~My 3 other helpers that helped me this week~

~Since I have had gestational diabetes with my last 2 babies, I'm trying to be careful of what I eat during this pregnancy. We have not been making or eating desserts, but last night I was hungry for something. I found a recipe in the kids cookbook that only called for 3 Tablespoons of sugar for 12 muffins. (And then you fill the center with a tablespoon of your favorite jam.) Since we had Splenda sweetened Smuckers Strawberry jam, I knew that baby and I wouldn't be getting too much sugar. Kimberly was busy, so I laid on the couch and coached Sarah and Noah on how to make these muffins. =) All was going well, until I told Sarah that we needed a Tablespoon of baking powder (and I said, "The big one" (meaning the big spoon.) Well, I looked over and saw her dutifully filling a 1 CUP MEASURING CUP WITH BAKING POWDER!! =D Thankfully, I got her to switch to a Tablespoon just in time. Later after the muffins were all made she confessed that she didn't measure the 1 cup of milk, that she just DUMPED! HELP!~
~Thankfully, the Lord had mercy on our muffins and they were very good. (I think Kimberly wants to post the recipe later on our family blog.) Sarah and Noah have also been helping run errands, wash dishes, set the table, etc.~
~And here...is my other sweet HELPER!! Need I say more? =D
Please do pray for Phillip. He is to return to us tomorrow. However, he has never received a receipt for the ticket he bought. So, when he gets to the airport in the morning, please pray that he can fly home. For he is 24 hours away, and that would mean buy another ticket which would be Expensive last minute, or he would have to take a miserable 24 hour bus ride home, getting home on Tuesday. We (and He) are past READY to be together!! It has been a long week apart.

~God sent baby and I 3 "angels" this week~

~Thank you for your kind comments and prayers for Baby and I. God has been helping us and I've been obeying my orders to be on bedrest. (Shhh! Don't tell anyone that I'm posting this post really quickly. =) Phillip has been teaching and preaching at our other churches this week. So, though his heart was here, he could not be. So God has sent me 3 angels that have helped me tremondously this week. Kimberly has been my nurse, and house keeper, and Jimmy and Farly have kept our children, and made us a couple meals too. I have felt badly for Kimberly. For a 12 year old, she has done TONS of work this week. She has cooked the meals, washed the dishes, washed the clothes, hung them to dry, brought down the dry clothes, folded those, put those away, cleaned the house, and much more. Here I am sitting on the couch peeling potatoes to try to help lift Kimberly's load a little.~~A yummy Breakfast that Kimberly prepared me.~
~Kimberly hanging some clothes on the ceiling in our kitchen to dry since it was raining outside.~
~Kimberly has been teaching Noah for me too. It's sort of hard to lay down and teach out of a huge notebook. =) Kimberly, Thank you for all you have done for Mommy and your baby brother or sister! May God richly bless you for your tiredless efforts. I love you TONS!~
~Our yummy lunch that Kimberly made (with my guidance) for us today. A salad, creamed potatoes, porcipine meatballs, a squash casserole that she made into a "sweet potato casserole", and a fried platano that Sis. Farly fried yesterday.
~Jimmy and Farly have been life-savers as well! They came on Tuesday, the day that I had the scare. Sis. Farly made me a delicious lunch, and then they offered to take Elijah and keep him for a couple nights. As hard as it was for me to say goodbye to Elijah, I knew that I was feeling way too weak to have him crawling all over me, etc. They took Sarah along too, to help care for Elijah. Last night they kept Noah as well.
Muchimas Gracias, pastor Jimmy y hermana Farly. Ustedes son angeles del cielo para mi! Que Dios les paga ricamente por todo que ustedes hicerion para nuestra familia. Nunca vamos a olvidar las cosas preciosas que ustedes han hecho. Les queremos mucho!!!

Lord willing, we are going to find a good OBGYN doctor in North Bogota to care for baby and I until we fly back to the USA to deliver there. Please pray that God will guide us to the right doctor. Thank you!!

~Update on Baby and I!~

After attending church on Sunday and then walking about 3-4 miles on Monday, baby and I had a BIG scare on Tuesday. So, according to nurses orders, we are on complete bed rest for some time. Your prayers are appreciated. Pastor Jimmy and Sis. Farly are keeping Elijah and Sarah for a couple nights or so so that I can rest. Kimberly and Noah are doing a good job cooking the meals, washing the dishes and taking care of Mommy. I'll post again as soon as I can.

