time keeps moving on...

and I'm finally taking the time to post again.

We have had a relaxing time the last few days. Together as a family and some time in the community with friends. I have really enjoyed this quiet time here the last week or so...at the same time I wonder how some that we have walked beside recently are doing. I have this sadness and burden for some of what I know is happening in their lives.

Jim and I have had a tough decision to make in the last couple weeks about whether or not to continue schooling these children. God made it clear to us, that last week before Christmas break, that we would not be able to continue with their schooling at this time. We have a peace about that and at the same time it has been very painful for me. They are hurting so much and we hate to see them back in the schools here. It seems like such cruel world out there for them. I wish I could take their pain away. We are praying that the Bible knowledge we were able to give along with the discussions we had about right and wrong while they were here will stick with them and give them some hope as they face different situations. And also that we will be able to maintain our relationship with them.

There are a couple of people that were just baby Christians here, that have fallen in the last week. It has been a sad thing and I have felt this heaviness for them...I guess it is a reminder for me to pray for them. We have not been able to contact them and don't really know where they are. So that leaves us with praying and I know God can work in ways that seem impossible to us.
There was a mother that had a baby just before Christmas. The situation that this baby was born into is not good. But with her having the baby she has seemed more open to us coming around. I would like to have the opportunity to meet with her regularly in her home in the next several weeks. I am praying that those doors will open as I stop in to see her.

It has been a painful time of year here for some who have lost loved ones recently. We continue to pray for them and keep in contact with them through this time.

Amidst all of this it has been a blessed time for me. I still have to work on giving all these burdens to God and not try to carry them on my own strength.

But we have had some enjoyable times together recently and I will try to add some pics below.
Blessings to all!

Jeremy, Nathan and Bryce had a chance to play together while Jeremy was home.

Sharayah with her hat and gloves from Tara.

Jim decided to brave the icy, rough hill with the kids. Not the most comfortable ride. He could tell the next day.

Tara

Seth a couple weeks earlier after a wipe out on skis.

I think he took a wrong turn somewhere.Look out!

These are friends that came to see us in November. Larry, Sherry and Larry. (Let's see if I can confuse you) Larry and Sherry on the left (husband and wife) are from CO. and Sherry and Larry on the right are twin brother and sister. Larry on the right is from Phoenix. And the Larry and Sherry on the right grew up near Ft. Wayne, IN and have an Amish background. And their last name?.....Miller. We have enjoyed these 2 families and really appreciate all of their prayer support. It is amazing how God brought them into the Toews' life just over a year ago.

winter snow

It has snowed here and we are enjoying it! At least some of us are. It may all be gone by the week-end but the kids are enjoying it while it lasts. They did some skiing today. Over the summer we were able to get used ski equipment for all of us.

The Christmas season is upon us. The Toews headed to Phoenix today to pick up Jeremy, their son. And we are looking forward to the break from school in 1 1/2 weeks.

Here are some random pics. I was going to put more but blogger quit uploading pics just now. Maybe more later.

my thoughts....a little jumbled but here they are

It seems things have changed a lot since I last posted. One of the main differences for me has been the school. We needed to change things around a bit, so we have just 2 Hopi children here instead of 3. We have them here all day now instead of the half day that we were doing. I am responsible for the 15 year old all day and the 13 year old is taught by others here. It has really changed my days...I was able to make a run to the post office, check in on those we are ministering to and spend time with our children working on projects, etc. That is all different now. We will do school this way until Christmas break and then re-evaluate. Please pray for wisdom and discernment for what God wants us to do. We are seeing a hunger in them for God's Word and they seem to want to keep learning more about it.

Another praise here, is a house for the Hayah's. They were able to get a trailer and a couple days after they found out they had the high bid in the silent auction, they heard from a church in another state that they were giving some money to the Hayah's. It was what they needed to pay for the trailer and have it moved. God's timing is perfect. PTL! The guys have been busy with helping with the moving and and putting the halves together.

It seems there has been a lot of crisis' around here lately that have kept us busy from one thing to the next. A few days ago a young boy shot and killed another young boy. We have been working some with a couple of the families involved so we are continuing to try to walk beside them through this crisis.

