"We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto!"

On Friday morning last week we made an early trip to Centreville for the "setting" of my mother-in-law's new house! How exciting this was! It was a most amazing, synchronized operation! It seemed like only minutes until the two pieces of the modular home were put together. I never imagined a house could go together so fast! It's going to be very nice. This is a big change for her. She had lived in the same house for almost 50 years until this spring!





I am so excited for her. She has a lovely wooded lot in one of the nicest parts of town. Many neighbors and friends stopped in to see the big event and all were giving their congratulations. I thought you would like to see this as well! Thanks be to God for the way He arranged all this. Many big changes had to happen in order for this to occur. Her house sold in less than two weeks and right now on the Michigan market, that's an accomplishment! She bought this beautiful lot (it overlooks the pond behind her girlhood home!), she was able to rent a lovely apartment for the duration until the house is done, and relatives stored her furniture for free until she can move in! Many, many blessings to be thankful for!



I always think of Dorothy and Toto everytime I see a house being moved. I once saw a clever sign attached to a house that was up on the moving truck. It read, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!" Of course, I loved that, being a fan of the Wizard of Oz since early girlhood. I made it a point to never miss that movie each year when it was on tv. The one experience in Africa with the Ruby Slippers all stemmed from my love of that movie! God will use all kinds of experiences to teach us things. I think I posted the Ruby Slipper Incident on an earlier blog. Check it out if you want, it's an amazing account of a true happening. I have been using it each time I speak for women's groups for the past while. Ladies love the story and it ministers a very special aspect of God's care to people. The incident that happened to me talks about provision. That's just like what I am showing you today with the house pictures--the provision of God. It is really obvious that He intervened in my mother-in-law's situation and put the puzzle pieces together at just the right time after 10 years of her contemplating such a move. Praise be to God!

MISCELLANEOUS FILIGREE!

I have a bunch of little newsy items to post about today. Here goes!

KNITTED FILIGREE!

First, this is one of my latest knitted projects. Can you guess what it is? I will give clues in the next few days and post pics of the finished product when done. I love the pattern but had to have the help of a friend to get going. I tore out the first few rows about 10 times til we together got it figured out! Make a guess as to what it will be!

A friend recently told me she'd like to see me post some recipes on my blog! I have certainly thought about that, but kind of disliking cooking like I do, I think that my really good recipes are few and far between; but let me tell you what I did today that I thought was ingenious. I had leftover beef roast and gravy, a couple spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, etc. from a big family dinner. I mixed up a crust out of baking mix (recently discovered I had too many opened boxes in my cupboard!). I cooked up leftover carrots and the above beef and veggie mix and made a pot pie. Covered it with the excess crust and froze it for later use. Let me share last week's quick meal. I took a very cheap can of potato soup and added half can of creamed corn and a few dollops of American process cheese, some milk, and heated it. The family RAVED about it. Try it--they'll think you slaved away on homemade soup and really it was very economical as well as done in 10 minutes! I am more of a "use it up" kind of cook than a recipe cook. This comes from years of homeschooling and scrimping while I was a stay-at-home mom. You had to get creative to make the budget stretch.

Yesterday I went shopping for fabric. It was really just a pleasure trip as I'm contemplating a couple of little granddaughter dresses for an upcoming baby/toddler dedication! As soon as Granny gets the word on when, she will start making an heirloom dedication gown for Sophia and a coordinating dress for Miss Emma Rose. My designer mind went wild today as I looked at fabric. There was lovely fabric and exquisite laces and notions. I saw a piece of lace that I instantly knew had to be used around the waistline of the dress I intend for Emma. It will change my original color scheme, but that's ok, since I found the exact fabric I wanted that coordinated with it beautifully. Can you build a whole 2-outfit scheme on one little piece of lace? ABSOLUTELY and I will! Also found fabric for Sophie's little gown. I have a few styles in mind and lo and behold they happen to coordinate in the most becoming way. Emma's will have a bolero jacket, the kind that are so popular right now and this little christening/dedication gown has an attacked jacket that trails down to the hemline of the dress. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED!

