Cuteness

Children, particularly our children,
never cease to amaze me.
They provide us with abundant laughter, humor,
"character development opportunities,"
and enduring memories.
Some things are terribly important in a child's life, 
like showing daddy the amazing frog they caught, 
even though daddy is in the middle of plumbing the bathroom. 

They delight us with their enthusiasm for watermelon and chocolate chip cookies.

They grace us with beautiful smiles, and bestow on us slobbery kisses.

Our children give us continual joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.



Truly, I am having a hard time believing that grandchildren are going to be better. :-)

We just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.
We bought ourselves an anniversary gift that now graces our dining room wall.
It reads:
"Live so that when your children hear these words they think of you...fairness, caring, integrity, honesty, love, trust."
Don't ya just love that?
We have so much to be thankful for!
Top of the list is our family, they are an imense blessing.

All this because two people fell in love.

The Faithful Provision

We have been working on building the interior walls, wiring the first floor, installing the kitchen cabinets and countertop, and plumbing. Most of the first floor is finished. We had to go to town for supplies, so we stopped by Habitat, and lo and behold, there was a like new tub/shower unit perfect for the children's bathroom. Not only that, but also a large shower unit perfect for the master bathroom. Add two toilets for $10 e and we were fully outfitted for our bathrooms at a 70% savings! To top that all off, a good friend with a two ton flat bed was also in town and he drove over and picked up our goods for us!

Well, our building fund was nearly dry, and we were praying," God, this is your house and your project, please supply the funds to be able to keep work progressing." Saturday, a man walked up to Brian and stuffed a check in Brian's pocket and walked away. Thanks so much D.D you are such a blessing to us!

Meanwhile, Rose and Julianne tackled refinishing a yard sale table for porch dining. Brian and Julianne made some benches from scrap lumber, and all were stained and then enjoyed with a romantic dinner on the porch.

Father of Lights

One advantage of taking several years to build your home is the ability to bargain shop.

Every time we are in town, we stop by Habitat for Humanity. We have found all but one of our light fixtures this way, and haven't paid more than $15 for any fixture. Most were under $7. Basically, if we liked the form we bought it, and to keep a consistency in style, we spray painted everything black. Missing globes have also been discovered via thrift shopping, usually $1 each verses $6-$10 e. retail. The most amazing thing is, that of our porch lights. Now I always pray on my way to town, asking that the Almighty God and Father provide our needs in an affordable way. About 3 yrs. ago we found these porch lights for $10.

I knew that we would need a third light for next to the door, but we had plenty of time to find it. Low and behold, a few months ago we were at Habitat for Humanity and look what was there:

A matching porch light! I contribute this small miracle to the Heavenly Father who knows and cares about the details of our lives. Now isn't that cool!

Time To Get To Work… Again!!!

With the possibility that it may stop snowing soon (Oh Lord… please?), we are gearing up for work at the lodge this week. By the grace of God everything but our storage tent made it through the 4 feet of snow that we had at the lodge. The solar panels have kept the batteries that made through last winter in tip top shape. Hopefully by end of the week we will have the electrical service in to the house from the generator/battery shed. It will be nice to get rid of the long heavy extension cords we've been using for three years. We should also have one functional toilet by the end of the week. A real plus with a family of ten and often times some friends out working!! Yes… it's time to get to work at Providence Lodge again!

"Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us. Thank you for providing exactly what we need, when we need it, to build this, Your home. May this home be a beacon of hope to many and a refuge to those who need it! May Your name be extolled. Amen!"