Cousins!

They call them the "toothless wonders"!

If you haven't wasted enough time this year...

Here you go.

What we did today

David had a great birthday-the church we visited last Sunday had a birthday table for him at the potluck-and a present. He's been on "birthday cloud nine" all week. Today it's over-he's three now. Ruth made him pancakes this morning. All his sisters spoiled him rotten all day. He got some presents from us and a lopsided cake that I made. (I'm not the best baker.) He ate corn dogs, and tater tots. He played with the balloons till he was all worn out.
It was fun.

Seek His Face

Seek His face at the start of your day.
Giving Him your moments.

Seek His face at the end of your day.
Resting in His peace.

Look for Him when you make plans.
Finding His will.

Seek His strength under heavy labor.
When you are burdened and overwhelmed.

Seek Him when you feel weak.
It is a reminder to depend on Him.

Find Him especially when you feel strong.
We are never so weak as when we depend on our own strength.

Look for His glory when you think you've succeeded.
Because it was His plan, and His strength,
And His opinion is the only one that really matters.

Look for His glory when you think you've failed.
Because His is able to bring glory out of all your circumstances.

Look for His forgiveness when you've sinned against Him.
If you humbly repent, He offers it freely.

Look for His Spirit when you find yourself in bondage to sin.
He alone holds the path to freedom.

Search Him out when you are confused or deceived.
Jesus said, "I am the truth..." Find Him!

Find the Comforter when pain draws a blazing path of agony through your life.
The Holy Spirit will take you to the arms of your loving Father.

Just seek His face. Set your heart to look for Him in all things. Find His pleasure, find His friendship, find His strength. Find His glory.

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
(Psalms 27:8)

Wonderful, creepy, annoying, cute...

This is for you, Dad! (aka, redneck preacher) I saw it, and thought of you. Also, it made my kids laugh. And me.

Fear

People like to play with fear this month. They like to tickle that thing inside us all that makes us jump and yell with shock, revulsion, and terror. I personally think it's appalling.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. (Psalms 19:9)

God's people need to fear nothing, if they live a life that is marked by their godly fear. You see, it's a fear of One whose love for us is perfect, so it is unstained by hopelessness. It is a fear of One who is omnipotent, so it is unstained by helplessness. The fear of God is good and right because God is just; He is One Who can be trusted.

It saddens me to see God's people afraid to trust Him, as if He is just waiting to smash them with some huge trial, call them into service, or do something unbearable. What kind of God have you asked to save you from sin, Christian? Is He cruel and hard, like a villain in a bad October movie? No, He's the kind of Lord who can sustain us in a huge trial; He's worthy of our service; and He promises to provide an escape from the unbearable temptation.

It saddens me to see lost people afraid to trust Him to save them. None of the junk available on screen this month can compare with the wrath of God for sin.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)

The dirty, ugly fear offered by Hollywood this month can't compare to the amazing power, justice, and love of our Creator. When He saw that I was directly in the path of His deadly wrath, He became a man, and stepped in the way! He bore my sin for me, Offering this salvation as a free gift to be taken. Can I fear anything when He did this for me?

The season of sneezing!

While I hope none of my friends and family would need any of these, I realize that some of you will deal with the yuckies soon, because it is that wonderful season again. Here is a place I go to for tips. I've tried a few of them, and some work better than others. The old honey and lemon thing is an oldie, and a goodie. I also make tea with oregano if someone needs an expectorate. Good luck with the bugs!

Home remedies for you to try

Hope from a fortune cookie!

I'm not one to put much credence to those little strips of paper in fortune cookies. Some of them have given me pause for thought, though. A year and a half into deputation I got one that I kept on our dashboard for a while. It read, "You should travel more."

Today I saw one that said, "Your lost possession will be found within the month."

I'm looking forward to getting my mind back!

Sweet friends

Last week, a dear friend of ours, offered to take the critters for the day, so we could go play somewhere. We took them up on it yesterday, and we had a blast. We went to the Olive Garden, and then to miniature golf, where my husband skunked me soundly. When we came back, they had dinner for us! It is such a blessing to have such kind and loving friends. They are truly from the Lord!

We just got back from a conference on Thursday, and we are heading out to a meeting today, so time spent in r/r is precious! Thank you!

Pictures for those who crave them

He's a lawman who's serious about his job.