RUBY SLIPPER STORY--FINAL CHAPTER

After I opened the box that contained the "ruby slippers," I should have been relieved, comforted, and awed by God's amazing love to me. I already told you I didn't catch the real significance of that right away. I can't remember for sure, but I think it wasn't until we were on the way home that it really all sunk in.

The last three days of the African trip we went on safari. It was a kind of "vacation" for the weary workers before going back home. It was a chance to have a little fun, see the beauty of Africa, and unwind after the heavily scheduled week. We left the safari complex in the morning and drove on long bumpy dirt roads from the semi-arid safari location through some of the higher elevations and back to Nairobi. While in Nairobi, we shopped a bit as we waited to board our late evening flight. The next day we arrived back in Amsterdam. We only had about an hour layover this time and can you guess what most of the Americans did first thing? Yes, that's right--head straight to the nearest cheeseburgers and fries!

We boarded the plane and I can't remember what time it was. We were finally on the last leg of our journey and many of us didn't pack much at all in our carry-ons--after all, we were going home! Several of our party were ill by now. Some were later discovered to be suffering from e-coli infections. One person had been sick in Africa and was still rather weak, though a bit better. When we got over Greenland--I think about three hours into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom informing us we were going to have to turn around and go three hours back to land in London! You should have heard the groans and moaning of the entire plane. It seems there was a package found on the plane that was not associated with any passenger and that's a security issue. Talk about disappointed people! One soldier we met was going home from Iraq to attend his father's funeral and said now he would most likely miss it. I broke down and cried at his words, letting out all the built up emotion over returning home just flow out of me as I realized my own desire to return must be nothing compared to his.

So we began to make the flight back to London. I had a bit of a good feeling about that since I always wanted to go to England. I figured I'd at least get to see London. When we got close to London, they were unable to take us and we had to return to Amsterdam where the airline would put us all up in hotels for the night. We were given complimentary care packages with combs, a t-shirt, toothpaste, etc. Then we were given vouchers for food and lodging. Also free travel miles were given. It was actually kind of nice to sleep in a good hotel room and eat well before arriving home since we'd all been through the mill that day coming quite a ways across Kenya and then on a flight. We all were able to clean up and rest before boarding another plane in the morning.

I think it was while I sat in the plane, returning to Amsterdam that the realization hit me that God had reached into my situation and "promised" me with tangible evidence, however unique, that I would make it home! God is so creatively wonderful, isn't He? Most of us have Amsterdam sweatshirts or t-shirts now as a result the three visits to that city in a ten-day time span. Souvenirs of this most amazing trip!

NEW BABY PICTURES AND MORE ABOUT THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT!

Here are some of the newest pictures of our "little girls!"--grandgirls, that is! Emma Rose holds her new baby sister, Sophia Truth! I think Sophia looks just like my own daughter did. She shares Rhiannon's birthday too! That's probably just a proud granny's opinion, but it just seemed when we compared baby pictures that there was a huge similarity! Emma looked just like her daddy's baby pictures!I guess she is thought to look alot like Kori's baby pictures as well from what I hear! We are so blessed! Sophia was the first baby born in our county in 2010! That makes her the county's first baby of the decade! A nice lady from the local paper came to the hospital and interviewed Kori and JT. We hurried Emma over to get photographed in the picture for the paper. It appeared on the front page the next day with a nice article. They even mentioned that I had a New Year's baby, but that we didn't win the prizes since we were the second birth that year and not the first (1984). I also had a great nephew that was born on January 3rd and was the New Year's baby at the hospital in his town. The article mentioned that Sophia was carrying on a family tradition!

Life has been really busy around here lately. While Sophia was in the hospital we kept Emma at our house. I was reminded how a 2 year old can alter your activities! I think alot about being young again and had the opportunity to relive some of the activities of my youth (taking care of toddlers) once again last week! I admit, I don't know how I did it back then! I took care of two little ones and kept a decently clean house, washed with a wringer washer, used cloth diapers, baked alot and did most things the hard way. Now I found that it took me, Rhiannon, my mom, and Clint just to keep everything in order with a good set of new appliances and conveniences! Wow, how times change! Could it be I'm just out of practice! Hats off to the young moms among us! Your job is a big one!

