B: 8/12/18 - 8/19/18

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Back to School!

My sunflowers are blooming and I have tons of full grown miniature pumpkins in my garden. There's a bit of a chill in the air if you get up early enough to feel it before we hit those near triple digits. All of this means that autumn is just around the corner and it's time to begin another school year. Year #14 to be exact!! Kayla is picking up some more classes while she waits for RN enrollment time and Kalli is a HS junior this year working on dual credits - both here at home and at CWI. She and Kayla are taking a nutrition class together this fall and are excited about that. Kammy is still taking horseback lessons. She is doing some dressage work which is really quite fancy and is drawing well enough to actually make a bit of money! She is now in 8th grade. Kaite is in 4th grade this fall and is "excited about everything except math" in her words. Kaderick is my last first grade student. I'm excited about our time together this fall and he is beside himself and can't wait for tomorrow!

So before all the crazy begins, come and sit with me for a cup of coffee and a warm slice of fresh zucchini bread. I'm holding off on some fall items, the pilgrims of course, but a big bag of Dollar Store sunflowers, cattails and plastic apples has exploded in our house.

I made some fun, new, Back to School décor this year. All free of course....just scraps of wood and mason jars.

Hubby just made this little wooden tray for the dining room table and I freehand painted the word "gather" on the side of it. It's one of my favorite words. Gathering is what keeps us close, regardless of the reason why we gather.

As you can see, everything is in it's place and I'm feeling quite accomplished. LOL. You can check back with me at the close of day tomorrow for an update on that status. Haha. I may put out an SOS for comfort food and a massage. Sigh....prayers appreciated!

More Than Ever Before

We were blessed this year with the privilege of going to our general church camp in Tennessee. Getting there was no small feat (long story right there) for this family, but it was so worth it.

The pictures are going to jump around and be quite out of order but I'll do my best to explain them as we go.

Kaderick was taking a quick "nap" on the suitcases before we left. We caught a late flight for cost sake.

Kaderick reading the safety instructions once we finally got ourselves boarded. I had approved all items in their back packs and unbeknownst to me, the littles added a "few" more things after that. We got stopped in security for about an hour. As the third bag was being sorted through they asked me if there were any explosives or sharp objects to which I had to say, "I honestly have no idea what is in there!" Oops! Well, in the long run the only things they confiscated was a couple of bottles of bubbles and some toothpaste. Dangerous stuff!! Oh, and they took Kayla's and my shoes for the better part of an hour....we were quite happy to get those back. Definitely didn't want to go all that way barefoot. I'm still not sure what was so suspicious about a couple pairs of white sandals.

I'm sure that everyone took away something a bit different from camp based on their individual needs, but what stood out to me most was my need of God. The Mark Sankeys sang this song so beautifully and God was so good to settle down near and reassure us that He was there to bless and help us all the way.

Sweet little people waking to the tabernacle.

Kaite and her dear friend Maddie.

Okay, here's what I mean about things being out of order. This was actually on the flight home. Kaite was so sick on the way there. I had dosed her the day before and the day of with Dramamine in hopes of avoiding her terrible motion sickness but to no avail. We used all the airsick bags in our area of the plane and the flight attendant brought us more. She brought us ginger ale and ice packs and extra towels. Finally, they brought us huge garbage bags. Poor Bugs was violently ill every ten minutes for hours on end. Nothing helped. We all prayed for her at camp and so many had her on their hearts for the trip home. Well, about 10 minutes into the flight home she was already hanging over a bag. Suddenly, she pushed it away and said, "I don't need that anymore. You can put it away." She said, "I'm not sure how it could be, because I only prayed a short prayer just now, but I feel all better." From that moment on, she was fine. She enjoyed the flight immensely...reading, talking and coloring.

Rick and Bro Aaron Johnson standing by a spot in the floor where TM Anderson and many other great Nazarene evangelists stood and preached in the old days.

Hugging and worshiping with the family at the close of ordination service. Yes, Rick was finally ordained this year. As I mentioned, there were many circumstances that let to it being such a long time in coming. Work, family, church duties, travel expenses, family illness, church affiliation changes and well....things just move slowly out west I guess. Fourteen years ago, God used a man very dear to us (my uncle) to challenge Rick about a call to ministry. God's calls are unmistakable and without repentance.

Kalli found a tree at camp meeting to sit under and write.

Bro Snodgrass resigned this year but they have been true friends to our family and we were happy that he was still there to issue the commission and sign Rick's elders orders. They did an excellent job at something they never really wanted to do--being leaders and we appreciate their obedience to God.

Bro Sams has accepted the superintendent position of the Pilgrim Nazarene Church and we already love and support them and know that God has great things ahead for us as we are careful to stay in His will. Dr Stetler preached a wonderful challenge for us and we pray to take it seriously and live by it carefully and always.

The Hartmans walked in and surprised us just minutes before ordination service. We were so happy to see them!

In a lighter moment Rick was trying out the zip-line.

Our Family. We are so blessed. Just let me say this, if you are careful to stay in God's will, he will take care of all the things about which you worry and fret. Several years ago it was mentioned how "dangerous" the church situation was in our part of the country when raising children and young people. All I could say that that God knows what is best for us and our families. God's will is ALWAYS the safest place.