You know Summer Is Over When... (YKSIOW...)

YKSIOW... the laundry from the last church camp trip is done.  YKSIOW... the canning is all done.  YKSIOW... you start attending classes again and/or you start teaching students again for I am both a student and a teacher. 

July 4th cookout with the grandkids

Paul y Janie vacaciones

Late lunch with the grandkids at the cottage

Well our vacaciones is going well.  It started with grandkids and has seen some work done at our cottage.  We enjoyed Sunday services at County Line Baptist Church with Janie's mother.  The inside part of the solar panel installation is complete.  That was the easy part of la instalación.  The difficult part will be mounting the solar panel to the roof and building the battery compartment.  That will be a project for another time.  The blinds are installed on the back puerta.  The extra light switch is in and working in the master bed room.  The outside of the cottage addition has been painted with primer.  There remains some sheet rock work to do.  So far all of this work has produced 3 splinters, 1 blister, a slight sunburn, and a few fire ant bites. 

Power from the Sun or from coal take your pick

Getting the door ready for the facing

 

Door facing

Soffit installed

Painting

No more crossing the room to turn on the light

Elisabeth trying to figure Papa out

Janie cleaning up after we had lunch at church with her mother

Painting, rained on me a little before it was finished

Rested each evening with a good movie

James is all smiles

April is gone and May is arriving with a cold front.  It has been odd weather this spring. 
James is growing up so fast.  Justin and Sarah have already started him on cereal.  He is such as sweet boy.  Naomi, his sister, is a sweetie as well.  Janie and I went over to see them and to help out with some plumbing work in their kitchen remodeling effort.  As I lay down on the floor working on the pipes under the new sink Naomi leaned over on me and just jabbered away as if telling me just exactly how to do it.  Later Janie told me to take a look at Naomi as she was standing with Janie's cell phone up to her ear and again just jabbering away.  We took a tour of the farm while we were there and sat for a while in their back yard enjoying James and Naomi.  Naomi seems to like her backyard play house.

Naomi about to give us a tour of her play house

Spanish lessons are going very well.  Art, our teacher, is a really good teacher.  When we got to class this Monday I asked him in Spanish "Would you preach for me this Sunday night?"  He corrected both my pronunciation and my syntax but seemed pleased that I was making sentences of my own.  I then asked him in English and he was shocked that I was asking him to fill in for me on Sunday night while I was on vacation.  He said yes and I wish I could be there to hear him teach God's word.  I know he will do an outstanding job.  Spanish is not a hard language to learn.  I have even dreamed that I was making up sentences in Spanish and they actually made sense.  I am going to really apply myself to this task.
My piano lessons are coming along slowly.  I have made good progress in the book our oldest daughter gave me to learn by.  After I finish this blog I am going to practice the piano.
I learned today an interesting fact about about legal marriage in Texas.  It seems that according to the Law it does not matter where the wedding ceremony is held.  You can get your marriage license in the county of your residence and have the ceremony out of state so as long as you turn in the certificate of marriage to the same county clerk's office your marriage is legal in the state of Texas.  In about 2 weeks I will be officiating at a wedding in Shreveport but the license will be from Shelby County Texas. 

Hooking up a sink, dishwasher, and ice maker

Plumbing was a trade I practiced for only 2 years of my 60 years on earth.  You would not think a skill that took up such a small portion of my life would keep coming back to haunt me.  I must admit though the knowledge and skill sure has saved me and my family and friends a lot of money over the years.

Lost Blog, Lost Weight

Me and our newest grandson, James

Since the last time that I blogged I have lost about 20 pounds.  That weight can be regained but there is no way I can make up for lost blogs.  So much has happened in the last 2 and half months.  The doctor who I had not seen in a long time said it was good that I had lost weight.  The weight loss was expedited by an illness that I had been fighting for over two months.  I am all better now and now that life has slowed down a bit I plan to not lose any more blogs but I do plan to lose another 8 pounds.
School has consumed most of my life.  I seem to be addicted to it.  I am presently taking piano lessons and Spanish lessons both of which I am enjoying "grandemente." Janie is teaching me to play the piano.  I try to practice every day both the piano and my Spanish.  The only way I am going to learn them is to put in the time.  Can a 60 year old learn such things?  I plan to prove to myself that it can be done.  So if you hear me playing the piano and singing "La Bamba" you'll know I have arrived.

My piano teacher with a much younger student, Naomi

The congregation at WSBC heard the first of about 100 sermons from the book of Job Yesterday.  It is a book that has many phrases which are difficult to understand.  The journey should be a big learning experience.  By the time that series of sermons is over Spanish and piano should be well on their way to being firmly implanted in my mind.
The new carpet and flooring in the parsonage here in Hillsboro is really nice.  The new shower is way better than the old one.  The wall cracks still need to be repaired and the walls painted in the bedrooms.  The place is going to look really nice when we are through.
Taxes are due this week. I have them all filled out except for the check I have to send with it.  We have not been to Henderson in the past 2 weeks.  This has saved us at least $170 so far in gas and will make paying the IRS a little less painful in the pocketbook.

