MAG Meeting, House Waiting, South Carolina and North Carolina

MAG MEETING
We were blessed to have something of a MAG Meeting at our home yesterday evening. Sean Donnelly, MAG President, and Dr. Mark Crissman, one of MAG's Board Members, landed at Coshocton Airport on their way to a medical ministry conference in Michigan, stopped in for dinner, and stayed overnight with us before departing for the TECH Conference this morning. Sean & Dr. Crissman stopped in at MMS Aviation to see our 206 that's under repair there, took a tour of MMS, and stored Dr. Crissman's airplane in the hangar overnight.

Shortly after I brought Sean and Dr. Crissman home, Scott Grote, MAG's Director of Aviation Maintenance, came over for dinner with his family and it made for something of a wild and crazy evening of creative play time for the Grote kids: Ella, Olivia, and J.T. and an evening of ministry talk for the adults. Karen made her famous "Chicken Eddie" casserole which proved to be a wonderful platform for a sampling of various hot sauces.

Sean, Ella, Jessica, Olivia, Dr. Crissman, Scott, and Karen. J.T. was already in living room.

Lincoln Logs, trucks, tractors, airplanes, animals, Crayolas, A Barrel of Monkeys, Mr. Potato Head, and a fun time was had by all (Jessica, Karen, J.T., Ella, and Olivia).

After breakfast this morning I took Sean and Dr. Crissman back up to the airport where they departed for Michigan. It was a much nicer day to fly today than it was for their flight up on Wednesday.

Pulling the airplane out of the front hangar at MMS Aviation.

Sean & Dr. Crissman in the cockpit of the Cirrus.

Starting their taxi to the fuel ramp.

Departing Richard Downing, Coshocton County Airport.

HOUSE WAITING
Two more families came through to view our house this week. The first family felt it was too small for their three children. The second family evidently looked at five houses, liked two (one of them ours), but hasn't made any decisions yet.

And as that second family mulls everything over, we're packed and ready to head south tomorrow on a dual-purpose, week-long trip.

SOUTH CAROLINA
We'll pass through Burlington for an overnight Friday on our way down to South Carolina to attend our nephew Josh's wedding to Rebecca on Saturday. Sunday we'll return to Burlington.

NORTH CAROLINA
We once again have the privilege of staying at New Covenant Fellowship's missionary cottage in Graham, NC, near to MAG's Headquarters and the Burlington Alamance Regional Airport. Karen and I will spend Monday through Wednesday working with Sean to prepare materials and reports for MAG's upcoming Board Meeting. Thursday we'll travel around the area looking at prospective houses with our realtor, and Friday, Lord willing, we'll make the drive back to Coshocton.

THANKS
Thanks for your continued prayers as we learn to wait, learn to trust, and to confidently embrace God's revelation (as it comes) and expect His release (in His time) to begin this next phase of our ministry. It's an exciting time for MAG with many opportunities being explored, several new members joining the Board, and discussions being held on how to best navigate the growing challenges faced as we endeavor to provide medical care, spiritual outreach, and aviation services in a remote and nearly forgotten region of Honduras.

House Update, Home Improvement, MAG's Ohio Office

House Update
We had two house viewings recently. One Friday and one Sunday. The folks that came through on Friday didn't like the kitchen. The folks that came through on Sunday really liked the house but didn't like the garage (it was too short for his pick-up truck).

We met with our realtor this morning, extended our listing (yes, it's nearly been six months since we listed our house), and dropped our selling price. While our realtor tried to put a good spin on the situation, there are several factors complicating things: a growing over-abundance of houses for sale in town (with more being listed on a daily basis), tight lending regulations for typical buyers in our pricing structure, the elimination of the neighborhood elementary schools for a centralized elementary school next to the Jr./Sr. High (further away from us), and a greater demand for single story ranch-style homes. Not to mention people who own cars longer than our garage is deep.

But the good news is our realtor is going to feature our house on her page in the upcoming real estate magazine! YAY!!

Home Improvement
We continue to work on our house and the yard to improve its appeal. I spent the morning reseeding the central portion of our dog yard. Karen removed her office from the corner and rearranged things to create a "breakfast nook" in the kitchen.

Tanner and Tucker adapt to their smaller yard surrounding the reseeding zone.

Our new breakfast nook created to enhance "saleability".

