Clearwire...continued

Someone, other than my family and close friends, read my latest blog that I posted on Clearwire. They posted a comment asking for more information on my experience with Clearwire.

Well, we're only into day 2 of our Clearwire service although today was an excellent test of the service. It rained in the Charlotte area all day and it did not affect our Clearwire service at all. I was very pleased by that.

I want to tell you a little more about our setup. I have the Clearwire modem/receiver located right next to an upstairs window. This is almost an ideal location. There are 5 indicator lights on top of the modem. The more lights that are burning, the better the signal is. All 5 of the indicator lights are burning although the 5th one does goes out occassionally.

I also have the modem hooked into a Belkin wireless router. I did not have to reconfigure my router at all. I just plugged it in and it was ready to go.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I also signed up their VOIP service. I had to purchase their Linksys phone adapter for $15. The only difficulty I had was trying to activate the adapter on Clearwire's website. For whatever reason I kept receiving an error message when I typed in the adapters activation code. I finally called Clearwire's tech who indicated that my adapter was activated. I plugged my phone into it (a cheap 900 MHZ cordless GE), waited until I got a solid green light, picked up the handset and immediately got a dial tone.

( I now must deactivate my Bellsouth account and move my number over to Clearwire. I'll do that in a couple of days just to make sure that I am pleased with Clearwire's service. There is a 7 day cancellation window.)

I was asked about speed & online gaming. Sorry to say that I do not use the internet for online gaming so I can't comment on Clearwire from that perspective. I can say that that it is much faster than my Bellsouth DSL Lite that we have had for a couple of years now. I signed up for Clearwire's Premium Service (1.5 mbps/256 kbps). This was the package that Clearwire said I needed in order to have their VOIP service. I just ran a speed test (www.speedtest.net) and I recorded a 2.0 mbps/209 kbps speed.

Any other questions? I'm not the smartest one out there but I'll do my best!

Clearwire.com

I made the plunge today...

I have been doing some "research" into getting rid of our regular, old-fashioned, land line phone in favor of a VOIP company. In order to get rid of our land line (Bellsouth/AT&T), I would have to find a new high speed internet service. One of the companies that I have been looking at was Clearwire.com. They provide wireless internet. (I won't take the time to explain. You'll have to check it out for yourself - www.Clearwire.com.) One thing that I had not been as pleased with was the VOIP companies. Clearwire offers VOIP in some of its market but not Charlotte (or at least I thought and had been told.)

I went into Best Buy today and Clearwire had a little kiosk set up. I was pleased to find out that they did offer VOIP in Charlotte. It didn't take me long to decide to sign up. After all is said and done, my internet and phone service will only cost me $55 instead of the $85 that it now costs me with Bellsouth.

The great thing about Clearwire was the set up. It took me about 10 minutes to get everything set up. (I remember that, when I signed up for Bellsouth DSL, that it took me all night to get it running.)

So far so good. The good part, at least in Stephenie's eyes, is that we will be able to keep our current phone number.

May I Direct Your Attention To...

...Where's George! I came across this website some time ago but was once again reminded of it while in Virginia this past week. Where's George.com is a website where you can register (free of charge) and then enter the serial numbers from $1 bills in order to track them and see where they've been. While shopping this past week at Peeble's Department Store in Virginia, I received a $1 bill as change. The bill was stamped with, "See Where I've Been. Track Where I Go Next. www.wheresgeorge.com." Apparently that particular bill began it's travels in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

It's pretty interesting. So...before you spend those bills in your wallet, check to see if they've been "marked." If they haven't been marked, before you spend them, sign up at Where's George, enter the bill's serial numbers, mark them yourself (with http://www.wheresgeorge.com/), and then spend them. You will receive an email alert when someone finds your bill and enters it themselves so that you can see where it's gotten to.

Happy New Year!

P.S. - Check out our photo album link.

Christmas at Grandma's (in Virginia)

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve morning and what a morning it was. The kids were in our room before 7:00 AM. We read the Christmas story in bed and then went down stairs to open presents. The kids were very excited! A little too excited for us especially since Stephenie was not feeling well. She had a severe sore throat! Since we were going to leave for Virginia around lunch, we decided that Stephenie should go to an urgent care to find out what was wrong.

