travelmonkey4christ

This month of October the "September" newsletter finally got published! (If you are not on the mailing list and want to see it, click on the website link on this page "Carpenter's Cross Ministries". It should be there soon.) Also the editing just got finished for the first audio kid's podcast from Sue and Larry. Larry is Carolyn's worm puppet that helps (?) Sue teach the kids "Words of Wisdom" from the Bible with lots of humor! Parents will be able to get a free download each week of a scripture memory verse skit with Sue and Larry. They can then use them as a fun learning tool for their kids and utilize the podcasts as an added resource for family devotions. Before Carolyn left, we recorded 10 episodes. I will keep you posted with info for downloading these podcasts.

OK, all those of you who been waiting for updates… In September my sister DeAnn (Levi jacket) and her husband John came to Seattle to celebrate her birthday and have a mini vacation. John was then flying back to Boise, and DeAnn staying to help me with the Onecho Family Camp in Eastern Washington mid September. While they were here, Rosemary, from Carolyn's church CityLife in Melbourne, flew in for a quick visit (pictured above multi-tasking a call to her office in Australia during a tour of the locks). Carolyn and I are under the covering of the Missions Department in Carolyn’s home church when they send us at different times of the year to work with nationals in designated target countries under the category of "Intergenerational Missionaries". In January we will be heading to Thailand, then to Cambodia in February. Rosemary is the person to whom we report. Among Rosemary's many responsibilities in Missions, is pastoral oversight for us. I have been teasing he...

At the camp we did in a large tent on top of Miracle Mountain in Grangeville, our last session was about the "Spirit of a Goose". The term "silly goose" in our culture is definitely not complementary. No one wants to be called a silly goose! But God has some lessons He wants us to learn from the goose - for instance the "V" shape of their flight formation. By locking just to the back and side of the lead goose, the second geese behind can get extra lift. The third geese in line get even more lift, and so on. This results in geese being able to fly 40% faster and 70% farther as a group than they can as individuals. Backing the leader helps Vision to be accomplished! The second thing we learn is that this formation, although more efficient, really puts a strain on the lead goose. That's why they rotate the formation, as the lead goose tires the next one behind takes over. This way they don't kill their leader! What a great idea. The entire ...

The Kids At New Hope Family Camp really enjoyed singing "You're There" and worshipping the Lord.

We've just completed two camps, very similar in nature. The first "Mountain Kids Camp" was in Idaho City, Idaho. About 38 kids were at that camp - each with their own special needs. It was a day camp with morning and afternoon sessions and activities. The children left each night at 5 p.m. and returned the following morning for the next day's adventure. On the last day when we gave them an opportunity to share, many remarked how much they liked the way everyone got along and cared for each other. The second camp was the "Royal Family Kids Camp" with 43 kids in McCall, Idaho. Though the children come with a variety of behavioral problems, medications and emotional hurts it was a week of incredible PEACE. The kids felt it and the staff remarked the same. This picture is the cast that performed each day a skit called "The Pirates of Payette" along with the camp directors Tom and Margaret Turco. Captain Smiley converts all the pirates with the ...

I am back in Seattle. It's catch up time. The result of travel...overseas for three months, off to speak at a Women's Retreat in Washington and then a 9hr drive to be with family in Boise Idaho for two weeks. I was now preparing for summer ministry. Suddenly I saw the Max Lucado flip calendar in my living room and wondered what the message was for the 26th of May - the day I lost my cousin. It was now June 1st but the calendar was still set to May 2nd, the day I flew back from Australia to the U.S. This is what May 26th said: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed." Psalm 34:18 "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us." Romans 15:4 These are not just Sunday school stories. Not romantic fables... They are historical moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, "Where is God when I hurt?"... The God who spoke still speaks... The God who cam...

The weekend after Mother's Day, my cousin Jeanette passed away. She was like a big sister to me. Our families vacationed each summer together growing up. She was a vibrant bubble of joy and her laugh still echos in our hearts. I remember one winter when the youth group went tubing in the mountains (climbing up a long hill and sliding down). We didn't have enough truck inner tubes for everyone to use so we took turns. I was all bundled up in a snowmobile jumpsuit. It was the slickness of the jumpsuit that gave me the idea that maybe the suit was slick enough to slide downhill without a tube. I told Jeanette "Why don't I lay down and you can ride me down the hill?" She asked if I was sure she wouldn't be too heavy and I assured her it would be fine. I layed on my back and she sat on my stomach. We pushed off and started to slide quickly downhill. It was working great! However I forgot one thing - moguls, or as non-skiers know them, bumps. The first one we...