A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Greetings and VERY MERRY  CHRISTMAS!!!

Here in Haiti we don’t have this situation of not being able to say Merry Christmas or Christmas Blessings, but it gets me a bit upset when I see so much of the controversy in the US over a holiday that started and is centered on Jesus Christ being fought over.  I mean, why don’t people get a grip and realized that CHRISTmas is what it is.  A celebration of the birth of our Savior?  No one, including us, seem to get upset with the Jewish people celebrating their holy day, or even the Muslims or other religions celebrating their special days.  No one has said these people have to celebrate OUR holy day if they don’t want to.  But why try to put a stop to it?  Well, that is really a rhetorical question isn’t it?  But I will say, no one will stop me from proclaiming Jesus,  be it at Christmas, Easter or any other time.  I am proud to be a Christian!

Starting this Sunday, Haiti will celebrate the Christmas season.  There will be plays and services from now until New Year’s day.  They DO celebrated Christmas but not as we do.  Their church services are really Christ centered and filled with love and laughter.  You see some decorations around, but nothing like America.  Few people have the money for these extra things.  But they celebrate by having family and friends over for a small meal.  It’s more of a time of fellowship and sharing.  And this follows through until New Year’s which is their independence day.  On January 1^st, it’s pumpkin soup and family time.  If you’ve never tasted pumpkin soup, you are missing a lot.  I know some Americans have tried to make it, but it’s simply not the same.  I tease the kids here that I love the soup, but not the “weeds” in it.  Their spices are right from the garden, not from a small container from the store.  That may be the reason for the difference in taste.  But they use whole stalks of different seasonings.  

We’ve been busy, busy, busy these last few weeks.  Working on Vero’s house, and trying to get food and water out to the hard hit areas from flooding are just a couple of the situations.  We are still having rains, but not the overwhelming ones we had before.  It’s just hard to get the ground to dry out at all right now.  But gardens are starting to grow and people are starting to see an end to the over-wet problems.  But it takes time for a garden to grow, so there is still the problem of food, and also for decent water.  

I’ve been leading service at English Bible Fellowship.  This year I was trying to get people to consider not only the birth of Jesus, but what Mary, Joseph and their families faced with the whole situation.  Mary was NOT married, but pregnant.  Joseph could have had her stoned to death.  The whole family had to face public criticism and all that went with it.  It was a GREAT time, but a hard time, too, for them.  One of my really favorite Christmas songs is “Mary Did You Know”.   This Sunday I will be playing the song and sharing from a book by Mark Lowery, who first sang that song.  DID Mary fully understand just who her “special heaven sent baby” was?  And what He would do and what He would become.  My favorite line in the song is, “When you kissed your little baby, you kissed the face of God!”  Wow, what an awesome Baby Mary held!!  We are also doing something special this week in the service.  We will be giving everyone who comes a small bag with “Happy birthday Jesus” items in it.  And challenging them to use some of them to reach others with the real reason for this season!  And with each bag, they will get a Bible.  We have a fairly small congregation, but we are praying we will encourage them to share the Love of God with others. 

I have also been working on flowers for a wedding this weekend.   It’s for one of the girls who had been at the EBAC orphanage.  Then the week between Christmas and New Year’s we have a team scheduled for the dorm.  Not our team, but for another mission, but it’s still preparation time to get it ready. And we really enjoy the team leaders so much.  

Of course our volunteer work with MFI is challenging this time of year, too.  Especially with the airport situation now.  We have had some huge loads of cargo and once American Airline comes, we have to take a back seat to them.  Wish there were some way to get around it, but…we just keep praying.  When American lands and comes in, it’s a zoo.  There is no room for anything.  Today one of our planes came in, went to another city here (Pignon), then returned to Cap to clear out of the country and clear out the passengers both from here and from Pignon.  Normally not a big deal.  But when our plane came back, it was while the people from American were trying to clear their baggage at customs.  I had to climb OVER baggage to get out to our plane.  Then we had to try and get our passengers (and their baggage) from Pignon, who were flying out, through that mess and into the other area of the airport to clear immigration and back out to the plane.  I still kept smiling and tried very hard to be polite.  But it IS a challenge.  Looking forward to be back to our normal hectic schedule.  

We were also able to send the last of the paperwork (we think) that is required for the adoption to Port today.  Got the medical report and 16 passport photos done and sent down with the MFI plane.  The lawyer had told me a year, but I was shocked…then he said he’d try to get it done by May when we leave for the states.  We’ll see.  I know the Lord could get it done sooner, but I am laying it totally in HIS hands and simply praying it’s sooner.  Savanah needs to be with her new family soon.  

