Keeping up with Dan and Brenda

4 Wheeling

Dan & Brenda — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:12:29 +0000

Yesterday as we were headed back north we were talking about a different way we might go. We talked about going over the Mackinaw Bridge. We talked about taking the Badge Ferry across Lake Michigan. A year ago we had talked about going up toward Ludington, MI and 4 wheeling on the sand dunes. That was it. The plan, do some dune gliding for a few days and take the ferry across the lake. So anyway we got all the stuff, flag with 10 foot pole, park pass, ORV (off road vehicle) pass and headed for the dunes.

Really cool and fun. It took us about 3 tries to get up the steep hill and get stuck. Within about 5 minutes a guy with his wife and baby stopped next to us. The first thing he asked was what city we were from. “City” being the key word. He gave some needed advice about not running more than 12 PSI in the tires and don’t stop till you crest the hill. Then he asked if we had a tow strap, but stopped himself and said “rookies of course not”. Then he quit poking fun at our situation and pulled us a few feet back down the hill. He was really a nice guy.

continually amazed at how Small a World we live in

Dan & Brenda — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:08:11 +0000

This morning we were eating breakfast at Waffle House in Brevard NC while reading our friends Blog on our iphones, they are in China now getting their new adopted daughter. Than this afternoon we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at the trail head for Mt Pisgah, the highest point in NC. There was a group of about 10, 12 year old boys standing around with packs and mats and a few adults. We asked them if they were starting or ending. They were waiting to start. They said that they were at wilderness camp and this was one of their outings. Eight weeks, one of camping one back in cabins at the base. They were from all over, Baltimore, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas and one from Mexico.

Mexico? Where?

Cozumel.

Really? I’ve been there.

Yea, you know Primas?

Yea, the place upstairs, Italian.

My dad owns it. He’s American my mom it Mexican. I love it there, I miss home a lot. For the past 5 years my parents have sent me to some camp in the US for 8 weeks in the summer.

Well, next time we’re there we’ll look you up.

That would be great, see ya, we’re headed to the top of the mountain now.

Iphone

Dan & Brenda — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:21:57 +0000

We are on the road and having a great relaxing time and Brenda is figuring out her iPhone

On the road

Dan & Brenda — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:10:46 +0000

Well we are in Canton NC on our way to Greenville for Dans 30 year highschool reunion. Thee are papermills aroung here, I smell them.

Dick Family Reunion

Dan & Brenda — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:19:47 +0000

We had a great time with Brenda’s family at the annual camping family reunion. A smaller crowd this year than usual. We had some discussion about getting younger family members more engaged so that we can keep things alive and going onto the future.

Cutest Baby Ever

Dan & Brenda — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:11:18 +0000

Anna and Dustin went on a date. We got to baby sit.

We are at war. What is your stratagy?

Dan & Brenda — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:53:16 +0000

Mother and Daughter

Dan & Brenda — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:15:22 +0000

We got to spend a few days with Heather in Little Village, her current ministry location. It is fun to see her with the people that love her so much and to watch her as she seeks the Lords will for what is next

Dan & Brenda — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:30:59 +0000

Anna and Dustin are due with their first baby in April. They are going to be awesome parents. Pictures like this seem to mean a lot more to me right now. Children and Gods process of putting them together is an amazing thing. Actually as I think about it, the whole process from conception to 25 is nothing short of a miracle. (My experience only takes me to 25, kind of).

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

A Kind of Cold you Don’t Play With!

Dan & Brenda — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:18:37 +0000

(Author: John Piper)Tonight it will be 40 degrees warmer in our kitchen freezer than it is outside here in Minneapolis. The high temperature on the Lord’s day will be five below zero (Fahrenheit). We receive this from the Lord’s hand.

He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.

He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold?

He sends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

(Psalm 147:15-18)

This is the kind of cold you do not play with. It kills. When I came to Minnesota from South Carolina, I dressed for it. But I did not prepare life-saving support in my car in case of break down. One Sunday night on the way home from church in this kind of cold my car died. This was before cell phones. I had two small children in the car. There was no one on this road. I suddenly realized, this is dangerous. Soon it was very dangerous. No one came. I saw in the distance through a fence a house. I am the father. This is my job. I climbed the fence and ran to the house and knocked on the door. They were home. I explained that I had a wife and two small children in the car, would they let us in. They did.

This is a kind of cold you do not play with. It is one more way God says, “Whether hot or cold, high or deep, sharp or blunt, loud or quiet, bright or dark . . . don’t toy with me. I am God. I made all these things. They speak of me, just like the warm summer breezes do, and the gentle rains, and the soft moonlit nights, and the lapping of the lakeside, and lilies of the field and the birds of the air. There is a word for us in this cold. May the Lord give us skin to feel and ears to hear.