Updates for 2004Q1 appear below with the latest information at the top.

Wednesday, March 31, 2004, 4:45 pm
Wow!  Another month is gone.  I don't know where the time goes.  Some of the students are counting the days until the end of school.  I'm not ready to think about that yet.  Right now, I'm in "work on papers and projects" mode.

I was really excited today.  You will remember that we had to do a paper on Marriage, Divorce and Leadership in the church.  When our teacher graded them, he highlighted outstanding points.  Today he read those to the class.  I had thought my paper was pretty good until I heard some of the other verbage.  But toward the end of class, he read two sections of my paper.  So even though I'm patting myself on the back, I'm pleased that I came up with something worth repeating.  After all, though there are varying opinions on the subject, one can only say so much that could be different from the comments of others.

Last week we went to Walmart to buy me some thongs (shoes--not underwear).  I found some Earth Shoe sandals for $17.48.  I've wanted some casual sandals.  My semi-dress comfortable ones are wearing out.  I wore the new sandals today and I just love them.  They are very comfortable and appear to be durable.  Since I keep and wear shoes until they fall apart, I expect to be wearing these for a long time.  

My haircut has gotten lots of compliments.  I'm glad I went ahead and cut it.  I'm glad Mark figured out that I could cover the drain in the shower and cut it inside the shower using the mirrors.  That sure made it easier and clean up was easy.

Friday, March 26, 2004, 7:20 pm
The last weekday day of our break.  I hope you like the changes Mark has made to our web site.  He has worked very hard on this to make it user friendly and arrange the material to generate interest.

I've been experimenting with food in the crock pot.  I remembered a friend saying that she makes oatmeal in it.  So I've been putting in our whole grains, flavored with beef or chicken stock and other herbs.  I've found I have to be aware of how long it has cooked so it doesn't get totally mushy.  But it has added another dish to the diet.  Barley is one of the things I'm supposed to be eating.  I helps scavenge excess estrogen in the body.

I just realized that I didn't tell you all about the best thing we did this week.  On Monday evening one of the students organized an ice skating party at the Sertich Ice Center.  It's not too far from where we live.  We weren't to start our private session until 7:45 pm which is getting close to our normal bedtime.    But we decided that fellowship was more important than sleep.  (Ha, ha!)  I dug out (of storage) the ice skates we bought for me at a garage sale 17 years ago.  The last time I tried to use them about five years ago, my ankles were pretty wobbly.  Rental skates have more support.  So I started with the rental skates (included in the fee).  It took a while to gain confidence but considering...I did pretty good.  I did try my skates and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't wobble too badly.  I'll chalk that up to all the exercises I've done these last few years have been strengthening my ankles.  So that was encouraging.   One thing to note:  Mark and I were the second and third oldest people in the group.  So I was excited that I did fairly well.   And hope we can go again sometime.  The rink is open in the summer time as well.

Wednesday, March 25, 2004,  9:00 pm  
This week is going too quickly.  Mark and I have been working on our various projects.  He's continuing to work on the underpinnings of the website. 

My aunt is putting together a book about the various family members starting, I believe with my great-great grandparents--as well as Uncle Hershel's side of the family.  She has asked each of us to write our biography.   It has been quite nostalgic to think back over my life as I write.  There were high points and low points.  But overall, I've had a good life.  I plan to post it to this website when I finally get it finished.  It's difficult to condense 48 years into a few pages.  My father would say "Try condensing 78 years into a few pages."  My sister has been working with Daddy to write pages for him and my mother.

Spring has definitely arrived in Colorado (although we could still have a late snow).  The other morning, I skipped going to the gym, opting for a walk to the post office and back.  Enroute, I stopped in to check out a coffee/deli.  The manager insisted on giving me a cup of tea (I hadn't brought my purse.).  I sat outside in this lovely alcove made by the buildings.  Although the street was within sight, it was so peaceful to sit back and listen to the birds were singing.  It was one of those "God's in His Heaven, all's right with the World" moments.  All too soon, it was time to go. On the way back home, I grabbed a wayward shopping cart and walked it back to Safeway which is a couple of blocks past the RV Park's driveway.

Monday, March 22, 2004, 12:29 pm
This is the first day of Spring Break.  We're hoping to get a number of things done.  I'm behind on email.  Time to change the sheets.  We should get started on taxes...the list goes on.

This evening, one of the students has organized an outing to the Sertich Ice Center.  The group gets a discounted rate.  I plan to dig my ice skates out of the truck.  The cost is the same if you rent skates or use your own.  But I might as well use the ones I bought at a garage sale in 1986.  

Saturday, March 20, 2004, 7:00 pm
On January 25th and 26th, I told about going to hear Bishop David Oyedepo of Lagos, Nigeria when he spoke at New Life Church.  I have now written a short review of the meetings and included the links to tapes on the New Life web site.  Click on the above link.

I decided to cut my hair this morning.  I've been having it cut by one of the students.  But we haven't been able to find a time when both of us have been free.  I said to Mark that I really needed to do it.  So he suggested we could seal off the drain in the shower and I could take advantage of the mirrors on the inside of the shower.  Since I was cutting off quite a big chuck of hair, it wasn't hard to clean up.  The haircut turned out real well.  It curled nicely when I fixed it.

Friday, March 19, 2004, 1:00 pm
Today was the last day of school before Spring Break.  Mark and I are looking forward to working on various projects.  If nothing else, we need to do more organizing of our belongings.  And taxes are beckoning.

Since I haven't written all week, I've been thinking about what I could tell you.  We kept extremely busy but here isn't much to show for it.  I got my paper for New Testaments Survey finished.  I made bread this afternoon (in my Toastmaster Bread Box).  We had a successful Tuesday evening Bible Study on water baptism.  One set of people couldn't come this week.