Just a few little news updates since I haven't posted in a while. Tomorrow night we are hosting at our church a sportsman's banquet complete with a wonderful speaker and lots of really nice door prizes. My husband has been organizing this event for months and we are at an attendance of about 94 men as it now stands! Most are from other churches, but this will be a huge event for us. I will be decorating the tables tomorrow, hopefully before the caterer gets there to set up the food. Our son and some friends will be acting as the "all guy" worship team for the big event. I have some interesting ideas for table decor and if I can pull it off in style, I'll post pictures on the next blog!

I hope you noticed the new picture I posted on my profile. It was taken during our trip to Tennessee. I kind of liked it and thought it would be a nice little change.

CHAPTER 8--THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT

Last time I wrote I told you about the brown paper package that was handed to me by a lady who was from the church where we were ministering. I was back in our tiny, triangle shaped room when I decided to open the box. I read the little letter attached. It indicated the names and ages of this lady's children and declared this gift to be a "seed" gift. For those who may not understand seed-giving, it is the practice of believing that your giving plants a seed that will grow, produce, and be harvested according to your own needs. This lady was believing in faith that by giving her best gift she would be investing in someone and her own needs would then be supplied. It touched my heart to realize her sacrifice.

Now, I'd like to tell you that when I opened the box I was really fully aware of the significance of the gift, but still being in the throes of extreme tiredness, homesickness, and culture shock, I didn't catch the Lord's obvious intervention when I reached in and pulled out a very bright red pair of used ladies' high heels!!!!!!! My first words to Clint were, "What will I do with a pair of red dress shoes?" DUH!!!! Being no Cinderella, my wide feet probably would never have fit these shoes, I was thinking. Why didn't I see the hand of God intervening to touch me with assurance of my own return home? I don't think I even remembered my remark about needing a pair of ruby slippers! Well, we don't always make the connections that ought to be obvious. It reminded me to be a little easier on those Biblical characters that always seemed to be missing the obvious! BUT...there's more to the story....Blessings, LORI

ANOTHER RUBY SLIPPER CHAPTER

Hi, everyone! By the way, I don't think I posted since our new granddaughter was named! Her name is Sophia Truth. Sophia means "wisdom," so she is wisdom and truth! We love the name and we love her! I hope to put more pictures on soon. She was the first baby born in the county this year! As well as the first baby of the year, she's the first baby of the decade! How cool! We praise God for her!

Chapter 7--THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT

In the last posting on the Ruby Slipper Incident, I told you how I had begun to get really homesick while in Africa. I had even clicked my heels together in imitation of Dorothy on the Wizard of Oz and remarked that I wanted a "pair of those ruby slippers," to get me home!

Sometime during the week, we were at the church. I do not remember if it was a weekday or on a Sunday. I think it was a weekday. We were there more than once for various ministry activities.The church was in a large building in the center of the town where we stayed. They have since moved to the new location, but at that time that was our purpose for being there--helping them get started on the building at the new location. Anyway, when we walked out onto the street, several people were always around us. That is not unusual in a country with a very dense population. People are everywhwere--another factor that was something for this rural girl to get used to! The particular town we were in had a geographic area about the size of a small rural American town, the kind you can easily ride your bike across from end to end on a summer evening. But the population of the town was about 30,000 people compared to our American towns covering that same size ground having 1500 people living in them! So to feel crowded or surrounded by crowds is not all that unusual.

On that particular day, a lady came up to me as we stood outside the church and began talking to me. She presented me with a box wrapped in brown paper. It had a card on top and she told me she wanted to give it to me as a gift. I think I had met her before sometime during the week and had learned her name. She was very nice and trying to befriend me. I saw her a few times while we were there and she expressed an interest in learning to tat. That was one of the reasons I had gone along in the first place. I had intended to teach tatting to as many women as possible to give them a little source of income from the sale of needlework. I thanked her for the gift, though I didn't open it right there on the street.