The doctor said that her throat was severely swollen and that she had an infection. The doctor put her on an antibiotic for the infection and a steroid to bring down here throat swelling.

After she got back from the doctor, we had a brunch and then got ready to leave! We finally got out of town around 12:45 - after a brief trip down the road only to realize that we had forgotten our coats!

We made good time! There was very little traffic on the road. Most people were already where they were going to go and the Christmas Eve parties hadn't started yet. We only saw two highway patrol officers the entire trip. We made the trip in almost record time. We didn't stop at all except to go to the bathroom at the Virginia welcome center. We also let the kids play a little bit before getting back in the van to finish the trip.

I have uploaded some pictures to my photo album. Click on the link that is listed on the right of the page.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas at McAdenville, NC

On Sunday night, December 16th, our church, South Charlotte Baptist Church, went Christmas carolling to some of our "shut ins." Each one that we sang for appreciated it very much. Some of them were even brought to tears. It was a joy to minister to them in that way. After we carolled, we all drove (on our church bus) to McAdenville, NC, which is known as Christmas Town USA.

The entire town is lit up with lights. You drive very slowly through town to view all the lights. This year, many of us got out and walked through town. One of the older churches in town set up some plastic Christmas carollers, set up some speakers and play Christmas music for all to hear. Our group stopped and got our picture taken with those plastic carollers. It was very enjoyable.

Silas Walking

Jeremiah's First Basketball Game

Well, last week was Jeremiah's first basketball game! He enjoyed it. They won! As amazing as it sounds, he's the tallest one on his team. He still says that he would rather play football. (However, he's never actually played organized football.)

The entire family was there to cheer him on. He's going to have to miss his next game because he is in the wedding of one of his former teachers.

We'll keep you posted on how he does through his season!

AAAArgh!!! My Back!

For those who have any sympathy whatsoever...

I threw my back out while Stephenie was gone a couple of weeks ago (pinched nerve in my lower back). Well, as is normal, it took three days for it to work back in place! As soon as it got back to normal, I threw it out again. This time it has taken a whole week to get back to normal.

Stephenie just laughed at me!

Christmas Lights

Last weekend I finally got our outdoor decorations ups. It took awhile to "figure out" what I was doing since 1) I took out all of our bushes since last year and 2) we took down all the railing off of the front porch. Well, as you can see, icicle wrap the entire length of the front porch. I also put icicle lights around the eve of the side stoop and storage room. I then wrapped each of the porch poles. Stephenie had wanted topary Christmas trees that were lit to put by the front door. You can see from the picture that we got a couple. We purchased them at AC Moore, which is a store similar to Michael's.

Silas absolutely loves Christmas lights and Christmas trees. He gets very excited when he sees them all lit up! 'Tis the season to be jolly!

Titus @ the Emergency Room

Earlier this week, Titus began developing a very deep cough. We weren't too concerned at the time. Titus and Silas sleep with a cool mist humidifier in their room which normally keeps them fairly healthy during this time of year. (Our warm weather hasn't been helping much lately!)

On Wednesday night, Titus woke Stephenie up. He couldn't breathe! Well, that was a "no-brainer" that we needed to take him to the Emergency Room (which is only two blocks from our house). Stephenie was rightfully worried and upset so I took Titus to the hospital.

Once Titus got to the hospital, calmed down, and relaxed, he began doing a lot better.

The doctor checked his ears, his breathing, took a chest x-ray and found nothing. The doctor informed me that what he had was an upper respiratory infection caused by a cold. In other words...he had a very bad cold.

The doctor gave us a prescription for albuterol to use as needed for his breathing. (We've only had to use it a couple of times at this point.) Other than that the doctor said to give him Benedryl for his runny nose and congestion.

Titus has stayed home from school for the past two days. He seems to be feeling better today.

Mr. Mom

With Stephenie in Georgia, that means that I am playing "Mr. Mom" with an interesting twist.

