We Are Home!

for eleven days, that is! We had a safe trip back yesterday, although we ran into a heavy storm at one point. We have lots to do in this next week and a half as we prepare for the big trip. Thank you for praying, and we will post a conference report in the next day or two. The shipment of Simple Faith—Trust and Obey and Autumn Days are expected today, and/or tomorrow morning. Watch for the blog post with the announcement!

Sarah

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise” (Psalms 57:7).

Four months…

It’s amazing how quickly these past four months have passed by! Anna and I are so grateful to the Lord for His bountiful blessings and are loving married life. Wednesday was our four-month anniversary and we decided to go up and visit my grandmother who lives several hours north of us. While she no longer recognizes me due to Alzheimer’s, we had a wonderful time with her. Whenever I visit I’ll take her over by the piano and spend time playing hymns for her. Prior visits she would sing along, last visit she hummed, but this time she just tapped her foot ever so slightly.

Special time together

On the way up, and back, we saw many Snow Geese flying in V’s high in the sky. They were particularly prevalent in the area near the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. We were driving back through that area in the early evening and exited the interstate to see if the geese were settling down on the lake (it is only 3 miles from the interstate). Wow, were they. I don’t think I have ever seen so many Snow Geese in one area!

The water was covered with Snow Geese.

As we watched the geese, I was hoping they would decide to take off as I wanted to see them all in flight. It wasn’t many minutes later that they all took off.

The entire flock taking off (though, technically, when they are not in flight they are a "gaggle", and when they are in the air they are a "skein".
It seemed that all one could see were birds!

We were overwhelmed with the beauty and majesty of God’s incredible creation, and our hearts were full of gratitude to the Lord for a special visit with Grandma and being blessed to see such an amazing sight on the way home.

Christopher

As we left the refuge and headed for home the sky was still filled with thousands of geese.

“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
thou art God alone”
(Psalms 86:10).

The Arrival

The first copies of Simple Faith—Trust and Obey arrived here at the church in Ft. Smith. The rest of the shipment will be at our house on Monday. So, this is not the official announcement yet, just a little preview. Then, I received two copies of Autumn Days, for my final approval before the books are bound. We expect to be able to announce Simple Faith—Trust and Obey and Autumn Days Tuesday or Wednesday.

We were blessed to be able to share here in Ft. Smith through music, testimony, and Building a Vision tonight. We look forward to tomorrow!

Here it is: the first copy!
It's almost there :-).

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalms 69:30).

In Arkansas

We are safely here in Arkansas, and we’re having a short visit with the Duggars. It’s been a delightful time–they are an incredible family! We are praying for the conference this weekend, and look forward to what the Lord has in store.

Sarah

“For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippinas 1:5).

We’re On the Road!

It was about 5 p.m., and we pulled out. We saw the Lord’s hand leading and guiding this afternoon, as we faced sometimes almost-impossible situations, but one by one, the solution came. We were stopped in our progress because we needed a special tool. We found a local mechanic who had it. Then, we couldn’t find the actual part number for the seal until it was pulled and the item number could be read off of it. Then, all the local places didn’t have it, but somewhere in Kansas City did. Nathan was already in Kansas City, and he heroically got it for us, and he arrived at our house around 3:55, and the mechanic showed up at 4. By 5, we were off. Isn’t our Lord amazing?

So, we are on the road, and headed to Arkansas!

Sarah

The mechanic
It was an amazing afternoon to watch the Lord work.
Thanks, Nathan!
Several of us praying before we left (the rest were hurrying to wash up and put things away).

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night” (Exodus 13:21).