Pen Pulpit

After my Grampa had his stroke in 1999 the church decided to keep him on as assistant pastor even though he had difficulty standing in front of everyone and preaching a sermon. He started to write a weekly Pen Pulpit that they posted on the church website and put in the church bulliten. I thought that I would start sharing them with you. I will post one every Saturday (since I tend not to blog on Sundays). Here is the first one he wrote.


Pastor’s Pen Pulpit
December 19, 1999

THE GREAT EXCHANGE
II Corinthians 8:9


“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

Two Observations

1. His riches for our poverty.
2. Our poverty for his riches.

Exchange #1 - His riches for our poverty.

Christ was rich beyond imagination - not with our kind of wealth only, but with spiritual riches from the realm of Glory. When He became man He laid all of that aside to become a humble carpenter. It was grace that enabled Him to do that. “For you know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He did that for our sakes. “Birds have nests. Foxes have holes. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”


From the splendor of Heaven Christ came to the squalor of earth. The incarnation was an incomprehensible renunciation of spiritual and material glory. He who had everything became poor, making Himself nothing (Philippians 2:7). He assumed our debt of sin and paid for it with His life (Philippians 2:8).

Exchange #2 - Our poverty for His riches.

If He had not stooped to our level, we could in no way rise to partake of His wealth. He became what we are (sin) that we might become what He is (rich) II Corinthians 5:21. This is very personal, is it not?

Love you all.

"We're all going to sleep outside...naked!"

The temperature in LA the last several days has been almost unbearable. It has been in the 100's the last couple days and the rest in the high 90's. To make it worse it has been really humid. I am not sure what the percentage of the humidity is but when you are used to having almost no humidity at all this feels really bad. I have been to South Carolina in July and that is really humid! But here this is very unusual. My aunt has a little window air conditioner in her family so that is where we hang out most of the time. My cousins and I have gone to Wal Mart and the mall as well just to go someplace cool and air conditioned. We spent Sunday afternoon at the mall and everyone else in Southern California had the same idea! It was extremely crowded. My cousins said that it was crowded even more than it is around Christmas!! Last night was so hot in the house, my cousin Eva-Karin, shouted out as we were all getting ready for bed, "We're all going to sleep outside...naked!". Of course we didn't but we set up beds in the family room that has the little window air conditioner. Eva-Karin, Mary Beth, Lauralyn, Daisy and I all slept back there. It was so wonderful!! I am guessing tonight we will do the exact same thing. :)

2 year Anniversary!

Today is Rue's and my 2 year anniversary. I am down in LA and he is still in Washington. Before I left to come down here he took me out to breakfast at Grassis. It is the little place were we went out to coffee for the first time and where he proposed. But this morning the FedEx truck drove up to my aunt's and dropped off a big long box that said ProFlowers on it and it was addressed to me. I was so excited. They came with a little balloon and a vase to match. The bouquet was of red roses and purple daisies. He also included a little note. I really wish that we could be together on our anniversary but he will be here in a week. I love my sweety so much. Every day just gets better and better being married to him. The first year was full of some major adjusting and this second year has been so wonderful getting to know eachother more and fall more and more in love with eachother. I want to marry him more now than I did when we got married! :) I thank the Lord so much for the wonderful husband He has given me!

Celebrating Grampa

On Friday we had the grave side service for my Grampa. It was a lovely yet sad service. Dale Workman, my granparent's pastor gave a wonderful message. We worshipped and praised the Lord and also cried because we are going to miss Grampa. We sang "The Old Rugged Cross" and before we all left we sang "The Doxology". It is our family tradition that when we are all together we hold hands and sing "The Doxology".


























THE DOXOLOGY

Praise God from whom all blessing flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye Heavenly host.
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen.


THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinner was slain.

Chorus:
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
It's shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He'll call me someday to me home far away,
Where His glory forever I'll share.

