Ministry Update
The Lord gave us a wonderful meeting in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at the Berean Baptist Church where Tim Riley is the pastor. The church had just finished a building program and, according to Pastor Riley, really needed the meeting. There was not a service in which there were not first time visitors present, and several key people who had been struggling made some public decisions during the meeting. It was a blessing to be able to be used of God.
Some time ago our trailer’s propane system had sprung a leak. Because of this leak, we simply shut the supply of gas off and went without propane for several months. Summer is a good time to run that way, if you must. The greatest problem of running without propane is that you have no cooling when you are driving down the road, the refrigerator needing propane to cool. We were getting by, but praying that God would allow us to get the leak fixed.
On Sunday, a man in the church came to me and asked if there was anything that he could do for us during the week. He told me that his business was heating and air conditioning. I told him about the propane leak and made an appointment to get it fixed. In the providence of God, there was enough spare black iron pipe just lying around at the church (it had been a bar and grill before the church purchased the facility and renovated it for church use) to fix the problem. I had to purchase some fittings and clamps, but the total repair bill was just under $10. Praise the Lord, as winter comes, we have propane again.
Family Update
Things have been hectic the last few weeks – but then, that is usual. In fact, you should probably just assume that things are crazy around our house all the time, and if there is ever an exception, I will let you know. Some of that is a result of my husband scheduling back-to-back meetings in opposite corners of the USA. People ask me, “Where are you going next?” (By the way, I never know if they are just being polite, or if they really want to know where the circus will be next week so that they can stay away.) I launch into our itinerary with an auctioneer’s flair, “Well, let’s see… We are in western Nebraska this week, and next week we will be in eastern Minnesota, then the week after that, we will be about ten miles from here. Then we have a 500 mile drive for another meeting and then a 900 mile drive in the opposite direction, but the next week, we go right back…” When their eyes begin to glaze over, I pause, at which interval, they breathe a sigh (perhaps of relief that they are not in evangelism) and say “WOW! You sure do get around!” Yes, I have to agree, we do get around. I must also say that our schedule is much more area-targeted than it used to be. You may have heard of dying the death of one thousand screams. I told Paul that would be his fate if he ever pulled another “Mexico to Minnesota in three days” trip again.
The death of one thousand screams could be riding in the car with four tired, bored, cranky, hungry kids for three days. Make that in Nebraska, on a two-lane road with no rest areas or restaurants for 200 miles, and no berm so that we can pull over and fix our own lunch. Every couple considering marriage should try this stunt at least once to ascertain if they are really “compatible.” I will even loan you our kids. Heh, heh, heh. They are highly trained at testing compatibility, creating the most realistic stressful conditions. For instance, they begin by lulling you into a false sense of tranquility by playing happily with their own toys until you pass the last exit to civilization. Then, as if by previous arrangement, a fight breaks out. Child B no longer wants her toy – she wants the toy that Child C has. Snatching it with an evil laugh, she foists her toy upon the now enraged Child C, who promptly throws it to the floor and bursts into loud, indiscernible complaints interspersed with tears, waking Child D, who had been sleeping for 20 minutes. Child A whirls around in his seat to see the fracas, meanwhile kicking the leg of Adult X, causing him to accelerate rather abruptly. Adult Y, who had also turned around, gasps audibly and erupts with threats about Cracker Jack revoking Adult X’s license. This causes Adult X’s blood pressure to rise and he offers Adult Y the option of driving. Adult Y snaps back that she would rather have the option of walking, but the ensuing melee quickly diverts her attention once again. While Child B and C are arguing, Child D decides that “Carpe diem” is his motto for the afternoon, and grabs a handful of Child B’s hair. After extricating Child B from the tight-fisted grasp of Child D, Adult Y extracts apologies and promises of kindness from all parties involved. Child D, however, having had a power nap, is now hungry two hours sooner than anticipated, and begins wailing loudly. At this point, the pastor usually calls, wondering if we have been abducted by aliens. After assuring him that we have only been waylaid by wild Indians, the conversation ends with him saying something like this: “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full!” If he only knew! Child A begins to whine about his hunger pangs forcing the issue to the table, as it were. Adult X tells the children, who are now chorusing together about their lack of sustenance, that there is plenty to eat if they like grass, trees, and buffalo chips. Adult Y announces in a threatening tone that they WILL stop at the VERY NEXT AVAILABLE PLACE, right, DEAR???? Adult