I already mentioned that I lost my keys, but that is not all I lost. I also lost my watch – the clasp must have come undone when I was out somewhere. I lost my phone (while it was set on vibrate, of course) and found it the next day. Then, the ultimate was this morning when I lost my balance and fell off the platform at the preacher’s fellowship. My heel caught on the edge of the carpeted step and I only had time to think, “Uh-oh! I am going to fall!” Whump! There I was on hands and knees in front of the altar. (Paul has been hoping for this for quite some time, but I don’t know if that is exactly the way he thought it would happen!) Someone helped me up, and I fled the auditorium, trying to conceal my laughter. When I had regained my composure, I came back inside for the sermon. Everyone was very concerned about me, although the only damage I suffered was rug-burned knees. Several people tried to make me feel better by telling me how many times they had “almost done that very same thing” a dozen times or more. Others told me how graceful my landing had been. Yeah, right! “What a klutz – but, boy, what a great landing! Didn’t even scream! I give her about a seven on that one. Har! Har!” The worst thing of all was that my heel separated from my shoe. I guess I will just have to get another pair! Oh, well!

After the preaching, there was a meal, and we all sat around talking for quite some time. Most of the people were gone when I heard the very distinct sound of a mousetrap disengaging in the church kitchen. I looked around, and Esther was nowhere to be seen. I heard no screams, so I assumed that either she hadn’t been hurt, or her lips were snapped together and she couldn’t cry. She was quite upset when I took the trap away from her. It seems that it had been baited with Twix candy bar, and she found that very tasty. I felt a great compunction to scrub her mouth and face with Comet or something very strong, but in the end, I only used soap and water. Hopefully, the trap hadn’t been used very much previously. I will have to keep an eye on her though, because she might just think that a mousetrap is the means of a quick and easy snack. Next time, it might not be such a happy ending!

Last Saturday, I found a tick embedded in Abigail’s head. It was a traumatic experience for all involved. Try telling a three-year-old who hates bugs with a passion that there is a bug biting her on the head and you have to get it off right now. Later that evening, I was looking at the site of the tick bite when I noticed something else much worse. Her hair was full of….well, I won’t say what. Some of you may get the creepy-crawlies if I mention it. This new development, combined with the hours-earlier tick incident, served to give me the most horrible sensations I have had in ten years. Paul was sent to Wal-mart post-haste to get shampoo, and I began the tedious process of combing out her hair. This also necessitated my finding someone to comb through my hair, just in case. Thankfully, nothing was found in my hair, and Abigail is now clean. Loads of laundry and bedding were immediately dispatched to the 24-hour Laundromat, only to find that it had closed at 10 PM due to recent vandalism. What are the chances? All is back to normal, except that at any hour of the day, I can be seen looking furtively at my daughter’s head, hoping to see only what is supposed to be there. Where did she get it? We have no idea, and I really don’t think I want to know. Life is full of surprises! Maybe she got it from YOU!

Lost and Found

Ministry Update

Cleaning wooden decks, spraying poison ivy, shooting varmints, spring cleaning a travel trailer, cutting grass – what do these sound like to you? To us, these activities mean vacation. We spent the last week at the farm enjoying a week of physical labor that turned out to be very relaxing for me. We are also in the process of preparing our trailer to sell. We don’t yet have a buyer, but we are praying and trusting and anticipating that God will soon supply the buyer that we need.

Our next meeting is Friday of this week in lower AL. I will be preaching a Friday graduation ceremony and then be preaching a Sunday through Friday revival meeting in the church. After that, we will be home in NC for a little less than a week before we hit the road again.

