Busy, busy, busy

I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted. But we have been very busy. Let me recount it all, if possible.

On Friday last, I had a wonderful lunch with my former colleagues of the ORU Registrar's Office at Red Robin in Tulsa. What a delight it was, too. It is so good to have friends that stick together over the years. We rejoiced with Sharon at her promotion to registrar at the Winston-Salem campus of the NC State University. (Judy had lunch with her former boss while we were having ours.) (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

We left immediately for Dallas in preparation for a funeral service on Sunday of our dear childhood friend, Jimmy. He was part of our extended family. The 'enjoyable' part was that I got to work with my two nephews, Paul & Joel, in conducting the funeral. Here I am with Joel.

One really fun part of the weekend was my great-nephew Caleb. He is such a sweet tempered boy of 3 years. Isn't he handsome? We got along very well.
We got to play with our grandkids, of course. Brent is growing, growing, growing. And Caitlyn is becoming a beautiful young lady.

Hey! Want to see Judy in her beautiful Easter outfit? Here she is!

A Great Weekend

This is Resurrection weekend, and we get to be in our home church. For that I am truly thankful. We love our church and the people in it. Although I love preaching and meeting new people in new churches, it is nice to have a home base. I feel that in the days to come, we will appreciate it even more.

Resurrection is such a wonderful time! It is when all our attention is drawn toward the Son of God Who gave Himself unselfishly for us. Even more than His dying is His resurrecting. He came back for us, as He promised (Jn. 14:1-6). He didn't return with eyes to behold a poor, dejected humanity. But He came back to see people who were able to be transformed into the successful, overcoming people of God. All because of Him. When you feel good this weekend, remember that it is because of Him. When you have your happy family around you in church and at the dinner table, remember that it is because of Him. Remember, you are on Victory Ground because of Him! Thank God for the resurrection!

By the way, you might want to see some real beauties. If so, click here.

A Great Heritage

Judy and I attended the funeral in Missouri of her childhood pastor's wife, Loyce. (That was a hard one to say. Hope you understand.) Her pastor is also her dad's cousin. Of 7 boys, Dad and his 4 younger brothers are still living. They range from 86 to 74. The 4 youngest of Dad's brothers are ministers and are a quartet, . They sang at the funeral, and Dad sang with them. Here is a picture of them all standing together with Roger (pastor/cousin) who is the husband of Loyce.

They are from left to right: Dad (Dallas), Bob (a twin), Roger (cousin/pastor), Don (the youngest), Bill (the other twin), and BJ.

What a wonderful heritage we have. Most of the children and grandchildren of these men are involved in ministry in one way or another (more than 100 people). Roger (cousin/pastor) is still the pastor of the church in Phillipsburg which averages over 300. He just turned 80. His wife, Loyce, was a loyal helpmeet. His oldest daughter and son-in-law serve as one of the assistant pastors of the church.

Loyce passed away at the end of the week and her funeral was on Monday. In typical Roger style, he preached on Sunday morning during that time. His message was on Heaven. I am told it was a great message.

The video here is a part of the song the brothers sang. It is Home, Sweet Home. I hope you enjoy the power and intensity of their singing.

Home again

For the last two Sundays, we have preached at a church south of Muskogee. They are looking for a minister, and though I wasn't interested in pastoring their congregation, I was interested in helping them out by preaching for them. I felt that the Lord had given me 4 messages for them. As it turned out, they asked me to preach for them two Sundays in a row. I thought they would probably not ask me to return for a third Sunday (at least at this time) because of the fact that the Lord had given me these 4 messages. I was right.Anyway, we were able to be at our home church, Christian Chapel, in Muskogee today. Although we had been at church on the Wednesday nights between the two Sundays away, we still missed the fellowship of the Sunday services. It was so good to be back! We really enjoyed ourselves, and were reminded why we decided to be a part of this great church. This morning's service finished with a young man and young woman (not related) being saved. What a great way to finish a service!

Tonight we get to go again. There is no way we would miss a service (AM, PM or Wednesday) unless we had to be out preaching or on vacation. This is a church that makes you feel welcome, laughs with you, cries with you, and truly misses you when you are absent. The warmth and love that we experience is exactly what church should be about. Jesus is lifted up, and everyone is made to feel loved and wanted.

As we increasingly go out preaching and teaching, it is nice to know that there is a place just for us, supporting us, missing us, and wanting us back as soon as we can get there.

