Joyful, Joyful....

Three Joyful Thoughts - Day Twelve
1. Though temps should NOT be in the triple digits in mid-Sept  - I AM thankful the mornings and evenings are cool. This was not the case in San Angelo.

2. Arielle enjoyed the day with a new family - and made some money doing it. Win/win. LOL

3. An at home day is perfect after Wednesday - even when several hours of it are spent out of home. LOL

And yes, I remember 13 years ago. It impacted our family greatly.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

PWOC Moves to Our New Home

Joyful Thoughts - Day Eleven
1. PWOC's first day in our new facility! CWOC provided hospitality and that was a LIFE SAVER as we all learned what needs to be done to set up in the new place.
2. Thankful for the workout I got running from building to building.
3. Thankful our new Bible study group. I like these girls - I like them a lot. ::grin::

Thirteen hours out of the home and I don't KNOW how our men do this!!!!!  I want to stay in PJ's all day tomorrow. ::snort::

In many ways today felt like another kick off for our women's ministry.  New rooms, new children's rooms, lots of questions... trying to establish new routines which will work smoothly in this place...but WE DID IT. I heard so MANY positives about the new facility. After all the negative comments as we've moved things and cleaned throughout the summer, it was HEARTENING to hear positive. The kids even mentioned how many Moms made comments about the spacious Children's rooms. The only drawback is the bathrooms....and that may have to be a post all of it's own. You KNOW I love to write international bathroom themed emails. Let's just say  I was glad I got cell phone reception and had Katie in my phone. LOL

 

That banner means this is our new home! ::grin:: The building to the right has rooms for Kids Flight, CWOC and a PWOC study. The building in the middle of the photo is the library and is where we hold our general meeting/breakfast and a Bible study. The building to the far left/front is the admin building. It houses the nursery and another Bible study. There are two more buildings we aren't using. Behind the Admin building in the gym - which is where we hold our Sunday a.m. worship service.  It's all new now but I predict it will truly feel like "home" within a month.

 

We pulled some vases, flowers and a photo out of the PWOC closet to put on those rows of shelves.....and Cheri made THIS....I love it. It is firmly at home in the front of the library...right below our "Be Imitators" banner.....We may be able to fill the rest of those shelves with various little fripperies and not have to buy oodles of curtains. LOL

Look at the heart closely- it's the coolest thing for a chapel!



The day is pretty much summed up above....Bible study, board meeting, dropped a couple of books off, clean up, SCHOOL in the afternoon, Bible study at night...and home.  I was SO impressed that the kids DID A FULL DAY OF SCHOOL while I cleaned up and ran an errand. The aura of the library may have impacted them.

 

It feels good to finally be getting use from the facility....Sunday School begins Sunday. 

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

At Home Tuesday

Joyful Thoughts - Day Ten
1. Hello Napoleon - we meet again. The kids are enjoying Tapestry of Grace - Year 3.
2. I love the luxury of being able to be home to learn with the kids.
3. Two and a half hours to process with a mentor - a true gift from God - at just the right season of my life.

Today was an "at home" day....and I kept it that way. I didn't wear make up. I didn't go buy groceries or run to the store. I know tomorrow will be 13 hours away from home.  We're learning the rhythm of life and ministry for us at Beale.

Today we cuddled on the couch and read about conflict between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. We began reading a fun book based on the diary of Noah Blake.  I introduced Zander and Stacia to Napoleon - an average man who lived a truly exceptional life.  I love exploring the 19th Century!  I believe this is MY 4th time journeying through our 4 year cycle of history. Nolan, Zander and Stacia are all studying the 19th Century at their various levels. Arielle is finishing up high school by studying the Twentieth Century. She studied the 19th century as a Freshman and then we were extended in Japan so she skipped year 4 and began with year 1....while the rest of us studied Japan for a year. LOL

This year the younger set is working through Exploring Creation through Chemistry and Physics by Jeannie Fulbright. Nolan is taking Chemistry (Dr. Wile - Apologia SECOND EDITION - I'll stick with the classic thank you very much ::grin::). Arielle may not do science this year. She has three credits already.

I spent an inordinate amount of my "at home" day doing paperwork and odd "jobs" to keep PWOC running smoothly. I'm ready for tomorrow's first meeting in the new facility, to lead a study, to share a devotional and shepherd a board meeting. LOL

I spent 2.5 hours reconnecting with a dear sister in Christ  -  my mentor. I needed to talk. A lot has gone on since the last time we were able to connect. We took advantage of her window at home to catch up.

The Instant Pot proved its worth again in whipping up a roast for the meat eaters....the rest of us had a yummy assortment of  roasted panko veggies. Alas, Michael arrived home way too late to enjoy any roast.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

And Today....

Three Joy Filled thoughts - Day Ten

1. Excited to watch God start up a deployment small group - complete with leaders and ideas.
2. Spending time with Christian sisters this evening was fantastic!  Loved the message as well
3. Thankful for a friend who stayed with me as I locked up the VERY DARK and VERY LARGE new campus....goodness! No outside lights at all.

Some days this is simply as good as it gets. This makes me smile. I am thankful Michael set up the clothes lines we brought from Japan. It makes me happy to see laundry on them - and it reminds me of Misawa. I love, love, love getting outside for little breaks during school. Viva la laundry.

We started our Tapestry of Grace for the year. I can hardly believe Arielle is a senior this year.  I am AMAZED to realize this is our 26th year of schooling.

