Fall is in the air

This is my favorite season of the year.

For whatever the reason I love the cool mornings and the glow in the sunshine. There is a crispness to each day that is reminiscent of days gone by and a fore shadow of colder days to come. We have been in school full swing for weeks now, and there is a comfortable pace to each day.

Now for a reality check!

Somewhere in the walls of our school room a hive of bees has been nested and the newest of their offspring greet us eagerly in the mornings. It is a full fledged bee killing fest every morning!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the team from Encounter Revival Ministries. Our family loves being host to a few members each year, and we pick up our two new temporary family members on Saturday which begins a flurry filled week of chapels in the morning, Bible studies at night, and too much hilarity and insanity in between to adequately tell of! There is also a new Summit Teens commercial that will debut on Sunday, which I will post next week for all to endure enjoy!

They guys have been bitten with salmon spawning fever, and the river calls to them like some long lost memory they simply cannot ignore! They eagerly face the bracing morning chill like a friend and head down to High Falls any chance they get! 4 large Salmon to date... I am praying for some deer in my freezer this year!

To get the scope of this picture, remember Levi is now 13, 5'7" tall, and that fish is huge!

The craziest thing about this trip is, Dan managed to get the fishing in before work...but not the "finishing" in. He dropped off boys and salmon, changed and left! The filleting, cleaning and bagging have been left to the boys. And Savannah! She is the cheerleader!

**************Caution! Graphic Images !! *******************

I warned you!

Notice I am not out there... I have no tolerance for anything from the water. Not fish, shrimp, lobster, or crocodile! (Which I have tasted, by the way! ) But... I will be right there when they are all done with the hose and pine sol to wash off the patio!

Two in one day!

I know this is the second post for today, but you must go to this super fun google game called Where in the World!

I am absolutely terrible at Geography, but this is a fun way to teach observation with analysis as well as geography all in one! Go ahead! Try it!

Is yours a Do or a Done?

I'm reading just a little book called "done", and it really brought some things to a clear focus.

I have long held the teasing joke that there are as many religions as there are breathing people on this planet. Over 6 billion ways to be good, love God, get to heaven. If it were left to us humans, we would all concoct a slightly different way to achieve a glorious place we would call Heaven. Some might agree a little more in some areas than others, and those we would refer to as fundamentalists. Or cults!

But in this little 100 page book, the author makes a statement that really there are only two types of religion in this world. The DO category contains all but the one classified in the DONE category.

Summing it up, in all other religions their mantra is, "what more do I have to do?" In their belief system there is always has a list of do this and do that. In the end followers are left asking the question..."Have I done enough?!"

In the one standing alone, the one true God has said, "What is required I have DONE." Out of love and a desire to know and please Him, I am left asking... "Lord what more can I do?!"

So the question stands. At the end of the day are you wondering have you done enough? Or are you resting in the finished work of the cross, and praising God-the Author and Finisher of your faith- for yet another day to do his glorious work?

Oh the Age in which we live!

As a child of the 70's and 80's, it may surprise none of you that growing up I had only the game "breakout" on my one game nintendo system. And I was cool with that. And I was good at it too, if I dont say so myself. Now mind you my family did NOT acquire this game until I was in 8th grade.

Also, our family got our first VCR-and it was HUGE!- the next year when I was in 9th. But we had no movies to play in it- only the home made tapes that were so skillfully and very NON-DIGITALLY recorded on the massive home video recorder. But watch them we did, and with such "we have arrived" attitudes in our hearts!

So pardon me if some things of today still amaze me. And crack me up.

My children- the very next generation- think all of this technology has always been there, and simply refuse to believe the statements made above, as well as others!

They forget that our family just entered the cell phone arena just over two years ago! They also forget that the computer on which I type is considered archaic in the realm of cutting edge technology! I only have 40g hard drive for crying out loud! (PLENTY for me!! )

But some of the funniest things are the things said and done by our Savannah. She is 5 going on 21, and I am not kidding! I have never claimed to have genius in my blood, so where her whit and intelligence come from is a mystery. But she has come up with some winners and I will share a few with you today. I know you are thrilled!

