Crystal Heads Out to College--Again!

Today our sweet daughter Crystal headed away for her junior year of college at Penn View Bible Institute. Carrie is traveling with her.

And God provided a beautiful "new" car for Crystal just in the nick of time!

And I mean NICK of time! Crystal was in line well before 8:00 this morning at the DMV office in town (after trying two different times on Tuesday and Wednesday and having to wait so long in line that she had to leave to go to work before getting her car registered).

There she goes down the road--and oh, dear WHAT am I supposed to say about that?? 

Well, to keep from feeling too teary, I will tell you the beautiful story behind that car.

First, her poor old mini van that had 307,000 miles on it was acting up over the weekend. Sam was afraid the transmission was going out, and he felt she should not travel across Kansas with it in that bad a shape. (Was he remembering spending 4 days in Kansas with my sister Iva and boys a few weeks ago?) But for pity's sake--we only had until Thursday to do anything about it. No time for a transmission rebuild.

Several of us looked online for local car sales, and Carrie found a 2004 Hyundai Sonata in town for a really good price on Saturday night online. Monday morning, Crystal and Carrie were on their way to work when Crystal said, "I have been praying that God would show me what to do about getting that car. Maybe this van will break down!"

Hardly were the words out of her mouth, when down the road as they were coming up to a stop sign, the van quit! It wouldn't do anything! It wouldn't go, it wouldn't back up, and the brakes froze.

Vehicles behind were waiting in line and a big dump truck honked. One by one, vehicles pulled around their car until finally the dump truck driver came up to ask what was wrong. He helped push the van back down the slight grade till it was on the shoulder. And then he went on his way.

The girls called me to come take them the rest of the way to work, and they called their daddy who promptly went to look at the Hyundai Sonata--and bought it. There went more than half the money Crystal had been saving for college living expenses, etc.  Lord, where You guide, You have promised to provide. We just trust You with this setback just before she was to leave!

  I took a little gasoline with  me to the girls just in case the problem was low fuel, and the van did start for a little and went a little ways down the road, but then it died again. We won't bore you with all the rigamarole of me having to meet Jonathan at the restaurant where the girls worked so he could pick me up to go get the car for Crystal,

or how by evening five of us ended up on the side of the road where Crystal's poor old van was sitting forlornly. Crystal was sure this was going to be a funeral procession--the last journey of her poor old dead van.

It got lots of attention as you can see.

 Jonathan and Sam already  had a tow strap ready. Sam poured about two gallons of gasoline in, and the van wouldn't even start at all! Scratch your head.

Well, it is on a grade, maybe it needs MORE gasoline. So he poured MORE gasoline in.

Jonathan also poured in some miracle-working power--LubeGard Synthetic ATF Protectant, a transmission oil that was recommended by a mechanic friend (John Wise) some years back, as an oil that sometimes literally cures what ails some transmissions, at least temporarily, so you can get quite a few more miles out of your vehicle.

Well, the van started! Jonathan decided to drive it so he could see, hear, feel, smell and taste it, and I (who had to come all the way from home because I had forgotten to leave the van key with the girls) followed the train home.

When we all got home, and Crystal's old van came merrily into the driveway as smoothly as you please, all we could do was laugh! We laughed and laughed. We could not understand why everything had happened the way it had, but all of us felt the Lord had His hand in the whole thing.

It was such a sweet way for the Lord to let Crystal know that it was okay for her to buy a newer, more reliable vehicle, BUT He was also merciful and resurrected her poor van so that we would be able to sell it for hopefully a decent price.

Crystal is going to miss her friends at the restaurant where she works,

especially her employer's daughter Daksha, whom we kept overnight a week ago before school started.

Sunday we spent the day as a family up in Denver, where Crystal and Carrie played a beautiful song, "The Lily of the Valley" on piano and violin, and where we helped once again in the afternoon Kids' Club.

Well, it helps me try to forget about missing my sweet, bubbly oldest daughter by blogging a little, 

but I'll admit, it's tempting to just want to go do something like this!

Or this!

Carrie is taking pictures of her new batch of golden doodle puppies, and this one on a fuzzy blanket was just TOO cute!

Rosie Turns 17!

A little over a week ago, Rosie turned17!
She made a yummy apple cake with frosting and invited several friends plus extras who brought the friends!

While Rose was gone during the morning helping with Timmy at a longhorn sale, we wrapped gifts and decorated the table western style! I had bought a tote full of western style fabrics for $5 at an estate sale a few weeks ago, including this long piece of red bandana fabric.
And a big bouquet of sunflowers inside the brown mug just seemed to be the exact touch for our western cowgirl!

Rose is our horse and animal lover!