We head out tomorrow for the graduation of a man from here. He has completed a discipleship/rehab program in Cortez, CO. We are excited about what we have seen and pray that He will stay strong in the Lord as he comes back to this environment.

A baby was born a few days ago into a home where drugs and alcohol are very much a part of the parents everyday life. We pray for her protection.

A mother who's young daughter is living with her (not a good situation) is now pregnant. What will become of this child as she enters the world into this home? Please pray for the safety of her daughter and the child to be born.

A mother who lost her daughter recently has shared that the numbness is wearing off and reality is hitting. Please pray for her during this season, the first without her daughter who loved Christmas.

The last 2 weeks of school and the rest of this year looks like it will be really busy. Melissa leaves for IN in 1 week and the Toews will have their son home for Christmas. They will not be as involved with school during that time. We will be doing some Christmas caroling and other special ministry during this month too along with whatever comes up day to day.

I really can't thank you all enough for your prayers. I know God is beside us as we walk through the ups and downs of day to day life here. Your prayers are a much needed blessing.

Through thick and thin...He goes before us.

You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psa. 139:5

Here it is another weekend halfway over again.

Last weekend we had several guys here from IN and really enjoyed their time here. They even brought a dishwasher for me. (or 2 or 3 or 4) They were not a burden at all and pitched right in and helped. Besides making their own breakfasts they made 2 other meals and 1 morning I awoke at 5:40 am to this strange noise in the kitchen...it was one of them doing dishes.

They also spent lots of time praying for the ministry here while they were here. We really enjoyed having them, they were truly a blessing.

Some of the guys chopping wood.

The chef!

They stayed in the church and while they were there they made good use of the piano. Pat and his 3 sons all played. It was beautiful.

It takes several to grill. The burgers were great and it helped me out.

All but Pat and Scot on one of our hikes.
Danny, Philip, Collin, Paul, Nathan and Peter.

These 2 have become very close recently. Tara is feeling pretty blessed to have a friend from a Christian home right here on Hopi.
These are the fry-bread-makers for our Hopi Tacos for the IN guys. They did a good job and had fun in the process.

The IN folks left on Tuesday and the rest of the week here has been a whirlwind it seems. With school and 2 nights of scheduled ministry, plus a few other crisis' it has seemed really full.

We thought we would be home today, but there was a ministry opportunity so we ended up in Winslow at a Christmas parade. It was an enjoyable time with other families though.

Tonight this creature (Lizzy, the name given by Seth) was found lounging on the couch just above my head. It was a little unnerving. (still better than mice though) Seth found this on a recent hike and has been keeping it in a jar. I kept wondering if it would figure out how to get through the plastic wrap lid. I will wonder no more I guess. It is now in a gallon size jar with a metal lid with holes.


This one family...I just so enjoy watching the way God is working in healing their family. Every time we're around them I get so excited. Through a difficult time God has brought them so close. He is certainly being glorified through this.

It looks like tomorrow will be a full day. We have morning and evening services and sometime in the afternoon we will be meeting with an individual. Please pray for wisdom and that our hearts would be yielded to what God wants for this meeting.

Thank you so much for your continued prayer. I know they sustain us especially in the difficult times.

God bless.

Happy Birthday!!!

God has been so faithful! I am continuing to heal. Each day my skin is closer to normal and there is very little itching now. The swelling has been gone for several days. It is amazing how He works. I have so enjoyed being out in public again after 2 weeks, and fellowshipping with others. We hosted ANF (Anabaptist Native Fellowship) meetings here last weekend so we had visitors from several places here. It was nice to visit with friends we had not seen for a while as well as make new friends. Saturday night we had a cookout behind the village.

We are looking forward to a visit from several men and boys coming for a visit this weekend. They are from our church in Indiana.

Please pray for this family of 7 living here in the fellowship building as they walk through some very painful things. That God will give them strength through this and that they will grow stronger and closer to the Lord and each other.

Continue to pray for all of us as we help school 3 extra children. It is certainly not without challenges. There may need to be some changes made in the way we are doing things for school very soon. Pray for wisdom as we seek the Lord's leading in this process. Also just pray for this family in general, they all have a lot of painful things to work through.

Today Sharayah turned 6. It's hard to believe she is 6 already. We had a little celebration tonight with presents, cake and ice cream. Now she is having a hard time falling to sleep.