Last spring during our stay with the P's Dan was doing some NSBI home work on his computer. Savannah says, " Dad, are you laptopping?" Loved it, and it stuck! He now does laptopping all the time.

Recently, she found me on my cell phone, and she asks, "Mom, are you texting or saving a number into your contacts?" What?! How does she pick up on these things? The texting I will allow, but "saving into contacts"? She is truly on a higher intellect!

The topper was last night when we went to bed... VERY LATE I might add! She has yet to break the habit from Dan's long absence, and likes to snuggle on "his side" until he kicks her out a few minutes later. Last night as she jumped into bed, she grabbed her little "laptop-like" Barbie game. As she does, she says, "Mom, I need to check if Little Livvie left me an e-mail before I go to bed"!! OH MY! I dont even have a lap top, and Dan never does laptopping in bed... where do they come up with these things! I called for Olivia to take a pic on her cell phone so the quality is not great- but here she is!
You may notice her recent hair cut. Another of her higher thinking moments prompted the shearing. Her hair- while thick and beautiful, is NEVER up for long, and her feeble attempts to keep it out of her face-food-school- you name it!- only leave us both frustrated at the spaghetti, syrup, and blue marker that always end up in it! So she says, "Mom if you cut it, I can only get a little in my hair, because there wont be so much of it!" C.H.O.P.!! Works for me!

And not that you can see it very well in the picture, but she has a HUGE gap in the front of her teeth. Genetic. This one is my my gift to her. And was my Grandmothers gift to me! (I actually gave it to both my girls... how nice of me!) Anyhow, this gap is the result of a very thick "frenum" and will not close with the falling out of the baby and growing in of her adult teeth. I went back and forth with the decision to do anything about it. My mom chose to have an oral surgeon perform a "frenectomy" when I was 5, and I now have no gap. I also had no need of braces at all.

Olivia had the gap and at the advice of out orthodontist (read into that "job security") opted to try a retainer to close the gap. Needless to say- poor Liv has been in some sort of oral appliance since she was 8. Yeah, she is 17 now!! AND to make matters even better, she still had to have a frenectomy... LAST MONTH!!

So... I say all of that to say this. Savannah is having oral surgery tomorrow. Olivia has a great deal of sympathy for his little sis, as her memory of the whole ordeal is so very vivid and fresh! My memory of it, on the other hand, not so good! I only know I got a doll as a consolation prize. Which, by the way, I still have. Somewhere! So my plan is to down play the whole Novocaine-scalpel-stitches part and focus on a really fun present. Like an i-pod or something. Well, a toy one!

If you happen to think of her on Friday, please pray for her. I know this will not be pleasant no matter how you cut it. Pun not intended!

Just another Look into A Day in My Life...

I warned Dan I was doing this, cut and paste yet another excerpt from a letter I wrote to him last night to tell of my day. It is so much easier than typing it all twice, and I am sure you would like to know how my day went while my man is many thousands of miles away. I am so glad he will be returning on Friday. If for no other reason than to try and secure the safety of his children!

and I quote...

"Hey! I dont think I am supposed to drive without you! After the soccer game tonight driving home through the city on 490w it looked like the hood of the car to the lane on my left FLEW OFF! It was a miracle it didn't fly into our our windshield! I am not sure what it actually was- just big and metal- but I did hit it with the left tires and prayed and prayed they would stay inflated! They did Thank You Jesus! And all of this was on the way home.

On the way there...

Some history first... to get to Jolie's it took 1/2 tank of gas... very impressive if you ask me. (well half tank on our gas gauge- not that it is ever accurate below half a tank... could have been nearly empty for all I really knew! But it said 16.4 gallons used in the digital gauge :) On the way home with a 140 mile detour because of my tom tom faux pas - and yes he is all better now that I charged him well! - we used the entire tank of gas... on the digital gauge 22.7 gallons. Yikes! But because the door was a mess I parked it in the garage since then, and figured since it is a 25 gallon tank I would have enough gas to get me to Henrietta to get the cheaper price at Sam's.

W.R.O.N.G.!!!!

