Open for Business

A couple of weeks ago Barb announced she wanted to strip the old wallpaper in our guest bedroom and have it painted by the time our son and duaghter-in-law came up for a visit. They are due to arrive here this Friday in time for our niece's wedding in western Massachusetts this Saturday. That means we have put in some late nights trying to insure the room would be ready for their first visit to see us in Connecticut. Below is a picture of Robbie and Kelly who will be here to visit us this weekend.
When Barb finished stripping the wallpaper we found a lot of work awaited us before we could even begin painting. Here are a couple of pictures showing the room minus wallpaper while being prepared for painting.

And following last night, here is how the guest bedroom looks as it awaits the arrival of our kids who will be the first to stay in it following the makeover.

I wonder who will be the next to come visit us and stay in our freshly painted guest bedroom.

EB is an "Extra-ordinary Beauty"

There is a young lady who lives in Alabama and her initials are "EB". She is quite a cool "dudess" as you can see from the picture below. Her "Mrs. Gramps" picked out those stylish PJs which are just right when enjoying a late nice refreshing libation. After getting super-charged through that amazing straw, she can climb any tree that decides to jump in her way!

You won't see many people in your lifetime who are as "Extra-ordinarily Beautiful" as our EB! You go girl!

Around the Yard

Ever since we moved into our house at 496 Ash Drive in Windsor Locks, we have marvelled at the beauty of God's creation that we are able to enjoy right in our own yard. I often wonder how God could have conceived of so much variety in the plants that we can enjoy just in our small portion of the earth, let alone all the rest of creation. Here are some pictures taken in the last few days just so you can marvel with us!

Barb has worked hard to create a sanctuary of beauty in our yard and in my opinion she has succeeded. If you can't visit us in person, we hope these pictures (they don't do the plants justice) will give you some idea of how richly we have been blessed by our Creator!

Friends in Christ!

Today was Memorial Day and it was a beautiful one here in Connecticut. We remember and thank God for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us to enjoy the freeedoms we have as citizens of the United States of America. It was also nice enough for me to get the lawn mowed, fertilized and watered. At lunchtime we were honored to have two guests in our home. The younger of the two gentlemen shown below is Vamshi Tutu Jannu and he has been worshipping at Faith Community for several weeks now. He was joined by his father who is here visiting his family from India. Dr. J. S. Paranjyothi is the Director and Correspondent for the Oasis Public School in Warangal, A. P. India. We were honored to have the oportunity to meet and visit with Dr. Paranjyothi and his son as we shared our lunchtime meal together in the back yard.

Barb presented the food in our gazebo where we gathered for prayer and to fill our plates. Then we moved outside into the glorious sunshine and enjoyed our meal of BBQ chicken, roasted new potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and strawberries with ice cream for dessert. Barb and I were delighted to learn about Tutu's family, life in India, and Dr. Paranjyothi's many travels around the world.

When we finished our meal, we enjoyed more conversation, took a few pictures, and presented Tutu's dad with a copy of my father's book written about his 6 months teaching at a Seminary in India following his retirement from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. This gift was well received and may help inspire a book to record Dr. Paranjyothi's encounter's with American educational systems. We learned that Tutu's father had visited about 16 different school systems while here in the United States.

What a joy it was to open our home to these wonderful friends in Christ who invited us to begin planning now for a visit to India. We ask you to join us in praying for Tutu's dad as he begin's his return trip to India tomorrow with a stopover in Dubai on the way. And you can also pray for Tutu who is scheduled to complete his current training this Saturday and then begin looking for a job.

Friday Reflections

It's a beautiful Friday in New England. Just wanted to record a few thoughts before I go to my prayer group this morning. First, my daughter-in-law Jen lost her grandmother earlier this week and her funeral is today. This loss was especially tough since "Nana" had raised Jen for most of her life and they had a very special bond. I am praying for God's grace and comfort to be Jen's in full measure. This also happens to be Josh and Jen's second anniversary, which makes it even tougher for them. Here is a picture taken one Christmas of Nana, Jennifer and Erin.

