Together Again

Ministry Update

For the last three weeks, I have been away from my family. It happened that I was to travel under the auspices of a group called Baptist Youth Mission doing children’s Vacation Bible Schools and teen rallies in church in the Midwest and mountain states. After a preliminary training period in March, I was to go for a two-week training period to Sinclair, Wyoming. When it came down to talking schedules, I had no meetings to do. There was one meeting after the two-week training in which I would be an assistant, but other than that one meeting, there were no others.

So I found myself flying alone to the training period and meeting, whereas I had originally planned to drive and take my family. The training was difficult without them—there were times that I could not keep from weeping as Sarah described things that the children were doing in my absence—but I made it through everything and then on to the meeting.

The only VBS we had (children only, no teens) was a big one. We started with 259 and ended up with 394 the last night. There were 39 children that made professions of faith.

It was good, however, to be back with my family. I arrived shortly after 1:00 Sunday morning. After a Monday filled with whirlwind activity, we have left again, this time the entire family in truck and trailer headed for Quakertown, Pennsylvania. I am to preach Wednesday night and then take my son with me to preach a father/son retreat in the mountains of PA. After that, we all head to DE.

Provided I have the time, my book should be done by late summer/early fall. Many of you have expressed interest. I would ask that you pray that God would use its message to make a difference in the hearts of readers.

Family Update

Hooray! Paul is home again! We all missed him greatly. There were times that I thought of leaving the kids and joining him out in Wyoming, but just couldn’t see Josiah watching the girls that whole time. The girls really missed their daddy, and were so glad to see him last Sunday. I could hardly detach Esther from him all day long.

Esther is now two, out of the nursery, and into a Sunday school class. She sat in the service with us for the first time last Sunday night. What an adventure that was! She was so excited to be out there, and kept squealing her delight. It was a rather noisy beginning, but when it was time to go out with her class, she was as ready as we were!

We had her birthday party after Paul got home. It was a much anticipated event, with the other two children making grandiose plans and inviting everyone at church (I found this out after the fact). We just had a simple family dinner and balloons, and, of course, the obligatory round of gifts. It was all very fun, since she kind of knew what to expect. Now that she has entered the “terrible twos,” I am wondering what it was that we have been through in the last six months. She has mastered the art of climbing out of her pack-n-play, as well as taking off her diaper. Not a good combination in any case. We also have gotten rid of the “ma-ma”(pacifier). We are still in transition on that adjustment, but she seems to be doing well.

Josiah is trying to win the “Snaggletooth of the Year” award. He has already lost his bottom front teeth, and now his top front teeth are both loose. Maybe I can teach him to sing, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth…” It will make for some rough eating with all of those teeth gone! He will look like a true redneck. I have also started teaching him piano this summer. He is doing quite well, and nags me about going over to practice his lessons. I have no doubt that he will progress rapidly if he continues in the same manner.

Both Josiah and Abigail participated in our VBS two weeks ago. It was neat to see them working on their verses and songs. Josiah won first place for memory verses in his class over the week. I was really proud of him. Abigail did a great job, too. Esther didn’t learn any verses since there aren’t many that say, “NO – MINE!”

All the children are looking forward to the arrival of their new brother or sister in November. Josiah is really hoping for a brother, and Abigail decided that a brother would be nice so that he wouldn’t get into her stuff. Josiah made the keen observation to me that it didn’t matter if it was a boy or a girl, it would still get into her things. I was very amused by his insight, and laughed about it all evening. I think Esther is going to have a hard time accepting a baby. She is quite possessive of both of her parents. Oh, well – she will learn. We are considering a slight remodeling project in the trailer so that we can fit another child in it. It will take some planning, if that is what we decide. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom in the matter.

We had a rather unpleasant discovery this past week. Paul called me from Kansas, and asked if I had made some charges at a local gas station. I replied that I hadn’t used the credit card in the three weeks he had been gone. After calling the company, he found that someone had gotten our credit card number and been charging things all over the Kings Mountain/Bessemer City area. We cancelled the account immediately, and they are investigating the matter. Thankfully, we weren’t liable for any of the spurious charges, and thankfully, the crook who stole it didn’t go on a cruise to the Virgin Islands. They wouldn’t have gotten very far – probably halfway to Cuba and then gotten thrown to the sharks. That would have served them right. Anyway, Paul had a flurry of activity on Monday to correct some financial things as a result.