Memorial Day in CT

By 8:03 am, all the parades in this area of CT were cancelled due to crazy thunderstorms, but the parade in New Haven was still on... rain or shine I guess! We were going to Haven of Rest BC to pass out tracts,  and the city routes the parade right down the street of the church! Perfect! The church is in a former storefront, so there is lots of parking and space to set up chairs and such. While I didn't get any shots of the parade, I did get a few of this pretty cool car! 

This belongs to a member of the church, and to say the least he is a True Blue Patriot! He has customized his Jeep to reflect his passion for the USA....

AND his passion for Jesus Christ!

Ray and his Jeep

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble

 themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked

 ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and

 will heal their land."

II Chronicles 7:14

He takes it places throughout the summer, and asks if they would like to see under the hood, and of course they say, "yes". Under the hood he has the 10 Commandments printed which makes a very nice transition to witnessing! Now that is going Out of the Box for Christ! 

Lord, Teach Me...

We have been "home" for only 8 weeks since August 24, 2010. (By home, I mean in Spencerport.) That is a pretty staggering statement to me, knowing exactly what that entails in vivid, personal clarity!

Savannah Livvie and Sam <3

More so what that means is, my children also have been gone from friends, church, events and activities that most kids take for granted. They have been amazing and exceptionally gracious. Their attitudes have had so few moments of freaking out, (for MUCH the lack of better terms!)  I honestly couldn't give one example. I know they will have great reward in heaven for their stamina and perseverance, but I personally don't remember that being a huge motivating factor for Me when I was their ages. I am just saying.

At Cathedral of the Pines overlooking Mt.  Monadnock

So what motivates them? For the most part, and this is just a guess here, sheer obedience. I think they are learning more and more what it means to "lose your life" for God's sake, and I know the Lord is giving them grace for every day. It is wonderful to hear their unrehearsed answers to people's questions like, "So do you want to go to Zambia?", and "So what is it like to live in a camper for several weeks on end?"

With Besties :) 

I remembering looking forward to this time of deputation traveling with my family knowing how quickly these years fly by. I am Very Much enjoying nightly routines of games in the camper, and seeing my children interact with people they would have otherwise never have met. I love that the guys have a great relationship with their little sister, and even if there are other choices, they often choose each other's company.

J's & B's

I love seeing people ask my guys to come work with or for them. When they return without fail they tell us how well they worked, and what nice young men they are. I am bragging a little, but truly it is like taking credit for the beauty of the sunrise. The Lord has gifted us with wonderful children, and we are blessed.

One of the greatest blessings is the gift of friendship with people. The body of Christ is vast and far reaching, made up of people from backgrounds and cultures as diverse as snowflakes. The bond of Christ knits our hearts with people in ways I could never have imagined. 

Friends from NH

I have met people all over this East coast that if I lived within 30 minutes driving I would often sit over coffee with. People come to my mind and I just miss them, even though the accumulated time I spent with them was barely the span of a church service. I may not even know enough about the details of their lives to "intelligently" pray for them, but I still lift their faces up to the Lord, as truthfully in some cases I don't even know their names. Why the Lord has given our family this gift of time called "deputation" I may not fully know this side of Heaven. That it gets tiring sometimes is understandable. That I, too, get homesick for family and church is definitely an understatement. But for all of my being a "goal oriented" person, I am really enjoying this time. 

The Lord is gracious and patient and kind and good. Oh, and He is so much more than that! 

Oops on the previous post...

This is the one I meant to upload!

Though the mountain was slightly shrouded in clouds, the picture Is still a keeper! We are trying to figure out a way to have Liv in all these shots- our family seems so incomplete without her! Maybe we will do a spin off of a previous post and make her into a paper doll and brings her every where we go! Our own "Livi Live" or something. I am sure we will come up with an idea eventually :) 

Cathedral of the Pines

Chipper, Leah, and Savannah!

There is just something irresistible about a pony!

 His name is Chipper and he is adorable.

This is Leah with Savannah, and she sometimes shows him at 4H shows and such. Too fun and quite a nice treat for Savannah too!

Beautiful Sunday Morning

After over a full week of rain and cold it is wonderful to wake up to sunshine and chirping birds. We are thoroughly loving the scenery here in New Hampshire near Manhodnock Mountain. We have yet to see it though, because it has been clothed in clouds since we have been here! With this break in the weather I am going to for sure get some pictures!

We are enjoying the final day of a missions conference in Swanzey,NH, and Dan gets to preach to their teens. We feel right at home!

Some Very Cool Photography...

I received an email from Amy my Cali friend (Thanks!) and just loved the photography! There were more than what I am putting here but these are my favorites! Our family had tried to do this kind of thing and while they weren't horrible, they were nothing like this! I was going to add them and see if you could tell which were mine, but then I decided against it. You're welcome! :) 

Pretty cool, huh? If you want me to forward the email to you just let me know. There were 26 pictures in all. Some I would love to frame and out in a collage, but not having a "home" to have a wall to out them on at the moment ... perhaps now is not the time for that!!

