Fall trip #6: The Road Home

Good grief! We are now back home and I just realized I haven't written in well over a month. I won't give excuses; here goes an update:



We finished our trip a few days ago with 16,070 miles logged on the car. I look back on all the different Sundays and different churches we attended over that time; it was wonderful. Each church worships one Savior, teaches from one Bible but the different people and different leaders in the churches make each place a different worship experience. I personally enjoyed the variety and getting the chance to join with so many fellow-believers each Sunday.



Of course we did not get to see everyone we would have liked to see. If you had told me at the beginning of the trip that I would not get to visit with certain individuals, I would have told you that you were crazy! But alas, time simply will not stretch itself.



By the first of December we, as a family, were ready to be done travelling as you can well imagine. So, when we pointed our car west/north we all felt a building excitement. We did stop off at the Creation Museum just across from Cincinnati, Ohio and we arranged our return route so that we could see Mt. Rushmore along the way. Both were certainly worth the effort to see.



A few statistics if you are interested:

• Longest day of driving (timewise) - the day we went from Charlotte, NC to Ocala, FL - 7am til 11pm


• Longest day of driving (mileagewise) - the day we went from Gilette, WY to Lethbridge, AB - 746 mi


• Worst weather for driving - pick any day we were driving in Canada on our way home


• Worst road for driving - Haines highway, yes, the last 30 miles took forever as we drove barely 25 mph


• Car breakdowns - only one! in Wisconsin


• Longest stay in any one location - 10 days in Vermont


• Number of teeth lost by our children - 6! three for Seth and three for Carina


• Wild animals we saw along the way - moose, caribou, foxes, coyotes, bison, antelope, deer, swans, bears, mountain goats, a wolf, and many, many birds

Ok, that is it for now. I promise...it won't be another month before I write again!

Road trip #5: Oregon and back

Back to the east coast we go...is there a song that starts that way? I don't suppose so but we have flown back to the east coast.


I have been thinking about certain Christian speakers that will pepper their speaches with "dear one" or "beloved" as though you personally are known and loved by them. That kind of annoys me because I am not beloved to them...or am I? Now that we are over half done with this crazy road trip I am pondering all those dear people who are now connected to our lives.

The family that hosted us in Oregon are friends we have known since our Chicago days. We have spent time with them in their house twice now (once with 5 kids total, and once with 8 kids total) and both times we rejoiced in how well our families got along. Besides our friends, the Thayers, we renewed friendships with many others and made more new friends; all this during one week in Oregon.

Now multiply that by the number of weeks we have been travelling...the thought is staggering. Honestly, I didn't realize there are so many dear people out there. Truly, I can write on this blog and say, "I know God cares for you, dear one" and really mean you.

Praising God for a wonderful time at Community Bible Church,
Michele

Roadtrip #4: down and partially up the east coast

Should I write a very, very long entry to catch you up from the time of my last one? Or should I write a couple short ones? I guess we'll see as we go (does the Spirit lead in journal entries??!!)



We spent several busy days in Maryland at Perry Hall Baptist Church for their missions conference. What a joy to reconnect with people there and we met a wonderful new family that hosted us for the five days. It was yet another stop on our journey this fall that encouraged us.

From there we went to North Carolina where Bill's brother and family live. They kept the kids one evening, walked to the town center where a footbridge crosses a railroad, and watched a train run right below their feet! I am trying to think of a concise way to describe how much we enjoyed our visit with them...

On Friday, October 19 we left North Carolina and drove for an endless amount of time. Ok, it did end after 16 hours of travel! Please tell me that will never happen again. No, don't lie to me. The good thing was that we got to stop in to see my grandma (she didn't really recognize me--dimentia) and we met with a very dear couple for lunch.

By the end of that endless day we were in Florida. HOT again. Florida Bible Church is a hopping place and they all made us feel very welcome as did our friends at Central Community Church in Cocoa.

Ahhhh...we drove from Florida to Virginia; we left summer and arrived in autumn. Virginia is where my aunt and uncle live and where we stopped for a couple days to bask in their hospitality and care.

Now, we have flown from Washington, DC to Medford, Oregon to attend the missions conference at Community Bible Church.

Whew! We are now caught up, officially, and all in one post. Imagine that. Now, let's hope that it will not take me another month to get around to the next post.

Road trip #3: Ohio with stop in Michigan

October in Ohio is supposed to be fall. At least that is the way I remember it. We have been here since Thursday afternoon and it has been hot, hot every day. What happened to cool, crisp days and cooler, crisper nights? Who voted for this weather anyway?

