That The World May Know...

Winter fun, snow and more snow

2011-03-07T21:24:00.005-06:00

It has been so long since we've posted on the blog - I figured we should at least post some photos. Grace is flying through the air.
Mom picked a snowball fight with John, who gave her a whomping!
The kids were told, either clean your rooms or make a snowman - so they agreed to make a great one.

This one is a snow fort with a tunnel.

We are still plugging away in Illinois, with no dates for testing and with no immediate plans to go anywhere.

AIM video - and daily doings

2010-12-04T10:57:00.004-06:00

December is finally here, and with it comes the cold weather. We've got the heat on now, and the radiators are fired up for whenever we need them.

As we wrap our minds around the word "missionaries" and what that means, we have two jobs...one is to prepare to go, and the other is to wait - for John's flying test, which is now unscheduled. The preparations include beginning to raise partners, as well as slowly letting go of all of our household goods. But, really, neither one can be wholeheartedly begun without the TE - that unscheduled one. God is sovereign over this, too. So while we are in a strange position, it is not without trust.

Day to day, things are good...
On Thursday, Mary sang in the teen choir at the big homeschool meeting, and Sarah and two friends played guitar and sang a Casting Crowns song. It was a pleasure to see all the families do their best for this meeting.

John and Mark got up in the wee hours this morning to volunteer at a wrestling tournament for beginners while the girls all remained in bed after watching Christmas movies on DVD late last night. Julie joined church choir rehearsal last night for the upcoming Christmas performance as "narrator # 2"; both teen girls sing in the church choir, and the performance on Dec 19th at Center Grove will be glorious!

We are trying to perfect our pizza making technique every Friday night. Last night's pizza was good!

Good News!

2010-11-18T12:44:00.000-06:00

We're on a roll!

Nov 8th through 12th was Candidate week at Africa Inland Mission (AIM). We packed the tribe into the car and drove to Pearl River, New York to meet with the organization, and to seek direction from our Lord. Our kids looked forward to meeting other teens and kids on their way to overseas missions, too. We all were hoping that AIM would indeed be a good fit, and that we would be appointed as missionaries, and to make connections with other missionaries.
AIM is more than 100 years old, and has a broad ministry which we are excited about! AIM Air is a wonderful part of AIM, but it is so much more, too.
While the first few days were intense, we still found time to play and to get to know some of the other candidates and staff.

We had talks on health while in Africa, on travel, finances, leaving and grieving, African cultures, and many other things. We had conferences with a professional counselor, with the director of candidates, and with family needs specialist, and more. We saw videos about AIM, and watched movie clips to learn about conflict. We laughed and sang - and prayed together.

We were blessed to have a dynamic and enthusiastic crew working with our kids, as the kids each worked through their own own part in the call to Africa.

By the end of the week, we became family with AIM. Yes! We were appointed as missionaries with AIM!

It's been the end of several years work; the vision has stayed in focus. It is also the beginning of more years to come. Whatever the years bring us we know we are lifted up by your prayers and your ministry to us. We did not come to this point alone, but instead with a host of support and love in many ways.

We were initially thinking of getting to Africa within a very few short months, but we have revised that plan! Instead, we are giving ourselves more time....and will look to leave for Nairobi, Kenya in December of next year. Nairobi, Kenya is where the pilots with AIM live (at least for a term). And yes, Nairobi, Kenya is where Julie visited several years ago with CCTO!

Before we reached Pearl River to visit AIM, we had the great privilege to visit Tim and Katie in Connecticut! After several years, it was such a joy to see them! We stayed at Katie's parent's house, Buzz and Chris - and were treated like dear family. John met his namesake, Tim and Katie's son Tucker, and his new brother, Nathan. We didn't get many good pictures, but can you see the snow on the shrubs? Snow play day!
Beth (John's oldest sister) lives in NJ, so after Candidate Week, we got to spend a couple of days with her family, and with Dottie, too! It was great! We drove to Hoboken, NJ and took the ferry to NYC.

Here's John and Mark walking down the pier while we waited for the ferry.

Times Square and a soft pretzel.The next day was filled with family (thank you Beth for arranging it!):
And also with big kid toys:
Our time with Beth and Rich was very special to us. We are grateful for this time to really relax and have fun with them!

Here's a few snapshots of our few hours in Philadelphia, eating Philly Cheesesteaks,
at the Liberty Bell,
and inside Independence Hall.
Whew! What a great trip. What a great God we serve. It is by His power, and none other that we can make this step, or any other. To God be the glory, great things he is doing!

Julie

This week

2010-10-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

This morning the gang got up early as usual and worked out at the gym before the rest of the day got underway. Boy, will we miss this YMCA when we have to leave! The girls and Julie got coffee drinks on the way home for our traditional Monday treat for working out all week the week before.

John left from the gym to Wings of Hope to work on planes today. He does that about twice a week. It has been great experience.

The kids and Julie are settling down into schoolwork for the day and the week. Julie is still behind in paperwork and grading after all the application work which needed to be done for the last several weeks, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! (love that Third Day song).
This photo is one of our many favorites from a photo session that our friend from church, Diana Frazier, took for us. She is a great photographer, and has given us the great gift of her services so we can have some formal photos to use in the next stages in the process.

John leaves tomorrow morning on his cross-country flight. He's been making lots of plans and really has no worries about the trip. Please pray for good work with his trainer in Michigan and a good meeting in North Carolina as well.

God seems to be pulling all these things together so well for us.

Is has been lots of hard work, but good and pleasant work too.

Did you get our most recent newsletter? We sent it out last night. If you didn't get it and want to, email us or call us and we'll put you on the list.

