Happy 32nd Birthday
To Our Youngest Daughter
We love you, Deb
Deb with David and Zachary – the two boys that she and her husband Ivan are helping their good friend Leslie raise.
I took these photos yesterday at Chuck E Cheese’s, where we were celebrating the boys’ birthdays.
Happy 7th Birthday to David today, August 27.
Happy 6th birthday to Zachary on Tuesday, August 29.
I pray that God will take care of
all your needs
with the wonderful blessings
that come from Christ Jesus.
Phillippians 4:19 CEV
Our Week
While our two daughters-in-law took a well-deserved vacation at the beach, we were privileged to have Jeff & Chris’ five children most of the week, and Jere and Kristen’s four some of the time. Our sons continued to work at their respective jobs, as they need their vacation days for hunting whitetail in New York this fall.
Monday
– 
Jenna loves to cook and bake, so I asked her to make a cake/dessert that had been in my cupboard since early in the summer.
It was delicious.
Later in the week she made brownies and blueberry muffins.
Gloria, Diana, Jenna
In the afternoon they helped deliver mail to the post office.
Their brothers, Jordan and Nathan, spent the day with their other grandma.
That evening Diana decided that Grandpa needed a new hairstyle.
He knew this was destined for my blog!
Tuesday
The girls were with their Grandma Wells today, and the boys spent most of the day competing on Nintendo games. I had work to do in the office, and decided this was their day of vacation. After taking mail to the post office, I took the boys to Rita’s for an afternoon snack.
Wednesday
Jenna and Gloria
The girls helped me prepare a banquet flyer, letter, and return cards for the mail.
Diana
Delivering mail trays to the post office.
I was glad for their help, as I usually have to carry everything in myself.
Their reward was a trip to Rita’s
Cerwin took the boys to the Life-Saver Chapel at the T/A Travel Plaza, Elkton, Maryland.
Nathan prepared ceiling tile for the living quarters…
…and Cerwin and Jordan installed it.
Jordan showing off the finished job…
…and sweeping up the mess left behind.
Next project: Wash and wax the outside.
Next
Chaplain Sam Houchins taking a picture of the action.
Their reward: Lunch at Petro Stopping Center (one mile away) where TFC also has a chapel. This gave them opportunity to spend time with Chaplain Howard Jones.
Wednesday Evening
Cerwin, Jere, Jordan, Nathan, and Josh went to Lancaster to see the Barnstormers play baseball. The other six stayed with me.
Gloria and Jared
Ian loves to play Cars on the Nintendo. He also loves his cowboy boots and wears them all the time.
Thursday
The cousins wanted to be together today. Jordan and Nathan walked the one mile to Josh’s house to shoot hoops and play outside, then at lunchtime the three of them walked back to our house.
At 1 PM, after Tiffany (Jere & Kristen’s babysitter) had Jared in bed for his afternoon nap, Jenna, Gloria, Diana, and I walked the same mile toward Jere and Kristen’s house to meet Jana and Ian.
They were permitted to walk toward us when we were at the end of their road.
They noticed that someone was milking at my brothers’ farm and asked to stop.
We spent a bit of time talking to Aunt Brenda – my youngest brother’s wife.
By this point, Ian was glad to walk with Grandma – his legs are short, and grandma is old and walks slower than the girls.
He loved stepping on my shadow head. (The lunch kettle does not contain food, but a favorite stuffed animal. A wolf if I remember correctly.)
By this point there were eight grandchildren in our house – playing games, watching DVD’s, etc. I figured since they were all occupied, I would get some work done in the office.
About half-an-hour later, I suddenly realized that the house was quiet – something that is a notice of alarm to all mothers and grandmothers!
This is what I found!
It seems that some of these people – apparently from the wild west – knew where some gold was hidden…
…and weren’t talking. Consequently they were rounded up and tied to a tree!
It appears that one of those with knowledge of the gold is trying to escape.
~~~
Their mothers returned about 5:30 in the evening. Then our house was quiet again. I don’t think the missing gold was ever found!
Friday
It was nice to go to a scheduled meeting (all adults!) at the TFC Headquarters Office and meet with Tony, a representative from WDAC (a local Christian radio station), and make plans for advertising opportunities. The meeting also included Inge Koenig (my partner in communications) and TFC’s President, Scott Weidner.
~~~
The most exciting thing that happened today was that our Amish neighbor’s mules seemed to mistake a command to move farther down the field, and started running up the road when the men were trying to load corn stalks.
I was at the kitchen window – waiting for the right moment to take a picture – when it happened.
They quickly regained control and went back to cutting corn stalks.
Happiness is a Choice
Whether I like or dislike where I live
doesn’t depend on how things are arranged in my house
It depends on how things are arranged in my mind.
I have learned to be satisfied
with the things I have and with everything that happens.
I have learned the secret of being happy
at any time in everything that happens.
Philippians 4:11b & 12b ICB
Thank God Every Morning
That You Have Something To Do
Whether You Like It Or Not.
Whatever you do
do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31b NIV
Our Landscape is Changing
…and this is the responsible vehicle.
It is turning tall corn stalks into…
stubble…
and beautiful ears of corn (and stalk) into…
silage.
Each year I get a bit nervous as I look out my kitchen window and see my brothers packing silage tightly into trenches, by driving large tractors over it.
There is probably never a time of the year that I pray for them more fervently.
They get very little sleep for two days, and drive on top of the silage…
continuously for hours…
back and forth – back and forth – one tractor per trench.
