Our New Place

Mother has been after me to post a view from our back door, so here's a few pics in general of our new place. We live in a 26 unit, u-shaped apartment building, two stories. We're in the base of the "U" on the first floor. The courtyard of our building used to have a swimming pool, but they converted it to a garden (with a fountain) in more recent years and many of the residents love to help keep the flowers beautiful in the summer.

 Our front door

With the "Rejoice" sign that my sister sent me as a housewarming gift in 2004. :)

Courtyard in the early morning.  (The view from our front door.)

The fountain with the wise old owl (with glasses!)

The cross in the walkway

And finally...  the view from our back patio door.

Yep! That's Pike's Peak in the background.  For a Kansas girl, it's a little strange to see the mountains every morning.  I keep saying with wonder in my voice, "Those are my mountains..."

Or this morning, "Good morning, mountains!  And Good morning, God!  Thanks for making the mountains!"  :)

Three Weeks - Here We Stay!

My blogging streak abruptly ended with the trip to Kansas for my Grandmother's funeral.  Greg and I were thrilled to get to spend time with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and brother as they flew from VA to CO where we picked them up to make the drive.  They were gracious with the planning and the long hours -- we just wished we could have somehow prevented the six hour layover they had at DFW on their way here!!!

Unfortunately, I have been horrible at taking pictures recently and the only photos I have of the entire weekend are a few blurred snapshots.  But it was the first time all of us siblings and spouses had been together since Greg and I's wedding.  AK took photos for us, so hopefully we'll get to see those soon!

 "Grandpa" and Susan's little boy. :)

Too much technology!  Two siblings, two laptops, one tablet, one android!

BULLETIN: I am no longer the tallest or the heaviest Gates sibling.  My brother now takes that honor!  It took a carpenter's level to determine the height answer, but he does have an eighth of an inch on me.  WTG, SCG!

Three weeks.  I realized today that Greg and I have not been in one place for longer than three weeks since September.  No wonder we're tired!!!  There are members of our team that travel 6-9 months at a time and I have great respect for them!  But then they take at least three months to recoup at home after the trip.

So here's to more than three weeks in one place!  Can we make it?

(Home Sweet Home)

Kansas Sunset

As a youngster, I didn't realize how privileged I was to grow up on the west side of a small town. But when travels would bring me back home, I loved to stand in our yard and watch the last of the light flood across the plains. This picture, taken the evening before we left for Colorado, captured my sister L and her kitten.

Nesting in a New Place

Almost every time we get "home" from a road trip, I get the urge to cook. Bread, cookies, homemade chicken broth - you name it! Maybe it's my way of feeling at home.

And this time I have a new place to nest in! The last month has been busy as we've moved to a new home (more info in the upcoming posts). But today was our first unscheduled day in our new apartment. So I had to celebrate by cooking. :)

This evening, I had multiple things going.

3lbs of hamburger browning for tacos and casseroles (to be frozen)

Bubble Pizza in the oven (for supper)

A "Welcome to Our New House" cookie for Greg. Oh, and I was testing my crockpot to see if it boiled on low and at what temperature since we're at 5,000 feet or so.

My kitchen was busy. :)

Home!

We're home. Home! HOME! I am so thankful to be "home." Where is home? Well, we're officially Georgia residents and our permanent address is there. But we're temporarily living in a mobile home in Kansas as we seek the Lord on where long-term headquarters for LightSys will be.  We've been on the road since the wedding (November 14th) and are just now arriving at home.  Now we're trying to clean the kitchen and line the shelves and unpack boxes.  Each meal is a new adventure of finding dishes and utensils.

I went to make bubble pizza the other day and it turned into a chain of to-do's.  Need to brown the hamburger.  Can't do that until I slice the onion.  Can't slice the onion until I find the knives and the cutting board from my shower gifts.  Can't get out the cutting board until I clean off the counter.  Can't clean the dishes off the counter until I line the cabinet.  Can't line the cabinet until I wash the cabinet....

I finally went to put the bubble pizza in the oven and realized (or rather, remembered abruptly) that the oven has no racks.  Oops!  Praise God for a toaster oven Mr. Amazing had unpacked the day before!  And after the toaster oven blew a fuse and we had to find the multi-meter  and replace the fuse and move the toaster oven to a different plug and move the pizza to a different dish... we got to eat after all.  Eating is a good thing. And the pizza was yummy.  :)

Now about that oven rack... (story coming soon)

Rainbow

We watched from the front yard this evening as the storm moved closer. The lightening and thunder and building clouds delighted us all and the cooler temperatures felt in a sudden breeze brought a sigh of delight. We were only on the fringes of the storm, watching the sunset through the falling rain and marveling at the fully-visible rainbow in the east.

I spent about four hours on the tractor today, trying to remember how to plow with the larger, clumsier equipment. And listening to R.C. Sproul, Focus on the Family, Walk in the Word, and the random assortment of country songs. I didn't want to allow myself too much time alone with my thoughts. I did spend some time praying, "Oh God, Help me!" There was a strong correlation between the amount of praying, the speed of the tractor, and the proximity of the surrounding fence.

The cooler temperatures encouraged walks with my mother and sisters after supper. Then we all settled in the living room: reading good books, playing Rack-o, giving/receiving back rubs, and chuckling over the wildlife stories of Patrick McManus.

Third Person

Dorinda is on vacation. And she just found a sack of her mother's famous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. And she is eating them, being careful not to drop crumbs in her keyboard.

Dorinda met her church's new pastor and his family this morning. She thinks she likes them.

Dorinda is glad to be with all her family. They are all asleep right now - all in the living room. In various positions, they rest in preparation for the upcoming week. Maybe they are dreaming about a week in which the tractor and plow don't break down and L. gets blue ribbons at the fair.

Now Dorinda is joining them in slumber.

Upcoming Homecoming

In the Kansas area? Maybe I'll see you soon!
Thursday evening, October 18: Open House for supporters in the Anthony area
Friday/Saturday, October 19-20: Sterling College Homecoming
Sunday morning, October 21: Korean Presbyterian Church in Wichita

Thanks for praying

We had a quiet weekend -- one of my girls headed to CA to visit family and friends and the rest of us enjoyed some downtime. The lawn was supposed to get mowed. I spent most of the time pulling up weeds instead -- prickly weeds that I don't really want to cut up into pieces and scatter all over the lawn for fear of multiplication. I know, the plant probably doesn't work that way, but I'm not taking the chance. This plant would if it could. Personal vendetta and all that...

Part of my work this morning was busy getting new GFA volunteers logged into our network and helping them understand security and our computer system. New staff/volunteer login is part of my regular responsibilities and I look forward to it -- it allows me to meet all the new people personally.

I know someone out there is praying for me -- today started and ended as a God-Where-Are-You day, but inbetween there was peace. And even in the midst of the ending, there was the reminder that I can't stand on feelings. I need to be girded with truth, defended by righteousness and faith, and having done all -- to stand.

It's one thing to use your defensive armor. What does it look like to advance with the Word? (Eph 6:17)