Blessings,
Julie

Updates from Illinois

2010-09-27T13:46:00.000-05:00

Greetings to all who come to find out about our family journey!During the summer, we have been on the move. John finished his A & P training, and so the majority of our prep work was finished.

Formal application time began. Much prayer and conversation has taken place over the last couple of months, trying to figure out whether God wants us to continue to pursue our role with Mission Aviation Fellowship or Africa Inland Mission.
Until today, we have not known, but it has become clear that we should wholeheartedly pursue Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and so suspend our relationship with MAF. With both tears and conviction, we made the phone calls today and heaved a sigh of relief that we are able to be single minded with the next steps. MAF remains a wonderful organization, for which we would have been honored to be a part.
Now we continue with formal application with AIM Air and, coming soon in November, we will go to their Candidate Week in Pearl River, New York.

Please continue to pray for us. John still has an added couple of training requirement which have come up: a long cross-country flight and a "tail-wheel endorsement". Please pray for him in these things. We don't foresee problems, but we have indeed been under attack, spiritually, and know the Lord is in control, and that He wants us to pray. We cherish your prayers.

Here's some family news:

Our visit to California in March and April went beautifully. What a joy to see you all.

Upon return, we finished our homeschool year well, and then summer began with a bang: Center Grove's VBS was wonderful! They did a VBS published by the Go Fish Guys, and it involved bible translation and was not dumbed-down for kids. Julie loved leading the mission segment, and Mary and Sarah enjoyed being skit and music leaders. The younger two sure had a great experience participating in VBS.

Sarah has picked up the guitar bug. She can't seem to put it down. She is even playing it for the monthly nursing home services our church puts on. It sounds great.
The Miners came to visit, and we had such a great time of refreshment and fellowship with them...thanks for making the time to visit!!!
Sparklers are perfect for a summer evening.
Grace spent an evening subduing a bunch of Mammoth Sunflowers which had past their prime.
St. Louis has a fun water park and gardens right next to the Arch. The kids have spent several days down there.
Julie's mom came to visit in July and...we got to go see Chicago!!!!! John had to stay home and finish school, but the rest of us went. This one is from Millennium Park. We were there for one full day and two partial days and we saw so much. We even stepped out onto that Ledge that they have on the Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower). It is made of Plexiglass and you see right out onto the street as you stand above it.
Our two teens are enjoying being with other teens and hanging out for fun. We've gone to Six Flags lots of times, and the picture below is from Carlyle Lake, a day just for the teens.
Goodbye till next time.

Weeks Away!

2010-07-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

Time is passing....
...and it seems like we just got here.
We can hardly believe we are just weeks away from the finish line with our training. Soon we have time to devote weeks in missionary organization evaluation and orientation. We seek the Lord's direction on this part of the process. He has abundantly provided for us so far.

Braving the hot and humid summer, the kids and Julie are thoroughly enjoying our first summer here. Last year we spent the summer in CA and John told us it was hot, but nice.
So far we've enjoyed fireflies which are amazing and magical, and many violent storms with lighting and thunder - awesome. St Louis Six Flags/Hurricane Harbor has been fun with friends, and we've loved bike rides on gorgeous bike trails, except for Mary with her knee - which we are working on.

Today, Mary and I got to visit with a precious friend from home, Paulette. What a joy to have a CCTO friend and missionary here in the area. Thank you, Lord, for the unexpected visit.
An expected and much cherished visit from Julie's mom was a few weeks ago, and we're looking forward to another one as soon as possible, right mom?

Please pray for us. We cherish your prayers.

** We desire first and foremost to be close to HIM. Pray for our daily walk with God, knowing that trials come, and Satan does not like our plans!

** Please pray for our kids, that they would be given all they need for this journey, and would come out of it blessed, and a blessing to others.

** Please pray for the decision-making process, with missionary organizations. We know God has plans for us, and we want to follow wherever that leads.

Thanks for thinking of us, and praying with us as we take flight!!!

No tickets yet, but....

2010-02-22T13:19:00.001-06:00

The tribe is trying to head out to California from around the 13th of March. Mom and the kids will be able to stay for two or three weeks, while the student in the family has to get back to his Airframe and Powerplant training within a week.

Hoping to see everyone!

The Snow Post

2010-02-15T10:59:00.000-06:00

It has been a long winter here in Illinois, with the locals telling us how strange it is. However, they also tell us that the weather here is never the same, and always unpredictable. So there you are.

But most of us who hail from California are enjoying the frequent snowfalls. It has snowed many times in the last couple of month, with at least an inch each time, but no more than 1-3 inches. Our sleds have been calling out to us, but not enough snow has fallen for a good sledding day.

Yesterday we had snow, but still not enough. Last night, we had a beautiful snowfall, and we took some photos, in between events for the Olympics.
The lights in our backyard or so bright that you can actually get a photo of it.This morning the same view looked like this, above. And speaking of this picture: Notice anything cockeyed about it? It's the tree. Did you know that when it is cold outside, your Christmas tree will last, even when cut down and out of the water? It does. That evergreen in the picture this morning is our gorgeous Christmas tree. Most of it is still fresh, and only the top and a few branches are brittle. In a couple of weeks, when the snow is totally gone and Spring is on its way, I'll let the boy cut all the branches off and form it into a cross, for Easter. The waiting is killing him. This morning I went outside in the snow. My feet are totally sunk down into it, a few inches out of our back door. The men in the house had been out before me and measured it to 4 1/2 inches. Nice!And now for other shots of the yard.....Can you tell what this picture is? (above)
This one is easy to identify.....and clearly, we have enough for sledding today!!!!!

