The Constitution, Part II

posted by Donald on 06/15/13

Introducing … the Preamble, one of the best-loved and most-often-recited of all our historical writings:

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility [peace], provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.

The George Washington Memorial Chapel near Valley Forge

 

PS If you have been able to successfully memorize the Preamble last week please write and let us know. You can use the tab above to contact us.

comments2 Comments » | posted in Historical Glimpses, Politics

Will the Tornadoes Smash my Tomatoes?

posted by Esther on 06/12/13

Our cute little garden out back with the tipi style trellis. :)Not so far! Abby and I have enjoyed putting in a garden this spring! I am so grateful for brother David starting the tomato plants for me. They survived the car ride, transplanting, local animals, my pruning, and now we will see if they survive the storms. Thanks for IMAG0634all your tips Michael and David!

The school project is going well. Our Lord does all things well and His timing is perfect. I am so grateful for the staff here being willing to attend school board meetings with me and become familiar with a few of our closest districts.

Thursday night I was shocked to see Chad, Alissa, Katherine, Kaylee and Emily Christiansen show up on Robert and Kendalyn’s doorstep while I was babysitting Sauntina! I couldn’t believe it!!!! It was so good to get to see them again and I was very glad they were able to stay for the weekend.

IMAG0607IMAG0604IMAG0622I enjoyed getting to know some of the 60 young ladies that came in for a Journey to the Heart Saturday! Keep them in your prayers as they are up in the Northwoods. (I hear the mosquitoes are terrible there right now!) Pray they would seek Him and find Him as they search for Him with all of their heart!

IMAG0609IMAG0611IMAG0631IMAG0639

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The Constitution, Part I

posted by Donald on 06/6/13

Here between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, let’s remember and honor the document that has been such a foundation for us.

A well-remembered gathering from this time last year! The United States Constitution is much shorter than you may at first think. If you are a good reader you can read it—all of it—in about an hour! How grateful we can be for such a government structure as ours.

If you were to divide the Constitution and it’s Bill of Rights into 16 equal parts, it would be arranged as follows:

  • Preamble
  • 5 Parts: The Congress (Article 1)
  • 2 Parts: The President (Article 2)
  • 1 Part: The Judicial System (Article 3)
  • 2 Parts: General Provisions (Articles 4-7)
  • 1 Part: Early Amendments (Bill of Rights, 1791)
  • 5 Parts: Later Amendments (11-27, 1798-1992)

As with keeping the law of our Creator, we find our most efficient means of success in keeping, before our eyes, the laws and guidelines our fathers set. To that end may this series of posts become a regular source of encouragement!

Do you think you can memorize the Preamble before I post again?

comments2 Comments » | posted in Family News

An Experience of a Lifetime

posted by Jonathan on 06/4/13

What a joy to be back home! My time in TX on the Emergency Response Team at ALERT was full of challenges (like the Caleb Nelson Memorial Race), but also tons of fun.  It taught me responsiveness to people’s needs and skills to help in times of disaster. Through the two months I learned both wild land firefighting and structure firefighting, high angle rescue, rescue systems 1, sawyers, and many other spiritual and mental lessons.

One of the highlights for me was going on deployment to Oklahoma City were the tornado hit. It was a blessing to be able to go in and encourage people who had lost almost everything, by cleaning up their homes or property and singing to them.

The last three weeks God worked it out for me to take the aviation course. The feeling of taking off and you actually being the one in control, was a thrilling experience. It was such a new three dimensional feeling, and took so much eye hand coordination.

Learning these skills in a Christian atmosphere with great friendly people was a wonderful experience worth the time and money for me.

Enjoy the following pictures. Young men seriously consider going through ALERT. You will never be the same.

Learning the mechanics of a chainsaw.Getting experience using chainsaws.

IMG_0008Cutting boards to build the shoring structures. Shoring to keep a floor from calapsing.

My project at the Nashville Deployment.After a day of hard work.

My roommate and I getting ready for the race.The starting line

A nice cool morning swimStarting the eight mile run

First arriving at tornado sightThis family had moved in three weeks agoFiguring what to do with a bathtub.

This is how the tornado left the houseTelephone wire couldn't stand the 200+ windsA very sad sight

The best way to take care of the debrisThree houses use to set here. The tractor helped get the big stuff out

Many cars ended up like this.All that was left of a nice three story homeWe completely demolish this trailer

Having fun on the towerLearning to ascend instead of descendLearning to ascend instead of descend

practicing putting out wood firesCutting out a fire linePutting out a liquid fire

Clearing a small piece of land with fireWe had problems with this one snare that was on fire

Setting up 2,000 chairs for the Big Sandy ATI ConferenceI was finally in the opening ceremony!

Helping the cadets at the towerHad a great time with Robert and Kendalyn and Sauntina at the PendergastA helicopter flew in for the cadets

The cockpit of the airplane we practiced inThe Cessna 172 84309 that I flew!

comments3 Comments » | posted in Family News

Opportunities Abounding

posted by Donald on 06/1/13

“…The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, He also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

Jonathan's team had done an excellent job on landscaping!It had been almost ten years since I had seen the Nashville Training Center, a place of many happy reunions for families in ATI. 

In the midst of a collapsing world, we can respond in one of two ways:

Missionaries from New Guinea ... to Romania. Fight a host of temptations
OR
Enter into Christ’s victory;

Say “Goliath is too big to fight!”
OR
We praise the Lord to see Mr. Koning's life work continuing in testimony after testimony of victory over the powers of darkness. Say “Goliath is too big to miss!”;

See problems
OR
See opportunities.

God is our strength. He is our song. He is our salvation. In Him we have the victory just because of who He is. I was tremendously grateful for the refreshing reminders given through the lineup at the Nashville Regional Conference, including Dad’s message on music, powerful sessions by Jamie Lash, true stories from Otto Koning, reports from international ministry, and the timeless tale of Andrew Summers Rowan, a noble West Virginian who took “A Message to Garcia”.

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A Few Good Links:

The Neely Team
Some wonderfully hospitable and fun friends of ours from North Carolina!
"In Balance Music" Radio Network
The music on this online radio station is the kind that we listen to in our home. We’ll guarantee that it will uplift your spirit and encourage your soul!

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