Dear family and friends,

BUSY, BUSY,BUSY! That seems to be the word that I would use to describe our lives right now. I will try to give a few more details so you get a clearer picture of life here in Florida at NTM Homes. This morning it was not a quiet morning at the retirement homes for missionaries. As I was fixing breakfast, I heard the sirens of an ambulance and fire truck coming down the road. They turned in at our gate and went past our house. Our chaplain, who lives on the next street over from ours, turned out from his street and was right behind the fire truck. A few minutes later the ambulance left our property with the siren wailing. I have not yet heard who was having the emergency, but we most probably will receive some sort of notification by e-mail later today.

Dear family and friends,

Greetings to you from sunny Florida! Even though it is early in the month of September, school has been in session for 4 weeks now. In fact I worked on mid term progress reports on Friday afternoon. The grades were due in at the school office on Monday morning. I have a light teaching load this year. I am teaching math to first grade students and math to second grade students each morning. This gives the first and second grade teacher opportunity to teach reading to the other half of her class. This seems to be working out well. I know that I am enjoying the students and am hoping to give them a good math foundation that will set them up for success in math for years to come. The basics are so very important. I am teaching both concepts and procedures which keeps us busy. We are having so much fun!

Dear family and friends,

It seems hard to believe, but my summer is now over. Thursday was the first day of our new school year. I am working with a great team of ladies. It was my turn to bring the devotional this morning at our early morning staff meeting (7:15 A.M.) Last year I was given a framed picture with some words that speaks what my heart feels. I shared it at our staff meeting this morning. Since it is quite long, I will share an excerpt with you.

Dear family and friends,

Greetings to you! This is the 3rd Independence Day that Brad and I have been in Florida. I stood out in our yard and watched the fireworks over Lake Monroe on Thursday evening. After being overseas for so many years, it is always nice to be here for the special celebrations. We are so very thankful for the freedoms that we have here in our wonderful country. Of course these do not compare to the freedoms that we have through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Our last day of school was on the 22nd of May. Of course there were plenty of year end activities to keep the kids busy.  We went to the zoo in Sanford and had a great time. We did what they call an “Animal Encounter”.  We were able to get up close and personal with a few of the animal residents.  I think the small hedgehog was the favorite of my class. I’m not  into snakes, but the millipede was fun to look at and touch.  These were just a few of God’s special creatures that we learned about that day.  The photo below shows one of my students inside of a NASA space suit on our field trip to  Wonderworks in Orlando.  We got to experience hurricane strength winds, what it feels like to be in an earthquake, as well as see how fast we could throw a ball.  I think the bubble lab would be voted the most fun science experience of the day.  I had some good times together with my class and a lot of learning took place.

Dear family and friends, I was planning to write a newsletter at the end of March and include Easter greetings. The time seemed to slip by and now we are well into the month of April. I  received this PDF from our administrator here at NTM Homes and thought that it...

Dear family, friends and prayer partners,

We are so thankful for each and every one of you who have shown an interest in our work over the years. As I write this letter, I realize that it goes out to quite a variety of folks. (I am sorry that I can’t write each and every one of you a personal letter, but time just does not allow for that.)  We have family and friends who want to keep in touch. We also send this letter to our different mission centers here in the USA. We also include our ministry partners who support us in prayer and/or with financial gifts into our account. We don’t want to forget the different ones that we have met over the years as we have served in Thailand and Papua New Guinea. We feel so blessed to know folks all over the world.

Dear family and friends,

Wow! It seems hard to believe that 13 days of 2013 are already history!  I am excited about what wonderful things the Lord has in store for us this year. It is sure to mean tons of blessings, but it may also mean some difficult trials. We  can be assured that whatever comes our way, that it is part of God’s  perfect plan for our lives. GOD IS GOOD!

Dear family and friends,

God is SO good! I am often wowed by His mercy and love. His grace overwhelms me.  I am amazed at His wonderful creation. I will share just one example of how God’s creation was recently viewed as something spectacular by my first and second grade students.

 We have been studying birds in science class. As some of you may know, I am an amateur bird watcher. I began bird watching when we lived in Thailand. I saw hundreds of different species in the jungles around our house. Over the years I have seen birds in many other countries as well. These include hoopoes, cockatoos, hornbills, cassowaries, and many other smaller and brilliantly colored species. God  truly showed His creativity when he was creating birds!

Dear family and friends, It is a wonderful blessing that we know how to read! Maybe you haven’t thought about that in a while, but I know that I have. Of course part of this is due to the fact that I am teaching emergent readers as well as helping to develop the...