Olympics: Our family has a fine, long tradition of watching the Olympics. Due to the fact that we don't' have TV, our relatives (thanks guys) have always recorded them on VHS and given them to us.

This year, the very capable man of the house got an antenna and an analog/digital converter and got us hooked up. We are watching now! Live!

Now that's love! Happy Valentine's day (a day late)

Lockbox

2010-02-06T11:34:00.000-06:00

Making things, fixing things. It is a special thing to pass down from a man to his son.

See? Happy Man.

Happy Son.

fall pics

2009-11-05T08:26:00.001-06:00

You can go to Julie's blog for some fall pics.

balloons

2009-10-26T11:27:00.000-05:00

St. Louis has it own Albuquerque! Balloons were going up by the tens. Amazing to see!!
It was unexpectedly beautiful. We were so close!
I think the family favorite was the Pepsi balloon. Can you see the flame going up from the basket? I spent my time there exlaiming over the balloons and counting them. I think I got to 40 something...but I can't remember. So much for counting.
They went right up over our heads!
Mait and Debbie were visiting from a road trip across the country and mom was there too. She had come with us to Washington DC and then babysat while we went away for the weekend. It was so nice to have a weekend away from responsibilities!'
It was even nicer to have all of them here to see us. We went around like tourists to various places and this was the best part, the Balloons in Forest Park.

Before the balloons went up, they had a time when we could go into the ascension area and watch them inflate the balloons. Look at that fire!
I only wish the visits could have been longer. We miss you already.

Summer Fun

2009-10-19T08:23:00.000-05:00

One of the things we'd forgotten about in So Cal is the prevalance of Palm trees. J found herself gawking at them, as if they were new things. Living in So Cal, we'd become so used to the palms that we'd hardly noticed them anymore. How quickly we'd forgotten.
The Fair was fun, and the cousins all enjoyed it together, although the New Jersey cousins weren't there yet. It has become a tradition and a pleasure. We had fair food and saw the animals and the cool arts and science buildings. Photography and woodworking, too. We even got to see "Huey Lewis and the News" It was a riot! The kids loved laughing at seeing all the 50 yr-olds dancing around us. Who knew he had so many hits?! I had only remembered two or three, but there were many. We also found a place or two in the shade to sit for a bit and hang out.
S got to go to the lake with her friend Katie. We almost didn't get to see her very much, so we worked hard to get them together. It was worth it!
Carole got together a bunch of our friends from the area for a park day. We were glad to get the chance to talk to them. J talked to them about our plans and how it has gone:
Carole fir in this gathering in the midst of packing up and moving from one house to another, meeting with her new mission board, and speaking at her church. It was one super-sized week! Thanks Carole!!!!

The girls at the park day posed for a picture.
J's mom had routine foot surgery a few days after Mount Hermon so we got to spend some extra time with her while the kids spent almost every day and night visiting with special friends. We all had a great time.

The New Jersey cousins came out and we allwent to Knott's Berry Farm, and had a great time on the roller coasters!!! Thanks Dottie!! I even saw Jaimi, my college friend I haven't seen since...well....years!

We'll wrap up the summer stuff soon. Fall is here, and it even feels like winter is on the way!!!

Mount Hermon

2009-09-21T13:20:00.000-05:00

Mount Hermon is a Christian camp in the hills above Santa Cruz...and it is gorgeous. We love the Redwood Forest with the ferns and creeks. We love the fun and relaxation of being there. It has been a family tradition of ours each summer for six years. Moving last year left us no time to go, but this year we were able to go! Thanks mom!

Our computer is in the middle of a looong back-up and re-download due to a virus and I can't show you any pictures, but they are good!

John was working hard at home in Illinois while we went. We missed him there!

Julie spent some time reading a book called, "Third Culture Kids" about transitions between cultures and the effects of certain strategies in the past. We're hoping it will give us more knowledge before we leap into a new culture. Thank you Janay for giving it to me. I devoured the book, and will refer to it often!

Our first few days in CA

2009-08-24T07:20:00.001-05:00

Off and running! As soon as we landed in LAX and got a few hours sleep, we were on the way to the SF Bay area to visit. Nana was with us and we had a great drive. It brings back memories of many family trips to make that drive.

Within the first day, traffic was stopped for a wildfire. Illinois is so very green, but we talk about the wildfires back in CA...and there was one to greet us. It was another reminder that we were home.
During a wonderful visit with family, we went to the zoo. The Oakland Zoo is fun and the family was a joy to be with. Here we are watching the elephants:The zoo had a program: we got to enter the elephant's cage and hide fruit for them to find when they were let back in. It was interesting to see from the elephant's view out to the public. See?
That little cutie was holding #4's hand and she loved to walk along holding #1 and #2's hands. Her mom and dad are such good parents, too! I wish they go back in time and give us tips!!!! ;-)
Another shot of the cutie. She's loving her mom's shoes. (They are pretty cool). Yes, it is gratuitous for me to add another photo of her...but I had to.You see that van? It is our own special rental for the trip to Northern CA. We loved it. It was so comfy, we easily fit two families in it and still had room for luggage. Thank you CCTO!!!!! And Mait.....it is not a bus!!!! It is instead a luxury cruising vehicle.

Next we visited a wonderful family we met a year or two ago at Mount Hermon. The picture is of #4 and her friend, Kie-Kie. They became fast friends at camp, and we later found out that Kie-Kie's family is a very special and lovely family. They came to visit us in Illinois even! Our next stop was to Mount Hermon again this year, after a year's absence...will post soon.

