Ilva's Christmas Cactus

The Christmas Cactus I bought from Ilva Hertzler when they had a garage sale is blooming beautifully! Ilva, it makes me think of you and I prayed for you yesterday.

The Weekend

It has been snowing since about Thursday. It hasn't been snowing fast, but we have had a few inches each day. I think we must be getting close to having a foot of snow on the ground now. I really need to get the snowblower out tomorrow and clear my driveway.

Yesterday morning the Cornerstone Christian School students had their pancake breakfast . It was a fund raiser toward their travel to the ACE International Student Convention. They were really pleased with the results. They sold about 200 tickets for the breakfast.

We then went to Dryden to have lunch with John and Ladina Martin. Elaine and Dallas stayed with Henry Schrock's family while we had lunch with John and Ladina.

This morning we were at church for the morning service. Joe Ice got stuck in the snow with his wheel chair on the way to church. I had to go and push him to the church. After church we went to David and Freida Herschberger's house for lunch. Today is Freida's birthday. This afternoon there was a drop-in birthday party for her. We had a wonderful time with them.

This evening we have our communion service at church. I am looking forward to a good time of fellowship and sharing with the other church members.

Here are a few of the students with some of the proceeds from the breakfast.

The breakfast was held in the basement of the New Life Assembly Church. This is a view of the breakfast in progress.

Here are David and Freida on Freida's birthday.

Books I Recently Read

When we were in Thailand, I had more reading time than usual. We ate dinner and supper at the IGo center, so I didn't need to cook much. I had to be available to the children for help with schoolwork, but they didn't need me all the time. So I read!

Cat and Dog Theology by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison, describes the difference between Christians who serve God for what they get out of it, versus those who serve God to glorify and honour Him. It was an inspiring challenge to me.

I read Wang Ping's Sacrifice by Harvey Yoder to Dallas. It has several stories of Chinese Christians. Many are recent stories about people written since the year 2000. Dallas seemed to enjoy it and it made me want to read more of Harvey Yoder's books to the children. I've seen several, but never read them before. Are there any that anyone would especially recommend?

I was trying to learn more about Thai culture and Buddhist thinking. I read Working With Thais which was helpful in understanding Thai customs. It's written more from a business point of view. Ravi Zacharias' book, Conversation Between Jesus and Buddha, [I think there's something about the Lotus and the Cross in the title too] explained the differences between Christian and Buddhist Philosophy.

We met Tom Morse and his family. That sparked an interest in me to read about the 2 generations of Morses before him who have been involved in mission work in Asia many years. The Dogs May Bark but the Caravan Goes On, by Gertrude Morse gives the account of the beginning of their work. They were in Tibet, and later China, till after the communist revolution. Gertrude's husband, J. Russell, was held in a communist prison for while. Next the family were in Burma. They served among the Lisu tribe many years.

The next book [chronologically] about the family is Exodus to a Hidden Valley, by Eugene Morse. Eugene in J. Russell and Gertrude's son. He's the father of Tom who we had supper with at Rick Rhode's house. This book talks about the years the Morse family lived with the Lisu people in a remote area of Burma, after they were ordered to leave Burma by the Communist government. I marveled at the commitment, ingenuity and persistence of the Morse family. They trusted in God and helped disciple many believers.

These books would make good family reading about missionaries. There's a third one too, that I want to read the next time we go to Thailand. I forget the title of that one.

Over the years I've enjoyed learning about genetics. In an airport, I bought Mapping Human History by Steve Olson. It emphasizes how we're all linked together, and that racial feelings of superiority and prejudice have no basis when you see we are all related! He writes from an evolutionary viewpoint, but I enjoyed a lot of the book anyway.

Now I'm very gradually plowing through the book, The Earth is the Lord's by John Landis Ruth. It's a huge volume with 1132 pages before the appendixes. It gives the history of Lancaster Conference, but starts back in Switzerland with Hans Landis' martyrdom. I'm finding it interesting to read about some of Merle's ancestors and about the American Indian people living in the area they moved to.

All this reading reminds me how much fun it is to learn new things! ~Edith

Mr. Bones

Dallas has now reached PACE 1080 in ACE Science. On page 35 there is an illustration of the human skeleton, labeled "Mr. Bones". On Page 36 he is supposed to draw his own copy of "Mr. Bones" and label all the bones that are mentioned in the PACE.

Now, I remember this PACE from previous children in our household. This page in the PACE was often accomplished only after considerable "weeping and wailing". I wonder how it will go for Dallas. He doesn't seem too concerned about it yet. But then the PACE is not on the table before him with the dreaded page to be completed.

Do any of you remember drawing Mr. Bones? Were any of you permanently emotionally scarred by having to complete this PACE?

