Ministry Update

We apologize for not writing in so long. The Lord has been blessing us in meetings and travel. Every remaining Sunday in August is now full, and we have a couple of other preaching engagements as well during the month. Please continue to pray for our meetings and that the Lord would supply more meetings. We appreciate your prayers.

Family Update

Hey – we are still alive and kicking! It has been a fearfully long time since we sent out an update. The weather here in North Carolina has been stifling – hot and humid. It was well over 100 degrees several days this past week, as high as 106 yesterday! People have asked us how cool we are staying in the trailer. It has been cooler than outside, but still too hot for comfort during the day. The AC just can’t keep up when it is this hot for so long. Thankfully, we were able to escape into the church and get some relief on the hottest of days. Today is cooler, and we hope it will stay that way.

Josiah had his sixth birthday this past Tuesday, and is looking forward to starting first grade in a few weeks. He has kept up his reading over the summer, and I don’t think he will have any problem getting back into the swing of things. I will have to make some adjustments, though. There is a part of me that dreads going back to school. However, I will grin and bear it!

Abigail has been busy soiling our couch, carpet, bedding, and sundry other items. We hope that this long, dark valley of potty training will be over one day. I am thinking of finding out how many colleges offer Potty Training 101, and applying for a scholarship in her name. She has grown a lot this summer, and is getting to be quite a help around the house. She loves to wash dishes and cook and clean right alongside me.

Esther is finally walking. She is still not very steady, but happily toddles around the house, getting into whatever is available. She has also mastered the art of climbing down off the bed or couch, and backing down the step. She also likes to climb the bunk ladder in the kid’s bedroom. I usually keep it up just because of the lack of space, but if I forget, there she is, standing on the ladder, squealing in excitement. She has gotten taller, too, and is now in danger of bonking her head when she stands up under the table. Poor thing still has no hair to cushion the blow, so I have to keep an eye on her. Her favorite word is “Eat,” although she does not say it herself. She recognizes it though, and always makes a great deal of excitement when she hears it. Flapping arms, grunts, lunges toward the high chair – it is very funny to see.

We haven’t had any meetings the last few weeks, so we have had the opportunity to spend some time with my family in Ohio. We also went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. That was an incredible place! The kids loved, it, and along with all the dinosaur artifacts, and flood geology, was a very clear presentation of the Gospel. The planetarium was awesome – to think that we are so insignificant when compared to the vast universe around us, and yet, God cares about each one of us in a special, eternal way. While we were watching one of the presentations, it was all I could do to keep from shouting, “Praise the Lord!” I refrained however, since we were in a dark and crowded room full of strangers. Had I “gone off” Paul might have, too, and you can imagine the resulting panic when they realized there were at least two fanatics loose in the room with them. Seriously, though, it was great!

Paul and I are going to Charleston, SC next week for a belated anniversary trip. The kids are staying with Grandma and Papa, so they will be in good hands. We are looking forward to some “just the two of us” time. We have not done anything special for our anniversary for four years. Sometimes, there is just no opportunity or time to do anything. I intend to take lots of neat pictures, and have a wonderful time. Pray that no hurricanes wipe us off the map while we are there. That would be very unromantic!

Sarah

Jesus told His disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem…” For the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to go on visitation with my home church this evening. We talked to a teenage girl who began to weep as I preached the Gospel to her. She had gone through some real hard times since moving to Kings Mountain from Charlotte, and she seemed to have the weight of the world on her. After preaching the Gospel to her, she agreed to come to the service tonight. As always, a man stood before our teens this evening and preached the Bible. At the end of the message, the girl trusted Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord for the salvation of a soul, whether it is in a revival meeting or through normal visitation.

