March 28, 2006

Quick update on the sick people. We're all are over the worst, praise the Lord! Two concerts this week....

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Spring is so here. I saw a flock of robins and the buds on the trees are swelling. I think the anticipation of summer is almost as good as the real thing. : ) We brought some forsythia inside and it bloomed, many simple four petal blossoms sporting a cheerful yellow. (I hesitate to use the word simple with God's creation. Nothing is simple!) My other tip off that spring had arrived was the presence of unicycles in the hallway again. Ah, yes. It’s spring!

This all reminds me of Matthew 24:30-32 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory, And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door."

The Lord is coming back soon! Make sure you're ready to meet your maker. If you're not right with the Lord nothing else matters.

March 24, 2006

Proverbs 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.

Thanks everyone to everyone who prayed for us!


Happy Birthday to Daniel! Nine years ago we had the flu just before and while Daniel was born. And nine years later we’re doing a flu all over again!

This flu/cold thing really knocked us out this time. We ended up canceling singing at our friend’s funeral yesterday. We sent down a box of Cds, not quite the same as singing in person but it was the best we could do! We just found out they gave away all that we sent. PTL! That was a first for us, we’ve never canceled due to sickness. We haven’t had the flu in years so I guess it was our turn. My face felt like I could fry an egg on it. I think everyone else had a similar experience. I can’t remember feeling so warm in my life. Everyone kept exchanging stories of how the nights felt so long, waking up every hour thinking it had to be later than it really was.

Some of us seem to be perking up a bit. Daniel and Hannah are pretty much over it and Nathan brought in wood this morning so he’s feeling better. The fevers have broken for a few of us. Food actually smelled good to me this morning, after living on oranges, jello, crackers, and water (lots of water) a little variety sounds nice.

March 20, 2006

No offense (edit: My dad says I'm not British?) to my xanga friends but this made me laugh...

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Created by James of SIO. Posted here with
permission.

Wether you have a xanga or a 'real' blog please blog responsibly! :-)

Oh and check this picture out at Peter's blog. What do you think? Should we use it as our new publicity pic? ;-)

March 19, 2006

Stuff.....

First the most exciting news - congratulations to the Godin family on number 12! Stephen Lawrence was born on the 16th, just a few days ago. PTL for a safe arrival! He is adorable!!!!!

We had a great weekend singing in Vermont. Nothing really exciting happened, but we enjoyed the lovely scenery and friendly people (as far as New England goes). I like doing PR and I had a nice time chatting with a Romanian family about how we work and how the Lord take care of us. I would love, er, like to stay home one fall and see the colors change. It must be magnificent. I remember thinking what a bore fall was and you had to be totally nuts to come visit just to see the leaves change. Now I'm think I was the nut. Funny how you don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone. : ) Take my thumb for instance. I was appreciative of my digits before, but not on the same level I do now.

Here's a pic of the mountain view from the church.

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Check out all the white birch on the way to the church....
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I wanted to post a people pic here but photo bucket is acting up, it's Bonnie's turn on the computer and I need to go make cookies. SO, no more pics right now, maybe an edit later!

March 18, 2006

Quickie

Check out Vincent's post!

March 14, 2006

It might as well be spring…….

Proverbs 14:23
All hard works bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.



I know it’s been a week since I’ve posted. Mostly because I want to save you all from wading through countless paragraphs of my daily life. We’re settling back to ‘normal’, whatever that is. Is normal a good word? Maybe we’re just getting back to a less hectic schedule… I’m enjoying the quiet refuge of my room after 9:00 PM and trying for the millionth time to clean my closet, a never ending task. Someday soon I hope to beat it!

I’m ecstatic that my thumb is well enough to play violin again. Yes!

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By now most of you have probably heard about the death of Anthony Burger, piano player extraordinaire for the Gaither music videos. It reminds me how mortal we all are. A total shocker I know, but really, someone so young, so active to be gone just like that is a jolt of reality. It could have been any of us. He died at the piano; what a way to go! Trivia tid bit; the piano part for Amazing Grace Medley of our album was arranged by Anthony Burger and recorded with permission.

