Lake Superior State University

We are presently up in the "U.P." (Upper Peninsula) Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie. We are visiting Lake Superior State University. This evening they had a family fun night where we had supper at the school and we walked around getting familiar with the school. Tomorrow is an all day orientation. Here are a few shots of the LSSU. The school is right on the U.S./Canadian border so the picture of Ruth and Zachary with the bridge to Canada in the background is a shot from the campus showing how close the border is.

The Gift

We have been so blessed to have people, along the path in life, to encourage our children in their dreams. My faithful blog readers will remember last fall how Ruth was able to shadow our family doctor. It was an awesome experience, and our family doctor was amazing. This was such an encouragement to Ruth and fanned the fire already burning to pursue a career in the medical field. Today she received a surprise gift for her graduation from our family doctor. He gave her a medical dictionary. How cool is that! Ruth will be leaving in the fall for university and we pray that God will continue to put special people in her life to encourage her along the path.

Celebrating Mother's Day

Yesterday I enjoyed a nice day with the family. It was nice being able to celebrate with Kristina as it was her first Mother's Day as a mommy.The kids worked on a wonderful lupper for us. Ruth, Zachary, & Seth gave me a special gift. They gave me a basket for the soon to be "Mother of College Students". It was a tear jerker. The first item I picked up and read was the box of Kleenix and it said, "It's okay to cry, we know you will miss us". So I pretty much lost it right there. I will let you read what they put on all the sticky notes. (If you want to read the notes better, just click on each picture.) It was very special for them to put the time and creativity into my gift. I will apprecaite all the gifts, although the Kleenix will be half way used up during graduation so I will need to get another couple of boxes for the fall. I am REALLY going to enjoy the web cam as I was wanting one for when they are away at university.Maybe the kids won't seem so far away when I am able to see them with the web cam.

Happy Mother's Day

What a privilege to come from Christian homes and to be raised by mothers who love the Lord! At church today it was mentioned that statistics show that Mother's have had the biggest impact on their children spiritually. We are so grateful for our mothers and all that they have done for us and continue to do. We are so blessed. Thank-you to our Dear Mothers, for investing in us and cheering us on in life. Know you are loved, appreciated, and valued. Have a wonderful Mother's Day.

DANGER!!!!

WARNING WILD TURKEY CROSSING, COULD FLY INTO YOUR WINDSHIELD AT A MOMENTS NOTICE!

Finishing Strong

Tonight was our last night of Awana for the year. We had our closing program where the clubbers sang songs and received their awards for the verses they had memorized. This year was a special year for me in the fact that three of my children were working along side of me. It was a joy serving together with them. And it was fun making memories together with them in Cubbies. With Ruth and Zachary taking off for university in the fall it will leave a pretty big hole that will not be easy to fill. Thanks Ruth and Zachary for making a difference in these children't lives!



P.S. I am waiting for a few more guesses to come in before I reveal how many Tabasco bottles we have.

Some Like It HOT!

For those of you who have not been in our house, we have been collecting Tabasco bottles after we use them. We have been doing this for about 5 1/2 - 6 years. I was washing another one out the other day so I could add it to our collection. (The collection is on top of our kitchen cabinets.) My question to you is: How many Tabasco sauce bottles are in our collection? I personally don't use any Tabasco sauce. If I have anything that is the least bit hot, I feel like my throat is on fire.

Full House

Zachary, Ruth, and I went to a city about 75 minutes away to pick up Vern from the airport. He was out in B.C. visiting his parents and our home church. I am really glad he was able to make the trip out there and I would have loved to join him. However, it is nice to have him home again.

Grad Pictures

Several weeks ago Ruth had a bunch of graduation pictures taken. Here is a sample of a few of them.

Cubbies

Last night was our last night of Cubbies. Next week will be our celebration week where our Cubbies will get their awards for saying their verses and we will have a little program that the parents and family members can come to. The year went by so fast, and now here we are at the end. My favorite part of Cubbies is the Bible time. It was been such a priveldge to teach these children about who God is and his plan of salvation for them. Some children came with a good foundtaion already laid, other came with very little knowledge of God. Each week we would review what we had already learned and then learn a little bit more. Yesterday when I was doing the last Bible lesson, I found it hard knowing this would be the last time I would be sharing Biblical truths with some of them. We were reminded again this year how short life is as one of the Sparks (the next Awana club for 5-7 yr. olds.) died suddenly at home. What a joy it would be to see each of these children in heaven! Many of the Cubbies come from good Christian homes where they will continue to be taught from the Bible. But there are others that will not be getting any teaching. Will there be others that will invest spiritually into these children? I have found myself stopping many times today to pray for these children. We had 15 Cubbies this year. If all these children come to know the Lord and live for him, what a difference they can make in this world! If you have a minute would you be willing to stop and pray for these 15 dear children?