I hope that each of you reading this has a similar place of worship where you are.

I Am Inspired

My daughter Stephanie has inspired me to get organized. Although I am not digging into kitchen cabinets (done that already), I am re-organizing my desk. It just gets piled up. Learning to work at home has been a challenge anyway. So today, I am organizing my piled up desk, adding some file folders, eliminating some obsolete ones, and making some much needed lists. Thanks for the push, Stephanie.

Oh, BTW, there will be no before and after pictures. I just intend to get organized before I get back into writing.

Happy birthday, Dylan James

Today is my oldest grandchild's birthday. Dylan would have been 6. I try sometimes to imagine what he would be like, especially when I see other boys his age. Some people come and stay and wear out their welcome, others swoop in for a few and then are off somewhere else. Dylan swooped in for 5 1/2 days. But long enough for all of us to fall in love with him. I remember how everyone prayed, all over the world. But Dylan made his mark, stirred up a new depth of love in us, and off he went. Sure makes heaven seem sweeter.

Be sure and see his momma Kari's remarks about him today. Click here.

Down to Dallas

It has been awhile since I blogged, can't figure out why. But just recently we returned from our second trip to Dallas in as many weeks. Seems like when we start going to Dallas, we just keep returning. Last September, we made about 4 trips down in less than 4 weeks. Now 2 trips with a week in between.

Here are some pictures of my wonderful grandkids from Dallas. Our Caitlyn (3 years old) continues to get prettier and prettier. She loves to have her picture taken, and especially loves to see it immediately. (Children today will never understand taking a roll of pictures, dropping them at the pharmacy and waiting a week or more to get the finished product back!)

Caitlyn has lots of energy and is learning how to harness it. But it makes her so much fun, too. She plays with this toy, then that one, then drops everything and runs into your lap to plant a huge kiss on your cheek, then off again. Notice her long, long hair. It is so beautiful.



Brent started out this last weekend with a fever, but soon recovered from it. It was so much fun to hold him. He was lethargic and just enjoyed being held while he slept. He lay on my chest for a long time without even moving, except to get a better position from time to time. But later he recovered (thanks to baby Tylenol, etc), and was ready to play and smile. He smiles a lot, and is a very contented baby. He also liked the sounds I made with my mouth, and just had to investigate the source with his hands. We are blessed with such a wonderful family!

Ava is 3!

I can't believe that Ava is 3 years old today, Saturday the 15th! This means that all my girls are out of the terrible twos. Of course, they never went through the terrible twos, just the terrific twos. Just two weeks ago, Caitlyn turned 3. Now cousin Ava follows right behind. All that is left is baby Brent, and he is a doll to hold.

Three years ago today, Ava was born 3 months early. Just 1#, 6 oz., she came galloping in to the world, and is still going strong. I call her my non-preemie preemie. Somehow she never knew that she was early. The way she runs around, it seems that she has the idea that she was way late. Well, as far as I am concerned, she was. I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. Although I did wonder how I could hold 3 girls with just 2 hands! Guess what? It is possible.



She has the most angelic face! And the last time she was at our house, she took time to sit in Papa's lap with him. She usually is too busy to take even a moment to sit with me. I think she may be growing up!



This little happy virtuoso can play my piano any day she wants. But she may have to wait her turn with sister Olivia and cousin Caitlyn. They alls seem to have quite a flair.

Happy birthday, sweetie!

Another Milestone

This is somewhat of a red-letter day. I have successfully completed my trilogy on healing. Three pamphlets that deal with healing. They are A System of Systems, How to Get Your Healing, and Making Room for Healing. They are written, printed, folded, and ready to hand out. We published them in pdf format, so anyone could request them online and print them out themselves. Judy did a superb job getting them ready for print. They are a good-looking set to have.

As to the book, Victory Ground, I have finished the introduction and the first chapter. I have a couple of touch ups to do today, then on to chapter two. It is quite exciting to actually finish a chapter. It has been a challenge to garner my time properly to produce the book. In the process, I have had to set it aside to produce the 3 tracts mentioned above. And I have the basis of another tract that is about half written. Then, of course, my booklet on worship is ready for production.

So let's see: 3 tracts finished, a booklet ready for print, and a book and a tract in the works. As I look at this, I am amazed at it all.