Savanah can be a real stinker, but she can be a real charmer, too.  Then when you combine the two… well, here is one instance.  She does like to help me with housework.  But in HER way.  She was being a real stinker the other day and threw her blanket on the floor.  I told her to pick it up and put it on the couch, so it wouldn’t get dirty.  (My mistake).   A bit later, she took my hand and said, “come, see.”  She had taken her blanket into the laundry room, put it in the washing machine and STARTED the machine.  It was half way through the cycle when I got in there.  When she does something she shouldn’t, she makes sure we know it.  She can run the DVD player, and she can work ANY phone.  She finds the camera on a phone with no problem.  And she takes pictures.  When someone comes to visit we have to warn them to NOT let her have their phone.  She also likes games on the phones.  I have NO idea how she does it or where she learned it.  She is a bit too smart for a 3 year old.  

Well, I had better close out.  We have had major problems with internet and have gone through so much trying to find the problem.  And we finally did.  It’s the cables outside that are the problem.  So, until we can get new ones, we are using a “stick” from the cell phone company here for internet.  These are NOT fun.  But we can get on once in a while with it anyway.  

So, blessings and sincere Christmas wishes.  We are praying Christ is the center of your holidays.  And that you share the real reason of this season with others who do not realize what the true meaning of Christmas is. 

Mid November heading toward Thanksgiving

I just looked at the date... Nov. 12th.   It is 31 years ago today that we moved to Haiti.  Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?  And when you are following the Lord's leading!  It's been 31 years of learning and failing and getting up and redoing things.  And also making new friends and expanding the family.  At this point in time, we have 5 birth children, 14 grandkids (one a Haitian by birth, but American by love), 7 great grandkids (all of the above are US based).  Then there is our family here... well let's see, 11 grandkids (Haitian and adopted), maybe 14 kids we claim, and a LOT more who are simply friends.  

A while back I was looking through photos from time past.  I found one of our 5 kids taken 15 1/2 years ago when they were all together.  Wow, what a difference, yet they still look the same.  

I just received some photos from a group that was here at our place in June (while we were in the states).  The reason it was so long for me to get them is that I had a whole box of mail when we got back, then I got sick, and just the last week or so have I gotten to completely go through the mail.  I had wanted to put a whole string of photos on here to show you what some of the teams do while here.  I'll see if they will download.  It would be a "travel with a team" type thing.  This team was a wonderful example of what teams accomplish while here.   

 Above is the MFI hanger, where you get on the plane to make the trip to Haiti.

 

Okay, this is a REAL mango.  See the size?

 

First impressions of the roads are pretty good now.  Then they had to go where the clinics were and on the "normal" roads.

 Check out the "cane" this fellow had.  And look at his face...then look at his face after he was given a GREAT gift...The Lord put many smiles on faces with this team.

 Praying with the patients is a blessing for both the team and the patients. 

 REALLY?  Medicine for free?  Love the smile!!

 Some of the means of transportation are a bit ... well... "rugged".  Below are the fearless team leaders and GREAT people.

I loved this one... they "body spelled" H-A-I-T-I.  
 
The last couple of weeks here have been really hard and devastating.  We have had an overabundance of rain again.  One of "our kids" came today.  She lives in one of the heavily affected areas.  She said she left her house and walked in water to the top of her thighs. During the worst of the storms, she and her family slept on their roof in a tent.  We had thought the worst was over, but had another really heavy storm yesterday afternoon and evening.  There are now a lot of homeless people.  And so many have lost everything.  Please keep them all in prayer.  A lot of lives were lost and families are suffering from that loss too.  All schools in the area were closed all last week.  Not only because of people not being able to get there, but as a show of support for them.  Many schools gathered food and cleaning items to help those in need.  

I have started working with another group of young people (young to me, you understand).  They are former orphans who are reaching out to an area where there is no schooling for kids.  And they want to eventually set up a training center to help the older ones out.  They came to me for advice on different things.  And I'm helping them set up a pamphlet and letter to describe their ministry.  They are a great group of young adults.  

Don has been hauling food out to a lot of people. With the flooding, there are so many needs, and food is one of the top ones.  He's also hauled water to some areas.  Yes, we have LOTS of water but nothing they can drink.  So that is a priority now, too.