X now drives doggedly, eyes darting back and forth for the slightest widening of the road, but to no avail. Finally, he pulls over close to a driveway. “Why are you stopping here?” queries Adult Y. “Do we know these people?” Adult X says no, he is just stopping so Adult Y can make lunch. Adult Y peevishly argues that she isn’t going to sit in the ditch in front of someone’s house and make lunch – just keep driving. Adult X drives, the cacophony behind him urging him ever onward, ever faster. The children grow quiet as their stomach juices eat their tongues, and some of them even fall into a trance. Then one of them breaks the silence by hallucinating out loud, “Look! McDoodles!” Sure enough, there it looms, the nemesis of all travelers with young children. Adult Y begins whining, “Oh, do we have to go there?” She well knows that, despite its innocent sounding Scottish name, this establishment is actually descended from the ancient patriarch Montezuma whose revenge is only somewhat abated by the passage of centuries. Adult X grimaces, but pulls into the parking lot anyway. The children erupt from the truck, screeching, “YAY! McDoodles!” Meanwhile, Adult Y searches her purse for a bottle of TUMS and swallows half a dozen, handing the rest of the bottle to Adult X. Thirty minutes and three gallons of grease later, the family is herded back into the truck. Adult Y blots the grease off of her tongue with an extra napkin and settles in for the rest of the drive. Two hours and fourteen potty breaks later, they arrive at the church, thoroughly exhausted.
School is going smoothly, and we are all learning new things. Abigail has taught me this year that all the vowels say “uh” and all the consonants say “um.” It is getting a little easier each day for her and she is really excited. Josiah has a lot more work this year than previously, which is a sore trial for an eight-year-old with a big imagination. He is learning division and punctuation as well as creative writing. His piano lessons are improving, and two weeks ago he played a duet with me for the offertory. It was really exciting for both of us! Esther is my little helper – always wanting to wash the dishes and go to the store with me. Daniel is beginning to realize the potential of movement. He can crawl faster than a speeding locomotive, and wreak destruction and havoc faster than his siblings can believe. He loves the vacuum cleaner, and I think his extreme interest in it can be attributed to the fact that it is the only thing that can eat Cheerios faster than he can.
Josiah has been struggling with his asthma a bit the last week or two and it may be due to the change in seasons. Please pray that we have wisdom as we treat his asthma, and that he would remain healthy. We have been blessed with some wonderful meetings, and the Lord continues to meet our needs and open new doors of ministry for us. We are so thankful for your prayers, and we appreciate the part you have in our ministry.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Plains Update
Ministry Update
The Lord has given us good meetings in the heartland of the United States. I have met some men that I had not known before, and God has given us some wonderful fellowship on the basis of our salvation and desire to serve Christ. One of the men that I have met is another evangelist by the name of Rodney Stewart. I had never met him before, but he eyed me askance as I walked into church with the rest of my family. (It was one of our Wednesday’s off; I was not preaching anywhere that night.) After a while, he asked me if he knew me, and after my negative assurances, he realized that he had seen my picture on the back cover of a book named Cliffs and Fences. Pastor Surrett of our home church had told me that things like that would happen. He told of men whom he had never met who had picked up his book from he knew not where and had read it, then favorably passing it on to others. The same thing has happened to me in the case of Rod Stewart. More and more, the stories are getting back to me of how the Lord has been using my book in their lives. We praise the Lord for answered prayer in this matter. (If you would like a copy of my book and have not yet gotten one, you can order by clicking here.)
One of the ways that the Lord is providing for our financial needs is with money from table sales. In between my book, Sarah’s piano book, and my two Baptist history series, we are often kept busy after the services at our table. We praise the Lord that these materials are getting into the hands of God’s people.
Thank you for your prayers for our ministry. The Lord has planted seed thoughts in my head for another book. I would ask that you pray for me in this regard. Some might wonder if the next book may have something to do with Baptist history. My answer is, Wait and see.
Family Update
Well, greetings from windy South Dakota! Our family has been enjoying this trip through the northern Midwest states. The weather has been very mild, and sometimes even cool, which is evidently due to the fact of global warming. This may be a direct result of all the rainforests that have been destroyed by our family in the form of disposable diapers. I am happy to say that we are now going “green” and are only going to be using half the amount of consumable paper products as before. Yes – congratulations are in order for Esther, since she is now a “big girl” and no longer needs diapers! Thank you, thank you… (round of applause).
