We Love Our Guys!

Someone asked us what our weekly schedule is like. It is hard to answer sometimes. We do have things that are strictly scheduled and then we try to have flexibility in our schedule to accommodate the military schedules. Today was such a day in that we were glad to have some flexibility. Andrew had to work over the weekend and had today off. We invited him over for some soup. Soon others wanted to join him too. I went to the pantry and threw another soup concoction on the stove. Andrew told me last night that we are like parents to him and he loves coming out to our house. He has grown tremendously since coming to Mountain Home. You all are a part of that. Thanks so much for your encouragement, prayers and support!

Winter’s End…?

This has been a sad time for us as we have had to say goodbye to a few people.  We had to say goodbye on this earth to Harley Fitch. We met Harley and his wife Cathie at our home church in Roseburg. They have supported us since the beginning of our time as missionaries to the military. They had recently moved to the Boise area to get medical help. We were able to attend the memorial service. The service was a tribute to Harley and his love of missions. He was serving God with his passion until the very end.

 

This display was a nice tribute to Harley’s life.

The second good bye was to Chaplain Anderson and his family. They moved just last week to North Carolina. They were very supportive of us and Richard Anderson became one of Ed’s dearest friends here. The chapel had a gathering to honor him and it was one of the largest crowds I’ve ever seen at the chapel. He touched so many lives here in Mt. Home. He counseled Jesse and Julie and performed their wedding ceremony.

Here he is praying with some of us at PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) as his last act as our advisor.

Chaplain Anderson’s very last act as a chaplain here was to perform the wedding for Amber and Caleb Zody. Amber and Caleb met at Velocity after both had been through traumatizing things. We have seen both grow immensely in their walks with God through the ministry of the chapel. It has been so exciting to see. We got to meet Caleb’s parents and they were so grateful for Ed’s input into Caleb’s life. It was our honor to share in their joy at their wedding.

Velocity is still going strong. Just this last week some of us from Velocity went skiing together at Bogus Basin. It was a great time of developing relationships with some folks who are open to the Gospel. I had an especially great time hanging out with Michelle. She likes to ski the challenging slopes and I like the green ones. I’ve only skied once since before my children were born so I’m not that good.

While I was having fun skiing, poor Ed was busy at the Air Guard.

Our Friday nights at the house are still going well and we are quite busy with ministry on base. We are having troubles getting people to step up and commit themselves to take on responsibilities. So please pray that God will work on the hearts of those here to do so.

Christmas and the New Year

Happy New Year Dear Ones!

We had a wonderful Christmas here with 45 (?) folks. We had 53 RSVP’s and we were wondering where everyone would go. It worked out beautifully. The food was plentiful and we had so much fun. Your prayers were so appreciated.

We did a white elephant gift exchange and the traditional 12 days of Christmas with hand motions.

Our wonderful supervisors with Cadence, Paul and Beryl Metko came to visit us as their last assignment as our supervisors. Our wing chaplain, Dan Crawford and his wife Cheryl invited us to their home to meet the Metkos. It was great fellowship. We are very blessed to know and work with both couples.

God has been gracious to me and has allowed me to go visit Julie and Dawson in Hawaii while Jesse is deployed.

I got to spend 16 (mostly) glorious days there. Two days the rain poured so much we stayed home. Julie was sick for two days, Dawson for two more and I was sick for a day. Here is a photo of Dawson when he was sick.

I got to see some friends and enjoy the island.

We had lunch with Julie McCool at the Hale Koa in Waikiki.

I hiked Diamond Head with Elba Adams.

The Klein family took me to the beach.

I saw more friends and sadly didn’t take good pictures of them. The highlight of the trip though, was spending time with Julie and Dawson. I so love being Dawson’s grandma!

I loved the warmth of Hawaii, but it was great to get back home to my hubby. I missed him. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to visit.

Two days after I got back we visited Bible Baptist Church in Payette. We brought Aaron with us. BBC has been a wonderful supporting church for us. We always feel so special and loved when we visit.

Here is Pastor Rob, Ed and Aaron. Ed, Aaron and I shared with the church what is going on here at Mt. Home AFB. I always love going there.

A party and a wedding

Thanks for your prayers for our women’s group on base, PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). God has brought some truly wonderful YOUNG ladies who are stepping up to leadership and doing well. In the picture below I am singing with Victoria, Sharlene and Aleanna. Each of these women has a fantastic story. Victoria was raised in my first home town of Ontario, Oregon. I have seen her grow by leaps and bounds this past year. She is in charge of our Outreach and is learning to play the guitar.  Sharlene (who is my son Greg’s age) is our VP for programs. She put on the Christmas program pictured here. She is also learning to play the guitar. Sharlene has such a heart for God and it shows. She had a few “stumbles” in her teen years but is going very strong now. Aleanna was born in my second home town of Roseburg, Oregon. Her parents went to Roseburg High School the same time I did. Aleanna’s husband is deployed and a dear family member is chronically ill. She chooses to look to God for her strength and gives so much of her time and talents to us at PWOC. She is in charge of our praise and worship as well as our Spring Retreat. This description of these precious gals doesn’t even scratch the surface of what they are about. God has blessed me to work with them and several other very wonderful women. I am truly blessed.