Rebecca, sunburned and upside down

Elisabeth gives me her cheesiest grin possible

Ruth hanging out with a very dusty brother

Furlough adventure

Someone gave us a van to help us finish up furlough. It's a blessing, and I'd love to have pictures of it, except it is in Oregon; more on that later. We were trying to figure out the best way to get the van to California, and Ryan decided to tow our blue van with the new one, after consulting with a hauling company as to the best way to do this. We had a meeting in Oregon on Sunday, another meeting on Wednesday, and then a long drive on Thursday down to Northern Cali where my parents are. We prayed before we went that Lord would protect us, and show us if anything is not safe.

Things started happening on Sunday. We drove out of Vancouver, Washington early in the morning, took it slow towing the van, and drove for two hours on the freeway, going 55-60 miles per hour. Right before the exit we needed to take, the back wheels started to slide around. Ryan stopped and checked the tow bar, thinking that if anything was wrong, that would be it. But it was fine, so he got back in and we drove slowly to the off ramp. Right after we took the off ramp we felt a huge bump, then SCRAAPE. Ryan pulled over. Our left rear wheel was lying on the road next to our van, and long white mark on the asphalt showed where it had come off.

Ryan called the pastor, and he came out with a mechanic from the church. No serious damage was done; only loose lug nuts. However, when the mechanic took a look under the tires, he saw that the brakes were all bad! Here we are, planning to tow another van up and down mountain ranges with bad brakes!

Coincidentally, the mechanic happened to have a van exactly like ours that he happened to be using for spare parts. He replaced the brakes for us, and we got back on our way. I'm so thankful for the way God protected us.

On Thursday, Ryan was more than skeptical about our towing arrangement, and he was not happy with the way it was moving at all. We made it down to Medford, Oregon, and stopped there. Our van is waiting in a church parking lot. Ryan is going to get it next week.

Neither of these vans are going to be able to be imported to Mexico City. When we go, we will have to buy a vehicle there, because of new laws that have been made. We are praying about this, and we don't know how God is going to supply this need, but we do know He will provide. How can we doubt when He's taken such good care of us every step of the way?

Back in Cali!

We made it safely to California, with quite a story to tell about our passage here! The Lord takes such good care of us, and I'm looking forward to taking the time to post it here, just to brag on Him and show His amazing providence. Right now I'm putting the stuff in order, picking blackberries, and trying not to melt in 100 degree + heat. The girls got to experience a slip'n slide for the first time yesterday. I enjoyed watching them until Ryan decided I was too dry and got me with the sprinkler. I got him back, but it was less than satisfying, knowing how much he enjoyed my revenge.

I'm still here!

We've been busy as bees, which is how we like it! Last week we met with three different churches on Sunday! After this week, we are heading back to California, for some more meetings.

I don't have much more news, we finished our first year of home school a couple weeks ago, so now when we get back from a meeting, we can just rest.

My Three Little Snugglebugs

Mount Laundry

Attacking the Laundry monster today! It's gotta happen before we are all buried!

Rejoice with me!

The Lord never ceases to amaze me. He did a wonderful work, one that I could never do in the past month.

We went to a church service on May 20th, the day a precious little boy by the name of Josiah Herring, age 5, was born into eternity to be with his "Best Friend". This church had been praying for Josiah, and his death was announced in the service, along with requests to pray for his family. My two young girls, Elisabeth and Rebecca, were sobered by this. We had shared the gospel with them, but they both didn't really think it was important to deal with it right away. When they asked me again how old he was, my husband and I took a moment to talk about death. We told them that, just like everyone has a day to be born, they also have a day to die. God knows this day, and we do not. It's important to be ready for eternity! Both of them were under conviction.

About three weeks passed. Then one morning while I was fixing Rebecca's hair, Elisabeth announced, out of the blue, "I'm ready to die now!" Well, those are words that make a mommy take notice! I asked her what on earth she was talking about. She repeated herself, in a matter of fact way, with a big smile on her face. When I asked her why, she said, "I'll go to Jesus!"

"How do you know that?"

"Cause Jesus took my sin away!"

"How do you know He did?"

"Cause I asked Him to!"

"Why did you want Him to take your sin away?"

"Cause it was going to take me to Hell, and I don't want to go there!"

