Traveling Circus

Ministry Update
Thank you so much for praying for our ministry. The Lord gave us another great meeting at Maranatha Baptist Church in Yorktown, Virginia. The purpose of the meeting was an evangelistic outreach to teens in the area. On Monday and Tuesday, the teens of the church met and went out trying to get others to come. The actual activities and preaching services began on Wednesday. By the end of the meeting Friday night, ten people had trusted Christ as Savior. On Sunday, a girl who had been in all three nights of the rally without trusting Christ was in church and troubled about her soul. She came to a teen of the church and expressed her concern. She was saved on the church bus as she was being returned to her house after the service.

After a brief stay home in NC, we were off to Missouri for a Sunday. The Lord gave us a great day there that seems to promise more meetings in the area in the future. Wednesday night, I got to meet Dr. James Beller, the Baptist historian and join him in his church in the St. Louis, MO area. Sunday begins another revival in Urbana, IL. Thank you for your prayers for us.

My book is currently in the design phase. We are discussing fonts and layout and that sort of thing. I will keep you posted.

Family Update
We have had a rather eventful week. On Sunday, one of the church members told me that they had a petting zoo at their home and that we were welcome to bring the kids over. So, after dinner, we did just that. Esther was so excited that she nearly danced a jig when we let her out of the truck. She kept saying, “Animal! Animal!” while stomping her feet and twirling in circles. They had donkeys, goats, ponies, rabbits, pigs, chickens, a buffalo, and llamas. One of the llamas was a baby of three days old – he was so cute! The kids all loved feeding and petting the animals. That night at church, the owner told us that we were welcome to bring the kids over to ride the ponies the next day. What squealing and jumping there was when that announcement was made later that night. The first thing Esther said the next morning was, “Ride the pony, please?” I really didn’t think she would ride the pony, since she was scared to pet it, but I was willing to give it a try. After school, we went over to the farm, and rode the pony. It was a great success! I could hardly pry Esther off the back of the horse – she kept saying, “Again!” Josiah and Abigail also enjoyed it – Josiah pretending to be a cowboy shooting Indians while riding along the trail. I took tons of pictures and then we went home.

We went fishing in a small farm pond that evening. I got skunked, but only because my fish jumped into the air and got off the hook while I was reeling him in. Oh, well. While Paul and I were fishing, the kids played in the pasture that surrounded the pond. Esther looked like a little street urchin when we left. She had removed her pigtails, so her hair looked somewhat like Einstein, and she was covered in mud and, possibly, cow manure. But did they ever have a good time!

We headed out yesterday for St.Louis, and although it was not a long drive, we made several stops. One time, I told the kids to get out and stretch their legs. Abigail promptly got out of her seat, walked around to the other side of the truck and sat down on the curb. She then proceeded to stick each leg up in the air and pull on it. After a brief moment, I realized that she was stretching her legs – literally!

Some of you may be wondering about the soon arrival of our next little one. We are planning to be back in NC for the birth, and, barring something unusual, he will be born in the hospital in Shelby. Of course, there is always the possibility of Paul delivering him on the side of the road somewhere between Indiana and North Carolina, but we are really hoping that won’t be necessary. Right now, we have a countdown of less than five weeks until “Fred” arrives (that was the “name” we gave the baby before we knew if it was a boy or a girl). The kids frequently come up and shout at my stomach, “HEY, FRED!” Even Esther knows that “Fred is in Mama’s tummy.” We really aren’t going to name him Fred… If he is born early on Halloween, maybe we will name him Scare. Get it, Scare Crow? Just kidding.

I am doing as well as can be expected for someone in “my condition.” Imagine a small elephant stuffed in a truck cab with four other people for hours on end. Behind the elephant are two hyenas, and one monkey who feels it is her job to give the elephant a back massage by kicking the back of the seat incessantly. Blaring over the speakers and the children is reruns of Patch the Pirate, which get old rather quickly when you are over the age of twelve. Add to this the din of incoming phone calls, honking horns, screeching brakes, and rumble strips, and you have a good idea of what our road trips are like. Then when the elephant finally crawls out of the fetal position it was forced into, and hobbles its way back to the trailer, it finds that the zig-zagging roads have caused the contents of every cupboard and closet to vacate their normal positions and fall out as soon as you open the door. I have heard that elephants do not enjoy being surprised, but I can vouch for the fact that they really do not enjoy being avalanched. Only a few more weeks – I can handle it. The question is, “Can the rest of the family manage until then?”