Well, I need to get off to bed. We really appreciate all your prayers...we couldn't continue without them. God bless you.

very itchy and feeling drugged...

life has been a challenge here the past week. I have been fighting an infection (cellulitis) since about last Sunday. We thought I might end up in the hospital, but we are thankful for a Dr. that goes to church here who was able to prescribe 4 very potent antibiotics for me to take. I know that lots and lots of people were praying and the Dr. was very pleased with my progress when he made his "house call" this morning. Jim has been quite a trooper through all of this, waiting on me hand and foot, sterilizing anything I touch, keeping the house running, homeschool...and I'm sure the list goes on. The biggest thing I'm dealing with right now is the itchiness of the drug reaction. Pray that, that will clear up soon. Thanks for all of your prayers through this, God has been faithful.

In other news...

Please pray for the lady who lost her daughter several weeks ago. It seems she is running from the pain and is not handling/processing it very well.

Another lady who had gone to rehab is now back home and is staying strong in her walk with the Lord. But her situation here is not without trials. There was a death in her family recently, her adult son is very angry and has physically hurt her in the past, her 5 year old son is being kept in a home that is not a good situation, illegally. She has custody but has not been able to get him back.

Continued wisdom is needed as we teach these 3 children in school.

Here are some random pics from around here.

Homeschool Bible class

Ok, well....I think they're getting carried away now. What does that say in the top left corner?

It started out being Bible class.
Seth, making eggs on the wood stove.
They're making hats.
Sharayah is wearing a hat she made and is making another one.
She likes to relax while she works.
That's all for now.

Fall weather is here...

...and it is hard to believe. We are having colder nights and pleasant fall days. (we even burned a fire a few nights) It seems there are so many things happening and changes taking place. Some exciting things and some not so exciting.

I was sad to see a young mother move back to CA, but I know it may be the best thing for her right now as she makes some major decisions in her walk with the Lord. Just pray that she will stay close to Him, as she doesn't have Christian friends there.

A lady moves back in the area before finishing her rehab and seems to still be weak in her walk with the Lord. Will she be able to stand up to the pressures around her?

We see the hearts of these 3 children coming to school here, softening. Praise God! Pray for wisdom and patience as each day brings new challenges that we feel so inadequate to handle.

A lady who comes around some, finds herself pregnant. Based on the choices she has been making during this pregnancy, the baby will have FAS. God have mercy on this helpless child.

There are different ones around here confused by what is being taught in another ministry here on Hopi. As they share their confusion...I am so sad that these young Christians are having to face this.

There is the mother who recently lost her 8 year old daughter; and I think of all that she is walking through right now.

For some reason today I am feeling especially burdened for this and other situations here. My heart aches for the souls of these people. Lord, what would you have me to do? We are here on this earth to bring glory to Him...how does that look practically?

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for us here. We certainly do feel the need for them.

In other happenings....

I sorted through closets and found so many clothes that are too small. How fast they grow in what seems like just a few short months since I was putting away their warm clothes.

School for our children is going quite good amidst all the busyness here. I am really enjoying my teaching time with them, although it seems I never get enough. Sharayah loves to read and often does 2 lessons in reading a day because she likes it so much. With Math-U-See Tara and Seth really like Math and do it in their spare time sometimes. Bryce has been doing some extra studying in an electronics book that a friend of ours loaned to him.

Tara is really enjoying Choco, the dog we have claimed...I guess. Tara is definitely Choco's favorite. We were able to get rid of the other stray dog so it's nice to just have one hanging around. (i'm actually glad she's here because i really like her, i just don't proclaim that too loudly)

One of these times I will put some pics on here again.
For now I need to go.

God working in tragedies

In some ways the week here has seemed so long and in others, so fast. The funeral for that young girl was on Tuesday with a memorial service in the evening. God is working in so many ways through this. There are people that would never think of stepping inside a church, that were there Tuesday night and heard the salvation message. There were/are many hearts softened. The mother is overwhelmed with what God is doing in the lives of so many (including her own family) as a result of her daughter's life being taken. She said "It is painful but I know God had her here for a time to draw others to Him and it was her time to go." We are seeing her family draw together where there was dissension before. And even someone who her daughter was specifically praying for seems to be drawn. Please keep praying that God will be glorified through all of this.
Here is a picture she drew hours before she disappeared. She said the angel on the left was her.

