Thank you God for preserving our souls.

Emily, Evelyn, Ezra and Ethan got baptized in Lake Norman, yesterday. What an amazing experience!

What an amazing skyline of clouds that I woke to on the day that the rest of my children will be baptized!

All heaven rejoices over one Christian coming to faith. Walking in obedience in the ordinance of baptism is not ignored by the heavenly hosts, I see. I love to see what a beautiful interaction there is between our activities and their activities.

My eldest son and daughter surprised us and tried to hide from us their determination to walk into the waters of baptism. We've never forced the issue. Elyse blames us that we didn't let her get baptized at 7, when she asked the Pastors to be baptized. We believe in believer baptism and sometimes that is a scary walk for parents. They must initiate the process and sometimes we are not sure that they are old enough to understand. Now they are all old enough. For months, 11 year old Ezra would complain and say, during service to me, "I don't think that I will ever get baptized, at this rate." He cried and nagged us every opportunity. We will do it at the very next time they offer it. Several times passed and we couldn't combine them all, until today.

Today, The rest of the crew, Emily, Evelyn, Ethan and Ezra will be baptized in Lake Norman. The sky was aglow with huge decorations of animals here and there to mark to occasion. I saw an airplane shape above the huge animal heads. I will try to make a quilt to mark the beauty that I saw this morning. Now, if we can just all get there in one piece to walk in obedience.

God is good to allow us the delight of seeing our children express faith in Christ and love for His Church, as they do. Thank you Lord!

That Bobby Mcferrin is too much!:)

Hey, Mom I was invited to speak at the youth service.

Enoch said matter of factly. I start praying. God, do you want me to be there or not? The hardest person to support is the one who is the most like you. I took my spot in the shadows to hear and see without too much exposure. Were you there, Mom? I was there, very much like Tony Sr. Who are you? I am Enoch's mom. I was there and delighted that God is making a new generation of Christian speakers, with Youthful vigor and wonder about God's Word. May God bless His Word, in this generation! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Lightning storms here are a wonderful time to enjoy one another's company.

They come so unexpectantly, but are very welcome in the oppressive heat of NC in July. The first one was scary to a pair of tiny New York boys and so we sat on the porch and looked at the distant storm and thought what it is saying. I said listen the angels are saying, "isn't God good?" and the earth replies a hearty "Amen!" in the thunder. That was when they were 3 and 7.

Yesterday, they were oblivious. Eva and I took the opportunity to delight ourselves in the distant fireworks, after the storm of fearsomeness had passed. It was 4th of July again for the two of us old biddies. We gawked and oohed and awed as though it were the first time we had seen the angels' pull out the fireworks. God's sky is truly multidimensional and awesome, down here.

Sometimes we take pictures, but this time it was a moment for our memories, without photos. A private wonderment. Isn't God good?

"Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns...

All music but its own!"

It is delightful to have a traveling daughter. We should have gone to the wedding with my adventurous daughter. It would have been a wonderful opportunity to see our dear ones in Grand Rapids. It has been too long since we've seen them. Providence didn't allow it, but we are in Grand Rapids in spirit for the wedding of the daughter of my dear friend Barb, who passed away of cancer, last year. all our best wishes are for a beautiful day and a great marriage for dear Diana, who is Elyse's bosom buddies. Seems that we were just nursing them in the nursery together and now they are enjoying sweet fellowship with one another and trying to be there for each other. I am grateful! Love is a many splendored thing, indeed.

Birthday Fun! 16 Candles, where did the time go?

Who remembers the time the big book shelf fell on my little 2 year old Ethan and he came out from under the rubble of the bookshelf and television, unscathed. How the angels protected that boy and just to let us know that they did; 5 years later he fell off a bunkbed and broke his upper arm in half completely. He said, my arm did a great job protecting my neck from getting broken. I said son, I didn't think of it that way. I sat waiting for Dr Fricht to tell me that the surgery went well and it did. I was sitting there when they pulled the metal spokes out and were sure that the bone had healed and my bones were shivering at the sound. He's such a tall fellow and strong arms have broken dozens of falls and we discussed the times that his skin was scraped and we all cried hard and he just looked at us like sissies. He said that skin will grow back. I'm alright, mom. Now the sixteen candles have him wanting big boy toys and big boy game developing. I like the boy who is coming into manhood. He's always the one to ask the hard questions in a family meeting, like..."what did that mean?" {something we all agreed together not to say to keep the meeting short}Not Ethan. Now that we are committed to understanding and not just agreeing, it is him that we have to thank for that in this season of life.

What a great kid!

Thank God for mercy and grace.

Clean, based on the amount of mud in the water?

I should probably throw this blanket in the garbage. But I didn't think it was too dirty to wash when I put it in the wash.

This might be a blanket that the boys had on their beds since kindergarten, based on the dirt in the washing machine. Upon routine picking up, I discovered an amount of dirt in the wash that baffled me beyond words...SHHHHHH---

it was Ethan's blanket

He must have had a Linus blanket and we never knew. Now, nearing his 16th birthday in a few days, he is cleaning house. This is our little secret like many other little laughs that we have had along the way.

I picked up a sentimentally familiar blanket off of the laundry room floor and threw it in the wash intending to share the wash with the other filthy items, linens that I was doing. I am so glad that I was preoccupied with the dishes to put the other things in. I have not figured out why I always wait for Wimbledon to get in a cleaning mood. It is oppressively hot down here and the theory of Spring Cleaning makes a lot of sense when the heat creeps in as it has. Several days of near 100 degree weather has us all scrambling for shade and A/C. Our upstairs A/C is on the fritz, as usual.

Well, now the blanket got clean after 2 washings. But, I declare, I have never seen that color bubbles in my bleachie wash before. I pray that the blanket is really clean and that this is a symbol of maturity in my near 16 year old's life.

Next step...Haircut?...No such luck!

America, the Beautiful

North Carolina is a most beautiful and delightful part of America. I remember, as a child, reading and imagining different parts of the country through John Steinbeck's book Travels With Charlie. Even with that interesting tool, I never imagined what I have found in NC. It has everything, but mostly sky and purple mountains majesty. The cows and the goats that are raised in the nearby farms all the way down to the bees are very interactive. I just love it and 4th of July is always a moment to rejoice at the beauty and blessing that America has become. We did rejoice and are still rejoicing. Happy 4th.

Remembering Elizabeth Elliott--- She was truly a faithful example in our generation. She will be missed--Writer, Missionary, Teacher, etc.