She was so happy and content, and I had not seen her like that in a long time. I continued asking questions, and learned that the night before, June 9, She got out of bed, knelt down and asked Jesus to take away her sin and save her. She told Him thank you for dying for her, and for saving her. Then she went back to bed and slept.

I was, and still am amazed by this work the Holy Spirit did on my daughter, while I did not even know about it. This is not the end of the story though! A few days ago, my second daughter, Rebecca, came storming into our room about two hours after I had sent her and her sisters to bed. She was gasping and sobbing broken heartedly. She choked out, "I want to accept Jesus as my Saviour!" Again, we started asking questions to make sure she knew what she was doing, but that was just foolishness on our part. She knew exactly what she was doing, and this senseless delay was upsetting her even more. She cried, "I'm gonna die and go ta Hell! I wanna get saved!"

What can you say to that? We said, "Go ahead then!"

I watched my daughter drop to her knees and cry out, "Oh God! I'm so so sorry for all my sins! I've done so many bad things! Please, please forgive me!"

That was it! When she raised up her head, a smile started to shine. Ryan asked her, "Did He do it?" She said loudly, "Yessss!"

Rebecca and Elisabeth are two different little girls today! They have peace with God, and it shows. Do you have peace with God? Do you know what will happen to your soul when you die? God is not willing for you to perish!(2 Peter 3:9) Are you willing to repent of your sins and accept His gift of eternal life? If you are, then He is ready to save you! "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." II Cor. 5:21--John 3:16 says it better than I ever could, "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

My heart goes out to the Herring family, I can't imagine what they've been through, and even though they don't know me, I've been holding them up in prayer. I'm so thankful for the life of their son. One day, I'm going to see him in Heaven, and I'm going to give him a hug and tell him "Thank you for your testimony!, here are two precious souls that were brought to Jesus!"

Getting R & R

We just got back from a very busy trip, and now we are resting. Having a day, or two, or more to rest after a busy time is vital to our family life on the road! Balance is important, and we have to realize this before we push ourselves and our kids beyond what God wants us to bear. They can carry a heavy load for a while, and do it willingly because they are wonderful kids, and they love us. However, there will come a moment when they will be convinced we don't care about their needs if we don't take time aside to rest, to recoup, and to spend time together. I say the kids need it, and they do, but I didn't realize how much I needed it until we started making regularly scheduled rest part of our routine.

I do my best to discourage the idea of feeling sorry for missionary's families. These challenges make us stronger, and they give us experience in relying on the Lord at the same time. This is wonderful. But it is challenging for little ones, and we do well to have compassion on them in their weakness, like our Father has compassion on us. He knows our limitations. He has offered us rest in Him every day. I'm thankful I can do what He asks me, and trust Him to know what I need!

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
(Isaiah 40:11)

Newsy post

So we are apparently coming out from under the flu, or something we picked up at our last meeting. This one started on our last day in Canada, with the kids, and then I got it a couple days ago.

One of the unexpected things about occasionally traveling the country with your nursery-age children is that you acquire new germs everywhere you go! I always ask for prayer for health while we are on the move, because it's the one thing that puts a stop to our plans. Thankfully, we've only had a few mild bouts with bugs between meetings, so far. Also, we've not had any secondary infections, or asthma attacks. Thank you all for praying!

WARNING!! PICTURES OF BALUT!!!

I don't know how *I* got wrangled into this. I was supposed to sit there and laugh at Ryan and take pictures.

I did laugh though, especially when he nearly lost the balut along with the pansit we enjoyed for lunch.

This is a Filipino snack. It's a duck egg with the duck embryo inside, boiled. You are supposed to crack it open, suck out the juice, and eat the yoke and the ducky. It's about three bites, unless your mouth is humongous. It tastes like....boiled egg. Go figure.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this!"

Here is my egg

We were told we had to do this, too.

Uh-Oh!

Must. Swallow.

I'm trying to be cool. Note the delight in the face behind me!

Warning! This is the picture of what we ate! If you have a weak tummy, just stop right here. If you think this is fun, click on the image for even more goriness.

Moultnomah Falls, more pics

I don't remember the bridge being a terrifying experience, the last time visited Moultnomah Falls. But then the last time I saw this place, I had no flesh and blood offspring to poke their heads through the railing in the bridge and make me weak in the knees.

