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posted by Jonathan on 12/14/09

What fun we had decorating this year! But one thing we are learning is that it isn’t the end of the world to break old traditions. Since we will be traveling to Florida for Christmas, there are many things we decided to do differently this year.

For instance, we usually we spread out our lights all over the house, inside and out. This year we decided to put all 2000 of them in the living room! Usually we go to Grandma and Grandpa Brannon’s for cookies and a gift exchange on Christmas Eve. This year we will be taking our gifts with us in the car! Usually we have family and friends visit us around Christmas. This year we will be visiting them!

But most importantly, usually we think that if we ever did it any differently it would lose a lot of the fun. This year we found out that isn’t true! The spirit of Christmas is not based on traditions! It is the relationships with God and others that make Christmas what it is. Circumstances may be different, but the historical facts and spiritual meaning behind the traditions still make Christmas (whether at our house or not) the best time of year!

Check back soon for the Christmas Cookie Contest!

3 Comments » | posted in The Bright Side

posted by Donald on 10/7/09

Over the past few weeks my Scripture memory has centered around Matthew 6:33, using the birds and the lilies as examples of God’s care for his creation and, much more, for us. Then came an opportunity one morning to “behold the fowls of the air” in our own yard. As busy as ever it took a good deal of twittering to get my attention. Two groups of birds, passing through the woods, merged for a brief time and created a birder’s paradise. It reminded me of mornings in Manassas where a good birding day was hard not to notice from our second-story kitchen window. If you’re a birder too you’ll know what I mean when I say that some days are just better than others. I hadn’t been birding in the fall often however and for warblers it can be a difficult time for identification. Nonetheless there was one new identification: the famous Blackburnian Warbler. Probably a male, it appeared as the female in the picture above, due to the season. Then today, not far from the porch, came the  sighting of Chipping Sparrows, back to West Virginia wintering grounds. They didn’t mind the cold a bit. Though more common than the warbler, it made for quite an encouraging sight and I’m thinking I’ll have to keep on the alert this autumn more than I have before.

3 Comments » | posted in The Bright Side

posted by Donald on 06/11/09

Yesterday about a third of the young men and women, the 9th-grade students, of Nan Jung Junior High School all concluded their time here and commenced a new chapter of life. It was graduation day. Our time as teachers is also drawing short but without quite the same level of significance. As we drove to school this morning, Austin and I realized what it must be like for them–to wake up and have no need to catch the 6:52 train to school–for practically the first time in three years! It was an interesting thought. To share a little of what their relationships have meant here are some pictures of ‘A Student’s Morning’, part II of the story of our Junior High School.

6 Comments » | posted in Family News, The Bright Side

posted by James on 06/4/09

I will keep you in suspense no longer! Here are the pictures from our little hike down to the end of the Bates’ driveway; you see, that’s where the mouth of the cave was.

Despite it being 10:30PM by the time the days work was done, dinner was cleaned up, the family meeting over, and the thunderstorm past, Dad and Mom let us go exploring. After all, it was the last opportunity.

At first, I thought it would be a relatively small cave; but it wasn’t long till I was assured that days could be spent in the exploration of this place!

The cave was full of winding tunnels, tight passages, and huge rooms.

It was important that each person had their own light, just in case. Because we were shy on flashlights, the Bates’ brought out their kerosene lanterns. It greatly enhanced the experience!

We had to watch out for many things, including drop offs, water collected on the floor, jutting rocks at head level, and old, rusty junk from previous visitors near the entrance of the cave.

Our time at the Bates’ was well spent. It’s refreshing to interact with a family so totally sold out for God. We experienced firsthand a clear principle of relationships: as each individual draws closer to God, they all become closer to each other. As seen at the Bates’, our Father is not only a creative Designer, He is an interpersonal God.

Well, this is just the end of the beginning of our trip to the Regional ATI Conference. Tomorrow, we head to Nashville!

7 Comments » | posted in Photography, The Bright Side

posted by Daniel on 05/25/09

• Plan A – Leave Sunday School Teacher’s Book in classroom at church after using it to teach lesson, so that Teacher can pick it up during the week.

Oh no! I forgot and brought it home with me.

• Plan B – No problem! Just take the Teacher’s Book with us to evening church and leave it on the classroom table.

Oops! We got in a rush and I left my Bible at home, which unfortunately happened to have the book in it. The seriousness of the situation was quickly escalating. Especially when I found out we would not be at church the next Sunday.

• Plan C – Let’s see. Michael might be attending a church meeting Tuesday night. He could just take it then.

Hmmm… Michael ended up not going to the meeting.

• Plan D – Dad will be at the Parish Meeting Thursday night. Perhaps he could give it to Willis Ash, who lives near the church and attends just about every church-related event. (I finally got around to calling our teacher – who had been looking all around the church for her Teacher’s Book – and she said this plan would work fine.)

Uh-oh. Minutes after Dad left for work Thursday I realized he wasn’t coming home before going to the Parish Meeting – and we hadn’t given him the book! Surely it wasn’t my fault… There were a lot of other things I had to remember that morning… um, like taking out the trash, brushing my teeth, and other mind-engrossing tasks… By now I was becoming an expert in this field of explanation formulations (in other contexts known by a less flattering name – excuse-making :/ ).

• Plan E – Relax. Esther and Mom had already planned on stopping at Grandma and Grandpa’s house during a trip into town, so they can take the book and leave it at their house for Dad to pick up on his way to the meeting.

Horrors! Willis called and said that due to some unexpected chain of events he would not be able to make it to the Parish Meeting. It seemed our last possible link to get the book to the church was slipping away…

• Plan F – After telling Dad the situation over the phone, he says that it would be possible for him to stop at Willis’ house on his way home from the meeting and give him the book, so that Willis could take it to the church (he was the only one with a key) and leave it on the classroom table for our Teacher to come pick up the next day (and hopefully have time to prepare a lesson for Sunday – which was now only a couple days away!)

One “small” mistake, which at first seemed easy enough to correct, turned out involving nine different individuals, eight separate exchanges, and many inconveniences for everyone involved!

Learn from my bummer and spare yourself a headache or two: Do things right the first time!

5 Comments » | posted in The Bright Side