Paul

Ministry Update

After returning to Yorktown, VA from Canadian, OK, I was immediately immersed in Vacation Bible School and Wild West Roundup. There is no doubt about it, I was not in my comfort zone preaching to kids every night, but God gave the victory, with over ten kids saved, several surrendering their lives to God, and record attendance almost every night. We had a wonderful time with all the church staff and members of Maranatha Baptist Church, but especially with Beau and Nicole Williams and their family. It will not be long before we begin to head back towards NC for some time with the people of our own church before we head out again.

Family Update

Esther is now one. We had a lovely little birthday party for her on Wednesday, complete with streamers, balloons, and a cake that everyone could eat! That was something worth celebrating in itself! She loved digging into the cake, but seemed to not particularly care for the “stuff” all over her hands and face. We took lots of pictures. After her birthday bath (always necessary after eating birthday cake) we opened some presents. She was really excited about opening the gifts, possibly because of her previously mentioned penchant for shredding paper. She was most conscientious, though, and would hand each shred to the person sitting next to her. It was very cute!

Josiah had a blast in VBS this week. He loved it all – the games, the songs, the skits, the country store, and most of all, the boys vs. girls offering round-up. It was so funny to watch him interact with so many kids his own age. He learned quite a few new Bible verses this week, and I was very proud of him for working so hard. He wore his cowboy hat and sherriff’s badge every night, and enjoyed playing cowboy. I had to tell him to leave his guns at home. He was a bit disappointed about that, but quickly got over it

We have had a great week here, and saw the Lord answer prayer. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Sarah

Indian Update

Last night, after attending the morning service of a local independent Baptist church, we had our first service out at the Indian Baptist Mission Camp Meeting. Though the meeting does not officially start until tomorrow, there are already representatives from the Six Nation Iroquois reserve in Ontario, as well as Apache, Choctaw, and Creek, the latter two from right here in Oklahoma. With this handful of maybe 60 people, we had a service tonight. During the song service, we all sang “Amazing Grace” in English, then the Iroquois sang it in Mohawk, then the Choctaw sang it in their Choctaw, and finally it was sung in Creek. For me, it was quite emotionally moving to sit and listen (I know no Native American dialects). I realized that this gathering of people would not even exist, were it not for the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here were entirely different traditions, languages, and cultures, all made one by the blood of Christ. One day we all will sing to Jesus, “Thou…hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” To get a foretaste of that day while here on earth was a treat for me this evening.

I was asked to preach the first message tonight, and many told me afterwards how that God spoke to their hearts. I am told that this a meeting in which they call preachers from the floor; that should prove interesting. I found myself wishing that I could preach every service of the entire week, but then I had to make sure that my motivation is not pride. I would love to preach again, there is not doubt about it. We’ll pray, wait, and see.

Paul

Ministry Update

We are at one of my favorite places in which to preach: Grace Baptist Church in Semmes, AL just outside of Mobile. The Lord is giving us another wonderful meeting this week. Although we have not yet seen anyone saved, the Lord has done a work so far among God’s people. Preaching the Pastor’s fellowship this morning was a great joy and many of the men expressed to me how the Holy Spirit had encouraged their hearts. Our meeting goes through Friday after which we head back home for less than a week.

Family Update

Well, this week has been quite interesting so far. I already mentioned that I lost my keys, but that is not all I lost. I also lost my watch – the clasp must have come undone when I was out somewhere. I lost my phone (while it was set on vibrate, of course) and found it the next day. Then, the ultimate was this morning when I lost my balance and fell off the platform at the preacher’s fellowship. My heel caught on the edge of the carpeted step and I only had time to think, “Uh-oh! I am going to fall!” Whump! There I was on hands and knees in front of the altar. (Paul has been hoping for this for quite some time, but I don’t know if that is exactly the way he thought it would happen!) Someone helped me up, and I fled the auditorium, trying to conceal my laughter. When I had regained my composure, I came back inside for the sermon. Everyone was very concerned about me, although the only damage I suffered was rug-burned knees. Several people tried to make me feel better by telling me how many times they had “almost done that very same thing” a dozen times or more. Others told me how graceful my landing had been. Yeah, right! “What a klutz – but, boy, what a great landing! Didn’t even scream! I give her about a seven on that one. Har! Har!” The worst thing of all was that my heel separated from my shoe. I guess I will just have to get another pair! Oh, well!

