QUESTION OF THE DAY

Of your contemporaries whom you have never met, which one has had the great influence on you personally?

CONVERSATIONS WITH LUCY

Oh Lucy, You are such a good girl. You are so smart and pretty!

Nahhh...I'm just pitty.

CONVERSATIONS WITH BOWDEN

Daddy, do you know what?

What?

Sometimes I'm foggy, but sometimes I'm claritin clear.

THE WESTERN TATES ARE GOING ON TOUR

From October 11th through the 20th we will be in Benson, VT.

I can't wait!!!

We are still trying to get Lisa to come with us...maybe Erin Salavati too.

ECCLESIASTES 7:10

Do not say,
"Why were the former days better than these?"
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

SLUMBER PARTY AT THE CHURCH IN LA VERNE

After general clean up on Saturday we loaded the staff kids into three cars and drove them up to the Bonita Avenue Church in La Verne. After a stop at In-N-Out burger we got to the church at around 8:00 pm. We "slept" at the church and stayed up way to late playing games and hanging out. On Sunday morning we walked a couple of blocks to a doughnut shop, and then it was back to the church where I was scheduled to preach at 10:45. It was a lot of fun and I was grateful to the folks at La Verne for letting us use their building for our slumber party and for the opportunity to speak. Sorry Sarah isn't in any of these pictures. She took the pictures in front of the sign, and she was busy with Bowden, Lucy and Jack most of the rest of the time. Bowden and Lucy were running around that church like monkeys loose in a banana store



For more pictures of our time in La Verne visits Lisa's blog.

BOWDEN LOVES THE STAFF KIDS

SASQUATCH

You'll find no shelter here.
The front line is everywhere.

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521), Portuguese explorer:

The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.

IT RAINED TODAY

It started raining while I was in town having lunch with Pastor Tim at Arribas. It rained buckets and buckets and flooded the bowl where King's Kamp had constructed a life-size pirate ship for their pirate-themed week. How ironic would it have been if their ship had been washed away.



Despite the rain I was still able to put my outside crew to work. Everyday some unlucky folk rotate out of the kitchen to work with me outside. Luckily we got all of the firewood unloaded, stacked and covered with a tarp before it began raining. Nick and Nathanael helped me frame out a partition for thre A-frame. Nathanael had more expertise than Nick and I, and I was glad it was his day to work outside. Frankly, it is all I can do to get dressed in the morning, and even that baffles me sometimes. I am always grateful to be paired with someone who has some mechanical ability.




Thank God for the rain. It has been months and months since we have seen any.

I can relate.

CHICKEN AND WAFFLES AND JESUS

We had the staff over tonight for a bible study and a chicken & waffle dinner. Thanks to our friends, the Irvings, I was recently introduced to the flavor explosion that is Chicken and Waffles, and I thought we could pull off a reasonably good imitation. I think everybody was surprised by how good it was.




Nathanael Peck worked up an appetite today splitting wood out on the ballfield.






Sorry, the pictures of the Bible study are a little grainy. It was a good night. The fellowship and discussion were as sweet as kool aid and as substantial as a chicken and waffle dinner.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

If you had to speak for the rest of your life with a foreign accent, which one would you select to replace your natural voice?

I'M VERY PROUD OF MY BROTHER JOB WHO JUST RECENTLY GRADUATED FROM BOOT CAMP AND WHO IS A SEABEE IN THE U.S. NAVY RESERVES

THE PECKS ARE HERE!!!

Sarah and Bowden made a sign so we could find them at the airport.




It is so exciting to have the Pecks here!!! We are putting them right to work. That good ol' yankee work ethic. We were sad that Kaitlin and Angelica Barr left, but the arrival of the Pecks has softened the blow a little.

Hooray for the Pecks!!!

We are excited about reaping the dividends from all of Kevin and Carla's parenting.