And after schooling and hanging laundry I ran to the base for the next 8.5 hours. I met with a gal who will be leading our deployed spouses small group. I met a couple of gals at the new campus so they could set up for this evenings LiFT(Ladies in Fellowship Together).  Cynthia and I finished cleaning out the LAST PWOC closet and moving the stuff to our new room in the facility.  I loved LiFT  - fun to see more women than was originally expected, great food, great fellowship and a great word from Ros. We are to imitate Jesus in spiritual formation, routine faithfulness and commitment to God's purposes!

Home late...early morning tomorrow with school and much to accomplish....

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Beale Chapel Block Party

Three Reasons to Choose Joy  ~ Day Nine

1. We had a fantastic first week in our new facility - and numbers were even up by 30 - 40 people.
2. GREAT time eating and playing as a Protestant and Catholic parish after church services.
3. These kids serve the kingdom well - and that makes me smile.

Remember the stands Michael was working on last night? We had to take two cars to base today because both stands wouldn't fit in the van - with the seats out. ::snort::

 

This isn't blowing over....

 

 

Today was our first worship celebration in the new facility!  It was great. We even had 30 - 40 new folks.....and live worship thanks to Aaron and Karina.

 

THIS is what happens when you tell a worship leader to "look holy" ::snort::



 Ron always makes me smile.

 

Lee had a question about a passage he'd read. He asked Michael because he "knows everything about the Bible." Um....I caught the questionable moment on "film."

 

These two ladies give the BEST hugs....and are the girlfriends of Lee and Ron

 

 

After service the Catholic Parish came over the Campus and we had a joint block party. This was to celebrate the start of a new year of ministry for both parishes....and to enjoy our unity. This sort of cooperation and unity between churches is something I will  miss when we retire.

 

Sweet Friends

 

More sweet friends

 

And more...

 

Arielle on bouncy house duty

 

Love this little man!

 

 

Her First Egg Race

 

I was so happy when Cheri motivated some men to move this to the library. We are ready for potlucks, PWOC/CWOC, et al

 

 

As "we" were moving the fridge Stacia raced up to ask Michael to dance with her in a dance off. He was preoccupied and a bit leery. She really wanted to dance...so I went and started with her and Michael came and danced with her too.

 



 

Look at that face! Certainly worthy missing a bit of work

 

 

Shortly after this we put our noses to the grindstone and finished clean up so we could all go home. Nolan, Stacia and I went to the commissary. Michael, Arielle and Zander got gas and then had some stick shift practice...eventually we pulled up behind Arielle and the rest stopped on a hill. Eventually, we went around them. ::snort::

 

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Sprinting Through Saturday

I finished challenge on Facebook and decided the focus is a good one for me in this season.
Three Reasons to Choose Joy- Day 8

1. Josiah's flight was NOT held up for 4 hours today
2. Good friends with which to work hard
3. A good friend who KNEW I didn't want to cook for potlucks the next two days and took care of it for me! Thank you, Samaritan!
4. Time alone to do the ugly cry and a few wails and snorts - on the way to Lowes. LOL

We left for the airport bright and early.

A few hours later we roused the Gherkins to go to Far West Campus and do all the "final" jobs before tomorrow's service.  It was a good day, working hard with good friends.

Filled the van (seats OUT) with recycling and trash twice. 

Filled it to the BRIM once with things from Valley Chapel - I will long cherish the memory of Angel (Sgt L), Rob (Col K),  Michael (Ch G), and Nolan directing me as I backed this loaded van up the sidewalk and to the gym. I couldn't see a thing out the back but the van was ringed with helpful men...and they all had different signs which sort of fascinated me. LOL

Stephanie patiently let Stacia work with her for hours - Steph said she felt like one of the family when I said I needed to take a photo! LOL

Michael treated to LARGE Oreo Shakes at Burger King  on our way home. The work day was scheduled to end at noon and we ended at 3 p.m. LOL  We dropped the kids at home and Michael and I went to Lowes.  He and the boys are making banner stands for PWOC and the chapel. Go Chap!!!

Somewhere in here I ran back to Lowes for more supplies while they kept working. It's 10 p.m. and they are STILL working and we left the house at 0420 this a.m.

THIS is an old library that will become PWOC/CWOC's central meeting place, host monthly fellowships, MTOC (our AF approved version of MOPS) and our adult Sunday School.  I had hoped the chapel would cover the shelves so they could be used for storage, to keep kids out of them, to make it pretty - so far no go! LOL I priced curtains tonight to see if I could donate them...but the whole room is lined with these.....What to do....

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Friday in Old Sacramento

We were up early (0345) to take Josiah to the airport. I can't get back to sleep so I will blog. I WILL blog our trip to San Francisco but need time to process the hundreds of photos.

Friday morning - our last day with Josiah. I had strict orders NOT to come help with the Far West move on Thursday or Friday.  Michael was back at work and we needed something fun to do. We headed to Old Sacramento.

Loves sampling

Stacia the schoolmarm

Fun rules from 1850's

"Hey, Mom! We have this book."

Our next stop was the base. Nolan got a hair cut.

We picked up a bouncy house for Sunday's block party/Grand Opening of Far West Campus of Beale AFB chapel. 

 Michael, Josiah and I visited Papa Murphy's. We watched Muppets. We called it a night as tomorrow early we take Josiah back to the airport - "Where he came from."

We love visits from the adult Gherkins!

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...