Chorus


Then on Saturday we had the celebration service at my Grandparent's church. Some of us in the family got up and sang "How Firm a Foundation". Then we had a time of the family getting up and talking about Grampa. Then there was a slideshow of Grampa's life. That was so wonderful to watch. Seeing all of the pictures with all of us grandkids with him and him holding us when we were babies and playing with us. Such wonderful blessings that God has given us. My Grampa was such a great servant of the Lord and he continued to serve Him through a massive stroke and all the way up to the time the Lord called him home. I love my Grampa dearly and will always miss him but I know that he is in Heaven and we will see him again. What a great hope we have in the Lord! May the name of the Lord be praised!




"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered Hi mover for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the One who justifies; Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He Who died, yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress ,or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:28, 31-39

"For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body..." "Philippians 3:20&21

"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

We are here! My brother Ben and I left on monday morning at 7:30. We drove all the way to LA in one shot. We really did not want to have to stay in a motel. The plan was for us to take turns driving, but believe it or not, my brother drove the entire way! I kept offering to take over but he kept saying that he was fine. We stopped at gas stations and rest stops. We even stopped to take an hour nap at a rest stop. From Gig Harbor, WA to Los Angeles, CA took us a total of 23 hours. Needless to say we totally crashed when we got to my Aunt's house at 5:30am. Even though I was exhausted. Thank you so much to all of you who have commented on my Grampa. I am sorry that I might not be able to comment very often but I promise I will when I can! I will be here for a total of 2 months. The next three weeks Daisy and will be here and then Rue will come down the first two weeks of August and then I am going to stay the last 2 weeks of August. Whew! That's a long time!! But I love my family and love being with them. This Friday is the funeral and then Saturday is the celebration service. Thank you so much for all your prayers!



This is a picture of Ben at 12pm still in bed after we got there! :)

