NEWNEWNEW!

During the past four years Larry has traveled numerous times to Africa and it seemed like each time he went he could feel this nudging of conscious saying, “This is really what I want to be doing full time."  Not only the nudging but every trip was a blessing to all. These trips to Africa have been accompanied with American pastors along to help and with the support of an organization called, Food for the Hungry. Two of the his pastor friends on these trips to Africa, have encouraged him to focus on serving Africa in a more personal way and it’s seems as though God is reminding us once again,”go, for I have reopened the door for you”

  Our thoughts seemed to always go back to the mid-seventies, when scores of African-Portuguese refugees came to the Motherland fleeing from the Marxist government’s take-over of Portuguese colonies. God began touching our hearts then with the concern for Portuguese-speaking African people whom escaped with nothing but their clothes on their backs.Larry would even plant the seed of concern to our young Portuguese who came to Christ through our ministry to pray about this need to go.  

Larry was reminded from one of those challenged to go, by the name of George Silver, he and his young family now serve in Africa. George writes, I PRAYED AND I OBEYED AND I AM IN AFRICA.”  Then he added, "I kept my side of the deal, where are you?

So now we have been re-challenged our goal is to begin August 1, 2012, to go full time with our ministry, Global Portuguese Outreach, which began in 2008, which is a 501c3. So, we are raising support and asking you to walk with us as we serve through evangelism and strengthening of the national church pastors speaking Portuguese with emphasis on Africa and Indonesia. Your support can be monthly or one-time. We find that many prefer to donate a one-time yearly gift. This method takes the stress off monthly support with option to renew on a yearly basis and as God blesses.  We trust that you will have time to pray and partnership with us. And build with us a relationship and joint venture to reach and serve the Portuguese speaking people.

It has been interesting to see how the focus on Missions has evolved during in our life time. In the forties and fifties, when our parents went to the field, missions were very much concentrated in the unreached areas. Today 95% of all missionaries are in mega-urban capitols of the world. My passion is the forgotten national pastors who faithfully work in backward areas of their countries where many are reluctant to go. This is where Larry has been these past four years in an extreme difficult area where they desperately need help and encouragement. Recently, he was in Saca, Mozambique, So. Eastern Africa. The jaunt itself took two hours of riding in a jeep, over a bike trail road. Yet, Pastor Dennis peddles his bike back to the community each week and the church keeps growing and is eager for more yet these communities and the leaders have been ignored by the in government for years. It is to these communities and these pastors who need our help for their ministry. So with all honesty and quite bluntly, God has blessed us with being bi-lingual, and we are willing and able to go, would you be willing and able to help us.

We would love the opportunity to speak at your church or your group home Bible studies. You could open your home to your friends and help us introduce them to our ministry.
If you have any questions about how God is leading us please contact us.

Empty Nest needs to be emptied…

Our daughter is getting ready to pack up to move to Florida for Grad. School and as I looked around her room I can’t imagine where to begin to pack her off.  Knowing that she most likely won’t ever live here anymore, how will we make her throw away things she doesn’t need any more?  Part of you says leave everything exactly like you never went?  That can’t be healthy.  I believe that would be boarder- line “hoarderish” of us.

Plastic containers would be a good idea to separate keep and give things; it seems so easy on those shows.  They never let you see how many people are helping with process either.

I am sure the best way is to clean it out completely at least to a storage space of some kind, after all memories are always there and they don’t smell moldy or get dusty.

Step one: Get started! (TOMORROW)

Next Step...

The next step...

Everyone is wondering what our next step is, well, it is more like a giant leap of FAITH kind of step.

We hope to really start running soon.

We will keep you posted on the route we will be taking. God's G.P.S is saying, “take the next available 

"U-turn.  

So that is what we are praying about. 

I love the green of spring..

The two seasons I love most living in the Adirondacks are fall and spring...to opposites I know...because one is just dying and the other beginning to live. Or one seems awfully wrong and the other wonderfully right. We need the one to have the other. Ying and yang of the environment I suppose. Maybe because I am a Libra and this is the balancing of nature at her finest. As far as colorful the fall is so gloriously breath taking...yet it is ultimately leading up the "winter of my despair”, thank you, Green-gables person for that phrase. Spring is no doubt synonymous with the word hope, up here in these-here-parts, because we hope for one to be over and the other to come fast. All this came to me as I was spray painting my porch/deck furniture a lovely shade of spring green. The paint can said, Satin Eden, as the official color. I don't know if I was trying to convince myself of the color but when I read the name of the color on the can I knew it was a sign...