After the preaching, there was a meal, and we all sat around talking for quite some time. Most of the people were gone when I heard the very distinct sound of a mousetrap disengaging in the church kitchen. I looked around, and Esther was nowhere to be seen. I heard no screams, so I assumed that either she hadn’t been hurt, or her lips were snapped together and she couldn’t cry. She was quite upset when I took the trap away from her. It seems that it had been baited with Twix candy bar, and she found that very tasty. I felt a great compunction to scrub her mouth and face with Comet or something very strong, but in the end, I only used soap and water. Hopefully, the trap hadn’t been used very much previously. I will have to keep an eye on her though, because she might just think that a mousetrap is the means of a quick and easy snack. Next time, it might not be such a happy ending!

Last Saturday, I found a tick embedded in Abigail’s head. It was a traumatic experience for all involved. Try telling a three-year-old who hates bugs with a passion that there is a bug biting her on the head and you have to get it off right now. Later that evening, I was looking at the site of the tick bite when I noticed something else much worse. Her hair was full of….well, I won’t say what. Some of you may get the creepy-crawlies if I mention it. This new development, combined with the hours-earlier tick incident, served to give me the most horrible sensations I have had in ten years. Paul was sent to Wal-mart post-haste to get shampoo, and I began the tedious process of combing out her hair. This also necessitated my finding someone to comb through my hair, just in case. Thankfully, nothing was found in my hair, and Abigail is now clean. Loads of laundry and bedding were immediately dispatched to the 24-hour Laundromat, only to find that it had closed at 10 PM due to recent vandalism. What are the chances? All is back to normal, except that at any hour of the day, I can be seen looking furtively at my daughter’s head, hoping to see only what is supposed to be there. Where did she get it? We have no idea, and I really don’t think I want to know. Life is full of surprises! Maybe she got it from YOU!

Ministry Update

Cleaning wooden decks, spraying poison ivy, shooting varmints, spring cleaning a travel trailer, cutting grass – what do these sound like to you? To us, these activities mean vacation. We spent the last week at the farm enjoying a week of physical labor that turned out to be very relaxing for me. We are also in the process of preparing our trailer to sell. We don’t yet have a buyer, but we are praying and trusting and anticipating that God will soon supply the buyer that we need.

Our next meeting is Friday of this week in lower AL. I will be preaching a Friday graduation ceremony and then be preaching a Sunday through Friday revival meeting in the church. After that, we will be home in NC for a little less than a week before we hit the road again.

Family Update

Life has been rather “normal” lately – that is to say, nothing unusual has happened. We had a week off and spent it at the family farm in Indiana. The kids had a blast playing outside, riding the tractor, playing in the house and in the barns. It was enjoyable for all of us. Josiah and Paul were both able to fly a kite for the first time. (I almost fell over when Paul told me he had never flown a kite before!) Josiah was content to sit outside and hold the kite string “until lunch,” he told me. After warning him of the dangers of power lines, trees, buildings, and letting go of the string, I went in the house to do some work. Some time later, Paul and I heard an awful screech, and very loud crying. “He lost his kite,” I said. Sure enough, when I went outside, Josiah was running across the lawn, tears pouring down his face, still wailing. Off in the distance, I could see the kite, making its way across the fields. I tried in vain to calm Josiah, who was nearly in hysterics (ever see those scenes in a movie where the hysterical person gets their face slapped by the person trying to talk to them?). I did not have to resort to such drastic tactics, I am glad to say, but I was thinking about it, at least! Paul ran after the kite, and barely rescued it from certain destruction as it landed just behind the farmer plowing in the next field. It turns out that one of his sisters, when allowed to fly the kite, had let it go intentionally rather than give it back to him. I know you cannot imagine either of our two daughters doing such a thing, so to protect the guilty one, we will not mention any names.