We were blessed last week with having MFI overnight for two nights.  The first night was because they took so long in the Dominican to get fuel.  It was raining and they would not put fuel into the plane till it stopped.  So they got here to Haiti late.  The second night was because they had a mechanical problem.  We felt bad for them, but happy for us.  Before the turbines, when we only had radial aircraft, we'd have pilots overnight maybe once every 6 to 8 weeks while they repaired planes.  We've missed getting to know and spend quality time with them.  We had some fun times with Ray and Ben.  Their trouble, our blessing.

We can still use a LOT of prayers for the adoption.  Not sure just where we are at this point, but know we need our prayer warriors to stand with us and pray the adoption goes through soon.  God can and will work miracles and we are believing He will work in this area.  Pray with us!!

We had a great service Sunday.  The Haitian pastor shared about the end times and how although no one knows the exact day or month, the Lord said we would know the season.  Mark 13: 5-8 was the main text he used.  Then he ended with verses 32 through 37.  The summery of it all is to be prepared, be vigilant, do not be deceived, and WATCH.  So that is where we are, trying to absorb all God has for us, so we are prepared.  And we are to be vigilant and not let false teachings get into our thinking. And we are to make sure we are not deceived (using God's word and direction to made sure).  And lastly, in verse 37, Jesus says, "What I say to you, I say to everyone; 'Watch'!"   I pray we are all doing that... drawing closer to the Lord and using his word and guidance to keep our eyes focused on Him and follow where HE leads.

Well, it's time to close out and get ready for generator off and get to bed.  As we usually do, we pray you are in that place where God can richly bless you and keep you.  We pray your walk with the Lord is as awesome as our Lord.  The little ditty we learned when we were first saved is so true... "when you walk with the Lord, you don't get bored."   God sure does keep us on our toes, and blesses us in areas we never expected.  Blessing to you and your family!!!  Hang onto the hand of the Lord and He'll get you through whatever you are facing!!

The team and also Max...

 We have a team in.  They came to help with the bucket ministry.  And WOW...they did an awesome job.  Their goal was to do 120 buckets.  We thought maybe 2 or 3 days, but they worked themselves out of a job in ONE (yes 1) day.  Okay, you may think filling 120 buckets in one day is not a big deal.  BUT consider the fact that:

• They had to label all the pop bottles with "l'huile" (oil), 
• Fill each of those 240 bottles with oil

measure and bag into ziplock bags: 

• rice, 
• beans, 
• cornmeal, 
• flour 
• and sugar.  

Each of these items was a different amount.

• Then they had to make sure each bucket had one (or more) of each of the items needed.
• THEN search out the scriptures and coloring booklets and crayons to put with these items.  (These were out in the containers, with rusty hinges and difficult to open and close.)
• They bagged up 12 crayons in ziplock bags for each bucket.
• And finally putting the lids on them.  (This was not easy as some of the lids didn't fit correctly).

I had bagged up the hotel soaps and shampoos we had before the team came. I also washed all the bottles for oil.  Had I known they were so proficient I could have let them do that, too.  

I was able to get some photos of them working.  But sad to say, I have none of them distributing buckets, since I didn't go with them.  I think they will go and deliver more before they leave.  They said there were some VERY, VERY happy people who received the buckets.  One older man said he was VERY hungry and had no idea where he could get food.  God answered prayers for many through this team.

Here they are pouring oil into bottles.

 That is Savanah above, "helping" get buckets full of oil to the right place.  Below is some of the food purchased for them.

  Above, bagging rice, and then putting bags of rice into the buckets.

 Bagging the beans.

 And our faithful workers.  JOB WELL DONE!!!

I referred to "Max" in the title.  A couple of days ago, when doing the daily devotional a good friend gave me, I came across the following and thought it was something we should all think on.  I hope you enjoy this exert from Max Lucado's book, "Grace for the Moment".  

James 2:6  "Faith that does nothing is dead!"
Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want.  Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.  God is always near and always available.  Just waiting for your touch.  So let him know.  Demonstrate your devotion:

•  Write a letter.
• Ask forgiveness.
• Be baptized.
• Feed a hungry person.
• Pray.
• Teach.
• Go

Do something that demonstrates faith.  For faith with no effort is no faith at all.  God will respond.  He has never rejected a genuine gesture of faith.  Never.
                                                          From "He Still Moves Stones"

We ask you to keep praying, for Haiti, for our ministry, for our health and for the Lord's will to be done through us here in Haiti.
Blessings to you!!!