I mentioned on Monday that I had attended a weight loss clinic at the gym the previous Saturday. They offered a free assessment with a personal trainer.  I didn't tell you that I did that on Monday morning.  Basically, he took my weight and measurements and discussed fitness goals.  You may remember that after my surgery last year, I discovered that part of my weight issues was water retention.  I was able to get into my skinny clothes.  Unfortunately, that didn't last long.  With the stresses and business of our move plus going to school, I've been eating what I wanted instead of things I should have been eating.  The pounds have crept back on.  

Although I've been exercising, I haven't been pushing myself.  Attending these clinics at the gym have encouraged me in both diet and exercise.  The journals/charts/reports that I've been using on FitDay have helped me.  It helps to decide what and how much to eat when one chooses a food item from a list and sees calories, fat, carbohydrates and proteins pop onto a screen.  Athough I'm not religiously following a specific diet, the one that I've always had success with is the Sugar-Control Diet .  I do have to say that in the past week since I have cut out sugar and done some serious exercising, I have been feeling more energetic and happy.

I'm praying for rain during these spring days.  We had a shortage of snow this past winter so if it doesn't rain, we will be hurting.  Colorado supplies water to a number of states.  Therefore, we need rain for our reservoirs.

Monday, March 15, 2004, 5:46 pm
I just checked.  The pictures of Karen's Recital are now online at Al Clifft's Photogallery .  It sure is nice to see her hard at work playing the Violin.

Mark is diligently working on revamping this web site.  We hope to have it implemented within a few days.  I've been checking links to make sure none have been broken through the change.

Our February/March 2004 BBtJ Newsletter can now be accessed.  Hard copies are now in the mailing process.  We will be sending the email notification to that mailing list as soon as we get the new website posted.

Tomorrow will be the second day of our class in Children's Ministry.  Before the term is over, we'll have to present some time of "activity" to our class.  Mark and I will probably work as a team which means we'll have to do two presentations.  One thought I had is to teach the song Jesus loves me in several languages.  I've been on the web hoping to find a skit about Jesus' love for children.  If anyone knows of one, please let me know.

The other big thing going on in school right now is our Team Project.  We've been divided into groups.  Mark is in the Para Church group and I am in Women's Ministry.  Each group is to come up with a project and figure out how to do it.  For instance, the church planting group has to investigate the things one needs to do to plant a church and make a presentation on it.  We need to be as thorough as we can considering limited resources.  The recommendation is to make the scenario as real as possible.  My group wants to put on some seminars.  My main task is typing up all the information and plans that we make.  Again, I say "Thank God for word processors."

I went to a weight loss clinic at the gym on Saturday.  I figure it never hurts to learn new things.  One thing that was mentioned is a free site called FitDay on which a person can keep a diet and exercise journal.  I got on the site today and thought it could prove useful.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 11:15 pm
It's been a busy but wonderful few days.  At last a moment to sit down to write a few things to you.  I just talked to my sister, Julia.  She and Sammy, and Nick and Christy just returned from Azusa, CA where they attended Karen's Senior Recital.  Karen (Karen Beth O'Dell) plays the Violin as her first instrument.  Julia was enthusiastic.  Karen did well, looked great in a black and pink evening gown.  A friend of Karen's does catering so planned and worked the reception.   I'm glad Karen was able to have her family around her.--as well as her 60 closest friends.  I wish Daddy and Mark and I could have been there as well.  Pictures are to be posted on Al Clifft's Photogallery .  They weren't there when I just checked.  Of course, the recital only happened Monday evening.

However, we've been home getting our school pictures taken.  They took class pictures on Monday.  We had to wear our caps and gowns.  This morning we had individual pictures taken.  They suggested doing both in gowns and without.  We did some as singles and a couple of poses with Mark and I together.  I think we get six pictures as part of our graduation fee.  I'm glad to have some for our family members.  While we were there, we has some pictures of ourselves shot on our digital camera.  

Friday, March 5, 2004, 8:00 am
Yesterday was a wonderful day.  Mark left to attend the Men's Advance in Winter Park, CO.  I have been looking forward to enjoying time with my "girl" friends and more importantly, time with myself.  I hope to use today as a semi-retreat for special study in the bible.

I want to relax a little after all the fun and stress of yesterday.  Yesterday was a wonderful day visiting my relatives and friends in Denver.  I left early with the intention to exercise before leaving town.  However, the Holy Spirit must have had other plans.  I sailed right past the exit where the gym is.  So my brain said I'd do my other errands and exercise (and shower) once I got to Denver.  Then I proceeded to the World Prayer Center from which the  World Prayer Team works.  I'd never been to their building before.  There is a beautiful sanctuary that is open 24 hours a day; worship teams officiate during daytime hours.  A smaller chapel and private prayer closets are available.  At the Arsenel bookstore, I bought a couple of books which I will be reviewing in my reviews section once I read them.

Once back on the road again, I noticed a car with a woman and a child stopped at the side of the road.  She thought I was also having problems so was thrilled when I told her I just stopped to check on her.  We used my cell phone to call for help.  I took that to be my divine appointment for the day.  If I had stuck with my original plan of going to the gym first, I wouldn't have been going past at that specific time.

I continued to Denver where I stopped at the 24 Hour Fitness on East Bellview for quickie exercise and a shower.  Then I went to the nursing home where my great-uncle and aunt live.  I hadn't seen them since we moved in August.  They had invited me to lunch so I was able to meet their table mates.  Aunt Tee introduced me as their neice from Texas.  From which ensued a big conversation about where I was from in Texas.  I didn't have the heart to make the correction that I have been living in Colorado for the past fifteen years. 

