We have several momentous things to relate this month.  The first is that our trailer is fixed!  After months of being out of our “home on wheels,” the Lord worked it out that we were able to get it repaired.  We took it to Indiana during the end of July, and the factory repaired it in two days (practically unheard of in the world of RV repairs).  The repairs that they did included straightening the twisted I-beam, reinforcing the beam with steel above and below, bracing, two new axles, and an upgraded suspension system.  Everything seems to be done well, and we hope that this latest repair will enable us to use the trailer for a long time to come.  We thank the Lord for answering prayer about this matter.  We are all looking forward to moving back into the trailer for our fall meetings and having a little more stability in our day-to-day routine.

Second, we dropped our son Josiah off at Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, NC, for his freshman year.  It has been a busy weekend for us, settling him in the dorm, attending various college events and sessions, as well as visiting area churches and catching up with friends.  He is excited about this new chapter in his life, and we are, too.  It does mean a significant change in our family and ministry dynamic, but we will manage.  The younger siblings are already dividing up his drawers and closet space in the trailer, and his bunk has been claimed, too.  They have to be reminded that he will be back for short visits between semesters.  When we were moving him into his dorm room, he was amazed at the amount of space that he was given to store his clothes and other necessary items.  “Four drawers!” he exclaimed.  I laughed at his disbelief.  It would seem that living in an RV all these years has accustomed him to about half of that.  After sharing an RV bedroom with three siblings, sharing a dorm room with two roommates is akin to living in the lap of luxury. 

We started our home school year last week, but took a short break in order to drive Josiah to North Carolina.  We are currently on our way back, and school will resume in the morning, much to everyone’s dismay.  Abigail is in tenth grade, Esther is in eighth grade, and Daniel is in sixth grade this year.  Home schooling on the road is a very difficult thing to do.  There are so many variables from day to day and week to week, that we must constantly adjust our schedules to accommodate travel as well as late nights, and different time zones.  It takes determination to stay on schedule and yet maintain flexibility.

In other news, Sarah’s arm is slowly doing better.  She has spent a lot of time at the chiropractor’s office, as well as several visits to a massage therapist, and we are happy to see improvement, albeit slow.  She still doesn’t have feeling in two fingers on her right hand, and the arm aches often.  We covet your prayers for continued healing, and hope that she will soon be able to resume her normal activities, including playing the piano for our meetings, as we head into the fall. 

Prayer requests:

Meetings for Fall 2019/Spring 2020

Souls saved and lives changed in our meetings

Safety in travel

A job for Josiah while he is at college

Healing for Sarah

Planning our next mission trip