MAG's Ohio Office
We're still doing what we can for MAG from up here in Ohio. You might say our couch has become the Ohio Branch of Missionary Air Group's Headquarters operations. I spent the afternoon communicating with prospective missionary candidates and short-term volunteers. Karen's still organizing medical ideas, gathering information related to resources to help with operating our hospital in Rus Rus, and is working with a Coshocton-based missionary nurse who'll soon be making a two week trip down to Rus Rus. More on that developing story in upcoming blogs!

MAG's Ohio office staff at work.

Thanks for your continued prayers as we wait on God to sell our house, continue serving MAG as best we can, and look forward to ultimately making the move to Burlington, North Carolina.

Working Towards A House Sale

Curb Appeal
When we listed the house for sale at the end of October, the weather was only going to get worse and "curb appeal" soon meant having less than 6 inches of snow on the ground. There wasn't much we could do on the outside of the house other than mulch and trim a bit before winter hit but we did what we could.

Now, five months later...SPRING has finally arrived (it was 80 degrees today and sunny), the grass is growing, my roses are budding, Karen's bulbs are popping out in the gardens, and I'll soon need to mow.

Yesterday: Forsythia Attack
Yesterday I spent all afternoon and into the evening trimming the "Forsythias-gone-wild" at the back of our lot along the alley. THAT was a job. For me Forsythia's are nothing but a giant weed. Kind of like a monster dandelion with a million intertwined stalks and branches that try and poke your eyes out. Karen planted three cute little Forsythias on our berm below the pine trees shortly after we married. They started out like nice little stick "starts" that then turned into the woody weeds of yesterday. I cut them down to 7 feet tall and tried to hack them back far enough so they'd at least respect the rear of our property line.

Yes, technically it may have been a bit "late" in the season to wail into them as they'd already started to flower, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. And yesterday was THE DAY to do it. So I did it.

 "A little off the top and sides, please."

Today: Front Porch Maintenance
Today it was another outside day focused on the front porch and fine-tuning the entry to assist with the FIRST IMPRESSION as prospective buyers come up to the front door.

I hand washed/scrubbed all the siding on the front of the house, removed and repainted our mail box and front porch light fixture, and painted our light post and the concrete top on the brick column by the front hand rail. After that I hosed off the each side of the house up to the eaves knocking several years of dirt down. All in all, things look a little better today than they did yesterday.

 Screwdriver, pliers, light bulb, wire nuts, screws, nut caps...

 Hanging the freshly painted mail box.

 Reinstalling the cleaned and repainted light fixture.

 Not bad for a guy with limited home-owner skills.

Tomorrow I think I'll tackle the initial stages of reseeding part of Tucker and Tanner's yard. I still need to re-stain the deck.

AND WE STILL NEED SOMEONE TO BUY THIS HOUSE!

Still In Coshocton But Raring To Go to Burlington

Coshocton, Ohio
Yes, we're still in Coshocton waiting for someone to buy our house while working from home in support of Missionary Air Group. We look forward to making the move to Burlington in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way.

Missionary Air Group News 

• Carlos Paz (MAG's Director of Pastoral Ministries) just returned from five weeks in Rus Rus working with the IHS Medical Brigade, providing pastoral training, and overseeing a work team that took on a two-week construction project. 

• Paul Jones (MAG's Guatemala Program Director) finishes his year of language school in Costa Rica, April 26. 

• Sean Donnelly (MAG President) and Dr. Crissman (MAG Board Member) plan to attend the TECH Conference in Michigan, April 25-27. 

• MAG's Cessna 172 should return to Burlington this month after repairs. 

• Scott Grote (MAG's Director of Aviation Maintenance) recently passed the FAA exam to earn his Inspection Authorization (IA).

• Karen and I plan to return to Burlington to work at MAG headquarters April 28-May3.

Hints Of Spring
There are hints of spring: the sun's been visible for three days, air temperatures are hitting the 50's during the day though it's still in the 20's overnight, birds are singing, rabbits are hopping, and the early flowers are starting to bloom. It's time to start working on "curb appeal" projects to help get this place sold!

Karen cleans out our Wren house.

Karen secures the cleaned Wren house on top of the post.

 Daffodils

 A man and his wagon.

 

Trimming and cleaning the Flox out front.

Tucker and Tanner supervise from the back deck.