Family Update

Life has been rather “normal” lately – that is to say, nothing unusual has happened. We had a week off and spent it at the family farm in Indiana. The kids had a blast playing outside, riding the tractor, playing in the house and in the barns. It was enjoyable for all of us. Josiah and Paul were both able to fly a kite for the first time. (I almost fell over when Paul told me he had never flown a kite before!) Josiah was content to sit outside and hold the kite string “until lunch,” he told me. After warning him of the dangers of power lines, trees, buildings, and letting go of the string, I went in the house to do some work. Some time later, Paul and I heard an awful screech, and very loud crying. “He lost his kite,” I said. Sure enough, when I went outside, Josiah was running across the lawn, tears pouring down his face, still wailing. Off in the distance, I could see the kite, making its way across the fields. I tried in vain to calm Josiah, who was nearly in hysterics (ever see those scenes in a movie where the hysterical person gets their face slapped by the person trying to talk to them?). I did not have to resort to such drastic tactics, I am glad to say, but I was thinking about it, at least! Paul ran after the kite, and barely rescued it from certain destruction as it landed just behind the farmer plowing in the next field. It turns out that one of his sisters, when allowed to fly the kite, had let it go intentionally rather than give it back to him. I know you cannot imagine either of our two daughters doing such a thing, so to protect the guilty one, we will not mention any names.

While in town one day, we had to go to Lowe’s (or Slowe’s, as I always call it) and pick out some paint samples. You know, the little cards with all the different colors of paint. Josiah and Abigail both wanted one, so I, out of a need to keep my sanity, gave them each a card. All the way home, Josiah quizzed me about the paint sample. I thought his interest was unusually strong, but tried to explain what the sample was. After we got back to the farm, the kids ran off to play, and I was busy downstairs. Josiah came back down with a rather disappointed look on his face and told me that his paint card didn’t work. “What do you mean, it doesn’t work?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “I put it on the wall, but it didn’t change the color. It didn’t even stick!” I was quite amused and realized why he had been so interested in the paint samples. He thought that just by placing it on the wall, you could change the color of the wall. Now that would be an invention, to be sure! Thankfully, it didn’t work that way, or the whole upstairs would be a bright cobalt blue!

I am also glad to announce that the first year of Cross Country Baptist Academy is finished. Both student and teacher are enjoying summer vacation. Josiah has learned a whole lot this year. He can add up to ten (most of the time), subtract one, count to one hundred, tell time to the hour, half hour, and quarter after, read a calendar, read books, and he has also learned the pledges (American & Christian flags and the Bible). He has learned a Bible verse for every letter of the alphabet, as well as several longer passages, and has learned the first verse to about twenty familiar hymns. I really hope he won’t forget everything over the vacation. If you hear that I have been committed to an insane asylum next fall, you can assume that Josiah’s lack of memory was the cause.

Today I lost my keys. I did not realize they were missing until we stopped for fuel and took the kids to the bathroom about two hours down the road. I remembered locking the trailer before we left, so I knew that they weren’t inside it, but I could not imagine where I had put them. I usually put them directly into my purse, but they weren’t there, either. I thought I remembered putting them on the arm rest of the truck as I strapped Abigail into her car seat, but they were not there, nor were they on the floor of the truck. I was baffled as well as frustrated. Although he did not say so, I wondered if Paul was secretly laughing at my misfortune, seeing as how he is usually the one to misplace his keys. I take great pride in always knowing where my belongings are at all times (well, at least the important ones) and rib him to no end when he loses something. As it turned out, he was once again the perfect husband and was only helpful in my time of need. Of course, it would happen that I would lose my keys when we have to be on the other end of the nation in two days. We called a friend to check the driveway of the farm, and we proceeded to tear the truck apart. I found Sunday school papers, sunglasses, books, toys, some dirt, shredded Kleenex, and even a check from last year, but no keys. The keys, our friends reported, were not at the farm. Rats. We stopped at a church and set up for the night. Paul began thoroughly cleaning out the truck, while I went into the house. It was then that I remembered where I put the keys. When we stopped at the gas station, I was awakened from a shallow sleep and took Abigail into the house to use the bathroom (and, yes, the potty training is still a dismal failure). In my after-nap stupor, I took my keys into the trailer, although Paul had already unlocked the door. When we went into the bathroom, I placed them on the window sill, hence the vague memory of setting them on a ledge. It wasn’t until I got back into the truck that I realized they were gone. So, praise the Lord, I found them and they weren’t hours behind us or in the hands of some irresponsible vagrant. No comments, please. Ha!

Southward Bound

This update was composed on May 8, but we have had very limited access to the Internet. Sorry it is only now being posted.

Ministry Update

The last four weeks of meetings have been sweet for us. The Lord allowed us to see several people saved during this time. Some have walked the aisle at the old-fashioned invitation, while others have trusted Christ in their homes after the services. We are so grateful for God’s work. Minnesota has been good, with a very sweet, apolitical preacher’s meeting last week. We finish out in Duluth before heading south again.

