What A Blessing!!!

We were blessed to be special guests for a weekend in Huntsville. PPG Aerospace and Red Eagle Air Sports invited Bill and his family. On Friday night we had dinner with other PPG and Delta families as well as the Red Eagle team of pilots and their families. I wish that I had the camera with me that night. It was wonderful! Dinner on top of a mountain! Those country club people sure know where to dine. It was Will's birthday and he was sung to twice, once with a cake and once with a special candlelit parfait. One of the Red Eagle Pilots pinned an airplane pin on him that night for his birthday. The above pictures were from Saturday's Air show. We saw Will's Red Eagle buddies perform as well as the Blue Angels and many others. The man holding Laura Ann is one of the pilots, the one that pinned Will. It sure is sweet to have the VIP bracelet at an air show. A tent with drinks and lunch right at the edge of the airfield can only be beat by the air conditioned tent that the airport authority had! The picture of Laura and I looking pooped was taken right after she nursed in absolutely the most challenging place ever. The wind was flapping the corner of the tent as airplanes flew by. I would not like to do that again!! She was a trooper though. She nursed but would look up at times when an airplane flew by. The stroller picture shows that she left the ear plugs in!! How funny. Thanks again for the great stroller Aunt J. I should have had ear muffs but who knows where they are and I had already packed the rest of the house!! My next post will be about our special meet the pilots night.

What a blessing indeed. Our vacation opportunities are few and far between and we greatly appreciate how God fashioned the perfect gift for our seven year old who would love to be a pilot!

Membership Has Its Priviledges

June 22nd

We are now members of the church that we have been worshipping at since about Sept 2007. We took the inquirer's class (the third in as many years) and did all of the required paperwork. I have just finished reading The Communion of Saints Edited by Ryken. In it he stresses the need to be a member of the church that you worship in. He likens involvement in a local church without becoming members to living together without getting married:

"Two people who only live together want the benefits of marriage without its safeguards. As a result, they lack the one thing that is crucial to a successful marriage (or to genuine sexual intimacy, for that matter): an unbreakable commitment to a mutual, inviolable covenant before God."

"The same might be said of regular attenders who never join the church. They lack an unbreakable commitment to the church and its ministry." (pg 54-55)

Well we are no longer living in Sin! We are now members.

Also from the book: "Martin Lloyd-Jones went so far as to describe church membership as 'the biggest honour which can come a man's way in this world.' There is no union with Christ apart from the communion of the saints. Nor can the saints have true communion without belonging to one another by belonging to Christ in his church. The communion of the saints is for members only."

I think of the last two churches that we were members of and know that one day we will worship together without ceasing. I praise God for providing a true church within less than ten minutes of the house that he provided for us. May we work diligently to build His kingdom!

It's windy up here!

We went to Roan Mountain to spend some time with Bill's parents and leave the daily grind of trying to sort through our treasures and move in to our new home. Did I mention drywall, plumbing, paint....... Little (much taller than I am) sister Bridget flew in the week that we took the winding roads to the mountain. Laura Ann is being held by her Daddy at a stop at the grocery store for supplies. It was so windy! Will caught Rainbow Trout with his Pa. Bill, Will, Pa, Bridget, Laura and I hiked Bald Mountain. Yes you heard me right, I hiked the mountain. We carried little Laura Ann, she was a trooper even though it was quite chilly. This all occurred two weeks ago but it is where I left off posting. Enjoy the pics!

Fighter Pilot Hair

This was taken after Will's last haircut in May. He told the barber that he wanted fighter pilot hair. As it grew longer it looked more like surfer guy hair if we gelled it. We hope to get another haircut soon. Doesn't he look tough?!

VBS Missions Fundraiser

Our little Will had his first lemonade stand!! This year's VBS (Vacation Bible School) missions fundraiser is to benefit Ranch on Jesus Orphanage and Primary School in Uganda. We sold lemonade and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (2 per bag) for $.50 each. Will was very excited and waved at everyone that passed. He yelled LEMONADE!! as they approached. He made $21.00. We only received one extra dollar from one customer. These were actual sales. I got the idea from friends in south AL.

Will really gets why he was doing the stand. He is most concerned that the kids in the orphanage have "lectricity". OK he is about to turn seven, so he says it the right way sometimes but I still enjoy seeing my little boy in this young man that is maturing before my eyes as a man of God. He did want to leave to swim with the neighbors who kept calling him away. He said "You guys can handle this ." We informed him that this was his lemonade stand. He told the neighbors that he was busy and charged ahead with a glad heart.

Experiences mean more to us when they are accompanied by sacrifice, I think that we can all attest to that.

Please pray for the work at Ranch on Jesus and the young hearts that will be touched by this ministry.

http://pearlministries.org/

Friends, Family, and Fun with Grandpa

Well last weekend was fun and exhausting. Aunt A and Uncle J came down from NJ. The rest of the family came on either Saturday or Sunday. Bill, Will, Laura Ann and I got a special treat Friday night. Our dear friends had a backyard barbeque welcoming us for our visit. We lived near Bill's parents for almost two years and made these precious friends while we were there. The kids had fun on the slip and slide and the adults caught up when not protecting our little ones from tiki torches or wiping spilled drinks or food. My friend JJ had tea spilled on her foot, I think a plate spilled on her foot, possibly another plate on her clothes?, and then she sat in her cake that she didn't get to eat before she had to leave, oh life with little kids in tow, (At least one of the spills was due to my 7 month old kicking my plate over) It was a delightful time. These are wonderful families striving to live as becomes followers of Christ daily. I love you all!!

Uncle J always serenades me with Misty on the trumpet. It never fails to make me blush! I don't blush easily. Aunt A always starts a debate. I stayed out of that one!! I could tell that the folks from NJ really enjoyed Will and Laura Ann. We all enjoyed our long distance family.

Fun with Grandpa

Will played in the pool with Daddy, Pa, and Aunt A. He had the best time. I love to see Will with his Pa. Fun time without the distractions of projects and chores are priceless times. Chore times can be fun too, Will held his cucumber picked from Pa's garden all of the way home. (He forgot to pack some toys!) Well Larry the cucumber (as he called him) would have to do until we gobbled him up Monday night YUM!!

I'm a few days behind, next post I'll update you on this week: VBS.....

Faith Award

Here is the video of Will's Faith award.