Only Believe....

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe." Mark 5:36

There are no limits to what our faith in God will do. Just as the shepherds, tending to their sheep long ago, were told not to be afraid when the Glory of God shown about them. They too in faith in a brief moment after the appearance of the angel realized that they should go see the babe Jesus in Bethlehem. They were drawn to Him in their faith. Their lives were forever changed, too! That is where each of us are. You and me. We are drawn to Him, not to fear but to put our faith totally in Him, and to believe. Life changing.

We are doing well. We are staying busy. The other night, Leah, Hannah and I went to a concert by Michael W. Smith over in Spokane. It was his Christmas concert with a 52 member Symphony accompanying him. It was wonderful. We went out to dinner before it and had a great father/daughters moment. Here is a picture of us in front of a large Christmas tree in downtown Spokane.

Hannah has a practical test today in front of her teacher and then a Final on Thursday morning. Be praying for Hannah. School has been a challenge but she is studying hard and focused. Jake is very understanding of her long hours of studying. But still they both need pray because of it all. Leah is cooking up a storm lately with Christmas goodies. What a blessing to have her at home. Jason made it back from Phoenix, with a bit of a suntan. He had a great time. The younger kids are out of school this Friday for two weeks. And my brother John and his boy Francesco come in on Sunday for two weeks. Looking forward to having them here to celebrate Christ's birth. And keep me in your prayers over the next couple of weeks. There will be times of needed grace. Susan and I would have been married 28 years this Saturday.

Blessings to you all.....

Another Test for Hannah

Hello dear friends,
Always good to write to you all. His grace and blessings to you all. First, Hannah has another test on Tuesday morning. I am a little late on this request for you all to pray. But those that wake up early on the east coast will get this before Hannah actually takes the test. Pray for clarity in reading the question and answering the question. Susan would be so proud of Hannah on her nursing. She is really studying hard and enjoying nursing.
Jason is down in Phoenix visiting Nick Dreckman and Grandma and Grandpa, Rick and Cheryl (Susan's parents and brother). He is having a very nice time doing activities in the warm weather. Beats the cold, although no snow, up here. Here is a picture of a gorgeous sunset he took tonight in the car.

Sarah is back over doing her nanny work. She comes home on the weekend. Pray for her because one of her friends committed suicide. Totally unexpected. But it has been hard on Sarah. They would talk about issues in their lives, always checking in with each other and then this happened.
Aaron continues with high school studies. He is very involved with youth group and Boarders for Christ. This is a snowboarding, skateboarding group of mostly boys, yound men. And they put on exhibitions with their boarding and proclaim the gospel of Jesus. It has been neat to see him grow in his faith.
Mary's hand seems to be all better. Just a sprain. And Sarah is over her strept throat. Medicine is good!
God keeps us going in our faith. We are doing well. Thanks for all your prayers and love for the family.
In January, Nathan & Michelle, Leah and I go down to Phoenix and do the PF CHang Marathon. Pray for our training. It has been difficult to do a lot with the colder weather. Pray for Nathan's leg which seems to be stressed with the additional running he has been doing.
By for now.

I love my children

"But now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love." 1Cor13:13

I absolutely love my kids (which includes my kids-in-law, Michelle and Jake, we never grow up, face it). I spent an absolutely great time with them over the Thanksgiving week up at the condos in Stoneridge. They all made it very special for me. There were moments on Thanksgiving, especially while cooking and sitting down at the dinner table, looking down the line of children, that it became hard. But God's grace got me through the rough times. With the kids, we all played walleyball, which is volleyball in a racquetball court, so you can play off the sides. Very exciting and fast. Here is a picture of the bunch of us after a game.

And we played Vetsch Fear Factor, a game of daring stunts, eating strange things and laughing, all in competition and fun. The final was a competition to see who would be fastest to retrieve a lock key with their mouth, which was embedded in a bowl of cow's brain (actually was only spaghetti sauce, but it sounds more exciting). Then run to the next condo and unlock your partner (who is locked up with chain and lock) with the key that you just retrieved from the cow's brain. Then the two of you run back to the other condo and eat chunks of cooked calves kidney, the fastest team is the winner. Well the two teams left for the final round was Jake and Hannah, Doug and Laura. It came down to a second difference in time between the two teams. But in the end, Doug and Laura were the 2008 Vetsch Fear Factor winners. Nathan even made a Fear Factor Trophy that the winner gets to keep until the next competition. I know, you are probably thinking "What a STRANGE family". Yes maybe, but we sure have fun being strange. Susan would have loved the competition this year. Not sure if she would have liked eating the calve kidney which was pretty disgusting. Here is a picture of all of us right after the Fear Factor.


