We made it back from the Elder's conference this afternoon. We had to get up at 5:30am to be at the airport at 7 for our flight so I am very tired. I got a little over 4 hours of sleep because I got to bed late because I was not tired at the time. After I laid down, I watched the lights from headlights from the freeway next door on our ceiling for a while and then did get to sleep. Texas is an hour ahead of us so it was a time change again for us. The flight back was bumpy most of the way. We could not see any of the ground due to all the clouds and storms that were most of the way. Although we were flying at 37,000 feet, the storms were still effecting our flight. Our plane was very small with only 4 seats accross and maybe 25 rows. We had to walk up an uncovered ramp to get into the plane as well as to get off the plane. I like the covered walkways a lot better! When we got home, I had 2 hours to get our house straightened up for two college boys who are staying with us until Wednesday. They are part of a "campus swap". These are students who are from a different university but on their Spring break, they come to other campuses to help get more students involved in our church and in campus Bible studies. Our campus students also go to other campuses and do the same thing for another campus. It is really encouraging to have these students come to help.

The classes we attended at our conference were really encouraging. I will go through my notes and see if I can share some things we heard. The main speaker was one of our professors at our online school. He was talking about Spiritual Formation. This is taken from Galatians 4:19 where Paul talks of being in pains of childbirth until "Christ is formed in you". We need to get out of God's way sometimes and let our hearts and souls be transformed into what Christ would think and do.

It is good to read all you have put on the thread while I was gone. I will be here for the next several days then go to Denver for Easter but I should not have any problems with getting on here daily when I am there.

Good to hear you, Linda.

It's moving day again so am just reporting on yesterday when we went to Flagstaff Maritime Village.

Just a couple of pics from the Village yesterday. It was a good place to go.

Lamas on the hill (there were also goats)



The ship that was wrecked at Loch Ard Gorge



The two survivors of said ship wreck



Village Church window



The Village was well laid out. Too many buildings with sole uses to explain, but there was a school, a bank, newspaper office, row of shops, mechanic's reading room, church, fire station, Shipwright, ferrier, undertaker, sail maker shipwreck museum, whale information centre, Merremar dogs, ...and much more!

I am really tired this morning. I exercised on a different machine yesterday and my hip really rebelled last night. I just could not get comfortable. I also had to get up early to get breakfast for the college students. I am used to going to be late and getting up late but they need to be on campus early so either I sleep or I am a wonderful hostess and get them breakfast. Being in Houston with their time being an hour earlier did help me get up early there so it is not as bad as it could be here being an hour later.

I got new glasses yesterday but they just do not feel quite right. My bifocal part makes one eye see double but the other one sees fine. I may just have to get used to them so I am wearing them and trying different positions of my head to see if I can get my eyes to see the same. They are bigger than my old ones too so that is different.

Susan - the church window and the village are so pretty. The lamas look so soft and fuzzy but they probably would not like strangers petting them. I have never been close up to them but I do know about goats and they are very curious. They might have come up to me trying to figure out what I was doing if I were close to them. They might try to nibble my clothes too. We had so much funwith our goats growing up on a farm.

Judith - I hope you had a good sleep. Rest will help you heal faster. Continuing to pray for your lymph nodes and the decision the doctor will be making.

Marilyn - hope you are doing well. Continuing to pray for your fistula and a successful surgery next month.

Good morning. We are on the move today, heading into South Australia to a place called Penola. We'll stay at a CMCA camp for $7 per night. We'll have to haul our water, contain our Gray water to dump it, and they do have a dump point for Gray and black water, so we shall be fine. No power but you know we're fine off grid. I cooked up all our fresh vegetables yesterday so we should pass border inspection.

Linda, glad your visitors were easy ones to care for! They sounded respectful of you two, which is wonderful. Glad you have a good accountant too. It's not fun to owe taxes at the end of a year. Safe travels.

Judith, will read the prayer request page. Praying for you.

And praying for you, too, Marilyn.

