Please Pray for our Church and Town!

We had a flood last year that caused destruction, however it was nothing in comparison to this one. Tioga County (and many other counties in our area) are still under a state of emergency. We have been in lockdown since Wednesday afternoon. Bridges have collapsed, roads have fallen in leaving fatalities, thousands of people in many towns have been evacuated, homes have been DESTROYED and seen floating down the river, other homes have been ruined, or mostly ruined with thousands of dollars in damage. This photo was taken yesterday after the floodwaters had receded a couple of feet. as you can see the water is still very high and the porch steps that you see are not from the blue house, they are actually from the greenish house next door. Our church is sitting in the midst of floodwaters, down this street, but we cannot get to it until the water recedes. Please pray as we see what direction we will have to take once we get there and see the degree of damage. Please pray for the families of those killed during this disaster. Please pray for the families who have lost their homes, pets, and possessions and are in emergency shelters all over in differing counties. Please pray for our towns as we try to rebuild our lives again. And Please Pray that we all take nothing for granted, for it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. 

This photo doesn't truly show the magnitude of what happened, because you can actually see some grass from the water receding a bit, but if you look in the distance, you'll notice that you cannot see any street only water! 

The sign said "Pray till they're Home", but maybe we should pray that they will have a place to come home to! 

Breaking the Silence for a Matter of Prayer!

The corner of our church is the white building directly behind the far streetsign. We heard rumors that the building separated from he foundation, however until the water recedes we cannot confirm or deny this. 

The Last Photo of My Dear Samuel for a While....

It is with deep sorrow that this will be my last post for a while. Due to my last couple of posts, and many misunderstandings that came about because the people involved did not come to me to clear things up; rather they went elsewhere and I heard about it secondarily, I've been instructed to leave certain people and their photos off of my blog. To do this, would be to cut them out of my life, because the words I write, and the photos I post are straight from me, and my heart. Whether people agree with what I say or not, it is still from me. I cannot take my family out of my life, whether it be on here or on a daily basis- for what would I write about of importance if I could not include everyone from my family. It would be a puzzle with missing pieces. I cannot cut my family out- they are much too precious to me, so in order to be submissive and obedient I must take a "hiatus" from my blog for a time. I am so sorry this is so sudden! I will truly miss keeping everyone updated on my family! I will continue going to other people's blogs and leaving comments, so I am not completely disappearing, and hopefully I'll be able to return to my blog again- now is just not the time! For those of you who are believers, please pray that my family "foundation" will stay strong and not be chipped at. I have email and "snail" mail for those of you who don't have blogs, but I promise I won't disappear for good, just for now! Please keep in touch with me!!!

Catherine, Betsy (and Ashley!) Your friendships have been truly a blessing to me! I have enjoyed getting to know you, and look forward to visiting your blogs to see how you all are :)

Wendy, Michelle, and Leah- I'll see you guys and church and in blogland too!

Abby- now that you live close-by, please call sometime so we can get together and visit :)

Rebecca- this is the hardest for me, because you so recently moved, and enjoy seeing photos of our family and hearing about what's going on- I'm glad we have a phone, and I will be relishing every photo and word you post so keep em' coming!

May the Lord Keep You All In His Wonderful Care Until we Meet Again! :)

I sit here with tears streaming down my face as I say a fond farewell and adieu to you and you and you! :( 

SAMANTHA

It has been brought to my attention that some people were offended by my last post, so I felt it important to clarify my thoughts and unfortunately "defend" myself since I only heard about their offense "through the grapevine" thus I was unable to clear things up with these people myself. I apologize for any misunderstandings my previous post caused, but I hope after this, people will be able to understand better what I meant.

First off, let me start by saying that Samantha IS a wonderful girl. She has many good character qualities and in most ways is a model daughter. She is kind and caring! She is helpful and for the most part VERY obedient! She lives to make people happy and love her! She has a wonderfully big heart! She loves children, and shows it with her own baby brother, and with other children in the family and church! She is beautiful and intelligent inside and out!

People got the impression that I think that Samantha is a bad daughter- THIS IS NOT TRUE! I'm sorry if it came across that way, but it wasn't my intent. Samantha is a good daughter and I Love Her Very Much! Her good qualities far outweigh the "bad". My intent was to point out that Samantha was struggling in school and I was struggling to be a good parent to her. I needed to treat her with love and patience, rather than "beating her up" about it. I needed to be a better parent to her.

People also thought that I was pointing a finger at Samantha's "SIN" and not including other people in the mix. THIS IS ALSO NOT TRUE! Not only bad people sin- EVERYONE does. Even the most wholesome, loving, seemingly perfect person sins.