Travel days

2009-08-21T21:37:00.001-05:00

This is the tribe part of the family, minus the headman. We're off to the airport to fly to CA.
Here we are in Milwaukee. When we flew over Lake Michigan, I heard someone say that, "it was an ocean...not a LAKE!" It was indeed big! We were waiting for our connection to LAX. On the other hand...this airport shot just might be St Louis...they all seem to look the same.
We had fun playing in the airport. It was a loong day, and the first flights that any of the kids remember taking.

J didn't join us for a few weeks, and we missed him, but he was busy as a flight instructor.

We plan to post more pics of the time in CA in the next few days.

#2 had a Birthday, and Grandma came to town

2009-07-23T00:38:00.000-05:00

There were Friends.............

and Grandma came to visit.

We went everywhere in St. Louis we could fit into an afternoon after VBS. It was fun.

And the years go by fast...

License to Learn

2009-07-22T13:22:00.000-05:00

I have often heard flight instructors say that getting their CFI (certified flight instructor)
was merely a license to learn. Hmm I said in my heart that sounds kind of weak.
Shouldn't they know everything if they are teaching? I am quickly learning that Aviaiton is much like Theology there is always more to learn, and the more you know the more you find out you don't know. So now I am learning! (don't tell my students) Everything takes on new clarity when you are teaching. I find my self explaining things in ways that make them truly clear to me for the first time. So this is to say that I am having the privelage of teaching the last two weeks.
It begins slowly as there were not 20 students lined up waiting for me to be ready to teach.

As you may know my plan was to complete my CFI on May 1st and spent all of May, June, and July teaching before beginning My Mechanic courses in the Fall. Now I was pretty sure God and I were agreed on this plan. It only made sense. However I was reminded His ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. I failed my first Oral exam with the FAA for CFI.
What a blow that was. I was sure I was ready, everyone said I was prepared, and I had worked 10hrs a day for 6weeks on this. After failing I went and sought out some other sources for help in further preparing. On June 5th I passed, and after waiting a month for the paperwork to process I came on staff as an Instructor July 1st.

Julie and the Girls are visiting in Ca. as I remain here to build a student base, and fly as much as possible. I will be coming to Ca Aug 1st-16th for a visit. On the way back from Ca I am going to stop by MAF for a day to have a flight progress check. I hope to find out what weak areas to work on during the year so there are no suprises when I apply next Summer.
As soon as I get back I will start the full time Mechanic school at the Junior college.
It will be 8hrs a day 5 days a week for 50 weeks. I hope to teach Flying on Saturdays, and maybe one night a week. Sounds like a good plan. we will see if God agrees.

All Testing for Flying is Finished and Passed!

2009-06-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

Hello dear friends,
Well, it has been a long time since we posted. Instead of finishing his testing at the end of April the way we anticipated, J finished last week, after trials and delays and even frustrating failures.

He is now a Certified Flight Instructor, has his Instrument Rating and his Commercial Rating. See sidebar for links to explanations of those.

He now has to increase his flight hours and will be instructing other flight students to accomplish it. He will also be beginning the A & P in the Fall.
Praise the Lord!

Here are some recent photos:

Quad Solitaire. How fast can you play!?

#1 singing in our Lyceum Choir.
#4 just got the ball out of a tight spot. She's fun to watch!

That's it for the update this time.

More Testing Tomorrow

2009-04-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,
We'd love your prayers for J for tomorrow's test. It is the oral portion of the Flight Instructor Cert. It is very, very involved and he is working so very hard to get everything together.
God is Good.
"Cast your anxieties on Him..."

Good Perspective

2009-04-20T07:51:00.000-05:00

We do not have any calling yet to any particular place, and are happily waiting on the Lord for that. Nevertheless, this video on Africa is an especially meaningful one, and we wanted to share it with you - no matter where God ends up leading us.

Click on the block below to get to the page. It's been in our sidebar for a couple of months, but it should be up front and center too, for now. When you click on it, you'll be at the Mocha website and the video is just a little scroll down. It starts like any suffering Africa commercial, but it is like no other we've seen.

One more year older....

2009-04-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

She's no little girl anymore....

and twister is more fun than ever!

Happy Birthday, sweet funny girl!

The one we missed...

2009-04-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

We must have missed one from our Easter Egg hunt yesterday, but boy was this guy glad!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T08:11:00.000-05:00

He is Risen!

Something from #1

2009-04-04T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is by #1 here. OK so my mom and dad are talking about the flying stuff and a bunch of other things so i thought i would tell you what i am doing. I have a lot of great friends here! God has been good and gave me some awesome friends right away. This is me helping at one of my friends farm. They had a hay-ride and now they are doing stuff with strawberries. I am enjoying playing soccer with the YMCA and friends. I go to the YMCA a few times a week to skate and sometimes play soccer in the gym. It is still cold here and might snow this week. I personally was ready for winter to be over in January and can`t wait till i can go out without a sweatshirt or heavy jacket. What else am i doing? well a lot really. School, school, school, and more school! there is alot that i have been doing but one of the many things is youth group every week at our new church. Our church here as been great! They warmly accepted us and some of my closest friends here are at my church. We have been so happy to receive stuff from you guys in CA! This was a box of valentines form some of the girls at keepers! Thank you so much! I really means a lot to us when we get stuff. We also got our valentines from TPCS which was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! Getting the scrapbook from CCTO and all the other cards and thing have been a huge blessing. Thank you all again!

