Red faced and Egg on the face, too....

Well, tomorrow morning on my calendar was the Play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". We have been so excited all week about going, with my 8yo picking out a nice Christmas outfit, talking about play etiquette and even having a back-up plan in case one of the vehicles wasn't out of the shop in time. Well, this afternoon I get online to check my emails and a friend had written "Missed you at the play" --- huh?? Yep. It was this morning, not tomorrow as my "live or die by calendar" said. And had I gotten at least 3 emails referring to the play on THURSDAY? Yep. Had it registered in my scatterbrain that my calendar said FRIDAY? Nope. And who posted the information on our group's master e-calendar? Oh, that would be me. And who scheduled the reminders to go out to the group about the play? Ummm.... yep, me too.And who was the very first person to sign up for that play? Yours truly. So I am not only thoroughly disappointed but also thoroughly wiping the egg off my face! Next time I will be a little more diligent in making my dates and checking them twice!

Sorry....

Well, Monday came and went and I didn't post a "Missionary Monday". Sorry. Here it is almost the end of another week and well, I have lots of excuses that you don't want to hear but let's just play catch-up by trying to get back on schedule next week, OK? Praise that my MIL is doing very well after her nasty fall on Thanksgiving "eve" and that no other people are sick, only the cars (yes, plural, part of that phrase above about "you don't want to hear"!). Thanks for all the prayers for my MIL.

Tonight our friends should be returned from Ethiopia with a much larger family (by 3!) than when they left here 10 days ago. Rejoice with them! If you haven't read their story, scroll down to the oldest postings and read them in chronological order. It will truly bless you - GOD is so very good!!

Other friends of ours are dealing with 1) an unsaved brother's terminal cancer amidst a very dysfunctional family, 2) a wayward son who seeks the truth everywhere except the one place it can be found, 3) an unplanned teen pregnancy (praise that they will have the baby!), 4) & 5) loss of jobs, 6) financial woes, 7) major church split and 8) a possible separation/divorce. All in all we are doing very well, thank you! Sometimes lately when we pray it almost smothers me and then I realize none of this is my responsibility or that I can do much of anything to help but I can pray to the One who can help. And then I am overwhelmed by the amazing fact that He lets me be part of His cure. I get to be the observer and sometimes even the one who helps give the cure to the patient. I can't help anyone, especially not even myself, and yet the Creator, the Great Physician, allows me to be a part of seeing His wonders by aching with and for my friends, by bending my knees to pray for them, by watching amazing miracles happen in the midst of heartaches and sorrow.

Truly rejoicing with some and truly aching with others - and always seeing astonishing things happen to those who trust the Lord!

One More Reason to Be Thankful

Yesterday I thought I "had it all together" and was quite pleased that I not only got 3 different salads made, everything ready to cook pies, rolls, potatoes and corn this morning (we were eating at noon), made tea, did laundry and washed dishes (twice), but also had time to go help my MIL with last-minute cleaning at her house where we were all scheduled to go eat lots and lots and lots. So here's what a reminder I got for focusing on the wrong things - my hubby's transmission went completely out, we need to get my daughter's car re-inspected after several things get fixed, and we found out a friend was ill and wouldn't be able to join us. No big deal, though. Well, shortly before midnight (yes, we were still awake), I see car lights flying down our path toward my MIL's house. Hmmmm... she had eaten dinner with us and been back at home for several hours so who could be going there at this late hour? We called her house to check on her and my niece answered the phone. My SIL and my nieces were in the "flying car" rushing to get my MIL to rush her on to the ER. She had gone out her back steps (and not turned on the light so she wouldn't wake the cat!!!), mis-stepped, and fell headfirst into a very hard, very wooden table. Long night short, after numerous tests and no less than 8 hours in the ER she returned home with 14 staples in her head! Yikes!! Thanksgiving cancelled? Oh, no! She insisted on cooking the turkey and dressing (with some help from family) and we were all very acutely reminded of how blessed we are and how very quickly life can be snatched away or dramatically changed in a matter of mili-seconds. So today we gave thanks for many, many things but most of all for the fact that my MIL did not pass out (as blood gushed from her head) before she could call for help and that she will be fine in a few days. My 8yo did her Ralph Waldo Emerson poem again and then later told us she wanted to add "and for ....(name of each family member) , Father in heaven we thank Thee." Says it all, huh?

Quick Update....

