Where Does the Time Go?

Seems like yesterday that I got a call from Elizabeth to tell be that the baby she was carrying was a girl. "You got your girl!" were the words I distinctly remember hearing. What a day that was. Anna was born on Mother's Day after a long night of unproductive labor. She was stubborn even before she was born!

Anna turned 15 a few days ago. She wanted to take her driving permit test. Anna has only driven once...in my old beater truck on my hunting land a couple of years ago. Well, I had to go to the DMV to renew my drivers licence last month. I asked for the book so she could begin to study it. The lady behind the counter informed me that they were out. I took that as a sign from God & told Anna as much. A few days later she had the book from a young man in our church who took his earlier in the year.

Well, she passed it...amazing! I let her drive my current - not a beater - truck home from the church. She did well in light of her nearly complete lack of experience.

I'm still trying to figure out where the time went. She & I were headed to the church yesterday & I came out to see her in the driver's seat with the engine running. She gave me a 'deal with it Dad' look & I prayerfully climbed into the passenger seat.

The way the 'Speed of Life' is going for me, Emma will be driving soon!

Vacation 2010 - The Blow Out & the Blast

Our Vacation started with a BANG...literally! About 2 hours down I75 going 70 mph - we blew a rear passenger side tire. I heard it going down before it blew and was able to change lanes & slow down before the back half of the tire exploded! God was sooooooo gracious in keeping that overloaded 3 seat wagon from flipping.

Found out the donut spare was also flat but a shot of air from the AAA wrecker fixed us up just fine! Three hours & a decent lunch later - we were on our way to Cape Coral!

We finally made it late Monday night but the kids just HAD to jump in the pool! Sam learned to swim the next day thanks to Anna! Way to go Sam!Ben loves the jacuzzi. He calles it "His Water". By the way - those armies that also have a float across the chest with one clasp in the back are WONDERFUL! They keep the little fellas a float & upright. Ben loves it!The kids have really enjoyed the pool as have I. It is especially nice at night with the underwater lights on.

Dziadul Happenings...

Love this dress from Aunt Rebecca

The second family ready for church

Ben & Emma time

Cousins Emma & Emily

Prayer of dedication with Grandpa Adrian

Little Boy feet - no tellin' where they've been!

Funny face!

Emma meets Miss Mary

First Fruits Sunday

Mr. GQ! He was so funny. Sam had it going on!


Ben informed His Momma that he did not want to wear 'baby shoes' & that he wanted a suit like Sam! Too funny! That kid walks like John Wayne...with swagger.

My younger two thirds.

I asked the Lord to give me ugly daughters or sons who could shoot straight. I got the latter. Those girls are scary pretty.

The four younger children got all dressed up for First Fruits Sunday as we celebrate the defigning difference between our faith and all others...Our Redeemer LIVES!

Haircuts

We were all WAY over due for a good haircut...especially Ben. My Dad had to hold him while I cut his hair with the flowbee. He screamed the whole time, "I'm scared, I'm scared!" I managed to give him a pretty decent & manly hair cut.

Deer Deer Everywhere

Well, I took Anna & Becky (my niece) hunting the other night. A young buck walked out but it wasn't big enough to shoot in our hunting club. It meandered into the pines & about 10 minutes later, it came out right under the box stand. What a joy to watch that deer feed literally right under us. Then just at the end of shooting light, a doe walked out. My scope had fogged up as I shot...and I clean missed it.
Then I took my nephew Garrett a few days later for a very early morning hunt. A nice shooter buck walked out & we both shot at the same time...& we both missed. I need to go sight my scope in as I believe it may be a little low. We looked for blood & hair - but there was nothing. We got back in the stand & about 45 minutes later, it was time to leave. I was listening to my voice mail when I looked up & in the fog I saw a deer walk out into the logging road. I literally dropped my phone. I told Garrett to shoot. His safety was on so the hammer dropped & stopped short. The deer heard the click & was ready to bolt. I squeezed the trigger & she dropped down and faltered in the front. I knew I hit her. Garrett was so excited. We got down & when we got to the spot...NO BLOOD! I couldn't believe it! I got on my hands & knees & found some white hairs. Then I found a little piece of meat about the size of a pencil eraser with one white hair in it. I told Garrett that I hit that deer low & way to the front. I couldn't figure out why there was no blood though. We went into the pines and I figured the deer would circle down & away from the stand toward the creek. We searched in concentric erratic circles for about 20 minutes to no avail.
When we got back to the logging road, my son Jr. was walking our way. He is an excellent woodsman. He disagreed with my 'logic' & said the deer was just as likely to circle back towards the stand. He also looked at the evidence on the logging road and said with confidence that the deer was down in these pines. This time I went to the far right. The game trails in there are really something. I was trying to make circles but ended up following a well worn trail. I took me about 80 yards back in the direction of the stand and then took a sharp left...towards the creek. That made sense to me. I walked just a few yards on the down slope of the trail & there lying in the brambles was a nice big healthy doe. I hit her in the brisket & she eventually folded up. I was so thankful that we found her.
What a great experience for Garrett. I've never seen him so excited or energized. The shot was such that we didn't ruin any of the meat. Amazing! God is so good.

Junior Camp

Run John, Run the Law demands

But gives us neither feet nor hands

Far better news the Gospel brings

It bids us fly & gives us wings

-John Bunyon-

We spent a busy & fun week with 120 folks at Junior camp last week. I taught on "Law & Grace". Really I taught 90% on the Commandments & 10% on Grace which is a good rule of thumb when you think about it. Below is the hand motions to commandment #2 - no graven images. I taught these hand motions 2 years ago & some of the children still remembered them. Amazing! One of the 'Great Finds' before camp was a DVD by a group called the Go Fish Guys. I was searching for a great 10 commandments song. I found some real hinky songs but one called "The Ten Commandment Boogie" was a hit with my son Sam. Below is a pic of my girls & Emily doing the motions to it. I encourage you to check their music out at http://www.gofishguys.com/

Here's Sam doing the motions as well - This is to the line..."...the 10 commandment boogie, gonna dance it till I die..."

The material was from John Piper's church & it was excellent. http://www.childrendesiringgod.org/ I had to combine the commandment teachings as each commandment was a stand alone lesson. Due to only having 10 chapel services, I had to combine 2 commandments per lesson. As a result, I couldn't go near as deep as the material did. I had to carve a lot of good stuff out.

The lesson on commandment #7 had me in knots. How do you teach 3rd - 5th grade kids about adultery & why its a bad idea. How do you even define it? God was gracious. Camp Definition: Adultery is treating another person who isn't your husband/wife like they were your husband/wife.

Would you believe it was that lesson that broke the hearts of many of the kids?! They are living with the fruit of unfaithfulness & I never really gave that a thought. I took an egg & dropped it on the floor to illustrate how being unfaithful destroys a family. When I looked back up from that, many children & even some of the teen counsellors were wiping away tears.

Several children came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit & confessed Christ as Savior. My little cousin Becky being one of them.

Some of the most dear & lovely Christians I know are Camp Eunice regulars. I praise God for the opportunity to invest a week in the lives of those young people.