Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a great month of ministry last month. Every Sunday except one, I was able to preach at the Bible Baptist Church of Spencer, NC. In addition, we were also able to minister in another church and gain another good contact for the future. The Bible Truth Music Leadership Conference was a highlight last month as well. This month will find us in West Virginia (hence the need for the passports, see below) and on into the Midwest. Thank you all for your prayers as we continue to travel and preach the Gospel.

Paul

Family Update

We know you are all eager to hear what has been going on at our house lately, so we will present the latest episode of “As the Trailer Turns.” Things have been quite busy since the first of the year with the general things of life, church, school, etc. Perhaps the most important thing was Josiah making a public profession of his faith before the church and getting baptized. How wonderful to see our son following the Lord in this first step of obedience. While we were waiting in the baptismal dressing room on Sunday morning, Josiah said to me, “I know that if I die before I get baptized, I will still go to heaven!” I responded that I hoped we wouldn’t have to test that statement. He stands firmly on the Bible for assurance of his salvation. All of his grandparents were present for this momentous occasion, and there were very few dry eyes. That evening, he was able to partake of his first communion, too, which was very exciting for him. We did substitute an unleavened potato chip for the bread, but I am sure the Lord understands. When you can’t eat bread, there just isn’t much choice! Some of you may take theological offense, but I am sure that with counseling you will get over it.

Josiah also had a great loss this past week when his first tooth finally evacuated his mouth. Only two small yanks and that baby was out of there. No, I did not use the doorknob method of extraction alluded to in an earlier update. Nor did I use the pliers as some suggested, or tie his tooth to the bumper of the truck and drive away. It was all very humane. He did ask if I was the “tooth fairy” when he put it under his pillow that night. I pretended to be offended and asked if he thought I looked like the tooth fairy, at which question he dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. I wonder what that was supposed to mean!?

Last week, (yes – everything happened last week, in case you are wondering, and we are glad that nothing has happened this week because it gives us time to recover between disasters) all three kids came down with the stomach flu. Esther was first, then Abigail caught it, and finally, Josiah. It was fortunate for me that I was gone for the day when it struck all three of them at the same time. Paul could hardly keep up with the cleanup, if you know what I mean. I did offer to come home, but he told me he preferred playing the martyr. Apparently, the penchant for drama runs in the family, because Josiah told Paul during this rather traumatic event, “I think that this is going to be my last day on earth!” You have all probably heard of the acclaim of Superman – “Faster than a speeding bullet…Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound…” With slight modification, these can now be applied to Paul. “Faster than a puking child in the middle of the night…Able to leap from bed to the other end of the trailer in a single bound, while grabbing the trashcan on the way…” Thankfully, his cape did not get snagged in the door of our phone booth-sized bathroom. I am happy to report that our health is back to normal, although we still start in fear when anyone coughs or burps. Just today, I caught Esther hanging over the Lego box, pantomiming throwing up. The drama gene again, I’m sure.

We also took the family to apply for our passports last week. This will enable us to continue taking mission trips with the family. The last time we went out of the country, we had a difficult time with the officials because all we had was our birth certificates. Now they won’t accept that either, so we really had no other choice. Paul went Thursday, and applied for his, and then took the rest of us on Friday. First we had to get our pictures taken. Trust us to pick the only Wal-mart in the area that did not have a digital camera. Instead, we had to wait for the Polaroid pictures to develop, and then discard them all because they were too small. Esther had her picture taken four times, and Abigail had hers taken three times. After we finally got done there, having had nine pictures for the price of four, we went to the passport office.

To call the esteemed establishment an office is really a grand flattery. It was just a room off of a maze of corridors in the post office. The fact that it had five chairs in it, seeing that there were twenty people waiting, was not of much consequence. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, we gathered all of our papers and offspring and herded them into the “office.” Esther took this opportunity to further advance her career in espionage by opening file drawers while we talked to the lady in charge. Since her reading skills are not all that they should be, she gave up on the state department files, and began hacking into the computer at the next work station. We barely intervened before she tested out their brand new digital camera. I think the passport official was relieved to have real Americans sitting before her, with real papers. We overheard her say while we were sitting in the waiting area, “Well, if you decide to become a citizen, then you can come back.” Apparently, it isn’t as easy to get a passport as some people might think. I was rather disgruntled when the woman told us that Josiah’s photo may be sent back because it is too small. Back to the Polaroid studio, I guess.