After leaving the nursing home, I went joined my friend Connie and her daughter Cara for an excursion to Swedish Hospital where Cara was having a test done.  She had some work done on her arm last year and has to be checked periodically.  We had a good time talking and talking.  During dinner,  we got a phone call that is was snowing heavily in Boulder.  So I left with the promise that I would turn around if things got bad.

Of course, the roads didn't get bad until near the Larkspur exit, about halfway home.  So there wasn't anything to do but tough it out.  Mark had driven the van to Winter Park so I was in the Miata with the hard Michelin tires.  My friend Brenda from Washington State called; she was surprised to hear I was in a snowstorm when they have flowers blooming.  I would say we inched for about 10 miles from Larkspur to just north of Monument.  By then we could see again and the roads were wet instead of snow covered.  Even though it was difficult to see, I never felt unsafe--as long as the other drivers behaved.  It was a relief to be home.  I called everyone up to let them know that I made it okay.  Praise God!

It's beautiful out this morning.  There's about three inches of fluffy snow.  The trees are so pretty.  My neighbor took me over to the school to pick up the van which Mark had left in the parking lot.  Too bad I didn't know this when I left town yesterday morning.  Donna said they'd gone out to Garden of the Gods--that it is real pretty in the snow .

Wednesday, March 3, 2004, 5:00 pm
Greetings, friends!  I am starting a Reviews section in which I plan to review books, movies, conferences we attend, etc.  These don't really fit into this journal or Virginia's Views.  The first review is of the book Thus Saith the Lord? by John Bevere .

Tuesday, March 2, 2004  8:42 pm
Yesterday for a couple of classes and today for three classes, we had Bob Yandian and his son Rob of Grace Fellowship in Broken Arrow, OK speak.  Today, Bob spoke about the various baptisms as mentioned in the Bible and gave scriptures to back them up.  Although several he mentioned do not apply to the present day believer, it is useful to consider the past and the future.

Mark will be driving to Winter Park, CO for the Men's Advance on Thursday.  Several men will go with him.  They call it an Advance rather than a "retreat" because this activity will encourage men to advance in their Walk with the Lord.  

While he's gone, I hope to catch up on some things at home.  However, I do hope to go to Denver to visit my elderly relatives one morning.  And there's a seminar at the gym about using the "medicine ball."  Since I've been experimenting with that, going could be useful.  Pam King invited me to a brunch at her apartment complex that same morning so I'm hoping to run from one activity to another.

We had three people tonight at our study.  So if Ray and Sharon can make it next time, we'll have five plus "us" which will be a nice number.  Our strategy has developed to let me do the leading of the study and then Mark helps read scriptures (we like reading from different versions/translations) and answers questions. We find that works fairly well.  Ray and Sharon came to our RV last night for a catch-up session and we'll get together again next Monday since they couldn't come tonight.

Monday, March 1, 2004  2:25 pm
Our praise report!!!! is that Friday afternoon Mark prayed for/commanded healing for the ears of the a man that came to our first DE study but didn't come again.  Ray had almost total hearing loss in one ear and about 80% loss in the other.  Mark told him to consider various things and express confidence in the healing and when he'd wake up Saturday morning, when he put in his hearing aid, he'd find out that it was too loud--and then he'd notice he could hear and wouldn't need it at all.  Well, Ray didn't tell his wife until Saturday evening that he could hear again because he couldn't believe it was real.  We told him he should believe for the remaining 20%.  It's great to see what belief in and trusting in God's promises will do for a person.  It's encouraging to get this kind of confirmation that we are on the right track.  

Saturday, February 28, 2004, 11:25 am
I just learned a new word.  We have a class that is Pastoral duties.  A synonym that none of us have been sure of the spelling is "sacerdotal:" 1. of or relating to priests or a priesthood 2.  of, relating to, or suggesting sacerdotalism (religious belief emphasizing the powers of priests as essential mediators between God and mankind).    The online dictionary says that sacer-do has to do with carrying out sacred duties.  So we can now understand why this is a how-to class for performing wedding, funerals, and other pastoral duties.

The BIG topic these days seems to be The Passion of the Christ.  Have you seen it?  I was so stretched by the door-to-door evangelism in which we participated on last Wednesday that I forgot that we'd been to see the movie earlier in the day.  I believe that Christians should attend this movie so as to be prepared if others ask questions.  I pray that non-believers will dialog with believers who can show them a Life-Giving Christ.  If you'd like to read my opinion of the movie, see Movie Review of The Passion of the Christ .

Wednesday, February 25, 2004, 9:05 pm
We just got home from one of those educational, stretching experience.  We went out for door-to-door evangelism with the Discipleship Evangelism teacher, Don Krow .    It was interesting to see how Don related to the various people on their level.  He usually started by saying we were Christians and were not trying to get anyone to join an organization or church.  Depending on what was their response, he would tell a brief story about something that happened in his life.  Then he gave information about the Interactive study and offered to have someone call if they were interested.
While I don't believe that I would want to do this all the time, it gave us a good example of how to relate to and witness to strangers.

I believe I'm beginning to see some results from my current exercise routine.  I went to a resistance training seminar last Thursday.  In other words, two guys talked about the benefits of weight lifting.  Connie and I used to lift weights; we were derailed by my surgery.  I have to say that my stomach muscles are in need of help.  So I've restarted with fairly light weights and am working my way upward.  I noticed today when I was standing during worship that I was contracting my stomach muscles.  So something must be working.  If I can just stop eating cookies and other goodies.  (I did give leftover cheesecake from Women's Ministry to my neighbors instead of bringing it into the house to tempt us.)