Charles Covington

Born, April 24th, 1933

With the Lord, July 6th, 2006

In Heaven

This last Saturday my grandparents arrived, from L.A., at my parent's house with my Auntie Annie. We enjoyed a nice evening with my grandparents. The next day they were leaving on a cruise to Alaska. Seven years ago my Grampa suffered a massive stroke which the doctors said that he would never recover from. But the Lord had a different plan than the doctors. He recovered amazingly. He started to speak and walk again. As time went on he was becoming more and more independent. A few years ago he suffered a heart attack but he soon recovered from that as well. Charles Covington was a pastor. He met my gramma a little over 25 years ago. August 15th is their 25th wedding anniversary. Her first husband had been an alcoholic and eventually left. All of us grandchildren never knew him. He was never a part of our lives. We only know Charles Covington as our Grampa. As far as we are concerned he was related to us by blood. He was one of the most wonderful Grampas in the world. When I was 7 or 8 years old he baptized me and then at my wedding he was able to stand, holding onto a chair, and ask "Who giveth this woman to this man?" and he also prayed in the middle of the ceremony. He could sometimes be very gruff and frustrating but we all have our moments. He was a very strong, tall man and his stroke frustrated him a lot. He wasn't able to go about like he used to. His love for the Lord still continued on and he always loved answering any questions one might have about the Bible, doctrine or theology. If he didn't know the answer he would look it up in his many books and commentaries until he found the answer. Every week he wrote a pen pulpit that would be put into the bulletin at his church. He was still preaching, even if not nearly as much as before. This last Sunday he and my Gramma left on the cruise. On Tuesday night they had a lovely dinner and watched a show. My Gramma said that it was one of the most wonderful days they had ever had together. Early on Wednesday morning he suffered either a heart attack or a stroke. They air lifted him to Juno, Alaska and from their they flew him to Seattle. By Wednesday night my parents, aunt, my brother and I were at the hospital with he and my Gramma. They had him on a breathing machine that breathed for him. They said that his kidneys had failed as well. There was absolutely no response at all. My pastor came because my Gramma wanted him to. He stayed with us for a while and talked with us about the decision to take him off life support. The doctor was so wonderful about answering any questions that were asked. My Gramma made sure that all of my aunts and uncles down in L.A. agreed with the decision to take him off life support. The doctors said that keeping him on the machine would not make his condition improve any, there was no brain activity. My Grampa had also requested not to be kept on life support. So my Gramma gave them the okay and they took the breathing tube out. He started to breath on his own but it was very raged and rough. The doctor said that he was mainly breathing as a reflex. Breathing is one of the last things that your brain controls when you are dying. He stayed the same for a while and my parents and my brother went home for the night. I decided to stay with my Gramma and Aunt. My Gramma and I went and layed down in a little private sitting room they had for our family. I slept from about 12:30am to 3am and then I woke up. My Gramma woke up shortly after. She and I went and sat with my Grampa while my aunt went and layed down in the room. I read the Bible a little. It was one of the ones that my Grampa had just added to his Bible collection. My aunt said that he had about 30 in all. He loved buying different Bibles. :) At about 5am my Gramma went back in the little room and lied down and I stayed with Grampa. I reclined a chair right next to him and curled up under a blanket with a pillow. I read the Bible a little bit more and prayed. Every once in a while I would hold his hand. One of the things I remember when he had his first stroke was walking into his hospital room and he looked at me and reached for my hand a little. I grabbed it and he just looked at me and squeezed my hand because that is all he could do. This time there was nothing, but I held his hand any way. His breathing was so rough and he was getting a lot of blood and liquid in his throat. A few times the nurse came in and used a tube to get some of the liquid out. It was hard to watch. I fell asleep a few times but never for long. I was always worried that he would pass and I would be asleep. At about 8am my Gramma and Aunt got up. We decided to head down to the cafeteria to get a good breakfast since all we had been eating were some pretzels and animal crackers. They had a nice cafeteria and we talked while we ate. We cried a little as well. My aunt and I went and bought ourselves each a little travel pack of a toothbrush and toothpaste in the hospital gift shop and then we brushed our teeth. It had been a while. We then went back to my Grampa. At about 10am, I think, I left the room to call my parents. They were almost to the hospital. Then I called my hubby just to let him know how things were going. My aunt came in while I was talking to him and said that Grampa was going. I told Rue and hung up. We hurried back to the room. When I got there he was not breathing and never took another breath. I sat down next to my Gramma and put my hand on his leg. She started to pray and the three of us cried. She thanked the Lord that now at that very moment he was seeing Jesus his Lord and Savior face to face. It hurt some and yet it was also so peaceful. At that moment Heaven was more real to me than it had ever been. Grampa is in Heaven!

My parents came just a few minutes after with my brother. After we were ready a nurse and the doctor came in to discuss what would happen next. My Grampa will be sent down to California where he will buried this coming Friday, July 14th. It will be a small graveside service for family and close friends and then on Saturday there will be a celebration of his life at my grandparent's church. We are all so very sad and yet we all have the peace of the Lord. He has poured out His grace on us! We are so thankful that the Lord did not let my Grampa linger in the state he was in but took him home quickly. My Gramma has lost her sweetheart but she is trusting in the Lord. He will be there when we get to Heaven. He knew the Lord Jesus as his Savior. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me." John 14:6. Jesus also said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16. My Grampa trusted Christ for his salvation because he knew that he could never be good enough on his own to earn salvation. That is why God sent His Son Jesus to bear everyone's sins on the cross and took the punishment that we all deserve so that we can be with God for all eternity when we die. Oh, what joy this brings!

The Lord gave us Charles Covington for a time and then the Lord called His faithful servant home. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Job1:21

Here are Gabe, Gabriel and Hannah DeRoo. Gabe leaves tomorrow for Iraq for one year. We will be praying for him everyday and for Hannah and little Gabriel.

