Fall

Ahhhhh....fall.  The golden leaves fluttering gracefully down.  The cooler temps cause a sigh of relief.  There's a nip in the air!  Pumpkins are lined up on my back porch and the smell of cobbler fills my house.  NOT!  It was 98F sweaty degrees yesterday here in Little Rock and 100F the day before!  There's no relief in sight!  I think the earth is forgetting to turn on it's axsis!  I'm having moments of dismay.  So here are a few photos from last year on campus to try to encourage autumn to come on down to the south this year:

The tree house surrounded by golden leaves.

Cubby napping contentedly.

The annual HGM leaf pile!

Logan took our baby bootcampers out back to play in the pile.

 

We lost Logan at one point.  Couldn't find'im in there!  A bitty bootcamper began to cry thinking he was gone for good.  Then suddenly, he reappeared!

This beauty was in from Senegal.

This red tailed hawk lives behind the Manner's house.

On my weekend to-do list:  make a pumpkin pie with autumn leaves!  It's really painfully simple to do.  If you want the secret - e-mail me.

There! Maybe that'll bring it on!
Staci

Early September....The Hope of Autumn To Come

I looked forward to our trip to Oklahoma this month. We had been away for some time. Eric had gone to India for a training of new leaders in the tribal group that God has been reaching. Upon his return, we both flew down to Monterrey to Raul's bootcamp graduation. What a joy that was! I love visiting with Raul and Nancy and eating real Mexican food. If I close my eyes I can still taste those tacos down on the square in San Fransisco near The Oasis. Remember the Catholic church on the square? My favorite restaurant is on the corner just to the right of the church. I wish I had one of their tacos now! My mouth is watering thinking about it! After Mexico, we piled in the car and arrived on campus early last week. I am so ready for fall. Some of you have asked to see pictures of the big tree out back - the one with the three story tree house. I love that spot on campus. It's magical. The leaves aren't turning yet...but there are signs of autumn coming. The trees are dropping nuts. The squirrels are going mad. We built our first fire in the fire pit in front of the Manner's home one evening after a cold front came through. It really wasn't cold - just cool. But we loved it.

Campus life is laid back right now. The bootcampers are living off campus in apartments in the inner city. This is the first class I believe to not live on campus. If you're visiting campus during bootcamp, you'll find the campus much quieter. But never fear - the campers are toiling away with John among the refugees in the inner city. What great preparation for the field! John had a moment of brilliance and glory on that one. These refugees come from the other side of the world and speak several different languages. Our bootcampers are being exposed to foreign languages and cultures before their feet ever leave American soil. I'm hearing that they love it! Their job is to help them assimilate into our culture. How do you get a job? Where do you find a doctor? There's a language lab that everyone works in and all kinds of stuff going on... Eric and I went downtown to the Rackley's apartment (they are headed to Uganda in January after they graduate) one evening to have dinner with the bootcampers. It was good to see them all and I was honored to sit among them and get to know them better. We ate pizza and had a good time. God has blessed Eric and I beyond measure to work with all of you on the field and here at home. You guys are awesome.

Here's this trip's round of pictures. So what has been going on on campus? Take a look and see!

Life Under the Big Tree

It's magical, isn't it.Katie got a dog! Her name is Asha. Can you tell that we all enjoy her!The Manner girls got a trampoline. The little kids love it when Grant bounces them really high!Steve and James were having a little meeting about fixin' up the buildings...

but we all crashed it.

THE CHILDREN OF HGM

Aren't they precious! Our little M's live all over the face of this earth and God uses them to squeeze out sparks of Light as well!

IN THE BEGINNING...

When we first began driving over once a month to HGM it was fall. It's a five hour drive to get here from our house. It's a commitment we've made to all of you out there on the field. We're here on campus for one week and home for three weeks - then we come on back over and do it again!John and Eric play together frequently. Is that what they do? Hhhhmmmmm....I've seen John burn rubber in his minivan trying to beat Eric to a restaurant for lunch before... This picture was taken right after we came on staff.
Eric and I love working here on staff. We take our job quite seriously. Know that we pray for you all - you, your family, the work, your people group...If you were in the country two years ago you know that this sign suddenly appeared on the road near HGM. I began wondering what kind of people we had come on staff with and what their neighbors were really like... Then this sign appeared.So then we put up our own sign and threw a party! Our sign was way better and the party was a ton of fun.

And now it's two years later and so much has happened during that time. We've had some great times and we've had some hard times. Heart of God has been a part of my healing process since I lost my mom to pancreatic cancer two years ago. Orv died of the same thing at the same time. God is very deliberate in His choices, isn't He. The pain we all felt from our loses was so great but there was an instant bond that only those circumstances could create. Oh yes, God is so good.

Wonder what will happen on campus today?