I really miss everyone in CA and can`t wait to see all of you again!! I Can`t wait for the beach, warm weather, friends, family, and just all the familiar things and places. I am really getting used to things here and am starting to kow where i am most of the time and i know a lot of the places here. Thank you all so much for your prayers, cards, and emails! If it weren't for you guys keeping in touch and GOD, i don`t know how i would survive here. Miss you all and can`t wait to see you!

Spring is Flinging SNOW

2009-03-30T12:52:00.001-05:00

Saturday night brought snow. Here's the new perennial for S's butterfly garden for Botany class:
The backyard just doesn't look ready for a BBQ:
The flowers drooped with snow.
But the Anniversary tulips stood up very well.
We have been struggling here the last couple of weeks. Pray for us. It has been a hard go! Sometimes it snows.

Flying Colors!

2009-03-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

He passed!

Thanks for praying.

Some pictures and some prayers

2009-03-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

While we sojourn here in Illinois, we have been so blessed. The local YMCA is amazing. Besides a full roller rink for free use every day after school, they have several (8?10?) indoor tennis courts. Our oldest here was taking lessons...the photos are blurry. She was fast moving...!
They also have a full Gymnastics Gym:
And Cub Scouts has a Pinewood Derby. Our son's is the bright blue one on the right.
The wildlife is very determined here to eat well over the winter. After the last thaw, this squirrel could be seen almost continuously at a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder. This is in the neighbor's house, in their fenced backyard. But, it didn't look like the birds were lacking for food either. This one is on our deck in the backyard. Click on this bird to see the photo close up. Praises: All is well with airplanes finally for testing. John takes his Commercial Test at 9 am tomorrow. Pray for him. For Tammy who says she will get on an airplane to see us.

Please Pray: That God would do a mighty work in our family, teaching and molding us. That He would be reflected in our lives.

A Gift...

2009-03-04T10:57:00.000-06:00

This is the book that CCTO gave us after we left for Illinois.

It is a constant source of comfort and joy.

We read them and feel encouraged.

Thank you, our CCTO church family.

We miss you so.

Your words to us continue through the months,

reminding us of your love,

and of our Savior's love as well. They exhort us to trust Him,

and even make us laugh.

Bless you and thank you. May our lord make His face to shine upon you.

Pray for us:
in Praise: that the cars work, the flight training goes well, friends reaching out from home.
in request: Faith, confidence, and encouragement. Kindness in our own home. Relief from frequent colds.

Family Snow Days

2009-02-05T18:28:00.000-06:00

We wanted to give you the link to Julie's blog so you can see how much we are enjoying the seasons!

Click on both the links and see.

Update on Progress so far...

2009-01-28T23:24:00.000-06:00

Since we've settled in and gotten underway with training, we thought we'd give you a better idea of the big picture.

First of all, many of you have asked if we are with a missions organization. The answer to that is not yet. There are many missionary aviation organizations out there: Missionary Aviation Fellowship (the best known and biggest, worldwide), AIM Air, JAARS among many others. When John is fully trained, we will apply and see where God leads us to join.

Secondly, many of you have asked us if we know where we'd like to serve. We don't know that one yet either. I would have to say we do not feel called to a particular people group. Rather, we are called to serve and facilitate those who are reaching out to the lost and hurting wherever they are found. We both are remaining completely open to wherever we are needed; feel free to pray for us to be called to your favorite people group. It will most likely be somewhere like Africa, or South America, or Indonesia where there are still groups of people geographically isolated with no good roads for access. Most of the base locations are within fairly large cities, where we'd live. The flights would spread out into the bush areas.

Three parts of the flight training were needed when we moved to Illinois:
The first is completed (Instrument Rating) whew!! that was hard.
The second (Commercial License) is about half way done. Hope to be done by end of Feb.
The third (Instructor rating) will begin as soon as the commercial is done.
Then I hope to spend the late Spring and Summer teaching in order to build up hours and skill.
Then I get Paid to fly instead of paying for every hour.
All told the flight training, and Instructing to build hours should take about a year.

After the flight training is finished and the hours are fulfilled, the remaining large task is getting the A&P license. This is a 50 week rigorous Airplane mechanic training here in Illinois at a local college. It should take another year to complete.

So that is a total of two years expected to finish the training, God willing we will be done by end of Summer 2010.

As we get close to finishing that requirement, we will apply to the missions organizations.

We are surviving financially, and are grateful for donations from CCTO. Our budget is drastically different from what it was back in California, but we are well and thriving in our new circumstances. When we get on with a Mission Organization we will have to raise more support as the cost of living overseas is greater than what we are living on now. Most Mission Organizations have a set funding they want you to reach before you go overseas.

We are thinking of coming to the Conejo Valley in the summer sometime. The Spring doesn't look too promising, as we had initially hoped. Hope to hear from you soon, and see many of you this summer.

the world is not safe

2009-01-26T20:35:00.001-06:00

While the snow is falling softly outside and we remain indoors for the night, I cannot stop thinking about some news we've received.
We know some missionaries in Cambodia. Sam was a young girl when we worked with the youth at Emmanuel. She met her husband Chris while both were working as inner city missionaries. For the last several years, they have worked in Cambodia. We met up with them when they were visiting Emmanuel and they stayed at our house.

A few days ago, they emailed us with sobering news. This is a simplified telling the story:

Dey Krahom, one of the villages within Phnom Penh (Cambodia) had been told it was being evicted by the government, without providing a place to for the residents to relocate, payment for the purchase of their homes, or even funds to move. These were the poor. The whole village was under orders to move. There was work to negotiate a settlement between the government and the people.

Our friends were asking us, individuals in the West, to show the government we were watching. They asked us to email and fax them.