What a beautiful day we had today! I’m going to remember this day tomorrow when it gets cold. I know spring can’t stay away forever. Our neighbor, Donnie, put it quite well [paraphrased] ‘Spring and fall are my favorite seasons, it’s too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter’. That’s a good summery. Spring is good; however mud is not. : p

I was reading Exodus last night and was marveling at the power of God. All those plagues, and Pharaoh time and time again refusing to let God’s people go. I was also struck by how important Passover must have been to the Hebraic people. That whole story is a wonderful example of God’s great power. How awesome would that have been to see the waters part…..

Psalm 66:5-7
Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man’s behalf!
He has turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot--come, let us rejoice in Him.
He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations--let not the rebellious rise up against Him.

Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like you O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

March 07, 2006

I came across the password for a forum I hadn't visited in a long time while cleaning the computer desk... (it needed it and it's just about the only job I can handle at the moment, I feel so useless!!!!) I wanted to dispose of the paper so I jumped online and logged in and looked around. I found a link to this amazing singing clip. Does amazing even being to describe it?! His name is Robin Schlotz, and a soloist of the Tölzer Boy's Choir according to one of the folks on the forum. The aria he is singing is the famous Queen of the Night aria by Mozart for coloratura soprano.

March 06, 2006

Home. Sweeeeet!

If you’ve been to Bonnie’s blog you know about my thumb I cut open on Friday. For persons interested in seeing a picture of my thumb right before I got it bandaged please click here. I don’t really want a picture of it right when you load the page. It’s too gross! Actually I wouldn’t look at the wound until the next day. I was so sure I was going to faint. But, ya know I think I blew it a little out of proportion. It’s not like a lost my thumb or anything. (Thank the Lord!) How did I do this you’re asking? I was washing an innocent looking icing knife (the kind that have a big rounded edge). It has a very sharp serrated edge which I did not see until it was too late. As soon as I did it my thumb tingled and I still have numbness/pins and needle, like it’s asleep. Anyway….I could not play fiddle or piano for our last two concerts. This cold is attacking my vocal chords so I have like no voice. (Did I just use like like that? *Gasp*) So, it was an interesting week end! I’m really frustrated right now that I can’t do anything on the bus or at house! I’m learning how to be left handed but my hand writing is so poor using my left hand! It’s difficult to make food for your self, comb hair, tie shoes, and get dressed. I felt so funny asking mom on Saturday to tie my shoes. Bonnie has been my hair dresser for the past few days. She’s a jewel! I didn’t think I was going to be able to type this but it’s not too bad. It just goes slower….I hope I didn’t get too detailed and BORE you all to death!

Okay…back to the past few days. Some of the Kochers came with us Wednesday night and they came to both Sunday concerts. Wow. (Aren’t you guys sick of us???! : ) ) We enjoyed our time with them so much….thankfully they don’t live in Wyoming and we’ll see them in April. ( Lord willing.) I’ve learned a lot about saying Lord willing. The last two Sunday concerts were so last minute, we thought we’d be home by Friday. When started to complain about my throat I had ‘the Lord works everything for the good of those who love Him’ quoted to me. It made me examine my motives for singing. Can’t the Lord use me even if I think I totally blew it? “My strength is made perfect in weakness”. So why do I worry? Saturday night at the Kocher estate we had a sing-a-long. We heard from Jewel24601 and her sister and some of the Kochers. I was a little disappointed Grace didn’t sing anything for us. (*edit - Sorry, Grace, I knew your name was Grace but my fingers typed Sarah...)Maybe next time? Please? :) I was resigned to running the video camera because of my thumb and uncooperative throat. I relented to sing, but only one song and I insisted it had to be easy, no Holy City!! As I was singing the words of the song, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” started ministering to me and I knew the Lord would take me through the weekend; bad throat, cut and all. I did get a few jokes about not playing anything at the morning concert...hehe. All fun.