New Carpet

The grandkids are all doing well.  I have a math problem for our grandson, Joshua.  I plan to email that over to him this week.  I need to know how many gallons of water it will take to fill 200 feet of 3/4 inch diameter pipe.  Its for a little project I am working on for the cottage.   Lets see, he will need to know the formula for figuring the volume of a cylinder and how many cubic inches there are in a gallon.  We'll see what he comes up with.
I have 40 picture frames I need to make, I need to repair our riding lawnmower, and clean out the garage.  I need to see if I can get this all done before our vacation in May. 

One Room

Piers installed under the parsonage

The foundation work continued today.  We went over to the church house for a few hours to get away from the noise and dust.  Janie worked on her orders while Paul did some Bible studying.  The house is cold except for the living room and one bathroom where we have space heaters.  They have lifted the house several inches and the big cracks in the sheet rock have closed up.  The doors are opening and closing again and that is nice.  The flooring in the kitchen has buckled up in three places and some new cracks have appeared in the walls.  The man told us just now not to patch any cracks for 90 days.  We had expected to live in one room for a month but not 90 days.  I suspect after the new floor covering is installed we will move our furniture back into the bedrooms and then move them again as needed to make the wall repairs and paint.  We sure will be glad when this project is over.
It would have been right handy to have been able to understand the Spanish language.  I would love to know what these men are saying to each other as they work.  One of them sings while he works.  He has a good voice and sings very quietly. 
God confounded the languages of men but He did give man the ability to learn new languages.  The language barrier keeps us apart but in Christ we are all one for God is not a respecter of persons. 

 

 

The back door stands open as they bring wheelbarrows of dirt out and piers in.

One hole in the hallway and one in the back bedroom

The crack in our bedroom wall BEFORE the lifting of the foundation

The same crack AFTER the lifting of the foundation.

The driveway is now 3 inches lower than the garage after the lift.

Shank Rattle and Roll

Foundation work at the parsonage continues

The foundation work continued today.  It was 31 degrees and light rain with ice cycles hanging off the roof today.  The men worked as if the the weather was not a factor at all.  The wind chill factor was 24 degrees and one of the young men was digging with no coat and a short sleeved tee-shirt.  I offered to build them a fire in the fire pit that we have and the boss on the job said no.  He said "You can't get any work done backed up to a fire."  The crew did take off early saying they had had enough of the cold. 
It is a blessing to be able to stay inside a warm house when the weather outside is cold, wet, and windy.  God is such a good provider.  He keeps us safe and warm at times.  On those occasions when we have had to be out in the storm God has been with us there and seen us through.  God is so good!

Foundation

Foundation work at the Parsonage 1-14-13

The crew arrived today to work on the foundation of the parsonage.  There was a half a dozen or so young men in the crew and we have never seen such hard workers.  They got an incredible amount of work done in just 1 day.  It truly was amazing.  It was clear and 31 degrees when they started working but they seemed oblivious to the cold.  You can see in this picture the yellow hard hat on the man in one of the many holes they dug today.  The soil here is very difficult to dig. It sticks to everything.  It would have taken me all day to dig just one of those holes and these 6 men dug 28 holes 2 feet square and several feet deep.  They have installed 4 piers so far and will install a total of 41 in all.   With all the dirt lying around it looks like 100 holes. 
We had to leave the house for it was our turn for the worship services at the nursing home.  Janie played and I led the singing then brought a sermon from the text containing the model prayer.  There were 15 in attendance which was good due to there being so much sickness going around.  We asked a friend to come over and watch the house while we were away.  We spent most of the day at our computers working.  We are winding down our day by watching a movie together.  It was a version of "Pride and Prejudice" which we had not seen before.  It was a good movie but we prefer overall the original BBC's mini series version. 
Wise men build their houses upon rocks.  Jesus likened those who hear His words and do them unto these wise builders.  When the storms come, and they will come, have Jesus Christ as your foundation and your anchor and you will not need to fear them. 