On Saturday night, Mollie started complaining of a stomach ache. She threw up early Sunday morning. I've never been in this situation before but that meant that I couldn't go to church on Sunday. There have been plenty of times when I've had others call me to let me know that they wouldn't be able to sing, teach Sunday school, play the piano, etc. but I've never been the one to have to "call in."

We have a wonderful church family that "covered" for me by leading the choir, leading the congregational singing, and teaching my Sunday school class. Some of our church family also came to pick up Jeremiah and Titus so that they could go to church. I was proud of them. They both wanted to go to church.

The next interesting twist is the fact that now (Sunday evening) Titus has a fever. What's going to happen on Monday morning?!

Reminder of Logan

This past Thursday morning (11/29), we received a phone call from one of Stephenie's best friends, Sherry. Sherry's sister (Heather) and brother-in-law (Jarrod) were blessed with twin girls about 7 weeks ago. Unfortunately, on Thursday morning, Heather found one of the twins, Hannah, dead in her crib. This was almost identical to what happened with Logan. When Logan passed away, Sherry came to be with Stephenie. Hearing this brought back memories of Logan. Needless to say, Stephenie immediately wanted to go to be with the family. Having been through this same situation, Stephenie knew exactly what Heather was going through and what she would go through in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Stephenie flew out on Saturday and the funeral was this afternoon (Sunday). From what Stephenie told me, the family is doing well. Jarrod's father (the grandfather) is also their pastor. We got to know these folks when we lived in Georgia.

For those of you who read this, please keep the Scarborough Family and the Sellars Family.

Thanksgiving Day

Once again we had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with Stephenie's family in Virginia. We're thankful that we were able to also spend it with Grandma Henry. Stephenie's grandmother is now living in a nursing home. On Friday night, the entire family was able to go to the nursing home where we were able to participate in a service that is led by Mr. Ben, a wonderful man that goes to Stephenie's home church. We sang for awhile. The kids and I sang a couple of Christmas carols. Stephenie's brother-in-law, Ronnie, preached to end the evening. We had a great time.

Black Friday Eve!

Yes, I lost my sanity for a brief moment! Normally the ladies go shopping on Black Friday Eve. This year, I came up with the idea for the guys to go out on Thanksgiving night. I found out that CompUSA was going to open up at 9:00 PM on Thanksgiving night. I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. How many people would actually want to shop at CompUSA on Thanksgiving night?! As we (My father-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew-in-law, and myself) found out that a lot of people wanted to go shopping. The line was all the way down the front of the shopping center. We waited in line, just to get in the store, for about 45 minutes. Once you got inside there was absolutely no room to turn around. It took us over an hour to check out! The check out lines went all the way from the front to the back of the store. It was long night and one that I don't want to repeat any time soon! My mother-in-law and the other ladies were excited to get all the men out of the house for a few hours!

Chewy's Christmas Present

As you can see, Chewy is pretty comfortable. Last month, we broke down and finally got rid of the recliner that we have had for almost 10 years. When we moved to Charlotte, Chewy claimed the coach as hers. When we purchased a new coach last year, Chewy was not allowed to get on the coach. Chewy ended up kicking me out of the recliner and took ownership. When we got rid of the recliner she was suddenly homeless. As you can see from the picture, we purchased her a "doggy bed." She absolutely loves it! Literally, the only time she gets out of the bed is to go outside once or twice and that's it!

Kitchen Project

One of the things that we "dislike" about our house is the "popcorn" ceilings. Well, a week ago, I go ambitious and started scraping the popcorn off of the kitchen ceiling. That was on a Tuesday night. I was just going to do a little bit at a time until I got it done. Stephenie "encouraged" me to just go ahead and do it all. Well, it only took a couple of hours to scrape it off. The clean up took a little longer. I hadn't really planned to do it all that night so I did not prep the room properly.

Stephenie was a little suprised but I wanted to get it done, so on Friday, I sanded the entire kitchen ceiling to prep it for paint. Clean was easier this time because I put up plastic and also purchased a sanding attachment for my Shop Vac which collected the drywall dust.