That last paragraph might be kind of jumbled but I’m getting tired of typing and editing.: p

I’m going to sign off with some pics….
The combined MacDonald and Kocher family….
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That was our silly pose. LOL

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Hazard!!

This welcomed us into the home sweet home state of Massachusetts!
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Phew, over and OUT!

March 01, 2006

My sincere apologizes for this very late update. I guess I don’t have much of an excuse. (Maybe I’m tired? Maybe I’ve only had one wireless connection since Houston?)

I feel like all I’ve said on this blog concerning this trip is ‘we’ve had a wonderful time!!’ and little else. While that is true that we have had a wonderful time and some experiences we’ll never forget I know we’re all getting road weary and getting ready to be back home is going to be very sweet. Home. Wow, does that sound nice.

We’re here at the Kocher’s house. (YAY!) Their hospitality has been wonderful. It’s really nice to have friends who don’t live 5,000 miles away (slight exaggeration)! It’s also awful nice to spend time with friends instead of being stuck at Wal-Mart or a truck stop. Now, if any of you make it to PA and visit the Kochers you MUST taste Susanna’s biscuits! They are seriously good. And if the offer to make you the tradition southern style biscuits and gravy you would have to be crazy not to say yes.

This past Friday we traveled the length of Tennessee. That is a mighty long state! Most of the scenery was so pretty! We traveled through a gorge on route 40. Unfortunately, it was at night so we missed seeing all mountains around us. Too bad, maybe next time.

We pulled into North Carolina on Saturday. They got ‘heels’ there as Vincent with his new annoying accent would say. When yelled out the word in the bus I thought for sure he had just spotted a pair of heels (like as in shoes), but he was talking about the hills, ya know with green grass on it? More on this new acquired accent; since we have been down to Texas Vincent pretty well refused to call the guitar a guitar; it’s now a ‘gitar’. He’s been telling me if I don’t straighten up and pronounce it properly when announcing said instrument in a concert as such I would be throw out of the group. I guess it’s pretty serious. Eh uh….

We stay with the talented Matson family in North Carolina. We ate wonderful sauce and pasta and talk about ‘Christian rock’. Ummm….. I would like to bring that up here, but, so little time.

I think the pair of contacts I had in my eyes that day we visited the Matson’s house were pretty worn out so my eyes were dry and hurting, my right eye the worst. So, I took them out and wore glasses. I didn’t think anyone would notice and draw the conclusion that this little Matson did….

K: Are you blind?

Me: No. Why?

K: You keep doing this (squints eye).

Me. I had my contacts in for too long. They kinda hurt now.

K. Oh. So you got hurt?


Too cute!

We had a jam-packed day on Sunday. We had three concerts in a row. We had all three meals cooked for us, which was a huge blessing! By the second concert I could tell my voice was wearing a little thin. I told myself, if I can just not talk until we sing tonight I’ll probably be okay. LOL That did not happen. The concert went GREAT! It was a great way to end a long day. We have never sung for a more enthusiastic audience in our lives. (If not a very close second to the rehab center in Houston.) The church was full of families and all of them homeschooled. They erupted into cheers when mom mentioned that we homeschooled. It was really nice to play for them. We were so tired though! When everything was over I started feeling a sore spot in my throat. I’ve got a ridiculous cold, again! At least we only have two (maybe four) concerts left.

We were able to visit grandparents in VA on Monday. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but we had a schedule to keep, including a concert on Tuesday in Dover. Poor Vincent thinks I share too much. Apparently he caught the cold. Praise the Lord that so far we’re the only two. Dad had a severe headache Tuesday. He seems to be doing better now. He’s been doing a lot of driving. He’ll probably need a week to recover from this trip.

What does everyone think of males wearing pink? (That's not totally off the subject of this trip since I've seen several males in the past weeks wearing this color. *GAG*)