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend overall. Early Friday morning we left for Dallas. Our grandson was being dedicated. Please see the pictures here: Stephanie's blog. We arrived in Dallas in time for the 10 am funeral of Mary Schweikhard. She was the church pianist at my church when I was in junior high and high school and college. She was an accomplished pianist, but more than that an accomplished Christian. I hadn't seen her in years, but I truly miss her greatly. She was an encouragement to me, and especially to my piano playing. I'll never forget her words of wisdom to me, "Gary, when you are playing for a service, YOU set the tempo and hold it! Most directors don't know how to do that." Well, it has really helped over the years. In the next few days, I will be posting some audio of her playing the piano.

We had a nice lunch and afternoon visit with my mother and my sister Donna. Then on to Jeff and Stephanie's by 5 pm. Judy was really tired and went to bed, so I got Brent and Caitlyn all to myself. No complaints there.

Saturday, Judy was well rested and we had a good time playing with our kiddies. Saturday evening, Jeff and Stephanie had a dinner to attend and we got to babysit. What fabulous fun! While I was watching TV, Caitlyn would periodically turn to me (she was sitting by me) and give me a huge hug and long kiss on the cheek.

Sunday we attended the 9:30 am service and saw little Brent dedicated. After lunch we headed by to Muskogee. In Sherman, TX., the pastor's wife called to say that Brother B wanted me to preach the evening service. We got there in time, and I was prepared. My, my! What a marvelous move of the Spirit. We...Had...Church!

Monday...exhausted, to say the least.

What am I doing now?

Today, I am washing some clothes to get ready for a trip that is coming up.

But more importantly, I am working on my book, Victory Ground. Man! Research is a big part of it. I have finished the introduction (about 1.5 pages) which took about 5 days. I am about 1/3 of the way through the first chapter, I think. It is all very exciting! Reading my old sermons (over and over again) to glean from them, and checking Bible references and rechecking, and looking at Greek words, etc., is a lot of work. Fortunately, I am enjoying it very much. This is why I didn't want to write a book, unless God pushed me into it. It is a lot of work. But when you know that God wants it done, it has a great life of its own.

Oh, and I am getting an idea for a new mini-tract about fact versus truth. And I am digging into my SoundForge software, getting ready for a sound (obvious) project or two. This, too, is a nudge from the Lord. So He has me busy on a number of fronts.

We are also establishing a new association of independent churches and ministries. I am co-chair along with Conrad Barret, Judy is secretary. Starting next week, I will be going through the surrounding towns visiting with independent works to tell them about the association and invite them to join. This should be lots of fun.

And all that means, I need to quit this little task of blogging and get back to the bigger ones.

I had a 3-year-old once

My daughter Stephanie blogged today about her Caitlyn who just turned 3 last Tuesday. This brought back vibrant memories of my sweet little 3-year-old red head. Now where did she go. I remember her playing in the house with her dolls. She was good at playing school, too. All her chairs lined up filled with her dolls. She said, "Daddy, when I become a teacher, I know how I want my room set up." No more cuddling, I lost out to a better man. But it was a loss that is bitter sweet, because he is such a good man. I remember we used to talk about him even though we didn't know his name, or what he looked like. Well, anyway, I can always have my memories.

She wound up with that perfect man we talked about. I wasn't sure there was such a person, and I was prepared to console her. Whew! There was one perfect man left! She got her two-story house, the dog, and the boy and girl she always wanted. She teaches school and has her room all arranged, I know, her mom and I helped her.

She was sure of everything in life, had all her life decisions made at an early age. I said, "Stephanie, would you make me a promise? Would you save just one decision for when you grow up? Otherwise, life is going to be so boring!" With a little girl and boy to raise, I think she does have another decision to make, or two.

I love you, Stephanie. You are a good daughter, and I am so proud of you.

Snow and snow ice cream

We had 1+ inches of snow on Thursday. Just enough to make our yard look like a winter wonderland, but as you can see, the sidewalks and roadways were clear -- a good wet snow. Our granddaughters in St Louis had 6-8 inches and got to play in it. Plus they had their very first snow ice cream. It was fun to talk Kari through the recipe on the phone.

