Know Thine Enemy...

Wow, forever since my last post. I've been doing lots of thinking and not much writing. This is going to be a "long-winded, just thinking out loud" type of post.

I've been thinking quite a bit about my enemy. The Enemy. You Christians know of whom I speak....yeah, him. I have been remembering things I learned about him while a teen and in Bible college that I have since "forgotten".

I had forgotten that he has only two objectives: (1) a main goal, and (2) a plan B, should the former be unobtainable.

His main goal? To get each individual (you and me) to the end of his/her life without ever accepting Christ as their Saviour, thus becoming his "roomie" in the dormitory of hell, forever separated from Almighty God.

His plan B, once that individual (you and me) has accepted Christ as Saviour, is to render us ineffective for Christ.

I am fully amazed at how effective his plan B is. Generation after generation we succumb to his stupidness. He has spent thousands of years studying us, perfecting his plan over and over on us, and succeeding! How stupid I am for not studying him and knowing about him and how he works. Know thine enemy...

I saw a book once, The Battle for the Mind. I liked the title, as I immediately thought, "that's right! Life is one big mind game!" I never finished the book. If he can control my mind, my thought processes, then he has me, totally.

Christians like to fuss and debate things to death, deciding who is more spiritually mature by lifestyle, dress, music, faithfulness to church services, daily Bible reading, how much Bible reading, how a person words a prayer, makeup-yes or no, hair styles, swimming, etc...

I have seen Christians decide that an entire congregation has gone the way of the world because they have a picnic lunch after church, with a message afterwards, leaving the rest of the day for fellowship and family.

Let me say that the things about which I just spoke are very important, indeed. But they keep us busy, focusing on ourselves, and away from the real purpose of us being here...to help win the lost.

I focus on our home, the rooms inside, our yard (as if this is our permanent situation); building them up to become a great fortress of solitude, so that I may retreat into them from this difficult and harsh world that so much wants to infect me.

I remember Dr. Hyles gave a sermon illustration once about a firehouse and the firefighters within. He told each of the three men that his job was to fight fires. Then he stated to them that while in the firehouse, each would have individual duties: one would be responsible for cleaning the bathroom, one would be responsible for cooking and the third would be responsible for cleaning the kitchen. He then told them to go on with their daily tasks, and wait for a call. There was a bit of pantomime onstage, then he had the men sit down for the rest of the sermon. Near the end, he brought the three men back up onstage and asked each what his job was, to which they replied: cleaning the bathroom, cooking, cleaning the kitchen. "WRONG!" he yelled. He said, "Your job is to fight fires!" Yes, the bathroom needs cleaning, food needs to be cooked, and the kitchen cleaned. But the whole reason to be in the firehouse at all is to be ready to fight a fire.

When I heard that, it really stripped all the fluff away from the fact that I am here to be a witness for Him and to help win the lost. I don't know how to wrap this up, all this rambling....I just want Him to be proud of me.

If I'm spending all my time debating my brothers and sisters or being frustrated with them, then I have less brothers and sisters to spend eternity with, because I was not out there trying to win more of them.

I hate how he uses our good intentions toward one another to cause dissention (though some do it for fun, I imagine) and to splinter us. Don't get me wrong, here. I am in no way saying I agree with those Christians that want everything the world has to offer and try to make everything Christian look like Hollywood. It's just that sometimes I feel like we are missing the greater picture--yes, I know we need the small bits to make the greater picture! See my mind swirling? I just want to be more effective for Christ, and that is a slow-cooker kind of thing when I want stir-fry, and want it now...arrgh....!!!

Thank you for listening to my cloudiness.

Charmaine

Our Maiden Voyage...

"Ruby Slippers", or "Ruby", is what I would like to name our pup. I'll of course need to run it by Heath. I like the idea of the pup being our summer home, or our home away from home (there's no place like home!).

We spent five days last month during the Easter weekend at the KOA in Williamsburg, VA. It was such a refreshing joy to be with family and have no other obligations around. We stayed up late and slept in as long as we wanted (or as long as the dogs would allow). We played games together, rode bikes, took long walks, and watched the campsites fill up and empty out.

Being our first trip outside of "Camp Driveway", we learned many things. There was trial and error with the stove, the grill, the water, the toilet and leveling. I liked best that Heath and I worked well together. Sure, we had frustrating moments, but we worked together and the boys worked through it with us.