The Da Vinci Code

I am sure that most everyone has heard of and/or read and seen "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. I believe that whenever someone comes out with huge claims against something, before we believe them, we need to dig deep and find out for ourselves whether it is true. I wanted to share some of the information I have found on the subject.

The first thing to look at is what exactly is Dan Brown claiming in "The Da Vinci Code."

"1.) Jesus was married to Mary Magdeline.
2.) The four Gospels were chosen from among several that existed in the fourth century because they presented a divine Jesus.
3.) The divinity of Jesus became orthodoxy by a close vote at the council of Nicea in AD 325.

The key to the novel is that many in the Church knew that Jesus was married and to protect his divinity conspired to not let that become known, even to the point of murder. " ~Darrell L. Block

"...it's central conspiracy theory, which, very simply put, sees Jesus married to Mary Magdelin. After Jesus' death, Mary then supposedly fled with their child, and became, over time, a symbol of the 'sacred feminine'of ancient paganism." ~Melinda Christian

"According to Mr. Brown's fictional historian, Leah Teabing, the Roman Emperor Constatine picked through the ancient gospels and chose the ones that suited his political agenda, thus creating what we now have as the Bible..." ~Melinda Christian of christiananswers.net


There are many things that Dan Brown claims in his novel and I would like to share some information as to why these things are not true. Christian historians and non-Christian historians agree that the history Dan Brown claims is behind his novel, is false.


"...one need only delve (and not even very deeply) into the “historical” basis for this tradition to be convinced that it is, indeed, fiction.

Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln [writers of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail, where Dan Brown got some of his information] make this startling admission concerning their own research:

'We sought only to winnow through [the gospels] — to locate certain fragments of possible or probable truth… fragments that might attest to a marriage between Jesus and the woman known as the Magdelin. …In order to find them, we realized, we would be obliged to read between lines, fill in certain gaps, account for certain caesuras and ellipses. We would have to deal with omissions, with innuendos, with references that were, at best, oblique.'"~Melinda Christian

Here are excerpts from an article by Matthew J. Slick. He quotes an exerpt out of the book and then answers it.



1. Quote: "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book...more than 80 gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few are chosen for inclusion-- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them... the Bible, as we know it today, was collected by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great." p. 231

A. Response: This is a very gross error. The Bible is not the product of "countless translation, additions, and revisions." The Bible is translated from copies of original documents, which have been static since before the council of Nicea.

B. Response: The Bible was not produced at the Council of Nicea by Constantine. The Old Testament documents were collected and known as an inspired work long before the Christian church was ever on the scene. The New Testament documents were written by the eyewitnesses of Jesus' Ministry or under the direction of those who were. The Christian Church knew which documents were authentic and which were not with only a few books in dispute. At the initial formation of the Christian Church, the Christians were under Roman rule and did not have the freedom (due to initial persecution) to produce an "official" Bible. But that did not prevent them from knowing which documents were penned by the apostles themselves and which were spurious forgeries, of which many were in existence and are undoubtedly included in the "80 gospels" that Brown mentions.

2. Quote: "With the help of Jesus' trusted uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene secretly traveled to France, then known as Gaul. There she found safe refuge in the Jewish community. It was here in France that she gave birth to a daughter. Her name was Sarah." p. 255

Response: There is no evidence for this whatsoever in history. It is an invention, a fabrication.
3. Quote: "...the Piscean ideal believe that man must be told what to do by higher powers because man is incapable of thinking for himself. Hence it has been a time of fervent religion. Now, however, we are entering the age of Aquarius-- the water bearer-- whose ideals claim that man will learn the truth and be able to think for himself." p. 268

A.Response: Notice the appeal to astrology as truth. This is inherently problematic since astrology is unverifiable, highly subjective, and is full of ambiguous speculations.
B. Response: It is interesting that Brown inserts pagan ideas and pagan concepts into the dialogue among his characters in an attempt to support the storyline. His comment leaves a person with the impression that religion, in particular Christianity, does not want people to learn the truth or think for themselves. This cannot be further from fact. The Scriptures teach us to learn the facts and to be very responsible in our decisions and to think critically. Brown misrepresents, at the very least, the Christian faith.
C. Response: Following are scriptures telling us to think, to use our minds.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself," (Romans 14:5).