Other than that, it was stunning, as always. We got quite damp on the bridge! (That's why David is squinting!) The falls were amazing, the water was crystal clear. There were rainbows, and little bubbly streamlets, big mossy trees, tiny flowers, and through it all, the strangely restful noise of the falls pounding down.

We loved it.

Moultnomah Falls!

A political diversion, cause I can't keep it in.

I don't often approach political issues, because I really don't have the time. We have become so calloused to incredulity over the past year, that few things shock me, but the frank, joyful bias of the newest Supreme court nominee compelled me to take a moment out of my day.

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor. source

Isn't this the definition of prejudice? She's made all kinds of caveats to smooth over the fact that she believes white males have inferior life experience than her own race and gender, but you cant erase this statement from her record. I don't care what race she is. Anyone who says, " __any race and gender__ will make better decisions than __any race and gender__." Is a racist, and a sexist. If you want to test this, exchange the two people groups in this statement, and consider if it's acceptable.

Will she allow her racist, sexist perspective to effect her judgements? Here is her own confession:
"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging," she said in a speech in 2002. "But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage." source
Again, if you can't see the bigotry in this statement, please take a moment to imagine a "white male" judge saying this about his heritage. (You know, the one who can't come up with a better judgement than a Latina.)

I have other reservations, based on things she has said, but these two statements stand out brilliantly. She might know more about the law than I do, but she believes her race gives her an edge. This is unacceptable in an American court, even in traffic court. I simply don't understand how this person could be considered as a Supreme Court Justice.

They are going to have to remove that blindfold from Lady Justice.

Happy Happy Birthday. (To the one on the bottom!)

Happy Birthday to the best husband on the planet! I love you more each year I see you live and work and grow in Christ. Thank you for asking me to be part of your life, Hunny!

A very special treat!

One of the things we miss while away from Mexico is being able to frequently minister to people in Spanish. However, we do get the opportunity now and then, and it's always something we pounce on! Last night in a meeting, the pastor came to Ryan, wondering if he could witness to a family from their bus ministry. The husband was saved last night! Praise the Lord!

My First Lightbulb Moment

I remember a place where nighttime pain and fear vanished away. A magic place where, when I was sick and miserable, I found comfort and peace. At the age of two, Mom's rocking chair was something amazing and mystical. I thought it would fix any boo-boo, dry any tear, cure any discomfort that came along.

Then one day, I clearly remember feeling bored and lonely, as my mom worked in the kitchen, I looked at that chair, and thought, "Hey, I need Mom to rock me!" So I went in and pulled at her skirt, demanding The Chair. She looked at me and said, "Sweetie, I can't rock you right now, but you can get in the chair and rock yourself!"

This appealed to my two-year old sensibilities, as I did enjoy doing things without help, so I eagerly padded my barefoot little feet across the wooden floor and climbed into The Chair.

I sat down, and turned around. My feet reached the end of the seat, and pointed up at the ceiling. I put my hands on the armrests, somewhere near my ears, and jerked my head back and forth, trying to make the thing work.

It didn't. Turned out there was no magic in The Chair, whatsoever. What a rip-off! Then came the lightbulb moment, as the sound of my mother working hard in the kitchen came to my ears.

There was nothing special about the chair. It was the chair, with my own Mother in it that made the difference! That chair was nothing without my mother in it! I remember so clearly that first time realizing how important my mother was to bringing me comfort.

Isn't that how motherhood is? So much of what we do is taken completely for granted, as if that chair actually had special powers. And yet, we are essential, desperately needed. We hold such power in our hands. What an honor it is to be given a position of so much importance in a person's life!

I'm typing this on Sunday morning after watching the live stream video service at Lancaster Baptist Church. They had a beautiful Mother's Day service; I enjoyed it thoroughly. In my lap is a feverish little boy, who couldn't go to church this morning. He needs his mommy. His hot little body is snuggled up firmly and his head rests on my shoulder. He only wants to be held, and because I'm his mommy, I know why. I'm his magic rocking chair.

P.S.
Thank you, Mother, for being consistent, unselfish, and compassionate. You modelled good mothering to me, and I will always be grateful.

Update: He's all better, by the way! The fever mentioned in this post was the its last appearance. David is tearing around, hungry as a bear, and causing trouble as usual.

One of my more brilliant moments...