Here is my simple recipe for anyone who would like to try it. Put 2 big mixing bowls in the frig to get cool (prevents a lot of melting when you scoop up the snow). Fill the mixing bowls to heaping with good, clean snow. (The snow will "go down" a lot when you start adding the milk, that's why the extra bowl of snow.) In one bowl add milk until the snow and milk become a heavy slush -- not too slushy! Beat up one egg, add it to the mixture along with sugar and vanilla to taste. Voila! Eat and enjoy! Not to fast, avoid a brain freeze. Put the left overs in the freezer for later.

I am making progress!

Yea!! I have some really good news today. I have finished writing 2 pamphlets. One is about healing and the other is about worship. Judy is just finishing up the final 3-fold of healing. I should see a printed copy today. The other is out of my hands and has been delivered to her for getting it print-ready. She told me she can only do one a week. Yeah, right! Like I could produce one a week. These things take lots of research, then writing. THEN you edit, edit, edit. I have re-read and re-written sentences, opting for a better word, a better sentence, a better way to express. Whew! And then Judy edits, or I should say bleeds all over it. But when we are both satisfied, we are very happy about the results. It is amazing how we argue and tussle over a word, sometimes. Yesterday, on the way to church, we really tugged and tugged over the word "sedan". The sentence spoke of the "family sedan." She thinks of sedan as an old, outdated car. Of course, I don't. So the struggle commenced. Even though I felt secure about the word, I finally changed it to "car". I didn't want even one other person to stumble over that word and miss the greater point.

I have also been gathering info for the book, Victory Ground. Right now, I am going through 35 years of sermons, finding those ideas and concepts that I want to include in the book. This book is a lifetime of experience for me. So right now, I am categorizing all my sermons from 1971 to present. They are divided by church (Southwest, ALF, GVT), then by books of the Bible, then by chapters and verses. I am half-way through the New Testament for ALF. That is the largest section, since I was there for 23 years. Then 1 year's worth at GVT, and I am ready.

Here is an example. I found a sermon I had preached on Imagination. As I looked through it (and I don't look at each sermon, but some the Lord draws my attention to), I realized that imagination has a lot to do with Victory Ground. So I laid it in the VG pile, and am presently thinking it might be a whole chapter.

Please continue to pray for me as I tackle this great mountain. The Lord is good to me! I am blessed beyond measure, and I am happy to think that he trusts me to write this book.

Birds, birds, birds

The two pictures I am showing you are of the beautiful youpon holly in our front yard. In the second picture it is in the upper right hand of the picture. It stands about 6 ft. tall and is full of red berries.

Lately we have had a plethora of birds: robins, wrens, bluejays, blackbirds, flickers, etc. One morning Judy counted 40-50 robins in our backyard. Well, the berries are all gone. As beautiful as they were, we are glad that the birds had them for food, but you can't imagine how bare the bush looks now! I have noticed little purple splats all over our driveway, sidewalk and steps to the porch. I guess the birds are just giving back their tithe.

Fun Breakfast Times

No pictures today. And I need to clear up one thing. On Wednesday, I said that I expected to finish up the last paragraph of my writing on Worship and then leave it with Judy to put it into pamphlet format. Well, I did; but now I need to do some re-writing. However, I finished the shorter tract on Healing! So I have accomplished one of the three writing goals I have before me. Yea!!

Now, to the title of my blog. Last Saturday, we invited some dear friends for breakfast. Joe and Debbie came about 9:30am. After breakfast we leisurely visited until about 2-3pm. We laughed and shared the good things of God, we peered into the future, prayed together. What fun!

Today, Saturday, we invited another couple (Richard and Mary) over for breakfast. They came at 9am and left about 1:30pm. Another leisurely day of laughing, sharing testimony of God's healing, talking about our great church where we worship together, and just having an altogether good time.

I love to have people over for a meal where we can let our hair down and share the Lord together. Any meal is fun, but I especially enjoy breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, sausage, blueberry whole wheat pancakes, and blueberry coffee. Mmmm, good.

Here is the recipe for the whole wheat pancakes. They are great, and healthy. I enjoy making them, and they are easy, too. Everyone raves over them.

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk, plus a tad more if necessary
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup blueberries (if frozen, no need to thaw)

Directions: Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside. Beat together the egg, milk, salt and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir in flour until just moistened. add blueberries, and stir to incorporate.

Preheat the griddle, or whatevery you use to make pancakes. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook until bubbly. Turn, and continue cooking until golden brown.