Some of our blessings

 Just a quick note.  I had to share two pictures I just received today.  These are 4 of our oldest son's grandkids...so 4 of our GREAT grandkids.   The first one is Faith.  Can you tell where they live?  Yup, Green Bay (well, just outside of town).  But yes, Packer fans, for sure.The second photo has Faith in it with Hunter, Alex and Logan.  (Not in correct order).  We have 3 other Great grandkids, but no recent photos of them.  Kids are special blessings from the Lord, aren't they?  And then there are grandkids, and THEN GREAT grandkids. 

 

Well, just thought these were some special photos and wanted to share them.  We are blessed beyond measure.  And we are praying YOU are blessed also, maybe not with GREAT grandkids, but with many of the blessings the Lord has shared with you!

Till next time, remember, "When you walk with the Lord, you don't get bored!!"   AMEN!

Time is flying by

I did send out an email and decided to copy it here with some of the pictures from Savanah's birthday.  But being "technically challenged", the pictures loaded first, not where I wanted them, but oh well.  Here she is with her "Birthday Princess" banner.

 And with her interactive baby tiger.  She loves to feed him and hear all his noises.

 The kids all got into playing with her kitchen gadgets and balloons. 
And now.. on to the newsletter.....

Time is flying by again.  So much to do and not a whole lot of time to get it all done.  I look around at my "computer room" and think, nope, I HAVE a computer in here, but it's become a "drop everything in here" room.  It will take me a couple of days to clear it out, but I don't HAVE those couple of days.  Savanah loves to "help" with whatever I am doing, so I have to chose what to do, since I'll then have to "redo" it. 

We have been sort of going in circles with the adoption papers here.  The pastor who has the last paper needed is missing.  Well, not missing as much as can't be located right now.  He lives in an area where there is almost no communication, so it's a time of wait and see when he turns up.  So, we would really appreciate a lot of prayer in this whole thing. 

One of the main reasons we need to get the adoption done is because of my situation with this crazy virus I had.  Some of the symptoms recur when you least expect it.  Have had a couple of days of not doing much because of it.  With Don trying to get so much done, I can't expect him to be here with Savanah, either.  We have a small team coming in to help fill buckets for Don's bucket ministry.  So he had to spend a whole day getting the supplies to put in the buckets.  And he had to do some work on the truck to get it ready for the team.  We had two gals clean the dorm since it hasn't been used since June.  Normally they do a great job.  This time we realized we have to go over and redo a lot and get some major things done.  I really praise God for Vero.  She walks in, sees the needs and starts working.  She has enough on her plate without the extra work here.  But since I am limited in how much I can do right now, I really appreciate her. 

And then there is Savanah!!  She turned 3 this last Thursday.  We had a small party for her on Friday.  Since the schools were closed because of a holiday here, we had it for lunch.  Just three of her friends (plus on additional young fellow we didn't expect).  Our daughter and son had done the shopping for me to get her some presents.  (I wish they could have been here to see her expression with all they got her.)  The kids had pizza, jello and cake.  Sounds a bit "different" having jello with the pizza, but it's what they love, so it was what they got.  This was the first year Savanah blew out her candles.  Before she was really afraid of the fire.  And this is the first time ever she ate cake.  That was something she simply didn't like before.  She made up for it now, though.  The kids all had a great time, and that is what counts. 

Don is off today taking a bunch of young men to a place they want to set up a ministry.  We praise God these young people are reaching out and taking God's word to so many places where it hasn't reached yet.  Time is short and God is moving in so many areas. 

Our prayer groups are doing fine.  We keep uplifting so many things to the Lord and are seeing God work in many ways.  We pray you are doing the same, lifting up others and their needs to the Lord.  It really is such an awesome way to keep the doors to heaven open and also to draw others to HIM.  No, the Lord doesn't always answer in the way we expect, but He does answer and it's usually better than we expect.  I still believe that God is TOTALLY AWESOME in all He does and the way He does it!!

We pray you are in a place where you don't have to look for the Lord, but only to reach out and grasp His Hand.  He is there for all of us.  He is there for us in whatever and whenever we need Him to be.  Remember to also praise and thank Him for what He has done and continues to do for us (and you) each and every day!!!   Blessings!!!