Tuesday, February 24, 2004  8:35 pm
We just finished our third DE study at the RV park.  A new couple joined us this evening.  They added to the study by being interested in the topic and fairly knowledgeable about the Bible.  Bill also came for the third time in a row.

We had a guest speaker at church on Sunday.  Her name was Bobbie Jean Merck .  She mainly spoke about the need for the peace of God in the Church today.  She was quite interesting and has had an amazing"career" in ministry.  I haven't investigated to find out if she has a book about herself. Apparently she began evangelism at age nineteen.  She has spoken before kings and queens and has worked with a number of well-known evangelists.  Now she has her own ministry.  Our pastor met her many years ago and she has graciously come to speak at his small churches over the years.

Saturday, February 21, 2004, 5:00 pm
It has been a busy day.  I'm ready for a break.  We got up early this morning to take Bussie for a drive.  Diesel motors like to be driven periodically.  So we have to gather up all the breakables and otherwise "batten down the hatches."  It always takes longer than we expect.  We had to experiment with getting the satellite dish stowed for a long drive.  We drove down to just above Pueblo and turned around.  We'd hoped to get Bussie washed when we stopped for fuel but ran out of time.  Two  semi tractors got in line ahead of us at the Truck Wash.  Although Mark was disappointed that chore wasn't accomplished, he wanted me to get back for the Women's Ministry meeting.

I had agreed to do the Ice Breaker/Sharing Time for the Women's Ministry meeting.  I started with talking about mission trips, then skipped to Mission/Ministry needs within the US.  I gave examples of what Mark and I are doing and then asked the women to share their experiences and plans for missions.  In addition, I asked them to share the ways they may witness in their daily lives.  One lady says she asks waitresses if they have any prayer requests.  Another told about a trip to India with friends.  It was amazing how the women opened up.  Everyone talked so long that we had to cut it off in order to let our main speaker have the floor.  It was heart warming to see the women share from their hearts.

Wednesday, February 18, 2004, 12:30 pm
Today was the first day of our new Interactive Groups.  That's discussion groups supporting a class.  The one I'm in right now is the prayer ministry.  It was kind of scary to have to get up in front of our peers and pray (per the senario).   Although it's probably not something any of us haven't done before, it is difficult when one is being graded.  (Actually if we get up and say anything, they give us credit for trying.)  The two senarios I had to cope with was the person who didn't want to tell me what he wanted agreement in prayer for because it was personal.  And then I had to pray for a man who is out of work.  Certainly that latter is a frequent prayer request.

The Pastoral Duties class performed communion for the second year class this morning.  I ended up being in charge of the distribution of the bread and the juice.  

Interviews for apprenticeship are underway.  I had mine this morning.  Basically they wanted to know more about your abilities, likes, dislikes, plans for the future--stuff like that.  My interviewer was the Director of Missions whom we knew before coming to school through mutual friends.  It was a coincident that we both ended up at CBC.   So that was neat that she knew things about me but also a little bit strange.

Monday, February 16, 2004, 11:25 am
This is President's Day and a day off from school.  It is nice to be able to stay home to catch up.  I'm always telling people that we still own more things than we can comfortably keep on the bus.  But I've been trying and have been very cluttered.  Today I tacked the clutter.  Mark carried out a big bag of garbage.  I've got several piles of paperwork that need filing.  But the good news is that I found several things that I've been missing.

Mark got a compliment the other day.  In the Men's Meeting (part of the Saturday Brunch), one of the student gave a testimony and said that Mark had changed his life by being friendly and accepting at the beginning of school.

Friday, February 13, 2004, 9:58 pm
Just a quick note before bedtime.  The conference has been fantastic.  The general theme is encouraging people to decide to attend CBC.  Several students gave testimonies about how CBC has changed their lives. Andrew has been talking about listening to the voice of God for his Will in your life; he went through the life of Elijah as known from the scriptures.  Wayne surveyed I Thessalonians this morning.  Don Krow showed us that Christ called people to be disciples and to disciple others rather than our commission being to "convert" people to Christianity.  The whole conference has been uplifting.    The best part has been talking to people.    I know last year, it meant a lot to meet the students; I count Dorcas who I met last year as one of my friends today.

Tomorrow morning is the special brunch.   I'm looking forward to that since I'm a table hostess.  They told us to review our student handbook in case those type of questions were asked.

Wednesday, February 11, 2004  4:48 pm

It began snowing about 7:30 this morning.  We've been having slow snow all day.  We may actually get the forecasted 7 inches.  I was able to go to the gym this morning without difficulty.  Sharon and I opted to have lunch at my house instead of hiking around Garden of the Gods in the cold and the damp.  If the snow had stopped, we might have done it--didn't think it wise in continuing snow.    We had a good time, sharing our testimonies of coming to know the Lord.  Plus our hopes and dreams for the future.

Right now, I'm just thinking as far ahead as next year.  The current years' apprentices are doing interviews with the applicants.  Today we got told the questions they will be asking; that certainly helps me to think about something rather than have to come up with an answer off the top of my head.  The apprentices will work under a certain teacher plus have other duties.  

We signed up for our next set of Electives.  The new term starts on the 23rd.  We'll be having tests over the next couple of weeks, depending on the class.  Some classes are continuations so they won't necessarily test in those.  But the classes that end will be tested.  I'll be starting Ministering like a Minister (kind of like counseling), Guidelines for Ministers (Etiquette), Praise and Worship, and Children's Ministry.  Mark will have Pastoral Duties, Kingdom of God, Children's Ministry and another class that I can't remember.    We'll continue having NT Church Planting, NT Survey, Bible Covenants, Discipleship Evangelism.  The Pastoral Class I've been in is going to practice doing a Communion service next week.  It appears I'm going to get to pass the bread and the juice.