After I sanded, I painted - one coat of primer and then one coat of white ceiling paint. I was finished on Friday night. I have one touch up spot which I will fix when I put up the crown molding.

All in all I was rather pleased with my accomplishment. (So was Stephenie!)

Mollie's Last Soccer Game

Mollie played in her last soccer game just a couple of weeks ago. Silas had a cold so Jeremiah and I were the ones that accompanied Mollie to the game while Stephenie stayed at home with Titus and Silas. Also, it was really cold that Saturday morning and Mollie's game started at 8:00 AM. It was the first day that we could really say that fall was here! After the game, Mollie got her trophy. (Just as a note - Everyone, and that included all the other teams, got trophies. This particular league at the YMCA does not keep score. It's just for the kids to have fun and learn the sport.)

Pineville Fall Festival

Every fall, the little town of Pineville has a very nice festival with rides, inflatables, food and fun. This particular year was a little different though because we had spent the entire day having a yard sale! So, we were a little tired by the time we made it to the festival.

The Pineville Fire Department has a huge ladder truck (for such a small town) and they always raise Old Glory at the Fall Festival. We're very patriotic around there!


One of the rides that Jeremiah and Mollie went on was a "centrifugal force" thinging. It's one of those where the machine spins so fast that it holds you to the side. We weren't sure about how Mollie was going to do but she loved it!





Titus enjoyed the old fashioned carousel!

Then it was off to the trains for Titus!

Evan Silas got into the action!

Pensacola Christian College Board of Reference

I am part the "Board of Reference" at Pensacola Christian College. Every other year, they fly us to Pensacola so that we can see what's going on. I enjoy going even though I have to spend the time away from Stephenie and the kids.

One new thing is that the Campus Church has a new pastor, Dr. Neal Jackson. The interesting thing is, Dr. Jackson and I were roomates while were in college. We both graduated in 1993. Although he is very busy, we were able to spend some time together catching up on "old times."

We also have a few students at Pensacola. I took a suitcase with me that was filled with almost nothing but "care items" for our college students. I felt pretty silly with an empty suitcase on the flight back.

Ramblings of an Old Man

It's been awhile since I last "posted." Since that time I have turned 35. I was asked if I felt any different! I told them that I am actually looking forward to turning 40. My youth group threw me a little party on Wednesday night! It was very thoughtful of them! They're a great group of kids - not perfect - but I love them none the less!

(Check out Stephenie's blog for pictures. There's no sense in posting them twice.) Last weekend Jeremiah and I went to The Wilds for one of their Father/Son Campouts. No, we don't actually camp out. We stay in cabins but all of the activities are held outside around a campfire. There were probably 60 or so fathers and sons that covered all ages! It is a great time just to be with your son. The preaching is encouraging and challenging. There are plenty of activities. We enjoyed the archery range, the sling shot range, "Gazeeball," canoeing, the lake zipline, the land trolley, etc. You can check out the camp at http://www.wilds.org/. On Saturday, all the fathers and sons hiked to the "2nd Falls" where we had lunch. The food at these campouts is spectacular! After lunch we were able to play around in the water. Jeremiah loves nature and exploring. He is not afraid of "the unknown." After we arrived back at the campsite we went to the camp's lake. One of the highlights was when Jeremiah climbed to the top of the 20 foot jump off tower at the lake and jumped! Did dad do it? No! A gentleman about my size did it just before Jeremiah and he actually hit bottom. I didn't want to get stuck in the mud on the bottom. We got back home Saturday evening. Titus is excited about the fact that he will be able to go with us next year!

1st Degree Murder...

Since arriving home from our youth group missions trip, we have continued to stay busy.

The week following our missions trip, I had jury duty. This was my first experience with the court system in North Carolina.

I arrived at the Mecklenburg Courthouse on Monday, August 20th. I waited all day long to be called. We were told that there were 3 trials going that were in need of jurors. Around 4:00 PM, my name, along with 24 others, was called.

