#1 in the Nation!

Meet my niece, Lynnae. She is 17 and has just won 1st place at National competition (America Association of Christian Schools) in calligraphy. Lynnae did a beautiful piece for a friend who is getting married this summer. Lynnae and Paul have been rivals the past few years beginning several years ago when they tied for 1st and continuing with one or the other taking 1st every other year. She beat Paul out both last year and this year...and yes, she deserved it! Lynnae has a beautiful, effortless calligraphy feel and style that is just absolutely beautiful to look at. She definitely deserves her first place and I am very proud of her for her dedicated work in calligraphy. Calligraphy is something she does constantly...not just for competition...and it shows in her work. She truely enjoys her art and it is quite the work of art. She definely has "RAYMER" in her blood! Congratulations Lynnae! 

Happy 16th Birthday, Timothy!

Happy 16th Birthday, Timothy! and .... Congratulations on getting your drivers license! Timothy took his test during his lunch hour yesterday and passed! He wants to drive home from work solo tonight. It will be interesting to see if Rusty says "yes".

Timothy is a fun loving young man who desires to please the Lord with his life. He has a desire and talent to teach children the truth of God's Word. He believes that God is calling him to be a children's pastor or evangelist...and we can see that God is preparing him for future service.

Life is never boring with Timothy around! He makes you laugh, smile, and cry. He loves people and loves life. He works for Subway...making sandwiches. He enjoys working in the bus ministry, puppets, children's church, and youth choir at church. He is a joy and blessing to our home and a real help to me. Happy Birthday, my Timotheus Russell!

Happy 18th Birthday Paul!

Last week Paul celebrated his 18th birthday. It is hard to believe that he is already 18 and about to leave home for college. Next year Paul plans to attend Bob Jones University and major in Information Systems Management (computers) and minor in business. He will graduate from Tri-City Christian school on Saturday, May 27.

Paul enjoys anything computer/techie related, plays several instruments including the french horn, guitar, bass, mandolin, and dulcimer. He is well on his way of following in my father's footsteps. He works for both Sonic and Kids 4 Truth...so he keeps real busy. He is a quiet young man who desires to please the Lord. He is truly a blessing to our family. We love you, Paul! 

Gotta love technology!

I love the phone system for the new office! It has some absolutely wonderful features I know I am going to enjoy using. In fact, it is very tempting to switch to this for my home telephone system...only we don't get too many calls at home.

We decided that it would be wise to use a Vonage line (IP) for the new office. This system allows voicemail to be delivered directly to my computer - it includes the caller's phone number (thanks to caller id), time of the call, and a recording of the call. This is great because I can forward the message to the person it belongs to or actually catch a phone number -- because it comes to me listed in the email -- when a person is hard to understand on the voicemail message.

Other features I am going to love are call transfers and call forwarding. I can actually transfer a call to Joy in Rockford, IL, Bob when he is out of town, or Julie when she is working from home without the caller ever realizing we are not in the same office. I can set my phone to forward to another phone like my cell phone or home phone when I am working from home or at another location.

Moving IN!

It has been a busy week of moving furniture and boxes and we have only begun.

Bob's office and my office is "basically" set up the way will will have it with furniture. However, we still have books to bring over and put into the bookcases.

Julie's office has a long ways yet...as we have not started in there yet. We are waiting for the inventory storage space to be ready so that we can organize her storage and office.

We are still working to set up the internet service (waiting on the cable company) and the network. Lanier is working to get our printer up and running (THANK YOU, Jamie!).

Currently we are officing from both the old and new location...as most of my office has moved over but we need internet connectivity to ship packages, etc. Soon we will transfer our UPS service to the new location - probably start that next week. If you are trying to reach us, please use the new phone numbers listed on the EquipU and main website. 

Tri-Citians prepare for ministry trip

Sunday night the Tri-Citians (small senior high ensemble) sang in the evening service at Tri-City. They did a wonderful job of sharing testimonies and singing for the Glory of God.

Paul, our oldest and a senior, is in his second year in the ensemble. This is a special group that you must audition for and only a few are selected. He also surprised us with a duet that he and Tyler sang together throughout most of the men's group song.

Please pray for the group as they are on a ministry trip today through Monday. They will be back just a few days before heading out to nationals at BJU. 

Kitchenette has doors

Today Rusty finished the kitchenette cabinet doors. We needed to put louvers on the front of the kitchenette since the cold air return is behind the cabinet. This is the final item that needed to be done before we can totally pass final inspection. We will call for final inspection next week. We are looking forward to removing the building permit sign and know we have full occapancy.

Today was also the annual face to face board meeting. Six of our eight board members were able to attend the meeting in person today. We held the board meeting at the new office using folding chairs and tables. It was a blessing to be able to show the board members the new office and our plans for the facelift on the outside of the building. We appreciate the heart and part these men have for and with the Kids 4 Truth ministry.