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