~Deputation in PA and TN~

This post is the last of our deputation pictures from Deputation 2009! We had 3 more services, but I have already posted about those before Christmas.
~In October, On the way to a service in York, PA...we were so glad that it worked out for us to get together with our friends the Doug Hoffmans. We had only met one time at IHC in April 2005, but we had kept in contact with each other through email, blogs, and phone calls. They are missionaries to Dominican Republic. Here are our kids and theirs.~
~Kim and I. We put together breakfast. Then they treated us to pizza for lunch (and wouldn't let us pay half=) and let us park our motorhome at their home, shower, and do some laundry. We really enjoyed getting to catch up on each other's lives.~
~Doug and Phillip sharing good ideas on ministry, teaching material, etc.~
~The Doug Hoffman family and ours at Penn View Bible Academy playground.~
~Next we went to Jeff and Rebecca Paulus' house and really enjoyed some time with them. On Wed. night, Nov. 18th, we had a service at their church. Here Jeffery is giving our kids and his brothers and sister a ride in their wagon.~
~Here is a picture of Rebecca Paulus and I. Some people have thought that Becca and I look a lot alike. When my Mother-in-law, Sherry Dickinson, first saw me at GBS, she asked me what in the world was I doing there? I told her I was coming to school. She said that I was supposed to be married and living in PA! She thought that I was Rebecca. =D Little did she know, that I would end up marrying her son. =) It was fun being with Rebecca. We played Christmas songs on the piano and keyboard together, had nice chats, and she is the one that gave me the adorable children's sled that I used to decorate with at Christmas time! ~
~Eating a yummy meal with the Pauluses.~
~Rebecca called me a few days before we got to their house and told me that on Thursday morning, there would be a reinactment of the Gettysburg Address. That date marked an Anniversary of the Gettysburg address in Gettysburg, PA. So, she and her kids and our family went to it and enjoyed it. Here is their Katie and our Elijah trying not to get wet.~
~Some ladies dressed up~
~"Abraham Lincoln" speaking.~
~"Abraham Lincoln" sitting in the middle with the tall hat.~
~The Paulus kids and ours.~

~After we left Gettysburg, PA, we were VERY EXCITED...for we were driving to Tennessee for a service and to spend time with my Grandmother (My Mom's Mom) who had nearly died back in June/July! We really enjoyed getting to spend time with her and Uncle Dan, Aunt Carole, the Hobbs, my cousin Esther, and others.~

~The Hobbs, Uncle Dan, Aunt Carole, and our family enjoyed a delcious meal and a fun time of fellowship at Cracker Barrell.~
~Mr. Jim and Mrs. Sheryl with Elijah.~
~Kimberly and Cody shooting checkers across the room with the Jack in the boxes. =)~
~Phillip got this precious picture of GG having her devotions! Thank the Lord that GG and Pop Pop found Jesus years ago...for it has made all the difference in all of our lives!~
~My cousin Esther, Myself and Elijah, Aunt Carole, and GG in GG's kitchen!~
~On Sunday morning November 22nd, we went to Uncle Carson and Aunt Linda's church for a service. Martha and Larry were in town so it was so fun to be with them as well as Uncle Carson, Aunt Linda, and Jeff and Susan and boys! Here is a picture of all of our kids except one who was sleeping!~
~Martha, Heather, and Susan.~
~Uncle Carson and Little Elijah.~
~Sunday night, we had a service at GG's church in Tenn. Were we ever SHOCKED when the Ryans walked into our service. They are the ministers of music at our Christian Nation Church in Ohio. They had been down in Tenn. for the weekend and thought it would be fun to surprise us. They did just that! =) Steff, (and Jessica), Heather, and Esther.~
~Phillip and Rob Ryan.~
~In May 2005 our family moved down to Costa Rica to study Spanish for one year! It was a very stressful year with having 3 children (Noah was 16 months), homeschooling Kimberly, and both Phillip and I going to school full time to learn Spanish. The Lord really helped us. We had been there about 4 months and had had our share of culture shock, and missing home, when we got the very exciting news that a couple that we had met were coming down to Costa Rica to study Spanish also. It was Zack and Sarah (Rundell) Robberts. Sarah, of course, had been raised speaking Spanish, but did take a few classes as well.) They and our family soon became fast friends and shared many a Sunday dinner, went on fun outings, went to church each Sunday together, and made wonderful memories spending Thanksgiving and Christmas together. (Neither Sarah nor I had ever cooked a turkey, so we learned together. =) Then in December, we all had to leave Costa Rica to renew our visas, so we made a very memorable trip to Bocas Del Torro, Panama. All that to say, that we parted ways in May 2006, when we came back to the USA to gather our things and move to Colombia, and they finished schooling and headed to Hondurus. We had not seen each other since then. So, it was a DELIGHT to get to be together again with "Uncle Zach and Aunt Sarah" at Daddy and Moma's house this past Thanksgiving time. We enjoyed many laughs...remembering that 8 months that we had spent together in Costa Rica. =D~
~On December 1st, we cleaned out and cleaned up the nice motorhome that the DeMints had graciously loaned us and took it back to them. Here is their Joanna and our children playing for a few minutes while we said our Thanks. Then since it was LATE, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Goshen, OH.~