Though I had taken tatting shuttles, thread, and patterns, I was disappointed to not get much time to work with the ladies on tatting. I did get a few hours one afternoon and one lady learned. I am still hoping she was able to teach others and the craft may have caught on since I never got a chance to personally work with the lady who gave me the gift. In fact, I never saw her again.

Clint and I went back to our hotel room and I sat the brown paper-wrapped box on the table. I began to open the card. It said something about this gift being her "best seed gift" for the needs of her family and home. Here I was longing for my home and family and someone gave me a gift as a seed for their own family and home needs! That alone was very interesting, indeed. But then, I opened the lid on the box......

More on that on the next post! Blessings, LORI

A PROJECT FINISHING EFFORT!

FOR WHICH OF YOU INTENDING TO BUILD A TOWER, DOES NOT SIT DOWN FIRST AND COUNT THE COST, WHETHER HE HAS ENOUGH TO FINISH IT--LEST AFTER HE HAS LAID THE FOUNDATION, AND IS NOT ABLE TO FINISH, ALL WHO SEE IT BEGIN TO MOCK HIM, SAYING, 'THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD AND WAS NOT ABLE TO FINISH.' Luke 13:28-30

I realize these verses apply to much more than my needlework projects, but I was reminded of them in thinking of the need to finish some stuff I've started!

I am trying to learn to finish the things I start. Enjoying all kinds of needlework so much, it's hard not to try some new pattern or project even before the old ones are finished. Over the holidays (so far) I've gotten a few things "wrapped up." I started the back of the white cardigan I have been making for far too long! Also got the first yarn I spun all plied and put in skeins. You see that in the picture. I tatted a few crosses for bookmarks as well. The one pictured is an original pattern-a little filigree from the fingers!

It's a good discipline to finish what you start. I am trying to discipline myself in this area. As well as the projects I just mentioned, I finished a western shirt and vest for Clint. That was a Christmas gift I finished at the last minute! Also I put together a floor book complete with buttons, zippers, and buckles for Emma to play with. So lots of projects got finished just recently and wow, am I glad! Time to look forward to a new year AND the new addition that is soon to arrive--our new granddaughter--due any day! Will keep you posted.

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT-CHAPTER 6

In the last chapter, I told you about the day I felt the Lord spoke to me, trying to comfort me about my time in Africa. You would think that should have been enough for anyone. Though it helped, I still felt a little "jittery," and homesick. I remember one day standing in our little hotel room, maybe the same morning, I can't remember, and clicking my heels together and saying to Clint, "I wish I had a pair of those ruby slippers." This smart aleck remark was to let him know I was ready and anxious to return home. We had just moved into our new house only a few months before our trip and my thoughts were distracted by wishing I was home unpacking the boxes, fixing things up, etc. Also I was concerned about the kids. I was just really longing for home in a lot of ways.

He just smiled at me knowing I was referring to the incident where Dorothy clicked her heels together in The Wizard of OZ and instantly returned home! That was a favorite movie for me as a child. As the week wore on and we continued to work and fellowship with the people. I think I began to relax a bit more while still thinking alot about the everything back home.....and then something very interesting happened....there's more to this story....stay tuned! Blessings, LORI

OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!
Pictures from our Christmas celebrations!

Emma and Elmo lounging her new chair!
























Next is Miss Emma in a Tigger hat and mittens from her Aunt Rhi!







The next picture is of me receiving a tatting book--a little filigree for the fingers! More pics on that tomorrow!





A picture is of Granny and Miss Emma enjoying a book. Emma was dressed so cute! She didn't feel well that day and wasn't quite herself, but we had a wonderful time anyway!










Here I am, eating again. This time it's a wonderful piece of creamy dark chocolate fudge!
I know these captions may appear out of order, have patience with me. I had a hard time making them line up. I know you can sort them out!
I hope you enjoyed our Christmas pictures.



Chapter 5--The Ruby slipper Incident--Last time I wrote a chapter in this story we were just landing in Nairobi, Kenya after quite an ordeal. When we finally got to our destination we were so thrilled. We were also very tired. It was morning in Africa. The lack of sleep, jet lag, and traveling had all taken a toll on us. I was so overwhelmed with the sights and sounds of a new culture that I could not take it all in at once. I tried to rest my eyes on the long trip to the village where we were going, but there was too much excitement!

