Busy Times!

One would think that as your children grow that life slows down and gets a little less hectic... So far, I haven't found that as true.

This summer found two of our boys working out of town and one working hours just opposite of ours...so our summer went fast and we didn't have much time as a family together.

Paul spent the summer in Knoxville, TN working. For the past couple summers he has had the awesome opportunity to work as an intern under Rob. This summer he lived in Knoxville, spent many evenings with the Gillens, enjoyed spending time with the Oakridge Baptist Church's singles, and enjoyed some additional freedom of basically living on his own. Paul is in the midst of his junior year at BJU where he works at least 2 jobs (cook & lab monitor) and is a computer science major.

Timothy worked in town but with hours almost opposite mine and Rusty's. Tim and I shared a car...so I would get home in time for him to go to work. We tried to use times when we were both off work to do our "college shopping". He had the opportunity to submit some graphic work to an area politician, and although his designs failed due to office politics, he gained some valuable experience. Mid-August we said our goodbyes as Tim drove off to PCC where he is working as a cook and is a graphic arts major.

Peter also worked out of town this summer. He had the opportunity to work on the Tech/AV/Progaming Staff at Southland Christian Camp (http://www.southlandcamp.org/). He absolutely loved the chance to work at the camp and still feels as God is directing him toward camp ministry. He is begging to get his driving license asap (I think this will happen next week). He is the class president of the junior class at TCCS.

Andrew continues to grow, but I guess when one has a size 13 shoe he has a LOT of growing to do! He is right at the 6' point and shows no signs of slowing down yet. He has been working hard to help with our current home remodel project. He loves to keep things organized.

Arrena is right at passing me! I can't believe my baby is now 12! She plays the piano and french horn, loves to read, does well in school, and loves K4T club on Sunday evenings.

Before the college kids all left for college, we got together as a family at Dad and Mom's. It was great to have all David & Jen's and Rusty and my children together with Grandpa and Grandma. We enjoyed watching them play games, tease, and love on each other.

After Tim left for college we found an evening to go to PowerPlay out in KS. This unique indoor gaming center is mostly all blacklite and was loads of fun! I was surprised at how inexpensive it was for us to spend a few hours today doing something fun and different. Paul, Peter, and Andrew enjoyed a round of free-throw shooting together...we found that Andrew had quite a talent shooting free throws! Peter threatens to tell Coach Christensen.

God Protects - Sometimes In Mysterious Ways

Ever had one of those things that you did and you really don't know why you did it? Or perhaps you had one of those days when you were running late and didn't know why and then came across an accident that took place about the time you would have been in the area. Perhaps, like Timothy this past August, you went through an accident in your car, at work, or at home and you know that there is no way you should have come out of it alive or without injury...and yet you did. You know that God was the only way that you were protected in that situation. I have a testimony to share with you of how God recently protected our family. I share this giving God the Honor and Glory for His protection and provision!

On December 29 for some reason I unplugged my mixer...now I NEVER unplug my mixer because it bothers me when I try to use it and it is unplugged. However, even when I unplugged it I thought "Why am I doing this? I don't like my mixer unplugged..." but I kept it unplugged and went on with cleaning my house and kitchen.

On December 30, I started a large pot of gumbo. When I make gumbo I fill a 16 quart stock pot to the top. My pot is large and overhangs the burner by a good 1.5-2 inches. I started the pot of gumbo in the morning and allowed it to simmer all day long, because anyone who has ever made gumbo knows that the longer you let it simmer the better it is:-) And, once I had my gumbo started and chili meat started in another pot, I went back to cleaning my house.

Around 4:30 I wore out...and told Rusty "Let's go to the store and look at dishwashers." I knew if I stayed home I would continue to work until I dropped, and I was ready to get a new dishwasher after handwashing dishes for the past 6 months! I was hoping to get a dishwasher and have it installed by the next day - dreaming wasn't I? But, I know our God!

So, we didn't tell the kids where we were going but we left to "go to the store." I didn't want them disappointed if we didn't find a disherwasher at a price we could afford. We drove a good 30 minutes to the Sears Outlet store and looked at dishwashers only to find they had $1200 machines marked down to $800-900 which was well over our budget. So we stopped at Home Depot to look at one we had seen before - we had forgotten to check the price the first time, and then ended up going to Sears in the Mall to "see if they had any good sales today."

God provided us with a beautiful dishwasher with all the features I "wanted" including a stainless steel interior - which was one of those "extras" God provided. This particular disherwasher had been sold, but apparently when it got to its original location there was a large nickle size scratch in the front panel and it was returned to the store. Instead of sending it to the Outlet store as usual they had it on the floor at the mall. They had marked it down a good $250 because of the scratch, and I said "I can cover that with white fingernail polish." (which I did when I got home.) And, since it was at the store without a box, we had to "take it with us." The kids were so pleased when we came home with the new dishwasher.

By now it was about 7:00 and time for a late supper. I went to serve my gumbo and removed the pot from the stove to put it on the table. Nothing fancy that night as Rusty had the dishwasher to install. When I removed the pot from the store we were shocked to see that the power cord from my mixer had slipped under the pot of gumbo and touched the metal ring on the burner. The cord was burned and melted! We immediately praised the Lord for His protection. Had I not unplugged my mixer the day before we would have had an electrical fire in the kitchen. We knew it was possible that a fire could have happened while the kids were home alone. Yes, we have older children, but praise the Lord they nor we had to deal with a house fire. Just this past month we had friends at church have their house burn. We have heard the stories of their damage and working with insurance companies, reconstruction, etc.

We praise the Lord for His protection!