Drink more coffee from smiley mugs

Poor Ben. He broke his big toe last week. I tried to get him to prop it up quite a bit this weekend which he did mostly. That gave him the opportunity to play ancient Nintendo games he and his dad rustled up from some dark corner of the globe. Yes, it brought back fond memories to hear the tunes from the old Mario, Pro Wrestler, and that game where you rescue the POW's (I can't recall the name.) This week he'll have to return to more lowly pursuits like chores and schoolwork.

Ben, Amy and I went to a basketball game on Friday night between our homeschool team and another one. We watched our pastor's sons playing for the Jr. High and High School teams. I had a great time watching Trevor and Jamey play. It was just fun hanging out with Miriam (their mom) and cheering them on. Their grandparents were also there and Celia, of course. For more on her see her dad's blog.

When we stepped outside it was C-C-COLD! I must admit at times when the temperature drops that much, ::let me put this delicately:: shall we say, I am not quite as happy as I could be.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a very special day. The young adults who attended the college winter conference at a nearby campground came to our church for services and lunch afterwards. Our congregation had been looking forward to having this group for quite a while and the ladies of the church were out in full force to provide a large spread for everyone. These ladies really do an excellent job of planning, coordinating and pulling off a meal for a large crowd (over 200 people including our church body). We have some great cooks here and we eat together basically every week either for lunch or for dinner on Sundays so these ladies have a lot of experience serving food. I love to work alongside them.

This Sabbath was also special because one of the men that Robert discipled joined our church and was baptized. Greg stood up and read his testimony of God's deliverance in his life and spoke of the Lord's gracious dealing to him through Robert Jones. It was very touching. Greg's mom, dad, step-mom, sister, nieces and nephew were there to share his special day.

We also said a formal, church wide good-bye to the son of one of our elders. Brandon Fisher, his wife, Megan, and their baby daughter will be moving to Australia in a couple of week. Brandon will take a regular job so that he and his family can attend a small RP church, and be an encouragement for the kingdom of Christ as a Christian family living in a largely secular society. They have a burden very much like ours for Scotland except that my husband is called to be a pastor. I have the highest respect for any Christian family who will move anywhere because they want to further Christ’s kingdom.

It was fabulous to see so many familiar faces in the college crowd last Sunday. The funny thing is that I'm getting to know many of them in blogsphere. I did a double take at one guy and said to him, "Hey, I know you, you're the Shock Box." He grinned. I found out his real name is Christopher (I think.) The world grows smaller and friendlier everyday.

Speaking of friendlier, here's a picture of two mugs given to me by one of my Latin/English Grammar students (my good little friend Sidney Camery). Now isn't that just cuteness in cup form?