After only a few days in Kenya, I began to feel a strange sort of homesickness set in. I was used to spending about an hour a day in Bible reading and prayer each morning at home. This was not possible in the mission setting. We were always needing to be on schedule to meet the vans that transported us to and fro. We were staying in a hotel on one side of town. Our host and hostess lived across town and the church site where we were to serve was in yet another part of town. To miss the vans or hold up the transportation process would have been bad for everyone. So we were on a bit of a schedule for breakfast, etc. Very quickly I began to lose my "bearings" in a sense with lack of Bible time, different food, lack of sleep, culture shock, etc.

One morning I sat in our little hotel room on the edge of the bed. Clint was in the shower and I found a few private moments to cry out to God and express my fear and the "creepy" feeling that was stealing over me. I remember having the strange sense that we'd never get home. I was very concerned and the enemy began to take advantage of my weakened condition (lack of devotion time and sleep) to prey upon me. I learned anew what the Israelites felt like when they expressed that they could not sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land (Babylon.) Though I was surrounded by lovely Christians, I was becoming depressed, longing for the familiar. I was majorly homesick and a bit scared.

As I cried out to God, there alone in this warm,
fourth floor hotel room so far from home, I suddenly heard the still, small, voice of the Holy Spirit speak to my being. It was one of the closest things to an audible voice from God that I've ever heard, yet it was not audible. It sounded very gentle and came to my spirit with these words, "Lori, I am as at-home in this culture as I am in yours...." I nearly fell backwards on the bed as I realized this was the voice of the saviour that had redeemed me, expressing that He was content with these lovely people and if he could be calm and happy here, so should I! MORE ON THAT TOMORROW...THE STORY CONTINUES! Blessings, LORI

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BIT MORE ON THE RUBY SLIPPER STORY!

We are busily readying for the holiday tomorrow! Today we celebrated Christmas at my mother-in-law's. We had a wonderful time! She always sets a beautiful table for us to enjoy!

I wanted to leave you with just a bit of the Ruby Slipper Story to think about over the holiday since this next "chapter" starts to show the amazing hand of God intervening in our lives. Isn't that what Christmas is all about? God reached down to correct the miserable condition that mankind was in by sending His son to earth with the mission of redeeming us through His death on the cross! All we have to do is accept Him, believe in Him, make Him our Lord. So much to be thankful for!

The Ruby Slipper Incident--Chapter 4

Last time I wrote I was telling you we had boarded the plane for Nairobi, Kenya. It was an 8-9 hour flight from Amsterdam. Some people were able to catch a few winks despite another crowded, noisy plane. Others were still wide awake! Thankfully I slept a bit.

When we began nearing Nairobi, the pilot informed us that we would not be able to land due to fog. We did not have enough fuel to circle the city waiting for the fog to lift either. This meant that we were going to Mombasa! This was certainly not in our plans! We had a group of people from the African church scheduled to meet us and haul us and all our equipment 70 miles to our destination from Nairobi.

Little did we know that during our flight, (middle of the night in America) our youth leader's wife, who did not make the trip with us, woke up with a very strong sense that we were in some kind of "situation" and she felt a great burden to pray. She prayed for about two hours starting around 2:30 am. She has testified that she did not feel the burden to pray lift for that long and then finally, she just felt peace and was able to go back to sleep! This occurred at the same time we were nearing Nairobi and/or being re-routed.

We did land in Mombasa and refuel. The plane got very stuffy and warm as we stared out at the tropical sights. Palm trees swayed in the distance. We were not allowed to get off the plane. We just had to wait. Very uncomfortable. We finally were in the air again and got clearance to land in Nairobi a short time later. My daughter recently checked the distance from our destination to Mombasa and it is a about an 8 hour drive by car! If we had been unable for any reason to land in Nairobi, our hosts would have had that long trip to make to retrieve us. As well as all that, we learned later that they were not even able to arrive at the airport in Nairobi because of the fog, they were delayed as well!