School started nearly three weeks ago, and we are enjoying the days already. Josiah is now in the third grade, learning the rules of capitalization, the times tables, and the organs of the human body. Abigail is finished learning her five “bowels” and is ready to move on to the consonants. She is doing a great job so far, and is looking forward to reading this year! Esther also does “school,” which basically consists of coloring a pretty picture for Mama each morning. Her interest is waning already, and more often than not, she stops coloring to play with her dolls. We have already had two very neat field trips.
The first was to Itasca State Park, where we waded across the headwaters of the Mississippi River. For those of us that have seen the Mississippi river as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, it is amazing! It is perhaps 15 feet across, and 1-2 feet deep! It was neat, because the kids remembered crossing the Old Miss before, and they couldn’t believe how little it was. As I looked at it, I was reminded of the fact that so many times we allow something in our lives that seems insignificant, but after a little time and distance it is extremely powerful! How carefully we need to guard our hearts and lives from those “little things.”
Our next field trip was a long-coveted one for me. We went to Rapid City, SD, the home of Mount Rushmore. It was a beautiful day – clear skies and a nice breeze. The mountain was impressive! The kids really liked seeing the carved faces of the Presidents. Even Esther got excited. She still likes looking at the pictures and asking which one is Lincoln (she can’t remember any of the other names). We hiked the Presidential Trail, which gave us a several different views of the mountain’s face. We even saw a mountain goat and her baby grazing not far from the walkway. It was hard work walking up and down the stairs, carrying the stroller with Daniel in it, so we had to take a lot of breaks. Esther’s short little legs got kind of tired, and I commented to Paul that she must be worn out when even her pigtails were wilted!
Josiah has had some minor trouble with his asthma the last few weeks, and we are not sure why. It might be because one of the popular crops out here is hay, and it is in the air, especially when they are harvesting, cutting, and raking it. I am just glad that they are not harvesting wheat right now. That would be really hard on him. Please keep him in your prayers. He has also had some random breakouts after eating, which bothers me, since it shouldn’t be happening. Perhaps his system is just reacting to the stress of the airborne allergens.
Daniel continues to grow and is nearly ten months old!!!!! Where has the time gone? He has six, beautiful, shiny, and very sharp teeth. He likes to use these not only on his food, but occasionally on Paul’s and my shoulders. He has decided from our reactions, that perhaps he should just stick to using them for food. He eats at an alarming rate, and is learning to drink from a cup as well. However, whenever possible I give him his own cup, because I do not like as many “floaties” in my drink as he does. He is crawling and pulling up, too, but not yet walking. Sometimes he will get up and then cannot figure out how to get down again. This results in a lot of hollering on his part until one of us rescues him. He definitely enjoys his mobility, and he siblings are now being a little more careful about where they leave their most precious belongings. He has had a few minor skin rashes, and I think they are due to having some egg and milk in his food, so we will be eliminating those items from his diet. Nothing new – he just wants to be like his big brother!
We had a blessing a few weeks ago. I ran across Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free baking mixes and found, to my great delight, that with an egg substitute, Josiah can eat both kinds of cake and the chocolate chip cookies! You should have seen his eyes light up when I told him the goodies were for him! The Lord is so good to give us unexpected blessings!
Our meetings are going well, and we will head to Elkton, SD this weekend for out next meeting. Pray that the Lord will use us to be a blessing to the church there, and that we would see fruit that would remain.
The Lord has given us good meetings in the heartland of the United States. I have met some men that I had not known before, and God has given us some wonderful fellowship on the basis of our salvation and desire to serve Christ. One of the men that I have met is another evangelist by the name of Rodney Stewart. I had never met him before, but he eyed me askance as I walked into church with the rest of my family. (It was one of our Wednesday’s off; I was not preaching anywhere that night.) After a while, he asked me if he knew me, and after my negative assurances, he realized that he had seen my picture on the back cover of a book named Cliffs and Fences. Pastor Surrett of our home church had told me that things like that would happen. He told of men whom he had never met who had picked up his book from he knew not where and had read it, then favorably passing it on to others. The same thing has happened to me in the case of Rod Stewart. More and more, the stories are getting back to me of how the Lord has been using my book in their lives. We praise the Lord for answered prayer in this matter. (If you would like a copy of my book and have not yet gotten one, you can order by clicking here.)
