LEI's quarterly newsletter was sent out this week, and it is partially accredited to the generous service of the Christian Home Educators Fellowship graduating class of 2008. A group of homeschooled seniors with two mothers and a few extra volunteers gave approximately 5 hours of their time to stuff, fold, and tape the mailing. Thanks to all who served in this important task!
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
~ Isaac Watts
Our experiences today were definitely worth the extra time away from home! We visited the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. Peter, having been there before, told us that it was definitely worth the money, and he was right! Instead of writing a detailed description of the place, I’ll post a visual “tour” of our time there. (just click on the photos to see a larger version) Hopefully, the photos will pique your curiousity and cause you to go to the Creation Museum sometime. We highly recommend it! (more…)
This morning, we attended the church of a former LEI missionary, Jim Crank, where Daddy would present a short talk on literacy ministry. The people were so gracious and grateful that we had come, even hosting a reception for us and inviting us back. After the service, we drove to the Cranks home where we enjoyed fellowship and food. The Cranks were in Pakistan as missionaries, even overlapping some of the time we were there, though we never met them during that time. Naturally, the conversation included reminiscing of days gone by in Pakistan. And what would a visit with veteran missionaries to Asia be without tasty homemade chai After a few hours of gracious Crank hospitality, we drove to Hebron, KY, to spend the night. That evening, we enjoyed a game of Settlers of Catan. (more…)
Today was the “big day” of Daddy’s workshop titled “Literacy Evangelism: the Blind Spot in Christian Missions.” It started at 2:00, and we were encouraged that 21 people attended!
After the workshop, Peter recorded Ana Marie "interviewing" a missionary who uses the LEI Telugu primers in India.
In the evening, we packed up the display since we would not be back on Sunday. We are grateful for the opportunity to have made some more people aware of the need for literacy work.
In the morning, Peter and I went on a mission to Kinkos to get the brochures printed. I had tried at the business to copy the brochure, but the quality was unacceptable. I was grateful for Peter’s company in walking the couple blocks to Kinkos. Once there, someone set us up with a copier, but we soon discovered that black and white copies would not do at all. Thankfully, an employee scanned the color brochure (since the computer file was not with us) and even adjusted the margins so that it would fold perfectly without us cutting a strip off the edge as I had planned. God sent along that employee at just the right time to help us get the needed product in better condition than we had expected! He even folded all 30 brochures with a machine. Peter meanwhile cut the inserts and we put them inside immediately. We returned to the booth with full-color brochures all ready for distribution. This experience showed again God’s grace and provision during this trip. (more…)
Today was definitely adventure-filled! The day started with me leaving my jacket up in the hotel room, not knowing that the weather warranted bundling up. Unfortunately, two sets of keys were left in the pockets of my jacket as well. We ate breakfast at Brueggers, a coffeeshop that specializes in bagels. We were blessed by God’s provision in the form of their day-old bagel sale – a bag of 6 bagels on sale for $1.99! As we sat at the table, a glance out the window surprised me. Snow was falling! It was brief, as we didn’t see any on our walk from Brueggers to the parking garage.
As I alluded to, we unloaded the display items from the van in the parking garage and headed to the Duke Energy Center to set up. (more…)
We just arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It is not a flat city, and reminds me of Knoxville, Tennessee, where we used to attend an annual homeschooling conference. Soon, we will arrive at the hotel that we will call “home” during the NMC. This morning, we leisurely got ready to resume our trip (Not totally planned, of course. We were all too tired to rise when the alarm rang at 6:00). We finally did leave about mid-morning. Paul Stefan began his daily journaling shortly thereafter. At 4:45 pm, he is still showing his dedication in composing a detailed commentary on Proverbs 14.
The high point of the drive today was definitely Peter setting up his cell phone voicemail. He decided on a recording of 3 languages: English (with a British accent), Spanish, and German (Fraenkish pronunciation). Mommy came up with a somewhat accurate Spanish translation. Daddy gave the Fraenkish version. Peter also added the ending referral to a Dell representative in India.:-)
We just arrived at the hotel, and Daddy went in to get our room number. There are many other cars in the driveway which we assume are from people here for the NMC. We were just asked if we want Valet parking, but at $6 a day, we probably won’t take that option. Not to mention we usually forget something and have to fetch it from the car later 
. We are staying right by the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincinnati, which makes for easy access to restaurants and eliminates daily driving to and from the hotel.
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It is now almost 9:00, and we are winding down for the night.
After finding the hotel, Mommy and Daddy took the van to park it and on the way back stopped by the Duke Energy Center – where the convention will be – to find where we will be setting up the LEI display tomorrow. Meanwhile, we kids took the luggage to the room and unpacked. A funny occurrence in the elevator happened when a man got on during our ride up to the 15th floor. He curiously looked at all our luggage and said “Moving in?” I responded “yes”. He went on to eye all our things and said “You brought everything and the kitchen sink!” (He probably saw our plastic bags filled with food items from the trip and a small electric teapot.) I said “We’re trying to save money.” He responded with “I just took all the leftover Coke from my meeting.”☺
After dinner at a nearby food court, we walked through part of downtown. Cincinnati's downtown reminds us of European downtowns, which we always enjoy strolling through. Now, some photos of the day:
Peter recording his voicemail message
Daddy working during the drive
We found him!
Peter making good use of time
"Moving in" to the hotel
A story about God’s provision:
Yesterday, I admired a set of knitted gloves at a gas station.(I couldn’t find my knitted gloves before leaving home.) The price was really good – less than $3 for the pair! However, I didn’t buy them or ask Daddy about buying them. Today, we were in another gas station that had knitted gloves. These were selling 2 pair for $1! Mommy and I benefited greatly from such a good deal. This experience showed me again that God cares even about little things, like gloves for the cold weather. We need not buy presumptuously because He will bring the opportunity to buy what we really need a second time, often at a better price!
We spent the morning getting ready to leave for Cincinnati.
Peter had his top braces completely installed at his second orthodontist appointment. Daddy wrapped up some things at the mission and loaded the booth materials into the LEI van while Paul Stefan and I worked on finishing up things at home. Mommy did chauffeuring and a number of other things. Our departure was at 12:30, followed shortly thereafter by a car lunch.
During the next 3½ hours, some of us slept and some of us read. The trip was pleasant, due in part to the spacious vehicle (compared to our Chrysler Concorde we use for personal family trips ☺). Late afternoon, we started getting out the laptops ☺.
Daddy flipped through the slide show he will use to conduct the workshop “Literacy, the Blind Spot in Christian Missions” on Saturday, coming up with changes to be done. I then used his laptop to edit the presentation. As I write, Paul Stefan is doing work on his laptop, and Mommy and Daddy are looking for a place to dine and stay the night in Saint Louis.
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We just returned to the Super 8 from dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken. We were the only costumers at 8:15pm and it was a new experience to see Peter eating mainly mashed potatoes for his meal. He is experiencing the same discomfort that I had at the beginning of my journey with braces. To close this post, I'll include some photos :-).
Paul Stefan journaling
Dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken
Young people working on laptops