When a truck delivers a new load…
the process is repeated.
When I returned this evening…
the trenches were full and being covered with layers of plastic and tire sidewalls.
My brother Clair said he will be ready for bed tonight.
My brother Dale and nephew Kurt place sidewalls on the plastic.
Kurt, Clair, and our nephewTristen
The plastic and tires keep air from getting into the silage, thus preserving it for a year or more – making nutritious food for the cows.
Bostonchic – I asked Kurt if I should post a picture for you. I suppose this pose was a “yes!”
I headed home this evening – thankful that everyone was safe.
Cicadas & Katydids
On Friday evening, when our Sunday school class was at the pavilion, we had an interesting discussion about the very loud sounds coming from the treetops.
Some thought the buzzy, raspy sound was coming from Cicadas, others thought it was Katydids. Most of us weren’t sure. Along with that, one of the women said she just learned that there is an insect called a Cicada Killer.
I never heard of a Cicada Killer, and I am so used to the sound (lived here forty years) and assumed the daytime and nighttime sounds were coming from the same insect – Cicada.
I love learning new things, so went into a full-fledged investigation on Saturday morning.
I am used to seeing shells left behind by molting Cicada, because they can be found on most of our trees this time of year.
On occasion I see a Cicada, but we usually just hear them!
Katydid (photo from Internet) http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/index.htm
I had no idea what a Katydid looked like, and was pleased to discover this photo, and interested to learn that this is most likely what is making the sound in our treetops each night. My research told me that Cicada call in the daytime and Katydid call at night. I have most likely seen Katydids and thought they were grasshoppers.
With that settled, I moved on to learn about Cicada Killers…
Male Cicada Killer (left) and Female Cicada Killer (right) – photo from Internet
The Cicada Killer is a large wasp. They paralyze a female Cicada with a sting, drag it to a prepared hole in the ground, bury it, deposit an egg, then cover them. The Cicada serves as food for the Cicada Killer baby.
This process also controls the Cicada population.
We had seen some holes in the ground on Friday evening, and thought they may have been dug by the Cicada Killers. So on Saturday morning, I went on a “dig” with shovel in hand.
The holes near the pavilion were in hard, dry ground, and produced only dirt, so I moved toward my sister’s house, where her daughter Chelsey, and grandchildren Travis and Ashley noticed me and came running, asking what I was doing.
They asked if they could help and got their own shovels. Ashley (purple top) wasn’t sure if hunting wasps was something she wanted to do, but when I assured her that we were looking for something that was dead and in the ground, she slowly followed us.
She surprised me when she started gathering Cicada shells. Before long we needed to stop by our house for a baggie!
We never did find a Cicada Killer, and because we found a Cicada (below) in one of the holes, I concluded that the holes in our woods were probably from Cicada emerging from the ground.
I don’t remember ever seeing a Cicada that was still in its shell. This one was probably surprised to be rudely dug up out of the ground – but as soon as I placed it on a tree, it began a determined climb around the trunk.
I was afraid it was going to crawl too high in the tree (and wanted to see if I could photograph it emerging), so put a piece of broken branch in front of it.
It climbed on the stick and continued trying to find the top of wherever it was. I thought this silhouette was interesting.
When it did not begin emerging within half an hour, I decided to put some bark and branches in a tub and bring it to the patio where I could keep an eye on it.
The children had gone home, because the process was too slow for them, but quickly returned when I called them an hour later to tell them it was starting to come out of the shell!
The emergence is also very slow, and it was cute to hear the children cheering for it every time it wiggled its way a bit farther out of the shell! “Come on buddy, you can do it. You can do it!”
No Cicada ever had a better set of cheerleaders!
Finally, about an hour later it was free of its shell. Since we had to go away for supper, I moved the piece of bark back to the tree stump.
It was gone when we got home, so I assume it changed from the wimpy, wet creature that emerged, into a pretty insect like the one I photographed the day before.
God has created the most interesting creatures!
I don’t usually take photos during church services, however, John Minnich, who takes photos for our church directory could not be there today, and asked if I would take pictures of David Wenger’s ordination to the ministry.
Consequently, it seemed like a good time to give you a view of a Sunday morning service at White Oak Church of the Brethren.
Called to Serve
Levi Ziegler – center on pulpit area – a district representative, was our guest minister. In this photo the congregation is singing the opening song.
David, Shawn, and daughters (their son was sitting with the youth) listen as Levi challenges them and the congregation on disciplines that prepare a person to effectively proclaim the Word. He reminded us that preachers may stand behind the pulpit, but every follower of Christ is called to:
Study the Word
Do more than read – study. Know what you believe.
Walk the Word
Follow the Lord’s steps. Walk as He walked.
Preach the Word
Before people can believe the Word – they must hear it.
For them to hear it – someone must tell them. Romans 10:14
The Commission
Prayer
Other ministers greeting them.
When church was over, David and Shawn stood at the front left, where the congregation was encouraged to greet them.
We are blessed to have Shawn and David (facing camera) in a leadership position at White Oak.
Our Sunday School Class Picnic
It was a beautiful evening for the twenty-six people who attended the picnic at our pavilion last night.
It was nice to have one little person. Ira and Ruthclaudene were taking care of a grandson for the evening.
Delicious food and great fellowship equaled a wonderful evening.
God is Always
Working Behind the Scenes of Your Life.
He will not leave you or forget you. Deuteronomy 31:6 ICB