She has also grown this beautiful little garden full of Indian corn, sweet corn, pumpkins, green beans, and morning glories.

She is definitely an outdoor girl! But she is a big help to me indoors, too!

I'm glad she is still here in the absence of her two older sisters this weekend. Crystal and Carrie made several stops on their way back to Pennsylvania and Penn View. They stayed overnight with Crystal's friend Danae Fisher, who is teaching at a Christian School in Ottawa, KS. Then they stopped for a few hours at our former fill-in pastors Dennis and LindaLee Goodwin. Then they went on to stop at my parents' place in Missouri.

Yesterday the girls traveled on to our friends, Rowen and Janet Albertson and girls, Elisabeth and Emily in Kentucky. Our girls attended church with them today at the Bible Methodist Church where my sister Kezia used to attend while she was studying at God's Bible School. I understood that Brent and Alicia Susan's family was also staying with Albertsons overnight, so it must have been quite the gang there! 

When the Blind Falls Down

Ever restrung a large blind that has fallen down and lost its strings?

The day before Jonathan and I left for Texas, I had gone to town with him to pick up his truck from the mechanic. I ended up spending all afternoon with him as we rushed from one appointment or work place to another and tried to figure out one problem after another. 

At one home which Jonathan's crew was painting and touching up for the homeowner to sell,

the homeowner was very gracious and kind and gave verbal high fives to Jonathan for the work his crew had done, saying they had "exceeded expectations." But one little problem she said was that one of the guys had tried to pull up a large blind, and pulled too hard without also lifting up underneath the blind, and now this blind's strings and slates were all fallen apart on the floor. Jonathan promised to make some calls and see who he could find to repair it since it was not a kind that could simply be replaced.

At that point, I remembered how I have worked with blinds a lot, shortening them, and wondered if I could try to help restring it.

So Jonathan took down a second blind and took a picture of the top part to show us how to string the strings through the top part.

As you can see in the pictures, we worked together that evening.

Jonathan is doubled over with a flashlight trying to see where I should thread the string. I was unable to get the string through at first because it had to bend to get around the hanger gismo. We didn't know how to do that. 

Then I had one of those rare but brilliant ideas!

I had just purchased a set of Fast Turners at a yard sale for $5 a few weeks ago.

It's for turning narrow straps, bows and apron ties inside out after you sew them right sides together. You place this long pipe, with wire inside, through the inside of your tie, and the wire has little twirly hooks at the end that you poke through the end of your tie and then twist enough for it to stay. Then you push your fabric onto the pipe, and then carefully pull the wire part back through the pipe, the fabric with it, and presto! Your tie is right side out!

Here are the ties Hannah and I sewed for a jumper that was too baggy for her but otherwise cute. We LOVED how this gismo worked.

Well, I used it to string the blind. I had to pike the sharp end through the very end of each of the four strings that were of four different lengths, one at a time, and then twist and pull and tug and bend the thing a bit to get it where it needed to go through the top of the blind, but little by little I got all four strings through their respective holes and then Jonathan and I threaded the strings through all those slats. We made several mistakes along the way, but after about an hour and a half, we were done and the thing worked! We were able to hang the blind back up for the homeowner the next day before leaving for Texas.

I thought how that amazing wire gismo reminded me of how God can work all things for good in our lives.

All we can see is the wrong side of things--the things that have fallen apart in our lives.

But God gets His skills busy and turns the wrongs and messes inside out and everything is right again.

It's all good!

And then there are the times when we or others have good intentions in a situation.
We have a good heart, but the right sides and right intentions are hidden by mistaken judgment or wrong actions or unwise words or attitudes. So then all other people see is the frayed edges, the seaminess of it, and the bad side of things.
It's like an apron tie that has been sewed right sides together with the seam and ragged edges showing.

It takes God's  skills and healing power to set things straight again.
To Him it's as simple as placing that Fast Turner pipe and wire down the very middle of the tie.
God's Fast Turner goes right down the middle of our problem, our trial, our test, our mess, our mistake, our wrong,
or someone else's that has caused us so much frustration or injury,
and He pulls the seamy, frayed, messy situation inside out and right side out.

To our amazement, He makes something beautiful of our inside-out and upside-down messes. 

He connects the apron tie to the apron, restrings the blinds, tunes the violin strings, glues the broken pieces, mends the wounded heart and works all things for good to those who love Him!

Cozy Cabin in the Big Texas Woods

I wish I could describe how delightful it was to arrive Sunday evening to this charming little cabin in the Texas woods, not far from where we needed to get the steeple the next morning. Jonathan had reserved it on Saturday after searching for a good deal.