We are quite ready to get back on the road again, and ask that you pray for the Lord to continue to open doors for us in the next few weeks and months. Our summer is already full, for which we are grateful, but we still have several openings throughout the year. Our desire is that God would lay it on the hearts of good men to have us into their churches, and that we would be effective ministers at each opportunity.

Sarah

Ministry Update

Evangelism has often been described as “feast or famine.” Spring and fall are traditionally the feasting times and winter, Christmas in particular, tend to be the famine times. This Christmas season, the Lord has allowed us to minister weekly in a church in Spencer NC where I have preached and will continue to preach nearly every Sunday for several weeks in a row. While we are grateful for this opportunity to minister, we still pray for God to open doors in revival meetings. Spring is coming, complete with its busy schedule of revival meetings. Please partner with us in praying that God will send us the meetings that we need in churches where they need our specific ministry.

Family Update

One of the ways that God has provided for our family during the time of no revival meetings is by giving us deer meat. Paul got two this year himself and others gave him three more, leaving us with a total of five deer in the freezer right now, less what we have already eaten. Just this week, we tried our first jerky recipe and were quite pleased at the result, considering it was the first effort. We hope to only get better from here. We received a meat grinder for Christmas that is quite handy for processing the meat and that also opens the door for us to begin making sausage, salami, and other mouth-watering treats.

The holiday season has engendered much excitement on the part of the children, and much busyness on the part of the parents. Josiah and Abigail took part in two Christmas programs (one in our church, and one in another church two weeks later). Josiah always manages to steal the show somehow. This year, his part in the program was to quote a simple verse. He had practiced it for weeks, and knew it inside out. However, in all the excitement of the actual performance, he forgot. He stood in front of the microphone and wrinkled up his nose, rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, and tried to remember. Finally, he gave up and whispered, “I don’t remember!” This brought a much needed “mouthed” cue from the director, but since Josiah was looking at the ceiling, it did him no good. Finally, unable to stand the suspense any longer, I blurted out the first two words of the verse, and Josiah took it from there. He proceeded to give me a very long and detailed explanation after church of why he forgot, but I didn’t understand. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t stage fright.

The other program was a narrated version of the Christmas story, and had, thankfully, no speaking parts. Josiah was a shepherd and Abigail was an angel. Go figure. I wondered at the wisdom of giving five and six-year-old boys five foot long sticks in a crowd, but everyone survived. I must say that I never saw a cuter angel than Abigail.

It is a good thing for Esther that there really isn’t a Santa Claus, because she would have been on his “Naughty” list. In the two weeks before Christmas, she evidently decided to make up for the goodness of the first eight months of her life, and get into as much trouble as possible. She climbed on the bed, fell off, and gave herself a black eye. The same afternoon, she climbed up on a chair, fell off, and landed on a baby doll car seat, giving herself another bruise on the cheek beneath the black eye. She helped decorate the tree, and then undecorated it by herself. She unfolded laundry (a favorite pastime), unwrapped presents that did not belong to her, screeched, fussed, hit, bit, and spit, emptied the salt shaker on the table, chairs, and carpet, took up interior decorating and colored on the walls, floor, and bedspreads. In short, she caused a whole heap of extra work, but we decided to keep her anyway. Life is more interesting with her around.