While in town one day, we had to go to Lowe’s (or Slowe’s, as I always call it) and pick out some paint samples. You know, the little cards with all the different colors of paint. Josiah and Abigail both wanted one, so I, out of a need to keep my sanity, gave them each a card. All the way home, Josiah quizzed me about the paint sample. I thought his interest was unusually strong, but tried to explain what the sample was. After we got back to the farm, the kids ran off to play, and I was busy downstairs. Josiah came back down with a rather disappointed look on his face and told me that his paint card didn’t work. “What do you mean, it doesn’t work?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “I put it on the wall, but it didn’t change the color. It didn’t even stick!” I was quite amused and realized why he had been so interested in the paint samples. He thought that just by placing it on the wall, you could change the color of the wall. Now that would be an invention, to be sure! Thankfully, it didn’t work that way, or the whole upstairs would be a bright cobalt blue!

I am also glad to announce that the first year of Cross Country Baptist Academy is finished. Both student and teacher are enjoying summer vacation. Josiah has learned a whole lot this year. He can add up to ten (most of the time), subtract one, count to one hundred, tell time to the hour, half hour, and quarter after, read a calendar, read books, and he has also learned the pledges (American & Christian flags and the Bible). He has learned a Bible verse for every letter of the alphabet, as well as several longer passages, and has learned the first verse to about twenty familiar hymns. I really hope he won’t forget everything over the vacation. If you hear that I have been committed to an insane asylum next fall, you can assume that Josiah’s lack of memory was the cause.

Today I lost my keys. I did not realize they were missing until we stopped for fuel and took the kids to the bathroom about two hours down the road. I remembered locking the trailer before we left, so I knew that they weren’t inside it, but I could not imagine where I had put them. I usually put them directly into my purse, but they weren’t there, either. I thought I remembered putting them on the arm rest of the truck as I strapped Abigail into her car seat, but they were not there, nor were they on the floor of the truck. I was baffled as well as frustrated. Although he did not say so, I wondered if Paul was secretly laughing at my misfortune, seeing as how he is usually the one to misplace his keys. I take great pride in always knowing where my belongings are at all times (well, at least the important ones) and rib him to no end when he loses something. As it turned out, he was once again the perfect husband and was only helpful in my time of need. Of course, it would happen that I would lose my keys when we have to be on the other end of the nation in two days. We called a friend to check the driveway of the farm, and we proceeded to tear the truck apart. I found Sunday school papers, sunglasses, books, toys, some dirt, shredded Kleenex, and even a check from last year, but no keys. The keys, our friends reported, were not at the farm. Rats. We stopped at a church and set up for the night. Paul began thoroughly cleaning out the truck, while I went into the house. It was then that I remembered where I put the keys. When we stopped at the gas station, I was awakened from a shallow sleep and took Abigail into the house to use the bathroom (and, yes, the potty training is still a dismal failure). In my after-nap stupor, I took my keys into the trailer, although Paul had already unlocked the door. When we went into the bathroom, I placed them on the window sill, hence the vague memory of setting them on a ledge. It wasn’t until I got back into the truck that I realized they were gone. So, praise the Lord, I found them and they weren’t hours behind us or in the hands of some irresponsible vagrant. No comments, please. Ha!

Ministry Update

This week has been a good one in Stillwater, MN, just east of St. Paul. The Lord has given us a great time with Pastor Lenard Huebscher and the members of his church. We are looking forward to the remainder of our time here in MN. We will be here through Mother’s Day, going as far north as Duluth and as far west as Willmar. By the way, you pronounce it “oof da.”