Note: you may need to use more milk than 1 1/4 cup. The batter should be thin enough so that it pours, but not so thin that it's runny. (I put just a slosh more in.)

And finally, I get frozen blueberries at Wal-Mart. The Great Value brand blueberries are huge -- much, much bigger than Dole brand.

My daughters

I love it when my daughters make me proud. (I am sure they love it when their dad makes them proud, too.) They are such good mothers, with good children (I used to say girls or daughters, but Brent kind of messed that up. Doesn't seem right to say boy and girls, so...children wins out.) Right now they are both going through the torture of potty training their older child. One is 4 and the other is 3. Not having done it before, they have also gone through their own personal humiliations, second-guessing, disappointments, and sense of failure. But it is all about perseverance, isn't it? It makes me proud to see and hear how they depend so heavily on Jesus (cf. Stephanie's comments). You wonder if you trained them right, then you hear and see in their lives that they did catch it. Oh, good!

Each one of them married different men than I would have chosen for them - at first. But even that choice has shown how God has directed their lives, and given them the right men to make them whole. Jim and Jeff (How close is that? And do you think I accidentally get them married to the wrong person?) are such good husbands and fathers, so different from each other, but so right for my girls. What fun and joy to sit back and watch all their lives develop. And I get to pray for them, and sometimes about them. I am blessed.

Today, I plan to write the closing paragraph of my tract on Worship. I will proof it and do some re-writes. Then Judy will put it into format for printing. I have told her what I want on the front, and she agreed it would be good. Then...it is on to the book about Victory Ground. Pray for me.

Finally, I am motivated!

Judy has been after me for years to turn some of my teachings into pamphlets or even books (small books). I have resisted the notion with great success. However, lately I have been getting an urge inside to do just that. And today, I actually put finger to keyboard to make my teaching on "Worship" into something -- a pamphlet, small book. Now the discipline of sitting and writing (I think I may suffer from ADHD or ADD) is not the most excruciating part of the process. I have discovered that Judy's editing is another form of blood-letting done with the torture tools of the Spanish Inquisition. It really makes me mad, but then I soon cool and get to the re-write. And I discover that she was right -- ooh, that hurts, too! Her years of working at ORU in publications has given her much experience in sadistic editing.

Oh, yes! I did write a piece on healing last week (or rather, refreshed an old piece), but I may include it in my larger tome on Victory Ground -- which I have begun.

Pray for me, please.

Tiny shoes

During Christmas, my office was also used as Jim and Kari's bedroom. It is actually a bedroom with my office on one wall. Very much room, big closet, etc. In fact, Judy's sewing cabinet is in the room as well, and there is still a lot of room. Anyway, I walked in one day to check my email, and found two pairs of small, sweet shoes tucked out of the way under the sewing cabinet. Now this is a picture to treasure!!


Another picture to treasure. This is me with my mother and my daughter Kari and two granddaughters, Olivia and Ava. What a nice picture. My mother will be 85 this year, I will be 60, Olivia is 4, Ava will be 3 in February. And let's just say that Kari is now old enough to run for president of the US, if she wants to.


It was great having my mother here at Christmas, we cherish the moments.

A great breakfast club

How would you like to come to breakfast and find 3 beauties like these at your table. Wow! I am blessed, blessed, blessed. Each of them are so definite in what they want and how they eat it, so your time at the table is full of interest and surprises. I would watch one for awhile, then another, then another. Each are beautiful in their own way. Caitlyn is so careful to arrange her table area just so, then she eats.


Ava jumps up with great vigor (as she does all things) and chows down. She loves to watch others, for what reason I don't know. Maybe she wants to see how they are doing it, and copy them. Or make sure she is different from everyone else.

Olivia's food has to be just so. When eating pancakes, if they don't respond to her fork, she says, "They're not working!!" And immediately someone needs to figure out what the problem is and help out, or she might have a melt down. But even if she does melt down, as soon as the problem is fixed, she is all OK again. I think Cheerios might be easier for her than pancakes.

What sweet girls I have! But I can't help wondering how Brent is going to fit into the equation. Oh, my!

Shameless...

I am shameless, I know. But this is another picture of my family we took during Christmas. We all drove through the Garden of Lights in Honor Heights Park (a great Christmas light show), then we drove through the Castle grounds. It has over 1,000 inflatables. I just couldn't imagine that there were that many possibilities for Christmas inflatables, but trust me there are. Some turn, some sing, some pop up like Jack-in-the-box. After driving through the grounds, we went inside the Castle and saw even more inflatables. While inside, Judy grouped us all up and took our picture (too bad she wasn't in it, too). The kids were more than ready to get out of the cars for awhile, and they really enjoyed the fun and freedom of the Castle.

