Thank you to Terry, Tim and Andy (MMSer's one and all) for helping remove our old bed, pick-up and deliver a donated less-used bed, and then wrestle it upstairs and around the corner into our bedroom. The seventeen year-old bed had been a good bed but our middle-aged backs and bodies were beginning to demand something with a bit more life left in it. Special thanks to Dale & Deborah for securing the donated bed on our behalf!
Continuing in the "home front" category, Steve, the local appliance repairman, came to check-out our washer yesterday (a 1993 Hotpoint), fixed it for the price of a service call, and said "they don't make them like that anymore...hang on to this thing until you absolutely have to replace it" giving it a prognosis of up to another five years of faithful service. I like that...a washer that could last over twenty years with only one minor repair over the past eight years. They really DON'T make them like that anymore. But then if God could keep the sandals of the Israelis from wearing out over 40 years of wandering in the desert...He just might be blessing us with a washer that won't wear out for 20+ years! Now THAT'S a missionary washer!
And there's even another praise! We're having our socks rocked by blessing after blessing right now. This one is in the transportation department. More on that later...
Weather-wise, we're back into the heart of the Midwestern summer. Dale, one of our MMS staff; and Andy and Paul, MMS apprentice mechanics; are half joking that they need to go to Africa to cool off! Actually, if the weather patterns stay the same for the next two weeks, that will be true. Those three are scheduled to leave for Gabon, Africa on Sunday to disassemble and pack a damaged airplane in a container for shipment back to MMS so it can be repaired. Right now it's forecast to be in the mid-90's here and it's only in the mid-70's in Gabon. How many of you ever imagined it's hotter in Ohio than it is in Africa? I'll have more of that trip in a future blog, too.
Thank you for your prayers and gifts and donations and love and care and friendship and interest and involvement with us as we serve!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tuesday Back In The Hangar
Hey, we made it home safe and sound yesterday evening and are now getting back into the swing of things. Karen started the day facing a mountain of laundry and then had the washing machine decide to turn into a waterfall filling, and filling until "the cup runneth over" so to speak. She has a call in to our local appliance repair shop and is finishing the laundry in our neighbor's washing machine.
I'm back at my desk trying to close-out the trip and re-integrate into the reality of MMS. While we were only gone for a week, it seems like we'd been away from home and from the mission for so much longer. It was/and is an odd feeling.
Speaking of the trip, our Sunday morning presentation at Ephrata Grace Brethren Church went well even though there was a hiccup with the embedded video in our PowerPoint presentation necessitating my acting out the video to include making airplane noises and "flying" around the sanctuary. Sorry you missed it! Or if you were there to see it, I hope you enjoyed it.
It was a blessing to meet the folks at Ephrata GBC and reconnect with Pastor Kim and his wife, Susan. They'd just returned from 3 weeks in Cambodia visiting their missionary son and daughter-in-law. Thanks for making us feel so welcome Ephrata!
Locally, our salsa garden is behind schedule with very few red tomatoes. It's kind of odd in that everything's coming in so much later after such a hot summer and last year, in the coolest summer in recent history, we already had two salsa canning sessions completed by this time.
Tucker and Tanner were glad to have us home. I need to get on them to write their article for the August issue of our Coshocton Flyer as August is almost OVER!
It's good to be home yet sometimes overwhelming at the same time. Thanks for your gifts and prayers!
I'm back at my desk trying to close-out the trip and re-integrate into the reality of MMS. While we were only gone for a week, it seems like we'd been away from home and from the mission for so much longer. It was/and is an odd feeling.
Speaking of the trip, our Sunday morning presentation at Ephrata Grace Brethren Church went well even though there was a hiccup with the embedded video in our PowerPoint presentation necessitating my acting out the video to include making airplane noises and "flying" around the sanctuary. Sorry you missed it! Or if you were there to see it, I hope you enjoyed it.