4. Quote: "Admittedly, the concept of sex as a pathway to God was mind-boggling at first. Langdon's Jewish students always looked flabbergasted when he first told them that the early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex. In the temple, no less. Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple housed not only God but also his powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking spiritual wholeness came to the temple to visit priestesses--or hierodules-- with whom they made love and experienced the divine through physical union. The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH -- the sacred name of God -- in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Habraic name for Eve, Havah." p. 309

A. Response: We know of absolutely no documentation whatsoever supporting the idea that the early Jews considered the holy of holies a place where a female deity would dwell. Such an idea is without merit, is ridiculous, and is in direct contradiction to the historic/biblical account for the purpose of the Holy of Holies - to offer blood sacrifices to the Lord. This is such a preposterous idea that we are surprised Mr. Brown inserted it into the story at all -- even knowing it is a fictional book.
B. Response: Brown makes a very fundamental error in his research regarding the tetragrammaton YHWH. It is not derived from a masculine and feminine set of words. Instead, YHWH is the English four letters that most closely represent the four Hebrew characters that designate the name of God which is derived from the Hebrew verb "to be." "To be" is not feminine in the slightest. It is simply a verb. When God gives his own name in Exodus 3:14 he says, "I AM that I AM". Again, the "I AM" is from the verb "to be" which is where we get YHWH. Brown is completely wrong on this.

5. Quote: "the next time you find yourself with a woman, look in your heart and see if you cannot approach sex as a mystical, spiritual act. Challenge yourself to find that spark of divinity that man can only achieve through union with the sacred feminine." p. 310

A. Response: This is a very subjective statement. Of course, it is just a fictional character giving a fictional opinion. But, the problem is that with the overall context of undermining biblical truth and historical fact, this comment takes on a more distracting meaning as it moves a person to think emotionally instead of using his mind...the very thing Brown, via his characters, accuses the church of not wanting. See point 3 above.
B. Response: Sex is mystical? Where Brown did this? Throughout ancient history, when men have been in charge of religious practices, temple prostitution as often arisen as a "privilege" and a "sacrament" of getting in touch with the divine goddess. What makes Brown think that ancient temple prostitution practices and sexual union are somehow true mystical events?

6. Quote: "... every faith in the world is based on fabrication. As the definition of faith -- acceptance of that which we imagined to be true, that which we can prove." p. 341

A. Response: No, this is not true. Christianity is based on fact: the reality of the nation of Israel, archaeological verification, eyewitness accounts recorded in written form regarding the birth of Christ, his ministry, his miracles, his teaching, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Brown could not be further from the truth. He repeatedly makes it a logical and unsubstantiated assertions as though their fact and then continues to build arguments upon them. This is a fallacious way of trying to establish the point.

7. Quote: "those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories [i.e., Virgin birth of Jesus] are metaphorical." p. 342

A. Response: This is not true. Christianity is not based on metaphorical stories with hidden meanings. It is based on historical facts, i.e., the actual life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The witnesses recorded what they actually saw and wrote down actual events. Brown's character's assertion is (admittedly fictional) and completely erroneous.

Following is a brief and partial list of some of the many errors found in the Da Vinci Code.

1. A partial list of errors in the Da Vinci Code
A.The Bible is the product of "countless translations, additions, and revisions."
i.The biblical documents are static, unchanging, and we have multitudinous copies of them from the first, second, and third centuries.