Family Update

The last several weeks have been busy with meetings and other important events. Abigail is pleased to announce that she is now “fwee.” We had a party with cake that everyone could eat (that is cause to celebrate in itself) and lots of balloons and streamers. It was much anticipated by the whole family, and enjoyed by all as well.

Esther is now the proud owner of two more brand new teeth. They are still invisible to most people, but they are there, nonetheless. She has also begun crawling – look out, world. She isn’t very good at it yet, but I know that it won’t be long before she is into everything and under my feet all the time! If I try to get her to come, she will come a few paces and then pause with a look that seems to say, “You know, I am not really sure I like this. I think I would rather have Mama come over here and pick me up…” When I see the hesitation on her face, I usually clap and say “yaaay,” hoping to encourage her to come the rest of the way. When I do this, she stops, and with her cute, drooly grin, sits up and claps for herself and says, ”AHHHHH!” Then she gets down again and comes a little farther. She has also claimed the title of Master Confetti Maker. No paper is too big, too small, or too important for this self-designated position. Sunday school papers, Kleenex, kindergarten papers, business cards, addresses, maps, receipts, trailer brochures – all have fallen pray to the miniature shredder on legs. Thankfully, she can’t reach the scrapbooks yet!

I have really enjoyed the beauty of Minnesota in the spring. The lilacs are blooming, and their scent and color pervades almost every yard. I have never seen so many lilacs in all my life! The grass is that beautiful spring green, and with the blooming trees and their pink, white, and purple flowers, it is a sight to behold. We were in farm country last week, and the sight of that rich, black soil freshly turned in the fields made me want to take off my shoes and go walk in it. It makes such a contrast to the green grass and the tall, bleached weeds. Living in North Carolina with its red clay soil has given me an even greater appreciation for the beauty of the Northern/ Midwestern soil. I guess that might sound strange to some people, but I really do miss it, especially in the spring.

My brother Micah completed his One-Year Bible degree at Ambassador Baptist College this Friday, and although we were not able to attend, we are so excited about what he is allowing the Lord to do in his life. He has done a great job and we anticipate great things to come.

This week is a “free” week, which means that we have no meetings scheduled. It does not mean, though, that we will have nothing to do. We try to plan a week with no deadlines, but somehow, we always end up with a million things to do and places to go. This is our last week of school and I am looking forward to summer vacation. We will be heading south again after next Sunday’s meeting (Duluth, MN). Pray for safety as we travel and continued health.

Uff da!

Ministry Update

This week has been a good one in Stillwater, MN, just east of St. Paul. The Lord has given us a great time with Pastor Lenard Huebscher and the members of his church. We are looking forward to the remainder of our time here in MN. We will be here through Mother’s Day, going as far north as Duluth and as far west as Willmar. By the way, you pronounce it “oof da.”

Family Update

After a long silence, we are writing again. This lack of communication was not with malicious intent to keep you in the dark - we just haven’t taken the time to sit down and fill you all in on the latest news. Things have been busy all the time. We have had some wonderful meetings. The last was in Anderson, IN with Pastor Dave Warren, and this week we are with Pastor Lenard Huebscher in Stillwater MN. This past Sunday, four people trusted Christ and one received assurance of his salvation. We were thrilled to see the Lord working in hearts! The attendance has been low, but faithful, for which we are glad.

We are in the “dog days” of school. Each day I think to myself, “Only a few more weeks!” I am sure that Josiah is ready for a break. We did not take a “Spring Break” because I was afraid I wouldn’t want to start again after a week of freedom! Josiah was complaining about all the work he had to do the other day, and I told him that he only had a few weeks of school left before summer vacation. I judged from the look on his face that he had not realized he would get time off from school. He was really happy, and has improved in his attitude toward getting his work done. We have gone to a four day school week, doing a little extra each day and leaving the bare minimum for Fridays, so that we have one “free day” per week. Since Saturday is usually taken up with traveling, this works out better for little boys who need to play.