Well, if the weather is weird everything else is not. We attended Crossroads church on Sunday and shared in Sunday School classes as well as giving an update in the main service. I told a missionary story to the younger kids during their Sunday School hour and they were a very gracious audience. Bill shared with the teens which happened to include Abbie. [She seems to approve of what he said. :-)] In the main service Bill showed the little "movie" he put together about camp. We are beginning to be able to predict the reactions people have at various sections of the movie. We got the laughs, oohs, and aahs in all the right places so I think it went over well.

The day before (on Saturday) we attended their annual craft auction. It was a hoot with the pastor being the auctioneer and people really getting into their bidding. The items went for fairly high prices because the people all know that the money is given to missionary families to buy Christmas presents for their children. We have heard about it for years so we enjoyed actually seeing it this year.

By the way, we did have a great time with Annie, Kelly, Matt and Michael in Chicago. They fed us Chicago deep dish pizza - mmmmmm! Then we stopped in Michigan to see Scott and Michelle Stambaugh. What fun to spend a few hours with them and their church allowed us to share in their Wednesday evening gathering.

Tomorrow we leave for Maryland with a brief stop in Pennsylvania on the way. I wonder, did they get rid of fall in Pennsylvania too?

Road Trip #2 - Missouri, Ohio, Illinois.

We left Kansas City for Ohio where we attended the missions Sunday at Chapel in North Canton. It was a great time of sharing how we as missionaries view the world, life and living. We stayed with some new friends, who we hope will be visiting us in Alaska sometime soon.

After a brief few days with my parents we headed here -- Chicago. We started out in Addison at Messiah Baptist Church. As always they made us feel very comfortable and we got to meet Erin Schuyler's parents. Now we are at Moody Church where we are again very comfortable and glad to be. They had a banquet last night that included a speaker who has been a missionary to cannibal tribes for umpteen years. It was certainly inspirational.

We are planning to see several counselor-types this very evening! Annie, Kelly, Zim and Michael are supposed to be getting together with us. :-)

2007 Counselor Story #1

Here is a story from a counselor this summer:

One week she had a couple girls in her cabin with night terrors. They would begin screaming in their sleep at any time of night waking themselves and the whole cabin of girls. The counselor could do nothing but kneel beside their beds and pray for them the whole time. On the last night she prayed with each of them and asked God to give them a good night's rest. As they began to moan or scream during that last night, she knelt beside them again praying for them. She had the privilege of seeing God answer those prayers in a very tangible way because as she prayed the screams melted into snoring. They woke up the next morning and said it was the best night's sleep they had gotten all week.

God surely answers prayer!

Also, that week that same counselor had four girls rededicate their lives to Christ. I can't imagine thinking straight after nights like that but God can certainly work in every situation.

Road trip '07 #1

Well, I guess I have nearly 4,000 miles worth to catch you up on where we are! We drove out of Haines on Friday the 24th of August. The Canadian border is only about 40 miles from there so we disappeared into the Yukon/BC wilderness for a couple days to emerge into civilization on the plains of Alberta. While in the wilderness we did not eat locusts and honey but we did visit a hot spring. How interesting to be swimming in a steaming hot creek! We all enjoyed that one.

So, we caught up with Trish in Minnesota. She met us at the Mall of America where the older three children thrilled to some of the rides: swings going in circles, horses going in circles, "hot air balloons" going in circles --you get the point.

Next stop was at the farm in Wisconsin, Uncle Cliff and Aunt Cheryl's farm. We had to make it a longer stop than planned because of car trouble but what a place to be stuck. Cows and calves and even a bull live on the farm with a couple barn cats thrown in for good measure. The baby was just about as nervous of the cows as they were of her, however, the cats were another story. There are two cats that got their fair share of love from Ellie and the older three, too.

Now we are in Kansas City, Missouri at our mission HQ.

As I reflect on the trip so far I am reminded of how precious so many people are to me. These two visits were both short and the rest of the trip promises to follow in the same manner. It sure is a good thing we have eternity in heaven because I will need it to finally get enough time with each friend and family member. :-)

Smiling in the air conditioning,
Michele

Summer '07 is over/Testimony

Well, the last of the campers for this year left yesterday afternoon. It was a great year for counselors, campers, and even the weather. As soon as Bill verifies the numbers I will share them with you. In the meantime the following is another example of why we are here:

Each camp has a bonfire on the last night of the camp (what would camp be without that?!) and a testimony from one such bonfire caught my attention. A girl attended one camp this summer and while she was here asked Jesus to be her personal Savior. Too soon after camp her faith was tested...too soon in my eyes but not for our wonderful, glorious Lord. He tested her with the death of a close family friend. This same girl came back to camp later in the summer and testified. She stood at the bonfire and told about her new faith, about the trial that came shortly afterward; but she shared that she made it through such a difficult event solely because Jesus was with her...He carried her through.

