Back In Coshocton and Enjoying Fall

Our trip to Pennsylvania was great. The weather was good up, back, and during the visit; we enjoyed great times with family and friends; and had wonderful worship with Karen's home church, Grace Church at Willow Valley.

Tucker is glad we're home.

We drove the seven hours to Lancaster, PA straight in and started out with a get together Friday evening with our small group from Grace. Hosted by Jake and Ruth Anne, we had a "light" dinner based around a potato soup that was so fantastically rich we nearly had to pay taxes on our caloric income.

Saturday afternoon we visited with Duane & Cindy and family and then with Jack & Pat and family. Sunday was worship at Grace and then the rest of the afternoon was preparation and participation in the Shrom Family Christmas and Holiday Extravaganza (Karen's family!). Wow. It was a three day power-packed weekend with all the food, fun, and fellowship we could handle. We were blessed to be able to stay with Karen's brother and his wife, Steve & Cindy and hung out with "Ace", their son Craig's new Beagle puppy.

We arrived home yesterday evening, slept in a bit this morning, and then enjoyed a wonderful fall day. It was in the mid-40's and sunny and jackets were not required. We stacked wood, I worked out in the garage, Karen ran errands...it was great. We've had winter since before Thanksgiving but it looks like we're going to enjoy November's weather heading into January. That's okay.

We have a bunch of little organizational things we'd like to get done around the house, several ministry projects, and a couple fun things still yet to do in preparation for 2009 and we'll be taking them on one task at a time over the next few days. Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

How Cold Is It?

It's cold enough that at home we're using a kerosene heater to take that extra edge off in effort to minimize the furnace's constant cycling. It's cold enough that the dogs enjoy wearing their jackets. It's cold enough that the dogs choose to snuggle up to the kerosene heater while wearing their jackets!

Tanner (blue collar) and Tucker (red collar) enjoy the additional BTU's.

It's cold enough that at MMS the guys have stuffed couch cushions (used for maintenance purposes) all along the bottom edge of the 60 foot sliding doors in Hangar A and have covered the lower part where the doors join with a sheet of foam rubber to help keep the heat in and the cold out.

However, the arctic air mass is moving on. It was 17 degrees this morning when I went into the shop and it's supposed to be 51 tomorrow afternoon. While the warmer weather will be nice, large temperature fluxuations are challenging and it'll soon be back below freezing.

(Apologies to our friends in northern Canada who REALLY understand what COLD is!)

Christmas C-C-C-C-Caroling...

I guess you can't really call yourself a Midwesterner until you've gone Christmas Caroling in sub-zero conditions. It seems Karen and I just earned that honor. Joyce & Kerry, Nathan & Melissa, Miranda, Rashelle, Curt, Jessica, Ella, and Olivia were also part of the group from church who ventured out this evening to sing carols for twelve individuals and families in the Fresno and West Lafayette area. Well, okay the actual temperature was in the single digits but figuring in the wind chill from the steady 25+ mile per hour winds, the temps were in the negative.

I watched part of a football pregame show today where Dan Deardorf, in Florida for the Buccaneer's game, was talking about the temperature there being about 75 with a windchill of 73. 73--I could live with a little bit of that right now.

Our thermometer currently reads 7.9 degrees, wind chill -6. Yeehaw.

Catching Up

The days are are all blurring together right now as the calendar rushes toward Christmas dragging us along with it.

Wednesday
Wednesday was back to MMS to keep working toward the end of the year. The winter storm never did hit but it has stayed cold in the 20's and 30's except when it jumps to the 50's and rains before dropping to 33 degrees and rain with heavy overcast regardless of what the weather is. But then we've been spared all the nasty stuff that arrived north of us and south of us, east of us and west of us.

Thursday
You know how hard days can be good days (in the long-run from a spiritual perspective)? Well, my Thursday at MMS was a hard day. I praise the Lord for His grace and patience with me and the grace and patience of my brothers and sisters at MMS. Growing is painful but God promises to finish what He starts and He's not done with me yet!