Family Update

After a long silence, we are writing again. This lack of communication was not with malicious intent to keep you in the dark – we just haven’t taken the time to sit down and fill you all in on the latest news. Things have been busy all the time. We have had some wonderful meetings. The last was in Anderson, IN with Pastor Dave Warren, and this week we are with Pastor Lenard Huebscher in Stillwater MN. This past Sunday, four people trusted Christ and one received assurance of his salvation. We were thrilled to see the Lord working in hearts! The attendance has been low, but faithful, for which we are glad.

We are in the “dog days” of school. Each day I think to myself, “Only a few more weeks!” I am sure that Josiah is ready for a break. We did not take a “Spring Break” because I was afraid I wouldn’t want to start again after a week of freedom! Josiah was complaining about all the work he had to do the other day, and I told him that he only had a few weeks of school left before summer vacation. I judged from the look on his face that he had not realized he would get time off from school. He was really happy, and has improved in his attitude toward getting his work done. We have gone to a four day school week, doing a little extra each day and leaving the bare minimum for Fridays, so that we have one “free day” per week. Since Saturday is usually taken up with traveling, this works out better for little boys who need to play.

Abigail is approaching her third birthday (May 4). She likes to play dress-up and said that she would like to have a Cinderella party. Hmm… We already have the pumpkin coach! Ha! She is quite the little helper. She gets great pleasure out of helping me around the house – washing dishes, folding laundry, taking care of Esther (this must be supervised carefully). She loves Esther and is always trying to do something for her. I have had to tell her to stay out of the Pack-N-Play, not to pick up the baby, stay out of the diaper bag, etc. I am glad that she is such a “little mother.” She also loves her dolls. She loves to dress them, feed them play house, and even discipline them! Potty training is still a work in progress. We have advanced to Pull-ups, and are hopefully on the downhill side of this great accomplishment.

Esther is such a sweetheart. Everyone exclaims over how pleasant she is. She has been fearfully spoiled, I am afraid, by being held so much. Now if you walk by her without picking her up, she is inclined to fuss. She still is not crawling, and I think it may be because she never has to go far to reach anything in the trailer. She scoots around on her bottom a little, and has started pulling up on things, but I am fine with that. Once she starts moving around on her own, she will be into everything. We have already learned that her favorite thing to do is shred paper. Napkins, Kleenex, Sunday school papers – nothing is safe within her reach. I think she is about to get some more teeth. She has been unusually fussy this week, and chewing on things. I can feel a bump on her upper gum, but she doesn’t like it when I put my finger in her mouth. I also learned this week that she is afraid of grass. The kids were playing outside, and I set Esther down in the grass beside me. She made a horrible face and started crying. Then I put her on my lap and she stopped. I thought she just wanted to be held. Then I tried to stand her up with her feet in the grass. This, too, went over like a lead balloon. After a few more unsuccessful tries to get her settled, I finally put her on my lap, suspecting that she didn’t like the grass. I experimented by setting her on the edge of my lap and putting her feet (with socks) in the grass. Guess what? She didn’t like that either. So I concluded that it was indeed the grass and not her disposition, and refrained from further experiments, much to both of our satisfaction.

The weather here is beautiful, although a little cool. We were afraid it would be snowing here, since the week before we were to leave for MN, we got snow almost every day in Indian and Ohio. I had one great loss to the weather while we were in Ohio. In the previous meeting, in Indiana, I had found a tall, big-wheeled, three-wheeled stroller at a roadside sale. I talked the seller down and got a fairly nice used stroller for a good price. The thing turned out to be a serious weather magnet. After washing the fabric parts, I set it outside to dry. It was almost dry, when a rainstorm came up during church and drenched it again. I had to let it sit out overnight and most of the next day before it dried. The weather was cold, so I wasn’t able to use it, but we packed up and went to Ohio that weekend. We arrived Monday evening and I took Esther for a short walk on Tuesday, because the weather was gorgeous. That afternoon, it rained while we were at my mom’s house. So, I left it under the overhang of the trailer to dry overnight. That night, the temperature dropped nearly sixty degrees and the wind blew all night long. When I came out the next morning, the stroller was gone. Although I looked all over the church property, I could not find it anywhere. I suspect that it blew across the parking lot toward the road, and someone picked it up and drove off with it. I was rather humphed, but Paul consoled me with this statement, “Well, at least you got to use it once!” I am convinced it was a voodoo stroller, and never stayed long in any one place. Perhaps that is why it was sold in the first place. We have gone back to using our “hunchback” stroller, as we call it – you know the umbrella type stroller that is made by Chinese pygmies and sold at Wal-mart. Thankfully, we hadn’t had time to get rid of the old stroller yet. I knew all good things must come to an end, but I never dreamed it would be that soon!