The next three days will be our CBC Expand Your Vision conference.  This gives prospective students an opportunity to interact with students and Alumni.  During the mornings, our regular teachers will talk on some subject (not necessarily the current class topic) and in  the evening Andrew Wommack will minister.

We had three people come to our DE Study yesterday evening.  That was encouraging.  One couple who expressed interest is out of town; another was ill.  Hopefully they can come next time.  We will put up new signs giving the ongoing dates.  We'll plan to continue on Tuesday evenings in the Arcade.  Presumably future temperatures will be warmer.  The heater in the Arcade is noisy and takes time to warm up the room.  I was excited so didn't feel the cold; however, everyone kept their coats on.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004, 6:10 pm
We had a good day at the Helpline.  So are all energized for our Bible Study tonight.  If any of you read this between 7:00 and 8:00 pm, I would appreciate your prayers for good attendance and the Holy Spirit to guide both the speaking and the hearing.  Several people said they were interested.  We'll see how many are actually free to attend this evening.  I made cookies; Donna has coffee.  We're all prepared.

Snow is forecasted for tomorrow.  I have a date with Sharon Patrick, one of our CBC apprentices to go walking in Garden of the Gods.  Today would have been perfect.    We're going to assume we can go until we know differently; the forecast cannot be counted upon.  I dug out my moon boots.  My ski coats are in storage.  However, I have thermal underwear and heavy sweaters that I can put on underneath my jacket.  And of course, we can always abort and go sit in a tea room.

Sunday, February 8, 2004  1:21 pm
It's a lovely day outside.  Mark has gone to Home Depot.  He's planning to put the annode into the hot water heater this afternoon.  Then he'll be ready to hook up the propane tank that goes inside the RV.  We've been using an external propane tank.  However, it's time to take the bus for a drive to exercise the motor.  We need to be able to have the heater running or else it gets mighty cold inside while driving around without heat.

Church was lovely today.  The Daltons went with us again.  They'd been attending across town but asked if they could go with us today.  We were all so tired.  The pastor spoke on how many people are afraid of God and do "works" to either please Him (so God won't be mad at them) or because they are hoping to get Him to do something for them.  Where in reality, we should love God and live a life that is pleasing to him because of that love.  When God blesses us, it's because He loves us and is pleased by our affection for Him.

Friday, February 6, 2004 3:46 pm
It's been a big week.  The snow wasn't as much as forecasted.  I called Denver on Wednesday morning; they had also had about an inch with continuing snow.  Our drive in early afternoon was without event.  We came home right after my appointment as we knew we would be in rush hour traffic.

The doctor was concerned about a new lump that has developed.  Although the old tumor seems to  continuing to slowly shrink, Dr. Diab says this is typical for cancer to start up in a new region.  I am still believing that I will see total healing.  We'll switch medication.  I'll continue the blood pressure medication that I'm currently on but we'll probably want to test my blood for potassium soon.  Does anyone know of a good agency that gives discounts for lab services to people who don't have insurance.

We've had our monthly "guest" speaker for Bible Doctrines class this week.  He was very encouraging and inspiring.  He message has been encapsulating (summarizing) what we learn in school.  Yesterday he spoke on Baptism of the Holy Spirit and today was about Healing for Today.  He made both subjects very interesting and biblically based.

Later this afternoon, Mark and I will be going over to work on Gary Bellrichard's computer.  That is, Mark will look at the computer while I get to have fun with Joan.  This morning I found out that Joan is mentoring at Liza's Place which is a home/program for women who are homeless or have just been released from prison.  I'll look forward to learning more about that.  

My backpack is giving up.  There is a front pocket that started ripping at the seam.  Of course I didn't immediatly fix it.  Today the majority of the seam finished ripping.  I guess I'm going to have to get serious about sewing it back together to stretch the life of the backpack.  Granted I've been using it for years...it has pockets and other features that I like.  One of the inside pockets is ripped beyond repair.  

Tuesday, February 3, 2004, 7:35 pm

This may be our big snow.  The weather man was correct that it started snowing at approximately 6:00 pm.  They are forecasting quite a bit.  Guess we shall see.  I have a doctor appointment in Denver tomorrow so I hope the roads are good.  However, I would like a major snow since we need the moisture.

We had Helpline this afternoon and then several of us went out to Chipotle, the Mexican fast food place.  Mark and I have been only a couple of times.  The chain has taken Denver by storm the last several years.   It was great to be able to socialize with friends outside of work or school.  

On the way home, we stopped at Safeway to buy fruit.  If we anticipate staying in the next few days, I wanted fruit on hand.  We have plenty of other things.

I've been really tired today.  Mark and I have been fighting the respiratory thing that's been going around.  Mark is recovering but had mucous drainage that would go into his ears.  Mine has mostly been in coughing more, although Mark said he could tell my breathing and snoring sounded more stopped up than usual last night.  I kept nodding off today since I didn't get a restful sleep.  I awoke early and finally got up and went to the gym this morning.  I've been resuming working out on the weight machines.  We appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery.

Yesterday afternoon we walked around the RV park meeting neighbors and inviting them to our upcoming Bible Study.  For months I've felt like we should go meet them so I could say hello and call them by name in passing.   So far we've met about half the people  who belong to RVs.  We'll keep trying until we've met everyone in this east end of the park.  Most of the people currently here are full time RVers and most actually live here in Colorado Springs.  I believe I said before that Larry and Donna are meeting the western half. 

