Late again

Well, I didn't think it would take me this long, but we have been busy.  I'll put some photos again, and let you walk through our time with us.

Don was able to spend some time with three of his sisters.  One he hadn't seen in many years.

 And we spent a lot of time with our daughter and her family, too.

 These next two photos are of very special friends.  AND, prayer warriors.  God blessed us tremendously with them, and we are SO VERY thankful for them.

 These are three of our kids on our last day at our home church.  They are being good in this photo, which made me happy.

 This tree fascinated me.  I took a LOT of photos of it.  I am going to try and paint it.  We'll see if that works.

  

This was a bridge on the way to our daughter's place.  Yup, we did drive on it.  It's beautiful!

 This is our daughter, who everyone was praying for.  She has healed nicely from her 3 surgeries.  Praise the Lord!!  And those are her two boys in the next photo.  No one was happy with me taking photos at the pool, but they were all I got of them.

 

We are now in Florida, at my brother's place.  MFI has advised us to stay here.  They may have to evacuate because of hurricane Irene.  So, we are patiently waiting for the storm to pass and for MFI to be back in Fort Pierce.  Keep them and the whole ministry in your prayers.

My next post probably won't be until we arrive in Haiti.  We are so anxious to get back home and back to work!!  Blessings on all, and we'll be in touch!!  Remember to keep the Lord at the front and center of all you do.  He is willing and able to be there for you, are you willing to do the same for HIM???   Have a super day!

Wow, it's been a while

I didn't realize how LONG it had been since I posted on here until our daughter called and asked WHEN I would post again.  I'm sorry.  It's been one of those times when you don't really do much, but are always so busy.  

I am going to start off with some photos from the time we came out until yesterday.  They don't explain it all, but you can get a quick vision of some of our times.  I have already put a couple of Vero's visit to the US, but I'll start way back there anyway. 

I can see why our daughter-in-law has issues with inserting photos here.  It simply did not do what I wanted, so am starting over again.....(This is a smile on my face, with a grimace in there somewhere!)

While Vero was still in the US, my brother and most of his family came to see us in Fort Pierce.  Had to get a photo of all of us then.

 After we had been here a while (you saw the photos of our "home" here in Wisconsin and our wonderful "landlords")....we went to see our son and family in Tennessee.  In our short time there we did a LOT of things.  It was over the 4th of July and of course we saw fireworks, but went boating, swimming and spent some great family time....and saw a sunset that was awesome.  The first is our boating trip.  That's granddaughter and husband, and our grandson testing muscles on his "brother".

 On the boating trip, we stopped at a great waterfall.  I put one of part of the waterfall, to show a bit of the height, and then one of granddaughter (and boyfriend) who climbed up part of the way.  (Her suit is pink and so is she, so it looks a little risque on here, but wasn't).

 

 Here is son and family...after a dip in the pool.  You get family photos when available.  Guess we could have gone for the "dress up" kind, but this is more natural.  Note the neat stairway our son made for the second floor of his home!

Now we are back in Wisconsin at the family picnic on Don's side of the family.  One of his nieces got a "celebration cake".  His sister has been doing the picnic for 25 years and it was sort of a party.  Neat cake, huh?  And it was all edible.

 Don, his sister and one of our twins.

 This is one of Don's GREAT nephews who I am close to.  (Is he so extra tall, or am I so extra short??)

 Two of our sons.... 

 And the family of one of them.... (yup, the shorter one....but he is still taller than me.)

 And finally, our trip to the zoo in our small home town.  We walked there (yup, in the 90+ degree weather), but it wasn't bad at all.  Small town, right?  Well, here is a pheasant...could not believe the colors....

 And a zdonkey.... yup, a cross between a zebra and donkey.....

 And the petting zoo...(remember it's a small town, small zoo...but fun anyway).

 Our grandson enjoyed it anyway.  Even when a lamb tried to chew on the footrest of the wheel chair.


We are presently waiting on some paperwork to come back before we start our trip south.  We'll be seeing our son and family again, then our daughter in Alabama, then on to Florida.  Time frame is still pending....but we are anxious to see the "kids" in Haiti.  


I really am sorry it took so long to post, but this has been an a very special time with family that we have not had in many, many years.  God wrapped us up in family love in a way that we will treasure for a long time to come.


Add to all of that the spiritual feeding we have gotten.  That has been really fantastic.  It seems we have been like sponges soaking up all the teaching we can get.  Our God really is an AWESOME God, isn't He?  He provides what we need when we need it.  And we really needed the family time and the spiritual time.  So, although it seems we haven't done a lot while here, it's been really a full time in so many ways.