Friday
Friday was as good a day as Thursday was hard as I basically spent my entire day in conversation with Dwight and then in the afternoon with Bob as well. We all agree that God is doing great things at MMS and are excited to discover how He is going to choose to reveal and glorify Himself in and through MMS in 2009.

Karen and I had a fun evening as Tim and Michele came over. We built a fire; enjoyed dessert, egg-nog, coffee, and conversation; and watched "A Christmas Carol" featuring George C. Scott.

Today
Karen and I slept in a little as she was soon off to a morning Christmas Tea at a friend's house. I ventured out in our 27 degrees, ran some last pre-Christmas errands, and am now sitting down to write letters, emails, and thank you notes to supporters, friends, and family. That and to try and wrap my head around the fact that Christmas is Thursday.

Christmas Week
We'll be here for Christmas morning, spend Christmas afternoon with friends, and head off to Lancaster, Pennsylvania Friday morning. We'll visit with our small group from Grace Church that night and visit with family and friends on Saturday. Sunday morning we'll worship with our brothers and sisters at Grace Church @ Willow Valley and then take part in the Shrom Christmas Family Gathering and Holiday Extravaganza (Karen's originally a Shrom), Sunday evening. We should be back late Monday, Lord and weather willing.

Thanks for checking in! Blogging may be rather hit and miss over the next week or so...

Still Waiting for the Storm

Well, right now I'd have to say Intellicast called the weather the closest (as of 6:15 PM this evening). We had a short flurry and a bit of sleet...but that's it so far. No major weather here. It's just cold. But 28 degrees is a substantially warmer than much of the Midwest is right now.

We made it up into Amish country but our primary purpose was to visit the Amish Flea Market in Walnut Creek. It's kind of a crazy eclectic mix of vendors, shops, specialty items across the range of cultures and interests and we drove up and it was closed. Like closed forever. It's so funny, because when we were last up in Amish country, the end of November, it was going full blast with Police directing traffic as usual. It seems they're building a new facility for 2009 and they're building it right behind Zink's Fabrics (which is where Karen shops for fabric and shirt bargains) in Berlin. Zink's sells great polo and other shirts for 3 for $10 and it's kind of a Disneyland of sorts for quilters and ladies who like to sew.

With our trip shortened, we visited Wendell August Forge and had lunch at Cindy's diner right there on the corner of 62 and 39. I had chili in a bread bowl, onion rings, coleslaw, and a vanilla malt. Karen had the cream of broccoli soup with sweet potato fries.

We again saw lots of buggies up and back and let me tell you...they go real slow up the hills and it's hilly out there.

Once over the top of the hill we were able to pass. In Amish country you just need to slow down and RELAX.

Garry's Viewing
There was a wonderful turn out at Garry L.'s viewing this evening. We waited in line for an hour and when we left there was still an hour-long line going in! What an encouragement to his family. Garry was a servant's servant and has left a wonderful legacy behind in his family and in his servantood. We'll be at his memorial service tomorrow morning (weather permitting).

Birthday
And somewhere between yesterday and today I did officially turn 52 years old...thanks for your cards, calls, and emails!

I'll be back back at MMS tomorrow!

Winter Storm or a Flakey Flurry?

We'll soon find out which weather service can be trusted (as if any weather service can be trusted). Intellicast is saying we have a 26% chance of snow with light flurries tomorrow. Accuweather is reporting a "winter storm warning" for Coshocton with heavy snow and ice accumulations tomorrow morning through Wednesday morning. Maybe we'll watch The Weather Channel later and find out what Jim Cantore has to say. We'll let you know what happens.

Actually, I'm taking tomorrow as a vacation day in order to celebrate turning 52 years old! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, it won't be long before I can proudly claim my Golden Buckeye Card (minimum age: 55) and start collecting all those "senior" discounts. Oh boy.

Garry's Gone Home
Weather permitting...Karen and I plan to spend some time in Amish country. Then we'll head home for a bittersweet appointment with a very dear friend and his family in preparation for a full celebration Wednesday morning at Fresno Bible Church. Our brother in Christ, church Deacon, and dear friend Garry L. lost his battle with lung cancer.