Sunday, February 1, 2004, 2:26 pm

We had an interesting morning.  I wanted to visit a church called Rose of Sharon Temple.  Apparently Jesus was referred to as Rose of Sharon at some point; I have to admit that I'm not familiar with that reference.  We arrived thirty minutes before services and found only one car in the parking lot.  We sat outside and accosted the next set of people to arrive.  Many of the membership travel distances so did not come because of the snow.  And most don't come early but stay around afterward to fellowship.  The music was quite different.  They had a piano, organ, guitar and drums.  Most of the songs kind of reminded me of Lawrence Welk--at least the songs they play with a polka beat.  All the songs were that way, even How Great Thou Art.  It wasn't hard to follow once one got the brain in gear.  The guest speaker from Denver was cancelled because of the snow.  Denver received a lot of snow while we had only a dusting.  So the Pastor's wife gave the sermon, speaking on the need for Revival within the body.

After church we came home and then walked down to Meadow Muffins for Lunch (with a coupon).  Technically it's a bar but they also have food.  It wasn't smokey this early in the day and there weren't many people.  We had hamburgers and fries.  On our way home we ran into Ed and Jalen Waltman and her mother; they'd just had lunch at Jake and Telly's Greek restaurant.  It was nice to see them.  We hadn't really talked since we got back from Mexico.

Sunday, February 1, 2004  6:41 am

SuperBowl Sunday.  I hope everyone will go to church this morning to have some spiritual time before sitting down to popcorn and the ball game.

Mark and I don't have any plans about the game.  Brian Herig is opening his home for watching the game.  He's having a BYOC party (Bring your own Chair).  We haven't decided that we will go.  Neither of us are into watching football.  We'd be going just for the socialization.

Saturday, January 31, 2004  6:19 pm

Today would have been my mother's 73rd  birthday.  It's hard to believe she's been gone for six years.  Not when I look in the mirror every day and see her (Ha, ha).  

We started our project today to invited people to the  DE study.  As the snow was starting this afternoon, Mark and I posted signs on the bathroom doors (there are toilets/showers for those who don't have them) and started knocking on doors.  The Hodges are going to invite in the western half of the park and we'll do the east half which is the section in which we live.  We only found four sets of people home of the 7 doors we went to.  We figured it would be good to call on people during the day instead of "who is this person knocking on my door after sundown."  We figure if we repeatedly don't find someone home, then we can leave an invitation on their door.  People were polite; we got a couple of maybes.  That's okay.  We just wanted to break the ice and get acquainted with our neighbors.  People we wave at every day but rarely talk with as we dash past.  I do like knowing names so this will work out as a way to meet people.

It has started to snow as I said in the last paragraph.  The forecast has been for cold weather and up to 10 inches of snow.  We will see if it comes to pass.  We've had just enough for it to be kind of messy.  But not enough for sledding.

Thursday, January 29, 2004, 6:02 pm

This has been a busy week.  We had two tests, an early meeting, Helpline and a trip to Denver.  Mark thought a crown became loose.  The dentist couldn't find anything wrong with it.  We take that as a blessing rather than frustration.  We went there and came right back without seeing anyone.

Yesterday we had a meeting with Donna and Larry Hodge about offering a Discipleship Evangelism study at the RV Park where we live.  The Hodges are also second year students.  We received permission to use the gameroom from the Park management and have set February 10th as the first study.  Mark made flyers/invitations.  We've agreed that we will knock on doors and personally invite people rather than just leaving the invitation.  We'll only leave one if we've tried several times and not found them home.  So now all we have to do is start knocking and see what happens.  We don't expect a large crowd; having anybody will be a blessing.

Monday, January 26, 2004, 2:21 pm
We decided to go back to the evening session of Bishop David Oyedepo yesterday. (See January 25th journal posting for links about his ministry.) He used I Corinthians 3:6 as his text.  God rewards those who diligently seek him.  That we are to love God and seek him with all our might.  The idea wasn't that we get rewarded because of our "works."  But that if we do love God with all our hearts, then he does reward people.  There were a number of scriptures to back this up.  I have written a short review of the meetings and included the links to tapes on the New Life web site, click here .

Yesterday at the 11:00 am service, Pastor Ted Haggard showed a clip from CNN where he and a Rabbi were interviewed about Mel Gibson's new movie, The Passion of The Christ about the last twelve hours of Jesus' life.  The Rabbi said that the film was not bibilically accurate, that the Jews didn't have anything to do with having Jesus Christ crucified and scriptures do not support that they did.  Pastor Ted suggested that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John should be read.  With that, the Rabbi supported Pastor Ted that everyone should read the  Gospels to search out the truth.  (That's what I heard.)  This movie will is scheduled for release on February 25th.  

We have two tests this week.  The Counseling II test covers material we missed during our trip; the master tape of the class that week is blank.   So we'll just have to muddle along by studying from notes.  The other test is from our guest lecturer, Greg Fritz, who is teaching on Basic Doctrines of Christrianity.

Sunday, January 25, 2004, 2:55 pm
We just returned home from a most inspiring church service.  Bishop David Oyedepo of Faith Tabernacle and Covenant University in Nigeria spoke at New Life Church .  We normally do not attend this church but had heard about the Apostolic leading of Bishop Oyedepo.  His organization plants five new churches a day.  As this is unusual, I wanted to hear what he had to say.  Basically his message is that one must form such a relationship with God that we continually flow in the supernatural gifts of God.  He encouraged us to read and speak scripture.  And that we should speak positive things instead of dwelling on the negative.   As a result, we are uplifted and allow God to work in our lives.  Bishop Oyedepo is to continue speaking this evening with a theme of Leadership.

I did get to borrow the carpet cleaning machine.   It will be nice to have clean carpets again.  The runners we put down keep buckling and moving.  I've bought some stuff that one can put down between the carpet and the runner that is supposed to help.  I hope it does.  Otherwise we will abandon use of the runners.