God is so good. We are thankful for all that he has done for us. We have traveled several thousand miles this year already, and He has kept us safe. Josiah’s health is always in danger this time of year, but the Lord has given us cool weather which has kept the trees and flowers from blooming, thus keeping the pollen down and reducing the risk of serious allergy problems. Right now, it looks like we will be in Minnesota until the worst of the “southern” allergy season is over. Praise the Lord for His timing! He is continuing to open doors of ministry for us, and we are excited about the opportunities. Please keep our family and ministry in prayer.

Sarah

Family Update

We had a good service again last night, where the Lord worked in many hearts. It was also a rather eventful night for us as a family. Abigail sang in the service for the first time. She and Josiah stood on a chair behind the pulpit, and with Paul for background support (No, he did not sing “doo-wahs” in the background), they sang “Little Things,” a song that tells how God delights in using little things to do His will. Abigail only managed to get the last few words of every phrase, but it was a real accomplishment to even get her up there.

After the service we fellowshipped for a long while. It was during this time, that Josiah came to me with a bloody nose. This was the result of putting a stick in his nostril while playing outside. I had to explain to him why he should not do it again – somewhere in his head is a brain, however large or small, and he might hurt himself badly if he continued to perform such daring feats. Abigail sat in a briar bush. Esther had her first taste of chocolate in the form of an Oreo cookie. If we had been a traveling circus (no comments, please), the sideshows might have been advertised something like this:

“Come see the world’s greatest brainless boy – he carries his brain on an ordinary stick!”

“Don’t miss the incredible howling, jumping girl! She can leap small fences at a single bound!”

“See the amazing bearded baby! Even though she has a beard, her head is as bald as a jug! Scientists are baffled by this seeming anomaly!”

We put the children to bed before they could do any more damage to themselves or anyone else.

Paul is complaining of needing a haircut, so I will add him to the circus bill.

“The one and only six foot plus Preaching Hairball!”

And of course, you know the show isn’t over until the fat lady sings…

I guess it is a good thing that we aren’t a circus after all.

Ministry Update

After a good close to our meeting in Greer, we had a very action-packed week off, complete with unexpected doctor’s visits in Charlotte and unexpected ministry opportunities. Now we are in Laurel, IN at First Baptist Church. Yesterday was a good day with a man named William Teagarden walking the aisle to trust Christ in the morning service. After the service, he informed his relatives that he had to go home and pour out all his beer that he just bought last week. He is planning to be baptized on Wednesday night. In the pastor’s opinion, last night was a particularly good service in which some people really got some things right with God. This meeting is supposed to go through Friday of this week, but there has already been talk of extending it if God begins to break things open. Please be in prayer. I don’t know if I have ever been in a church that worked as hard as this church does. They seem to all be involved in the ministry in some way, even though the pastor is the only full time staff member. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of their ministry here. Please be in prayer for the services at 6 o’clock EDT each night.

