O.K. I know that van story was way too long and BORING……anyway it is back home. MY sweet hubby had it for the past week so I still haven’t driven it but at least it is back in the driveway. PRAISE!
We are making Bread n Butter pickles and will probably have 12 quarts of them….YIKES…I always get carried away at the Farmers Market…why do I love fresh vegies so much??
I better go and get that sauce made and get them in the jars!!
Categories: Grandkids
WOW…..I just heard this song again and what a blessing!! You know we are ALWAYS in the PRESENCE of JEHOVAH…isn’t that just the neatest thought!! I am so thankful that HE does make troubles vanish and heals hearts!! He is always with us…..
In the presence of Jehovah
God almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
In the presence of Jehovah
God almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended.
In the presence of the King
Just heard that on the TRBC site….oh course made me boo hoo cause I had to hear it 5 times…reminded me of the Christmas concerts and how Vernon would have us sing it over and over again…..AH……………..that was SO good for me!!!
You know we are always in HIS presence…isn’t that the neatest thought!!
Categories: Grandkids
We bought our van on Ebay in January of 2006 and were SO excited as it was an answer to prayer and it we won it for a great price…..so off we went to Orlando to pick it up. Our daughter was more than willing to take us down there as we suggested a couple of days at Disney while we picked up the van. We all loaded up in her van and off we went…..we had a marvelous time and loved the 2002 Dodge Caravan EX…it was perfect.
We headed home and were up on a straight stretch on HWY 10 when my sweet hubby called me on the cell phone and said that something was wrong with the van……..he called back in a few minutes and said that the van was REALLY having trouble so he was turning off at the next exit. Believe me we were OUT in the boonies at that point but he did find a old gas station. The van made it and once we stopped it wouldn’t go forward or backward!!! You guessed it……the transmission was GONE.
My daughter says that I am a little INSANE and I must agree cause when everything goes wrong I have a tendency to laugh and cry at the same time. So I went into peals of laughter which made the kids and everyone else laugh but when I saw the van up on the tow truck…the tears started in the middle of the laughter!! Craziness…..God has a sense of humour and somehow I KNEW that HE was going to make everything straight!! HE always does….he even sent along a humourous tow truck driver which made me smile and even laugh harder!!
Anyway off went our NEW van and we once again all loaded up in our daughters van and headed home. We got home around 2 AM. The next day my sweet hubby and our son drove back over (125 miles from home) and got the van fixed. The friendly tow truck driver had taken it to a Dodge dealer….thanks Gieco!!!
It got fixed to a nice price of $2500 and we figured it should last years and years, right??? So we thought…..well God sent us off to Brazil this year for the summer with a team…(guess I will have to write about them too) so we decided to drive our trustworthy van down to Orlando so we could stop by and see our daughter and her special family!!
So off we went….we arrived in Fairhope, Al and spent time with the kids. Our daughter had sprained her ankle so had been HOME for a month so this mom decided to take her shopping. What fun….well it was fun until the van didn’t want to back up…..it sounded like something was in the middle of the road but then it caught and we made it back to her place. YEAH!! MY Sweet hubby checked it out and it worked fine for him so we decided that it was probably O.K.
So off we went to Orlando for a few days of rest, Disney before we took off for Brazil. See my other blogs about our wonderful time at Animal Kingdom,,,,,the van acted up on the way down to Orlando but then ran fine again. My sweet hubby decided to have the Dodge dealer down in Orlando check the van out….so we called him and he was willing to look at it on Monday. Over the weekend it worked fine so we decided to try to keep going with it until we got home.
SO…..off we went to Brazil and God gave us an awesome time down there with a great group of team members and Brazilians. We got back after almost a month and our “trustworthy” van was there waiting for us. We decided to stop along the way as I wanted to see a little of Savannah and the beach. The van choked and coughed a few times at a few stop signs but kept going. We even went out to Tybee Island (ah….that place is so pretty and as I love the beach I could just go on and on about the trip out there and the Island…but guess I better get back to the van!! We didn’t have any trouble and headed home the next day.