Source: google.com via Cindi- on Pinterest

A Girl Has Got To Do, What A Girl Has Got To Do

What is it in a woman that makes her have the need to move furniture around? Rearrange it, oh, maybe once a year. I must confess I am just one of those "kinds"of women. There probably is a physiological term or syndrome for this. If so I have it big time.
I was just sitting there this morning after my quite- time and sipping my third cuppa-o-jo and it came to me....yes, the urge to change the arrangement of my living room. Maybe it was the caffeine talking but I just; couldn’t deny the impulse to get up and start the procedure.
Mind you there are a series of steps that are involved in tackling the job by oneself. There is propping up (which takes considerable amount of strength) to move the huge Oriental rug, then the need to balance out the lighting system. I like to make sure that the view out the windows is at its most effective position. When its summer I want to make sure I can enjoy my window boxes inside as well. Then I must think about my husband and his chair and make sure he will be happy; After all he resides here too. I like to have a nice flow in and through and around too.
Half way into the foolishness; I find myself talking out loud; "Self, what the heck were you thinking. You not only will need to clean and wipe down all the new spaces but you probably will need a chiropractor besides”. Then after a couple of miss-tries and working up a sweat I sit back and take it all in and hope I like it and if I don't then I say to myself, “give it a couple of days" Then I walk away from it with my fingers crossed, convincing myself this is the best way ever.; But if Larry doesn't like I will put it all back...with his help of-course...

Three Gringos and a Dog

I was too exhausted to be excited when the voice over the intercom informed us that we would soon be landing in Lisbon. My head was still stuck in packing mode and fare wells and the mixture of all sorts of, "what if's", to even care. The fact that there was “no turning back” was now a reality as I stepped into the unknown trying not to act lost.
My first concern was to see if and how our beloved cocker spaniel had survived the trip, when much to my surprise, I heard her above all the noises of the hustle and bustle of the airport terminal and long line at the custom booths. I could hear her barking with the anxiety level that signaled stress! We followed her frantic sounds toward the direction of the luggage conveyer belt where she (in a now up side kennel) circled around almost teetering off. Needless to say she was drawing a crowd. Later I came to understand why; besides the noise factor echoing throughout terminal from our pooch; pure bred dogs were a novelty and domestic animals were not exactly the norm in the Portuguese culture, unless they were a working canine. Hunting, herding, and guarding were common but it was a rarity to see dogs come through as luggage. Divine providence though,

after of all the ruckus caused by our pooch, it helped in expediting the cranky canine's release as well as our own. So they waved our entire luggage through manual inspection enabling us to make our way towards the exit doors and fresh air without any delay.
So there we stood, like the proverbial foreigners that we were, trying to see if anyone looked like a missionary and designated driver. We had not met him so we were clueless as to what he looked like and hoped he would figure out who we were.
And he did, and with no problem at all, why you might ask, as much as I pride myself in couture we definitely stood out amongst the European people, three gringos dressed in pastel colors and a dog. And, note to self,the weather in the month of April is anything but warm. We were freezing!
…thus began the first day of the next twenty-four years of our lives in the country of Portugal...

Give in to Me-Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund(with LYRICS)

Rustic Peach Cake,

Combine:
1 cup a.p. flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Mix until light:
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
8 T unsalted butter, softened

Add:
2 large eggs
2 T sour cream (or whole milk)
1 t vanilla extract

Then add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix on low until just combined. Pour into greased and floured cake pan.

For peaches:
peel, pit and slice 2 medium peaches and toss with 1/4 c sugar and 1/2 t cinnamon then arrange in a circular pattern around the edge and in the middle of cake.
(*Tip: scattering some chopped, dried apricots or peaches over the batter before arranging the fresh peaches on top will soak up the excess peach juice and eliminate a soggy cake top, but this is kind of fancy and is optional.)

Bake @ 350 for about 35-40 min. I used a 9-in cake pan, but you could use a spring-form or any kind of cake pan for this.

Once upon a time, there was this Princess dog named Sofie Marie. Like most princesses she had everything her Royal Highnie would ever desire.  A mistress that loved her very much.  Both sets of Grand- mistresses that did too.  All her canine cousins of her kingdom regarded her as the fairest in the land. Her dear, little sister, Princess Victoria Josephine, loved her most of all..