One of the ways that the Lord is providing for our financial needs is with money from table sales. In between my book, Sarah’s piano book, and my two Baptist history series, we are often kept busy after the services at our table. We praise the Lord that these materials are getting into the hands of God’s people.
Thank you for your prayers for our ministry. The Lord has planted seed thoughts in my head for another book. I would ask that you pray for me in this regard. Some might wonder if the next book may have something to do with Baptist history. My answer is, Wait and see.
Family Update
Well, greetings from windy South Dakota! Our family has been enjoying this trip through the northern Midwest states. The weather has been very mild, and sometimes even cool, which is evidently due to the fact of global warming. This may be a direct result of all the rainforests that have been destroyed by our family in the form of disposable diapers. I am happy to say that we are now going “green” and are only going to be using half the amount of consumable paper products as before. Yes – congratulations are in order for Esther, since she is now a “big girl” and no longer needs diapers! Thank you, thank you… (round of applause).
School started nearly three weeks ago, and we are enjoying the days already. Josiah is now in the third grade, learning the rules of capitalization, the times tables, and the organs of the human body. Abigail is finished learning her five “bowels” and is ready to move on to the consonants. She is doing a great job so far, and is looking forward to reading this year! Esther also does “school,” which basically consists of coloring a pretty picture for Mama each morning. Her interest is waning already, and more often than not, she stops coloring to play with her dolls. We have already had two very neat field trips.
The first was to Itasca State Park, where we waded across the headwaters of the Mississippi River. For those of us that have seen the Mississippi river as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, it is amazing! It is perhaps 15 feet across, and 1-2 feet deep! It was neat, because the kids remembered crossing the Old Miss before, and they couldn’t believe how little it was. As I looked at it, I was reminded of the fact that so many times we allow something in our lives that seems insignificant, but after a little time and distance it is extremely powerful! How carefully we need to guard our hearts and lives from those “little things.”
Our next field trip was a long-coveted one for me. We went to Rapid City, SD, the home of Mount Rushmore. It was a beautiful day – clear skies and a nice breeze. The mountain was impressive! The kids really liked seeing the carved faces of the Presidents. Even Esther got excited. She still likes looking at the pictures and asking which one is Lincoln (she can’t remember any of the other names). We hiked the Presidential Trail, which gave us a several different views of the mountain’s face. We even saw a mountain goat and her baby grazing not far from the walkway. It was hard work walking up and down the stairs, carrying the stroller with Daniel in it, so we had to take a lot of breaks. Esther’s short little legs got kind of tired, and I commented to Paul that she must be worn out when even her pigtails were wilted!
Josiah has had some minor trouble with his asthma the last few weeks, and we are not sure why. It might be because one of the popular crops out here is hay, and it is in the air, especially when they are harvesting, cutting, and raking it. I am just glad that they are not harvesting wheat right now. That would be really hard on him. Please keep him in your prayers. He has also had some random breakouts after eating, which bothers me, since it shouldn’t be happening. Perhaps his system is just reacting to the stress of the airborne allergens.
Daniel continues to grow and is nearly ten months old!!!!! Where has the time gone? He has six, beautiful, shiny, and very sharp teeth. He likes to use these not only on his food, but occasionally on Paul’s and my shoulders. He has decided from our reactions, that perhaps he should just stick to using them for food. He eats at an alarming rate, and is learning to drink from a cup as well. However, whenever possible I give him his own cup, because I do not like as many “floaties” in my drink as he does. He is crawling and pulling up, too, but not yet walking. Sometimes he will get up and then cannot figure out how to get down again. This results in a lot of hollering on his part until one of us rescues him. He definitely enjoys his mobility, and he siblings are now being a little more careful about where they leave their most precious belongings. He has had a few minor skin rashes, and I think they are due to having some egg and milk in his food, so we will be eliminating those items from his diet. Nothing new – he just wants to be like his big brother!
We had a blessing a few weeks ago. I ran across Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free baking mixes and found, to my great delight, that with an egg substitute, Josiah can eat both kinds of cake and the chocolate chip cookies! You should have seen his eyes light up when I told him the goodies were for him! The Lord is so good to give us unexpected blessings!
Our meetings are going well, and we will head to Elkton, SD this weekend for out next meeting. Pray that the Lord will use us to be a blessing to the church there, and that we would see fruit that would remain.
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