October Catch-up

My email posted today:

I guess it’s catch-up time again.  Where to start?  Well, the foot is better, I’m walking fine, just can’t get a shoe on it yet.  Redness is about gone, but the swelling is still a bit of a problem.  Then I picked up either a cold or sinus problem.  But that’s gone now too!!  God is working it all out and I’m praising Him for that.

We had our “big day” at the airport last week.  American Airlines flew in.  It was total chaos and a real mess.  Thankfully our plane got in and out before AA came in.  But there were problems from the start.  We had 1, yes ONE outbound passenger and I had a horrible time getting him into the outbound area.  I think they only wanted AA passengers to go in.  They FINALLY let him go into the local area.  I was NOT a happy camper with that.  Then, since the plane was already in and everyone else had gone out there, I had to find a way INTO the airport myself.  I can tell you I was totally fed up with rude, nasty people by the time I found where I was to enter.  More bad stuff after our plane left.  We could not distribute cargo since AA was DUE in, not because they WERE in.  Our friend Ray and I decided to simply go home and let the others finish WHEN they were able.  Next fun…we were parked in and couldn’t get out. Sat 2 ½ hours in the sun and heat (no air conditioner working).  Finally after police wanted to break into the car blocking us and another driver wanting to flatten the guys tires, we bounced and moved the vehicle enough to squeeze out.  All the Haitians who helped us were so angry with the guy… not sure what happened after we left.  

The next day had another flight.  Our workers had to sit in the sun for 2 hours while AA did their thing.  Can you guess I’m not a real happy camper?  I’m going in tomorrow and talking to both the airport director and head of security to get things moving.  This is ridiculous. MFI has blown into CAP for over 35 years, probably close to 40 years.  Now they are treating us like they want us out of the way.  One guard said, so fly at a different time.  

Finally went to English church yesterday.  First time in 2 months, since I could not get up the steps.  It was GREAT.  We had Pastor Jerome speak and he is so gifted.  Gave us a lot to think about and pray on.

We think we have the final paper for the adoption here in Haiti.  I should find out more this week.  I believe everything is finished in Canada, so it’s a possibility for Savanah to be going home to her new family very soon.  Pray with us on that.  Her 3^rd birthday is in just 11 days and we would love to have the adoption finalized for her birthday.  I know, we are stretching it for that, but God is able, right?  He can do all things.

We have a team coming the end of the month to help Don with filling food buckets for distribution to the poor.  A family from our home church sent in a box of hotel soaps and shampoos and lotions.  Won’t fill all 100 buckets, but it is a great start.  People will love getting those in the buckets with the food.  That brought to mind the story from back when we had the puppet team. 

 Here it is:

The team went out once a month to evangelize.  They took John/Romans booklets, toys if they had them and small ziplock bags of the hotel soaps and shampoos.  When they came back the one time, the girls shared what happened in one home.  The older lady living there hadn’t been to church in a long time because she couldn’t walk.  So they started reading part of John to her.  Each time they’d stop, she’d say, read more.  After the whole booklet of John and Romans, they told her someone would come back with their Bible and read more for her.  Then Vero gave her a small bag of soaps and shampoo.  She started to cry.  Vero thought she had insulted her and she apologized.  The woman said, “NO! You don’t understand.  I’ve been praying for a bar of soap for 6 months.”   The guys went on, and the gals stayed, gave the woman a bath and washed her hair and then left her another bag of the soaps.  Vero came back in tears.  She said, “Mom do you know how many POOR people are out there?”  This from a girl who was raised in an orphanage.  So, yes, we try to put those things in with the food when possible.  What a way for God to answer a prayer, and for Him to show even the poorest can help others.  

Another prayer need…. Don is having a problem.  We have all the papers on the trucks, and we even have fuel now.  But he can’t use the big truck because he has 2 flat tires.  He simply turned on his air compressor to fill one, so he could get them fixed.  He blew out our electric.  We have no idea why or how it happened.  He finally got that fixed, but now he is working on the wiring so he can use the generator to run the air compressor.  It’s just one thing and another here.  He went to put in a new faucet in the kitchen… after 3 days, had to take the whole sink out to do it.  (things were so rusted).  Then the pipes leaked.  Hard to get back into the swing of things when you are fighting these “little” things here at home. 

Well, I’ve kept you reading and it’s now time to close out.  Savanah about to wake up and you don’t leave her out of sight.