B. The Bible was assembled by Emperor Constantine.
i. The Bible was assembled before Constantine and the Council of Nicea in 325. The council only "officially" recognized what the early church had known since the time of the apostles; that the Bible, in the New Testament books, were authentic and inspired. Emperor Constantine did not establish the Bible, or decide what books went in, in any way. This is another fabrication and denial of historical facts.

C. There were 80 additional gospels
i. Though there were a few gospels circulating which claimed to be authentic but the early Christians knew were not, there is no where close to 80. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were known to be written by the apostles and or those under direct teaching of the apostles. This is why the gospels were acknowledged as authentic and it had nothing to do with political power.

D. Opus Dei members have monks.
i. They do not.

E. The deity of Christ was invented by the Council of Nicea
i. The deity of Christ is found in the scriptures in the New Testament Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; and Heb. 1:6 as well as the Old Testament:
a. b. Exodus 6:2-3, "God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them." Compare with "Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father," (John 6:46). The point is that God Almighty was seen, but not the father. He was the pre-incarnate Christ who is seen in the Old Testament, who is defined in nature.
c. 1 Cor. 1:2, "to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."
i. The phrase, "call upon the name of the Lord [YHWH]" is used in the OT only in reference to God (i.e., 1 Cor. 1:2. It says that the church "calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus." Why is a phrase used ONLY of God in the OT, applied to Jesus in the NT?
ii. The LXX translates "call upon the name of YHWH" as "call upon the name of the Lord [kurios]." The phrase "call upon the name of the Lord is applied to Jesus.

F. Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene who is to be worshipped as a goddess.
i. There is absolutely no historical evidence for this.

E. Early "Christians" practiced goddess worship.
i. There is absolutely no historical evidence for this.

G. YHWH is derived from two Hebrew words, one masculine and the other feminine.
i. No, it is derived from the single Hebrew word "to be"

H. The Dead Sea Scrolls contained the earliest Christian writings
i. This cannot be true since the DSS's were written before Christianity existed.

I. Christianity borrowed its ideas from pagan sources
i. Similarities between Christianity and other religions does not mean Christianity borrowed from them or they borrowed from Christianity. Similarities exist in all religions. The assertion is a common one that has no basis.

"Basic Christian Doctrine" by Matthew Slick, www.carm.org/basicdoc.htm.

Also for more information visit www.christiananswers.net and type Da Vinci code in the search engine.

To Annie, Our Nanny cont...

Here are 2 pictures I took of the boys on my last day.

I am a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed

At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky

You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it

Your caffeine addiction level: medium

Go to www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz to find out what kind of coffee you are! :)

To Annie, our Nanny!

Here are some pictures of the story book the Schneidlers made for me of Isaac and Gabe.













To be continued... :)

My Last Day

Last Friday was my last day as a nanny for the Schneidlers. I worked for a few hours in the morning. I made the boys waffles for breakfast and then we went outside and played. Isaac and I played baseball. They have white woofle balls and I throw these to him and he hits them with a plastic bat. Even Gabe has his own little mini plastic bat. It is very cute. Then Isaac rode his bike for a little while and then they went swinging. I took turns pushing both of them on their swings. Then we went inside to get something to drink and Isaac wanted to be read to. As we were about to read Michele came home. I baked Isaac and Gabe some chocolate chip cookies the night before. Because it was a special occasion Michele let them have one before lunch. Andrew then came home for lunch. He has been studying 12 hours a day 7 days a week for the Bar Exam at the end of July. I guess he will have to keep this pace all the way up until the exam. Needless to say he looks really worn out. Eventually the time came for me to say goodbye. Michele and I tried to keep it off for as long as possible. Michele gave me a hug and we both started tearing up. I gave Isaac and Gabe kisses and hugs. I know Isaac didn't realize that I wasn't going to be coming back. Michele and I planned on getting together in a few weeks at a park with Daisy and the boys. Daisy will be out of school soon and she and the boys love playing together. I know she is going to make a great big sister. She is very good around small children. As a gift they made a little story book for me of pictures of the boys. They made it online and it actually looks like a story book. It is so sweet and cute. I am going to miss the boys so much, but I will be seeing them from time to time. And come this September they want me to baby sit for them one evening a week on their date and Bible Study nights. So it is not goodbye, just see you later. I am so thankful for such a wonderful job the Lord gave me. He provided a Christian nanny for them and provided the perfect job for me when I needed it. God is so good!

