Back in the Saddle

After a break for Christmas, we feel like we are getting back into our missionary candidate role, going out and seeing old friends, meeting new faces, and sharing our testimony!  Sunday morning we visited a wonderful little church near Metamora called Cazenovia Mennonite.

 

 

You may remember us sharing about our friends, Joe and Judy, who helped us tremendously by moving our belongings from Kentucky to Illinois for us last July.  This is their home church, and what a lovely group of people!  After giving us their Sunday morning service, they came around us to pray, then served us a delicious Sunday lunch!  It's amazing what acts of kindness like that do to encourage our hearts as we traverse this journey to Albania.

 

Yesterday we kept this baby (below) fed and humming.  As most of you are aware (or experiencing yourself), the Midwest was hit with a regular Arctic blast.

 



 

This winter Mom and Dad installed a pellet stove in the farm house, and oh what a blessing it's been!  Several years of "town living" softened this ol' farm girl to where she forgot the joys of living in a drafty, uninsulated farm house with cold floors. Enter the pellet stove, the lazy man's way to experience true wood heat without the work and mess of carrying in armloads of fire wood. All you do is dump a bag of pellets (or corn kernels) into the hopper, flip a switch, and watch her light! I consider the occasional chill to be good conditioning for next winter, though I'm afraid this isn't helping my fire-starting skills. :-)

 

 

This cold weather came just in time to remind us why we're headed south for our next set of visits. :-) It wasn't fun packing the RV when the temps were in the single digits (with a brisk wind added, to boot).

 

 

I was extra grateful for my husband who risked his digits in the freezing temps to get the RV ready for her next road trip.  We are now making our way down to Kentucky -- spending the night tonight with some dear friends and their children, then from there we're headed to North Carolina!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your prayers as we travel many miles.  The kids are in great spirits and so far we are good and healthy!  I wish I could say as much about the RV.  After getting her in the shop again, the pesky squeal of a belt under the hood has returned and is an ever present stresser, leaving us wondering if the alternator is charging the battery.  If I want to be positive, it's a constant reminder to trust in God's provision, even in this!