The craziness has begun! Our house is being buzzed by the cropdusters! They are crazy people! It is amazing how they miss all of the buildings, silos, and power lines in their effort to dust our crops - in this case corn. What can I say, I always run out to take pictures and watch. I wonder who is crazier!

Stationery Card

Grad Tassle Yellow Graduation Announcement

Graduation announcements and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Stationery card

Four Years Gold Graduation Announcement

Shutterfly has personalized graduation announcements.

View the entire collection of cards.

Time to sharpen!

A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX : 1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK . 2.) YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE. 3.) WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU. 4.) IN LIFE , YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS, WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER. 5.) TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.  We all need to be constantly sharpened.  This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities.  Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish.  Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you and then allow yourself to be guided by the hand of God.

Message from Pastor Bob in Uganda

Dear All, sometimes I get so busy that I trade the significant for the important. It is significant that I communicate to you what is happening here in Uganda so I ask for your forgiveness, grace and mercy. 


Now, for the update: In addition to teaching at Faith Bible College twice a week and working with the military and the government twice a week, I speak to a different church every Sunday and go to four Christian schools each week to pray for the students and encourage the teachers and administration. I am telling you this to let you know how I am using the Lord's time. For the last four days I have been the main speaker at a conference in Jinja, Uganda. This is unusual because I usually share the conference format with Pastor Bill or Pastor Nehemiah. I now have a team of seven that are also able ministers and worship leaders. Most of them have been with me now for almost a year and I consider them true disciples who will be ministering and leading in the revival and transformation of Uganda and East Africa when the Lord calls me home or Home. 

This week we tackled issues such as Love, Unity, Surrender and Obedience, The Father's Love, Marriage (Love and Respect), and the Military Aspects of The Church (The Army of God). There was a wonderful healing of the conference leader's son (Pastor Charles Tiondi's son Gideon) and an unusual testing of what we were learning. On the second day of the conference a pastor came from Northern Uganda and was late because he had been robbed on the way. I had just completed a teaching on love and unity when Pastor Charles told us about the incident. I was surprised that this pastor was so hungry for spiritual growth that he continued to the conference without money or his cell phone. After Pastor Charles told us about the incident he took an offering for the Pastor. When I looked into the offering basket I saw little that represented the love and unity that we had been sharing. This is a dilemma as people tend to have a poverty mentality that says, "I must take care of myself first and then care for my brother." I felt the Spirit was testing us and told the attendees that this was not something that would be a "token" of love and unity but that giving that isn't from the heart and a sacrifice is not real giving. I reminded them of the "Widow and the mites" and asked them to ask the Holy Spirit before deciding what to give as we were going to take another "love" offering. We then prayed and I saw the fruit of the teaching as I looked at the attitudes of the people. As the offering basket was being returned I looked at the contents and saw a good amount of money and two cell phones. We all rejoiced that something different was happening in our midst. The effected pastor was so moved and said that nothing like this had ever happened to him before. The next day we had a mechanical problem with our van and I tried to call Pastor Charles and was unable to make contact. When we did arrive I asked him why he didn't answer his phone. He told me that he didn't have a cell phone and I realized that this man, the head of the thirteen churches of this new association of churches had given his phone to the pastor. What I found truly a wonder was that this man had been robbed and continued on to the conference and that he was now going home with twice as much money as he started with and twice as many phones. I told Pastor Charles that the leader of this conference and association has to have a phone and gave him what I believe the Lord wanted me to give as seed for his new phone. 

On day three I shared the Father's Love teaching from Henry Wright's material and almost every attendee came forward as I asked for anyone who had never been told by their father that they were loved or who had never been embraced by their father to come for prayer. As I shared this Father's Love there was such a beautiful response. Afterward everyone came together for a time of fellowship and one of the pastors shared that he had never been told by his father or mother that he was loved and had never been embraced by either of them (This is not because the Ugandan people do not love their children but because in the culture many believe that they would be "spoiling" their children to act in that manner.) He said that he had now carried on the same habits and now understood that love without action is not love. That children must be shown love by the parents and especially by the father who is a covering for them. He said that he was going to take that message to his family and church. Praise The Lord.