Restructuring

Well, this will be my last week of work. I got a phone call last week from my boss saying that her part time position she was hoping to work this next year didn't work out. This means that she will be staying home and will no longer need a nanny. I was planning on working for them another year. Rue and I were hoping to use my income to help us buy a house or a condo. Now we have to make other plans. I am really excited for what God has next! Here we had a plan all set out and ready to go and WHAM! it got changed on us. I love how the Lord will close a door and make it clear that that is not the direction He wants you to go in. I told Rue that I didn't feel like we had moved forward or backward. And he said, "No, but we are just restructuring.". I really like that. God is having us restructure so we are more in line with His plan for us. How exciting! I feel so happy that we are in His will. That is the best and safest place to be. The plan for right now is I will just find babysitting jobs where I can and I will also look for a house or two to clean. I am really excited about not having to have a regular job though. I feel like I will finally be able to work at fulfilling the high role God has called me to as a wife and mom. I will be able to take care of my husband and household better because me energy is not divided between work and home. I will get to practice sewing more and be able to practice more with cooking since I won't be rushing to get it done. I am so happy! Lead on Lord! :)

Special Service

This last Sunday we had a Dedication service for the men in our church who are being deployed to Iraq. The three men are in the Army Stryker Brigade. In the top picture you see Sgt. Gabe DeRoo on the left and Spc. Lance Holtgeerts on the right. Also Chaplain Major Joe Riley will also be leaving. They had a special flag folding ceremony where Major Joe Riley explained what each of the folds in the flag represented. Kevin Pemental, who is in the Navy, and Mr. Narlock who is in the Air Force also took part in the ceremony. They each read a passage in the Bible about the Lord's protection. Then the wives of the men were asked to come up.

On the right is Chaplain Major Joe Riley and his wife Linda. In the middle is Sgt. Gabe DeRoo with Hannah (my best friend) and their sweet little baby Gabriel. On the left is Spc. Lance Holtgeerts and his wife Tanya. Our pastor then had all of the veterans who were at the service to come up. There were quite a few. Two of these veterans prayed prayers of special dedication and safety for the men. The men are being deployed for a year. We are so proud of them and their desire to serve their country and fight for freedom. We will be praying for them and their wives every single day.

Dannells Camping Trip #7

Megan and Taraz also came on Sunday. Ruhiyyih didn't tell George and Bonita that they were coming, so it was a big surprise. It was also Georges birthday that day and Daisy's was the next day. That evening, before Ruhiyyih left, Taraz and Megan brought out two birthday cakes for all the birthday people in May. We had such a great camping trip! I can't wait until the next one!

Dannells Camping Trip #6

On Sunday afternoon Ruhiyyih and her friend Brynn stopped by for the afternoon and evening. Ruhiyyih had a flight the next day to go back to D.C. so they couldn't stay the night. Ruhiyyih is so wonderful to be around with her joyful bright personality. She can easily make you laugh. I was so sad to see her go.

Dannells Camping Trip #5

On Sunday we took a really nice leisurely hike. It was a mile and a half and part of it was along the river. It was a nice hike to take after going on such a strenuous hike the day before, but even though it was only a mile and a half we found ourselves pretty tuckered out. We had used up all our energy the day before. But even then this hike was very pretty and had some great little scenery.

George and Bonita took the opportunity to wash off their rubber boots from all the mud on them. Rue I and I were wishing we could do that but then of course our feet would have been soaked. Next time we go camping and we know it is going to rain I am going to buy a pair of good rubber boots.