I am about to cry as I write this. God is so good to us...He saves us just in the knick of time so we can endure...so we can be refined...so we can shine like gold, filled with His Spirit. Glory be to God!

One hour before...

I also wanted to say that I had a wonderful experience today...

At the end of storytime a little girl on the front row wanted to tell me something. I told her to I would love to talk with her after the rest of the campers were dismissed. So, at the appropriate time I asked her what she wanted to tell me. She said that she wanted me to know that she had asked Jesus into her heart just one hour before. What joy!

Storytime -finished for summer '07

Oops! I still haven't gotten that picture I was supposed to post. Maybe tomorrow...

Today was the last day of storytime for the summer. The theme for camp this week was superheroes so I told some superhero missionary stories. First was about a guy named Alvin Frey who served with Gospel Light Mission in northern Canada. He fell through ice with a tractor in negative 35 degree weather and lived to tell about it. Then he was accidentally burned on his face, arms and torso so badly that skin was hanging in shreds from his face. He was flown to a hospital where doctors and nurses exchanged worried glances and whispered to each other while they treated him as best they could. That night he went through great bitterness over the whole incident but then he remembered: "in everything give thanks." He turned his heart away from bitterness and toward God with thankfulness. The next morning a miracle had happened; his face was healed. The rest of his body still required him to be in the hospital but he left in record time and with very little scarring on his face.

The second day I told them about the superhero missionary Hudson Taylor who even had his own superhero outfit. (He was one of the first missionaries to try dressing like the indigenous people.) Finally, today was about the superhero missionary team that was martyred by the Aucas: Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian. They didn't seem to succeed because they were killed before they could witness to the Aucas but it was their very martyrdom that got the attention of the Aucas so that they were eager to listen when other missionaries came to tell them about God. Besides the Aucas, there have been thousands of Christians around the world who have stepped up to the challenge to serve God more fully because of the example of those five men. "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -Jim Elliott

If you have the chance to read a biography about missionaries, you should really do it. You're almost always guaranteed an exciting story not to mention encouragement to serve our Lord more faithfully. I enjoy the Heroes Then and Now series published by YWAM. Those books are written in an easy reading format and are readily available.

Ohio Workteam Has Arrived!

If you were wondering about them, the workteam from Crossroads Church arrived safely yesterday morning. Poor things were all so worn out by the trip here but they were troopers and dropped like logs into their beds last night.

Today the guys are beginning to work on the cabin. Judy and Charlotte are busily working in the craftroom for me as I write this. They are preparing for the craft classes I have this week. What a blessing to have them do that so that I can get ready for storytime. This week is Colt camp which always means a crazy, busy week for me. I am not complaining though...I love interacting with the campers in the craftroom and I really do enjoy telling the stories to the whole group of campers.

My mother has graciously volunteered to keep Ellie for me while I am busy with crafts and storytime. Did you like how I said that? I guess the truth is that she jumped all over the opportunity to spend plenty of time with her grandbaby! What a blessing to have her here for the week to take care of Ellie for me. At the moment she is also working on laundry for me. I think I could get used to that, too!

I hope to get a picture of the workteam and post it later today...until then we remain

In His Care,
Michele

Party on the weekend!

This weekend was our adopt-a-counselor family night. Our family grew by three at the beginning of the summer when we "adopted" three counselors for the summer. Every year we are assigned counselors by random drawing of names and every year I find that God has blessed us with wonderful "kids."

Anyway, we went in with the Fersters, Jon-Michael, and Nick for our meal and called it a block party. We had BBQ ribs and plenty of fixin's to go with them. Matt made homemade ice cream -always a big treat- and I made three milks cake (Pastel Tres Leches). Abbie helped in a big way to clean the house and Carina and Naomi picked two hundred strawberries -yes, they counted- for topping the pieces of cake.

Conversation was lively and certainly interesting for the evening. We talked about cows, college, motorcycles, missionaries, explosions and chickens to name a few topics. Of course with a combined seven children ages 11 and under(4 of ours and 3 of Fersters), there was a generous peppering of, "_______ don't do that," "______ put down that stick," "_______ get back from the fire," "Ellie, come back," and "Where is Ellie?"

I guess I wanted to write about the evening because it was fun but also because the adopt-a-counselor thing is such a huge blessing/opportunity for us. We are given the opportunity to build into the lives of adults who are on the threshold of serving God as an adult individual. To me, this is an incredibly important and exciting ministry.

