'Surprised by Joy'

Angie's grandfather, Opa, passed away; Zeb's 3rd birthday was on the day we were traveling.  We were thankful to be able to join family in honoring Opa as a grandfather and decorated solider,  and God even gave us a fun way to make Zeb's birthday special.  In Altus, Oklahoma, someone had turned an old 1953 (I think) Ford truck into Mater from the movie, Cars.  The boys were thrilled.

Now Ezekiel says he wants to see one for his birthday, so cardboard and an old land rover?

The begining of packing for Kenya -The first load of stuff to go

The first load of all our stuff that we took to get rid of.  It is amazing to me that stuff seems to multiply. And always seems to look smaller in a room rather than in the back of a truck!

Life's distractions

We need prayer to refrain from getting distracted from the paramount things by the frustrating aggravations that have seemed to inundate us for months. A small sample of things from last month... The catalytic converter died in our van just before previously arranged church presentations. Then somewhat comically during one of our presentations, a puppet show, Ezekiel ran up to the stage and attempted a hostage take-over as he jumped up and tried to grab the puppet. While Angie and both boys were sick for 2 weeks, we had family in town and Steve went on a six day out-of town trip and got bed bugs. The fridge broke. We missed one of Zeb's doctors' appointments amidst the chaos and his skin had a flare-up. Last, I hit a deer with my truck (see pic.). We need prayer to not let the little things distract us from God's call and wisdom for the vital.