Family Update

We have finally done it – allergy testing for Josiah. While at the doctor’s office in Shelby, his pediatrician recommended that Josiah be tested for allergies. I agreed to set up an appointment if possible while we were in the area. When I went to schedule the appointment, I told the secretary that I had a window of three days the next week that we could have it done. She was aghast, and told me that it usually takes about two weeks to get in to the allergist. I left, and went home, where I told Paul about it, and we agreed that if the Lord wanted us to have it done, He would work out the timing. To be honest, I really didn’t think about it again, because I didn’t think it was going to work out. The following Monday, I received a call from the doctor’s office, asking if I had received any paperwork in the mail. “No,” I said. “Why?” The receptionist proceeded to inform me that Josiah had an appointment in Charlotte in two hours! Talk about high gear! We raced around the house, getting everything ready, and took off as soon as possible, making it in the nick of time for the appointment!

They performed a skin test, or scratch test on him, with 74 different substances, mostly trees, pollens, weeds, grasses, molds, with a few foods thrown in for good measure (we made sure that neither peanuts nor eggs were in the lineup). He came back very high in almost all the trees, grasses, and weeds, as well as several of the foods. His back was just a mass of welts, but he was very brave, and we were proud of him. The allergist told us that he wanted to have a blood test done for the food allergies, because it is more accurate than the skin test for foods. So, three days later, we had blood drawn for that in Shelby. Josiah did not do very well on that day. He made more fuss over that one needle than he did over the all 74 of the others. We are now awaiting the results of that test. Please pray with us that the results will be very definite, with no “iffy” reactions. This will help us to better control his asthma, hopefully, and stay far away from the hospital. The allergist was convinced that if we can keep his allergies under control, we would have no issues with his asthma. He wanted to start allergy shots right way, but because of our travel schedule, it was not possible. I was relieved, but I am sure that Josiah would have been more so, had he known what was in the works – shots three times a week for six weeks and then decreasing over time. Anyway, for now, we are done. Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom concerning further treatment.

The whole family was able to go fishing the other day. This was quite an event for us, as you might imagine. Abigail ran around with a stick and splashed in the water “catching” leaves, while Esther sat on the bank and played with her cheerio container. Paul, Josiah, and I caught fish. I would like to tell everyone that I caught more fish than Paul, and that mine were bigger, too…but that would not be true. He threw half of mine back, saying that they were “borderline” keepers, but between just us, I think he was worried that I was going to school him. I forgot to mention that Paul also caught the smallest fish. Josiah caught a nice-sized bluegill. He had been casting, and was upset because he couldn’t reel in his line. No wonder – there was a fish on the other end. He was rather excited about it. We caught a total of 13 fish, which we summarily devoured that evening for dinner – after cleaning and cooking them, of course!

Esther is nine months old and such a cutie! She is not crawling yet, but it probably won’t be too much longer before she is. She still has only two teeth, and her newest trick is “kissing.” She puckers up her little lips and goes “pk, pk, pk.” Then she gives the cutest little grin. Her favorite trick, though, is blowing raspberries (this is also known as the Bronx cheer). I think she takes great delight in spraying spittle all over our faces. Abigail always says, “Essa pitted on me! Eew! Das yucky!” Josiah is almost through his first year of school (six weeks and counting). He has learned so much this year. He is all boy, though, and we rarely have a chance to forget it. He informed us the other day that burping makes him happy. Relieved, I might understand, but happy?? Abigail is finally taking the initiative in potty training. We have seen so much success this week, that I have great hopes of this being the last package of diapers for her. Rejoice, but keep praying!

We have a lot going on right now, which is why the updates haven’t been as regular as we would like. Please continue to pray that the Lord would use us, and that we would have safety as we travel. We had several close calls on our way to Indiana. Paul would probably attribute it to all those “Yankee drivers,” or worse, “crazy woman drivers,” but whatever the case, the Lord kept us safe. When I suggested to Paul that it might be his driving that was the problem, he looked at me in horrified astonishment, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. Now he said I am not allowed to write any more updates as punishment for my insulting him. Well, so long until the next time!