Here is a great story of what happened to me this week. Let me begin by saying my son Shawn has a saying about people who work in fast food restaurants. He says, in order to get a job in a fast food restaurant you need to pass a "stupid test". He may be right, you can decide for yourself after you hear my story. On Tuesday afternoon I went to the bank to use my ATM card and get some cash. Then I stopped by Wendy's for a soda and a chance to read my Bible. At three in the afternoon most fast food restaurants aren't very busy and Wendy's was empty. I ordered my soda and when it was delivered, I picked up a straw and took a seat by the window to read my Bible. A woman came in, she had just gone through the drive-through window, and they had gotten her order wrong (like that's never happened before!) so she got her french fries and left. Then a man came in and ordered a salad, and when he got it he left. I was the only person in the restaurant, the only customer in the entire seating area. I heard the staff talking and laughing, not surprising for an empty restaurant, but kept reading my Bible. A few minutes later, my cell phone rang. It was my son Shawn calling to tell me Wendy's had just called the house to let me know I had left my wallet there! They had looked in my wallet for my license and looked up my phone number to call my house. Never mind that my license has my picture on it and I am the only customer in the restaurant and they couldn't figure out whose wallet it was. Must have passed the "TEST"!

I wonder where this gas price increase is going to end. March 28th regular sold for $3.64.9 and this morning it was $4.19.9. It really hurts and we are going to have to change our driving habits if we are to get by.

This week Barb has had me working on painting our spare bedroom where she stripped off the old wallpaper and wants to paint it and put up a border. Here's how it looked earlier this week, it has now been primed and one coat of paint has been applied. We'll show you the finished product when we get it completed.

Pictured below is our friend John. He is currently in India where he has gone for a month to attend his sister's wedding. John plans to return to our area on June 12th and resume his job search but we pray he has a great time with his family and friends attending his sister's wedding.

Here is another of the folks from India who have been worshipping with us. Vamshi Tutu graduated last Saturday from Southern New Hampshire College in Manchester, NH. Congratulations to Tutu on a job well done. When he completes the training he has come to Connecticut to get, he will be moving on just as John and Anne have done.

On Tuesday evening we had a young couple from our church over for supper. Nick and Beth are from West Virgina but they are also in the area because of school. Beth is attending UConn's Law School. Nick is an engineer. We had a wonderful evening sharing about their life journeys and learning about their plans for the future. Beth leaves this weekend to return to West Virgina where she has an internship with a large law firm there. Nick will be left alone and we have offered to allow him to spend time and share meals with us. Beth will return in 10 weeks for her last year of law school.

This is Memorial Day weekend and I wonder how many of us really know what this holiday is about. Originally Decoration Day, it was a time to remember and decorate with flowers the graves of the fallen soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic, (the north in the Civil war).
I hope you will take some time to remember those who have died to keep us free.

Shad Derby Day

Saturday, May 17th, was Shad Derby Day in Windsor, CT. The day was a wonderful one filled with sunshine, ministry and shared adventures. The day began as volunteers met at Faith Community to load up our 40 cases of water bottles, a canopy, a table, some chairs and containers, signs and assorted other necessities. Then we were off to set up at site 34 on the town green.

As people would come by our canopy we would offer them free water bottles which had labels explaining the bottled water was a gift from Faith Community Church of Windsor, given in Jesus name. The label also included a quote of Jesus when he said, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again..." We also had prepared to share various tracts to help us share the good news of Jesus. To help us do that, Mr. Ray Cobb, who had earlier shared The Way of the Master evangelism training with our church, came from Attleboro, MA to join us for the day. What an encouragementt he was to us. Here is Ray taking a break from sharing to watch some of the Shad Derby Day Parade as it passed our location.

When the parade was over we had been able to give away all 1,400 water bottles, have wonderful conversations with many folks about why we were doing this, tell some people about the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus and even invite a couple who was new to the area to come visit during one of our worship services. It was a wonderful day of obedience to Jesus. I wonder what else God is going to show us we need to be doing for him?

Locked and Loaded

"Locked and Loaded" is military expression for a soldier who has his weapon all ready to go into combat. For two weeks the members of Faith Community Church in Windsor have been preparing for Shad Derby Day, a special community celebration in Windsor set for Saturday, May 17th. The preparation has involved taping labels on 1,400 water bottle that will be given

out free to folks who attend this downtown Windsor celebration and parade. This will be our third year of sharing the love of Christ in this manner, and we are now "locked and loaded"!

In addition to the water bottles, this year we will be sharing the gospel using several evangelism tools we have become aware of through "The Way of the Master". We are praying for God to give us a wonderful day of sharing His love and the good news of the gospel with the folks of Windsor. We could not have done it without the help of many volunteers who spent the time preparing the bottles and the many others who will spend the day giving them out.