We learned a most interesting fact today while eavesdropping on our son’s conversation with his sister. (Question: is it technically eavesdropping when the person in question is speaking at the top of their lungs?) Anyway, we overheard that the fastest, meanest fish in the world is the “caribuddha.” We sniggered at the thought of a caribou with fat lips and protruding gut, sitting “Indian style” while pondering the greater things of life on the tundra. For the time being, we have allowed the misnomer for our own amusement. By the way, this fearsome fish is allegedly “blue with black stripes.” Doubtless, they are racing stripes or, perhaps, black flames on a blue background. I think it may be distantly related to the barracuda. Getting things mixed up seems to be a trademark for Josiah, bless his heart. I will never forget the time we were talking and he mentioned something about someone named George. My mind scrambled for a moment, but I failed to think of any of our acquaintance by the name of George. “George who?” I asked. Josiah almost looked offended as he replied, “Why, George Carrius!” For those of you who are not “into” children’s literature, this is the beloved friend of the Man with the Yellow Hat. In the months since that time, the name has been modified to Carrius George, and he still remains one of the favorites. Oh, the funny things kids say!

As we come to the end of the year, I like to look back and recount some outstanding blessings. We had the tremendous privilege of seeing Josiah trust Christ as his Savior in April of this year. Since then, we have seen evidence of the Holy Spirit working in his tender little heart. What a blessing to see the first of our children accept Christ! We have also gone a full year without having to admit him to either the hospital or the emergency room! Praise the Lord! He still has rough days, but they are fewer and farther between, and on the grand scale, he is so much improved. We know this is a direct result of your prayers with us. The Lord has kept us safe over thousands of miles on the roads, and we have seen several people saved this year through our ministry. What a blessing to serve our Lord! We have also had the opportunity to see some who have accepted Christ and surrendered to the ministry go on to have ministries of their own. This is such an encouragement to us. Please continue to pray for our family as we close this year and enter a new one. We would like to have twenty-five or more week-long revival meetings this year. We long to see the Lord’s hand at work in our life and ministry, and we thank you for your faithful prayers. May God bless you richly in the coming year.

Ministry Update

Sunday, the Lord allowed us to minister in Tabernacle Baptist Church of Hickory, NC.  The pastor of many years Phil Vos is quite ill with cancer right now and the church is being served by an interim pastor, Joel Spencer.  Bro. Spencer was one of the men who taught both Sarah and me when we were in college.  It was an interesting experience to preach for a former college professor.  The Lord blessed us with a man who walked the aisle to trust Christ as Savior in the morning service.  He had come from time to time in the past, being son-in-law to one of the people in the church.  It is always a blessing to see the Gospel take root in the lives of people.

Our trailer is in NC for the duration of the year, with various ministry opportunities around the area.  Thank you for all of your prayers for our ministry.

There is a significant answer to prayer that I would like to tell all of you about.  I have been praying that we could pay off our trailer and be out of debt.  It enables us to be free to take meetings in churches that can only afford to pay our fuel expenses and food for the week.  I had been praying for a certain number of people to give a certain amount toward paying off our trailer.  The first of those people gave a significant amount toward out trailer.  We are so grateful to God for the gift and we are praying that God will supply the rest of the need.

Family Update

We thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving Day.  My parents and Micah came for dinner at our house.  I say, our house, but really, we ate our dinner in the church, since there is not room for our immediate family to all sit at the table in the trailer, let alone several extra guests and a boatload of food.  Mom and I worked together to prepare the meal, and it was dee-lish!  This was the first time I had ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner, so it was an experience.  We had a lot of fun, and spent the day relaxing.  The next day, Mom and I went shopping together (a belated birthday excursion for me).  The crowds where we went were not bad at all, and the sales were great.  We had a good time looking at anything and everything we wanted to see.  This was a luxury for me, since Paul absolutely hates shopping, and when we do go shopping, I try to hurry and only browse minimally.  So, all in all, I had a wonderful day.  Paul was especially thrilled that he didn't have to endure the crowds of geriatric ladies at Hamrick's.  I almost laughed when I saw the "waiting area" at Hamrick's (just outside the dressing rooms).  It was full of frustrated, tired-looking men.  It was obvious that most of them would rather have been running with the bulls in Spain than shopping with the women in Gaffney. 