Ever done anything really dumb? I have one or two things on my list of Really Dumb Things Done. (or fifty, I don't remember which.) Anyway, one of those Really Dumb Things that definitely made it on my list was last year, and it had to do with our passports. This is a big no-no when you live in another country! We were sitting in line at the border, and I reached into our bag and drew out four passports, instead of six. We were able to cross the border into the states, because we had our ID cards and birth certificates with us, thanks to my more organized husband, but when we got back home, you can be sure we searched high and low for Ryan's and my passports! We looked everywhere for those things, and after two days, we figured we had better call them in as missing. (It says you need to do that right on the paperwork that comes with the passport.) So my husband went outside, climbed the mountain where our cell phone could pick up a signal, and made his call to cancel our passports. When he came back inside, I met him at the door with two dusty passports I had found seconds earlier. He looked at them, looked at the heavens and went back out.

Did you know that once you cancel a passport, you can't uncancel it? Heh. Bummer.

So for the rest of the time we were in Tijuana, every time the family crossed the border we had to explain to the border guard why our children had passports, and we did not have them.

I believe I have the most patient husband on the planet.

Anyway, I can tell the story now, without total mortification because we have our new passports now, and I don't feel like a total dweeb.

Hey! We're heading to Canada in a couple weeks! I can't wait!

I'm just one of those discontened types...

I can't help it! I love to rearrange the furniture. When I've got my own place, I'm moving things around monthly. My blog suffers from my discontent also-I keep finding something I want to try, and you all never know what to expect when you come here.

I'll try to be good and keep it this way for a while, but I'm not promising anything, because this place keeps coming up with more adorable designs I want to try, and I'm a sucker for trying on new things. (Why did they have to make it so easy, anyway?!)

Sorry...

Where Do Bats Come From?

Here is one of the deeper conversations we had this morning. Rebecca, who likes to anylize everything to pieces, Elisabeth, the serious one who takes everything literally, and me.

Rebecca (wearing a black plastic batman mask, quite adorible): "Look Mom! I'm Batgirl!"

Me: Cute!

Rebecca, after a short silence: "Mom, can bats be girls?"

Me: "Well, yes, there are bat girls and bat boys, too."

Rebecca, after another short silence: "Are there bat babies?"

Me: "Of course there are bat babies! Where do you think bats come from?"

Elisabeth has been listening intently, and she thinks she knows the answer to this one. She pipes up immediately, in all seriousness; "I know! The BAThroom!"

Have a glorious Resurrection Sunday!

This is what it means to me:
(When you get time, just go ahead and read the whole chapter of 1 Cor. 15!)

1Co 15:19-20
(19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
(20) But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1Co 15:42-43
(42) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
(43) It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

1Co 15:51-58
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
(55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
(56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
(57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Whoo! What a day!

We are all packed up and ready to head out to Vancouver, WA tomorrow morning. We'll be pretty busy this month, but I'll try to stop in and say "hey" every now and then.

Lord bless you!

We can see the light!

We're coming out of the yucks, and getting ready for a very busy month! We're going to Vancouver, Washington on Friday, and we've got meetings every week all through the month. We love being busy, so we're looking forward to it!

Bugs!

We like to collect the germs and explore them throughly everywhere we go. I'm sure we are sharing them too! The last week has been a flu week, checking fevers, wiping snot, and tucking in moments of sleep where we can. Chicken soup has been involved.

Homeschooling has not. Not by my word. That was the Principal's call. Teacher is a tyrant who would happily have her little charges studying from the sickbed, Kleenex in hand. The kids are glad to have a dad with more compassion on them than their mom-although they are getting bored.

It's not as bad as it could be. My kids have been through the Twister a few times, and a little thing like the flu just sets them back a little. They aren't complaining much, and they do like Chicken Soup.

Heading out again!

We're taking a quick trip down to Harbor City, CA for a meeting, and then we'll be back here in Cloverdale for a week before heading out again to Oregon/Washington for many more meetings.

Rita, of the Jungle Hut, gave me some great advice for homeschooling while on furlough, for which I'm very thankful. I'm definitely going to be using it this year.

Ruth's birthday was fun. We had a small family celebration, which included too much pizza and a cake. My mom made an adorable dress with a hat, and the pictures are forthcoming!

Well, enough of my rambling, newsy post.

Some pics of the critters!

I just found this in archives, and I had to share it!