He will be greatly missed by many people here, while warmly welcomed by many souls in Heaven!

Speeding the Gospel on Friday Afternoon

As snow falls on this cold, pre-winter Friday afternoon, the whine of high-speed drills, the percussion of rivet guns, and the delicate clickety-clack of ratchet wrenches, combine to create a mechanical symphony that drifts through our hangar on the waves of the overhead heaters.

Working in sweatshirts and ski-caps in the heated but nowhere near hot hangar, our missionaries push their projects ahead one step at a time. Christmas is coming, but there are few holiday distractions on the shop floor. Christmas is the reason for our work. The reality of Christ and His Good News needs to be shared. There are many in remote places who have yet to hear.

Airplanes speed the Gospel to the unreached and shorten the time it takes to tell everyone The Story.

How many more Christmases will there be before Christ comes back? Only God knows. But if we puposefully do our job here, allowing others to faithfully do their job out there, we may shorten the time before we begin the true Celebration in Heaven.

Gertjan prepares to replace the bearings in the trim tab actuator for Moody's 182.

Ian fits a new front faring on the 182's vertical stabilizer.

Josh fits the exhaust on the right engine on the Pfeiffer Aztec.

Christmas Haircuts

Tanner's Two Cents...

Well, we're just back from our Christmas haircut session with Linda, our Master Groomer! Linda always treats us very kindly and pampers us as we should be pampered. She even had a Cocker Spaniel herself so she understands us better than most.

Karen dropped us off and we made ourselves at home in our Preferred Customer cage to wait our turn on the grooming table. It doesn't take long for Linda to work her magic on our fur, and then it's back in the cage until Karen returns.

Here we are after our cut. Linda's getting ready to release us from our cage.

Now, of course getting a Christmas haircut may seem somewhat untimely when considering the Midwest winter but Keith and Karen make sure we're comfortable even if we are groomed short. Karen, being the seamstress that she is, has made us several little jackets to keep us warm. I thought you might enjoy having us model our lighter Holiday Jacket with the Peanuts theme...

Tucker in her jacket.

Me in mine. Super stylish don't you think?

Me and Tucker. If we were any cuter, we'd have to take it on the road.
And we're modest too!

We do okay for being missionary mutts. We may even let Keith and Karen sleep inside tonight and give them an extra cookie before bed. Thanks for praying for them. They need it.

Office Christmas Decoration and a Coping Mechanism

Since we shared our home Christmas tree in Saturday's post, I thought I'd share my office Christmas tree in this post as well as one way I cope with the realities of the Midwest winter.

Both my tree and my coping mechanism are in this picture. Can you find them?

If not, first look closely at my computer monitor. The desktop picture is a beach scene featuring a warm setting and a perfect wave. Staring at that in-between various computer tasks helps me deal with the view of snow and ice through the far window. I bet it's 85 degrees where the beach photo was taken. I wish it was 85 degrees here...

Second, check out the bookcase over my shoulder. The Christmas tree might be considered rather subtle so here's a close up.

There are six historical aircraft on this tiny tree!

Whether a big tree or a little tree, decorated with lights or historical airplanes, whether it's 85 degrees outside or somewhere below freezing, whether the waves are perfect or the ocean is totally flat, Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen.

An Inside Job on the Moody 182

Mike's currently the "inside man" on the 182 project.

In order to drive rivets into a repair, it was necessary for Mike
to take up residence inside the 182's tail cone.

While being a contortionist isn't a requirement to be a missionary airplane mechanic, it can help in certain applications!

Join us on the Christmas Tree Hunt of 2008

Hey, come follow me on the great Christmas Tree Hunt of 2008.
Click here to see photos!

Three Down and Locked

A milestone was reached today as the Moody Aviation 182 was taken off the fuselage jig and wood blocks and now rests on its own landing gear. A tail stand is still necessary as, without the engine installed, the center of gravity is currently behind the main landing gear. "Three down and locked" is what pilots say to confirm when the landing gear is extended and safe to land.

