A Busy Summer....

 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:27

Hello to you all,

I know it has been so long since many of you have heard from me. If I am correct, the last one you all received was in May. Oh how time has flown since then. But in all honesty, I have had a great summer, God has been good, and I am blessed (some things that I am reminded of from day to day). 

My summer took off in a running start. I finished Math and English classes in May 9th, giving a few weeks break before Christine Weaver and I flew to Missouri to visit Audrey. It had been a trip long talked about and became one long-awaited for. We flew out of Philadelphia, Friday June 1st at 5.55am and arrived in Columbia, MO at 10.05am. It was great to see a familiar face waiting for us there. The time we spent with her flew by. She had put a lovely quilt into a frame, so we helped her quilt it. The quilt was jungle-themed and her borders colors looked great. I hadn’t quilted in so long, but we had (at least I did) some awesome time and fun around this quilt. It appeared to be a king-size quilt and we had it nearly done till we left on Tuesday, June 5th. Audrey did text me that night or the next day and tell me that she had finished quilting it. We spent Saturday afternoon doing some sightseeing and seeing some beautiful areas of Missouri and surrounding areas. We drove to Cantril, IA and Memphis, MO. The time by the lake was so peaceful and relaxing. To top of the day, we went to Colton’s Steak House and Grill. Absolutely loved the place! Sunday we spent some time with folks from Cornerstone. If I remember correctly, we went to Javin and Sheila Martin’s for lunch, spent the afternoon strolling through a nearby cemetery, and then spent the evening hanging out with the youth at a pond. It was so great to spend time with Audrey and Christine

 During my short summer break, I offered to take my three youngest siblings away for a fun day. We started a little early for little children, but we had a great day. We started the day out at 7.30am at Verdant View Farm. We did a farm tour, where they could try to milk a cow, bottle-feed a calf and many other farm many other fun things. From there, we went to the Railroad Museum, which they all enjoyed very much. Miranda was awe-struck when she saw all the “big” trains. In taking the one picture of her beside the train, I did not realize how big it was until I actually looked at it later on my computer. From the Railroad museum, we then finished out our day at the Choo-Choo Barn, which I believe was the highlight of their day. Till we headed home, we had some little people that were very sleepy, some of which fell asleep as we drove home.

 This summer, my sister and I taught the nursery summer Bible School class. Most of the young children I had in my Bible School Class are the same children that I have in my Sunday morning class. All of the little ones look forward to the final night, so they can each have their helium-filled balloon to let loose in the sky with a precious Gospel message attached to it. I really enjoy teaching these precious little bundles, but I realized that I can not do everything, especially now with school and work. I decided that I will say “no” for the next Sunday School year and allow someone else to influence these precious bundles. I know one little person that will not be totally impressed-my sister Miranda. She thinks it is jut the coolest thing to have her sister teach her class

 This summer our family had several medical related issues; 3 to be exact. The first one was when Miranda fell off the gator and broke her collar bone. She was in a brace for 4 weeks. About a week after she broke her collar bone, Wesley burnt his arm while helping Jordan’s boss with some clean-up. Wesley had been doing yard work for Jordan’s boss and a pole barn crew was there building a new pole. In doing some clean-up that night, one of the fellows threw an aerosol can on the fire and Wesley did not know that. He took some trash to the fire and had just turned, when the can flashed, resulting in 2nd and 3rd degree burns (3rd degree are the little white spots on the picture to the right in the center row) We took him to a Joe Wenger lady in Frysville that had been trained to treat burns with B & W ointment and burdock leaves. Within a week, the burnt skin was off and was pink underneath. Within a month after this happened, he had no scars and you barely could tell that he had been burnt. The final medical issue occurred to my dad. He twisted his knee while on the roof and tore cartilage in his knee. He had to have surgery and was off work for a week. Mom says that’s enough now

 

 Our family had the opportunity to do an old-fashioned scrapple making demonstration at Shirktown Threshing. The whole family thoroughly enjoyed the day making scrapple, seeing the old tractors and many other things. We had a constant flow of people all day and had only 6 pans of scrapple left from the 80 we made. It was definitely different to make scrapple in the middle of the summer, but we had so much fun. It is awesome to be able to work together as a family and just have a great time together. We all unanimously agreed that scrapple tastes better cooked over a wood fire!

 God has brought a new opportunity to me in relation to nursing field. I have been asked to provide night care for an older woman who has a brain tumor and has been given approximately 6 months to live. I have agreed to do 2 twelve-hour night shifts for the family. The shift is from 8pm to 8am on Sunday nights and Tuesday nights. This will provide several opportunities for me: quiet study time, experience taking care of cancer patient, amidst various other things.

My fall classes start Monday, August 20th and I am looking forward to them. I do really enjoy studying and I am always am glad for a break, but I do miss it while I have breaks.

I thought it was high time to keep you all informed!

Have a great day in the Lord!

Serving a risen Savior, AJ