~Missouri, KS, and Ohio~

Thank you for all the nice comments and prayers for baby #5! God is helping me. I'm tired and nauseated, but thank the Lord the nausea seems to be less with this one. I'm 2 months this week. God and my family are really helping me and school and household chores are getting done. =) Sarah's sugar seems to be fine, sometimes a little low, but we are having regular meals and she is fine. Elijah's ear infections have gone away, Thank the Lord. We all have had colds, probably from being worn out when we got here, and from the weather changes from the USA to here! God sent us a great and honest technician that fixed our refrigerator as good as new. We have had some internet problems but are hoping to change companies tomorrow so that we will have dependable internet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here is the next to last post of our deputation services. =)
In between services in November, we were able to stop by and see Phillip's cousin Lisa and her family. We enjoyed a couple days with them.~~They let our girls bottle feed their cows.~
~On November 4th, we held a service in RoseHill, KS. Aaron and Jodie were wonderful host/hostess and we surely enjoyed staying in their beautiful home, eating Jodie's good cooking, and our kids had a blast playing with theirs. Jodie and Phillip had grown up together in AZ, so we had fun listening to them share lots of their memories from those days. ~
~Their kids and ours.~
~Our last night there we went out with Jodie and her kids, (Aaron had to be away), Sis. Joyce, and Larry and Annette and one of their daughters.~
~Phillip was very glad that it worked out for him to see his Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy on His Dad's side, and his Aunt Donna on his Mom's side. =)~
~Then on Saturday, November 7th, we were delighted to spend some time and eat a DELICIOUS meal with our good friends Monte and Amy Goins! We had a good time and lots of laughs, and our kids loved being together too!~
~That night we parked our motorhome at the Don Moore's home. They were very gracious to us, and her breakfast on Sunday morning was delicious as well. Since they had been missionaries to Hondurus (I believe), we had a lot of stories to share with each other.~
~They and their dear church gave us some wonderful gifts: Clothes, toys, organizing baskets, McDonald's gift card, etc. Thank you again, that was so sweet and thoughtful of y'all!~
~Sunday night, November 8th, we were at our dear friends Mark and Kathyrn Stetler's church in KS. We were happy to meet this nice couple who has adopted 9 sweet Colombian children.~
~Mark Stetler and our Elijah. Mark and I grew up running around on the same camp grounds in Pell City, AL. We then attended GBS together. Phillip and Mark were in the same GBS quartet as well. ~
~Dear Kathyrn and I worked at the music studio for Bro. Garen Wolf at GBS. We had fun recalling lots of fun memories from our College days. Mark and Kathyrn and Phillip and I even took a couple double dates together. We were so glad to see the Stetlers...for I think it had been since 1999 or so since we had seen them.~
~On Monday, November 9th, we were happy to drive back out east again. We had a blast and a yummy meal at our family, the Hausmans' house.~
~November 11th-15th we held a revival for our dear friends, the Jim Kemps, in Washington Quarthouse, OH. Since Elijah couldn't sing up front with us yet, after nearly every service, he would head straight up front, stand behind the altar and grab a mic and start "singing". Bless Bro. Kemps heart...he gave Elijah this real mic that didn't work anymore and that became Elijah's favorite toy. Even driving down the road he would be "bellering" in his mic. =)~
~Bro. and Sis. Kemp had attended the church that Phillip pastored in AZ. We have lots of great memories from the past...and made a lot more this week! Sis. Kemp served us some very delicious and beautiful meals.~
~They gave our family "Christmas in November!~ We loved all of our neat and fun gifts that they gave us! Thank You, Kemps!~
~The Kemps and My parents planned a surprise...Daddy and Moma drove over to be with all of us for Friday afternoon and night, and Saturday morning. We had a lot of fun being with them and the Kemps.~
~Elijah did NOT want to say goodbye to Gram and Gramp. It was pitiful. He kept crawling onto Gram's lap. Then when we got him out and shut the door, he saw that Gramp's door was still open, so he quickly ran around the car and climbed in that way. =)~
~Dear Bro. and Sis. Kemp and the lovely church building that God has provided for them!! God helped and gave us a good revival.~
~The Kemps daughter, Lori and I. ~