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Communication

I was up early on Monday to do the final cleanup from Sunday’s meeting and meal, and prepare for a 9:00 AM meeting at TFC’s International Office, Marietta, PA – a twenty-mile drive for me.

Left to Right:  Mary Ann Roberts, Director of Women’s Ministry at her church and wife of Chaplain David Roberts; Scott Weidner, TFC President and CEO; Inge Koenig, Director of Communication; Tom Kemp, Chaplain Trainer and Lead Chaplain, Frystown, PA; and I (represented by my notebook, coffee cup, and cell phone) are working toward implementing an efficient system of communicating with TFC Staff and supporters. 

Meetings are probably my least favorite part of being involved in ministry, but they are necessary in keeping communication flowing – in business, ministry, or family life. 

This series of brain-storming meetings reminds me of times Cerwin and I had periodic Sunday lunch discussions with our children as they grew and matured, especially when something reminded us there was need for an updated communication system in our family.

Since being asked to chair the communication portion of TFC’s Strategic Planning Team, I have examined God’s methods of communicating to us, and concluded that when it was important for us to understand, He chose a message that was clear and to the point.    

God used a variety of ways to let us know who He is, that He loves us, and wants us fully involved in His plan of bringing each person into fellowship with Him.  His masterplan for salvation, however, was communicated by Jesus – also in clear, easy-to-understand language. 

Just how difficult is it to understand:

Follow me.

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I am come that you might have life and have it abundantly.

* * *

After the Communication Meeting ended at noon, I spent a bit of time with Rose Gehman, in the continuing process of training her to order and ship ministry supplies for TFC’s field staff and chapels in North America.  I am delighted that she is almost on her own, but there are some details, especially about the ordering, that we are working on as the need arrises. 

Rose Gehman preparing to ship a package by UPS.

The fluffy sheep is my way of communicating my body’s pleasure that last evening was my deep-muscle massage appointment with Rose’s sister, Carla.  

Palm Sunday

Anyone who went by our house and office yesterday afternoon knew something was going on, because the driveway was full of cars. 

Inside, TFC’s Northeast Council had assembled for its first meeting of the year.  This group of men is an advisory board for my husband, Cerwin (second from left) TFC Northeast Region Director and Sam Rittenhouse (left) Assistant Director.

Because several are over-the-road truckers, Sunday afternoon is the best time for us to get together.  This meeting is a time of sharing information concerning TFC, especially in the Northeast Region and not a time of policymaking – that is done by the International Board.  These men are entrusted with the region’s financial information and various ministry praises, concerns, needs, etc.  Cerwin, Sam, and I value their insight, wisdom, and prayers.

Because they are given valued information and understand what is going on in the ministry, they are our eyes and ears out in TFC’s mission field – the truckers of this country.

 Afterward we served a light supper and enjoyed a time of fellowship.

I try not to serve the same meal each time, but one required dessert is tapioca I purchase at a local grocery market.  It is cooked (in the market) by a friend of ours, and is the best in the country!

Following the meal and cleanup, Cerwin and I went to our home church for the concluding service of a ten-day revival meeting.  After we were home, and relaxing in the living room, Cerwin said, “This has been a good day.”

Saturday Was a Busy Day

Cerwin was out of here early to pick up Earl Sauder and take him along to help make some minor adjustments to the placement of the chapel at Petro Stopping Center, Elkton, MD.

Earl Sauder checks out the adjustments.

The heavy rain made it rather miserable to be working outside, but Cerwin said they were blessed with plenty of help and super cooperation from the truck stop staff in moving the chapel and deck a few feet away from the building and walking area.

It was just as wet here in Pennsylvania.  Cerwin said we got a 1/2 inch of rain.  That doesn’t seem like very much, but I think most of it came down when I was at the grocery store – carrying groceries to the CRV!

 50th Wedding Anniversary

The rain stopped by 3:00 PM when our friends Gary and Oprha Stevens came to take us along to the 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration for David and Elva Burkholder.

Dave and Elva spent most of those fifty years in mission work with Impact North (Northern Youth in the early days) out of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada.  In recent years they retired and moved to Pennsylvania to be near their children and grandchildren.

They had some neat items on display that were used in the early days of their marriage when they served on a First Nation Reservation.

We were discussing this iron, thinking the small container was for water to make it a steam iron.  David was nearby and informed us that the small tank was for gas to make the iron hot.