The 182 on its own gear.

Progress continues on other aspects of the project as well. Gertjan is fabricating an aileron, Chuck's still working in the panel area, and Ian and David are in the paint booth shooting primer on control surfaces and other airframe components

David shoots primer on the rudder.

It's exciting to see this airplane coming together. Thanks for being part of it through your prayers and gifts!

Another Day in the HR Department

On Thursdays, Karen comes in to help me with HR tasks, handle the phones, and manage the MMS mailing list. It's a real blessing to be able to serve together at MMS.

On the HR side, Karen writes thank you notes to general donors, tracks giving to general operations, processes new partnership pledges for approved candidates raising support to begin service, writes letters, assembles and mails information packets for prospective candidates, makes photocopies and generally makes my life easier at MMS as well as at home!

Karen at her work station processing a stack of about 100 address changes on envelopes returned from the latest MMS GroundCrew mailing.

Karen assembles five program information packets for people who are interested in learning more about our ministry.

The Toner Guy

And yes, the Director of Human Resources is also the "Toner Guy" when it comes to our high-tech copier. MMS' old copier only required three steps to replace the toner cartridge. This new copier/scanner/fax hub requires sixteen steps (though if I study the instructions hard enough, I can learn French, Spanish, German, and Chinese and Japanese in the process). Progress doesn't always make things simpler...

Restoration Takes Time

Rivet by rivet, skin by skin, bolt by bolt, piece by piece...the full restoration of an aircraft takes time. Regardless of whether the cause of the restoration is hard use in a difficult environment, neglect, accident, or maybe a combination of all three, the result is the same--you know there's ultimately going to be a large investment of time, energy, and money. Less money if we do the restoration because of our unique ministry, but there's still a substantial cost.

Whether it's the Honduran 206 or on the Moody 182, it takes a great deal of dedication to work at this depth of maintenance for such a long duration.

Josh drives and Scott bucks the last few rivets to finish the floor panel installation in the Honduran 206.

Terry (sitting), one of our volunteers, assists Ian in detailing the 182 wings before they're moved to the paint booth.

David and Gertjan detail the 182's vertical stabilizer while in the paint booth.

An analogy could be made to restoring people as well. Regardless of the cause of the damage, there's going to be a large investment in time, energy, and resources along with a high level of dedication in order for physical, emotional, and spiritual restoration to occur.

MMS is in the ministry of preparing the people who maintain and restore the airplanes that make the Gospel of Jesus Christ accessible and spiritual restoration possible for those in remote locations around the world. Thank you for being part of this strategic ministry through your prayers and your gifts.

One of Our Little Buddies

Here's a shot of Karen and I with one of our little buddies, Jackson. He's the one year old son of Ben & Kerry who serve as the youth leaders at Fresno Bible Church. We were blessed to hang-out with Jackson for a bit over the Thanksgiving weekend. He's getting to be quite the character. Kerry, thanks for taking the snapshot!

Gertjan Gets Into His Work

We're back to a full and busy hangar again now that Thanksgiving is over. The guys are really focused on the Moody 182 project. Flaps are being fabricated, floor panels are going in, landing gear is being prepped and installed, the nose bowl repair is almost complete, control panel work has begun, and testing the wings for fuel leaks should happen this week.

Here are two pictures of Gertjan getting into his work fabricating a flap for the 182.


At My Desk
Me? I had my head buried in my computer most of today working on emails, recruiting, candidate supervision, tracking charts, monthly reports, editing newsletters and, when away from my desk, taking photos down on the hangar floor. Bob and I did meet for about an hour as well.

With the snow blowing sideways by the window for most of the day, having my head buried in my computer wasn't necessarily all bad. I did change my desktop photo to a warm, sunny, surf scene.

Thanks
Thanks for your continued visits to the blog, your prayers, and your gifts in support of our work with MMS. Please feel free to share our blog with your friends. It's always fun to learn of new visitors!