He looked under Air B & B and found this little collection of cabins that had just recently opened up, and this cabin happened to be on at about half price for some reason.

We had attended the Oklahoma City Bible Methodist church Sunday morning with Pastor Darrell and Liz Stetler who have seven children. They have quite a conglomeration of folk in their church--everything from conservative folk to new converts, people with deep emotional needs and ones from Pentecostal background. What a living, vibrant, thriving, colorful church! The pastor and his wife invited us home for dinner, and we enjoyed the simple, pleasant meal, with parents actually paying attention to their kids and expecting them to behave and to not interrupt one another when talking. I always appreciate parents who are committed, involved, and intentional about raising their children.

Jonathan enjoyed seeing the home they had recently purchased and remodeled. I cut up a huge, bright watermelon we'd bought just in case we were invited to dinner by someone. The Stetlers told us that next time we come, they have large guest accomodations, and not to get a hotel!

We drove on a few hours to this cabin then, called "Lazy Squirrel Cabin."

The front porch was screened in, and was a little kitchenette.

At this corner was a table with a basket of little bags of chips and goodies.

In the other corner were dishes and mugs for coffee.

The fridge was delightfully filled with delicious things--juices, soda, water, ice, gatorade, ingredients for Smores, half-n-half.

I don't know how to describe how much these generous and thoughtful touches, "for you" as the proprietor had emailed,

meant to this mama who has to be responsible every day for three meals and snacks and groceries and keeping things stocked and trying not to overspend on unnecessary treats and junk food, and trying to pack food for the trip so we don't have to waste too much on fast food. 

And here, for not a lot more than the simplest hotel room fee, was no end of treats! I was famishing and thirsty, and I just appreciated all these delights! We had purchased a package of sausages and mushrooms the night before, which we sauteed for ourselves as the dusk fell.

I could hardly stop going softly and excitedly through this delightful cabin. It had this one small bedroom behind the screened in porch--

and the first thing Jonathan appreciated was air conditioning! I loved the whiteness and simplicity.

It was rustic and old fashioned,

and luxurious all at the same time! The sink was this glass bowl. I had forgotten my toothbrush, so was tickled to find a platter with all manner of bathroom accessories available.

The cutest shower ever--made with corrugated tin, with ivy at the top, and soft, fluffy robes hanging. We were too beat and hot to enjoy them, so went to bed without white fluffy robes!

The beautiful bed had this pillow on it with small water bottles and chocolate candies.

Also there was this sweet prayer lying there as well for the guests . 

Only the Lord knew how refreshing this all was to me! I couldn't stop admiring and exclaiming and telling Jonathan how much I appreciated it! It was one of the happiest evenings I've ever spent with my dear, sweet hubby! It was like a honeymoon!
Jonathan and I appreciate so much how the Lord provides sweet blessings for us when we are in the middle of trips that are meant to bless and help others. When we live for God and others, God sees to it that we ourselves receive the provisions of grace, joy, and blessing so that we are strengthened for what He has called us to do. 

In the morning, there were maybe a dozen Daddy-long-legs in the sink! One was scurrying across the pillow before we went to bed last night! It's a good thing I'm not scared of Daddy-long-legs!

In the morning, we had a repeat of supper--sausage with mushrooms and jalapenos!

It was so kind of my husband to choose this sweet place for us both to enjoy so much! I left a note of thanks in the guest book!

If you are ever in Texas, this is a place to check out for staying! It was near Tyler, TX, and normally costs $150, but we got it about half price under Air B & B. There are several cabins here, and more in another place, under the name Cora's Cabins.

My Brother Elon in Terrible Accident--Escapes Without Serious Injury

Last night we received the shocking news that my brother Elon had been in a terrible accident during an awful downpour of rain. We had to wait until this morning to hear more about it, but although the truck he was driving is obviously totalled, he and his passenger (both in seat belts) escaped almost unscathed. 

(This story is also in Sunbury's Daily Item today.) With his permission, I'm posting a couple of the pictures he emailed family last night.

The front of his truck was hit by the back of a rotating little Mustang convertible that was coming at him from the other direction, hydroplaning out of control and rotating into Elon's lane. Elon swung his wheel and ended up clear up the bank, "peacefully resting," he wrote, on the edge of a cemetery--with a totalled truck, but at least he wasn't 6 feet under!

It was a different story for the other driver.