" I GUESS THAT'S WHERE GOD'S FORGIVENESS COMES INTO PLAY. GOD GIVES US SO MUCH THAT WE DON'T DESERVE YET WE STILL SIN AGAINST HIM. HE FORGIVES US AND IS PATIENT WITH US EVEN WHEN WE STUMBLE. I GUESS I NEED TO REMEMBER THAT MYSELF SOMETIMES AND TREAT HER WITH LOVE AND PATIENCE WHILE SHE IS GOING THROUGH THIS TIME IN HER LIFE. ALL THE WHILE NOT ACCEPTING THE SIN BUT TRYING TO HELP HER OVERCOME HER OBSTACLES INSTEAD OF BEING ON HER BACK ABOUT IT. "

Note I used the words US and WE. I was not singling Samantha out at all. We all sin against GOD. Some sins might not seem like they are as large in degree as others, but it is still sin. The word may seem like a harsh choice but it the truth. Samantha's obstacle / "sin" is being honest about her work and doing it on time, instead of saying she doesn't have any and then the truth comes out later. That wasn't the point of what I wrote though, I just wanted to clarify. The POINT of this excerpt is that "I" need to be more loving and patient with Samantha, and not be on her back. I need to model my parenting after the way GOD treats me. I need to be a better parent to her! Oh, and also, if you go back and read I also wrote " SAMANTHA IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO HERSHEYPARK-IT WILL BE A BLAST FOR HER, IT IS JUST MY OWN SELFISHNESS COMING THROUGH." Specifically, I am SINNING by being selfish.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 JOHN 1:8 -9 (from the bible)

Let me end this by just saying, once again, I love Samantha and was expressing the frustrations I was having, only a portion about her, most about me needing to treat her wih more love and patience. She is a wonderful daughter, and I am truly blessed to have her in my life! I apologize if it seemed as though I didn't recognize her good qualities- I do everyday, I just didn't say them this time. I also apologize if my previous blog intentions were misunderstood. I hope this sheds more light on what I meant, even if it came out "wrong".
 

Scrubbing dirt and grease off so that my motorcycle can look good as new again. Also, so that I can apply decals to the tank! When Bob got his good bike, he let this one go, so now it's my job to clean it up and make it shine! :) 

The Finished Product, Flames and Shiny Chrome- it's amazing what a little elbow grease can do! 

I had to cut the flames to fit the tank, but all in all I think it looks good, and it makes me feel like it is more my bike now. The top flame also helps camoflauge the dent in the gas tank (not put there by me!) 

Shining Like New Again! 

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We have had rain and clouds off and on all week long here. I hope that the sun comes back soon because my morale right now is starting to wear down because of the dreariness of the days. I was supposed to go visit my sister this weekend, but unfortunately a school trip to HersheyPark for Samantha is on Saturday so we'll be postponing our trip. I could go without Samantha and Bob, but I really was hoping for us all to go together as a complete family. Samantha is very excited about going to Hersheypark- it will be a blast for her, it is just my own selfishness coming through. Another thing that is somewhat difficult for me, is that Samantha hasn't been trying hard at school as of late, and so I don't want to take away this extra-special school function, but I don't really feel she deserves it right now either. Such is the life of a pre-teen; I'm sure I did similar stuff to my parents, and I know Bob wasn't the model student during his pre-teen or teen years, but it doesn't make it any easier. I guess that is where God's forgiveness comes into play. God gives us so much that we don't deserve, and yet we still sin against Him. He forgives us and is patient with us even when we stumble. I guess I need to remember that myself sometimes and treat her with Love and Patience while she is going through this time in her life, all the while not accepting the sin, but trying to help her overcome her obstacles instead of being on her back about it. I have a lot of learning to do as a parent of an older child!

On an up-note, I had an interview with a mother last night who needs childcare for her 4 year old daughter. It went well, and I am hoping that it will work out. I've had interviews before where I thought it would work out and it didn't, so I'll just be waiting by the phone for true confirmation of a start date, and praying that God has provided another child for me to care for!

My motorcycle (Bob's old one which I am trying to learn on) is finally fixed, so hopefully we can go pick it up tonight. I haven't been able to practice on it at all because the alternator rotor went out on it. We were able to order a used but good part, and it was installed already for us by this nice little used motorcycle salvageand repair place in Waverly. I'm hoping now that it is back on the road I can get the swing of driving a motorcycle.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for listening to my mundane rambling! :)