We ran out of gas... empty... sputter... coast as far as we possibly can... and made it partially on the Hylan drive exit ramp. Look immediately to the right, and there is Sams and those beautiful gas pumps right over one small gully-swamp, and one fairly high and very rusty fence. No fear. I have strong young soccer players ready to run to Sams for a gas can... none there so off they go to Pep boys. I 411'd information and pre empted their visit to them with a phone call so the guy saw them coming and had The Can ready. Very cute- holds 1.5 gallons and cost $10.00. ( !!! ) Then they RAN to the gas pumps - whom I called as well to tell of their arrival - 4 kids - Olivia, Katie from soccer team, Micah, Savannah (Dont ask! I put her over the fence thinking I would be going over next and then when I realized there was NO WAY I was going to make it over the fence- she took off with the ones who did...!) running to the Sams gas pumps through all the cars. In record time Micah ran it back to the fence, heaved it over the fence, and then was over in a split second. The rest ran back to the pump and waited for me to get there. WoW! It was great too because there were two abandoned construction cones that I could put behind my vehicle so the traffic would give me space while I put the gas in the tank. See, it isn't so bad living in construction zone heaven!!! We even made it to the game 20 minutes before it started!

Now that I have fairly secured the fact that you will never again leave me alone for any length of time- let me just say we are all doing really well. Really!!! "

I don't really know if it is wise to tell him all of the details of my days home while he is gone. I am fairly sure he will laugh about it ... a little while after he reads it. Probably. I hope.

Suffice it to say that if you choose to continue to read this little 'ol blog while we are on deputation, there is no limit to the things you may read here. "Abundantly above all we ask or think"... I wonder, what exactly does all that verse pertain to?!

God is Good to ME!

There has been so much happening around here, I doubt I will be able to document it all! We have gone to MD and stayed with my girlfriend whose husband travels a great deal, so he was gone- just the mommas and their chicks! What a blast! She is my Proverbs 27:17 friend for sure! We had some very good conversation, thought provoking and very edifying. I love her dearly and though life and God's plans have taken us apart in the miles, we will forever enjoy the bonds that are stronger because of God- bonds that tie and keep us together! (The hair is due to a long drive ahead and 90+ temps... and very humid with no A/C...)

speaking of which... the following is an excerpt from a letter I sent to Dan in Zambia...

"a LOT of white knuckle driving in the rain-dark-fog-no a/c -85 degrees and fogged up windows.


By the way... are you able to pull out a dent, or is that something I should talk to Bob Kaiser about tonight?! Lets just say I HATE PENNSYLVANIA AND THEIR DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!! (note- I did not get a look at the license plate of the car so this is just a statement against the road... not the driver really. HA!)


We are all fine, and the car is too... well mostly. There is a nice long dent on the passenger front corner panel that prevents the doorfrom opening more than 10 inches. We are now driving the green car to prevent more damage! On the way home from Jolie's we were driving
at 9:00 pm and the traffic was all on one side with the cement barrier between north and south traffic, and on the "on ramps" for the merging traffic there was a stop sign for the merging traffic... NOTE :Not for the MAIN HIGHWAY!!! There was some psychotic moron in front of me - still the a fore mentioned driving conditions - who mistook the stop sign for THE 65 MPH DRIVING LANE!!!!!!! HE STOPPED IN FRONT OF ME!!! It was ALL I could do not to plow right into him, and in turn the car behind me was almost as desperate not to hit me- we were barricaded on the left with the cement and the right by a 6" + drop off in the pavement from the unfinished part, with the little white posts all along the side as well... I swerved to the right and BARELY missed him... but they do have a few less white posts now. I really thought we were going to have a major accident. And then, I saw the sign that said "75 miles to Binghampton" ... I about cried. I knew we had at least three 1/2 more hours of this!

Dan did not have the benefit of a picture to make it better or worse... I hope to have Josiah try to pop it out a little today. We shall see!