In other news and happenings...
We took Choco to the free vet clinic Monday and got her fixed and vaccinated along with this sick stray dog that will not leave us. She had to be treated for all sorts of things so was not able to get fixed. Now we just need to find a home for her. Any takers?

The Toews' left today for CO for a week or 2.

School went so much better this week. Praise God for that!

Tonight the girls and I are planning to head down to K-town for a women's retreat. They always look forward to these. It is tonight and tomorrow.

Right now I need to go get some things done before tonight.

sad news

Today has been a difficult day here. Yesterday evening we spent some time praying with a single mother for her 8 year old daughter who had been missing since early afternoon yesterday. The Toews' spent time helping look for her into the night along with several others including the police. They found her body this morning. They are investigating the situation.

This mother has been coming here for Bible study, women's group, and other activities that we have for the last couple months. Tara has spent some time playing with her daughter. Most of her family is very hostile towards her mostly because of her choosing to do what's right. It is a daily struggle where she lives. She has been carrying so much...and now this.

We just came from a prayer service for her and her family. The details of the funeral have not been planned yet. Please pray for her family as we walk beside her in this time.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for the homeschool here. We have seen some answers to prayer in the last couple days. Praise God for that. Pray that there will be a good relationship between us and these precious children even when it is so difficult to have that.

There are lot's of other things going on around here, but it has been a really long day and I need to get some sleep.

school days...or is it daze

On the way home from IN, in Chama, NM.

It is hard to believe we are almost 3 weeks into this school year. In some ways it has flown by and other ways it seems to have gone on forever already.

It has been quite a challenge to say the least. It seems I/we are forever out of wisdom. The original plan we talked about this summer has changed many, many times. The original plan had the mother here helping us. As it is now, Melissa is doing most of the teaching in the morning. (the mother has taken on a full time job) The children are then taken to the school where the mother works for the rest of the day, to be taught by someone else who works there. We are in great need of having a 'sit down' with the mother on some struggles we are encountering. But we keep moving on each day, (blindly it seems at times) because, for several reasons it has not been able to happen. Please pray that there would be a desire from the mother to be more involved. And also for these hurting children and how to work through the pain in their lives. It really affects their days so much.

Tara has spent the last several days being pretty sick. She had a lot of abdominal pain and was in bed for 3 days. She seems to be mostly normal now again and is slowly getting her strength back.

We have been walking beside this young mother here, pretty closely. She is so torn about her relationship with her daughter's father. She doesn't want her to grow up without a father, like she did, yet she questions what kind of a father he can be, if he is not totally committed to following God in every area of his life. She has a strong desire to be obedient to God, so we are praying that she will not push her convictions aside in order to keep that relationship; but that she will be obedient to God, what ever the cost.

The young man I mentioned last time that was trying to stay sober until he could get into rehab...he made it. Praise God! Things are going well for him there.

There are 2 other young men here that say they want to follow God, yet they continue in ways that they know are wrong.

I need to be going for now. Thanks for all your prayers.


This is what I feel like doing some days.

of trying times and very full days...

We are back home again after being gone for 3 weeks. It was good to see friends and family in Indiana, but we are sure glad to be back. So many changes have happened in peoples lives here.
A new baby born, 2 started new jobs, one of those quit, someone else quit their job, children enrolled in school and then taken out to home school, a family moving, personal conflicts among several that we are closely connected with...and the list goes on. Trying to help those work through their personal conflict has been very draining to say the least. Since lying is so much a part of the Hopi religion here, it is very difficult even for Hopi Christians to realize that deception is wrong as well. God, please give us wisdom.

And also today was our first day of school. It went pretty smoothly, considering all of the other things that have preoccupied our time since we got home just 4 short days ago. We have more ahead, with some unfinished school prep that we should have had for today, but sometimes (it seems lots of times lately) there is a crisis that needs to be handled, and so we put non-emergencies aside.

Please pray for wisdom as we help work through conflicts and crisis etc. in peoples lives.

• A man struggling to stay sober until he can get into rehab, while being persecuted by his brother for coming to church.

• A family of 7 in need of a home.