I need help from some of you English grammarians out there. When attaching "able" to the end of a word, when do you use "ible" and when "able"? Thanks for the help.

Yee-haw!

Today, I am highlighting Olivia and Ava for a funny reason. Here is the story: Ava has decided she wants to be a "bowboy" (translation: cowboy). So for Christmas, she and her sister got cowboy hats and boots, dolls and strollers. After gifts were opened, they went outside to push their strollers up and down the sidewalk. They would begin at one end and push their strollers as fast as they could go, shouting "Yee-haw!" They would turn around and come back just as excited. This went on for probably 20 trips. I wish I had gotten a picture of their behinds. Ava was pretty normal, but Olivia's behind looked like she had been sitting a horse all day - wide and flat. (I guess they were bowboy baby dolls.)


While searching for the two pictures above on Judy's Mac, I found that she had taken a picture of Kari and Stephanie playing our new piano. I was surprised, and I treasure these pictures very, very much. I have talented daughters in many ways: great wives and moms, great school teachers, and great singers and pianists. All four of us play the piano, but each has a very different style of playing. Anywhere in the house, I can listen and tell you who is playing.
Oh! and be sure to see Papa making pancakes for his little ones (click on the underlined words).

Show me now thy way!

In Exodus 33:13, Moses prayed, "Show me now thy way that I may know thee." Many years ago, I made that my life scripture, and my most common, daily prayer. I am not satisfied to see the works of the Lord, although that is a great thing, and I do want to see those. But even more so, I want to know His ways. The Psalmist said that he showed his works to the children of Israel, and made known his ways to Moses. I figure that, if I know his ways, I can understand better what is happening in my life.

I do know that he is constantly reducing me to the level of the Holy Spirit in my life. All of us get to going in our own steam and knowledge and plans, etc. So he must reduce us, otherwise we are a dam and not a waterfall. People are so desperate for the water (read: life) of the Holy Spirit, and we are reservoirs that constantly need to be giving, not holding back.

Just yesterday, I was able to witness the ways of God in a friend's life! It is so awesome, and so rewarding, to see not only his works, but to know his ways.

I do love the Lord, and I do love being a water spigot for the Holy Spirit in other people's lives. Thank you, Lord!

The eagles...

Saturday, after a nice breakfast, Judy and I drove out to Ft. Gibson Lake dam to look for eagles. It was a warm and windy day. Sometimes when the day is too warm or the wind too strong or the time of day is not right, the birds will be nesting. This day, however, the eagles seemed to be enjoying soaring on the strong wind currents high above us. It was a good day. In this first picture, I am pointing to a couple of young eagles who are sitting on the little metal roof just above one of the dam gates. You can't see them, but the picture kinda shows what the day was like.

I don't think Judy ever say the birds that landed on the dam, but I enjoyed looking at them. I guess they were waiting for a fish to come into view. But in the picture below is the nice results of our trip. We saw about 10-12 eagles, maybe more. Most of them were young and didn't have the white heads yet. I think an eagle has to be 3 years old before they have the white head. But we saw a couple of them. One landed in a tree across from where I am standing in the above picture. The other flew overhead with the young eagles. (In my computer setup, I can click on the picture and it will fill the screen. If yours is set up that way, you can see the eagle very close up. If you can enlarge the first picture, you will see two eagles just above my head across the river, and one just above the hill in front of my pointed finger.)

Eagles are very big, with a huge wingspan (maybe about 6'), but when they are way up in the sky, they don't look so big. The thing that really amazed us is how they flew. While the other birds (egrets, etc.) were constantly flapping their wings, the eagles never flapped their wings. Whether they were climbing up or coming down, they just soared on the wind currents with their wings locked out and used the end feathers of their wings to adjust for up and down and speed. It is incredible. You should take the opportunity to watch them if ever you can.

Changes and a new year

Someone said that the only thing you can be sure of is change. So we come to 2008. The Christmas lights are no longer along the front of our house, the inside decorations are coming down, as well. A couple of days ago, I blogged about the Azalea Cafe and inserted a picture. Well, it is no longer. Judy and I stopped by there yesterday for breakfast (I had a free coupon), and it is out of business. My friend Birnie (the owner) is out looking for a job. I am really going to miss the food, atmosphere, and the friendship of all the workers there.