But all in all we had a very nice time there. It was so beautiful to see DC. It happened to be September 11 the day we went- not planned that way by us! All flags were half mast, and the sights were very beautiful. We walked great distances that day! From 9:00 am to 10:00 pm we were out! Even Savannah did exceptionally well! We went to the Lincoln Memorial at night, walking the whole way passed the Washington Monument and the WWII memorial, down along side the Reflecting Pool. The weather was beautiful, and thankfully cooler than the drive home! But we did enter several swarms of unidentified insects and step on immeasurable quantities of duck doo-doo. It was worth it though, and despite the batteries on my camera dying, we got some pretty pictures.


The picture of the flag against the Washington Monument was so beautiful in person. It was a breathtaking scene with all of the flags circling the grounds, and knowing it was the 7th anniversary of the largest single attack on our own soil only added to the impact of the day. It was our first trip into our nations Capitol, and we were glad to have such a great time.



We also went to Baltimore and toured three ships that are docked in the Inner Harbor there. The USS Constellation, USS Torsk, The Chesapeake Lightship, and USCGC Taney. I learned one major thing- I would not make it on a submarine! It was a walk through, and I really felt for the first time in my life what a panic attack must be. It was really an amazing thought knowing men, and many many of them- lived on that ship for months at a time. I would not have done well!

The coolest thing was in the Museum of Natural History, there was the section on animals and regions in Africa. This banner was on one of the walls, and I was so inspired! We are always in thought and prayer about what we will use for our ministry "look" and this phrase was branded on my mind and all I could think about.

"Imagine a Different Africa"

I know they were not thinking in light of evangelism and spreading the good news of the Gospel if Jesus Christ, but I was!! We have a vision to at first start one Bible Institute in the Eastern Province of Zambia where we will teach Zambians the Bible in an institute setting. A two or three or four year course. They will be trained, discipled, loved, encouraged, and Lord willing Called to start churches and works of their own. As the Muslim religion spreads its infectious message down from the north and up from the south, the central region of Africa must be strengthened to HOLD THE LINE! We desire get there and help others with the same vision and passion - compelled to march to the beating of God's heart- and spread the Good News of the Light of the Gospel. Imagine... the illumination of the Dark Continent.


"Imagine a Different Africa"

Good Bye's and Hello's!

I am always a big fan of getting "the picture" right before we are separated for a while. This is the LONGEST while to date, and while I am not loving it- we are doing OK. Time flies so quickly, and Savannah feels it is her duty to take over for Dad in the snuggling department and she does it quite well!

Aren't we adorable!! :) 19 years very soon!!!

Yeah, I know. The three oldest are taller than me.
I am not sure how I feel about that!

Dan and Levi have safely landed in Zambia and are off to some great reunions with friends that have been made over the years.

One story Dan told me was of a man names Anderson who was his interpreter from his first trip in early '05.

Anderson did not know Dan and Levi were coming, and he saw Levi first and thought how he reminded him of Dan- not knowing he was his son. Dan came up behind him and gave him quite the surprise!

Another reunion was with Kapolo, a young man in the Bible Institute. We met him in '06 and he made us a picture comprised of seeds all smaller than mustard seeds. He cooks them for different times- the longer they cook the darker they get. He then draws a picture on a piece of wood and after many hours of painstakingly gluing them on one at a time, this is what they look like.

Double click the picture for a close up. The detail is incredible!

It has a prominent place in our living room... right next to the animal carvings, and the rebar-wood-and- fur spear. (Another story for another post!) It is beautiful and a great reminder of those we have met and fallen in love with. It is incredible how the bonds of Christ knit people together.

I am always so thrilled at the provision and blessings of God on our family. I am sure everyone has testimony of the goodness of God, but sometimes it is so overwhelming one can scarcely take it all in. And all because HE LOVES US!!!! Great is the Lord and Greatly to be PRAISED! This verse in Matthew has been one that I have loved, and though what we have "forsaken" seems small in comparison to many, God IS FAITHFUL and has blessed us abundantly!

Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

ps I am glad there will be 5 people to recount to me all the events of this trip- seeing I am NOT ON IT!!! (do you sense some repressed emotion there?!) Maybe it will feel like I almost went after they all tell me their stories.

:)