• A young couple getting ready to have a "baby naming" for their new baby, even though the mother is not at peace with it. (What will this open the child up to?)

• A man knowingly and openly carving kachina dolls after, (by his own admittance) God clearly showed him it was wrong.

• A lady is working in an environment that pulls her one way, so it is a daily struggle of discerning God's will.

• A man faithfully and consistently seeking God a short time ago, and now is boot-legging alcohol.

• A man beaten unconscious, in a drunken brawl, at the home where a 4 year old girl lives with her handicapped mother.

• A home school co-op endeavour just starting up with 2 Hopi families. Praying the children's hearts are softened toward God in this school year.

• A mother fears for her life, from her abusive husband since she left him.

And that is just some of the prayer needs that I think of right now. Please pray with us, it is so desperately needed.

Thank you all.

What's been happening since last post and where to start?.....

Well, the dog from the last post has left. She disappeared a couple days later. But we now have another dog that has been hanging out here for at least 2 weeks now. She may actually stay. We are calling her Choco (Chocolate). She's not the prettiest dog around, but she grows on you.We had a family from CO stop in for overnight last week. It was such a blessing to have them here and so refreshing to fellowship together. The kids really had fun together too.
We went to the homeschool conference in Pheonix last weekend. I have to say, that I got more out of the conferences I went to in IN. But, I am glad we went. We took some from the village and they got a lot out of it. I enjoyed hearing about what they learned and how it helped them. Please pray with us that God will meet the needs of this single mother planning to homeschool her children with our help, this school year.

Our kids favorite part was being able to swim at our friends pool where we stayed for 2 nights. Seth even got to try out his remote control submarine, which he has been wanting to do for a long time.
This week has been busy. We have been having VBS every afternoon and every evening we had something going except for Monday. Tomorrow will be the final day with a BBQ in the evening for the families. Please pray for a little girl that is not living in a good situation right now. We see so much more of what their day to day life is like when we are picking them up every day.

God has been showing me so much in the last couple weeks. We have been listening to a series of messages, The Cost of Discipleship by Paris Reidhead. (They are available free here.) Matt. 16:24. What a challenge. To be a follower of Jesus, to truly be his disciple, I need to give up my selfish ways. Am I wiling to give up what I want to do, when I want to do it and see others as more important?

Here are some random giant bubble shots. Tara got this from the Toews' for her b-day.
Goodnight all!

As the end of the summer draws near.....

It's amazing how fast time goes before I get another post on here. There has been so much happening it seems.

Melissa's family was here for about 10 days and we did a lot during their time here. They sewed for Tara and Sharayah, helped tie a comforter top I had made for Tara's b-day (it just needs the binding now), helped with some homeschool planning and they painted our living room (I'll try to put pics in sometime).....and lots more that the guys did that I don't know about. It was such a blessing and encouragement to have them here. Thanks so much for all you did!

The top of Tara's quilt, before tying.
I have been trying to get some home school details planned for the school year before we go down to Phoenix for the home school conference this coming weekend. It has been quite a struggle to get that done. It seems each time I set aside for focusing on that, there is a ministry opportunity at the door or in our house. I'm beginning to think I will just have to get what I think I need at the conference and work out the school details when we are in IN in August. (Much as I was hoping to do that now) As I am learning lately, my ideas are not always God's plan. Am I willing to be yielded to His plan for my day?
If all the details work out it looks like we will be schooling 3 children from the village this year as well as our own. Melissa and their mother will be helping out with that too. It will be a challenge to be sure, but I am really excited about the opportunity to immerse these children in the Word of God.

Currently the annual Hopi Camp Meetings are going on. We have been there last night and tonight and will probably go the remaining 2 nights as well.


I have been trying to catch this very smart mouse for over a month now. We tried regular wooden mouse traps- always licked them clean, 2 different kinds of live traps- never bothered going in to get the bait, several sticky traps-he got caught in twice, but always managed to wiggle out, leaving lots of hair behind, a homemade trap using a bucket for him to fall in when getting the bait-he stopped short of the bait, homemade mouse bait with dry cement in it and water nearby- he wouldn't eat it. It was really annoying. We found droppings in various places, including on our dining room table. Yuck! Well, after some research online I got one of these traps. We checked the trap 2 hours after setting it and we had caught the culprit. My tip for the day is to use these for those mice that think they're smarter than you, it seems to work.

