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