Then suddenly, it happened: bulldozers came in the night and razed the place. The people couldn't even go in and get their stuff. Several people were hurt.

Here's the link he sent us of Chris pictures: link ( They are his own timeline, watching it. )

And here's the link for the press release that Amnesty International sent out: link

The world is not a safe place. Let's actively pray for these people.

Straw

2009-01-09T14:20:00.000-06:00

Many of you will know what these are:

Strawberries of course!
Well, the name comes from the need for straw to grow these in most parts of the country. You cover the rows of strawberries for the winter with straw to keep them protected from the changes in temperature.
We have some wonderful friends who have some strawberries and let us come over to help cover them for the rest of the winter. Below, J is holding some sections of a straw bale to bring over to the part we were working. It was muddy. Our hosts washed and dried all the shoes and jeans for our whole family before they let us leave - we contentedly let them :-) And they feasted us all day too .

C, below is holding a straw "flake", a big one. Usually they are a little smaller. You fluff it a little and pull it apart and then shake in down over the plants.

It was really fun. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!
See the kids below? It was not really cold, but it was windy. They were working hard to keep warm.

You can see the rows of berry plants in the picture below.

We're not in California anymore! Thanks for letting us help that day.

Flying: It is going very well! J just finished his long cross country flight. He had done several long flights lately and studied most days for hours. Coming up is shorter flights, but more of them, and less days at the library.

Schooling: Is also going well. We are attempting to figure out which classes to add, not wanting to add too much.

Prayer requests: Thank you for praying for us. We are feeling more encouraged and confident this week. Any news from home is so welcome, as well as news of what God is doing in any of your lives. Both cars are working, Thank you Lord. We have had heating issues at the house we rent, but it hasn't been bad. Please pray for the heat to work enough when it gets cold. (Today, I hear it was 60 degrees out. I didn't step outside once today, been down in bed with a sore thoat and headache. )

Christmas

2008-12-30T15:17:00.001-06:00

(You can always click on any picture to see it bigger)

Merry Christmas to you all, and Happy New Year, too.

Starting out the season, we had a birthday party for our oldest, now a teen. Can you tell how much fun she had? Look at that happy face. She had many wonderful calls from California as well. People pretty much showed their love for her all day, and we....we sat back and watched with parental joy.

As we worked, things broke and the newly 9 year-old boy worked at fixing them up. This one ended up a goner, but it was fun to work on.

We had an interesting daytime visitor. I think she was confused by the howling wind and couldn't make it back inside her nest by sun up.

The wrestling season continues despite the holidays. It's a good thing. This is a Wrestling Tournament. See the nine-year old looking up at the camera? He's about to clobber the next guy.

The lights look so pretty on the house.

Mom and the kids got the ornaments out.

The girls love to do the tree.

The best presents are the ones which explode? Well, yes. This time it was true.

The snow melted and the car stopped

2008-12-08T20:20:00.000-06:00

The snow is gone, and the very chilly children still like to play outside in short sleeves sometimes. This day it was getting toward 5pm and it was maybe 27 degrees out. Crazy kids.

J's old Ford escort blew a head gasket. We'd appreciate your prayers as we look to figuring out how we should best deal with that. What can we pray for you?

The flying is going well. The boys went up today for an afternoon flight.

Christmas is in the air, but we haven't yet figured out Christmas cards or anything yet. We'll see how far we get.

The kids get to go caroling at a nursing home tomorrow and then to a party and craft. Nice.

Passed

2008-12-02T10:19:00.000-06:00

J has passed his FAA testing for Instrument Flying and is working on his Commercial license now. We are so proud of him, doing a difficult thing is a fairly little amount of time, but are aware it is by the Grace of God that he was able to do it at all. It was not easy.

We have had some difficult times with things breaking all at once, requiring some patience and flexibility and we've even had some two weeks we had to remain at home (mama and kids) due to an unmentionable situation. (better Tammy?) Yuck. Blogging of our trials here might have been a good idea so we could ask you to pray, but one thing that was down was the computer. But we're back now.

We spent Thanksgiving at home here instead of going home to California. We sure missed everyone there, but had the Meity Six come visit! What a blessing!!! This was a rousing game of "Pit!" below:

The morning they left it had snowed during the night!

The first order of business was to play in it. Forget breakfast!

This was only a very light snow. We got more later.

You can tell we are delighted with the novelty of snow where we live, not up in the mountains.

Prayer requests: Please pray for us to interact with EACH OTHER in a God-pleasing way. We are struggling with impatience and unkindness, selfishness and anger. Whew, that is hard to confess to you all, but we are being humbled and know that this is right. We praise the Lord for the great weather for flying....J was able to keep in the skies so much and wasn't grounded as may be expected. Praises for being connected so quickly here and for kids school work going so well. We have found a great church, too. Please pray for health for us, especially for J as he trains for our ministry, that his body would be whole and healthy. Pray for encouragement for him.

Field Trips

2008-11-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

There is a post here which describes some of our recent field trips. It's got lots of pictures - lots!
(for anyone who is interested family pics and pics of our fun stuff)

House Pictures

2008-10-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

Several people have asked us for photos of our house, after we actually unpacked (YOU know who you are!). We'll here they are.
This is our dining room (it is also the music room...which can
become interesting at 5:30 pm on Tuesdays).

The ceilings here are enormous, ten feet tall. This one is from the other side of the living room looking towards the dining room and the kitchen, and you can see how long the walls are. Cool.

Here's #4 with a book on the sofa of the living room. It's a common sight here. This is where #3 and #4 tend to do their schooling, with me downstairs. The the older generation of kids do their work in their communal room upstairs.

