Until we meet again

We have a daily Bible verse on the sidebar of our blog.

When I read today's verse, I immediately thought of Joe White.

I didn't know Joe very well.

In fact, I have probably only had

a few casual conversations

with him in all the years

that he and his family attended Fairhaven.

But I knew of Joe White.

To me, he was Randy's dad.

He was the smiling man

and the faithful husband

who was always at his wife's side.

Bonnie is a believer,

a woman who loves Jesus,

but Joe was not.

It always amazed me that he

would sit in the services week after week,

hearing the gospel,

knowing that his son and his family were off serving

as missionaries in a foreign land,

but yet never bending the knee

or confessing Christ as Lord.

But then again, it shouldn't have really surprised me.

I certainly know what that was like.

I was raised in the church and heard the gospel,

but yet there was no fruit of repentance

in my life for many years.

A few weeks ago we heard on Facebook

from Joe's daughter-in-law Cindy

that he had had a stroke.

Given his age and how he had been affected,

his health was certainly precarious.

However, we were ecstatic to hear

that Joe had become a believer!

Some time in the past few years

Joe had accepted Christ.

Our prayers had been answered.

Joe's sins were forgiven.

He was saved!

This past Monday Cindy announced

that Joe's new address was in Heaven.

Joe White had passed from this life

and was now worshipping

his Lord and Savior face-to-face.

No more sorrow, no more sickness, no more aging--

only joy in the presence of his Maker.

How amazing it must have been for Joe

to finally meet in person the One

whom he had heard about for all these years.

Joe's family has been left behind

to mourn his loss.

When a believer dies,

it is such a paradox of emotions.

We miss them. We mourn. We grieve.

And yet we also know that this is only temporary.

Along with the sorrow, there is also joy!

There is the blessed certainty

--the Bible calls it "hope"--

that we WILL see our loved one again.

So we do not say, "Good-bye" to Joe.

Instead, we say, "Until we meet again."

"Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints."

Psalm 116:15

For the family,

Liz

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our dear friends, the Cunningham family. Liz and the kids prepared several dishes before joining our friends at their house. Here is Shannon learning how to make mashed potatoes using real potatoes--what else?

Shannon also helped saute the vegetables for the stuffing. Since she doesn't care for the stinging eyes that often comes from cut up onions, she donned the boys science goggles to protect herself.
Later that evening, toasts began in earnest as we thanked the Lord for His bountiful provisions for the year.

After dinner, the kids played Apples to Apples. John cracked up at several jokes that Joshua C. made while playing the game.

We also spent the evening worshiping the Lord with music. David and Joshua played the guitar together on several songs.

Zach did a great job adding percussion to the music!

November

The beginning of November brought the close of the boys' Intro to Speech class with final presentations on the 5th. John amazed the crowd with his dramatic interpretation of the book, Shin's Tricycle, a story about affect of the Hiroshima bombing on a small Japanese family.

Joshua presented his expository speech about swords, complete with a graphics board.

The entire group posed for a photo at the end of the fantastic presentations.

For an activity involving fungus, the two Joshuas headed to our local Lake Chabot to search for specimens. Some fungi can be dangerous if ingested, so the boys donned face masks and gloves for their search.

Back at home, the boys carefully handled their discoveries while preparing slides for the microscope.

John provided a demonstration of the effects of dish soap on a bowl of cream with food coloring added. Amazing and beautiful!

November 14 - The children had their annual piano recital in the fall this year. They each played flawlessly, and Joshua shared an original composition he calls "Infinity" with the audience.

November 20 - Shannon and the Cunningham girls had much fun playing dress-up during a recent visit.

November 24 - Shannon is studying Eastern hemisphere cultures this year for Social Studies. During her week in New Zealand she learned how to make the scrumptious meringue dessert Pavlova which she decorated with fresh strawberries and chocolate chips.