Snow on the Mountains

Bryan, Michelle, Sarah and I had the privilege of going snow shoeing at Snoqualmie pass the week after Christmas. Barbara and Maureen stayed with the children and Andy worked. :-( It was a bright sunny and still day. I had my shoes on the wrong feet and couldn't figure out why they kept clacking together until the end of the day, but the grandeur and majesty of the mountains was a real treat for all of us, especially those of us from Texas.

The Best Christmas Story of the Season

While here in Seattle we visit with Andy and Sarah's home group and their leader Gus told us this amazing story that recently happened to them. While shopping at a local store they were given a little game card to scratch and see if they are winners. So they scratched and behold they won! They won 10,000 dollars! This in itself is incredible, but their response is what I believe is the best Christmas story of the season. Instead of paying bills or buying something for themselves they talked it over and agreed that this was a gift that they had not earned and decided that they would give the entire gift to something they have always wanted to do. They have always wanted to provide clean water for an entire village that lives without it. Now they are trying to get a matching grant to provide clean water to two entire villages! Now that is what Christmas is supposed to look like! Well done Gus and Erin.

Birthday Breakfast

First a chat with Betsy, Wes and Sophia, then coffee and cinnamon rolls, then presents for Barb this morning. Bryan and Michelle to add spice. The book with Elijah and Clementine recordings was a big highlight. Thanks Sarah and Andy! Barb is reeeel happy.

The Season

Here we are in Seattle enjoying the Season with Andy, Sarah (and her parents), Elijah, Clementine, and Nina. We brought the sun with us so today was out to the park. Nina is toddling and loves books (to chew), Elijah loves books too but legos are still the favorite. Clementine is learning quickly at school and has homework for the holidays! Kindergarten sure has changed.

Simple is Better

Barb has been reading me the complicated issues surrounding our complicated food processing. It seems we have sacrificed health for convenience. The conclusion seems to be, it takes longer to make your own food but it is much healthier for you. Simple is better. This should be a byword for followers of Jesus shouldn't it? Though not simple himself, our model lived a simple life. Born in a stable, without chariot or even donkey, without his own home, one garment, finding his food along the way, Jesus lived a life free from the cares that surround most of us. So when you feel overwhelmed with the complexity of your life, remind yourself  "simple is better" and look for ways to simplify with Jesus.

A Quiet Sunday

Not coming from a traditional church I am not familiar with the terms or the church calendar. Last year we had Christmas in Beirut and joined All Saints, an Anglican church with English speaking services. Pastor Nabil introduced us to the Advent Week schedule with the purpose of pointing us not only to Jesus' first coming, the birth and Incarnation, but to expect and pray for His second coming. Since this year we are prevented from celebrating in Beirut, we placed an advent wreath on the table with candles and have been following the schedule of Patriarchs week one, Prophets week two, John the Baptist week three, Mary the mother of Jesus week four, and Jesus Light of the World Christmas day.

Click on Advent for more information

Yesterday was a quiet Sunday after a Saturday with a wedding and decorating the church.

New Mini Album for the Grandies

Well it's still in progress, but we've put up a mini album called "Songs for the Grandies" on BandCamp. We are hoping to have 12 songs and have a story page with illustrations and coloring pages for each. These are scripture teaching songs for young ones, though not word for word. We trust these will be tools for parents and grandparents with the coming generations and generate some support for missions in the Middle East.

Click on "Songs for the Grandies" to go to the site.

If you enjoy these please tell a friend!

Thanksgiving in Progress

Artists at Work

Cranberry Bread

Famous Cranberry Sauce

Turkey in Progress

The temperature has dropped about 40 degrees since yesterday but we are warm and snug in Bryan and Michelle's new home cooking Turkey and listening to a message from the Lutheran Hour on gratitude. The girls have everything in hand with preparations finished last night and now doing everything at the proper moment. The ham is coming with J.C. and Teresa; David and Lily are bringing Cassava Cake; the pumpkin pie is finished. The men are waiting in excitement as the ladies are in control of the situation. Even the cat is excited!

