Happy Birthday Buddy!

We celebrated our son's 4th birthday yesterday! He had a great time with a good friend & with family! We have enjoyed having family around for the birthdays this fall.

Autumn

Appleton, Wisconsin November 7th-13th

Here is our tentative schedule:

November 7th (Wednesday) - Fly into Milwaukie

November 8th (Thursday) - "Missions Cafe" Matt & Susan sharing at Pilgrims Cafe from 6:30PM to 8:00PM

November 9th (Friday) - visiting friends throughout the day

November 10th (Saturday) - visiting friends & "Sundaes on Saturday" at 6PM and Steve Bailey speaking

November 11th (Sunday) - Main Services and "Taste of Missions" 8:30AM to 7:30PM

November 12th (Monday) - Staff missions lunch @ 12PM

November 13th (Tuesday) - Fly back to Oregon

Also, you can check out the entire conference online:
http://www.appletonalliance.org/3MissionsConference.htm

or just the schedule:

http://www.appletonalliance.org/PDF/MissionsSchedule.pdf

We are Coming to Appleton, Wisconsin!

Francais

Tonight was our first class learning French. We figur' while we are here in Oregon to see family and gather a team for support we should be learning French! We really like the teacher and it is nice to have an eve without kids. Love um- but Love my wife too.

Please pray for us!

• Our laptop computer is broken & done with. We are asking God to supply a new one. Right now we are using the people that are allowing us to stay in their home.


• Praise God for the house we get to live in


• Praise God for the jobs that Matt has been able to do for the last 2 months

Hanging Out In Oregon

We are still in Oregon, waiting. Spending time with family. It is great to be around here and celebrate weddings & birthdays.

Roadblocks, Detours, Delays

Last night as I was driving my kids & I back 'home' (Salem for today) at 10 pm, we ran into construction. Part of the road was blocked. We sat in a line for 20 minutes waiting for a lead car to forge the way through the construction zone at an amazingly slow rate of speed for about 12 miles. I had planned on being home by a certain time but was obviously delayed. We all want to hear what is going to happen next in life. I have been asked many times, "What does the next 5 years of your life look like?" I have decided that only those in control of their own lives have the luxury of answering that kind of question with certainty. We are not in control of our lives. People ask us, "When are you going to move to France?" What I want to say is, "If God lets you in on it, please tell us, because so far he has kept it a secret."

That is our life. One detour or roadblock after another. I sometimes wonder if it has anything to do with something we have done wrong or missed doing altogether. God has never given me an answer to that. I have come to the conclusion that our life will continue to be like this indefinitely. Sometimes I envy people who have a home, a regular job, and a life which is predictable. Then I remember that is not what I signed up for, nor what I asked for. When I decided that I was no longer going to straddle the fence of Christianity that I was really going to live completely for Christ - I specifically asked God if he could make sure my life was an adventure, not mundane. I don't like to sit still and I love to have fun. Well, that is what life has been for the past 13 years. One adventure after another. It has been fun, scary, humbling, painful, and exciting. I think I am ready though to settle a bit. I keep asking God if that would be ok with him . . .

Great-Grandpa's House

We have been enjoying ourselves here in beautiful Oregon country. Grandpa (Great-Grandpa to the kids) has 12 acres at the end of a gravel road on top of a hill in front of a pioneer cemetery. Grandpa has lived here in the same home for 60 years. Wild blackberries grow everywhere and the only sound you hear at night is the sound of the wind blowing through the pines or the occasional sheep. It is the most peaceful place on earth.

Here are the kids picking berries at the smaller berry bushes (I do the taller ones on a step stool). We picked 30 cups in 2 hours.

Oregon Coast

We had such a fun time at the coast with Nana & Papa last week. We went to Depoe Bay and saw a whale right at the edge of the rocky shore! It was amazing!

Cakes

Here are the latest cakes I worked on this weekend. I keep playing around and having fun doing it. There are a couple of things I would do differently next time, but overall I was happy with the way they turned out.

Something Beautiful

Society has a confused idea what love looks like but God's love is pure and true!

Our girls with the help of Newsboys show us that God's love is beautiful!

Thanks girls! Peace Daddy