I do hope to post a lot sooner next time.  In fact I will try to do a weekly one.  I hope you all forgive me for this lapse in posting.  (This crazy blog has done some weird things to me this time!!)


Remember, you can draw near to the Lord, not only in church on Sunday, but via radio, TV, and most of all, through reading God's word!!!  We have listened to some awesome radio programs, watched some REALLY awesome teachers on TV, and found God's word a major uplift in many situations!!  And church has been an extra special blessing to us, too!!  Open your mind and hearts to what the Lord is showing YOU!!  


Until we see you, here, there, or in the air....God bless!!!

It's been a while

I could come up with a lot of excuses, but that is just what they would be.  So, I'll just share some of the blessings we have been in the midst of lately.  

God has given us a time of rest and restoration.  We are so thankful.  I shared before that Don has the Christian TV stations on most of the time.  We are soaking up some fantastic teachings.  I think we had become so spiritually dry over the years and didn't even know it.  Oh, the Lord was with us, and our faith held, but we were not growing, just existing in what we knew from a while back.  It is so wonderful to be able to sit and soak in the teachings and directions the Lord has sent our way.  I could list all of the people we have listened to, but that is not the point.  The point is that God has been pouring His word into our lives these past weeks.  We simply have to praise and thank HIM for all of this.  It's great to be renewed and refreshed.

But God has also given us other blessings.  This fantastic house and the great new friends who provided it is just a start.  This last week they took us for a pontoon boat ride on two lakes. (connected by a small canal).  It was such a restful, peaceful, refreshing time for us.  And the scenery was wonderful, too.  What more can you ask when you are worn out and tired, but to be with such neat people, on such a peaceful trip around a place that shows God's amazing creation.  We've been blessed beyond measure.

And getting to spend time with our kids, that is far beyond our normal trips.  We can not only spend time with them, but talk to them daily on the phone, too.  That special "touch" with our kids is a blessing beyond measure.  We praise God for this time, too.

We've been blessed by being in our home church with family, friends and some great teachings.  It's been wonderful to sit and soak up God's love through all of this.  The songs, the prayers, the teachings, all of these are God's blessing to us.  

Here are a few pictures of our blessings.....

The first one is our "house" from out on the lake....isn't it great?

  The second one is our "hosts".... Bud and Sharon took turns driving our excursion boat around.  

Then the neat thing of being able to see God's creatures all over.  We've seen lots of deer and other animals, too.

 And then Don and Bud enjoying the scenery while sharing.

Isn't God AWESOME????  Yup, there's that word again.... GOD IS AWESOME!!!


Add to all of this, the graduations of grandkids.  That is another awesome thing.  Seeing God work in the lives of our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.  


For now, I'll close and say, "See you soon!"   Well, maybe not actually see you but see you here on the blog.  God bless and keep your eyes on the God who blesses you and walks with you daily!!
 

The end of May

I guess it's been a while since I posted.  I apologize for that!  A lot going on, yet we are resting, or rather, doing different things than we normally do.  We spent 5 days with our daughter in Mobile.  I was there when they  put the wound vac machine on.  The wound was huge and we did fear that there was a possibility of gangrene setting in.  But after the second surgery they had gotten all of the infection and the healing process began.  It will be a long hard road, but we are praising God that it WILL heal.  They are using the wound vac, a portable one, so she is home and healing at home.  We were glad to be able to spend the time with her, even though it was all while she was hospitalized.  We didn't get to the graduation ceremonies, but our grandson did graduate.  He did so well.  We are very proud of him.  

One of our granddaughters also graduated, just this last week.  We were not able to be with her or the family for that one, but we are also so very proud of her.  Such a major step for these young adults.  We keep praying God will walk with them in the future and guide and direct them.  

We have one more graduation coming up this coming week.  We pray he will also turn to, and walk with the Lord in his life.  

We have had some meetings and visited a lot of people.  It's so good to see those who walk with us through our ministry, either by being there or by praying for us.  We sure would not accomplish what we do without those prayers, or the helpers God sends our way.

We were able to help our son for a couple of days.  He works for the YMCA, and has been updating and repairing their camp,  for the opening next week.  Felt good to accomplish some things there for him, and to be able to do some work.  We enjoy the rest, but need to keep active, too.

Had a bit of embarrassment this morning in church.  Right at the close of service, our pastor welcomed us, and then told everyone it was my birthday and had the whole congregation sing happy birthday.  He was right when he said I was turning red.  At my age you try to ignore those days.  But it was a nice gesture, I guess.