I look forward to sharing some more pictures and information following our adventure tomorrow! I wonder what exciting things God will give me to share with you following our participation in Shad Derby Day?

Mealtime

In the gospels there are many accounts of Jesus dining with people from the community where he was. It appears that he often used those times to befriend people and speak of things often questioned or misunderstood. (I have often wished I could have been there when Jesus ate with Zaccheus or had his feet anointed with expensive perfume.) I have become increasingly convincd that meals are one of the greatest opportunities we have today to build friendships and share with people about important matters which may be questioned or misunderstood.

This is true for Barb and I as we seek to become salt and light where we live. We have carried welcoming pies or brownies to the last three families who have moved into our neighborhood. We have had the folks who live on each side of us in for a meal. And today we were honored when our next door neighbors invited Barb and I to their home for lunch.

It was special for several reasons. First, it marks the next step in our developing friendship. Next, the invitation came as they were preparing to say goodbye to their oldest son who leaves tomorrow to return to Japan where he serves as a member of the US Marine Corp and their daughter who is returning to Pakistan with their newborn granddaughter. And finally, it represents a sharing of cultures and faiths. They are from Pakistan and are of the Muslim faith.

The meal was wonderful (although I confess it was my first time eating goat) and gave us the chance to sample foods with very different spices. We shared stories of our families, tales of traveling woes in this day of heigthened security, and dreams about what we want in the future.

We ask you to pray for safe travel for those who will be traveling in the days ahead and for our growing friendship with our neighbors. Barb had a wonderful time playing grandma to the baby and we feel another step has been taken toward a deep friendship being forged. We hope to share additional meals in the future and can only wonder what God may have in store as we seek to demonstrate the love of Christ to those with whom we share our lives!

Family Update

A number of you have inquired about my daughter-in-laws who have faced medical problems and I wanted to give you a quick update on Kelly and Jennifer. First, and I admit I am biased, they are both wonderful! We thank God for bringing them both into our family and we pray for them regularly.

Kelly has now completed her course of Chemo. She and Robbie, upon conferring with her doctor, decided not to take the final treatment after waiting three weeks for her blood count to come back up to where they could give her the treatment. We are praying for God protection for Kelly and for her recovery from the effects of the months of chemo she has undergone. Here is Kelly on her wedding day, a beautiful bride indeed!

Jennifer had a bit of excitement a few weeks back that landed her in the hospital and then had her wearing a heart monitor. Following several additional tests it was decided that Jen needed to try a beta blocker for a heart irregularity and she is currently adjusting to life on this medication. She reports her heart is still beating, and if Josh would just stop making her heart go pitter-patter, she thinks she will be fine. She is still doing a wonderful job homeschooling Erin, although if she's not careful, Erin may end up with penmanship like Josh's! Here is Jennifer with her heart beating too fast because of the dude she's with!

I want to thank all of you who prayed for the girls in recent weeks and please don't stop, they are still married to our sons, and thus, in need of much prayer!

Around the World

The past few weeks have been filled with stories of tragedy from around the world. In Myanmar, (formerly Burma), a major cyclone brought death and devastation of almost unfathomable proportions. If we had not so recently seen what a tsunami could do, the thought of over 100,000 dead from a single disaster would be nearly impossible to imagine. Current estimates are that as many as 128,000 may have perished in Cyclone Nargis when it came ashore on May 2nd. Here are some of the survivors getting a little something to eat.

On Monday of this week, May 12th, we were stunned to learn that a major 7.9 earthquake, had shaken the central China province of Sichuan. The earthquake collapsed many buildings with current reports placing the number of dead at 15,000 with many more missing and injured. Many thousands more have been displaced when their homes were destroyed. Here is a scene from the damaged area of China.

How often I take the lack of disaster in my own life for granted. I have former youth group member who now lives with her husband and family in Palm Bay,Florida where they are facing their own form of disaster. Perhaps you have heard about the wildfires that are raging around Palm Bay that have destroyed many homes and businesses. While our friends have been spared from the flames, families in their church have lost everything. Here are some of the scenes of the devastation.

My heart goes out to these folks in each of these devastated areas. I pray that they may find hope in the face of their loss as they are shown the love and concern of Christ. But all this hardship made me wonder what Jesus had in mind when he said in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (ESV)

I wonder where my treasure is?