Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I Have the Evidence

From time to time I will find my camera with pictures on it that I didn't take. Do they not know that I can tell who's been playing with my camera.....

BTW-Hannah makes awesome cookies, she's cute too.

Here's another culprit ...or two!


All American Pastime

Just for fun we took the family to a Twins/Royals game last night. Except for Rachel who was working at ATC. Tickets on weeknights are only $5 in the upper deck. The Twins didn't do so well but it was fun to see so many MN fans at the ballpark. We even ran into some old acquaintances that work for R & J tours. They were on a week long trip following the Twins from Milwaukee, St. Louis, and then KC. Check out this scoreboard. It's massive. When the Royals hit a home run the top of the crown shoots off fireworks. It looked cool but not when it's the other team. Now is it just us or do we attract dead rodents and other animals? We all smelled something really funky. I mentioned to John that it smelled an awful lot like the dead mouse in our van a couple of weeks ago. It took until the 3rd inning to discover a dead bird stuck in the back of Sophie's seat. Ewww! Shortly after John told the usher, a gloved man came to the rescue and took it away. He then handed John a coupon for free concessions. Yeah for that.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Taurus Bites the Dust

She said enough is enough. We've been driving for months with all kind of things going wrong. The 'check engine light' has been on for 2 years. The radio didn't work for 3 years but then suddenly started working a couple of months ago. All the knobs for the heat/air were stripped and we used a pliers to change them. Recently the passengers side power window quit working, in the down position. It didn't have heat until about December when we had the heater core replaced. Then it started over heating. A mechanic told us there was a bad head gasket and it would cost more than the car was worth to replace it. So.....we did what any frugal, Dave Ramsey loving, missionaries would do. We filled the radiator with water/antifreeze (often) and kept on driving.

Last night Zach was on his way to a meeting and as he was headed down the freeway the engine seized up. He coasted over 1 mile to get off the freeway and onto a shoulder. The car is toast. We got a lot of use out of it, there were 175,000 miles on it. About an hour ago we met a tow truck out by the broken down vessel. He took a quick look at it, handed us some dough, hooked it up, and away she goes to a salvage lot.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Summer Camps Have Started

Summer brings a whole new world to IHOP. The place is overtaken by young people of all ages from now until August. There are 2 Signs & Wonders Camps for 6-12 yr olds. We just dropped off 2 of our girls. The following week the teens pour in for Awakening Teen Camp. In between ATC are 2 Fascinate Conferences.


These camps and conferences are live changing. It's not too late to sign up.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Will You Consider Partnering With Us

We love being at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. It's been an adventure for our entire family, an adventure of faith, hope, and much more.

This video explains IHOP and the vision for prayer. Never before has there been a need for worldwide revival like now. Our hearts are not only to pray but to see young men and women raised up in the knowledge of God's Word and being equipped in it. That includes our own 7 kids.

Things we love about IHOP-
  • Prayer set to music. The prayer room has 12 - 2 hour prayer meetings every day. That's right, it never stops. The worship goes on 24/7 at IHOP and it has since 1999.
  • We also enjoy the relationship IHOP has with so many other ministries including YWAM. Many ministries have linked arms with IHOP for prayer and training.
  • Our children are developing a tender heart for other Nations.
  • They are also developing their musical and artistic skills, not for entertainment reasons, but for reasons bigger than we are know.

We have designated times when we serve in the prayer room but at home the webstream is running much of the time and no one ever complains. That's a testimony in itself. We feel privileged and honored to be a part of this ministry for such a time as this.


We are responsible for raising our own funds as Intercessory Missionaries at IHOP-KC. Not only do we have a large monthly budget to fulfill the needs of a large family. We have some auto and housing repairs that are requiring attention.





  • Our upstairs main bathroom has mold in the walls and grows an occasional mushroom. Not a pretty sight. When we first moved in we replaced this same spot of sheet rock and trim. A year later it has returned. There must be a deeper problem which means it needs to be gutted and redone....estimated cost of over $3,000.
  • The garage doors are both broken and need to be replaced, tracks and all....estimated cost of $1,200.
  • Our '97 Taurus has a cracked head gasket....estimated repairs are way more than the car is worth. Replacement vehicle.....between $10,000-$15,000.


  • Due to years of settling there is a negative grade in the backyard causing a cracked wall in the basement. We aren't sure of everything that would need to be done to correct this but for sure the rotted deck would need to come off, some earth moved to make a positive grade, then a new deck built. We 're not sure how bad the wall is in the basement, an expert will need to look at it.

If you would be interested in helping us with any of these special needs or partnering with us on a regular basis we would love to hear from you. Please contact us by email for more details or just use the Paypal button on our blog.