Lap of Luxury - An RV Park

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful time of ministry among the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. I was able to preach, not only in the church, but the in tribal jail as well. It was amazing to me how relevant the Word of God was for every situation. As I preached one message, the pastor told of a woman there who claimed to be saved, but was not living for the Lord. When I read the Scripture of Titus 3:1-7, verse 3 read like a biographical sketch of this woman. She did not stay for the fellowship afterward the service, but left in a huff. I would rather see a negative response than no response at all.

Now we are back in the big city with cell phone service, and high speed internet. If you want to send us your pictures of how you were snowbound, now would be the time to do it. Thursday we head back east for a while. We will see some of you and we are looking forward to it.

Paul

Family Update

It has been an eventful weekend here in the Phoenix area. We pulled into Sun City, AZ on Thursday afternoon, and met the pastor at the hotel/RV park. Ahhh… an RV park, where they are set up to handle our kind of rig. No messing around with power boxes in the dark, uphill sewer connections, needle’s eye parking spaces – you know – the normal routine we go through at most churches. We had been looking forward to having some extra fellowship with the pastor and his wife (Ben & Stacy Schwanke) before the meeting started, but found out very soon after arriving that it would not work out. The pastor announced that they had been kicked out of their condo that very day and were living with his parents’ house about thirty minutes north of the city. By the way, it wasn’t because they didn’t pay their rent. Apparently there were some renovations that had to be done, and this was the only time the contractor could get to it. No problem – dinner at our trailer tomorrow, we said.

They arrived the next day, and we had a good time of fellowship and then the men went outside to grill some steaks. While I prepared the rest of the dinner, Paul took charge of the grilling. All was going well, until he noticed that the temperature inside the grill had gone from 300 degrees to 600 degrees in a very short time. Slightly curious, and perhaps suspicious, he lifted the lid. Flames shot out and singed all the hair on one side of his head, as well as his eyebrows and eyelashes. “Wow,” said Ben, never one to overstate matters. Fortunately, no one was hurt, although the grease fire did damage the steaks to some degree. The rest of the evening progressed uneventfully, for which we were all thankful.

Saturday began to look like a normal day. Laundry, household chores, and the kids playing outside were the big items on our list of things to do. Paul noticed that both entrances/exits to the hotel/RV park were cordoned off with yellow tape. Strange, he thought, that they would block off both exits at once. Whatever. Then the neighbors started packing up their motor homes and leaving en masse, some driving over the sidewalk to make their escape. The hotel was repaving the parking lot, as well as the entire RV lot. This entailed moving everyone at least once. The disgruntled seniors next to us decided that they would rather pack up and go to another park to unpack than pack up and move just a few hundred yards. The baton fell on us this morning as we were leaving for church. Could we move to space #46 sometime today? “Sure,” Paul said, “No problem.” We left for church, and after dinner with some of the church people, came back to the park. It only took a few minutes to get everything taken down, and we headed over to the designated space. Then, things began to go bad. Paul backed into the space while I waved my arms back and forth to direct him. The pad was very narrow, and when he pulled onto it, I quickly saw that we would not be able to open the living room slide without hitting the power box. Well, we can always pull back farther – no, the concrete wall would do considerable damage to the rear end of the trailer if we did that. Hmmm. Pull forward – no, now we are hanging out over the driveway. Paul made a trip up to the front desk to find out what was protocol in this situation. “Oh, just pull into the dirt,” they told him. Okaaay. We pulled into the dirt beside the pad and our clearance problems were over. Now we had leveling problems. Simple enough to fix – just a few minutes, and we were level.

I went in to put the kids down for their Sunday afternoon nap and discovered that Abigail had a world-class “blowout” diaper. While I cleaned up the carnage, Paul re-entered the trailer. “Don’t expect me to help you with anything for about ten minutes,” I told him. “Abigail really outdid herself on this one.” He responded with, “We’ve got bigger problems than a blowout.” This was not good. I thought. What is he talking about? “The front jacks aren’t responding at all. Zilch. Zip. Nada.” Ooooh, that is bad. He went back outside, and I finished my disgusting chore. After putting the kids into their beds, I went out to turn on the AC, as it was getting rather warm in the trailer. Poke, poke, poke, went the thermostat, but nothing happened. No lights, no sounds, no power. I went outside to share the glad tidings with my husband. “But the microwave was blinking,” he protested. I went back inside. Sure enough, the microwave was blinking, but still no power in the “nerve center” of the trailer. No lights in the front half of the trailer, and no electricity in the outlets. He decided to check the box. Much to our relief, the fault lay with the box, and not with our trailer. We reported this to the front desk, and asked if we could move to another spot. No, there are no other open spots. Unless you would like to move to #69, which has electricity, wireless internet, and water, but no sewer. Or #47, which has sewer and water, but no power. It has a great little brick patio, though. “Great,” I thought, “Does that come with an electric blanket, too?” No, but for your inconvenience, you get free breakfast every day of your stay in the hotel dining room. Doubtless, replete with foods that the children cannot have, but a great gesture on the park owner’s part. No worries, they said, you should be back to your original spot by Tuesday morning. I am beginning to get a taste of what the Israelites went through during the wilderness journey. Free breakfast, but a lot of moving around without getting anywhere.