I went back and found this in draft-it's a glory story! I didn't want to post it at the time, because I didn't want anyone getting the impression we were in need, so I just put it in draft and waited. Now I dragged it out and dusted it off, because I love sharing how God provides!

Some time ago we took an trip to the states for a family matter, and on the way back we picked up 2,000 lbs. of beans someone had donated to the orphanage? We got a 60 lb box. Well, because of that, we will not lack beans for quite some time. We have used about 30 lbs of them so far. (Oh good heavens, it's not just us eating-I make them for potlucks too, and hand it out to some missionary friends we know who need them!) We have 30lbs left, which should last us a while.

Man does not live on beans alone though, does he? (For the curious, the digestive system gets used to it after a bit, and the emissions become less vitriolic.) Someone is giving the church tortillas for the orphanage. hundreds of them every week. They told us not to buy tortillas any more, but come and get them from the kitchen. They just recently reminded us, asking us to please help them get rid of all these tortillas. (Don't you know we try to be a blessing and help out any way we can!) They aren't those little thin tortillas we're used to, either. They are thick, with a strong corn flavor. YUM!

So now we have this nearly unlimited supply of beans and tortillas. This is basic Mexican fare. Millions of Mexicans eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Together, they form a complete protein, and provide calcium as well. I know lots of people who grew up strong and healthy on this stuff. And we got it for free. Did you know the kids love it?

A formal protest

I've been doing over thirty years, every single year of my life, but (please excuse me while I yawn.) I will never get used to time change.

Newsy post

Just a little news on us and on our plans for the next few months! I'm getting the family ready to travel this month and next. This involves organizing things, which is one of my weaknesses, but it makes an enormous difference in the ease of a trip, so do it, I must! I'm also trying to work out the best way to home school while on the road. Ruth and Rebecca are doing K5 together this year, and I'm having a lot of fun teaching them to read. They are going just as fast as I can get the information into them, and they love it-the phonics, learning-to-read part anyway. They aren't so sure about the whole numbers thing. I sympathyze, but don't tell them! We've got a meeting next week, and then next month we start a full-time schedule of meetings. I'm so thankful for this time to get organized and into the school year a bit.

Also, the newest change we've made is a big move toward fitness-we are determined to get rid of the extra baggage. I already feel a major difference in my energy since we started eating more healthy food.

Glory stories

Since my dad is sharing some of his "glory stories" over on his blog, I thought I'd share some of mine. Maybe we can start a trend. I love reading how God has provided for people. I treasure the stories of how God provided for my parents. They gave me rock solid proof of God's way with His people. When it came time for me to depend on Him, I can honestly say it was fairly easy, and not because I'm a giant in the faith. (I'm not, by the way.) It was easy because I had seen God's faithfulness over and over again. To doubt would have been ludicrous.

God has not dealt with me any differently than He dealt with my parents. We have never had an unmet need, and there have been an abundant supply of things we do not need, but He just gave it because He is good!

One of the things that frustrate us when we first begin to serve the Lord is the how unable we are to do His will. God taught us a lesson about this on our first major trip when we started on deputation. Our income wasn't coming in yet, and we had meetings to get to. Gas costs money, and we simply didn't have it. I vividly remember packing us into the car, and as we drove out, asking my husband, "Uh, Babe? How are we gonna pay for the gas to get there today?" Ryan just said, "I don't know!"

We stopped by the post office on the way out. There was a check for just enough money to pay for food and gas to get us to our destination. It was from a penny drive in a bus ministry. (A bus ministry in our churches is a bus rout to and from church for underprivileged children.) These kids had collected pennies for six months, picked a missionary, and mailed them the check for the full amount. I remember Ryan standing there with a giant grin on his face, blinking back tears as he held a letter, written by the bus kids in crayon.

How can you doubt God's provision when He does stuff like that? It is true, we cannot do His will with what we have, and with who we are. We are not supposed to do it at all though, God wants us to see that He can do it!

Ok, ok, you pulled my arm!!!

I can't stand keeping good secrets like this. I'm going to spill it, even though I don't have a picture because the item in question is getting resized.

Ok, I must go back two years to the sad day that I realized our wedding rings were really and truly gone, along with several items from our van. I was hoping I had not been so stupid as to leave the little pouch with my ring in the van. I hoped that for months. (It's called denial.) It was my fault; I should know better, but a day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about my empty hand with a touch of sadness. I'm not one to wallow deeply in my pit of self pity, but I felt BAD about this.