Elon wrote, " I quickly opened my door, realizing I wasn't hurt, and looked to see where the other victim was.  The Mustang was across his side of the highway and I saw a person lying on the road.  A couple cars were already stopping, but I heard the guy on the road shrieking/yelling and the next thing I knew he was up on all fours, scurrying off the road, just bellowing from time to time.  Our first instinct was to stop traffic before disaster could multiply, and a young woman was doing just that.  I noted that neither she nor I had an umbrella.  We carry orange cones with us on these trips, so I called for Ivan to get them from the truck and I took one to the one end of the scene, and he took the other to the other end.  Then I think Ivan stayed in the truck or near it, and I went back to see about the hurt guy.  But some other people were helping him.  He was apparently thrown from his car, possibly through the door which was sorta open.  Evidently he was not seat belted, and had hydroplaned on the rainy road.  He was roaring and swearing as people called for a rag or something to staunch the blood running from the back of his head... The young lady hollered if anyone had called for help, and I was already dialing 911.  I believe I was the first caller.  Let's see, that may have been before I went to get the rag.  So help was on it's way.  Soon an ambulance appeared; the young lady and I waved traffic by so that the ambulance could get through, and then some other first-responders took over stopping traffic.  Traffic was detoured at both ends of 642 so that no more could get through, but it was a busy time, about 2:30 p.m.

      "Soon fire trucks and police cars were on the scene.  An EMT approached me to ask if I were the other driver.  I says yes.  She says, do you know where you are?  And what is the date?  Etc.  I answered accurately enough that the interrogation was soon over, and they determined that my brains hadn't been rattled too bad.  Then a state trooper approached to question me, get registration and insurance papers etc.  Ivan and I were invited to sit in an ambulance to have our vitals checked out.  I was noticing a slight pain in my left side/ribs, and Ivan was complaining of a twist or muscle pain- maybe whiplash-like- in his back.  Other than that, we checked out OK, and determined that we didn't want to see the inside of a hospital now. 

 

     "I remember after stepping out of the truck and looking around the front, of feeling incredulous-- this much damage happened to my truck??  It didn't feel THAT bad.  And yet it was practically a head-on collision.  Our airbags did not deploy.  It seems like they should have.  The rear driver's-side door window was shattered, the hitch of the truck was completely bent and broken, my glasses had departed my face and were lying on the dashboard (you can see them thru the windshield in the one photo).  I had not been texting, therefore my phone was in it's holster on my belt. But dear me!  What a mess.  Things in the cab were kind of scrambled around, and my precious F-150 was hopelessly smashed... I was not at fault so something should come through..."

And now here is another special mercy from the Lord:

" It appeared that neither the trailer nor the 2 lawn tractors aboard [belonging to his employer] were damaged in the least. "

With his usual humor, Elon goes on,

"Well we cleared everything out of the truck, and it got toted off to near Bloomsburg, awaiting its final resting place.  The cemetery association would not let us bury it there, even tho' it looked like a grave had been begun after they dragged everything away.  Mainly I think they were mad that I knocked down the cemetery sign.  You can see it lying on the ground in the bottom corner of one of the photos. (It was the Mausdale Christian Church Cemetery, in case anybody wonders.)

I suppose there are more details, but you'll have to ask for them.  So ask away!  We continue to praise God that we are alive and unhurt.  Now I need to contact the insurance adjuster.  Have a better day, everybody!"

[Scene Jonathan and I passed Sunday at the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995).

 

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All on the same day, we received happy news that my sister Kezia's husband Chris and extended family and farms won the Soil and Conservation Governor's Award, and had attended a banquet where the announcement of their winning the award was given while my sister was out changing her baby boy's diaper! Another lady rushed in to tell her and to take over with the baby, but Kezia pulls the baby's pants up and rushes out to hear her father-in-law give a little acceptance speech. 

It pleased her to no end that a conservative Christian family and farms won this award. 

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Also today my other sister Iva's family lost their beloved dog, and in the process of burying it, one of her boys got into a nest of wasps and received a number of stings.

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Also today there was news from my nephew, Dorcas's daughter Annette's husband, who has been campaign manager for Ed McBroom, who is running for Michigan State Senator.  McBroom won the Republican primary election by a landslide, with 69% of the vote.

I'm proud of my nephew Samuel Johnson's excellent and efficient work on McBroom's behalf.

To finish this post I am posting these pics I uploaded yesterday of our few moments stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in Oklahoma City. 

Across the street is this solemn statue of Christ weeping because of the tragedy that happened there--and other tragedies as well.

How deeply grateful we all are for the watchcare of our heavenly Father over my brother and his coworker yesterday, and for every safe trip home for ourselves and others.

We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 

Today, Jonathan's mother and relatives in Indiana laid her brother Lester to rest. He was 87, and leaves behind a wife Roberta and other relations.

He is the last in the family except for Jonathan's mother. She is seven years younger.

Jonathan's mom and dad, who were at the funeral today, are hoping to visit my parents in Missouri tomorrow on their way home from Indiana to Colorado.