It seems that we have had stray dogs living here off and on this summer. Most of the time they are very thin and a little skittish. Back in April there was a puppy that stayed here that seemed to be getting weaker by the day. So we fed it and Jim said if it stayed around we could keep it.
We called her Nutmeg.
A couple days later she disappeared. It was really disappointing for our kids, but they have since grown used to "short term" dogs over the summer months, even though it is still hard sometimes. Another skinny dog showed up last night and has hung around most of today. (although she could be gone again even as I write this) Just this afternoon we figured out it was actually Nutmeg. She looks so different that we didn't notice at first.
















She has far too many ticks to count and you can tell she has had to fight for every scrap of food she got. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to change that.

In the meantime I should retire for the night.

Last night we went to a Revival near Tuba City about 45 minutes from here. A Navajo man was speaking and it was a really good message. He sings and plays the accordion too, so that was neat to see. We got home around 10pm.

Then this morning we got up about 4am to head down to Flagstaff. A lady from church here, was having back surgery. We arrived before she went in for surgery and then stayed until she was done. The surgery was about 4 hours and everything went good. She is doing great! Please pray with us for her continued healing.

We left the hospital about 2pm and within a few minutes discovered that there was 2 forest fires very close to town. Come to find out, one was just several yards from homes and was within the city limits. It has now been put out with 5 acres burned. The other one is just outside the city limits and they are still working on putting that one out. Here is a picture I got of one of the planes that was working on the fires. It was amazing how low they got.
And now I must go to bed after such a short night.

back home, visitors, home alone, lizards....

We have been back from Colorado for about a week and 1/2 now. We got home on a Thursday and Wil and Kathy (Jim's Aunt and Uncle) and Isaiah came on Friday morning. It was so good to see family from back in Indiana. We hiked Coal Mine Canyon with them and went out behind the village for a cook out in the evening. You'll have to ask them how the hiking was.
We really enjoyed our time with them. They left Saturday morning to catch their flight out.

Then on Monday the Toews left for MI and several other places along the way. So we have been here holding down the fort. (Melissa has been at her folks in IN) We had a pretty quiet week last week. Everyone in the village was preparing for their dance/ceremony they had last week-end. We spent a lot of time in prayer, that the enemy would be bound and God's name would be lifted up.

It seems there has been so many little nuggets of opportunities that we have had to minister in some small way the last few days.
-A lady in the hospital that we had a chance to share the gospel and pray with.
-To show love to a young girl who had been beaten in a fight.
-To pray with a lady for her nephew as he turned his back on God. (his heart has softened just a few days later and was even willing to come to church with them PTL)
-For Bryce to share about God to a young boy who was asking.
-For Seth to share with some inquiring boys about why we don't go to their dances and how to pray to God.
-Jim to spend time listening to a man share his life as he asked for help to get into rehab. And to re-connect him to an old friend who is now walking with the Lord.
-To give some clothes, books and toys to a couple children in need.
-To listen and pray with a christian lady as she struggled through the week-end with her unsaved family involved in the dances. (her husband released her from being involved in the dance. PTL)
-To give glasses of water to the ones coming through the yard and having a couple minutes to chat while they're drinking it.

That is just a bit of what God has brought our way lately. And yet, I have to think, "how many opportunities did we miss because we were too busy to notice?" I thank God for His faithfulness in answering prayers as we have cried out to him.

Yesterday Tara got to share her birthday with Fathers Day. It is the first time for her, on her 10th birthday. It was pretty special for her.

The other day, I opened my kitchen drawer and was quite startled to find a lizard sitting in the measuring pitcher I was intending to use. I guess the sides were too slippery for it to get out.
I have to say though, I would rather have lizards in our house than mice.
I am currently trying to catch some sort of a creature that continues to lick my mouse trap clean without even tripping it. I am trying a little different approach tonight, so we'll see how it turns out.

This little puppy spent several days here until his rightful owner discovered him. The kids literally spent hours playing with this little guy.


While we were in Colorado some friends blessed us with tickets to Fun City. It really was a lot of fun there. Just some pics from there.And tomorrow we're off to Flagstaff to do some shopping and pick up Melissa. So now I must go to bed.