A few pics from the hike...

We went up to Page, AZ to do some hiking the other day. The particular canyon we hiked in is Water Holes Canyon although there are several canyons in the area. It was absolutely gorgeous in and around the canyon. The formations were amazing. Here are a few pics.

Some pics taken on top.

Down in the canyon.

Good Evening!

Lately I have been chipping away at clutter. It hasn't all been fun but it is worth it to get rid of things we aren't really using etc. In the midst of that, all the other day to day tasks.

We have had several days now of sunshine and temps in the 40s. It makes for a sea of mud outside the front door and down the driveway. I wondered if it would work to use skis to get down the driveway. But even though we've had some warm weather the sledding hill behind our house is still snow covered. It faces north and the snow just seems to stick. So we still have kids up here sledding nearly everyday.

I got a good report the other day from my doctor. The most recent blood test is showing improvement in the deficiencies I had. We have been waiting for that and it seems my body is finally moving in the right direction for my immune system to start working correctly. Praise God for that! We will follow-up in a few weeks again.

As I think of a friend of ours here...I am really sad tonight. It seems this one in particular from the family, has turned their back on God. It was heart wrenching as I heard that in our conversation on the phone today. The last week has been really hard as we walked beside them but this was.....I have no words really to describe it. I just cried out to God to have mercy and soften hearts. We can only place these dear friends in God's hands and pray that God would move in a mighty way.

Thanks to you all for your prayers, we really need them.

Sharayah after trying to ski on her face down the hill.

In Phoenix

Sharayah in front of our house.

Warmth AND Sunshine

Here we are in Phoenix enjoying the warmth. It is currently 58 at 9pm with a windchill of 59. Figure that out...according to NOAA Tomorrow should be sunny and 70.

We left rather unexpectedly after lunch today to head down here. We brought our friends down, as they found out earlier today that they needed to get a way down here today. It is the mother and her daughter that have been living there with us and her husband that we brought down. They will stay here as they seek God's direction for where He would have them more long term. (Staying on the rez is not an option for them at this time.) Please pray with us and them for an environment where they can be nurtured and discipled in their new walk with the Lord. It was a sad parting for me since she and I have grown close over the past several months and she will really be missed. But, I know that God is in control.

Tomorrow we plan to take care of some business down here in the valley. We will head back up later tomorrow or Saturday.

We were actually down here last weekend too. We visited Jim's family(Wil and Kathy, Matt, Monica and kids) that were visiting from Indiana. And of course Maury, Melissa and Isaiah, who live here. We really enjoyed our time with them. And I think we could get used to this great weather too.

I would post some pics but blogger's not letting me right now. So til next time....enjoy your weather! :-) We're enjoying ours at the moment.

God continues His work...

...in out lives/heart.

Our opportunity for interaction in the community has dwindled, (although it seems to be picking up a little in the past week) and it has/is a time of God teaching me. I have been asking myself, "What is there in my life/heart that hinders His light from shining out, even in my own family, is His light shining?" I was reading in Micah 6 where God is talking to Israel. Starting at verse 3 He is talking about all He has done for Israel. I had to look back and think of all He has done for me and what all He has taught me and how He cared for me. Then in verse 6-7 it asks what should we offer Him and there are different suggestions, but in verse 8 He says "no" What He wants is for us to do what is right, love mercy and walk humbly with Him. Amos 5:24 refers to it as an" endless river of righteous living". Am I doing this and that for Him? and they're good things, but what does He really want. I was thinking of things in my life and whether or not they reflect a godly, ordered life. Are there things I do because they look good but aren't coming from the heart...all this doing...hmm. A few days later I was reminded to stop doing things on my own strength when I read in Isaiah 22 starting at verse 9 it seems as though they are trying to get all these things done and then in the middle of verse 11 it says we never ask for help from God. That is so much like me. I try to get it all done on my own strength...meals on the table, house in order, laundry, home school, training my children, ministering to those in need...and on and on. And where is the focus of my heart that I don't remember to ask for help moment by moment throughout the day? I have lots of room for growth I can see.

In other news...Mom/Grandma has gone back to Indiana. She was here longer yet it seemed too short. We do cherish the time we had though. On the way down to Phoenix we did some sight seeing.

After leaving the airport we went on a critter control adventure. Our friends had honeybees living in the wall of their house. So we went to rid them of some bees and confiscate some honey. It was a very large colony and proved to be quite a challenge and we discovered they were africanized bees. We got over 1 gallon of honey which wasn't nearly all of it but they were so aggressive, Jim didn't tarry too long.

Things have settled back in to school and keeping up with day to day tasks. It looks like we will be getting some snow this week and the kids are anxiously awaiting it's arrival. Even checking the forecast online and then watching the clock for the time when the snow was predicted to start.

We made up some crafts and spent last Friday at the Bacavi Bazaar. Everyone made a little money because they all helped. It was also a chance to visit with friends from the community.


Here are some recent pics.

Tara by a yucca plant

All the kids by an ugly saguaro.

Tonto natural bridge in the background. It is 183 ft. high.