Pictured above: Suzie, Victoria, Sharlene and Aleanna

Above, Sharlene is playing Silent Night while we sing.

Aleanna gave our devotion. She was so nervous but I think she is a natural.

We had great food and had a white elephant gift exchange.

This past weekend we drove to Boise to attend Matt and Alicia’s wedding. Matt has been involved in MANY other Cadence ministries. He started coming out to our house here from the beginning. We were so excited for him when he met Alicia through e-harmony.  Alicia is an Air Force kid who lives in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. They both wanted to honor God with their relationship and waited until their wedding day for their first kiss. It was very sweet.

They plan a cruise in the Caribbean for their honeymoon.

We plan on having a crowd here for Christmas. The RSVP’s right now stand at 46. God give me strength!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Thanksgiving Time

We had the whitest Thanksgiving I can remember. Poor Ed had to do tons of shoveling.

There are actually 3 pigs there…

It looks like we may be in for a long winter.

Thanksgiving went well here. We had around 20 folks here that day. I finally have the big meals down to a science. The new wall unit in the former dining room has helped so much!

Hailey spent her first Thanksgiving with us. Unfortunately for her, daddy is spending Christmas deployed.

One of the tables during the meal.

Madeline Carollo and her mom checked in with Julie and Dawson in Hawaii via Skype. Madeline and Dawson seem to have a special bond.

After the meal, we played a game and had lots of fun.

We are now gearing up for Christmas. So far, it looks like we will have a very full house!

Mid Fall 2010

We are still plugging away here in Southern Idaho. We are grateful for the relationships our God is allowing us to have. Friday nights (dinner and video) are still going great. Up until two weeks ago, several of us regularly would hike the Bruneau Dunes each week. It has become just too cold and windy lately to do so. So some of us went shopping in Boise together instead. 

It was such a treat while in Boise to see the O’Brien family who was passing through while on vacation. Ariele and John were part of our ministry team while we were at Ft. Lewis.

 

Our young adult ministry, Velocity, is still going great. We are filling our facility with folks from the base. Many of these precious ones are stepping up to leadership and it is exciting to see. The Song of Solomon study we are currently involved in at the dorm day room is going well and is well attended. All the seats were taken last week.

Velocity also put on a murder mystery night with about 30 participants. We all dressed up for a Las Vegas type event. What fun we had. Here are just a few pictures. I was an agent (I had to wear a trench coat and carry a badge). Ed played a bookie (the head one).

The Protestant Women of the Chapel here is going well now too. I’m very grateful for the gals we have here. There is a sweet spirit among us and it is wonderful to see. We are growing closer to God and each other.

We recently had a great program and some of our gals posed for a picture.

God also blessed five of us with the opportunity to attend the PWOC International conference in Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX this past week. One of our group was there to work at a vendor booth. So the following picture is of the rest of us.

I had such a good time getting to know these girls better and reconnecting with dear friends I knew from other military installations. Some of the dearest, sweetest, godliest women I know were there. It was a little taste of Heaven. Our speaker was Priscilla Shirer. She is one of the best speakers. Our praise and worship leaders were Kari Jobe and Point of Grace. Wow! We were blessed. Another huge blessing was having 9 other Cadence women attend the conference. Dotty Hash (who has been with the mission since the beginning) was there for a visit Thursday evening.

While I was gone, Ed participated in Veteran’s Day events and a Habitat for Humanity service project (Velocity).

Here Ed is pictured with his two dearest friends and accountability partners on base.

 

It is nice to see our young adults give back this way.

We are thankful for this opportunity to serve our military and our God. You are a big part of that. Thank you so much!

Pastor’s Summit

We were blessed to have some of the pastors from the Conservative Baptist churches in the Ore/Ida area converge on our home.  They meet regularly for fellowship.  Most of them live on the western end of the Treasure Valley. One lone pastor is all the way over in Burley (past Twin Falls). By meeting in Mountain Home this pastor didn’t have as long of a drive. We are wonderfully supported by several of the churches represented by these pastors. It was a great time for us. Ed may join them on another of their meetings. The churches of the Ore/Ida Conservative Baptists are very blessed to have these men of God leading them!