Abigail is approaching her third birthday (May 4). She likes to play dress-up and said that she would like to have a Cinderella party. Hmm… We already have the pumpkin coach! Ha! She is quite the little helper. She gets great pleasure out of helping me around the house – washing dishes, folding laundry, taking care of Esther (this must be supervised carefully). She loves Esther and is always trying to do something for her. I have had to tell her to stay out of the Pack-N-Play, not to pick up the baby, stay out of the diaper bag, etc. I am glad that she is such a “little mother.” She also loves her dolls. She loves to dress them, feed them play house, and even discipline them! Potty training is still a work in progress. We have advanced to Pull-ups, and are hopefully on the downhill side of this great accomplishment.

Esther is such a sweetheart. Everyone exclaims over how pleasant she is. She has been fearfully spoiled, I am afraid, by being held so much. Now if you walk by her without picking her up, she is inclined to fuss. She still is not crawling, and I think it may be because she never has to go far to reach anything in the trailer. She scoots around on her bottom a little, and has started pulling up on things, but I am fine with that. Once she starts moving around on her own, she will be into everything. We have already learned that her favorite thing to do is shred paper. Napkins, Kleenex, Sunday school papers – nothing is safe within her reach. I think she is about to get some more teeth. She has been unusually fussy this week, and chewing on things. I can feel a bump on her upper gum, but she doesn’t like it when I put my finger in her mouth. I also learned this week that she is afraid of grass. The kids were playing outside, and I set Esther down in the grass beside me. She made a horrible face and started crying. Then I put her on my lap and she stopped. I thought she just wanted to be held. Then I tried to stand her up with her feet in the grass. This, too, went over like a lead balloon. After a few more unsuccessful tries to get her settled, I finally put her on my lap, suspecting that she didn’t like the grass. I experimented by setting her on the edge of my lap and putting her feet (with socks) in the grass. Guess what? She didn’t like that either. So I concluded that it was indeed the grass and not her disposition, and refrained from further experiments, much to both of our satisfaction.

The weather here is beautiful, although a little cool. We were afraid it would be snowing here, since the week before we were to leave for MN, we got snow almost every day in Indian and Ohio. I had one great loss to the weather while we were in Ohio. In the previous meeting, in Indiana, I had found a tall, big-wheeled, three-wheeled stroller at a roadside sale. I talked the seller down and got a fairly nice used stroller for a good price. The thing turned out to be a serious weather magnet. After washing the fabric parts, I set it outside to dry. It was almost dry, when a rainstorm came up during church and drenched it again. I had to let it sit out overnight and most of the next day before it dried. The weather was cold, so I wasn’t able to use it, but we packed up and went to Ohio that weekend. We arrived Monday evening and I took Esther for a short walk on Tuesday, because the weather was gorgeous. That afternoon, it rained while we were at my mom’s house. So, I left it under the overhang of the trailer to dry overnight. That night, the temperature dropped nearly sixty degrees and the wind blew all night long. When I came out the next morning, the stroller was gone. Although I looked all over the church property, I could not find it anywhere. I suspect that it blew across the parking lot toward the road, and someone picked it up and drove off with it. I was rather humphed, but Paul consoled me with this statement, “Well, at least you got to use it once!” I am convinced it was a voodoo stroller, and never stayed long in any one place. Perhaps that is why it was sold in the first place. We have gone back to using our “hunchback” stroller, as we call it – you know the umbrella type stroller that is made by Chinese pygmies and sold at Wal-mart. Thankfully, we hadn’t had time to get rid of the old stroller yet. I knew all good things must come to an end, but I never dreamed it would be that soon!

God is so good. We are thankful for all that he has done for us. We have traveled several thousand miles this year already, and He has kept us safe. Josiah’s health is always in danger this time of year, but the Lord has given us cool weather which has kept the trees and flowers from blooming, thus keeping the pollen down and reducing the risk of serious allergy problems. Right now, it looks like we will be in Minnesota until the worst of the “southern” allergy season is over. Praise the Lord for His timing! He is continuing to open doors of ministry for us, and we are excited about the opportunities. Please keep our family and ministry in prayer.

Sarah

Traveling Circus

Family Update

We had a good service again last night, where the Lord worked in many hearts. It was also a rather eventful night for us as a family. Abigail sang in the service for the first time. She and Josiah stood on a chair behind the pulpit, and with Paul for background support (No, he did not sing “doo-wahs” in the background), they sang “Little Things,” a song that tells how God delights in using little things to do His will. Abigail only managed to get the last few words of every phrase, but it was a real accomplishment to even get her up there.