Windows are also very tall....84 inches tall (and narrow). We don't open the south curtains much in the mornings because it is blinding sunlight from that direction....hence the darkness of several of the above photos. By noon, this south spot is perfect for reading and we throw the curtains open with gladness. Dark is no fun!

Our desk fits perfectly in the corner
of the living room,which is where
mama (me) is sitting right now
getting this blog post together.

Here's a little bit of the upstairs communal bedroom:
Messy desk!

Below, back downstairs to the master bedroom...
...see the tall windows and ceiling? We like that!
On the bed is a crazy quilt, an authentic very old one which we partially restored for an obscene sum (I think Suzie G might be the only one who knows that story). From now on, we will not speak of it anymore, but will enjoy the gorgeous colors and love it.

Back upstairs, "The communal room" is huge, with huge closets and secret rooms. Here's one shot of the newly painted wall. Look familiar anybody? E & K? Can you see any resemblance to your own? It even reminds me of K & R's room.

Here's #3 in his downstairs room. It's got two very tall closets, one of which has a cool hole in the back bottom of the closet, extending the closet for those who would climb into it. On top of the tall closets is a huge set of cabinets...linen closets, and storage. Are you bored yet?

Well, if not, thanks for listening. We've got more pics coming but to end this one, here's another from our early morning:

We're two hours ahead of the West Coast, and we're on daylight savings here too. So mornings are very dark at 6 am. I think this photo was taken around 7:30 and the sun hadn't gotten blinding yet. We adults are looking forward to sun coming up earlier in the day.

We love getting mail from back home, looking eagerly through any mail for "real" letters as opposed to business and junk mail. Thanks to those who have blessed us this way! We love all of you!

A Day In The Life...

2008-10-14T00:59:00.000-05:00

So in case you were wondering ....
Yes it's true I am officially a full time student complete with the familiar parking sticker
I am getting my Instrument rating through a junior college..see below for the creative name.
I started school officially last Monday the 29th after giving the first two weeks to helping Julie get the house in order.

My mornings begin with getting up at 0600 for coffee and devotions with Julie and then its off to school
This is what I see upon arriving...

And then it is off to the classroom for my lessons.
Right now I am learning all the procedures for instrument flight on a simulator
This below is the cubicle that houses said simulator
The basic idea is....forget everything your primary flight instructor said about look outside "don't fixate on the instruments." Now my job is to not look outside and make every effort to fixate on the instruments. Unlearning is almost as hard as learning.
In this simulator as soon as you take off you are in zero visibility so there is no point in looking out the simulated window.
The key is take off and fly around for an hour without any outside reference and land at the right airport... right side up. It gets a little confusing at times but that is why they have a "freeze" button so you can stop and get unconfused.

After a week of back to back 1.5hr lessons in the little simulator I graduated to the real deal...
no not an airplane yet but a really cool simulated airplane cockpit .
The really "fun" part is that these simulators have little computer glitches you have to get used to..like say you tell it to turn left 10degrees and it suddenly jumps to 30 that is about when the instructor says watch your heading...about all you can do to keep from blaming the machine which would just sound like whining...I have taken to talking to it saying " hey get back here I did not tell you to do that" again really cool I am sure.
It takes a few days to learn the idiocincracies of each machine
So we will stay in this fake plane I mean simulator until I no longer have to hit the pause button and then we will take to the air

Now the simulators are just the morning from 8-12
After that it off to some fresh air for a sac lunch out in the commons
The weather is very mild right now.

Then off to the library to study all the exciting FAA regulations
I am reading through all the texts to get the concept for what we are going to work on the next day.
I have found a great little spot for these afternoon cram sessions
Yes this is home away from home...they never had chairs like this at the library at Moorpark college, and no it is not easy to stay awake

When... (notice not if ?) I get done with the simulator next week I will actually get to fly in a real airplane, and apply all the concepts in the real world.
The flight portion will be at Scott Aero Club a flight club, and part 141 flight school operated out of Scott AFB in O'Fallon IL.

Here is one of their planes.

So I hope this gives all yall back in California an Idea of what my days are like right now.
All in all I am enjoying being a student, it is humbling trying to learn something totally new at 42, but good for me none the less.
I probably failed to mention that my instructor is a great young man who is a devoted christian, and just "happened" to graduate from SMAT School of Missionary Aviation Technology in Michigan. He is instructing right now as he and his new wife figure out what direction they want to go.

2008-10-11T22:43:00.000-05:00

I'll wash, you dry? Would we ever have guessed that having no dishwasher could be so fun? We play cards each night to see who does the dishes and dries them.

We got a visit from our pastor, Joe. It was only a week after we'd moved in. It was like a breath of fresh air. Someone who knows us.

Mark is liking his new jobs, especially lawn care. Again...who knew we'd like to do this stuff that we'd always had done for us automatically? But we do!

A few days after we went to church, some new people there invited us over for lunch and we came away with five new friends and....a toad.

The air is getting crisp. The bike trails here are so fun and beautiful...but we never seem to take photos...too much fun riding to stop and photograph anything.

Can you believe it?

2008-10-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

Looks like a goner.

Teapots? hmm.

That's what is says.

But they must be mush now.

Nope, all perfect, see?

Miracle? It wouldn't be the first in recent memory.

breakage?

2008-10-04T22:48:00.001-05:00

Our great friends, Linda and Ken live in St. Louis, MO. They had been working very hard to make our unseen rental ready for us and when we first arrived in the area on the 15th of Sept, our first stop was to visit them. That's Ken at the top of the stairs and Linda on the far left. This is their house.