Healthwise, the family is doing very well, with the exception of Esther, who has a dreadful cold.  She seems to have caught everything this year.  I am thankful that even though she doesn't feel well, she is pretty happy most of the time.  She and Abigail are learning to play together better.  Well, perhaps I should say that Esther is learning to snatch toys with the best of them.  Abigail is getting back her own and more.  Abigail likes to be the "little mama" and tell Esther what to do.  Esther does not like to be told what to do, so many times she will "club" her sister with the most readily available object.  Sometimes this is a hand, sometimes a shoe, sometimes a toy, always a crisis.  The phrase I hear most these days is, "Mama, did you hear Esther hit me?"  I am not sure why Abigail always says "hear" instead of "see," but it makes it seem worse, doesn't it?

Abigail is now reliably potty trained!  Hooooray!  I never thought the day would come, but it has!  Celebrate with us!  She is growing up so much.  This is most evident in her speech.  She has charmed us with her little quirky phrases for so long and now we are starting to miss them.  For a while all of her r's were pronounced "oy."  It was amusing to hear her talk about something on the "floy" or someone knocking on the "doy."  One of the funniest things she ever said was when someone asked her what a lion said.  "ROY!"  She still says "lellow" (yellow) and "busketti" (Spaghetti), but her childish speech is beginning to fade.  Grab the Kleenex...

Esther is not talking very well yet, perhaps because she can rarely get a word in edgewise, but her vocabulary is growing.  She can say "more, hot dog, mama, shoe, go, eat, and me-me (baby)" along with a few other recognizable words.  Of course, she can also holler "NO" with the best of them.

Josiah has his first loose tooth.  He came in last week, all worried that something was wrong with his mouth.  After a brief inspection, I reassured him that it was just a loose tooth.  He is quite excited about losing it.  I told him about the time my mom tied a string to one of my loose teeth and tied it to the doorknob (as a joke).  Before she could explain to me that we weren't really going to carry through with the plan of action, I, trusting soul that I was, slammed the door.  I still remember her gasp, the slam of the door, the yank of the string, and the scream that escaped my lips.  For those of you with loose teeth, do not let your parents try this at home.  I will say that while it is a most effective way of removing unwanted teeth, there are much better ways of becoming toothless.  Josiah evidently pictured the whole thing in his mind, because he laughed hysterically when I finished telling the story.  So much for sympathy.  Our trailer doesn't even have a doorknob so I can carry on the tradition.  Oh, well.  Maybe I will think of some other form of extraction.  Any ideas???

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful meeting in Cathedral City, CA. There was a teenage girl saved on Tuesday night. Now we are in Tomball, TX (Houston area) for a meeting through Friday. Thank you so much for your prayers. Not only is there this meeting for which to pray, but we also have a lot of driving to do before getting back to NC for Thanksgiving.

Family Update

We are all glad to have Paul home again, as well as glad to be back in meetings again. After a day of driving, we stopped in the Mobile area to rest and fellowship with some good friends. It broke up the unbearable boredom of sitting in the truck, especially for the kids. Saturday, we headed out again and arrived in the greater Houston area around 6:30 local time. So glad to be out of the truck! We have been to this church several times and have quite a few friends here, whom we are always glad to see. We also had the opportunity of meeting the new pastor who has only been here about a month. We are praying that this will be a great week with many decisions made in the lives of Christians and unsaved.

I am happy to report that our newest new washing machine is working wonderfully. Yes– we had two new ones this past month, one of which did not work and had to be returned. Thank the Lord for warranty coverage! Anyway, the new washer is a front loader, which, in addition to being more water efficient and gentler on the clothes, also has a greater capacity. I can now fit an extra pair of jeans in the washer! The girls have found that watching the laundry spin around in the washer is quite entertaining. The first load I washed contained, among other things, Esther’s favorite blanket. All was going well until she saw her “blankums” peek out from among the other clothes and then disappear again. I think her first reaction was shock, because she looked at me as if to say, “What is my blanket doing in there?” Then for the rest of the cycle, she alternated between fear and despair, crying and hiding her face in her hands as her blanket spun just out of her reach. Although she was quite traumatized, I could not help but laugh at the drama of it all. She still looks at the washer distrustfully, and has taken upon herself to put the clothes into the washer when I do laundry – doubtless in order to rescue any of her belongings that might be in the hamper.

