Beautiful Oregon

My mom and I are visiting Oregon. It's time once again for the Samples family reunion. We have had a wonderful time of visiting, singing, seeing some fun pictures, laughing together and crying together. Tonight we are waiting for cousin Fern to come home from the hospital! Not a great way to spend your birthday. We are happy though that it was not serious and she will be alright, she could have just told us she didn't want to wear the vintage hat to her party!

The trees and flowers around the yard are breathtaking. The river is low but still the sound is peaceful and calming. The time I have here is too short and I realize that it will soon be time to leave and I will not see this part of the family again for some time. I will miss them. Family is important and we do not take enough time to spend together; our lives do not come together quite often enough.

Soon some others will be gone as was the case this year with my father. His place at the table where he sat playing solitaire each year was empty. His voice saying the dinner prayer was not heard. His laughter and bragging over picking blackberries was missed. Mostly his smile and presence were missed each time I entered the door and looked toward the empty chair where he used to sit. He was missed. Jerry and Sandy were also missed. Who else will be missed next year? Take some time to tell someone how much you love them; tell them how much you think of them and how special they are. You never know how much longer you will have with them; take advantage of every moment.

Pennsylvania Convoy Weekend

I just returned from Harrisburg, PA and a great weekend of ministry with Convoy of Hope. With a tremendous group of volunteers we set up the event site, cooked hot dogs, passed out chips and drinks, worked the kids zone with some even volunteering to be dunked in the "dunk tank"! The weather may have had something to do with the volunteers' eagerness since the sun was shining and the sky was clear.

With over 900 volunteers we saw 4500 guests enter the site and take advantage of the many fun activities, medical and dental exams and information, community services, haircuts, groceries, and all of it FREE. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we even got invited back to the area for next year.

I enjoyed meeting Samanatha, an intern with COH that I hadn't met, and working with Michael Redmon and Hugh Duncan who I always enjoy teaming up with on the outreaches.

All in all I can say God showed up and I believe that many were touched by His presence and the willingness of the volunteers to be used by Him. We had over 200 decisions to accept Christ as their Savior at this event so some Kingdom business was definitely done!

Our Precious Perkitty

This is our precious Perkitty enjoying the sunshine. It's such a hard life!

Signing at General Council

This is the photo that will be on all the information regarding our book signings for Council.
We will be having some of the authors from "A Quiet Escape" and "Times of Refreshing" joining me to sign and give away books to people coming through the exhibit hall. We have done this in the past and really enjoyed meeting people and hearing the comments from our readers.

Blog, Here I Come

Well I guess I am entering the world of blog! Ken made me do it! This will be where I try and keep you up to date on all the news and information that is happening with us and the family. Actually I am hoping it won't be one more thing I get behind on ... you'll keep an eye on me won't you?!

We are definitely keeping busy with the book business. We just finished two book projects, we have one at the printers and another just went back to the designer yesterday. General Council is coming up and we will be giving away many of the new books and also many of the old titles. Book signings will be happening once again and I have ladies signed up and Ken will be doing several sessions also.

Mom is doing well. She will be moving into her new apartment at Maranatha soon. Ken heads to Alaska this week, Mom and I will go to her family reunion in Oregon and then she will be settling in. Ken and I head to General Council, he leaves for Sri Lanka and India, I do several Convoys and whew, that's just July and August.

Well as I said this is where I will try and keep you updated on the happenings of the Horns. Hope to have you hit my blog and let me know what you think. It will be evolving as the weeks go by.