Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a great meeting in Macon, GA. For those of you that prayed that the Lord would give me an entrance into the hearts of the young people, be assured that God answered your prayers. I suppose the culmination of my friendship with the young people at Gilead Christian Academy was the opportunity I had to attend a volleyball game on Friday afternoon. I was amazed anew at how much it meant to everyone involved. We also had a great beginning to our meeting here in Semmes, AL (Mobile area) where beginning tomorrow, I will once again be preaching twice a day. Thank God for the busy days of service! The meeting runs through Friday and for all of those concerned, we do have a contingency plan in case of a hurricane. God knows whether or not we will have to use it; at this point I am putting little confidence in meteorological predictions.

Please pray for our fall schedule, it having been decimated with cancellations. I would love to see those empty weeks fill up. As always, God knows and He has a specific plan for us. Your prayers for us are always greatly appreciated, and I will do my best to keep you informed of how God answers.

Paul

Family Update

Well, the last time we were in this area, some of you may remember, we were invaded by hordes of ants. Guess who dropped in for a visit? You got it – the ants! It must be something about the area. I really don’t think it has anything to do with Paul’s preaching, as good as it is. We have sprayed ant killer stuff outside the trailer in vain. They still come and come and come. Did you know that Windex multi task spray will paralyze them in their tracks? It is kind of cool. I feel like the Terminator. The house is really clean, too.

The pastor told us Sunday morning that tropical storm Ernesto had just been upgraded to hurricane status and that it was headed straight for us. The people of the church scoffed, saying that it will change directions fifty times before landfall. That is a great comfort. By Sunday evening, it had downsized to a tropical storm again. What a relief. The humidity right now is extreme, even though the temperature is only in the 90’s. We are anticipating a great meeting anyway. Pray that Paul doesn’t preach up any more storms. Ha!

Most of you know how hectic a Sunday morning can be trying to get everyone ready and out the door in one piece. We were doing well as far as time was concerned, and I was pleased with myself for getting everyone ready not just on time, but early! I had set my shoes out by the door while I finished my hair and makeup, etc. So, I was very unpleasantly surprised when I went to put on my shoes and there was only one! Of course, the kids knew nothing about it. Josiah blamed it on Abigail, and Abigail “didn’t know.” It resulted in a ten-minute, four man search around the trailer. As I limped around the trailer on one shoe, feeling like Cinderella, I muttered under my breath about how many places it could be in a 38 foot trailer. I mean, really! We looked under the chair, the couch, the beds, the toy box (as if anyone puts anything in there), and even outside, thinking that it might have fallen out when Paul opened the door. I don’t think I looked in the refrigerator, but we checked the bathtub and the trash. It finally came to light under a laundry basket full of clothes. How it got there, I can only imagine. I threatened the children about ever touching my shoes again, and we all went happily off to Sunday School. Of course, by that time, we were no longer early. Oh, well. We will try again next week!

Josiah has completed his second week of school, and has learned to write almost all of his vowels legibly. There is something to be said for handwriting practice. He is still very excited about the whole thing, and I am capitalizing on that fact. Someone gave him a three-foot inflatable bat in junior church on Sunday, and it has already been doomed to the trash can. I told him, while we were driving down the road, that if he hit me in the head with it again, I was going to bite holes in it. That calmed things down a bit, and I have to wait a while longer to get rid of it! I am such a heartless mother! I suppose I could always deflate it and send it on a mini-vacation under the bed. That would be nicer than biting holes in it.

Abigail is as wild as ever. She climbs, jumps and falls with such regularity that it is no longer remarkable. However, the other day, I was getting ready to give Esther a bath, and carried her into our bedroom while getting out her towel and washcloth. I heard a commotion in the kid’s room at the other end of the trailer. I turned nonchalantly and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. There was Josiah, lying on the floor with the bunk bed ladder on top of him, and hanging on for dear life above him on the bunk railing was Abigail! I quickly (but gently) dumped Esther on the bed, and sprinted for the impending disaster, calling out to Abigail to “Hang on!” Thankfully, I reached her before her arms gave out and the disaster was averted. Somehow, between the two of them, they managed to unhook the ladder form the top bunk without realizing it. I lectured them once again about being careful, and they continued playing.

One of their favorite things to play is “puppies” where they crawl around on all fours, barking, panting, and whining. There is a slight variation of this game called “dinosaurs” in which they crawl around the house roaring. Lovely. Anyway, it was not long ago when I overheard Josiah telling Abigail, “No, I will be the Mama dinosaur, because I’m the prettiest!” What will he think of next?

Sarah

Last night after the service as we were having a time of fellowship with the pastor and other members of the church, I looked up to see Abigail picking up each of the CD’s on our table and running them through the drinking fountain. She had finished about a third of them before I was able to stop her. This morning, while I was preaching in a preacher’s fellowship meeting, she irrigated my sermon notes from last night’s message. Evidently, she finds my pulpit ministry dry and wants to help in that regard.

Paul