What is happening in the Sticks?

Driving to Denton to visit Bryan and Michelle we took this picture of these mini burros about a mile from our house. We've been testing a 3G network for our home and I wanted to see what the signal strengths were like along the highway. So we are able to post this as we are moving. That's pretty good for the "sticks".

Let theThanks begin

This begins the week of Thanksgiving and we are determined not to let it slip by in the Christmas shopping frenzy. What better holiday do we have than Thanksgiving? Instituted by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, he called the nation to pause and give thanks and praise to God for His mercies, and ask for forgiveness for presumptuous (look that one up in the dictionary) sins. Click on Lincoln for the text. Click the side bar player for an original tune.

Barb says she is thankful for the deer we see almost daily, for the pansies on our deck, for the colors of Autumn that continue to surround us, for our children and grandchildren. Larry is thankful that all healing comes from Jesus (he has a very bad cold right now), for his faithful wife, for the amazing richness of friends we have in the East Texas area, and for his bike rides with Jesus. What are you thankful for?

In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you

Colors of Fall

We have been chasing Fall colors since our trip to Seattle in October. We didn't realize how long Fall would last here in the South and the Midwest. Recently we visited Larry's parents in Illinois with a trip through the Arkansas Ozarks on the way. Everywhere we traveled Fall continued to shine, even our own back yard when we returned to Texas


Red tree in Decatur

Barb near her mom's home

Colors among the pines

The view from our deck



Disappointment

After long months of waiting we have heard finally that our visa applications for Lebanon have been rejected. We don't know all of the details but it radically changes our future plans. We are disappointed, we are confused, and stunned at the news. So many things will have to be addressed and changed. We may never see all of the new friends we made. We left a lot of personal things in Lebanon that we will have to sell or dispose of. Most of all we are wondering were we on the wrong track? We continue to trust in the goodness of God but now have less confidence in our ability to discern His direction. We need to remain humble and expectant and faithful to seek the Lord. We need time to process. Help us Lord.

Lessons from the Pear Tree

This pear tree reminds us of faithful fruit bearing. With no care or special treatment it continues to bear these large pears that are so sweet and juicy. The soil is hard clay, the conditions are drought with sparse showers through the long hot summer. Animals break the branches trying to get some early fruit, and with no spraying or fertilizer the fruit comes on large and plentiful. This is truly amazing and gives us encouragement that the Lords character, reflected in this tree, is to be abundantly fruitful. Efficiency is not the lesson here but rather abundant goodness and generosity. How great is the Lord's goodness toward us!

Keep on Moving

Due to thunderstorm warnings for the weekend, Bryan and Michelle and her family moved furniture late into the night on Friday. The Rangers won the pennant that night and it rained a little. So they were up later than Friday night into Saturday morning. We joined them around noon on Saturday to help unpack and with odd jobs around the new home. It began to rain and it was a downpour! So the plan worked and we all stayed somewhat dry and we ate egg rolls and fried chicken. Nothing like a move to get the family together.

Bike Ride to Cafe

Barb has jury duty this morning so I rode my bicycle down to the internet cafe to catch up on some business. The weather is finally cool in Texas and a bike ride requires a sweater! Yes! We are a few weeks away from getting news about an invitation visa to Lebanon and so trying to take care of all the little details that need attention before leaving your home for 9 months or so. We could never do this without helpful people in our lives, first our family, then our church, then friends from days gone by.

Like the old J. Taylor song "You folks sure enough have been good to us"!

We helped Bryan to paint some walls and the mantle in his new home last Saturday, they hope to move in this coming weekend and thankfully they have some strong arms and backs to help with the piano move! Wish we could be around during the week to help with all the little things that normally need attention in a house, but alas it is a 2 hr drive. Great to see all the children and grandchildren this summer.