So on Valentine's Day this year, my husband asked me to make a picnic lunch, and he drug out the picnic basket I used the day he asked me to marry him-he said the kids would think it was fun, or something. We piled into the van, and he said that since it was Valentines Day, he thought it would would be a good idea to show the kids "the place" where he proposed, since we were in the area. This was a good idea-even though it looked like rain, we set out to the redwood grove, where a little stream rushed near the road.

I love the redwoods. I love the clean, wet smell, and the feeling of being so small surrounded by straight, dark posts of the trees. No rain reached the floor where we walked, and I was just delighted that the kids could enjoy this too. When we reached the stream, and the small gravel bank where I accepted my husband's proposal, he started to tell the kids how it had happened. They were more excited by the running water, and plunk of the rocks they were throwing into it.

You've guessed what was next, I'm sure, but I was taken completely by surprize! When he got to the point in the story where he gave me the ring, he got down on one knee and gave me a ring!!! (Please pardon my overuse of exclamation points. I can't help myself.) Then I squealed, and jumped around, and hugged my sweet husband while the kids threw more rocks in the water. Someday they are going to say to themselves, "Wow, I was there when Dad gave Mom her ring! That's cool!"

I'm so thankful for my husband, for his love, and for his care of me. This action turned something that hurt just a little every day into something that makes me smile every time I think about it.

Oh, and I LOVE IT. (Sorry for yelling, I can't help myself!!!!!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got an amazing, super, fabulous, wonderful Valentine's Day from my sweetheart, and I'm dying to tell about here, but you are going to have to wait till can post pictures of it. It might take a week or so.

Piñata!

Hello!Getting the frame ready

Ryan gets some expert help cutting the wires

More help!

Lookie! It's coming together!

Ryan has more help than he knows what to do with!

Well, it's for a girl, so it's gotta be pink...

More pink...

Now it's all ready to bring to life!
(Check out the brand new glasses on the birthday girl!)

All done! Ready to whack!

Don't hate me because I'm so beautiful...

Where have I been?

The last month I've been homeschooling, and it's taken up all my creative energy. I'm having the time of my life though! This is something I always dreamed of doing "When I grow up". It is more fun than I even expected!

We took the day off today-teacher has the Cold To End All Colds, so school was canceled. I did hear my oldest in the room teaching her siblings their phonics. Too cute!

I'm going back to bed.

Hello!

Our December prayerletter

Here is our last prayer letter, just to let you all know what we will be doing during the next year. I'll be blogging more often now also.

I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who has sacrificed in your finances and with your time in prayer to support our ministry this past year. Our time in Tijuana has born fruit in souls saved, as well as in the ministries we had the privilege of serving in. My wife’s Spanish has greatly improved this past year as well. In October we packed up and moved out of Tijuana, and returned to the U.S.A. to prepare for the journey to Mexico City. We raised $2,300 toward our trip. God made it clear that He wanted us to take a furlough, raise the final amount, and also raise our support level to accommodate the change in expenses in Mexico City. This furlough should be about a year.

November started off with a great meeting in Fort Bragg, CA, at the Gospel Light Baptist Church. For the rest of the month, I called and scheduled furlough meetings with all our churches for the next year, while my wife got the kids settled into an on-the-road home school program.

December was busy, as we went down to Southern California for a Meeting in Downey, Boron, Delano, and our home church, Lighthouse Baptist Church in Santa Maria. We also spent some time in Santa Maria getting the van to the mechanic. It was naughty and refused to perform it’s “slipping transition” bump for the mechanic, so I just had him give it a tune up. He discovered that the tie rods were about to give out, which is quite dangerous, and replaced them. He also replaced a wire leading to the transmission. Since he did this there have been no more problems with the transmission. Thank the Lord we brought the van in for this problem! We made it back to Northern CA in time for the holidays. Now, we are getting ready for more meetings, as we take our first furlough.

Please pray for journey mercies, and for health for the family while we go. As always, I pray for the souls God will lead me to on the road, and in Mexico City. I believe He is preparing the soil ahead of me, getting people ready for the gospel, so I pray for them! Thank you all for your love and support! God bless!