Friday, January 23, 2004  3:10 pm

I've been "cleaning house"prior to us heading to Denver for the evening.  There is a meeting of the Denver Trading Group .  He hasn't attended a meeting in months.  But this one sounded interesting and the location is close to where we used to live.  So he'll drop me by my friend Connie's home for the evening.  They graciously said we could spend the night instead of having to drive back to Colorado Springs.  We'll come back tomorrow morning.  I'm hoping to borrow her carpet cleaning machine and have them pick it up when they come to the Springs for a choir performance Cara has later that afternoon.

Thursday, January 22, 2004  9:26 pm 
Well, it turned out that they've decided to try to have all the students speak.  I was asked to start off the morning.  I told about how inspiring it was to do the door-to-door passing out of the brochures.  How Raul showed us that we should share the gospel in simple terms.  Then I told about how I realized during Lynn Crow's class that I whine and complain a lot more than I should--and it doesn't help me or anyone who hears me.  So with God's help, I'm overcoming that.  

Everyone didn't get to speak today.  32 people went on the trip.  They moved pretty quickly to get through 22 "talks."  Some stories were funny and others were a sharing of the hearts.  I hope it was a blessing to the other students.

I hope you enjoy reading the Mexico Mission Trip Diary , Mexico Class Notes and the Teaching Message I gave.  Realize that my eyes were crossing as I did all that typing.  So if a word is wrong or something doesn't make sense, please feel free to question or let me know.

Today, we turned in our applications to become apprentices next year.  God is slowly giving us a vision for future ministry.  However, we also recognize that we need more training.  The Apprenticeship program is a time where one learns to relate to "ministry" or leadership rather than relating to students or a congregation.  All things seem to confirm that it is best that we stay here at CBC another year.

This evening we went to Brian Herig's house to celebrate his 30th birthday.  Liz Thompson put up a "Y'all come" sign.  People brought snacks.  It was nice to socialize a little outside of school.  Mark and I were by far the oldest ones there.  Brian is one of the apprentices at CBC.

Wednesday, January 21, 7:26 pm

I attended a meeting for Expand Your Vision today.  I'm going to be one of hostesses for the Women's Brunch.  This should be fun to meet new people and prospective students.  They encouraged us to study the Student Handbook in case someone asks specific questions.

Tomorrow is the day when the students who went on the Mission Trip to Mexico will speak during the first and second class hours.  Whenever students return from a mission trip, they are allowed to tell some of their experience.  Mark was asked to speak if there is time.  Tomorrow we will find out the final roster.  Because 32 people went, everyone will not be able to talk.  That's okay.  I had my time in Mexico.  A few minutes ago I posted the Teaching Message that I gave on January 13th.  Unless I add anything for clarification, I have finish posting my Mexico Mission Trip Diary .

We're still kind of resting up.  Jalen is having a Spanish class tonight; we opted out.  Hopefully we can get together with her some more, now that we have had the experience of trying out our language skills in Mexico.  I want to learn more about sounding out the letters in order to read.

Tuesday, January 20, 8:31 pm

I finished typing in the regular part of the Mexico Mission Trip Diary .  I still wish to type in my teaching message and then read to see if anything needs clarification.  

Tuesday, January 20, 6:55 pm

This morning we'd had a light dusting of snow but it wasn't doing anything when I left the house.  I stopped at 7-11 to wash my windows and it was snowing by the time I finished.  I decided to continue to the gym.  If it got too heavy, then I would turn around and come home.  The snow was very light and dry so I made the trip to and from 24 hours Fitness without problems.  It continued to snow throughout the day.

We had our afternoon at the helpline.  Call volume was slow today.  I was pulled off to help a trainee take her first calls.  That was kind of neat.

I'm still working on typing in the Trip Diary .  I hope to finish tonight since I need to turn the hard copy in.  I don't know how they grade them.  

Monday, January 19, 7:48 am

Martin Luther King Day!  We don't have school today.  Nice to have an extra day to get settled in after our glorious trip.  I've been typing my Mexico Mission Trip Journal into a file.  I've only got through January 12th so far.  But if you want to read...If you have any questions, let me know.  I won't claim that I'm always clear or detailed.  Mark found a website for Palabra de Vida and has the translator activated.  This is the church that we worked with while in Ciudad Victoria .

My main goal for today is to do the laundry.  We aren't used to the humidity.  It was also very warm for January.  We sweated a lot and dirt sticks to sweaty clothes.  Therefore I have my work cut out fo me.

Sunday, January 18, 7:57 am

Home again!!!!!

We got home about 8:30 pm on Friday night.  Mark and I took showers and went to bed.  We were so tired we didn't want to play around.  We slept in and then I still took a nap yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday was a short day since we slept late.  I called my friend Colleen with whom I'm doing the Discipleship Evanglism study.  She is interested as far as future evangelism.  I'm enjoying doing it with another long-time believer who is well grounded in the Word.  It's been quite inspiring.  After lunch I went to the CBC Women's Ministry Meeting.   Wendy Krow was our speaker.  She told about how she realized that she needed a deeper relationship with God and had concentrated on that during this past year.  It was quite awe inspiring to hear someone who appears to have it all together to admit to needing a better relationship with God.  Wendy is the wife of Don Krow who teaches at CBC.

In the evening we went out to visit Gregg Grobe and get items out of the freezer.  They allowed us to keep our freezer at their house.  It has been a blessing.  We still have juice and grapes in the freezer; I was glad that we didn't have to throw them out when we moved.  Hopefully soon I'll have time to process those.  And we're still eating on produce that was previously frozen.  Trying to get through that before they get freezer burnt.  I brought enough home that my small freezer in the RV is stuffed.