The last day of the conference we watched the movie "Fireproof" and one of our team (Esther) who had seen the movie previously gave a very good cultural flavor as she commented along in Luganeze which is one of the main Ugandan dialects. After the movie many of the pastors commented on how the movie complimented the teaching of the last four days. One pastor said that he had written down seventeen points that effected him from the movie (I asked him for a copy of those points). 

We then had a meal together and sang praises and prayed together as we prepared to return to our various places. Many of these pastors had traveled over a hundred miles by "taxi" to get to this conference. They will spend a great amount of money just to get to the conference. That is why we partner with the conference leaders and pay a share of the conference expenses.  

This was a most rewarding experience and I believe that the Lord is opening doors for this team to share this message of "Good News" in many other places. Thank you for your share of the fruit of the investment and return in this ministry. If you have not previously given to help us continue to be here and continue this work please join us. Contact my wife Carol (319-939-1634)as she and I will be greatly encouraged that you have chosen to partner with us. Yours prayers and support so appreciated. Mwebale nnyo ssebo and nnyabo (thank you very much sir/madam), your brother in Christ, Masumba (pastor) Bob.

Esther Fast 3/16-17

Are you ready to change your world?  I am.  Join me as I celebrate my 52nd birthday.

Asher Intrater is the senior leader of a Messianic congregation in Israel. Asher's perspectives and insights are highly valued both in the Holy Land and beyond. For more information about Asher's ministry, please visit their website: www.revive-israel.org.
Esther Fast
by Asher Intrater

We would like to invite you, our dear friends in every nation, tribe and tongue, to join with us in a day of prayer, fasting and intercession in accord with the fast of Esther. You may pray alone, or sponsor a prayer meeting, or mobilize your church, Messianic congregation, or prayer network to join in with us. The biblical fast lasted three days. The traditional Jewish fast this year is one day, from sundown Wednesday, March 16 to sundown Thursday, March 17. Your participation will involve three aspects:
   1. Public Scripture Reading - read out loud, as a devotional declaration and a prophetic proclamation, these three passages:
      a.Esther chapters 3 and 4
      b.Zechariah 12:2-3, 6-10; 13:1, 8-9; 14:1-9
      c.Romans 9:1-5; 10:1-2; 11:1-29
   2. Fasting - at least the 24 hours from sundown to sundown on just water (with exceptions of course for those with special needs). For those who have the desire and the ability, we invite you to fast a full three days, according to Esther 4:16.
   3. Prayer - to intercede according to the themes of the book of Esther, and to emphasize at least these 7 major prayer directives:
      a. Salvation for the Muslim peoples
      b. Salvation for the Jewish people
      c. Reconciliation between Jew and Arab through Yeshua
      d. Bind spirits of anti-Semitism worldwide
      e. Strengthen the local Messianic remnant in Israel
      f. Guidance for government leaders in Israel and the nations
      g. Prepare the Church to stand victorious in the events of the end times leading up to the Second Coming.

I can fly!!!

Went to Sky Venture Arizona in Arizona today!!!  It was amazing!  I think I screamed a little.

Mmmmm, am I hungry!!!

Still at school working on some assignments, but my stomach is calling.  I am really craving seafood!  This was a recipe brought by Heather here at school. Yummy!!

Ultimate Fondue

Ingredients:

1 c velveeta cheese, cubed

1 c swiss cheese, cut into small pieces

1 can Campbell's condensed cream of shrimp soup

1 c milk

1/2 t cayenne

1/2 t paprika

1 broiled lobster tail or 1 1/2 c imitation lobster chunks

Directions:

Combine everything except the lobster in medium sauce pan and heat over low heat until melted, stirring occasionally.  When melted, stir in the lobster meat.  Garnish with red pepper if desired and serve with French bread.

Number Of   Servings: 4

Snow chases!

Have you ever noticed how the snow seems to chase itself across the road 

one way and then back again?  

As I was driving home last evening I was noticing how much the fields 

look like wave tossed lakes of snow.

The snow drifted up to the bottom of the windows in front of the house.

The drift behind and on the side of the house was to the roofline of the garage.

Really glad I am not living in Chicago!