And here is a picture of the long Thanksgiving table.



Some prayer requests:
1) Sarah came down with Strept Throat the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Pray that the antibiotic she was given, gets her well. She had to still go back to work as a Nanny on Sunday night. By then, she was no longer contageous. Here is a picture of her with the two kids she Nannys.

2) Mary jammed her right thumb in one of the walleyball games. Took her in along with Sarah on Saturday to Urgent Care. No broken bones, but just a sprain.
3) Jason traveled down to Phoenix today to visit friends and family. Pray for safety for him. He has not been away from home like this.

Leaving for the Thanksgiving Week!

First of all, thanks for your prayers for Hannah. She did fine on her test. She is very glad that it is behind her. Now she can relax with Jake a while and join us up at Stoneridge Resort up in Blanchard again this year for the Thanksgiving week! We have such a great time up there. We've been doing this condo thing since 2001, just for the Thanksgiving week. Many good, good memories of Susan and the family over the years during this time. It will be a time of reflecting and a time of healing for us. Pray for us as the week unfolds. We will all be up there at times. We are so close to Coeur d'Alene, those that have to work will do so and then come up for a couple of days. For me, I will take off the whole week along with Mary, Laura and Kayla. I want to praise God that we are blessed greatly to be able to do this each year.

"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100

We serve Him with gladness because it is He that brings us joy. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Another Nursing Test for Hannah!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

This is Susan's favorite verse. We hold on to His plans for all of us. And tomorrow, Hannah has another Nursing Exam, more comprehensive than the last. She has been studying up a storm, hundreds of note cards and late night hitting the books. She has been very dedicated to her studies. But prayer is always essential when addressing our needs. Pray for Hannah again to have no distractions for her sleep tonight (well rested for tomorrow) and clear thinking for the exam in the morning. Last time, she panicked when she opened up the exam to start. So pray that she has a peace about the test and the results, knowing that the Lord does have a plan for her because He cares for her and all of us. Amen to that!!!! Thanks to all. Blessings.

Where does the time go to?

Hello to all,
Time is flying by so fast. Didn't realize that it has been this long since my last entry. Thanks for being so patient. The big news is last week Leah finished up with her teaching internship at Dalton Elementary. I went in on Wednesday and took some pictures of her in the classroom and with her students. It was a nice visit, and of course and I had to stop in to see Mr. Staples and Ms. Weller, Laura and Kayla's teachers. All is going well down at the elementary school. Leah's class made up some going away cards which were very cute. The kids drew pictures of Leah standing in front of the class and then gave them to her. So she is done now. Since she went to Eastern Washington University, she only has to do 11 weeks. In Idaho, she would have to do a whole year. And during the internship, you are not paid. This went by fast. Leah is putting out some resumes for work in the area (not necessarily teaching jobs) for the time being. She is praying about going to get her Master's degree in counselling. So that is a prayer request: Schooling decisions, jobs for the winter. Susan would be sooooo proud of Leah. I am too!

Also, Sarah is now into her second month as a nanny over in Spokane, WA. She watches two young girls for two Physician Assistants (husband/wife). I will get some pictures of Sarah and her two girls. But she just loves the family, her job and the routine. Sarah lives with the family but gets weekends off, so she will come home when possible. Sarah has been going to bible study with Nancy on Wednesday evenings and to College Group at their church on Sunday evening. She has really been growing in her faith as a result of these studies. And she just loves these two girls. Sarah always comes home with some good stories of nannyhood. This coming weekend, Mary will be going to the Revolve Tour, Christian teen girls conference. There will be special speakers, special bands and fellowship with other teen girls. Mary will be going with friends and a close Mom as chaperon. Sarah recalls when Susan took her to this event several years ago. Sarah really enjoyed it and I pray Mary does too. Natalie Grant will be speaking and singing, sharing how hard it is to grow up as a teen girl in today's world. So pray for Mary this weekend.

Giving Thanks!!!!

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High; To declare Thy loving kindness in the morning, And Thy faithfulness by night." Psalm 92: 1-2.

Hannah called me this morning just hours after taking her test. She passed it!!! Thank you Lord for answered prayer. And she said that your prayers really did help. When she received the test and first opened it up, SHE PANICKED! But then she took a big breath and she said she had confidence knowing that you all prayed for her. The Lord was near. She was so excited and thankful. Her next test will be the week before Thanksgiving. Thank you also for your encouraging words. Susan was excited when Hannah first decided to be a nurse like Susan had been before having children.