Well, about Mexico.  We had a great trip!  It was so educational.  Each day the Crow ministry gave a teaching about what it is like to be long-term missionaries in a foreign country.  The two things that hit me between the eyes were:  1) don't whine and complain, and 2) Keep it Simple, Sweetie.

I am in the process of typing up my Mexico Mission Trip Diary .  It may take a day or two to get it totally finished.  However, you can look at what I've already typed up.  Just remember that it isn't all there if you are reading today.

No more postings until we return from Mexico.

Friday, January 9, 2004, 7:23 pm

Only a few hours left before we head to Mexico.  We're meeting our car pool at 3:30 am so we can be to the airport no later than 4:30 am for our 6:40 am flight  They heavily stressed that we shouldn't be late.  We fly from Colorado Springs to Houston and then on to Harlingen, TX.  Bobby Crow will pick us up; I don't know if he'll be the bus driver or...  Heads of ministries have to be jacks of all trades.

There's so much we're just guessing about the trip.  We'd appreciate prayers that the group will work as a united team and be able to communicate and blend with the Mexican people despite the language barrier.  I'm feeling convicted that I will be making a breakthrough on having confidence that I can talk to people and answer questions without having everything written out beforehand.  Mark is so good at saying things off the type of his head; I usually need time to think.

It was nice that several people said they'd look forward to getting better acquainted with us on the trip.  We have people of all ages.  The oldest is in her 60s and then we have the twenty somethings.

Thursday, January 8, 2004  6:00 pm

It's been a busy week.  I'm feeling much better.  Actually made it to the gym yesterday and today. We've gotten the last of the newsletters finished.  Thanks for those of you who have notified us of your choice between email vs hardcopy.

We started a new set of classes this past Monday.  We're taking Spiritual Gifts, Counseling II and Finishing the Course with Joy (that's more or less about not getting burnout).  We also started Christian Doctrines.  Church Planting, New Testament Survey, Discipleship Evangelism and Bible Covenants and the Interactive Groups are continuing.  As you can guess, we don't have each of these classes every day.

I'm getting more and more excited about our mission trip as the time gets closer.  It was exciting that they had the students get into group to pray for our trip and for the individuals involved.   I am convicted that this will indeed be a life changing experience.

I got asked to work on an activity for the upcoming Women's Ministry meeting.  But I begged off it's the day after we return from Mexico.  I'll probably do it for the February meeting.  We like to have some kind of fun activity that help the women to mix and get to know each other better.

Monday, January 5, 2004, 7:14 pm
This wasn't a good day.  I kept waking up with my sinuses and head hurting during the night.  I wrestled with it most of the day.  Nothing seemed to help.  I even took a nap this afternoon.  I am feeling better as the evening progresses.  I got up from my nap to make bread.  Decided I might need more for the sack lunch I'll be making for tomorrow.  We go to the Helpline directly from School and it helps to have food along.

You may be wondering how I'm doing on the Reading the Bible in 90 Days program.  So far, so good.  I've been managing to get about half the chapters read in the morning and the other half before going to bed.  No, I don't expect to remember details.  But a number of things have piqued my interest.  It's reading a big enough clump that you remember things from one day to the next.  I've been making notes as well.

We're still fighting the battle of mail.  We'd hoped to lose some of our junk mail through this move.  They found us!  So we're continuing to try to get off mailing lists or ask for email versions of newsletters.  If any of you would prefer to receive only the email version of our newsletter, please let us know so we can update our list.   On the good side, we're enjoying the Christmas cards that are still being forwarded to us.  In this week's mail packet, I heard from a number of friends.

Sunday, January 4, 2004, 8:03 pm
It's been a lazy day.  Atlthough I should have done all sorts of things to be getting ready for our trip to Mexico.  We had a meeting yesterday.  They wanted us to learn some Christian songs in Spanish and to start dividing into groups to plan skits.  Elana has some ideas.  I've also written a skit about the Good
Samaritan.  It appears to be something that can be acted out in with a minimum of words.

Today has been a good one for phone conversations with good friends.  This afternoon I talked to Colleen Brixius.  They've been living in Nebraska with Peter's parents while he looks for work.  I'm sure they would appreciate prayers.  This is a hard time for the job market.  Connie Armstrong called me that they are finally home from their trip to Washington State.  They had started home on Thursday but the snowstorm was so bad that they waited it out in Spokane.  It's nice to have Connie home; however, it's great she got to be with family for the holidays.

Thursday, January 1, 2004, 5:54 pm
If you have time, please click over to see Paula Moldenhauer's new site called Soul Scents which introduces a weekly devotional and other interesting materials.  Despite four children whom she home schoools, she writes, volunteers for worthy projects and is a friend to those in need.  Paula has been an inspiration to me over the several years we've known each other.  We met via email through a mutual acquaintance; our first face-to-face was when I was in the hospital in 2002.  It meant a lot that Paula made a special trip from Thornton to come see me--and brought me a beautiful peachy-colored rose from her flower bed to brighten my sick-room.

Our December/January Newsletter has been posted.

Thursday, January 1, 2004, 2:23 pm
Happy New Year!  Hope everyone is enjoying one more day of the holiday season.  We actually work up early this morning and got up to start a fresh new day.  I started making a new loaf of bread and breakfast.  Then I tackled a couple of loads of wash.  So nice to have that done for this week.  I want to start packing for our Mexico trip.  We leave on Jan 10th--it'll be here before we know it.

Above is the Journal for 2004Q1; here is a list of previous Journals
Virginia's Journal 2003Q4 (vj2003Q4)