She was always groomed with the latest of "foo-foo" style.  Had many of the o' couture, canine fashions. The most wonderful yard and forest to explore and rocks to climb.  Oh, and squeaky toys and tiny tennis balls .  Her bed was of the finest fleece and animal- printed coordinating duvet where she would slumber all day and early in the cold winter nights. In the summer she enjoyed long boat rides on a beautiful mountain lake...she loved pointing her noise to the wind and barking out greetings to Mr. and Mrs. Loon or at the other dogs that came from the city to spend the summer in her kingdom. One would think that she didn't need anything at all.  For hunger and thirst were never present in her life she had more then enough of all the comfort and love from one and all. 

   Ah, but there was one thing that she most wanted and it was forbidden territory and highly frowned upon for such a fair princess to even THINK about such a place. This place was called, "Le'Gar-Bage".  Oh, but the temptation at times was so great yes, even this princess who lacked nothing, would find herself drawn to it's tempting aromas.  She didn't care if she would dirty herself with the grease and grim and stinky things. She didn't care if she would drive  her Mistress to despair, no, all she cared about was to be able to dig and hunt and tear and spread anything and everything all over the floor.  To her it was so much fun and and so delicious she did not stop to think of what would or could happen.  This was so unbecoming for Princess and a very hard lesson her majesty to learn and obey.

One chilly, autumn, night the Mistress and her husband decided to get in the white chariot with wheels and journey to

her most favorite grand people of all. Victoria Josephine came too but Sofie Marie knew she was the favorite and decided to spend most of her time one of their laps.

Sofie Marie and Victoria Josephine, raced into the house.  They did their usual greetings throughout the house setting up a ruckus as usual too.   

 Princess Sofie claimed her favorite spot which was on Grand-masters lap.  The mistress and her little sister spent their time with Grand-mistress.

Unbeknown-st to everyone else Sofie decided to sneak into the kitchen to where the beloved Le'Gar-bage was kept.

Her highly bred princess nose began to search for something delectable to eat.  And she found it!

She ate and ate tore and tore until her royal belly was as round as could be.

Now the Mistress took one look at her and knew that that royal belly was a bit too round and the foo foo beard a bit too greasy and followed the trail to the mess. After a scolding and a quick washing of her mouth they went home and settled down for the night.

Well everyone but the the Princess Sofie Marie, for her stomach began to rumble and rumble and gurgle and gurgle...and she felt sick all over. Day after day for four days later her royal highnie was not well.

It was then decided that she must go to the hospital and the Doctor Vet. hooked her up to an I.V. because after he took her X-ray they saw that that royal round belly was stopped up with a CORN COB....this was corking up the Princess royal intestines.  Doctor Vet. scolded the princess too and and after two days and nights and the threat of surgery...Sofie Marie the Princess dog was finally feeling her self again.

Now every one in the kingdom hopes that Sofie Marie will have learned her lesson that Le' Gar-bage' is not the place to find food...

and she and her little sister lived happily ever after. 

R.I.P.

Rest in Peace, Gimpy.

Gimpy, Our Fine Feathered Friend...

Poor Gimpy...he flew into my sliding glass door and popped his eye. He was probably stunned for a while but managed to shake it off and fly away.

We didn't see where he went but a few days later we notice this comical, feather-ruffled up the side of his face and flying like he had one to many, guy again. He came in too close and missed the bird feeder and for a second the Min Pin captured him in his paws. We screamed and the canine let him go.

Gimpy is using his wings well enough but

his landing skills are just a shade off. He can land on the tree limbs okay but on the wrong side of them and hangs upside down dangling there for a few moments until he gets his bearings. We watch with our breaths held and sort of encouraging him on… you can do it, Gimpy!!!!
He is fearless despite the fact that he is handicapped, he doesn't give up even when the regular/normal purple finches push him around. We get quite a few finches in our yard, golden ones, and house finches and this beautiful, purple variety. As soon as they all come to eat we finally see him bringing up the end of the flock dear ole one-eyed Gimpy flying as straight as S's and M’s. He fly's up and down and back and forth and hangs there till he knows he is at the right feeder and eats as good as the others. It is awfully amusing and we look forward each day for his arrival because then we know he hasn't falling in the hands of a larger predator...like the neighbors big black cat.

So, Gimpy, we are sorry about your accident and do take some of the blame for having such a clean window…but you put a smile on our face and keep us entertained for a while and now days that can be a rare thing. So, hang in there, pardon the pun, since we like to see your tenacity.