After the service we fellowshipped for a long while. It was during this time, that Josiah came to me with a bloody nose. This was the result of putting a stick in his nostril while playing outside. I had to explain to him why he should not do it again – somewhere in his head is a brain, however large or small, and he might hurt himself badly if he continued to perform such daring feats. Abigail sat in a briar bush. Esther had her first taste of chocolate in the form of an Oreo cookie. If we had been a traveling circus (no comments, please), the sideshows might have been advertised something like this:

“Come see the world’s greatest brainless boy – he carries his brain on an ordinary stick!”

“Don’t miss the incredible howling, jumping girl! She can leap small fences at a single bound!”

“See the amazing bearded baby! Even though she has a beard, her head is as bald as a jug! Scientists are baffled by this seeming anomaly!”

We put the children to bed before they could do any more damage to themselves or anyone else.

Paul is complaining of needing a haircut, so I will add him to the circus bill.

“The one and only six foot plus Preaching Hairball!”

And of course, you know the show isn’t over until the fat lady sings…

I guess it is a good thing that we aren’t a circus after all.

From Southern Indiana

Ministry Update

After a good close to our meeting in Greer, we had a very action-packed week off, complete with unexpected doctor’s visits in Charlotte and unexpected ministry opportunities. Now we are in Laurel, IN at First Baptist Church. Yesterday was a good day with a man named William Teagarden walking the aisle to trust Christ in the morning service. After the service, he informed his relatives that he had to go home and pour out all his beer that he just bought last week. He is planning to be baptized on Wednesday night. In the pastor’s opinion, last night was a particularly good service in which some people really got some things right with God. This meeting is supposed to go through Friday of this week, but there has already been talk of extending it if God begins to break things open. Please be in prayer. I don’t know if I have ever been in a church that worked as hard as this church does. They seem to all be involved in the ministry in some way, even though the pastor is the only full time staff member. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of their ministry here. Please be in prayer for the services at 6 o’clock EDT each night.

Family Update

We have finally done it – allergy testing for Josiah. While at the doctor’s office in Shelby, his pediatrician recommended that Josiah be tested for allergies. I agreed to set up an appointment if possible while we were in the area. When I went to schedule the appointment, I told the secretary that I had a window of three days the next week that we could have it done. She was aghast, and told me that it usually takes about two weeks to get in to the allergist. I left, and went home, where I told Paul about it, and we agreed that if the Lord wanted us to have it done, He would work out the timing. To be honest, I really didn’t think about it again, because I didn’t think it was going to work out. The following Monday, I received a call from the doctor’s office, asking if I had received any paperwork in the mail. “No,” I said. “Why?” The receptionist proceeded to inform me that Josiah had an appointment in Charlotte in two hours! Talk about high gear! We raced around the house, getting everything ready, and took off as soon as possible, making it in the nick of time for the appointment!

They performed a skin test, or scratch test on him, with 74 different substances, mostly trees, pollens, weeds, grasses, molds, with a few foods thrown in for good measure (we made sure that neither peanuts nor eggs were in the lineup). He came back very high in almost all the trees, grasses, and weeds, as well as several of the foods. His back was just a mass of welts, but he was very brave, and we were proud of him. The allergist told us that he wanted to have a blood test done for the food allergies, because it is more accurate than the skin test for foods. So, three days later, we had blood drawn for that in Shelby. Josiah did not do very well on that day. He made more fuss over that one needle than he did over the all 74 of the others. We are now awaiting the results of that test. Please pray with us that the results will be very definite, with no “iffy” reactions. This will help us to better control his asthma, hopefully, and stay far away from the hospital. The allergist was convinced that if we can keep his allergies under control, we would have no issues with his asthma. He wanted to start allergy shots right way, but because of our travel schedule, it was not possible. I was relieved, but I am sure that Josiah would have been more so, had he known what was in the works – shots three times a week for six weeks and then decreasing over time. Anyway, for now, we are done. Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom concerning further treatment.