All of us at Tonto Natural Bridge

Crafts for the bazaar

Bryce and Jim ready to open up the hive. I was in the house shortly thereafter so no more pics of the hive.

Straining honey

We stayed with Jim's cousin and family while in the valley. Maury, Melissa and Isaiah.

Blessings from God.

God is faithful! I know so many of you have been praying, concerning my health. We are so thankful that the most recent blood test showed the cancer is gone. PTL! We are continuing to work with the doctors on other health issues, namely the fatigue I have had for so long. We are praying that God will continue His work in my body. Thanks so much for your prayers.

And as always He continues to refine me from the inside out. It seems there have been so many circumstances here lately that have brought me to my knees crying out to God. And I keep seeing that I have so far to go. Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I have such a burden/heaviness for our friends here, yet I feel so inadequate to serve them. I was reading in Amos the other day about how Israel was doing all these things right and there were just a few small things...but God said "I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living." Amos 5:24 And in Micah 6:8 The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. It takes a lot of prayer to stay on that track and not get distracted or bogged down with the cares of this life. Some days it seems satan is relentless in his tactics to try to get me down and distracted. I was reminded of this song we sang recently.

Storms of life are raging over me
Wind and rain blow down across my path
Yet I know somehow it's working for my good
It has drawn me closer to you.

Chorus
Through the storm and through the fire
I know it's Your desire
To make me more like you
Lord, give me the strength to last
Until the storm has passed
And through it all, do Your work in me.

Help me Lord, to know these trials aren't here to stay
There will come a new and glorious day
When the clouds will break, the sun come shining through
We will be forever with You.

We are enjoying a visit from Jim's Mom right now. She will be here until the 4th. She has truly been a blessing in her time here.

A hike in the canyon yesterday.

Bryce and Seth

Sharayah

Seth and Sharayah crossing on the fallen tree.

Tara after sliding down the sand.

Jim and Bryce sliding down the sand dunes.

We're back home...

Life takes all kind of unexpected twists and turns and I’m glad God let’s us see just as far ahead as we need to. And He sees the big picture and has a plan for everything.

Our life has changed, at least my day to day activities. I found out I have cancer a few weeks ago. (for those of you who haven’t heard) It is not aggressive and I am getting treatment. God has been faithful and has prepared me for this time. I don’t know how He does it, but He has given me a peace as we walk through this experience. James 1:2-4 is a part of a passage that God laid on my heart about 2 months ago. (that whole chapter really) I was so drawn to this passage at that time, I was reading it 1, 2 and sometimes 3 times each day. God knew what lay ahead for us even then. He is so faithful. I have a sense of us being held in the hollow of His hand.

We spent 3 weeks in August on a road trip and just got back Saturday, August 23^rd. We were able to see family and friends. There were several people along the way that wanted email updates so I wanted to send this out.

I was able to see several Doctors while on this trip. The one MD that I saw found several vitamin deficiencies that related to cancer. He put me on supplements to help correct those and we will continue with him in follow-up care/tests.

We stopped in Colorado on the way home and were able to get some more work done on my jaw for TMJ. We also saw another MD there, who has treated cancer patients for years. He had lots of resources of what we can do to help fight cancer. While in Denver we had some imaging done and we are waiting for the final results from the Doctor on those, although from the preliminary findings it appears to be contained to the one area.

A big encouragement and praise for us has been that in the last 1 ½ weeks I have had an increase in energy. Not huge, but I’m just not dragging when I get up in the morning like I was. So God is faithful and we are rejoicing.

Thanks for all of you prayers as we all labor together to further the kingdom of God.

Isa. 26:3

Email us if you wanted to be added to an email update.

Summer Happenings

It has been a while again since I posted, I know. Once again there has been a lot going on here. Here are just a few things we've been up to...

We had a group come in for a tour and a Hopi meal from a family here that we helped with.

We spent several evenings at the Hopi Camp Meetings at first mesa.

We started Children’s Time again. We are having it 5 afternoons a week now so that keeps us busy.

Mandy Ebersole arrived from Iowa to spend a month here. She is helping with whatever needs doing, including helping Cyndi and I in our homes. What a blessing.

I’m trying to get things together for the school year in the next couple weeks before we leave. Lord willing, we will be heading east the beginning of August. All the way to Pennsylvania (for my parents 50^th) and back with a few stops in between.

We just got back from the homeschool conference in Phoenix. We planned to come back Saturday afternoon, but we had an opportunity to spend some time with a young Hopi man Sunday morning. He is in rehab and we wanted to encourage him.

We were also able to spend a few minutes visiting Jim’s cousin and husband that recently moved to Phoenix from Pennsylvania. That was nice since it has been several years since we have seen them.

There will be plenty of ceremonies coming up in the next several weeks. We continue to spend much time in prayer especially during those times.

It seems the activity in the yard has picked up recently giving many opportunities to talk, share and encourage. Sometimes crying together and other times sharing in their joy.

Thanks so much for all your prayers. It seems there is so much that is out of our hands and the only thing we can do is pray.

There was lots of opportunity to cool off in the pool at Larry and Cindy Millers. (where we stayed while we were in Phoenix)

Seth and Sharayah tuckered out on the way home from Phoenix.