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.

Colorado

Longs Peak at dusk.

We have been here in Colorado for a week now, staying at some friends' cottage. It has been such a blessing. We have been relaxing, hiking, sledding, camping (on the way here), fellowshipping with friends, fishing, meeting old acquaintances....etc.

Besides our friends in Estes Park with the cottage, there is a family in Loveland that we got to know last fall when they visited us on the Hopi Reservation. We decided to go to church with them on Sunday, and it is amazing who all you meet up with in unexpected places. There were 2 people there who I went to school with years ago in WI. (one of which is my cousin)

We ended up spending the afternoon/evening at Mark and Tammy (Carter) Smith's on Sunday. We really enjoyed their fellowship and hospitality.
At church I visited briefly with Beth (Hershey) ________. (I guess I don't know her married name) They just happened to be there on their way to Alaska because their motor home broke down. It was pretty neat that I got to see them I thought.

We are nearing the end of our time here. We plan to head out on Wednesday morning. It has been a blessing to come and relax and also to fellowship with others and make new friends. We have really been blessed to see the beauty of God's creation and the abundance of wildlife here.

Here are a few random pics.



The children got a chance to ride horse Sunday afternoon.



In Rocky Mountain National Park.

This one...don't ask.

Fun at the creek in the backyard of the cottage.

Seth and Sharayah playing Pooh Sticks.

That's all folks!

Miller happenings...

Hmmm....where to start?

Life has been challenging for me here in the last while. It is amazing how much I learn about my own weaknesses and shortcomings, when ministry seems to be so constant at our doorstep. How many times is His light hindered from shining because I have my own "agenda" and "to do list", that seems more important than just taking the time to talk or listen or just be with them. And then when I take the time for ministering (and I don't really want to interrupt my day), how often do my selfish desires show through to them? I guess I never really thought about how selfish I am until I came here. And how often does that selfishness come through in the way I respond to our children throughout the day?

We have had thunderstorms here the last couple of afternoons. I love to hear the thunder and the smell of wet sand. The first thunderstorm came through a few hours after I got my garden and some wildflowers planted, so that was a blessing. Our garden is planted where our gray water can be directed, so I can keep it watered by turning the valve to water the garden as needed, then turn it back when it has enough.

Some flowers that the kids planted in their small garden plots.The vegetable garden with cucumbers, lettuce and onions planted so far...oh, and one strawberry plant. I want to plant tomatoes and peppers yet too.


We had some visitors here from Iowa last weekend. (friends of the Toews and now friends of ours too) We really enjoyed our time with them.















The Elvin Martin family




The Mark Ebersole family












The kids eating behind the village. We did some hiking and had a campfire.


A couple tired hikers.


We are getting ready to head to Colorado in about a week to see some friends of ours and have some family time together. I am really looking forward to that time together. Some days around here it seems we just see each other in passing. After we get there, Raquel will be flying out from there for home. It's hard to believe she has been here almost 8 months already. Wow, time flies.
I'm sure we will miss all the help she has been around here.

Please pray for a young lady that seems to be going through a really difficult time. We stopped in last night to drop something off and she didn't really talk but just hung on to me and cried. I checked in on her this morning and she wasn't there but found out she had a real rough night. She has shared enough with me in the past that I know she has had a lot of painful things in her life and is not making the best choices as she tries to cope. My heart is so saddened by her despair.

On the other hand, there is a young teenage girl that is finally letting down her walls and letting us into her world. It is so exciting to see her heart softening. We are seeing that she is such a sweet girl behind that hard ugly shell she has used for so many years to protect herself. We continue to pray for her father to turn to God. We see her crying out for his love.

We are so grateful to all of you for your prayers. I know we could not be a light here without the mighty work of God in our lives and the lives of those around us.

visitors, ministry...

