Summer

 The heat of summer is here in Mississippi, along with all the accompanying activities. The original plan was to be in Papua, New Guinea, at this time, but that meeting had to cancel. Accordingly, we find ourselves ministering in our church in Mississippi, at least those of the family who are here.

Josiah has moved out of our home and has taken a position on staff at our home church, Clearview Baptist Church in Southaven, MS. He will heavily involved in music, both in the church and Christian school. Currently, he is busy readying the facility for school, along with the rest of the staff.

Daniel is away as well, having finished a ministry trip to Nebraska and entered his first of two consecutive weeks of camp. The first is Camp Barnabas, a camp run by Ambassador Baptist College for young people considering full-time ministry. The second week will be Timber Ridge Bible Camp, a ministry of Grace Baptist Church in Woodstock, Virginia. Esther has been serving on program staff there all summer. Her last week begins this coming Monday.

As for Abigail, she has been serving in the Platte Valley Baptist Church of Fort Morgan, Colorado, completing her college internship. She is to return today, provided the flight schedules work out for her.

Sarah and I are trying to fight coming of old age with all of its trappings. Particularly acute right now is our growing addiction to quiet. Not many weeks ago, the piano in our home was going nearly 18 hours a day. Someone would be singing at the top of (usually) his voice, while other sounds randomly mingled their way into the cacophony. As I type this, there is no sound save that of the keyboard in front of me. I have had my time with God in total silence for several days on end, and I can feel the tentacles of addiction wrapping themselves about my psyche. The fear is, of course, that if I become addicted to quiet that I might become a grumpy old man when those around me are less than serene. 

Soon, however, three of our children will be back, although not for long. Abigail returns to college for her final year this year, after which she plans to be married. She has been officially engaged now for a few weeks. 

As July winds down, we will need to turn our attention to getting our trailer ready to travel. We need new tires because the old ones are cracking in the side walls, and one of them has a leak. Every time we move it, we have to pump up the tire. The issue was minor whenever Sarah was teaching at Ambassador, but once we are going to be in a new place every week, we need dependable tires. This will be the most costly trailer procedure that needs to be done, but also the easiest.

In addition, we have two sewer valves that are leaking. That means that the entire underbelly of the trailer has to be taken off the valves replaced. You may remember that we did this once before, but there seems to be an ongoing issue. Additionally, the rear tank has a leaking valve as well. We did not try to tackle the rear valve earlier.

By September, we should be on the road nearly every week pulling the trailer. Please pray for fruit as we minister.