The Archives - September 2007
A Caravan of Caravans
Beth recently pointed out (as I was telling her how much it was going to cost to replace the muffler and front struts on our 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan) that when we bought the van our intention was to keep it 10 years or 200,000 miles, and oh, by the way, the odometer just rolled over 200,000.
I quickly figured out where that conversation was heading…
Three days later, we were the proud owners of a "new-to-us" 2006 Grand Caravan, which only had 5,000 miles on it, and was priced about 1/3 less than new. We drove it home, loaded it up, and then drove to Arkansas!
We are keeping the old van for Chad to use to drive to work. He doesn't mind the loud muffler so much as Beth…
Citadel Bible College Reunion
Our trip to Arkansas was to attend the reunion of the Bible College where both Beth and another lady (Sandy Sharp) in our church attended. The school was originally called Ozark Bible College when Sandy attended, and was renamed to Citadel Bible College when Beth was there.
Most of the original buildings are gone, but you can see Beth and Sandy remembering old times in front of the foundation of the old Men's Dorm.
Here's the whole crowd that showed up for the reunion:
We had a great time talking with everyone and hearing all the stories from their days at the college.
The Road More Traveled
So we've only had the new van about five weeks now, but have already put over 5,000 miles on it, including our latest vacation trip of over 3,200 miles (and 65+ hours on the road). A pictoral joural follows:
We started our trip by driving to my brother David's house in Waynesboro, Georgia, and spent a couple of days there catching up and helping with some projects he had, including adding a vent pipe to his septic system and building an open shed. The cousins had a great time playing together and dug an underground tunnel in the back yard.
From Dave's house, we drove to Milledgeville to visit my Dad for a day or two. Dad recently moved from his lake house closer into town, where is is closer to his sister. We had a great time catching up, and I helped Dad install a new french door for his patio out back.
From Dad's, we drove to Stone Mountain, Georgia and climbed the mountain before meeting for a picnic lunch with several friends from the area. We had a good time catching up with everyone, and then spent the night with some old friends who were mentors to us when we first started home schooling. We had a wonderful time discussing spiritual things as well as singing hymns together.
The next stop on our trip was at my Mom and Granny's apartments at Lanier Gardens Retirement Center in Athens, Georgia. We took Mom with us to Dahlonega to eat at the Smith House and drive up in the mountains a little. It was raining all day, which was a blessing, as that area has been in severe drought all summer.
My brother Dave came up on Tuesday for Granny's 98th birthday, so we got photos of all the cousins together:
Later that day, we performed an hour-long concert with a selection of Classical, Gospel, Hoe-down and Hymns, followed by a rousing round of "Happy Birthday" for Granny. We had a great time visiting with everyone!
The next stop on our trip was in San Antonio, Texas for the forth annual Independent Christian Film Festival, in which Chad had entered his film The Journal, which was a semi-finalist. We had a nice breakfast on the Riverwalk, and then spent the afternoon touring through The Alamo.
Chad's film was one of the first shown, along with a short trailer he created advertising the film festival. He had a chance to talk about the film afterwards:
Here we are at the Riverwalk, getting ready to go to the awards banquet:
Well, while Chad didn't win an award for his film, he had lots of nice comments on it, and we really enjoyed seeing the God-honoring productions everyone else had submitted. The experience was valuable, and we're already thinking of next year!
The final stop on our trip before heading home was at my brother Jim's in Forth Worth, Texas. We had a nice time out on the lake in Jim's boat, and had good conversations over lunch and supper.
Our trip home was uneventful (but long!), and we arrived tired, but very glad to be sleeping in our own beds again. The Lord be praised for safety and for the blessing be seeing family and friends!
Books I Have Read This Year
A General's Life - The Autobiography of General of the Army, Omar Bradley
Missionary Patriarch - The Story of John Paton (autobiography - good)
With Lee in Virginia (a historical fiction by G. A. Henty)
Anne (with an 'e') of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Uniting Church and Home
A Holy Life (John Bunyan - GOOD!)
Anne of the Island
Anne’s House of Dreams
Anne of Ingleside
The Road to Unafraid (Jeff Streucker, Army Ranger - good!)
Yeager (autobiography of Gen. Chuck Yeager)
The Spontaneous Spread of Home Discipleship Christianity
A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway - a rather depressing story, IMHO)
The Courtship of Sara McLean (a book about Biblical courtship principles)
Life and Campaigns of Lt. General T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson
(excellent story of a God-honoring man)
How Should We Then Live? - Francis A. Schaeffer (deep, but good)
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire - Jim Cymbala (Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle)
Jeff McLean: His Courtship
The Good Husband’s Guide to Balancing Hobbies & Marriage
10 Things I Want My Son to Know
Mighty Men—The Starter’s Guide to Leading Your Family
Patton—A Study in Command
The Origins and Background of the Second World War
The Book of Jasher
Ben Hur
The Gospel According to Disney
Remote Control - The Power of Hollywood on Today's Culture
Maximized Manhood - A Guide to Family Survival
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
No Retreats, No Reserves, No Regrets (Ken Ham + others)
1984 (George Orwell)
One of our Bombers is Missing
Carrier Pilot
Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)
The Sign of Christ's Coming and the End of the Age (Robert Van Kampen)
The Chronicles of Fairacre (Miss Read)
Watership Down
The Church in God’s Program
Northwest Passage
The Caine Mutiny
Wind in the Wires
American Aces
Fighting Airman
1918: The Last Act
The Black Sheep Squadron
Ace! A Marine Night Fighter Pilot in WWII
The P-38
A Practical Guide for Horse Owners
Emily Davis (Miss Read)
The War in Outline: 1914-1918
Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism - A Theological Primer
A Church in the House
Ya'll drop us a line when you can, now!