The Bates Family: Blessing #18 on the Way!

A fun visit with the bates family earlier this month

We just received a wonderful call from our good friends the Bates in Tennessee. We rejoiced with them when we heard the news: their 18th child is on the way! The love that Gil & Kelly Bates have for children is reflected in the love that each of their children have for each other. May […]

Honor Through Service

Grandpa didn’t keep a high-paying job with Boeing when he felt called to duty–though he could have. Nor did he claim the Purple Heart–though he could have. And when he came back from the service, Grandpa didn’t have to share his experiences with us–but he did. His stories reflected his understanding of having a just […]

God rules in the affairs of men

This morning part of our regular Bible reading was Daniel 4, in which God deals with the pride of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who then acknowledges the power and supremacy of the Almighty. “At the end of twelve months… there fell a voice from heaven, saying, ‘O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The […]

Memorize the Word!

Robert joins David Waller in sending greetings from the Northwoods!

Photo Revelry

As time goes by, the web site has grown into a kind of album. Since there were so many pictures from our trip that still didn’t make it into our posts we decided to devote one more post to pictures! We hope you will share in our joy both for what the Lord […]

The 10th Miracle

Returning home on the last leg of our Florida journey, we made one last stop at our grandparents’ house in Salem, West Virginia. After all, there’s no place like home – except Grandma’s. Robert, Esther, James, and Daniel especially relished the visit before heading off to the mid west once again. The thick blanket of […]

Birthday with the Bates Family

One of the greatest evidences of the Lord’s blessing on our family vacation was the way he timed each stop. In North Carolina, the day of our arrival providentially coincided with the day our cousin needed help packing for a move; in Savannah, Georgia, the one day we passed through was the day after school […]

New Years at the Neely’s

I don’t think our family has ever had a more exciting New Years celebration! Nearing the end of our Florida trip, December 31 found us at the Neely household – experienced hosts indeed! You should have been there. We fit everything you can think of into that all-too-short two-night stay: Dutch Blitz, Settlers of Catan, […]

Tallahassee Hospitality

Tuesday, Dec.29, we pulled up to the Hicks and were warmly greeted and invited on a hike around their property which felt good after the 8 hour trip from Sanibel. Out by the pond we ate oranges fresh off the tree. Before this trip I’d never even seen oranges on a tree! It wasn’t long […]

Christmas Surprise

To say that this Christmas season was full of surprises would be an understatement, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the one that came on Christmas morning. We rose early to catch the sunrise on the eastern shore of Sanibel Island. Seashells are abundant there so we were busy picking them up both before and after […]