It was amazing how God woke someone up in America to pray for us and help our trip to turn out for the best. We take great comfort in knowing that our God intervenes and prompts on our behalf. Wait til you hear the rest of the story....Blessings, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT-CHAPTER 3

HI, let's continue the Ruby Slipper story today with chapter three! I have no pics to post today since we are right down to the mundane work of preparing for the holidays--cleaning, wrapping, finishing projects that are giving us difficulties! No point in posting pictures of that! So I hope you enjoy this next chapter of a most amazing occurrence in my life.

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT

Chapter 3--We landed in Amsterdam, Holland in the morning. I was excited to see a windmill from the window of the plane as we descended. Why was this important to me? I remembered that as a little girl I used to have imaginary friends (like so many little kids do) and my imaginary family was from the "Netherlands." I constantly talked about going to the Netherlands to see a windmill! Well, I finally did! Never mind that it took about 35 years to get there!

Amsterdam was interesting. I was relieved to see that most of the signs in the airport were in English. I would have been totally lost though, if I had not been with a group. Looking back at the pictures, we all look so tired it's a wonder we didn't just camp out on a bench or chair in the airport and sleep. Instead we toured the city. We took a canal ride on which some of the people could hardly stay awake. We saw Anne Frank's house and other famous buildings.

The highlight for me was eating at a traditional restaurant. It was cozy and quaint. I noticed that the houses, stores, shops, etc were all sort of "skinny." Everything is crowded into small areas of land between the waters. This canal city is unique indeed. There were even actual houseboats where people live right on the water!

During our dinner we enjoyed traditional European food and what I ordered, though I can't spell it, was very hearty and warm, a combination of mashed potatoes, shredded carrots, cabbage, sausage and spices. It dispelled the chill of the damp day. We had been walking all around before this and the warm, cozy restaurant with baskets of fresh European bread was a treat indeed.

I made a quick trip to the flower market before we needed to get back to the airport. We rode on the public trains that day as well. This was a new thing for me and we never did completely understand the public transit system. We all ended up sitting where we were not supposed to and we got "escorted" in the Dutch language off that particular car. When we realized they wanted us to move we went on to another car, actually nicer than that one and rode on in style! We got back to the airport and prepared to board the plane to Africa. I think we were scheduled to leave around 9pm. for about an 8 hour flight to Nairobi. Or so we thought....

Stay tuned for chapter 4 of the Ruby Slipper Incident soon! It will amaze you in the end how God did all these wonderful things to give me a very incredible experience! Blessings, LORI

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT-CHAPTER 2

I was all set to share some pictures of my parlor all decked out for Christmas, when my computer seems to refuse to work. Sorry! I wanted you all to see my tree and the loads of presents that are cluttering the whole area! When we built this house we failed to allow a good place to put a Christmas tree. Oh, well!

This morning I stirred up a quick batch of homemade bread dough to put in the freezer to add to the "food gifts" for my son and daughter-in-law. I put the bread in loaves and then froze them. She can get them out and let them raise, bake them and voila! I HOPE IT WORKS!

I wanted to keep writing a bit about homeschooling as well as finishing the Ruby Slipper Incident. Bear with me a bit!

As for homeschooling, I love to encourage families to give homeschooling a try. I never thought I would do that until it sort of became a necessity. Our kids were going to a nice Christian school that we were very happy with. One of the drawbacks was driving them to and from school. One year my husband took a job teaching high school Bible at the school but his class met midday. That meant that we were making three trips per day back and forth to the school. That factor alone was enough to make us consider our options. Money became a bit tight and that was another reason we began taking a second look at homeschooling. If money factors are a consideration and you're wanting a Christian education for your children, consider homeschool....more on that subject in the future!

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT-CHAPTER 2

In early 2004 I found myself readying for a trip to Africa. Actually I was really looking forward to the 12 hour layover we would spend in Amsterdam. I had always wanted to see Europe and I figured this was my one chance to at least set foot there and maybe shop for a few local products like chocolate, delftware, laces, etc. So I talked myself into the fact that the whole trip would be worth those 12 hours! Now how's that for a real dedicated missionary heart???

