A warm
welcome to each one! And I do mean warm~ I’m reminded again why my
favorite time of the year is not summer!
Since
it’s been so long since we wrote one of these I think I’ll just
recap a bit first…
The
summer has been a busy one but very fulfilling. The Lord has once
again kept us safe as we traveled many, many miles, for that we are
soo thankful!
May….
We spent almost two weeks in VA although several days were close to
Mt. View Nursing Home and the other services, including prison work,
was done within 2 or 3 hours of there. It was so nice to not have
so much driving from one place to the next. We enjoyed seeing
friends that we haven’t seen for quite awhile and reconnect with
them. Amos has started teaching the Bondage to Freedom Seminars in
prisons and he taught his second one while we were in VA. It is so
exciting to see men able to identify issues in their lives and lay
them at the Cross and find new hope and joy!
When we got home from that trip Amos and I spent several days at the
Cove in Asheville attending the Billy Graham School of Evangelism.
It was a refreshing time for us both!
June….
Our time in Canada was a blessing. We had several church services
and also some prison services. We were privileged to park at and
spend some time at Melvin and Amy Kuepfers and get to know them
better. Cole loved their sandbox. :) The last week of June we were
in northern IN for my brother Landon’s wedding. We had a program at
Faith Mission in Elkhart and also at our home church, Pleasant
Grove.
July….
We found out we’re gonna have another BOY!!! We’re all very
excited and so far all is going well with the pregnancy~ Praise the
Lord!! My due date is December 20th.
A long weekend in OH included another prison service and Bondage to
Freedom Seminar and two church services on Sunday. At the end of
that trip we were able to spend two evenings with Dave and Ruth Ann
and their family in Middlefield, OH where they were having
meetings.
The last
couple of days of July and the first part of August….
We had services in IL and WI on our way up to Family Camp and Gospel
Sing at Northern Youth in Dryden Ont. Amos did the sound for the
weekend and we also had several slots of singing so he was kept very
busy. Late nights, starry skies, dozens and dozens of tents and
good food were just small things that made the weekend so
enjoyable. Some of the more important things were seeing the First
Nations families and those at NYP interacting with each other and
good singing and music. It was so good to see Norman and Sharon
Miller and their girls and catch up with them. (They are up there in
service but are from our church in IN.)
We
stopped at a small zoo for a few hours in IL and Cole got introduced
to many new animals. He loved it and we had a very relaxing time.
Amos
had his spiritual birthday on Aug. 8th! He’s now 5 years
old in the Lord! We are both so thankful for all the Lord has done
in his life.
We just
got home last night and are planning to enjoy a week and a half here
before we head out again on the 23rd.
Cole is
the highlight in our lives right now of course.J His 1st
birthday is September 2 and he can’t wait to be a big brother. He
has seven teeth and is just starting to stand up and take a few
steps by himself. He is very busy and jabbers pretty much nonstop.
His daddy is his hero and they share many precious moments in the
drivers seat in the motorhome. Another favorite is animals,
although most make the sound of horses feet or else mooooo. His
stuffed puppy from Aunt Alana gets lots of hugs and kisses and he
loves cell phones.
I thank
the Lord that Cole has such a good role model in Amos! So often we
see in prison the affects of the absence of fathers in the home.
Faithful, godly fathers are not the norm today. So wives, lets
encourage and build up our husbands and pray for them daily, they
don’t have an easy job!! That’s been something I’m really working
on lately, just thought I’d share. J
Thank
you as always for your support in prayer!
Margaret
for the Raber 3-soon-to-be-4