I was so glad to be consciously aware of NOT fussing with the boys when they wanted to play their handheld games. After all, this was a vacation for all of us, and if that's what they wanted to do, that was fine with me (home, of course, is a very different story).

We never did get the HOT water to work. We got online and asked about it in the pop up forums, and eventually got an answer the day we headed home. We found that we needed to turn the hot water heater BYPASS valve. This useful information will be a great help to us on our next voyage.

We knew the trip was going to be an education on how to do things and also what to bring and what NOT to bring. It was great to not feel stressed about things, because I am such a worrier about things not going as planned.

We saw several of those rental RVs near us, with one directly behind and one directly in front of us. The one behind us left early each morning and got back each evening at dark, so we had a beautiful, clear view of the forested area and the ravine each day. Such a gorgeous view.

Two of My Guys

These are my middle two boys. Chase is on the left, and Corey on the right.

At the time of this photo, Corey had just received his headgear, so they both mugged for the camera.

Chase so much looks like Heath's mother, while Corey so much looks like my father.

It's a strange kind of funny to me that these two should get along so well. If they were not brothers, I'm not so sure they would be friends. Their personalities are so opposite from each other ( ah! the wisdom of my Saviour!). Chase likes to be outside sitting in a tree. Corey likes to be outside pursuing any athletic endeavor. Chase loves video games. Corey loves his cell phone.

I just really like this photo of them. Neither has really hit his "growth spurt" yet, so most people don't believe me when I say Chase is 15 and Corey is 13 here. This unbelief on their faces is much more vivid when they see them in person.

I love my boys!

Our new home away from home...!

I am so excited and anxious to take our new pop up trailer (the rv blogs call it a "pup") out for its maiden voyage!

(Heath, my beloved, thank you for working so hard to get us this great gift!)

Heath and I talked around the idea of eventually purchasing a trailer for a very long time. We have always camped in a tent, and I think Heath would have continued to do that just because he loves me (thank you, Honey!). But Heath has always traveled a lot for work, and foreign beds mean little or no sleep for him (he already uses a c-pap at night).

Last Valentine's Day we went to the RV show at the Timonium Fairgrounds just north of Baltimore. I saw it advertised just two days earlier, and we made the snap decision to go. I am so glad we did! We purposely did not take our checkbook, as we decided this would be a fact-finding mission.

We arrived and began looking around. I had researched before going how much our truck would tow, and we knew our choices would be limited to a pup or a hybrid lightweight. A hybrid is a small conventional trailer that opens out on either end, like pulling down a murphy bed from the outside with a canvas covering, like the pups.

There were three buildings full of RVs. The first building we entered just happened to have a lot of pups and hybrids. We spent a very long time in that building. We started slowly through the pups and looked carefully at each one, noticing how small they were (more importantly, how small they felt, should all six of us be stuck inside if it stormed!). We finally settled on the Fleetwood Highlander series that we liked best. We sat in their top of the line model, the Avalon, and spoke with a husband and wife that were part of the RV show, Charles and Arlene Corby. They lived for two years in their pup after retiring. Arlene wrote a book about their travels. I am reading it and enjoying her sense of humor. We must have sat and spoke with them for 45 minutes in that Avalon. Their pup purchase was the Highlander Niagara, just one below the Avalon.

The longer we sat in that Avalon, the more we liked it. We then continued on to the hybrids. We saw some from KZ. I fell in love with one that had three separate fold out beds, one on either end, and one near the rear on the driver's side. That would have been perfect for our family. In addition to the eating area, it had a sofa! Wow, that was nice!

We sat in the KZ for a few minutes, and the longer we sat there, the less I liked it. It was so full of amenities that there were almost no windows. It felt very closed in. I then realized that I liked the pup better because of all the light and the airyness. It felt more like the tent, with perks.

I voiced my opinions to Heath, and he was thinking the same thing. We eventually went back to the pup and scrutinized it, looking for every negative thing about it. We finally found that the Avalon would be too close to our tow limit, and would not allow for carrying "extras" (you know, those things you take camping with you like food and clothing).