It was a blessing to meet the folks at Ephrata GBC and reconnect with Pastor Kim and his wife, Susan. They'd just returned from 3 weeks in Cambodia visiting their missionary son and daughter-in-law. Thanks for making us feel so welcome Ephrata!
Locally, our salsa garden is behind schedule with very few red tomatoes. It's kind of odd in that everything's coming in so much later after such a hot summer and last year, in the coolest summer in recent history, we already had two salsa canning sessions completed by this time.
Tucker and Tanner were glad to have us home. I need to get on them to write their article for the August issue of our Coshocton Flyer as August is almost OVER!
It's good to be home yet sometimes overwhelming at the same time. Thanks for your gifts and prayers!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Saturday Deputation Update
Still in Millersville, PA.
Our lunch with supporters yesterday went very well. We had a great time, enjoyed a wonderful lunch of barbecued steak, fresh corn on the cob, Parmesan potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and green salad followed by fresh peaches for dessert. We updated on MMS, showed some of the video clips I've put together this year, and enjoyed our host's photo album of his years as an aircraft mechanic during the Korean War. Karen and his wife had conversations about girl stuff while we talked airplanes. It was fun hanging out with them even if I did bang my head twice on the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling in the living room. Their farm house was built in the 1870's.
We started today (Saturday) being blessed by breakfast with our small group from Grace Church at Willow Valley. We met them at the Apple Tree Family Restaurant in Lancaster, PA and hooted and hollered and laughed and teased each other for an hour and a half or so over baked oatmeal (most of the group) and eggs, hash browns, and sausage (a few of us) and Karen had a blueberry pancake that must have had a quart of blueberries in it...good home cooking with friendly service and very reasonable prices.
Then we had the afternoon off to go do some errands we only get to do while we're in Lancaster. We also explored a portion of Millersville we hadn't been to before. It was a nice break, we found some bargains at a local bargain spot, and now we're back at Steve & Cindy's sitting in their covered patio, relaxing with a cold beverage, and snacking on salted nuts while we wait for Cindy Shrom's Family-Famous lasagna to cook.
The rumor is we're off to The Strasberg Creamery this evening for dessert. Some days it's easier to be a missionary than others. And some days...work means consuming mass quantities of calories in between giving ministry reports.
Speaking of ministry reports, we're all ready for our presentation tomorrow morning at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church and look forward to enjoying lunch with Pastor Kim and Sue Robertson afterward. Yep, more food!
Karen continues to feel good and while warming the weather's nothing like back in Coshocton where they're enduring 89 degree (98 with humidity figured in) temps with severe thunderstorm warnings. Tucker and Tanner are probably looking out their little doggy door and rejoicing over air-conditioning while they wait for our return.
Thanks for your prayers.
Our lunch with supporters yesterday went very well. We had a great time, enjoyed a wonderful lunch of barbecued steak, fresh corn on the cob, Parmesan potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and green salad followed by fresh peaches for dessert. We updated on MMS, showed some of the video clips I've put together this year, and enjoyed our host's photo album of his years as an aircraft mechanic during the Korean War. Karen and his wife had conversations about girl stuff while we talked airplanes. It was fun hanging out with them even if I did bang my head twice on the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling in the living room. Their farm house was built in the 1870's.
We started today (Saturday) being blessed by breakfast with our small group from Grace Church at Willow Valley. We met them at the Apple Tree Family Restaurant in Lancaster, PA and hooted and hollered and laughed and teased each other for an hour and a half or so over baked oatmeal (most of the group) and eggs, hash browns, and sausage (a few of us) and Karen had a blueberry pancake that must have had a quart of blueberries in it...good home cooking with friendly service and very reasonable prices.
Then we had the afternoon off to go do some errands we only get to do while we're in Lancaster. We also explored a portion of Millersville we hadn't been to before. It was a nice break, we found some bargains at a local bargain spot, and now we're back at Steve & Cindy's sitting in their covered patio, relaxing with a cold beverage, and snacking on salted nuts while we wait for Cindy Shrom's Family-Famous lasagna to cook.