Cerwin, Dave, Gary, and Orpha.

It was wonderful listening to some of his stories and experiences.  We met them in 1986 when Gary and Orpha and Cerwin and I took a team of twelve young people from our church to Pikingikum – a First Nation Reserve and outpost mission station of Impact North – to teach summer Bible School.  We flew to the reserve and lived there during the week of Bible school.  (Pikangikum does not have a summer road.)

We also made the trip to Pikangikum in 1987 and 1988.  1989 was our year off while two other couples went with the team.  By 1990 the Lord had called us to be involved with Transport For Christ on a fulltime basis and we asked to be relieved of the Bible School duties.

We got home from the party about 6:30 PM, relaxed a bit, then went to revival meetings at our home church, White Oak Church of the Brethren.

It’s Good To See Lots of Flowers Again

After being in Maine for a week, and arriving home in the dark, I almost forgot that springtime had already arrived in our area of Pennsylvania.  Springtime in Maine is about a month behind us – crocus’ are just beginning to bloom there – and, yes I know you southern friends are a month or more ahead of us!

I was surprised to wake up to lots of flowers and green grass yesterday.  After the morning rain, I walked around our woodlot to check out the blooms – and the soon-to-be-blooms.

Apple Blossom Buds

Cherry Blossom Buds

Forsythia

Dogwood Buds

Hyacinth

Hyacinth

Daffodil

Tulips

Cerwin brought the TFC tractor home Friday evening, as he is leaving early in the morning to hook up to the chapel at Petro Stopping Center, Elkton, MD.  The chapel has to be moved a few feet to comply with a local building code.  The chapel has been there for years, and is parked close to the building, but we suspect a building inspector found the problem following recent construction at the truck stop.

Big rig tractors appear normal in a truck stop, but look so large parked next to our house!

My Last Vacation Day in Maine

When I saw the landscape early yesterday morning, I knew I needed to put on my boots and coat in search of winter scenery before the sun melted the snow and ice.

Just before noon I went four-wheeling with our grandson Josiah – to feed horses at a nearby farm.

This horse watched longingly through a barn window as Josiah fed another horse.

Afterward we took a back road to the inlet.  It was fabulous!

At 4:00 PM it was time to pack my suitcase and head for the airport. 

I was again blessed to have an oceanside window seat on my flight from Portland to Washington DC. 

Terminal G in Dulles is a crazy place to be at 8:30 at night!  At least I arrived early enough to find a seat.  Half an hour later, there was standing room only – and barely room for that.  I was glad to be back on a plane by 9:30 and on my way to Harrisburg.  It was SO GOOD to see Cerwin!  We were home by 11:30 – very, very late for this morning person.

My time with the Myers was a break that my body, spirit, and soul needed.  Now it’s back to reality – unpack my suitcase, do laundry, get mail ready for the post office, and prepare for a TFC Northeast Council meeting at our place on Sunday afternoon.

Another Interesting Day in Maine

Wednesday started with Josiah delivering a strawberry smoothie .  How neat is that!  A strawberry smoothie before my morning coffee.  I will have to make a major adjustment to going home and no longer having six grandchildren pampering me!

Josiah informed us the night before that he was making an Egg Puff (Dutch Babies is the recipe’s title) for our midmorning brunch.  It was delicious. 

I invited Hezekiah to go along on my morning walk.  This time I chose to walk to the inlet – about 3/4 of a mile from here.  It was a beautiful morning, which gave opportunity for some neat pictures – even though the tide was out.

I took a lot of pictures, but this was my favorite.

Elizabeth wanted to introduce me to Victoria’s Bakery for our next meal – in the middle of the afternoon.  It is a neat little place to get soup, sandwiches, and interesting desserts.

L. to R.:  Josiah, Diane, Abigail, Me, Hezekiah, Lydia, and Elizabeth (Hannah took the picture.)

I enjoyed a cup of my favorite tea – Earl Grey.

 By the time we got home, the weather began to change from warm and sunny to windy and cold.  The sky looked like rain or snow.  The first precipitation was rain, then a combination of rain and snow, before changing to a very wet snow.

Abigail caught Diane and me on the other side of my camera while we were in the kitchen preparing a warm snack for a cold evening – salsa, hamburger, and cheese-covered nochos.  Most of us changed into pj’s before settling down to enjoy the nachos and a DVD viewing of Oklahoma.

Rain!