The whole family was able to go fishing the other day. This was quite an event for us, as you might imagine. Abigail ran around with a stick and splashed in the water “catching” leaves, while Esther sat on the bank and played with her cheerio container. Paul, Josiah, and I caught fish. I would like to tell everyone that I caught more fish than Paul, and that mine were bigger, too…but that would not be true. He threw half of mine back, saying that they were “borderline” keepers, but between just us, I think he was worried that I was going to school him. I forgot to mention that Paul also caught the smallest fish. Josiah caught a nice-sized bluegill. He had been casting, and was upset because he couldn’t reel in his line. No wonder – there was a fish on the other end. He was rather excited about it. We caught a total of 13 fish, which we summarily devoured that evening for dinner – after cleaning and cooking them, of course!

Esther is nine months old and such a cutie! She is not crawling yet, but it probably won’t be too much longer before she is. She still has only two teeth, and her newest trick is “kissing.” She puckers up her little lips and goes “pk, pk, pk.” Then she gives the cutest little grin. Her favorite trick, though, is blowing raspberries (this is also known as the Bronx cheer). I think she takes great delight in spraying spittle all over our faces. Abigail always says, “Essa pitted on me! Eew! Das yucky!” Josiah is almost through his first year of school (six weeks and counting). He has learned so much this year. He is all boy, though, and we rarely have a chance to forget it. He informed us the other day that burping makes him happy. Relieved, I might understand, but happy?? Abigail is finally taking the initiative in potty training. We have seen so much success this week, that I have great hopes of this being the last package of diapers for her. Rejoice, but keep praying!

We have a lot going on right now, which is why the updates haven’t been as regular as we would like. Please continue to pray that the Lord would use us, and that we would have safety as we travel. We had several close calls on our way to Indiana. Paul would probably attribute it to all those “Yankee drivers,” or worse, “crazy woman drivers,” but whatever the case, the Lord kept us safe. When I suggested to Paul that it might be his driving that was the problem, he looked at me in horrified astonishment, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. Now he said I am not allowed to write any more updates as punishment for my insulting him. Well, so long until the next time!

God's Blessing

The Lord has been giving us a great meeting here in Greer. Last night there was a girl that came forward visibly broken. She ended up trusting Christ as Savior. Tonight there was a couple that came to me after the service and told me that they had come intending to ask me for counsel. They had been involved in a problem for about a year with someone else and they were unsure of how to Scripturally deal with the problem. After the service, they told me that the Lord had used the message to answer all their questions and all their prayers regarding the situation.

Please pray for the service tomorrow night. It is school night and there seems to be an air of excitement in the air. Pray that God will give us a good service with many trusting Christ.

Paul

Good Start

The Lord gave us a good start to our meeting here in Greer, SC today. We saw a young married woman come and trust Christ in the morning service. Her husband was a relative of one of the ladies in the church and the young couple had been the objects of prayer for quite some time. I have a lot of family and friends in the area (I was brought up just 15 minutes down the road in Taylors, SC), many of whom need to get right with God. Please pray with me that they will both attend and be saved.

This morning in Sunday school, I preached a message entitled "The Glory of His Presence." It was a message from Luke 24 about the two men on the road to Emmaus. After Sunday school, an elderly gentleman came to me and told me that he was a Catholic. He recounted how he would pray often for others and frequently his prayers would be answered, but he said that he could not feel the presence of God when he prayed for himself. After explaining that God's presence is not necessarily perceived by the physical senses, I began to inquire about his salvation. He told me that he was trusting in Christ and the fact that he had been a good person. I answered from Luke 18 with the story of the Pharisee and the publican. I counseled him to begin reading his Bible, telling him just where to start and outlining a simple plan for him. While he is not saved yet, I have confidence that he will be saved soon. He told me of Catholic Bible studies that he sometimes attended and asked me if it would be better for him to attend a Bible study or read the Bible on his own. I suggested that he read on his own. I told one of the saved couple who had brought him, "I have staked his eternal destiny on the power of God's Word to convince a man of his need for salvation." It would not surprise me if this man is in his Bible right now doing just what I counseled him to do. Please pray for George, that the Spirit of God would illuminate his understanding as he reads the Scripture and that he would give up Roman Catholicism and trust Christ alone for salvation.

The meeting is to close Friday night with a special School Night. Please be in prayer that many parents and students will be saved at this special service. God is doing great things already and we look for Him to continue.

Paul