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Some of the first Sweet Gum leaves have fallen, an indication of more to come, much more. The Yellow Poplar (Yellow Wood, Tulip tree) has been dropping its leaves since the beginning of July. There is no surprise there.

So much has happened this summer. There was camping with Grace Bible Church families, Lois’ surgery and continued recovery, celebrating birthdays, Ricky and Karlyn being accepted and preparing to move to Baltimore, MD to minister to people out of Arlington Baptist Church, Lois and my 34th Wedding Anniversary which we celebrated with all our family with great friends Tim and Beverley Roberson and their daughter Kelly, and so much more. Jesse now owns his first automobile. Andrea and Cherith have left to work this summer/fall with Harvest Rally out of Indiana and are enjoying prep work to begin.

Also, Lois’ brother Bruce and his wife Deirdra and their son Zack moved to minister in Montana. We went to spend a Saturday with them the weekend before they moved.

It is fun to look behind, but there is so much ahead. Welcome Autumn!!!

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A parent’s pride in their children when they make a great accomplishment should be obvious. Our youngest son Jesse graduated from high school Tuesday night May 24, 2011. We are proud of him and very excited for him. We love you Jesse. We do have proof outside our say so that he did indeed graduate from James F Byrnes High School in Duncan, SC. (As you watch please note that no one in our family was escorted out or ticketed. Yes, we all had tickets to get in. We were happy we weren’t given one as we left.)

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From our local TV station:
Graduation Guests Ticketed For Loud Cheering

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When you see Jesse please congratulate him!

First entry for May. May, a busy month? Naw. Can’t be. Let’s see. Both of our vans have or are going the way of all man made transport. Eunice had her 30th birthday at her place. Ricky and Karlyn had us all at his place for Mother’s Day (the next day). Andrea had us at the house she was house sitting the day after for my birthday. Then before Andrea’s birthday (a week after Eunice’s) Josh and Hannah preped and painted their new house to be moved into on Andrea’s birthday. Spring Celebration for Cherith and Jesse’s school was on Friday night which honored the first graduating class of which Cherith is a part. That was also the day before Andrea’s birthday. Oh, wait. I forgot Chad and Courtney from church got married Tuesday night. And then on the day of Andrea’s birthday and Josh and Hannah moving into their new house (after which they helped Luke Hummel move) was Leighton and Ryan’s wedding day of which Andrea and Lois helped. Hmm… and that was only the second full week of May. Not busy?

We had a great night of feasting in our praise to God. This time we have is based on the fact that the tithe of yearly produce was to be brought before God in the place He would choose to place His name, offered to God, and then they were to have a feast on that which was tithed. (Check out Deuteronomy 14 for more details.) We have chosen in our family to take out of the tithe from our Income Tax return to have a feast of praise to God with that money. God wants us to rejoice in His goodness and take part in what we offer to Him.

We all had a great time and feast upon the great food at El Mexicano in Moore, SC. My nephew Keith was visiting and joined us in this great time. It must be noted that non-praise features included a light sabre fight between Androids (Eunice and Ricky sat on opposite ends of the table with Schwartz light sabres on their Android OS cell phones waving them at each other). All was in a time of fun and enjoyment of the goodness of God.

Been awhile since the last post. Was it because of inconvenience? Lets see… Labor Day at Bruce’s but some had other plans… Jesse’s birthday and outing to Chimney Rock, but not all the family was there because some had already made plans… Thanksgiving Day meal as a family on Sunday because Thanksgiving Day meal came and we were in three or four different geographical locations… Then Christmas… Two days before Christmas our white van died… possibly the fuel pump… the van Andrea planned to take to Wisconsin. Christmas eve evening after at time with family at Ricky and Karlyn’s new house on the way to Eunice’s new home our blue van quits in the middle of the road. Christmas day, when Eunice was planning on taking us to Michigan, was spent at Eunice’s home. The day after Christmas Jesse and I spent five hours fixing things that require fixing, but do not get the blue van running. And inconvenience?

And this is Christmas… That first, as we tend to call it, Christmas… Was it not inconvenient for Mary to be told she would be pregnant, not by man, but by God. How do you explain that? Joseph wanted to at least hide her shame as much as he could, but it was inconvenient to be told by God to take her without shame to be his wife in the face of all criticism they would face. It too was inconvenient to be nearing the end of Mary’s pregnancy and be required to travel on foot or donkey about a hundred miles to register for the Roman government. It was inconvenient to get there later than so many others and find room for birthing in a stable. Then within a couple of years to have to flee for the life of their son to Egypt traveling the same way. Was it not inconvenient for so many families to have their children under two years old to die because of that one child? that one child whose ultimate purpose was to die on this earth for the sins of all who would ever live.

So tell me, was your Christmas inconvenient for you?