Wow!  There was a 4 foot snowdrift in front of my garage door this morning!  Thank you Lord for a tractor with a loader on the front.  It is still drifting a little, but hopefully I can get to class tonight.  I saw a title on the Nathan Klinge family page "A Case of the Klinge's"  that said "Snowmaggedon, Snowverboard, Snowlate!"   It made me very grateful for the measly 8-9 inches of snow that we received.  It also made me grateful for a job that allows me to stay home on bad weather days. (and yes Kevin, I do have a real job!)

This is a picture from Christmas 2004.  I think we have changed a little!  I realized yesterday that I have no recent pictures of Kevin and I together.  So I used the camera in my Macbook to take a friendly one.  I will have to make sure that I get a good one taken in the near future.

One thing leads to another!

It all started when I decided that Chris and Jude needed the 7x9 rug out of my kitchen.  I thought it would be easy to replace---WRONG!  After much searching, I finally found one that I could live with, at a price I could live with at J.C. Penney. Unfortunately, the black outline clashed with my navy blue theme.

The Navy cotton duck curtains, over my very wide sliding glass doors, did not look good.  They also completely darkened the room when pulled.  I ended up ordering (J.C. Penney to the rescue again) 8 semi-sheer black panels, 4 for each side.  I really like to softer new look.

Last on the list was my very patriotic border (stars and stripes hearts about 25 years old).  Took a while to decide on one with a message.  I really miss Dutcher's Glass and Paint!  I had to rely on the internet to find what I wanted.  Of course that also meant that I needed to put a new border in the office.  http://www.borderstogo.com/

I really like how the office/laundry room turned out.  It says in gold lettering at the bottom, "God of Mercy - Full of Grace - Bless our Family's Dwelling Place. 

The kitchen is growing  on me.  I didn't realize this border would be so busy and that I would be sooooo picky about what to hang on the wall.  This one is a bunch of signs that say Faith, Family, Friends, Laugh, Love.  My family is making me look at it for a couple of weeks before they will allow me to make any more changes, like maybe new wall color or maybe a different border?!?

Just finished grading tests

I think I was an idiot!  I put 9 essay questions in my last test.  The biggest problem is that the handwriting is all over the board and the thoughts are random and incomplete.  It is always a problem when my students assume I know what they mean. 

I always think of the saying - never assume anything: it just makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me"!

First class in Ed Research

I had my first 3 hour class last night and did not even contemplate snoozing!!!  There are 15 of us in the class, 10 of which are Mental Health/Counseling majors.  I am thinking that I will not be the only one talking.  My textbooks are going to cost around $200!!!  Only 1 more class to go and then my Comprehensive exams and writing my creative component.

All of my beautiful girls had a birthday recently.  This was Abbey's 21st birthday.  Aren't they beautiful! I am soooooo blessed!

Back in the swing of things

I just finished my first full week back to school and am well into the second.  I have Physics students working on mousetrap cars (that will be raced on Thursday), 9th grade students studying Earthquakes, Engineering students doing robotics, and Middleschoolers learning how to sketch.  My desk is covered with papers to grade and record!!!!

My family is determined to get me into shape.  We now have a membership to Anytime Fitness and the Wii has been moved into the office so that I will have room to do the Wii Fit Plus, when I do not have time to go to the gym.  I am enjoying having others to workout with, but am really sore and out of shape :(

Next improvement will be finishing my Master's degree in Science Education this year.  My Ed Research class starts this wed night and runs from 5-8 in the evening.  Let's hope my study habits are ready to be honed!  I also need to decide what I will do as my research project.

I am looking forward to the middle of February!  Sam, Cass, and I will fly out to AZ to visit my parents!  Woo Hoo!!!!

It was a hectic Christmas season, but was fun to spend time with family. My brother Brett and his family came in from Nashville, TN for 3 days of fun in the snow --sledding, sledding, sledding! Good thing we own a Sleep number bed. My new number is 30! Brother Bruce and his family came from Pella on Saturday to join in on the fun. Jake is now taller than me! :(

We have started a new year of school. This is the first year that I have only 3 preps. I am adding a new class called Principles of Engineering. I was able to attend a training seminar at the University of Iowa this summer. It was a great experience and I met some really wonderful teachers.