Ugh! We walked across the aisle to look at the Niagara. It was almost identical to the Avalon, but two feet shorter and the table area was smaller. After sitting there for five minutes, I realized Corey was sitting on what would be a bed area. He could not stretch out on it, right then and there I knew we were not getting the Niagara, either. Oh, I was frustrated, because the others were just too small...

We continued to finish the first building and went through the second, where we got lunch. Heath and the boys were done, it seemed, and wanted to find a comic book store. So, I continued with Corey and Craig. We finished out the second and third buildings going through those big rigs.

We got home later that day worn out and somewhat disappointed. The fact finding mission we eagerly began ended with more questions than answers.

The next few days I began searching online, since I now knew what things looked like, and what to expect when I saw photos and descriptions. I found out that the Highlander series had yet another floorplan, the Arcadia. It is identical to the Niagara, but the Niagara had a countertop to the left of the sofa, making the sofa (and its sleeping area) smaller. The Arcadia eliminated that small countertop, making the sofa much larger.

So, I began my search online to find an Arcadia, since I knew that would be our best option, and I really liked that Highlander line. Man, I searched everywhere, even several states out, and could not find one. Florida had three (road trip!). Through my searching, I noticed that there were some older models on the lots that had never been purchased. I went backwards and started looking for 08 models, and 07 models. That's when I saw the Sequoia in the Highlander series.

Here is the floorplan for the

Sequoia:

What we liked best about the Avalon was that all six of us could sit at the table together (nice if you like your family and want to play games together). The Arcadia and Niagara would not allow for that. The Sequoia had a very large "U" shaped table that all of us could sit at comfortably, plus it converted to a very large bed (nice for when our boys hit those growth spurts!).

Here is a photo of the table area. It breaks down to a king sized bed. You can see the pull out king bed behind the table. I really like this table area!

With renewed hope and excitement I began again searching. I found one two hundred miles away, an 07 model Sequoia, sitting on a lot in Chesapeake, VA. I called them and we talked, and the price we negotiated for this new pup was considerably less than the NADA book value at the "poor condition" value. Yippee!

Our kitchen area complete with microwave, stove, oven, refrigerator and sink.

The kitchen area again with the hard walled bathroom and shower to the right. The second pull out king bed is in the rear of the photo.


Our Sequoia at the dealership, complete with the air conditioner on the roof. It even has a radio/cd player with inside and OUTSIDE speakers, as you can see. That "line" between the speakers is the mount for the outside stove. The other side of the pup has an outdoor shower. To the far right in the photo is where you remove the toilet tank. It is a large unit with wheels for easy toting to the dump station.

Here is the inside of the bathroom. It is a nice size. The showerhead attaches to the roof and the shower curtain swings all the way around inside. This shower surprised me, especially when we looked through all the bigger RVs at the show. This shower is roomier than the bigger ones that had showers (excluding, of course, those that had actual tubs).

I will probably still use the campground showers for the most part, but it is nice to have this. Especially for those midnight trips!!!!

Thank you, Lord, for this. I pray we use this wisely and be a positive witness for you when out. Let this not be a distraction in our service to you.

Thank you, again, Father! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!

It's Finally a Girl!!!

Wow! I can't believe I've been away from this for so long...Since my last post we have purchased a pop up tent trailer and have added a new member to our family. Meet LadyBug, or Bug, as I call her.

She is a two year old jack russell/chihuahua mix and is such a cutie! She is nearly completely white. Her skin is pink, like Baxter's. Baxter has black spots and she has light tan spots. The back of her ears look like someone shook a paintbrush and got tan paint spatters on her. Her eyes have tan around them like she was putting makeup on. Baxter weighs 12 lbs and Bug weighs 8 1/2 lbs.

We picked her up and brought her home the Friday we were supposed to go and pick up our camping trailer, March 6.

She is quite a nervous little thing, but I took her to the dog park with Baxter last week and she shot around the place chasing Baxter like a rocket. She is not that little fragile thing she wants us to believe she is.

She also is a good fit, as she keeps Baxter busy during school time. Baxter is much more attentive and obedient since Bug's arrival.

Welcome home, Bug!

Sick at home...ugh!

I'm frustrated that our family is home today and unable to attend church. It seems we have shared some sort of head cold, complete with sinus pressure, sneezing, sore throats, runny red noses, and coughing. Christopher and Corey have completed their bouts, Heath and I are about half way through, and last night Craig and Chase began showing symptoms, and Craig went to bed early. I saw that Heath was taking some of the daytime cold remedy stuff we have, but I am hesitant to take it myself. I don't use much medication, and when I do, a little bit knocks me out. The last time I took one dose, it was in my system for two and a half days.