After church tonight, we came home and Paul started working on the power problem. The kids thought it was great fun to have the one working light flickering on and off with a strobe effect. Esther was crying incessantly, and I was making the top bunk which had been flooded the night before by the inhabitant. Making an RV bunk is difficult under the best of circumstances, but it was not nearly that tonight. The lone flashlight beam flickered every once in a while, lending a double strobe effect to the task. Esther screeched. It was beginning to remind me of a low-budget horror movie. Thankfully, I didn’t fall off the swaying ladder. Then the process of getting the kids into their pajamas began. “Where’s your shirt? There it is! (lights go out, come back on) There it is again!”

Finally, after the children had been in bed for some time, the lights came on and stayed on – all of them! I cheered, softly, so as not to waken the sleeping baby in my arms. After messing with the box for quite a while, Paul realized that the RV next to ours was just parked in the space, and not plugged in, so he borrowed their power box, and we have heat, power, and sewer. Now if we just had some water…

Out West

Ministry Update

God gave us a wonderful time of ministry in California, allowing us to see souls saved at two different churches in which I preached. In addition, we were able to meet a new pastor of a church in which we had ministered before. God really knit our hearts together and we had a lot of sweet fellowship together with him and his family as well as with Tim and Megan Schmidt, friends from college.

The last three pastors that we have been with, including Byron Sarracino on the Indian reservation (see below), have been very refreshing in that they are very immune to ministerial politics. Having seen some politics in California, it is a breath of fresh air to be with people who only want to please God, not other people.

Now we are in New Mexico preaching for a Native American pastor whom we have grown to love. The fellowship with him and his family is always sweet and we are grateful to be here. The meeting closes tomorrow after which time we will head to Phoenix to close out our time in the West. Thank you, as always, for your prayers.

Family Update

I have succumbed to the overwhelming pleas of the masses, and decided to write another update. “Finally,” you think. I do have somewhat against thee, in that you have too much time worrying about e-mails that you haven’t received. Just kidding – we really appreciate each one of you that pray for our family. We have come off of a week and a half of great meetings in California. We made some wonderful new friends, and renewed some old acquaintances. The Lord blessed in the meetings and we saw several people saved both in the services and on church visitation!

Now we are saying goodbye to the sunny west coast, home of the In-N-Out burger, which, by the way, is the best “fast food” you will ever taste. It is worth the trip out here just for the experience! California – the place where you let someone turn in front of you, and they give you the “peace sign.” Where dumpster diving is a way of life. Where fruits, nuts, and flakes are on every corner! This is not necessarily talking about humans, although it could apply in some cases. Ha!

Presently, we are on our way to Grants, New Mexico, just west of Albuquerque for a three day meeting that will close on Sunday. Some of you have asked what we do all day in the truck and how the kids travel. They travel quite well, and today has been especially calm. Since we have been homeschooling Josiah, we haven’t really had to rearrange our schedule for travel until this week. So – we did school in the truck today. It was mostly a day of review, and I had all kinds of flashcards. Addition, phonics blends, one-vowel words, sight words, memory verses, and songs. We have been learning a new hymn each week since the beginning of the semester. This enables Josiah to participate in the song service a little better. He also read aloud several books today, his favorite being “Green Eggs and Ham,” by Dr. Seuss. He was able to read it all on his own, with only a few unfamiliar words. I am so proud of him – he loves his new freedom to read, and it makes entertaining him a lot easier. I think we have heard “Green Eggs and Ham” about five times today, in addition to “The Cat and the Hat,” “One Fish, Two Fish,” and “Hop on Pop.”

Esther has been pretty happy today in spite of being sick. She has slept a lot, and when awake, has been entertained by her siblings. Abigail has been quite a pill today, taking every advantage to plague her younger sister – taking her toys, taking her blanket, taking her pacifier, etc. We were all a little bit thankful when she finally fell asleep. Esther, never one to miss an opportunity, decided to retaliate by yanking out Abigail’s hair bows when her nodding head got too close to the car seat.

