We have had another week of triple digit temperatures. It is so hot that the cold tap water even feels tepid! The drought also continues. Jackie passed along this joke that is making the email circuit:
It is so dry in Tennessee that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back to water!
RAIN! We got a brief shower this afternoon. I have a bad habit of mowing over rain gauges so I don’t know how much we got. About all it helped is morale, but it sure was nice to see it...and sort of strange. Vicki and the kids went outside to play in the shower while it lasted.
MORE STARGAZING. I mentioned the meteor showers last time--well, I was successful in waking all the kids up about 1:30 Monday morning. We all trouped outside and watched some of the most spectacular shooting stars for about 30 minutes. Nate was just excited to get to see the “Milky Wave.”
AN ANNOUNCEMENT. Vicki comes in to the living room where we are watching TV and says, “Well guess who’s having a baby!” Nate’s guess: “Us?” This brought much laughter from Vicki and me. Then Ben guessed his best friend Ethan which brought down the house again.
To cut the guessing game short the good news belongs to Derek and Amanda! We hear Riley and Harper are really excited. And I know that the parents to be again are excited as well, now that they have gotten over the shock. Their baby is due at the end of February. You know, I’ve never known a leap year baby....
A SAD GOODBYE. I have mentioned our friends Brent and Cindy Roycoft several times over the years. I have asked you to pray for them in the adoption of their son Tyler. Last Sunday Brent announced that he felt God leading him to a position with another church in Murfreesboro. He and Cindy have been at Mt. Carmel for almost five years. Next week (the 26th) is their last Sunday. Brent was not seeking this new opportunity, it found him and he said no to it twice. Cindy had even just accepted the job of being our Mother’s Day Out coordinator. We were all blind-sided last week and will miss them very much.
The last we have heard about the adoption is that they are still waiting for the final paperwork to go through. This has not gone smoothly as the birth father is not responding to any attempts by the adoption agency to contact him. Brent told me he hoped it would be wrapped up by Thanksgiving, but that would be fast. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.
MOVIE REVIEW. Vicki and I watched a movie this weekend that was recommended to us by her brother, Will. Facing the Giants is a movie everyone needs to see--very inspirational. It was produced by a church in Albany, Georgia, and is about a private high school football coach who has had five losing seasons and the season the movie focuses on starts out with three straight losses. The folks who produced this film felt called to do whatever it took to reach people for Christ. The project was largely a volunteer effort. I am figuring you can find the DVD in video stores as it came out in 2006 (we put it in our Netflix queue). If movies aren’t normally your thing we highly recommend you make an exception for this film. You will be glad you did. You will laugh. You will cry. And you will be challenged to reevaluate your relationship with Jesus.
Joe