The rumor is we're off to The Strasberg Creamery this evening for dessert. Some days it's easier to be a missionary than others. And some days...work means consuming mass quantities of calories in between giving ministry reports.
Speaking of ministry reports, we're all ready for our presentation tomorrow morning at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church and look forward to enjoying lunch with Pastor Kim and Sue Robertson afterward. Yep, more food!
Karen continues to feel good and while warming the weather's nothing like back in Coshocton where they're enduring 89 degree (98 with humidity figured in) temps with severe thunderstorm warnings. Tucker and Tanner are probably looking out their little doggy door and rejoicing over air-conditioning while they wait for our return.
Thanks for your prayers.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday Deputation Update
Okay, we're back on-line and it's Friday morning in Millersville, PA. Overcast, cool, a bit of rain this morning. No rain right now. Had some steady rain yesterday morning then some scattered thundershowers yesterday afternoon which has cooled the temperatures and provided some much needed water to the Lancaster County region.
We're over at Karen's brother's house and will base out of here through our return to Coshocton on Monday. Karen's out on a walk with Cindy (sister-in-law) and Ace (faithful Beagle). Steve (Karen's brother) and I have eaten some "sticky-buns" from Mr. Sticky's (you have to eat them to believe them) had a few cups off coffee, discussed MMS, and national politics so it's been quite a morning already.
We're to meet with some supporters for lunch today and then see what the Lord has planned for the evening.
On Wednesday we were blessed to be taken to Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA by ministry partners to see "Joseph", a theatrical production of the Old Testament, Biblical account of how God sovereignly worked in Joseph's life taking him from favored son/despised brother to second in command over all of Egypt and ultimate redeemer of a nation and his family. It was VERY GOOD.
Thursday morning we met with Joy O'Byrne the Director of Spiritual Formation at our PA sending church, Grace Church at Willow Valley. It's always a great encouragement to meet with Joy as she helps us better understand the different ways God is working to grow us in our faith, how we really can know Him more intimately than we've ever imagined, that there's more to faith than we may have previously understood, and that we're not going crazy as it sometimes may seem.
Thursday evening we enjoyed a chili and corn muffin dinner with supporters down in Conestoga.
Sunday morning we speak at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church. This will be the first time we've visited there. We look forward to reconnecting with Pastor Kim Robertson and his wife, Sue, whom we've met previously.
Karen's had two good days without headaches!
Thanks for your prayers!
We're over at Karen's brother's house and will base out of here through our return to Coshocton on Monday. Karen's out on a walk with Cindy (sister-in-law) and Ace (faithful Beagle). Steve (Karen's brother) and I have eaten some "sticky-buns" from Mr. Sticky's (you have to eat them to believe them) had a few cups off coffee, discussed MMS, and national politics so it's been quite a morning already.
We're to meet with some supporters for lunch today and then see what the Lord has planned for the evening.
On Wednesday we were blessed to be taken to Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA by ministry partners to see "Joseph", a theatrical production of the Old Testament, Biblical account of how God sovereignly worked in Joseph's life taking him from favored son/despised brother to second in command over all of Egypt and ultimate redeemer of a nation and his family. It was VERY GOOD.
Thursday morning we met with Joy O'Byrne the Director of Spiritual Formation at our PA sending church, Grace Church at Willow Valley. It's always a great encouragement to meet with Joy as she helps us better understand the different ways God is working to grow us in our faith, how we really can know Him more intimately than we've ever imagined, that there's more to faith than we may have previously understood, and that we're not going crazy as it sometimes may seem.
Thursday evening we enjoyed a chili and corn muffin dinner with supporters down in Conestoga.
Sunday morning we speak at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church. This will be the first time we've visited there. We look forward to reconnecting with Pastor Kim Robertson and his wife, Sue, whom we've met previously.
Karen's had two good days without headaches!
Thanks for your prayers!
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