I am having a difficult time accepting so much illness these past months. I almost never get sick, maybe once a year, if that. I have missed more church services in the last year and a half than I have my entire christian life. I easily accept that others have physical ailments and need to be home, but it's not so easy when it's my turn. Parts of me are in need of maintenance and repair, but I expected that to happen when I got OLD--not NOW. Nothing major, just annoying things, really.



Church today is a special fellowship day. We will have our regular morning services, then all meet in the gym for lunch and fellowship. Soup and sandwiches. I saw that Kathie was making her brisket for beef sandwiches. My mouth is missing that! We will then have an afternoon service.

Today is also Super Bowl Sunday, so I thought I would include some photos from December when Heath and I went to Nashville and saw a game. We had endzone seats and were in the fifth row up from the field. Here we could see the teams practicing before gametime.

It was a bitterly cold day, but a fun one also. There was a man seated next to me that did not have gloves. He was freezing and kept buying coffee to keep his hands warm. The stadium has fireworks set up within each of the two endzone scoreboards. They shoot off loud fireworks each time the Titans score, so that all of downtown Nashville knows they have scored.

While in the mall, we saw this motorcycle in one of the shop windows.

We went to Opry Mills Mall. (It is much like Potomac Mills Mall or Arundel Mills Mall near our home here in Maryland. It sets on what used to be Opryland, a small amusement park we visited at Christmas. They had the park fully decorated each year and had carolers wandering the park dressed in period garb. There were hot cocoa stations everywhere. It was very picturesque.)

And here is the other side of the bike. I'm sure it is the ultimate gift for the ultimate fan.

This is the seat of the bike, an old football.

It's too bad the Titans are out of it. So, today I'm a Steelers fan.

Oh, snow!

We finally have snow! Tuesday morning I peered eagerly out my window, desperately hoping to see a sea of white. It was 7:20am and I was sorely disappointed. Nothing anywhere. Twenty minutes later I looked outside again and the entire area was covered! Yippee!!!! This is the front of our home, and the roof is black. I can see now we need to add some color to this poor thing! Maybe I'll have Heath paint the front door a bright purple--ha! Oh, by the way, if you look really hard, you can see Craig in the window of the door. He is flexing his muscle for Corey, who is taking the picture from across the street at Monica's house. He is waving Craig down, yelling at him to get out of the shot. Monica is six months older than Craig and her mother, Lucy, has a daycare. She sure is brave!

Here is the view from my bedroom window. There is a dead end access road to the side of the house, and the boys play basketball there usually.

This is the view from my kitchen out back. My two camellias always bloom in January, and right before they open, it always freezes, so I don't get to see them open! The original owners of the home planted them, I think, and one is red, the other pink. They sure are beautiful. Those plants are hearty, too! We have had trees fall on them, and one sheared the red one on the left in half. I love it, they just won't die! There is five acres of open space behind us in addition to the two acres each neighbor behind us owns. Our trees are pretty big. We took one down at the bottom of the hill a few years back that I measured at over 120" around at the base.

Here is Corey shoveling with Monica. Somehow I missed getting Monica in the photo, but I'm giving her credit for working hard clearing out the driveway so the parents can easily (a relative term here) enter and exit while picking up their children. That side street next to Monica's house has the steepest hill in our development, and people spent the day thinking they could outsmart the slick incline and not take the long way through the development.

And here is Craig on the way to the mailbox. He is very jealous of his friend, Allen. Allen's outside time to the mailbox is considerably longer than Craig's.

I zoomed in on Craig at the mailbox. So much so, that he looks like he is at Monica's house. But there is street and a front yard between Craig and that front door!

I didn't get any of Chris or Chase outside. Chase was outside, but came in before I remembered to get my camera. Chris prefers the warm, toasty indoors. They did go outside to help shovel our driveway, though.

Craig I had to drag in kicking and screaming. His hands were frozen, as well as his feet. And his coat managed to come unzipped while he was outside. His hat also leaped from his head. The search for the hat proved unsuccessful. I'm afraid we will have to wait for the rest of the snow to melt.