We stopped for lunch about 45 miles from home, stopped for gas, rest area etc and it kept going although once in awhile when we would slow down or stop it choked and coughed a little bit but always went forward or backward.
Our youngest son and his two angels (7 & 5) were here at our house waiting for Nana & Popo and were SO happy to have us back. We spent about 1/2 hour visiting with them and then decided to go over to their house to see the 3 month old and the 22 month old. After all I was sure they had grown 3 feet while I was gone. Vin went off ahead of us and we all piled into the van…………and guess what??? The van wouldn’t go forward or backward it just choked and coughed and sounded AWFUL!! I, of course started laughing and laughing as it was so AMAZING to me to realize that GOD kept that van going for all of those miles and miles. You know, it could have stopped on the beach, at the rest stop, in Orlando, while we were in Brazil, at our daughters, restaurant, shopping or countless other places but GOD kept it going until we were safely HOME!! Goodness I wonder how many angels kept us going on that trip?? GOD does do miracles for us daily and at times we don’t even see them but this time it was SO evident!! He kept me going in Brazil and HE kept that van going until we got home!! Wow!! I was also able to tell those little grandkids how GOD undertook once again and answered their prayers as well as ours. You see, they were praying for us on our trip and prayed the van would keep going!! HILARIOUS really and I still smile when I think about it…….I just have to keep smiling when I think of the $1800 it will cost for another transmission!!! Sigh…..mom said that maybe a Toyota or Honda would be better but meanwhile the van is in the shop and should be out soon!!
God is good ALL the time!!! We are UNDER HIS WINGS!!!
We just returned from Brazil and had a wonderful time down there. Now I am trying to ADJUST to being back home. WHEW…after being spoiled for the last month by the Brazilians I am having a HUGE adjustment.
Where is Dulce ??? The sweet lady runs the kitchen at the Bible School. She was GREAT to work with and basically spoiled me rotten for almost a month. She made the most delicious Brazilian food for us and let me show her how to make meatloaf, tacos, build a mountain, American Pizza and even our whaky chocolate cake!!
She was always smiling and had such a cheerful attitude and I miss her great servant attitude. Oh….if I could only be a little bit like her!! She is the main cook but lets the students do most of the cooking while she watches them and encourages them. She even teaches the men how to cook!!
Where is Sonya?? She wanted to wash our clothes so every day she would take our clothes….wash them, hang them on the line and iron the tee shirts and everything else. By the end of the day we would have a little pile of clean clothes. She LOVED to serve and wanted to even do more for us.
Where is Jose Marcos and Valeria? He is the president of the Bible school and Valeria is his wife. They made sure that we were well taken care of and wanted each of the team members to feel totally comfortable. They would take us to town on a minutes notice and were always willing to help us in any possible way. They also were servants!!
Where is our team?? They were a blessing and were really workers. The 15 year olds were able to keep up with the older ones. Even if they had blisters, felt lousy or just didn’t feel good they still kept going and going!!
Where is the bus?? That mission bus took us to church various times, took us to a couple of cool cities, to a mall, to Sao Paulo and then to the airport. It was also a blessing and the drivers were always willing to go wherever we wanted without complaining!!
Where is Roque & Alba?? Friends we have known for the past 4 years….he keeps me smiling with his antics and he is always one step ahead of everyone!! Alba is like my little sister and even had me meet her mom this year. They are always servants and willing to do anything for us!!
GOD was there and GOD still is here……..now I just NEED to refocus and get busy taking care of my sweet hubby, washing his clothes and making him his favorite meals!! The meatloaf, potatoes, beets and corn are almost done so I better go and get busy…as I don’t think anyone is here to serve me…..but WAIT my SWEET hubby is over in the kitchen and is bringing my supper to me!! Guess no matter where I am ….I am still being spoiled!!! God is good and HE does take care of us and meets our daily needs!! Oh….I will have to blog about our dear ole van!!! It isn’t that old but somehow……..I better leave that one to another blog!!
I am truly BLESSED!!!
Categories: Life