I couldn’t find any animals in the rain puddles, but it rained “Cats and Dogs” in Maine yesterday.

Everything on the exterior of this house was dripping wet.

I was awake early as usual, because I love mornings, and since the Myers’ have declared Grandma’s visit a “legal holiday from home school week”, nobody else was up at 4:30 AM. 

Consequently my “to do list” (pray, read online news, check email, update blog, read blogs, get dressed) was complete by 7:00 AM.  It was still basically quiet in the house, and I needed something to do, so checked the refrigerator and freezer for items to make a brunch casserole. 

Diane said when she smelled the aroma of baking food wafting up the stairs, she thought, “Thumbs up to Mom, she’s making brunch!”

A rainy vacation day is a wonderful time to watch videos or DVDs.  Cerwin and I enjoyed watching The Ice Road on the History Channel a few weeks ago and recorded it for the Myers.  They enjoyed it as well.  It’s about tractor trailers taking supplies across a large frozen lake in the Northwest Territories. 

Mark and Diane

By midafternoon, Mark had to leave for another bus tour.  This time he went to Logan Airport (Boston) for a group from Scotland.  He is taking them to Killington, Vermont for a skiing vacation.

Abigail designed a decorative cover for a storage bucket.

While Mark and Diane were gone (she took him to the bus terminal) we completed the evening chores, prepared supper, and caught up on anything else we wanted to do, so we could spend the evening watching Sound of Music. 

My new Sound of Music DVD has an intermission break, during which Josiah made root beer floats.  Yumm!

Monday’s Highlights

My contribution to the Myers’ household for the day was making brunch.  I tried a french toast recipe from a magazine I read on the plane the other day.  It was filled with ham and cream cheese, and was supposed to be fried, but with eight in this household, plus me, I decided baking would be simpler.  I also made one of my famous drinks – the kind that can never be duplicated because I don’t know the amount of ingredients used!  I combined two containers of drink (I think orange juice and pink lemonade) that were already in the refrigerator and added two blended bananas.  It was delicious!

After brunch and cleanup, Lydia and I took a short walk on the dead-end road behind their house.  She introduced me to “Blueberry Hill” (in back of her) where she likes to pick blueberries when they are in season.

My favorite sighting on the walk was this tree.

We got back to the house in time to leave for Spanish class. 

This year the Brethren Volunteer Unit, has houseparents who are fluent in Spanish and offered a ten-week course to home schooled children from the area.

I was impressed with Laura’s ability to teach Spanish along with the value of understanding the culture of a people to whom you may go as a missionary.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.

Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all of your diseases;

He redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.

Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Psalm 103:5 NAS

Church of the Brethren

Brunswick, ME

The verse that blessed me from our study of Nahum 1 in Sunday School yesterday was – “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust Him”  Nahum 1:7.

After church the ladies set out a delicious lunch.

I had the pleasure of holding Kathryn Louise while her mom got lunch.

Glenn and Elaine, I told Jill I was taking this picture – and the next one for you.

Kathryn Louise

We spent our Sunday afternoon and evening doing what Sundays were created for – relaxing!  Most of the time each of us was doing our own thing; in the late afternoon, the three oldest children babysat for Lewiston Church of the Brethren’s Love Feast and Communion service; then in the evening we collectively watched All That Heaven Allows on DVD. 

I haven’t talked to Mark or Diane yet this morning (they’re still sleeping) but sometime during the night, she went to pick him up at CYR’s Motorcoach Terminal in Portland.  She later told me they got back here at 3:00 AM.  Another coach picked up the rowing team he was bringing back from Georgia, and he went to JFK for a group from England and took them to Sunday River, ME, north of here, for a skiing vacation.

Saturday Was Awesome!

Alarms went off at 4:00 AM so we could be on the road by 5:00 AM and on our way to CBD in Peabody, MA.  (I learned that it is pronounced Pea-Biddy not Pea-Body.)

We arrived at 7:30 AM and there was barely room to park!  What a place!  What fun!  The tables on both floors of the warehouse were full of books and a variety of other kinds of items sold by Christian Book Distributors.  I got a good deal on some software, and a few other things.  (Sorry Inge, I did not find the book you wanted.)  We left at 1:00 PM.  Since it was a beautiful afternoon, we decided to take the “scenic route” home.

Our first stop was Tendercrop Farm, a working farm, greenhouse, and produce market in Newbury, Massachusetts.