Spring Trips

We were blessed in the spring to make several trips. We went to Memphis to see Alethea, and Camdyn (Justin was out of town). We went to Wheaton for Johnmark's graduation and to help Karisa move out of the dorm. I don't have photos of my ride with my brother Jimmy in the Smokey Mountains. Neither did I take pictures of my two accreditation trips. Cheryl did not take pictures of her trip to speak to the Arizona Council of Churches.

Johnmark with his two grandmothers

At the U of Memphis fountain

U of Memphis tower

Other Spring Guests

During the spring we had two church events at our house. First was the Easter Egg hunt. Second was a Covenant Life Group cookout.

Easter Egg Hunt

Dennis Melton was at the CLG cookout

Fred and Nell Buser, long term friends from seminary days were in town for the CLG cookout too.

Visitors

Throughout the spring and early summer we were blessed with a number of guests. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of everyone

Cheryl's sister Ruth and her son Seth came for a visit to see Alethea, Justin, and Camdyn.


Camdyn helped clean her swing.

Kitty looks down on Camdyn.


Kim Belcher with Cheryl at Josh and Sara Long's wedding.

Derek, Katherine and Caroline Elizabeth Knoke came for the Long's wedding and spend the evening with us. Derek was our youth pastor at New Covenant.

Long-time friend and Bestman in my wedding, Moses Chowdry, was in the country and stopped by to prepare Karisa for India.

South Rim

We made a quick tour of the South Rim on our last day in Arizona.

Zion National Park

We loved Zion National Park. It is a great place to hike with phenominal scenery. On the way out of the park we saw a herd of long-horn sheep, a rare treat.

Colorado River

On the drive to the North Rim you travel through the Navaho Indian Reservation. (Actually the Reservation covers a third of the state.) There is a historic bridge that crosses the Colorado River, the only one for hundreds of miles, the original is now a pedestrian bridge. We recommend you stop at the information center at the bridge. Its a good photo spot.

Close to the bridge is the site of Lee's Ferry; it is now part of the Glen Canyon National Park and was the primary place where prospective settlers crossed the river in route to the Arizona Strip.

Grand Canyon: North Rim

The North Rim is a long drive, but worth it. The crowds are much smaller. There seems to be more variety of formations. Expect to drive more; there are no shuttles and the overlooks are miles apart. Notice the smoke. It was still awe inspiring. We only got a couple of hours there.

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona is a beautiful place. These scenes are from the south side of town. The north was closed due to the fires. The town is a tourist center; think Gatlinberg of the West without any highrises, streams of water, or chair-lifts. (The literature suggests there is a river nearby with great fishing; You couldn't prove it by me.)

Where there is Smoke

We returned last evening from a working vacation in Arizona. We spent Thursday through Sunday morning in Sedona where Cheryl was a guest lecturer for the "Pastor Theologians" program of the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton Theological Seminary (what a mouth-full). It was at a Hiton conference center (very nice! Presbyterians know how to retreat; Like Jesus they went to the wilderness mountains.)
While we were there, there was a major forest-fire north of town in the Oak Creek Canyon where all the great sites are. We could see the fires at night.

On Sunday we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (six hour drive). We wanted to avoid the crowds at the South Rim. We stayed in a cabin at Jacobs' Lake (see below; the spacious cabin was a duplex). We drove to the rim to see sunset. Unfortunately, there was a very major fire on the north rim. The air was full of smoke. We believe we were the last people out of the park that night. It was closed off and hundreds of people were standed inside for a couple of days.

On Monday we drove to Zion National Park in Utah (two hours one way). It was wonderful. We will return some day. But there was a fire there as well. When we returned to Jacob's Lake for the night the smoke was so thick we could hardly sleep with the windows closed.

On Wednesday were returned to Pheonix via the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.


We had the front half.


A full view of our room.

Karisa is Off

I took this photo at the Nashville airport when I dropped Karisa off for her trip to India. She first went to Denver for a week of orientation. She is now in Mumbai (Bombay). She seems well and happy working with the Dalit (Untouchables). I'll post her email address later.

Return of the Living

OK, we are alive and well. It has been a busy spring and I just have not had time to post. So I'll try to catch up but without concern for proper sequence.

Alethea's Childhood rediscovered on an April visit. Actually, she was making sure Camdyn was not overrun by bigger children.

Karisa Lives!

News from Karisa has arrived (voice analysis confirms it was her on the phone although there has been no visual or DNA confirmation of her existence). She has been accepted as an intern for a six-month ministry in India beginning in early June. [For those who have read this post previously, you will notice the last sentence reflecting parental pride has been removed at the request of the object of the pride.]

Welcome Guests

Last Friday evening we followed through with a plan we have talked about for years; we had new comers at New Covenant over for a meal. Actually we have often had new families over for meals but as the church has grown it became difficult to keep up with everyone so we talked about having a larger, less frequent gathering . Pictured from left to right (front left): Cheryl, Tamara & Brian Dalton, Hannah Moore, Brandon Anderson & Amie Thompson, Jenny & Clark Bryant.

Otherwise life has been busy. In March (since the last post), Jackie chaired an accreditation visit at the Lincoln Christian Seminary in Illinois and we both went to the Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting in California.

Jackie planted his garden yesterday and this morning (the signs were right according to the Farmers Almanac).

Plowing & Camdyn

It was a good day. I turned my garden area and harrowed it down. Camdyn and I pulled weeds from the raised garden and fed them to the horses. I planted some grass seed near the road in front of our house. [Cheryl and I had harrowed and sown seed in our pasture last Satueday.] I also did some work on the playhouse.

We took these pictures of Camdyn this evening. She is a camera showoff.

Easter or Fried

The empty nest does not stay empty long. To the stray cat we have added two rabbits. The cat stands at the patio door and licks his chops watching them hop around.

APB -- Karisa Springs Prison

An all-points bulletin has been announced for Karisa Gabrielle Johns -- aka Passport Gabby, aka Sassa Sassa, aka The Boss. Be on the look out; she is considered charmed and dangerous. Recent pictures unavailable. Her father says he has not seen her in ages. Her mother and sister deny contact but several leads report they recently met with her in Memphis. The sketch artist disappeared with her.

Karisa has spent the week (her spring break) at Angola State Prison in Louisiana doing ministry. We have not heard from her (cell phones were not allowed) and she has never heard of calling collect (a secret I wish to keep). Pray for her safe return to Wheaton.

Catching Up

The revival ended Friday. It was a wonderful time of hearing from God. We were renewed in prayer with extended times around the altar. I have included a few pictures from our trip to Emmanuel College and some of the Hemphills who were over for lunch today.


Pastor's hat

Scott, Whitney, and Lilly Hemphill

Students praying during chapel.

Cheryl's nephew Joshua Bridges was there.

Lisa Long went along for the ride.

Lauren Belema, a student from our seminary, went with us to present an interpretive dance in response to Cheryl's message.