Judy and I have surrendered our papers with the PH denomination, choosing to return to independent status. And of course, we are still looking for what the Lord has for us. We do appreciate your prayers and support while we are looking. It sometimes gets hard, but God has always been faithful.

I want to show you one picture today, which I think is really cool. This is Caitlyn and baby Brent. The photographer had them lie on the floor in order to get this snap. How cute it is, too.

Family Pictures...as promised

The Saturday after Christmas, all of our family was here with us. We made an appointment to have family pictures made, and this is the results. Behind us on the right are Jim and Kari and Olivia, with Ava on Judy's lap. Behind us on the left are Jeff and Stephanie, with Caitlyn on my lap and Brent on Judy's lap.

Next is the cause of all of this -- Gary and Judy. I keep getting older and she keeps getting younger. I don't really understand that dynamic at all.

This is my favorite picture -- Judy and me with the grandchildren. Stephanie's Caitlyn (3 yrs.) and Brent (3 months) on Judy's lap. Kari's Olivia (4 yrs.) and Ava (3 yrs.) on my lap. Notice that Olivia is pointing up at me, saying that I am the best! (Too bad, Mimi.)

These two lovely girls are Kari's darlings. Their personalities are so distinct. And they play together so very well, each looking out for the other. When commercials come on TV, Olivia often says, "I need that." While she is at pre-school, Ava is home watching TV, and sometimes she will tell her mother, "Sissy needs that," with certain commercials.

I love this pose of Stephanie's children! Caitlyn tries to be a really good sister to Brent. A little rough sometimes, but her heart is good -- and she is only 3. What can we expect? She is a lover and a hugger.

Now the families in their individual poses. This one with the girls on Jim's back is so true, and will only get more so as the years go on. These girls really know how to work their daddy. And he is such a good daddy, too. This picture might be more prophetic than he knows.

Last , but not least, the Jeff and Stephanie bunch. Jeff is such a strong husband and father. He has a real appreciation of the good values of life, and he works hard with Stephanie to produce those values in Caitlyn, and now Brent. I am so pleased with Stephanie's choice of a mate, it truly was God-ordered. I can say that about Jim and Kari, as well. Judy and I are blessed with our families. Now we are just enjoying praying for them and watching our babies grow up.

Events of Christmas

This was such a fun Christmas time! We had all the family here, which now numbers 10. Wow! And we have a house big enough that everyone can have their own space -- and pretty big space at that. (Thank you, Lord, for you gift to us of a great house.) Let me drop in a few photos to chronicle our Christmas.

Jim and Kari love to go to Azalia Cafe for breakfast, so I called the day ahead and reserved a table for 6 before their fireplace. The owner and workers there are some of my dearest friends, and they really showed it by setting the two tables up in front of the fireplace, with our own urn of Mountain Blueberry coffee. It was very luxurious! We felt like royalty. Thanks, Bernie, Jennifer, Jessica and Lacy!!

Our family is made up of three happily married couples. Gary & Judy (parents), Jim and Kari (daughter #1), and Jeff and Stephanie (daughter #2). We have 5 grandchildren, two boys and three girls. Dylan is in heaven and you will see the rest below.

Olivia, Ava and Caitlyn are all dressed up for church and standing in front of the TV watching Dora till the last minute. And of course, Brent is in my arms waiting to be taken somewhere at the whim of someone else. That is soon to change as he learns to crawl and walk. (That's his pretty mommy pushing into the picture with us guys.)

We all went to church together the Sunday after Christmas at Christian Chapel (the greatest church in Muskogee). For the first time ever, our family "filled a pew". But no prizes were given out. Rats! We rushed home for a quick noon meal, then both girls and their families were off to their homes in St. Louis and Dallas. Here are cousins Olivia and Caitlyn saying goodbye. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Oh, yes. We had family photos made. Tune in tomorrow for some glimpses of the family.

I should...

I know I should blog, but I just think I will wait until Jeff, Stephanie and family make it in. I am sure I will have great pictures of all my family together. We will all be in church together on Sunday - isn't that great?

Until then, I invite you to read Kari's and Stephanie's blogs.