We've been a busy bunch here as I'm sure you all have, too. Over the weekend D returned from his trip to Texas, we had some of the older children home visiting Sunday afternoon, my oldest got lots of pics posted to his website from his Japanese trip, the youngest two and I participated in a Thanksgiving Feast on Monday with lots of crafts, good food, great fellowship and even had a slight shower of rain as we were giving Thanks to God for His blessings! How neat is that?! EK said the whole Emerson poem "Father In Heaven We Thank Thee" and she will have a repeat performance of it on Thursday. Today we are trying to finish our Thanksgiving Folders (like lapbooks), EK has her acro class, lots of laundry to catch up on with J home :) , and a homeschool leaders meeting tonight. Tomorrow will be one last dash to the grocers for a few items I forgot last Friday, some errands to run and prepping a congealed cranberry salad (with pecans of course!!) for Thursday's lunch at MIL's. Now I know most people have their big Turkey and fixin's at dinner time but I really like the Creech family tradition of having it at lunch. We say it's because that way we can all head off in different directions to the "other sides of the family" but mostly I think it's because it gives us an excuse to eat such a scrumptious meal twice in one day! Have a very Blessed Thanksgiving and count your blessings every day!

Thank you to all our Soldiers, Veterans and Military Families!

I know you've probably seen this, but just in case you haven't - it is a must see. Amazing that a girl of 15 has the insight to put together a piece as heart-wrenching as this. And if after viewing it you want to do something, go to THIS SITE and chose a soldier. Send them a card, letter, anything to encourage them. Please.

Texas!!

My dh is off to Texas bright and early tomorrow to look at .... trees. Nope, not fall leaves or Christmas trees but nursery stock of pecan trees. We have to decide in the next few weeks who to use as our supplier for our farm and it is such a costly and important decision (possibly THE most important one) that we decided he needed to go and see them in person. I'll post some pictures when he returns (if he can get the hang of our camera) and post lots of details on our farm blog, too. In the meantime, we will keep on slogging here at home with school and Bible Quiz meeting and Gran's house to get ready for Thanksgiving (don't ask!) as well as all the "normal life" stuff. Hopefully next time he returns to Texas will be to actually bring the stock back with him and I will tag along. In the meantime, my heart will be in Texas for the next few days.

Missionary Monday

Yesterday I got to meet a precious couple (call them "K&K") and their two-year-old son. Neat. For over two years we have "had dinner" with this couple and have prayed for their language studies, their cultural adjustment to Asia, the birth of their son, the many things that they have encountered while being half-way around the world from friends and family to serve the Christ that they love. We found out about them from our friend who was then Youth Pastor to my 2nd and 3rd children. His daughters became good friends of our daughter's, even after they moved to another state and we have kept up with K&K through these friends and felt as if we knew them. Today we were blessed with making that a reality! Pray for them as they complete their "vacation" time in the states and then return to a very cold (literally and spiritually) region of the world. Pray for an easy transition for the 2-year-old who has been on the road with Mom and Dad for many weeks. Pray for the blessings of more children if it be the Lord's will. Pray that their language skills will continue to improve and that they will remain healthy in the midst of much sickness in their city. And Praise that you, too, will meet them face to face someday if you know our Savior! Won't we all have fun celebrating in HIS presence in every tongue and every race and every culture for ever and ever?!

Awanas

We love Awanas. Our children learn an amazing amount of scripture, biblical truths and discipline of the mind, all while having loads of fun. Here is my "widow with her two mites" on October 31st "Bible Heroes Night" at Awanas:

and here are the two cars my children raced in the Awanas Gran Prix: Emma's "Jewel-y" truck (note "bed of roses" in truck bed!) got 3rd place for design (yes, that's google eyes and purple sunglasses!)

and Ethan's got 3rd place for speed (note the "guns" on top - what a difference between boys and girls!)

out of all of these cars:

What the major news won't tell you...

A wonderful image of one of the results of our presence in Iraq. Regardless of what each of us feels about this war, we must support our troops there and remember that even the worst situations can be turned to good with God's Hand. Go HERE to read about this story by Michael Yon of how Muslims invited soldiers to join them in replacing the cross atop a Christian church.

Aborted Abortion

Amazing story of how man's attempt to end a life ended up showing God's mercy! Go read it HERE and thank the Lord for every new life.

Missionary Monday

Do you know an elderly lady that is in her late 70s? How does she spend her days? Well, there is a dear woman 76 years of age in dire need of your prayers. She is currently imprisoned in China - why? What terrible crime did she commit? She believes in Jesus Christ and has a son who preaches the hope of Christ's death and resurrection. So she is in prison. Arrested within a stone's throw of a 2008 Olympic stadium being built in large part to show the world that China is "normal" and "civilized". Want more info about her? Go to the VOM website and read about her and other prisoners who suffer untold pain just because they live in a place where the darkness hates the light.

1 Cor. 12:26 "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it."
And Matthew 25:39-40 "Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. "

Fall fun

So here are Emma and Ethan with some of their tree identification rubbings and our traditional "waxed paper leaves" - this was perfect timing for studying trees.
And then here they are getting ready to record the measurement of their plants (we are recording the germination time and rate of growth for 3 different seeds)
We had rain last week when friends were over and they all had a blast making a "dam" to build "the world's biggest mud puddle"! Funny but I didn't realize until this week that our next study was on dams and bridges - again, great timing!Big brother "alien" ??
Hmmmmm.......