Insta Life

The calendar says it's officially summer and it's like my body intuitively 'knew'... time for a break. 

Thank goodness for Instagram. On days too lazy to pull out the 'real' camera (assuming it was even charged) and blog, I can still capture and post a few moments with the iPod. 

I still have images to share from our trip to Kentucky, but in case you're not on Instagram, here are a few from Indiana until then...

Nathan and I were invited to participate in a few days of training during Field Director's meetings at WGM.  Given that some of the information had been covered at other trainings we've attended this past year, we chose to come on the days when the issues of crisis management and member care were being discussed.  Interesting, interesting stuff.  While you think bad things always happen to other people, it's good to be prepared in case it happens to you.  So many things to consider when moving one's family overseas -- while we tend to think about things like school and access to medical care, we also have to consider matters like evacuation plans and contingencies in case of natural disasters or civil unrest.

We were very glad that our meetings at WGM took place in the days leading up to the wedding of a former cabinet member, Maria.  Maria and I were put together in a mentor/mentee relationship through Asbury's women's ministry program my final year in Kentucky.  Her wedding took place on county fairgrounds just half an hour west of WGM.

A very strong thunderstorm delayed the proceedings and forced it indoors, but it was beautiful nevertheless!

Extra special was that we got to sit at a table of former Asbury students.  SO fun!  Abby and Anna were present (Abby was a bridesmaid) and Nathan reminded us that the next time we will all be together will be at the airport in Albania!  Maria and Scott were very gracious and in lieu of favors made a donation to Abby and Anna's Albania fund.  To those of you who have given to Ellie and Reni's future teachers, THANK YOU!

 The morning after Scott and Maria's wedding, we were blessed to visit First Church of God in Eaton.  They were the first church to open their doors to us and we wanted to return to give them a status report and say "thanks."  Sadly, this is the only photo I got!

I really, really dropped the ball and didn't get a photo of us with Nathan's cousin, Kathi, who treated us to lunch after church.  It was a rare time to visit with just her (Uncle Jack and Aunt Ruth were out of town), but we had a really nice time!  Thank you, Kathi!

On the way home we stopped by the Bachmans where Mom and Dad were taking part in a little mini-Fellowship of Christian Farmers reunion.  Mom and Dad had been caring for Ellie and Reni while we were in IN so we stopped in to pick up the kids.  Ellie and Reni had already made friends with Joe and Judy's grandkids when we arrived.  When we walked in, E&R looked up, saw us and said, "You can come back later!"

Tuesday night we had quite the storm blow through.  You can see the corn leaning below.  The next morning we found two large pieces of heavy corrugated metal siding in the back yard.  The wind had come from the west and the closest building in that direction is at least 1 mile away!

This week we have had som nice evenings for walks on our road ... and splashing in puddles after thunderstorms.

Or swimming at Gigi's mini water park ... where the kids converted Aunt Bug's former Barbie dream house into a rocket ship.

Of course all the fresh air and summer activity shows that Reni still needs one of these... as much as he doth protest his maturity and lack of need.

While the kids were keeping themselves busy enjoying the great outdoors, I've been busy at my desk (I just finished up two big projects which I will share about on another post). But in all our traveling here and there, I wasn't keeping a good eye on my stationery supplies.  One day I realized we were at the very bottom of our stack of thank-you cards, lacking enough to get caught up with our list. So I scoured our office closet for supplies and gave Nathan my idea of an alternative homemade card that we could make with what we had on hand.  He produced what you see below...  I love it! 

Hope you all are having a good summer, slowing down enough to catch fireflies, take walks, swing on your porch swing...

...and if you're driving down the road and see an RV, may it be a reminder to you (as it is to our friend Jonathan) to pray for our family!  We're not on the road right now, but still working behind the scenes and in need of your prayers as we prepare for Albania.