Travels with Flat Stanley!

I was honored with the task of traveling with Flat Stanley today. He is a little friend given to me by Trenton, a little man we met in Florida. "Hi Trenton!!" Anyhow, I knew we would be going to New York City, and what better place to take a little Stanley from Florida! 

His first experience was the subway. We took him on the A-Train from Brooklyn to Manhattan. That meant he had to go under the East River to get to the Island! 

 Savannah was a pro by this time, so she made sure to hold him tight and keep him company. The train is VeRy BuMpY!!

 We arrived at Ground Zero, and we were able to get him WAY up on top of the building to see the whole memorial site. The cranes were huge, and the empty space left from the destroyed buildings is enormous.

 We then took him to the Tribute WTC Gallery. There were timelines of all of the 9/11 events all over the walls and a replica of the Statue of Liberty with many of the memorial notes and flowers left at the original site.

 Here is Stanley next to the model of the memorial site. It is almost perfect size for him!

 I think he has a desire to become a fireman now... though I don't think it is the best profession for a man made of paper!

 There are so many hats to choose from! He couldn't decide on one... I guess so many choices are a bad thing!

Now for a boat ride across to Staten Island! These ships are three levels and run 24 hours a day!

Say Good Bye to the South Side for a little while! 

Here we are half way to Staten Island, and there she is! Lady Liberty! It was a beautifully sunny day with the wind blowing. We did our best to keep hold of the little guy! 

He got a little adventurous and thought he wanted to swim but we convinced him that was not a good idea!

Flat Stanley is going into his little yellow envelope tomorrow to head back to Florida. I hope he had a good time in The Big Apple! Stanley, tell Trenton hello for us! When Darren is old enough... maybe his Flat Stanley could come with us to Zambia!

Welcome to Manhattan!

While I have been to NYC a few times, it is always fun to see it through the eyes of someone new... and even more exciting when it is my own children! Josiah, Micah and Savannah have never been to the city, and everything was a new frontier to discover! Savannah was a little unsure of what The Subway was in the first place, and when we went to the A train at 80th St in Brooklyn,  the anticipation was fun to see unfold in her.  There were many teachable moments, and I was impressed to see her understanding everything so quickly. 

She made mention that it was fun to see all of the people, but she knew it was impolite to stare. I share her sentiment! It was quite an adventure as on the first leg of the journey into Manhattan, a "pregnant, homeless" woman came in with a box of candy bars and began giving her schpeel on how if we buy her candy bars her child wont have to cry because it is hungry... Very sad. On the train back, there was a man selling DVD's from a backpack. "Get your shopping done here...!" and watch out for the bootleg police! 

We first went to the American Museum of Natural History. We were also told the price for admittance is a "suggested donation". Whew! We suggested a bit less than they did! 

 This was the craziest of all the exhibits to me. I meant to take a picture of the plaque telling its description... it is called an Okapi. It has zebra striped legs, a head like a horse, and little horns and a purple tongue like a giraffe! Maybe when I get to Zambia we can travel to their region and see a real live one!

 We walked from the museum to Central Park. It is much less intimidating in the daylight than I would have imagined. After all of the movies and shows that have crime scenes in that park, I was a little jaded about it all!

 I am learning my children love heights. And climbing.  We went down to the little pathways and bridges, and the next thing I knew they were all scaling the rocks. I saw no signs saying not to, and there were park employees doing gardening that didnt say anything to us, so we let them! 

 Up, up, and still  higher up!

 Savannah has no problem keeping up with her brothers!!

 Then we were off to more important things... Times Square! 

 The m&m's store... so fun! 

 I just love these guys! Once again, I have yet to find our regular campers, and all of these are with a cell phone. Ugh! 

If you look to the far left of this picture you can see Micah and Savannah (Purple and Red hoodie jackets...) in the big teletron picture! 

Today is Dan's birthday, and we plan to head down to the Trade Tower site, and possibly China Town. I will see if I can get a purse from a back room somewhere. The teens from the missions trips have taught me well...!!  More to come, I am sure!!

NYC...

Whew! From ROC to Herkimer, to Connecticut to NYC all in about 12 hours. And that includes an overnight! We are presenting our burden for the souls of Zambia Africa at a church in Queens tonight. Very Excited to meet the people of this church!

Then we have two days for sight seeing in the Big Apple! We will be exposing the kids to the subway, Central Park, several of the museums and possibly Little Italy and China Town. I will be thankful for my experience here with the Summit Teens Missions trips! On those trips each adult is responsible for 5-6 teens every venture. Here I will only need to keep track of TWO... hopefully I can do a good job!

More to come!!