Introducing David Robert

On October 29th, our middle daughter, Tara, made us grandparents for the first time! She gave birth to a little boy named David Robert, (named after both grandpas). He weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 19 inches long. As you can see from the attached picture, he was born with quite a thick head of hair. I was so blessed to be able to be in the United States for his birth and then to enjoy snuggling with him through the holidays. I've always heard that being a grandparent is wonderful, and I do have to admit. . .I LOVE IT!

I am so thankful for the family that God has given me and for the pleasure of being able to experience the pure joy of having a grandchild. There is just something truly special about holding your childs child. I look at this little guy and my heart melts.

Thank you Lord!

And Me Without My Camera!

The other day Bob and I were driving down through the main part of Mallow, on our way home from town. At one point we pulled in behind a man driving a smaller, maroon SUV. As we came to a stop, at one of the few traffic lights in Mallow, I noticed something moving in the back of this guys SUV and told Bob to ease up closer so I could see what it was. It looked much bigger than a dog. I was quite intrigued as to what I was seeing moving around. As we got closer and the moving object came into view, I was gobsmacked with laughter to see a full grown sheep in the back hatch area of this SUV. I'm not kidding you, this guy had a big, woolly, black-faced sheep along for the ride. The sheep didn't seem to mind being there, in fact, it looked like he had been in there before because he was fairly relaxed and enjoying the view.

Only in Ireland my friends, only in Ireland! And me, without my camera!

Busy, Rewarding Summer

This summer has been filled with lots of activity and many opportunities to present Christ to the people of Mallow. In July we had a group of 26 from Breezy Hill Baptist Church, in South Carolina, come over to work with us for 10 days. They did everything from passing out flyer's, (over 4,000 of them to be exact), to conducting a Kids Bible Club, and then presented the people of Mallow with a free Gospel Concert. They even built the town a much needed fence. They worked hard and made a positive lasting impression on the towns people.

Then, the first of August, we had another group of 16 from our home church, Canton Baptist Temple, come over to serve with us for 7 days. They also passed out church information, held a Holiday Bible Club for us and helped us get our church name out to the community. Both of these groups did a marvelous job and people have already been added to our church because of their efforts. It takes more than just missionaries to make missions work. . .it takes all of us working together to bring Jesus to the world.

We also enjoyed having our youngest daughter, Tiffani, here with us for the summer. Nothing makes my "mama's" heart happier than to have my girls around. I do have to admit though, now that everyone has gone back to the states, our house is way to quiet for my liking, hahahaha!

Thanks to everyone who came, who worked, and who prayed for us this summer. God has great things planned for Mallow, and we're glad that you were a large part of that.

Summer ~ Finally!

Summer has finally arrived in Ireland! We have had lots of sunshine, blue skies, and nice warm temps for the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the Irish people are telling us that this is not "normal" summer weather and that we shouldn't get used to it. BUT I WANT TO! They are saying that when it gets this nice this early it usually means the rest of the summer will be rainy and cool. I'm hoping that this year will start a new trend. I believe that Ireland deserves sunshine too.

This summer brings lots of exciting opportunities for our Ministry here in Mallow. We have two mission teams coming from the states, one in July and another in August, and we are looking forward to the many different outreach opportunities that this will give us. The church people are also very excited about working along with these teams to reach the people of Mallow. We will be doing everything from "Holiday Bible Clubs" to "Community Outreach Projects". Little quiet Mallow won't know what to do with all this activity, hahahahaha!

I'll post pictures along with "outreach" updates as the summer goes by. Please pray that God will really use these mission teams along with our own church people to make a lasting impact for Christ on our town. This is why God brought us to Ireland ~ to make a difference for Him!

New Puppies Next Door

Those of you that know me well, know how much I love pets, (especially dogs and cats). Well, one of the things that we were unable to bring with us to Ireland was our dog "HalfPint". Fortunately, he was "adopted" by my parents and is living the "life of Riley", so to speak. I honestly think if we tried to take him back now he would hate us forever. He lives very well at Grandma's house!

When we arrived in Ireland I was so delighted to find that God had even taken our "missing" pet issues into consideration when He gave us our house here in Mallow. You see, our next door neighbor, Nora, has a dog named Sandy who I just absolutely love. On February 18th. Sandy had puppies and now I'm really in "doggie heaven". They currently have two puppies left and I go over everyday to play with them and get my puppy fix for the day. Sandy is a wonderful mommy and keeps a very close eye on her babies.

I know to most people this may seem like a wasted post, but when you stop to realize that God cared enough to make sure I had a dog to love here in Ireland, it just reminds me of how much He really does care for me. I miss my "HalfPint", but now I have Sandy and her puppies (Herbie and Monty), to fill the "missing" pet hole in my heart.

Even in the simple things, God always provides!

Spring Arrives In Ireland -- FINALLY!

Spring has finally arrived here in Ireland. As you can see from the attached pictures, the sun has been shining and flowers are blooming everywhere! It is so good to see and feel the sun after a very long cold Irish winter. While working out in the yard recently, Bob found that we have a whole row of beautiful Daffodils lining the front drive. After the very long and tiring chore of digging all the grown up grass away from the plants, Bob now has it all mulched off and looking very nice. I love to walk around our house and see all the new things growing. I never get tired of seeing God's beauty through nature. I'm so thinkful that He shows His love even in these simple things in life. Oh, may I never stop being amazed by His awesome handy work.

Breaking Records

As most of you know, Bob and I arrived in Ireland July 1, 2009 to begin our missions work. Since then, Ireland has been breaking all sorts of "weather records". For instance, August and September were the two wettest months in 20 years. These large amounts of rain brought extreme flooding. Our city centre was flooded (see attached picture), along with many other city's.

Already, this winter has been the coldest winter in Ireland in over 50 years. On Sunday, January 10, 2010, we had 3 1/2 inches of snow in Mallow - the most snow to fall here in over 50 years. . .are you getting the picture??? It's been so cold that water pipes have frozen and burst all over the city. We were without water for three days. You never know how often you use water throughout the course of the day until you don't have it to use! We were able to get drinking water and "dirty" water (used to flush toilets), from our Landlady. She even picked us up on Sunday and took us to her house for brunch and then let us shower. I think maybe we just smelled so bad she felt she had no choice, hahahahaha.

At any rate, all is back to normal (for now). Except the temperatures that is. It's still very cold for Ireland. Thank God for fireplaces, lots of coal, wood and turf to burn. Keeps us nice and cozy on those extremely LONG winter nights.

I've attached a picture of our snow storm. I know it's not much by Ohio standards, but it was a huge deal here. Ireland has no snow tires, no snow plows, and very little salt for the roads. When it snows this much here, city's come to a complete stand still.