I (mama) met Linda at youth group in high school...she went on the become my matron of honor. We love Linda and Ken. Here is Linda, trying to explain how you order at Ted Drews, the frozen custard place we mentioned before:

What is frozen custard??? Why would anyone ever want to eat it? Well, it is like ice cream, but better.
You can see the wind and chill that day, huh? That was the day the Hurricane Ike has fizzled out it's last storminess onto St. Louis a couple of hours before we arrived...but left a little wind and chill.

When we arrived at our new home, seeing it for the first time that night we came with all our belongings, Ken and Linda had already bug-bombed the place, brought us a case of water in the fridge (which was finished by the next evening...wow!), and given us a welcome balloon and card.

We slept on the floor...
...and all had fun unloading the moving van and putting stuff away....
There was no room to walk in the kitchen...
...putting beds together can be fun...

...WHERE do we put all this furniture? The Living room?Well, al least that red wall matches all our stuff...
sigh of relief. The moving in had begun. Next up is a box marked dining room...it was smashed...

2008-09-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

This is a better picture of our second day on the road, at Meteor Crater...can you see those tiny people? They are at another spot on the rim...which should give you an idea of how big this place really is...and deep. (Oh, and it is still in AZ. But I left off the blog in New Mexico where we'll pick up again)
We drove through New Mexico and on into Texas:

And we stopped in Amarillo, TX for the night. Our first motel there was stinky and yucky so we hopped across the freeway without unpacking and tried another motel. Good move. Days Inn saved the day. And the best news....they had waffles in the complimentary breakfast, waffles IN THE SHAPE OF TEXAS. They also had many patrons who were on their way to southern Texas to help deal with Hurricane Ivan. As we watched the weather reports, we saw something interesting. The Hurricane would follow our driving route for the day. Not good. We decided instead to go another way, north into Kansas for the next stop.
But we had to go through the panhandle of Oklaoma first.

And we experienced a little Texan parade of pickups first too. I was a little to afraid to let them know I was photographing this event, so forgive the shaky picture. They looked a little quick on the draw:It was beautiful country in Oklahoma, it reminded me of the Pioneer Woman's land. I looked it up later; it was.

Just look at that sky. The hurricane made it cloudy, and majestic. But it was very tame near us, no rain or wind. We really skirted the problems.
In Kansas, we stayed at a little town called Salina.

Another Days Inn housed us for the night, and we got up the next morning knowing we'd go through Missouri and into Illinois...our...new...home.

We met some incredible friends at their house, and we all went to Ted Drews for frozen custard. Heard of it?

Whew...some trip. five days. four nights. over 2,000 miles. all our stuff.

So now we're here. Feeling lonely and disgruntled at times, but good. We've travelled far, and God is still with us.

travel days continued...

2008-09-22T20:29:00.000-05:00

Arizona has such beautiful mesas all along the hightway. By this time, We'd been driving most of the day, a 500 mile day and we were doing pretty well.
I was so very thankful, though to reach a new landscape, green and forests and even...rain! Flagstaff, AZ is gorgeous:
The next day we split up into male - female groups. The girls went to Meteor Crater. Julie's picture doesn't do it justice. Again, though, we are pack in DRY land.

Very cool. It began, they think, with a 150 ft diameter meteor coming through the atmosphere and hitting the ground, creating a 2 mile diameter crater. It seemed reasonable, but when we got to it, it was huge, and DEEP. We felt bad for the boys in the truck missing out on this one.

The girls still held up well for the drive.Chatting with the Meity six.

This is as good a picture as I got of the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign. Can you see it, above?
Again more mesas, huge ones. We stayed in Albequerque. The kids swam, but we got there too late for the famous Rattlesnake Museum. bummer.

Safe Landing

2008-09-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Illinois. We made it!

The minivan, the truck and the car trailed behind the truck are all parked in front of our house....and can you see the brick street?

The morning we left, at 6am Pacific time on the 10th of Sept is below....still dark. We were all spent with the emotion of leaving and the packing and stuff. Thank you so much for all the enourmous help cleaning and packing and lugging our stuff, and so much more.

Mama didn't get a good picture of the sign saying we reached Arizona, but this is what she did get:
(The rest of the trip will have to wait for another night. We've got a few pictures we'll post with it, too.)

We got everything off the moving truck yesterday and today were trying to unpack some of it, The whole familty just got library cards tonight after dinner, and played "President" for the dishes duty.

We've been having so much to do that we fall into bed. It's not a bad feeling. The computer is up now and the kitchen is mostly unpacked, with another half our kitchen stuff needing to be discarded - we sure had a lot of room in that other house. Even so, we are reminded of the blessing of this house. And of God's leading.

We'll probably post to this blog about once a week and let you know how we're doing. I'll try to post the rest of the trip tomorrow or the next day, so check in soon. We'd love to hear from you, friends, so comment just like you already have on the blog. It was great to hear from you!

Our first flight is about to begin...

2008-09-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

This is J (mama), letting you know about the beginning of our blog. This is a place where those who know us can keep tabs on what we are doing, and more importantly, what God is doing in our lives. We don't like to use our real names because of identity theft and other problems, but we'll make ourselves know to you with nicknames. I think I'll be mama. There will also be papa and then #1, #2, #3 and #4. We are unable to upload any new pictures right now, but we've got words.

First of all, this is Monday, Sept 8th and we've had such a send-off from our hometown already. Our church let us share what God has done in our lives. It was an incredible time. We leave in two days, Wed morning and we have much left to do and many goodbyes left to say. We will miss you all, and are thankful for dear friends in the St. Luois area who are welcoming us with love. What a blessing to be so loved.