.. trip to the Denist..

So, my daughter and I had hit some considerable traffic on our way to the dentist yesterday. When out of nowhere a spider decides to descend almost touching my nose

Well I yelled just like the kid in the movie, ”Home Alone”. And my brave daughter tries to save me by grabbing Charlotte in a receipt she held (to prevent herself from touching the itsy bitsy spider) unsuccessfully, I might add. I started blowing and blowing and all that did was cause her to swing back and forth and even closer to my face.
So I am screaming “should I pull over, should I pull over… My daughter is saying Mom calm down…
Well, the spider disappears somewhere between my legs and all I could do is swishing my legs back and forth and when I could stomp I would.
End of story we made it to the Dentist in plenty of time and I don’t know what happened to Charlotte.

But we are fine,

"Lilly Pulitzer" Crystal Dress at Lilly Pulitzer

"Lilly Pulitzer" Crystal Dress at Lilly Pulitzer

IF I HAD A WISH LIST THESE WOULD BE THERE!!!! Love this designer.

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9

...BE Patient...

So how does it happen? When you have every intention to be a success and all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted…but somehow the door to temptation is left open or stuck or whatever the reason and what you never wanted to happen, happens. And you say, I always thought this couldn’t happen to me or why ME????

So, what do you do…some 12 step check off list that some Shrink came up with? Do you run and hide and hope it just goes away. Maybe you play the blame game and come up with all kinds of excuses for it being someone else’s responsibility.

I do know what works for me…tell yourself not to PANIC. Ask for PRAYER from people you trust and that love.. Seek that PEACE that passes all understanding…and then be PATIENT… waiting on the Lord and claim His Promises.

He (if you are His child) has a purpose for you. And He promises never to leave you or forsake you!!!! I know I have been there this is quite accurate and undeniable true!!!

Time to Party!!

Party Pinwheels

Rated: Submitted By: MADDIES MOM Photo By: JenInCalifornia Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 5 Minutes Ready In: 2 Hours 20 Minutes Servings: 15

"It's easy to make lots and lots of these cream-cheese-based rounds: Simply use extra-large tortillas and roll them up with the smooth and crunchy filling. "

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix 2 green onions, minced 4 (12 inch) flour tortillas

1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup diced celery 1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.	In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and green onions. Spread this mixture on each tortilla. Sprinkle red pepper, celery, black olives, and cheese (if you'd like) over the cream cheese mixture. Roll up the tortillas, then wrap them tightly in aluminum foil.
2.	Chill 2 hours or overnight. Cut off ends of the rolls, and slice the chilled rolls into 1 inch slices.

Blessings - Laura Story - LYRICS

Time to practice what we preach...

Have you ever experienced a situation in which one person’s words or a group of people’s words brought God’s work to a sudden stop? All too often the church becomes a breeding ground for grumbling and gossiping.  Church members have very specific ideas about how a church should be run:  contemporary music vs. traditional music, choir robes vs. street clothes, seeker-sensitive vs. discipleship of believers.  Before you know it, the journey to the Promised Land comes to a halt. What are some ways that you can bring peace to a potentially volatile situation? How can you use your words today to encourage the leadership of your church? Consider writing a note or an e-mail of encouragement to someone in ministry who has blessed you.

Giggles FOR Jessie...

Care to comment???

Dyslexia is an inherited condition. Researchers have determined that a gene on the short arm of chromosome #6 is responsible for dyslexia. That gene is dominant, making dyslexia highly heritable. It definitely runs in families.
Dyslexia results from a neurological difference; that is, a brain difference. People with dyslexia have a larger right-hemisphere in their brains than those of normal readers. That may be one reason people with dyslexia often have significant strengths in areas controlled by the right-side of the brain, such as artistic, athletic, and mechanical gifts; 3-D visualization ability; musical talent; creative problem solving skills; and intuitive people skills.
In addition to unique brain architecture, people with dyslexia have unusual "wiring". Neurons are found in unusual places in the brain, and are not as neatly ordered as in non-dyslexic brains.
In addition to unique brain architecture and unusual wiring, f/MRI studies have shown that people with dyslexia do not use the same part of their brain when reading as other people. Regular readers consistently use the same part of their brain when they read. People with dyslexia do not use that part of their brain, and there appears to be no consistent part used among dyslexic readers.
It is therefore assumed that people with dyslexia are not using the most efficient part of their brain when they read. A different part of their brain has taken over that function.