We have had a really full last couple of weeks. We had the Carpenters here from Indiana visiting during that time. It was so nice to see some from our church back in Indiana. Right on the heels of there visit we hosted a CHIEF conference, "School Without Walls"

The last 2 1/2 days have been full time ministry to a certain young girl here, from about 9-10am to 7 or 8pm daily. By yesterday afternoon I was growing weary in well doing. I guess I was trying to minister on my own strength and becoming quite overwhelmed in the process. Not to mention the selfishness factor of wanting to get my own thing done. I need to remember Gal. 6:9 We really are seeing past her hard shell at times when she lets down her guard. So I know God is working.

Here are some pics from the last while here.

Messing around on bikes one Sunday afternoon.




Some of the wildflowers that are blooming here right now.









Learning to crochet.

Playing in the caves behind the village when the Carpenters were here.
These three girls had lots of fun together.
Playing in the sand down in Coal Mine Canyon.
Everyone loved Rebekah. She was so smiley.

Seth is wide awake. Can you tell?

Well, that's all for now.
btw, this is posted by me (Roxane) not Jim.

Busyness....and more

Sometimes it is hard to sit down and post, because it is so hard to convey what is really happening here... It seems too hard to put into words. So I will do my best to share the happenings around here.

A few weeks ago we had some struggles and misunderstandings with a family from church. It was an extremely painful week for me as I cried out to God for wisdom and humility. There are so many different ways that people handle conflict and I learned some things that I need to change. We are praying that God will continue to work through that situation to bring us closer together. I have to continually remember to "give it to God" and not try to fix/carry it on my own.

At the end of that week there was a Women's Retreat at the Kykotsmovi Church. Jeanne Dennis from Valentine, AZ was the speaker. She shared her testimony and then spoke on forgiveness. God's timing is so perfect. I was so blessed by her teaching and so refreshed. Honestly, words cannot really express here, (it would get to long) what all it meant to me.

We have been encouraged too by the growth we are seeing in some of those that come to church here and by some of the boys that come around. One boy, that is close to Bryce's age and tends to be the leader among his friends, has shown some interest in talking to Bryce without ridiculing him. Jim and Bryce have now had the opportunity to work with him on a wood project at his request. That has been exciting.

We have had a full week this last week. We had services in the evening on Good Friday and then Sunrise service this morning at 5:45 am. It was about 45 degrees out.

We sent Russ and Cyndi off to a bed and breakfast this afternoon for their anniversary for 2 nights. They will get back on Tuesday. And then Russ, Jim and Garald will be flying to Canada on Wednesday for a meeting there. They will get back late Sunday night. Raquel will also be leaving for Taiwan and will be gone for a total of 2 1/2 weeks. So life is looking pretty busy around here for the next little while.

I would add some pictures but that feature does not seem to be currently working...so maybe next time.

News from around here

Life has been racing by here. We have had some warm days that felt like summer for a couple weeks. One Sunday we went hiking in the canyon since it was so nice out. I also spent most of a Saturday weeding in the front of our house and hope to get some things planted there soon. It has been somewhat cooler the last few days, in the 50s.

Some random hiking pics.





















































It seems like so many things have happened around here, but I will try to give somewhat of an update.







As of March 12th we now have a teenager in the house and so far it has been great.















The Hayah's moved to Winslow last week end, (we are so sad to see them be so far away) but they had been looking for housing anyway and then some opened up in Winslow. They want to be back up this way when they can find housing up here. So we are praying that God will show them His plan for their family.

We have have a couple men coming to church here, which is encouraging. One of them used to come but had fallen away. It is good to see him back again. Another one has not been here before but is trying to change his life and is really seeking the Lord and seems to be very sincere. So that has been exciting to see. Please pray for them, with us.

We have seen some answered prayers around here and that has been exciting. The young boy I mentioned in my Feb. 24th post has really come around recently. We have seen such a change in him, it has been a real encouragement. This week end Jim will have a chance to spend some time with him at the boys cook out that the guys will be having.

Thank you for all your prayers. God is so faithful.