God is so good and gracious!

We live a storybook tale.

Breakfast Song

Hey little ones here is a clip of grandma singing the breakfast song with motions! Hope you can sing along!
(We put the Lord's prayer to a simple tune for little ones to sing)

Back in the Northwest

While we are waiting for our visas to be completed in Lebanon we are trying to make the most of our time. There are always more projects around the house but Barb really was yearning to see our children and grandchildren and friends out in Seattle. We checked out prices and then made a bid on a flight and got a very reasonable rate. The only hitch was that it was next day travel so we rushed around contacting people and packing and then lifted off the following morning. Our children are so good about having us around and our friends gave us the use of their spare room. We have been doing a lot of outings with the grandchildren like picking apples and visiting schools and going to the parks. Nina turned 11 months on Saturday and the trees are just starting to turn colors and the mountains are beautiful and we are getting in some quality time with our friends!

The Road the Tree and the Wall

We have completed covering the front road and the back road down to the middle pond with oil pavement. It's been 14 years and we have been driving on gravel for all of that time. It was 14 hours of work in one day also for Terry and I! Then we hired someone to take down the dead hickory tree beside our house and we cut it up and a friend hauled it off. Then Barb and I took on the falling retaining wall beside our driveway! Pound, hammer, and chip for me while Barb hauled and stacked brick upon brick. Rental of a piece of heavy equipment to move the dirt and then laying brick after brick into the hillside. Sore backs and knuckles and shoulders were our companions for many days and because I had a little accident we have to replace the garage window... :-(

Dining in Denton

We are here in Denton with Bob and Jamie celebrating their purchase of a new home! There is a football game in town tonight so it may be crowded, but we are going to some place called the 'greenhouse'. Jamie just showed me how to put our newsletter link on a page so if you have not seen the July newsletter check it out. It is the anniversary of the twin towers bombings and so the country takes time to honor the dead and pray for justice for the violent. May the Lord deliver us from our own sins and help us to truly "walk humbly with our God" Mic 6:8

Neighbors

We are a part of a little community in East Texas. About two weeks ago our neighbor felt very sick. His daughter called Barbara and she strongly suggested they call 911. He had a heart attack when the paramedics were at the house and after they revived him they took him directly to the hospital. He had surgery a week ago and is now at home thank the Lord. We have been wanting to take some sort of basic first aid course and this reinforces it. It also confirms our belief in neighbors helping neighbors. As soon as we returned to East Texas we felt right at home. We joined two prayer groups and started connecting with ministry friends from years gone by. We have been helping out in our little community by doing projects around the property. We don't have internet service at our house so we go to a cafe a few miles from our house where we meet old friends and catch up on our communications.
We have been so blessed by our East Texas neighbors!

Housefull

We are having the reprise of the family visits but this time at our house in Texas. Sarah and Nina Marie flew down for a week, Betsy and family are visiting family in Texas, and Bryan and Michelle drove down for the gathering. It is great fun in the sun!

Long Road Home

We arrived in Texas June 18th after visiting family in England, Illinois, Indiana, Washington and Denton. If feels good to have our own bed and get our clothes back into the closet and drawers instead of a carry on suitcase! It is very hot here in Texas and quite a change after being in the Northwest wearing sweaters and jackets. Family time was what we were longing for, so we are thankful that we had all of these opportunities. The grandchildren are at that precious young age where they change so quickly and if you blink you miss a milestone. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations" Ps 89

Denton Dynamos

Thanks Bryan and Michelle for the jazz on the square and helping us get back to our house and all the help while we were overseas. You two are great!

Northwest Clan

What fun! Kayaking, fires on the beach and God's beautiful creation to enjoy along with family and friends. Thanks Andy and clan.

On the Thames

Thanks Janet for letting us stay in your house while visiting our family and thanks to all of the supportive people in Bromley for your concern and prayers while Barb was stuck in Lebanon.