Abigail has made great strides in potty training, and although she has not “arrived,” she is much more reliable. I find it amazing that the promise of a tube of lipgloss has such power over a three-year-old girl! She will do almost anything to stay dry – even to going in the middle of the yard during a church dinner on the grounds. It is never a good sign when people interrupt a conversation to tell you that you need to go see what your kid is doing. Although I am sure that her pride will eventually suffer from this event, her clothes did not, and I, for one, am happy about that!

Josiah has been actively involved in Master’s Club this year, and has already earned several badges and memory awards. He absolutely loves it, and can’t wait to wear his vest to church each Wednesday. He is doing well in school, and we are fast approaching our second six-week grading period. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. Pretty soon the “holiday season” will be upon us, and then the new year. The Lord has done so many wonderful things for us this year, and provided in many miraculous ways. We are thankful for His constant watchcare and the many blessings he has bestowed upon us. For those of you who are interested, you can see our most recent family photo on our website www.paulcrow.org. (If it doesn’t come up, you may have to click on refresh.) May the Lord bless you for your faithful prayers for our family and ministry.

Ministry Update

The Lord has blessed us with meetings right now. What a blessing to be daily seeking the mind of God for His will in what to preach. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to endeavor to make full proof of our ministry.

Family Update

It is really good to be in meetings again, and we are all making the adjustment quite well. The kids are still asking each day, “Do we go to church today?” which question will hopefully subside after another few weeks in meetings. We are well into the school year, and Josiah just received his first official report card (all A’s, in case you were wondering). He still struggles with math, but we are seeing almost daily progress now, which comes as a great relief to me.

Abigail has done remarkably well this week with her potty training. It is a good thing, because I had just about given up and was looking through the Yellow Pages to see if I could hire it out and just pick her up in a few weeks when she was completely trained. We have had a few accidents, not counting the time she (and her brother) decided to fertilize the church playground in broad daylight, but on the whole things are much improved.

Esther is beginning to talk and understand more. The child really is too smart for her own good. Last time we wrote an update, she added nearly a page of her own notes while the computer was sitting within reach. Paul came back to line after line of characters that read something like this: %^*(&^%$^&*()(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&^%#$%^&*())(*&. I guess being an evangelist’s kid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I am happy to announce that we now have a new washer! Hooray! Now I can start climbing Mount Neverest in the bedroom and whittle it down to the size of a smaller mountain range, comparable to, say, the Rockies. The Lord used Maranatha Baptist Church in Short Pump, VA, to supply this need, and we are truly grateful!

Recently, as some of you know, the hunting season began, and Paul is dreaming again of “the big one.” This has colored his conversation with innumerable references to wildlife of all varieties. It has also come to the attention of our very curious son. Lately, every time we take a trip in the truck, Josiah starts what I have dubbed, “the wildlife quiz.” The object of this game is to ask as many questions as possible about a particular animal before the truck stops moving. It usually begins as a harmless conversation between Josiah and Abigail. He will be enumerating the great powers and fearsome tactics of, for instance, a moose. Although he knows relatively nothing about moose, he will blather on for about five minutes before he comes to a scenario in the monologue that he cannot determine. Then the quiz begins. “Do moose eat trees? Fish? Grass? Birds? Snakes? Blah, blah, blah…Little boys? Cars? Lions? Potato chips? Moose are really strong – can they pick up a truck? What about a house – can they pick up a house? What about our trailer?” On and on it goes, until he asks something that we cannot answer or reasonably conjecture. Then Mama suggests that, instead of playing another round of the wildlife quiz, we should play quiet moose, er, mouse. Last time we played the quiz, he came up with this stumper: “Do bears eat electricity?” Now, tell me, how in the world are we supposed to answer that?