Home for the week

This week after we returned from Winnipeg we spent the rest of the week at home. We had a great time in Winnipeg. It has been quite a while since we have been there. We made our rounds of the second hand clothing stores. You may look at us real closely the next time you see us and you might be able to see something we purchased.

I did hospital visits at the end of the week. Pastor John Mamakeesic from Sandy Lake was in the hospital. He is quite elderly now. I remember him as a powerful and influential pastor and leader in the Mennonite churches here in Northwestern Ontario. He was asking about Ezra Peachy. He said someday he and Ezra will be together again in Heaven. He certainly has been a faithful servant of the Lord.

Today I loaded our snowmobile on the trailer that Dallas and I fixed up last winter. We are going to Dryden on Monday, so I am planning to drop off the snowmobile for servicing there at the dealership. It will be the first bigger trip for our trailer.

The other night I was laying down on Dallas' bed while he was trying to go to sleep. He asked me why I roll over on my side after a while. I told him it was so that I wouldn't snore. We did a few experiments with practice snoring so he could feel that snoring comes from the back of your throat. He then informed me that he sleeps on his stomach. He made this observation, "I guess that wouldn't work for you though with your big belly. It might feel like sleeping on a basketball". Now I don't think my belly is quite the size of a basketball, but maybe I should take a good look at a side view in the mirror soon!


This is the view at night from our motel room in Winnipeg. We were on the tenth floor. You can see the lighted dome of the Manitoba Legislature in the background. The little pinpoint of light at the top is the statute known as the golden boy.

Here is Elaine at Johnny's Supermarket this afternoon. She and a friend were selling tickets for their school's pancake breakfast next Saturday morning. If you are from Sioux Lookout and still don't have a ticket, you should phone and buy one from her.

Winnipeg

Edith returned home from Maryland last evening. This morning we left to bring the children to Winnipeg for their orthodontist appointments. It looks like they will both be getting braces next year sometime.

On the way out to Winnipeg, Edith asked the children what they want for Christmas. Elaine said she wants hockey skates. Without a pause Dallas said he wants a grenade launcher. I don't know what you want for Christmas, but I do know that you have a better chance of getting what you want than he has of getting a grenade launcher.

We did some shopping at the second hand stores after the orthodontist appointment. Tomorrow we will drive back to Sioux Lookout.

Balancing your checking account record

I am wondering how many of you balance your check book record with your monthly bank statement. Last week I got the feeling that perhaps many younger people no longer bother to reconcile their check book records with those of the bank. As a matter of fact, many younger people, it seems, don't even keep a record of their transactions in their checking account. They use ATM's and online banking services to check their bank balance.

With the increase in debit cards and online bill payment, it seems that many people are simply letting the bank do the accounting. On Saturday I worked on balancing my check record with my bank statements. I was surprised to find that my bank statement no longer includes a reconciliation form on the back of the bank of the statement.

Does this mean that so few people are doing this that there is no need for it? I wonder if this is an age thing. Do older people do the reconciliation, but younger people don't? Do you still reconcile your record with the bank's record? Do you keep a record of your transactions?

We are back home

We arrived home on Sunday afternoon about 4:00 PM. It was great to be back in our own house after being gone for about six weeks. Now we face the reality of life and getting back into our normal schedule. I started up the outdoor furnace when we got home and while we were in church Sunday evening it overheated because the switch that regulates the water temperature is not working. I have been trying to get a replacement.

We have had a very busy week. It seems like it takes a lot of time to catch up with everything after being gone so long. The children are adjusting to being back in a classroom at school too.

Tuesday Edith's sister Barb's husband Richard Metzger died as a result of a fall while he was working on a construction job. Edith left this morning to go to Maryland for the funeral. She flew out of International Falls and will be returning Sunday evening.

Monday we are going to Winnipeg for orthodontist appointments for Elaine and Dallas.

We do have snow here now. Below is a picture that show a little what it looks like around here now.

Ready to Return Home

We had a wonderful time in New Jersey with all of our children together. Bethanie came on schedule Tuesday evening. We were all together until this evening. Bethanie is on her way to Pennsylvania to speak at the Christian Aid Ministries open house Friday and Saturday.

We are getting ready to head for Sioux Lookout. We will leave tomorrow morning. We hope to be home by Sunday evening. Elaine and Dallas have two days of school work to do on the way home. That will help them to pass the time between here and Sioux Lookout. Monday they will be back in their classrooms with their friends at Cornerstone Christian School.

Here are a few pictures of our time together.

This is dinner at the Montville Diner in Montville, NJ.

Some people have to look right into the lens of the camera!

Here are the pleased parents.

These are the young ladies.

Here are the young men. I learned that I can honestly refer to myself as a younger man because I am younger now than I will be tomorrow!