Linda, no, we froze some of the soup for another two meals. We got fooled. In the past few years they have stopped getting people to throw away fresh vegetables and fruit when co.ing from Victoria. We would have had a border check coming from New South Wales or Western Australia though. Not sire about the Northern Territory. Anyway, we could have kept it all fresh! Never mind. We bought fresh things as soon as we arrived here. Now I have a couple of meals to fall back on. Wow, that was a big day of sorting for you yesterday. It's a big job to sift through a life. Yes, rest days are sure needed. I often think about how clergy do not rest on Sundays at all. Our church is often engaged in activities too, so yes, we do take a different rest day when we can. But in this travelling lifestyle I have learned to rest when I can too. Sometimes we are travelling or engaged in activities of some sort on Sundays.

We're catching up on the washing today with the help of our generator. It's Good Friday so I am praying for Easter blessings for you all.

I read through Isaiah 53 this morning and meditated on the crucifiction of Jesus. Even though he knew it was to happen, the weight of what it was going to feel like became reality . The words "oppressed and afflicted", "despised and rejected by men", "pierced for our transgressions..crushed for our iniqutues" all are so descriptive of what he went through for us. If this were the end of things, it would be so sad but we know that in two days, He will rise triumphant for us and make a way for us to spend eternity with him! I am sorry that so many children are growing up thinking that Easter is just a holiday for candy and the Easter Bunny. It is so much more than that!

We decided to not go to Denver today because there is a snow storm in the passes and we are taking a couch over that we did not want to get wet. The storm is supposed to be over by tomorrow morning so if we wait until noon to start out the roads should be fine. I look forward to spending Easter with the family. My son will not be able to be there due to other committments but I will be with our two daughters. I was reminbering what Easter service was when I was growing up. We knew the real meaning of Easter so there were no Easter egg games to play but we always dressed up as a celebration. I remember my favorite had I had to wear. It was like a wide headband that was white with navy blue velvet ribbon on the edges. There were white flowers on the ends and a satin ribbon that tied under my chin. It is amazing that I can remember details like this but can't remember what I was needing to do when I get up and get distracted. 😀

I got through my MIL's clothes yesterday and was able to find quite a few we could use. I washed the stained ones and they are all in bags ready to give to the donation store. We brought the sewing machine and walker back and put it out on our pile and when we got up this morning, they were both gone. I am glad someone could take them and fix them to be used. When I worked in a nursing home many years ago, they bought new wheelchairs and were going to throw the old non'working ones away. I asked if I could have some so I brought them home and my son was able to take parts off them and made one useable wheel chair for us to use. I still have it in the garage and the grandkids love to play with it when they come for a visit.

Judith live stream is so nice to have when a person is not able to attend chuch. It is not quite the same but at least you can be fed by the sermon and then you have your pastor visit you. We listen to the Denver service in the morning then attend our church service in the afternoon so we have two sermons to apply to our lives.

Susan and Marilyn I hope you are doing well and are having a joyful Easter season remembering the real meaning of the holiday.

It's Easter Sunday here! He is Risen! Happy Easter!

We had flattened batteries overnight. We think it might ne Starlink that is drawing too much power. Colin is working on getting things back up running smoothly again with our generator and has checked the batteries. He's now working on our control panel. I'd be lost without him, that's for sure. He waited till 9am to start the genny. It's a pity to have to shatter people's peace, but we have no water pump, lights, fans, ignition switch for the gas stove etc without it. However, nothing is coming on.

I better conserve my phone battery till we have worked this out.

Take care, friends.

🌼🌸Yes, praise the Lord that Jesus did not stay in the grave! He had power over death and gives us eternal life. 🌸🌼

The trip over the mountain was good weather wise but the traffic was worse. We are not used to traveling on the weekend so expected this. There were a lot of people still skiing as we drove past the ski areas. Some areas will be closeing soon because the snow is getting soft but others in the higher altitude will stay open until the end of May or later.

Judith I am so glad that you have friends visit you so you are not issolated. The tea Latte sounds wonderful also!

Susan - I hope things get repaired with your batteries. I am so glad that Colin has the knowledge to do things to fix it. My Dad was that way but Glenn is more likely to have someone else work on it. His specialty is teaching and studying. It takes all kinds of people to make a world as the old saying goes.

Marilyn - It has been a while since we have heard from you. I hope you are well.