  

You all have a super great day in the Lord. In the service yesterday, Pastor Jerome used the scripture in Mark 6, where the 5,000 were fed.  He said it doesn’t matter where you are, what time of year it is, what your problem is, JESUS IS ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU!!!!!   What a truth…and one we need to remember in all situations.  So, remember that in your circumstances, too.  Hang on, Jesus is on the way, and we feel He is coming soon!

September's almost over...

With the end of September coming up, we are hoping for some cooler weather.  Actually it hasn't bothered me so much, but it sure has taken a toll on Don.  He's not alone in that.  Everyone seems to be tired of the heat and humidity.  Are we ever pleased by conditions?  We complain it's too hot, too cold, we complain we have too much rain, not enough rain.  We grumble and complain about the governments (no matter which country we talk about).  Where does praise and thanksgiving come in?  I've had so much time to simply "think" lately.  And a lot of it has been on attitude and circumstances.

For the last 7 weeks I've done almost nothing but lay or sit.  I don't handle that very well.  And I was complaining about it.  Then I felt guilty.  Honestly, WHY was I complaining?  Don and Vero were watching Savanah.  Don doing most of the cooking and between him and Vero the house was cleaned and wash done.  Maybe not just as I would have wanted to do it, but it was done.  I was able to pray and read and yes, heal.  

Then I got to thinking... I was complaining when in the US that all I was doing was looking at 3 walls and a ceiling and I could do that at home.  I should have been praising God that I COULD see.  That I COULD read.  We forget the everyday things when we look at circumstances.  Yes, my foot hurt.  Yes, I didn't like being in a wheelchair.  Yes, I got frustrated when I couldn't DO things I wanted to. But what about what I COULD do?  I was able to talk to my children often.  I was able to rest and relax.  And I was able to go to the store (although it took Don a lot of work for me to do that).  I should have been praising God Don was there to help.  That I was able to talk to my kids.  That I could enjoy talking with friends and co-workers at MFI.  

Then I started thinking and praying... God help me to be more thankful for what I have.  Help me to be thankful that I have a way to get the help for my situation.  Help me to spend time praying for those I love and for those who have situations even a lot worse than mine.  And most of all Lord, help me to be Your light for others.  Help me to stop complaining and to start praising and showing others that there is hope and peace through you.  Then I prayed... LORD USE ME IN MY CIRCUMSTANCES TO BRING GLORY TO YOU!   

Am I feeling better?  Am I healing?  Yes, to both.  But more to the point, I'm letting God use me in His way now, WHERE I'M AT, for Him.  I am so blessed by so many people and by so many things.   I look at the wheelchair I used... I'm out of it now... but there are others who will never leave theirs.  I put the crutches aside and am thankful I don't have to use them... when others would be happy to have the chance to use them.  And the cane...I don't use it often now, but it will be unused soon... when others would be happy to depend on something so simple.  God has blessed me and I want to share that with others.  

I'm actually starting to catch up on my work here.  Not all of it, but it will come.  One huge miracle is that I sat down at my desk top.... remember the one that quit working and no one seemed to be able to get it up and going?  Well, I don't know how (yes, I do, the Lord!!) but I (YES, ME, KAREN) got it working.  I am able to use it now ON THE INTERNET, too!!!  And Don found out (another miracle) that the reason we had so much trouble getting on the internet was not our satellite server, it was our WI FI!!!  A new on is on order and we are praising God for that!!  

Yes, I know, there are those of you out there who thought it was all me... that anything electronic I touched quit... but guess what??  It wasn't ME, it was circumstances again.  God is so good to us and He sure has been working in our lives lately.  

We finally have the papers on the trucks up to date so they can be used.  Then we found out there was no fuel to be purchased at this time.  So, trucks were still sitting.  Don found some fuel he forgot he had and was able to get to town today.  And then one of the stations now has fuel.  We definitely walk by faith, and God has walked before us in that.  

In just one week we have the BIG DAY at the airport here.  On Oct. 2nd, American Airlines will have their first flight into CAP.  We have a plane that day, so we will be there, but it will be a huge celebration for the airport too.  Don and I will both be going, if we can find someone to watch Savanah.  We have been at the airport longer than any other person there. We have seen a lot of changes over the years but this is one of the biggest ones and we are happy to be a part of it.

Well, my "quiet time" has ended.  Savanah has woken up, so I'll close.  We are praying God will work in your lives as He has been doing in ours.  That He opens your eyes to see how blessed you are by all you have and all you can do.  Now we, as well as you, need to start using those blessings to honor Him, and to show others what blessings God has bestowed on us.