Josiah also enjoys telling Abigail all about everything. Last week, I got a real kick out of a conversation that I overheard between them in a restaurant. They were discussing a picture on the wall that was evidently a blowup of a comic book from days gone by. The frame showed a “happy ending” complete with a teary-eyed heroine being kissed by the main character. Abigail asked Josiah why the lady was crying. “Oh,” he said. “It’s just because he is biting her!” I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff!

Keeping current pictures of our children is a nearly impossible task. This picture, however, gives you an idea of their corporate naughtiness.

Ministry Update

The Lord gave me a wonderful trip to Southern IN in where I preached in the Hope Baptist Church of Lawrenceville. After closing the short meeting on Sunday, I drove to Chicago the following day to pick up a friend’s trailer for him; and then I drove all the way home. Grand total for Monday: 970 miles. It is good to be with my family again in my own trailer.

Thank you for praying for our meetings.

Family Update

Things have been rather slow compared to our normal schedule this summer. Since Josiah started school three weeks ago, things have become a little busier. He is really getting back into the swing of things. He told me this morning that he was glad for all this review, because he had forgotten a lot of things! His reading has improved over the summer, and he is now the proud owner of his very own library card. We have made several trips to the library, and I am glad to have an excuse to get new books for myself as well. He is discovering Curious George, Amelia Bedelia, Paddington Bear, and various other “favorites” of children. He told me this week, that he wanted to go to the library again because he had already read all his books several times. He is definitely my son. The world could go down in flames around me while I am reading, and I wouldn’t even notice until the next chapter. When I was a kid, I always had my nose in a book at every opportunity. I am glad to pass on the trait to my own children!

Josiah is also starting out in the Master’s Club program at church. He is really excited about learning verses, and earning badges for his vest. He has expressed some desire to learn to play the piano, so we are starting that, too. So far, we have only had two lessons, and those have been rather slow, but you have to start somewhere. Pray that my patience holds out for music lessons in addition to school!

Abigail is getting taller and has graduated from a car seat to a “booster seat.” She enjoys that so much more. We are still working on the potty training. She’s making progress, but very slowly. She enjoys singing little songs that she makes up herself. This morning while I was fixing her hair, she was singing a song about how nice her mama was because “she is giving me bwaids.” It is very cute, and I enjoy hearing all the original ideas for her songs.

Esther is growing up so fast. She runs about the trailer on her stubby little legs, and tries to follow her older siblings wherever they go. She is quite vocal in expressing her displeasure, and I always know when something is not going her way. She is beginning to speak our language now, and there are a few recognizable words. She now interrupts prayers that she deems too lengthy with a hearty “ME,” which is her rendition of “amen.” She has also learned to nod her head in affirmation, and it makes us laugh when she bobs her head in answer to our questions. Of course, we would never bait her with incriminating questions…

Several months ago, our children were introduced to the concept of the great American joke, courtesy of Laffy Taffy candy. I believe, from the quality of the jokes printed on the candy wrappers, that you must have to have eaten at least two dozen pieces and be on an extreme sugar high for the jokes to be even mildly amusing. The initial joke was this: “Why did the chicken cross the playground?” The answer: “To get to the other slide.” After I thoroughly explained the joke and its original context, the kids apparently reasoned that every joke must have a chicken hero. I will not regale you with a full account of all the senseless jokes we have heard over the last several months, but suffice it to say, not even Laffy Taffy would have printed them. The kids, of course, thought they were all hilarious, and would screech with laughter after every new rendition, while I would groan and try to escape into the next room before the next chicken joke was told. Last week, however, was the crowning chicken joke. I actually laughed. I know you are all wondering… “Why did the chicken go into the trailer?” Answer: “Because he wanted to be an evangelist!”

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful close to our special back-to-school revival at my home church. The first two nights were disappointing as far as visible results were concerned, but God was working. At the end of the second service after I preached on “The Lake of Fire,” a boy vomited all over the floor during the invitation. We had to cut that service short, but the largely un-churched kids held their composure quite well, considering the circumstances.