Paul likes to listen to sermons on CD while he drives. This keeps his mind occupied, and lessens the risk of him falling asleep on long drives. This is top priority for all of us, as you can imagine. Typically, as we drive, I am multi-tasking. My day goes something like this: put new CD into player, tell Abigail to leave Esther alone, turn up volume on CD so that everyone can hear over “Green Eggs and Ham” being read aloud, tell Abigail to stop hitting Esther, turn on AC since I am roasting on the south side of the vehicle, discuss point in sermon with Paul, correct Josiah’s mispronounced word, tell Abigail to quit kicking the back of my seat, turn AC on again, since Paul(on the north side of the vehicle) turned it off due to frostbite, answer phone, call person back since our reception fades during the conversation, tell Abigail to give Esther’s pacifier back, give kids a snack, give kids a drink, pick up Abigail’s sippy cup and refill it, change CD, stop for fuel, change diapers and take restroom break, buckle kids back into seats, etc. This is repeated several times in random order depending on how long the trip is.

Josiah and Abigail had a first- time experience while we were in Escondido, CA. Josiah came in to tell me that “not on accident” they “bit the grass.” My response was somewhat incredulous. “You mean,” I said, “you ATE the grass?” He nodded, smiling hugely. I figured I would just let it go with only a warning not to do it again in the future, explaining that only horses and cows eat grass, not people. “What about sheep? Do they eat grass?” he asked. “What about deer? What about dogs? And cats? What about…Mama, why are you pulling your hair out?”

California!

Ministry Update

The meeting here in Fundamental Baptist Church in Escondido is going very well. We enjoyed the church ever since we first came, but this time there is a wonderful spirit that seems to pervade the church. God’s people have been so sensitive and the altar has been filled every night with people making things right. The church has a new pastor, their previous pastor having retired. The man that God has brought to the church is a tremendous blessing and God has allowed us to form a real friendship with him and his family. The fellowship with all of the church has been really sweet this time and we praise the Lord for the way He is working. The meeting goes through Friday. Please continue to pray not only for this meeting, but also for next week, that the Lord would open up a place for us to minister.

Family Update

Getting back into the swing of things took a few days for our family as we adjusted to yet another time change when we entered California. We had finally adjusted to Mountain Standard Time while we were in Mexico, so we were ready to take the final step. Dark circles and all, there we were fellowshipping after the services each night. If you do the math, we start our services at 10:00 pm EST. That means if Paul gets too long-winded, which, of course, he never does(!), we get out around midnight, and then talk for another 30 – 60 minutes. Half the time, I get “the Yawns,” as we call them while people are telling me how glad they are to see us again, and what a blessing the service was. I really can’t help yawning. Have you ever tried to hold a yawn? First, your eyes begin to water, then your nose twitches, and finally, your face turns a light purple as you compress your lips to keep from exploding with a yawn in the face of the dear church member who is talking to you. If they get a concerned look on their face, take a deep breath. This will relieve them, and they will continue the conversation. If they don’t notice, and just keep talking, go ahead and yawn, but make sure to cover your mouth. Most people don’t care to see your uvula, no matter how much of a blessing they say you are!

Josiah has entered the doldrums of Kindergarten. He now realizes that school is not always fun, and that he would much rather be playing with Legos than stuck in his desk writing for endless hours. He still does well, though. The distraction level is at an all-time high, however, with two younger sisters always present. I have managed to encourage him to finish quickly with bribes of getting to play in the church nursery when he is done. I really don’t see the appeal of the nursery to a five-year-old, but I am apparently missing something. It is a real incentive.

The other day, we had gone somewhere as a family, and had to get ready quickly before the service. I called out as we headed to the trailer, “Last one there is a rotten egg!” Josiah, who arrived at the trailer first, was highly excited, and said, “I’m the rotten egg!” Then he asked what a rotten egg was. I told him it was very stinky and yucky, and he seemed satisfied with that explanation. Later, however, I realized that he hadn’t quite grasped the concept. As we headed out the door for the service, Abigail said, “I’m the leader!” Josiah followed this with “And I’m the rotten egg!” I guess he thought it was a good thing. Then he said, “Abigail is a rotten egg, too, but I’m the fastest rotten egg!” Abigail did not like to be called a rotten egg, and violently protested that she was not an egg, she was the leader. And so, we headed off to church, laughing all the way.

The kids received a new game today. Whack-a-mole. You can just about guess what that is from the name of it. A battery operated toy that plays electronic music and talks. The gist of the game is to hit the proper mole before the light goes off. It comes with four plastic hammers and when your mole makes his sound, you have to hit it with the hammer. “Duh, yeah, oops, and ruff” accompanied by goofy laughs and music are the assorted sounds of the mole population. The game starts off well enough, but soon a missed mole turns into a free-for all with the hammers, and Whack-a Mole escalates into Whack-a-Sibling. The excitement is terrific, and so is the noise. Paul and I sit back and watch, thankful that we aren’t playing, and that one day, the batteries will die.