We left Kalamazoo, Michigan on a small plane. Actually we had trouble even leaving. After sitting on the runway for a long time, the pilot came on declaring the plane was overweight and we couldn't take off. We 17 people knew it was our fault since we had keyboards, guitars, etc., with us. We had not packed light intending to give away several of these items once we got to the church in Africa. Finally after offering many incentives one tiny little lady who couldn't have weighed over 80 pounds offered to take the next flight. Everyone in the plane laughed knowing she couldn't possibly make much difference. Pretty soon someone else offered and off we went for Detroit! After a short layover there we headed for an overnight flight to Amsterdam. The plane was crowded, noisy, and tight. Some of our group didn't sleep at all. Some of us got a little sleep. About 8 hours later we landed in Amsterdam, Holland where the story continues.....

I hope you are seeking the Lord this Christmas season. I love the saying, WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM, Blessings, Lori

THE RUBY SLIPPER INCIDENT--CHAPTER ONE

As you probably have noticed--this picture has nothing to do with the title of the blog! I promised a long time ago to share the "Ruby Slipper Incident" with you. But it is a long story and so I will do it in chapters, starting today. It's a "miracle" story--the kind you hear about at Christmas time. It's the kind of heartwarming story that will increase your faith and hope in God! I trust He will minister to you as you read the chapters! As well, I will continue to post pics and daily events that are unrelated!

Now about the picture: yesterday we were making homemade noodles and that's what you see on my counter--the first stages of noodle dough! I cooked two chickens in the pressure cooker the day before and left the cooker out in the very cold garage to chill the birds. Yesterday we picked all the meat off the bone and started noodles. This is one of the "food projects" that we do as a gift to my son and daughter-in-law. (Hope they're not reading this today!) They love to receive ready-made frozen meals for a gift. Today we made burritos, and the day before yesterday it was lasagna. With a new baby coming, the pre-prepared food is a welcome gift!

I also wanted to mention homeschooling today. Rhiannon and I were talking about how we miss the old days of homeschooling. While we were out shopping we met up with a few of our old homeschool friends and caught up on all the news! I want to include on my blog a few "homeschool" tips for the next while. I hope you who are not homeschoolers will bear with me. But first, our homeschooling testimony:

We homeschooled for most of elementary and all of junior high and high school. I guess you could call us "career" homeschoolers. We started out of necessity when Clint and I pulled up stakes and moved to Ohio for a year of Bible school. We were making a 4-hour trip home every 3rd and 7th weekend and that necessitated leaving on Friday afternoons. He was preaching at our home congregation and we would often stay 10 days at the end of our six week school terms. There was no way we could keep the kids out of school for that long on a repeated basis. But what started as a necessity became a conviction. A wise friend warned me that that would happen and she was right! It did not happen right away, but there's something about having your children under your instruction that kind of grows on you. We put them back in school a year later when we moved back home and began pastoring, but other factors led us to homeschool only two years later as our hearts were drawn to home. I'll share more on that on the next post!

The Ruby Slipper Incident, Chapter One--I told this story on Sunday at our church and people were weeping and gasps were heard when the story ended with a huge surprise! I hope you will enjoy it too and that the Lord will minister to you by the experience I had. It all began in 2003 when our church decided to sponsor a trip to Africa to held build a church building for a local congregation we had been helping. Our relationship with the pastor there dated from our days at Bible school. A man in our church took an interest in the project and he and his wife organized a trip that ended up including 17 people from at least three congregations. We were dubbed, "The OPEX TEAM" by the Africans. That was short for "OPERATION EXODUS," meaning we were helping them make an exodus from their crowded downtown location to a new piece of land where an expanding church could grow.

At first, I did not want to go along and made no plans for doing so. Clint, being the pastor, was definitely planning to make the trip. He had been there once before with another pastor. I knew what conditions I would face there--or I thought I did--and I was not eager to make the trip. But the Lord began convicting me that I ought to go. I am even now, 5 years later, still seeing the fruits of that trip we made in February 2004. I realized that ladies from other churches were making the trek and it would be just a shame for me as pastor's wife not to go. So I began making preparations rather late in the game. I had to get a passport and several supplies around in order to go. MORE ON THE NEXT POST!Blessings, LORI