This coming week will be busy again.  But each evening we comment to each other how we are missing "our kids" in Haiti.  Got a mothers day, and birthday card from Abbie.  Sort of brings tears to our eyes when the final sentence is, "When you come back?"  We miss them all so much.  We don't have a definite date for return yet, but are starting to plan on things in the near future. 


Keep Haiti in your prayers.  So many things still going on daily there and there is always a need for prayer.  Pray for those we normally help who are without help while we are gone.  Pray for the pastors, that they are sharing God's word and touching lives for eternity.  And pray for the government there, that the Lord will guide and direct those in control.  


And now, finally pray for America, that God will stir those in authority here and touch and guide them in His ways.  Until next time, God bless and keep your eyes and thoughts on the the Lord Jesus Christ. 

As time goes on

We've been pretty busy.  It's been good, though.  And really good to get to see so many people.  A week ago, our oldest daughter ended up in the emergency room in Alabama, where she lives.  It was a very serious infection on the upper thigh.  She had a high fever and was really discouraged.  But we talked to her before she went in, talked to her as she was going, and talked to her in the emergency room, so we were with her, sort of, through it all.  Then Sunday morning, they operated.  It was quite a huge hole left after they removed the infection.  This week has been hard on her and she's been having a lot of ups and downs.  Then yesterday, the surgeon told her she was heading back in to the operating room today.  The infection had not cleared up at all, and they had to remove more of the fleshy part of her leg.  She is still very discouraged and is upset because she will not be out of the hospital for her son's graduation.  Please keep her in prayer.  She needs all the emotional, and spiritual help we can give.

Tomorrow we leave for Milwaukee to get a flight on Sunday to head down to be with her.  We had originally planned this for the graduation, but it's more than that now.  We'll spend all of our time, except for the graduation, with her.  With the crazy weather in that area, keep us in prayer as we fly there.  Pray for the people in that area, too.  

So much is going on all over the world right now.  We can see the Bible being brought to life in all we are seeing.  God has prepared us for what is to come and we are so thankful He is with us through all of this.  We pray you are at the place where you can depend on the Lord to see you through all that is to come in the future.  He IS our hope and salvation and we praise Him for all He has done, IS doing and will continue to do for us.  We also pray you have that same confidence.  If not, you CAN!!  Let us know how to pray for you!  Keep your hand in His Hand, and walk with Him.  God Bless!!!!

Quick note....

The sun is shining and the weather is looking up!!!  Praise God!!!

Hope your day is great and centered in the Lord!  He IS all there is that counts.

Love you Lord!

I hope it warms up some

Hello again from the cold country.  A lot going on.  We got here a week ago last Friday.  On Saturday had fellowship with some friends.  We were praying for a place to stay, since our daughter was sleeping on the uncomfortable couch and we would be here a while.  She said it wasn't that uncomfortable, but we know different.  But it didn't look like there would be a place to rent.  Sunday after church a couple we had not met offered us a cabin to stay in. It is beyond an answer to prayer.  It's beautiful.  We have a 2 bedroom HOUSE!  On the lake.  And our "landlords" live right next door.  They are awesome Christians.  Some of the surrounding homes have Christian families in them, too.  Isn't God GOOD???  The only downer at this point is the weather, but we are praying it will warm up soon.  The snow flurries this AM threw us a bit, but it's now in the 40's and prayerfully rising.  


We both had our eye doctor appointments and are done with those until the new glasses come in.  Dealing with some minor medical things...like allergies to the sprouts trying to pop out here.  Spring should be interesting.  


It's been so good to see so many of our friends again.  And meeting new ones is a blessing, too.  We were doubly blessed when we found out that Pastor Codo (Jean Claude Cimeus) and his family (attending school in Chicago for 2 years) were at church this last weekend.  It's funny to find our Haitian friends here in the cold north.  But we sure enjoyed being with them for a short time.


I thought I'd put a few photos here for you.  The first one is Vero with Carolyn and Rodney in West Palm Beach, our good friends.  That was still in Florida, where it was warm!!!

The next ones are our house here.  It is just the right size for us and so wonderful.  We are thankful for Bud and Sharon for their open, warm hearts in offering this great retreat for us. 

 

For now, we'll ask you to keep praying for us as we are here.  God is providing a great resting place and time for us.  Till next time, keep the Lord at the center of all you do.  He is more than anyone could expect and we praise and honor Him for His faithfulness.