The west side of the parsonage, foundation work

The south side of the parsonage, foundation work

Front, north side, of the parsonage

Sunday Night Sermon 1-13-13

Flower bed

A picture Janie took while on Skype with Jason

It was a beautiful day today with the outside temperature of 70 degrees and sunny.  Paul worked on removing the front flowerbed.  It was beginning to fall apart with large cracks in the brick wall that enclosed it.  About a foot of dirt will have to be removed to bring the area down to the level of the side walk.  It will look nice when it is all leveled out and replanted with flowers.
Janie has felt much better today with no fever.  She got to Skype with Jason and his family that are in France.  They are all well.  We want to go and see them at the end of October when their kids are out of school for two weeks.  It costs us about $3000.00 to make such a trip and that is a lot of money.  We will think on this and make it an object of our prayers.  We asked our travel agent to check into it and the route he came up with would take us from Dallas, Texas to Madrid, Spain then to Toulouse, France which is about an hours drive from Limoux, France. 
We watched a movie recently called "The Way."  It is about a man who walks the El Camino which is a hiking trail that starts in the Pyrenees mountains of France and crosses the northern part of Spain.  It is 497 miles long.  While we were watching it Janie raised the question "Do you think we should hike that trail?"  We think our time would be better spent with the grandchildren.  So unless we are in excellent health when the grandchildren are old enough to hike it with us we most likely will not do it.  Paul does admit that he would love to give it a try.  It would be safer than hiking across the Grand Canyon, a thing he has also wanted to do. 
God has put us on this earth for His pleasure.  Did our day as we spent it today bring God pleasure?  As we end this day we pray that God was pleased with us and that tomorrow we will bring Him Joy.

Moving Day

Janies mother is a lap full of great grandchildren.

Janie was sick yesterday.  She went to bed running a temperature of 102 and most of the day it was 100.  At one point yesterday afternoon her fever was gone but then it came back again but only to 99.   Janie ate well and drank a lot so this morning she is feel a lot better.  While she was resting having taken the day off from her work I moved some of our furniture out of the bedrooms into the dinning room getting ready for the foundation work that will start on Monday.  I have one bedroom empty and part of the other two.  It should not take me but an hour or so to have everything moved tomorrow.  We will be sleeping in our living room for the next week or so until the work on the foundation and the subsequent painting, door repairs and carpet replacement is all done. Our bed and night stands will be move last. 
God hears our prayers and He answers them in accordance with His will.  It was His will that Janie should get well and I am thankful that He loves us so.  We are not worthy of God's blessings but we are thankful for His amazing grace.

Sick and Acts 19:5

At the baby shower last Saturday

Janie is sick and has a temperature of 100.8.  She has alternated between working and sleeping all through the day.  I had some computer tech work to do which took me away for a while.  She is feeling some better now and I am hopeful she will be all well tomorrow.  
We had good attendance at both of our adult classes at church this afternoon and evening.  Janie was forced to stay in from church due to her fever and she slept while I went to church.  Our Bible lesson was about baptism taken from Acts 19:1-7.  The major question we had to consider from this text was this: What is the antecedent of the pronoun "they" in Acts 19:5.  You end up with two completely different understandings of the story when you consider the two possibilities.  It was fun to study this out and to help others to see the light of truth.
Our daughter, Sarah, who is due to have a baby this month had to sent to the hospital for observation and tests due to her blood pressure being high.  She was sent home after several hours and all is well.
God has been so good to us and even when our health is not what we would like we will not complain for God will be praised and His strength will be known through our infirmities.  

A New Home

It is raining!!!! We have been in a terrible drought here in Hill County Texas.  The LORD's love for us has been seen in a very gentile soft rain which has lasted most of all day. 
Paul's mother has been released from the Hospital.  She is doing much better. His sister-in-law and niece moved her furniture by themselves.  Ralph says that mother is tired and a little confused by the new surroundings.  We will see her on Thursday when we go by to sign a huge stack of paper work.  She is working on her 89th year here on earth.  God has blessed her so! 
Jason, our son, called us this morning from his home in France.  He is doing well and so is the family. We miss them a lot.  The Bible study in our home went well and lasted longer than normal because we were having such a good time.
Sarah, our youngest, called to chat for a while with Janie.  She and her family are doing well.
A weird thing happened just now.  I was typing a sentence and I turned to pay attention to what Janie was saying and her words began to appear on the screen and not the words I had planned to type.  When I looked back the sentence did not make any sense.  Better stay with doing one thing at a time.
Paul had an errand to run this afternoon, but he did not mind getting out in the rain.  The cause was a worthy one.  He is anxious to see his mother and her new room. He took a nap while Janie worked ever so quietly as not to wake him. 
Please remember that the LORD loves you so much that He died to save you from the bondage of sin.  He wants to save your soul and to have a very close relationship with you.  Prov. 3:6 "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

A New Blog

Janie and Paul are going to blog together.  This shared blog will be for the purpose of bringing God praise and honor by showing forth His goodness as it is seen in our lives.
Paul's old blog ran out of storage room and it was going to cost money to keep it going so this new blog should last as long as the old one which was about 5 years.
Paul would write the blogs and Janie would proof read them.  It was always a joint venture so now we have made it official. We are co-bloggers.  Paul is excited about this prospect for just about everything in his life is made better with a woman's touch.
Remember that Jesus is LORD of all!