Tonight’s crowd was especially rowdy during the game and preliminary part of the service. Bro. Jim Ogle (the youth pastor at our church) and I went into a back room during the special music and begged God for a miracle to calm the hearts of these rambunctious teenagers and get them to listen to the preaching. For my part, I was struggling still when I got to the pulpit, wondering what God would have me preach. I felt led to make much of Calvary and so began my message by telling them what the Cross meant to me and how we wanted them to be saved as well. From there, we went to Titus 3 and I preached a salvation message from the first seven verses. At least two that I know of were saved, one of them coming to me afterwards and telling me boldly, “I got saved tonight.” As for the kids’ attention? God worked the miracle that we had prayed for, and the rowdiest ones sat nearly stone still throughout the entire message. It was a miracle in which God’s power was greatly on display. Thank you so much for all you who pray for our ministry.

The last two days, I was also able to speak in the opening chapel services of Ambassador Baptist College. The Lord blessed in those services as well, with some specific victories in the services.

Soon, we will be back on the road again. As always, we appreciate your prayers for us. God is still on the throne and He is still working in hearts.

In our last update, we mentioned our upcoming trip to Charleston. The trip was such a tribute to the power of God that we feel compelled to tell everyone about it.

Sarah and I had been on only one other “us” trip in our seven years of marriage. The children’s food allergies are challenging enough for us, without trying to educate someone else enough to leave the children with them for extended time. We nevertheless decided to proceed with our plans to go to Charleston and leave all three children with my parents in Greenville, SC. As I was writing in our last update of our plans to go, I was considering canceling the trip because we did not have the money to go. Despite this misgiving, we went anyway, and the Lord worked some wonderful miracles while we were there.

In order to save costs, I had arranged for us to stay in the prophet’s chamber of Northside Baptist Church in North Charleston. On Monday night, however, the prophet’s chamber was occupied, so we had to get a motel. The church got the motel to give us their discount. After an evening down by the battery of Charleston, we returned to our motel for a night of sleep. The next morning we ate from the motel’s continental breakfast and chose some breakfast things that we could take with us for the rest of the week’s breakfast. From there, we checked out and headed once again for downtown Charleston.

I expected that we would be able to walk around the city and see some old picturesque homes and that would be the extent of our tourism in Charleston. After all, being a tourist costs money and we had none. As we were walking along the street, however, a man stopped us and asked us how we liked the city and so forth. He then told us that if we listened to a sales pitch about a vacation plan similar to a timeshare, he would give us some free gifts. He made sure that we understood there was no obligation and we got the gifts, regardless of our answer to the salesman. We knew what the answer would be, but the gifts were reason enough to listen to his speech. After ninety minutes and our firm refusal to buy, he gave us five gifts: two free tickets to a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city, two free tickets for a harbor tour by boat, two free tickets to the plantation of our choice just outside the city, a $25 gift certificate to any one of several five star restaurants in Charleston, and a $20 gift card. Now we could be real tourists all for free.

Every day, we still parked in the free parking down by the battery and walked – all to save parking fees. We lost weight on the trip and put miles on our feet, all of it in the heat of late-summer Charleston. On Wednesday night we were in Northside Baptist Church for their midweek service. As we sat there, the pastor announced that the offering that night would go to us. After the offering was counted, they gave us over $1,000! We could hardly believe our ears. In addition, someone in the church gave us $40 in cash. The Lord had miraculously provided, again. The pastor specifically instructed us to use some of the money for something fun. Thursday was fun as we finished using the last of our free activities and actually splurged a bit. We went into an old-fashioned candy store and bought some candy, we took a bicycle taxi ride, ate at a restaurant without having a gift certificate, and actually paid 70 cents to a parking meter just so we didn’t have to walk quite so far.

Not only was it a wonderful time for Sarah and me, but it was also a great time to see the hand of God at work in our life. Thank you to all of you that prayed for our trip.