Drivers in the family

Last evening we played outside. Ok, we play outside every day but yesterday we got a special treat when Dwight, the camp mechanic, got out a go-cart that he fixed so the staff kids could drive it. They were nearly falling down they were so excited. Well, Ellie wasn't totally excited at first anyway. She stood in front of me but so close that she was just about behind me saying, "keert." (that means scared in Ellie-talk) She got used to it though and got to the more important business of trying to feed Nilla, the dog, a blade of grass.

I have gotten off the subject. No comments, please! :-) Back to it...Seth got in the cart and drove the three laps grinning all the way. Carina came around the first lap apparently concentrating on driving but she looked like she was about to fall asleep at the wheel. I kind of missed watching Abbie drive because that was when Ellie was trying to disappear into my legs.

I am trying to learn how to post pictures. I did take a couple last night. No, really I did. I will prove it when I figure out what happened to the one I thought I uploaded into this post!

Countdown already?

Ok, the countdown has begun. We leave camp in 22 days. Yikes!!!

School is fairly well planned out but I need to plan for math and finalize science plans. I have not begun to think about what to pack...which clothes still fit the children?which clothes should be packed for the trip?which clothes should be packed for Haines?which clothes should be left here at camp? How many books should the children take along?...toys (which ones)? Should we take Seth's guitar? What am I going to do for knitting projects on this trip?

Beyond that there is the powerpoint presentation(s). Maybe Bill will do that. He did last time. What should we do for a display? That's my territory. :-)

Oh yeah, camp is still going on, too. Today began the last Bronco (age 10-11) camp of this year. Ninety-two of them came today. It was interesting as Abbie pointed out about 8 campers that she has met at camp previously. Carina saw a few, too. Abbie will say hi to them; Carina is too shy. I guess I can't blame her --she is her mother's daughter.

Please pray that I, we, all of staff will keep focused on why we are here at camp rather than get distracted by what is coming after. On the other side of the coin, please pray that I will be ready for this four-month road trip!!!!

Rain, rain, rain...

Will it ever go away? We have had so much rain in the last week. I know, I know -- what can I expect from a rainforest? But this has been heavy showers, not the usual misty, light rain we are used to in the summer. Also, except for yesterday, it has been constant for more than a week.

Now yesterday was a different story. It was absolutely beautiful with a light breeze that kept the bugs away. As soon as Ellie got up from her nap we checked on the baby chickens and went straight to the beach. The big kids were playing in the sand so she joined them and I got to visit with counselors a little.

Bill went out fishing for halibut with several other staff members. They had a good time catching a few fish and a lot of rays, after which they checked the crab pots. Yummm. Crabs for supper.

Today we are back to the rain again for the first day of this summer's teen camp. Our numbers are slightly up for attendance of this camp compared to recent years. Perhaps the jr. high crowd is advancing into the teen camp age bracket now. Anyway, it looks to be a fun camp this week with a "Gillian's Island" type theme and a speaker who is a seminary student from Master's College in California.

That's all for now.
Have a lovely day, Michele

P.S. Ellie is not complaining one bit about the rain. She rides in the "baby backpack" as she calls it to the dining hall and stomps in every puddle on the way home again. Tonight Seth and his friend played in the road throwing dirt bombs (balls of mud) and watching them explode on the road. No, they didn't make it a target practice, but Seth did end up with mud all the way up his arms!

Hello, New World!

Well, here it is! The first post on the first blog for the Diggins family of Alaska. I feel like I have just entered a new world...or perhaps I have just begun to enter the 21st century! Anyway, here is a short update on what is happening here:

Maverick #2 (Jr. Hi) is this week. With 105 campers, we have a good amount of energy around here. The sky trolley is getting plenty of use and the tubing is very popular with this group. They are out and about all over camp in spite of the downpours we are having this week. Yes, downpours...there is hardly a break between them all day long and night, too.

Jon-Michael is the camp speaker this week and he is a very popular speaker among the jr. highers. He mentioned to me earlier today that a camper this week has been very angry with him. When he spoke the truth of Jesus in chapel it didn't match up with the teachings of the cult this camper is involved in. He had no clue someone was here from that cult and he did not address any issues directly regarding any cults. He simply spoke Biblical truth. Could the Holy Spirit be awakening a heart? We all hope so. That is why each member of our camp staff is here.

Ok, I am closing for now. I want to see if I can actually get this to post properly, etc. Until next time...

Safely in His hands, Michele for the Alaska Diggins family