The deputy sherriff escorted us to an empty court room where we were asked to fill out a very specific questionare. After we all finished, we were informed by the deputy sherriff that our "jury pool" was need in order to fill the last two "alternate juror" spots for a capital murder case! The defendant was being accused of 1st degree murder for allegedly shooting his wife and 1 year old daughter. We all thought that it wouldn't take too long to fill the last two spots. (We were told that the judge and lawyers had alreay gone through 180 potential jurors over the course of the past 5 weeks. We couldn't believe it!) One of the main reason is that the only two possible punishments for someone who is convicted of first degree murder, in the state of North Carolina, is either the death penalty or life in prison without parole. We also learned that, although in most other cases, the judge determines the punishment, in the case of 1st degree murder, the jury is responsible for also determining whether the individual is put to death or spends their life in jail.

What we thought would not take long took all the way until lunchtime on Wednesday. I was never questioned as a potential juror. However, had my name been called, I'm sure I would not have been chosen. I'll tell you why.

I strongly believe in the death penalty. That would not have kept me out of the jury. If an individual would tell the judge that they opposed the death penalty, he would ask, "Could you set aside your convictions and beliefs long enough in order to give the defendant a fair trial?" Each time the potential juror would say, "No." to that question. That made me think though and do some soul searching in the opposite direction. Allow me to explain.

The individual was on trial for and was accused of 1st degree murder which is cold-blooded, intentional murder. As I looked at the defendant I knew that I could give them a fair trial and assume their innocence until it was proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they were guilty. However, if they were convicted of 1st degree murder, I could not have even considered a punishment other than death. My belief in the Bible, particularly Genesis 9:6, leads me to believe that the punishment for such murder should be death with no other option (such as life in prison without parole). And, although I believe that we have the best form of government in the world, and the best system of courts and law (Yes, I know it is still flawed. It will be as long as their is sin in the world!), I could not set aside that Biblical conviction simply because the state of North Carolina asked me to.

Long post...I know...Hope you read it all.

I'm Tired...

The Wilds, 2007 - Final Photos

One of the last things that you see as you leave camp is the verse, 2 Timothy 3:14, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;"

Our prayer is that the teenagers will remember the things that God taught them during the week of camp and that they will continue to live according to those Biblical principles.

The Wilds, 2007 - We're Home!

We safely arrived at home by 1:30 PM on Saturday afternoon! We left camp at 9:30 AM. After a short time of the young people "releasing" some energy by way of their team chears, they finally settled down and most of them went to sleep. We have, in the past, stopped at Forest City (on Highway 74) for lunch. However, since the young people were asleep, I decided to enjoy the quiet a little bit longer. We stopped in Shelby for lunch. The Burger King that we stopped at would not accept credit cards (Their machine was broken.) so, while our kids ate, I left Stephenie with them and went to Wendy's just up the block.

We had a great week! The young people will share their testimonies during our Youth Service next Sunday night, July 29 at 6:00.

I'll post some more pictures of the week on our church website.

The Wilds, 2007 - The Final Day

It has finally arrived - Friday! For me, the week has gone by quickly. For Stephenie, it has gone by like every other week. She is eager to get back home and see our other children, Mollie, Titus, & Silas, who have been keeping MeMa Moulson company.

Watching the teens play "Tube Tug" today was quite exciting! You should have seen Donna Rowson trying to push a tube, that was twice as big as her, back across her line. She ended up getting flipped backwards! It was quite a sight. Oh! Wait a minute. You will be able to see it! I video taped the whole thing.

The young people are tired and ready to come home! They have all had a great week making memories and making friends. This will be a week that the teens will not soon forget.

Stephanie Guzman & Alexandria Gonzalez, along with their cabin and counselor are going to the Shoals to have Smores this afternoon. I'm not sure what everyone else is going to be doing. When I asked Tim & Levi what they were planning to do, they just shrugged their shoulders.

Tonight is the fireside service. This service is always a very special time. It gives teenagers, who have surrendered their lives to God before, the opportunity to renew that commitment to God. It also gives the other teenagers the opportunity to surrender their lives to the Lord.

This afternoon at lunch, Stephenie & I met The Hill's who are missionaries to the Navajo Indians in Arizona. They brought a group of Navajo teenagers to camp this week. The Hill's know Pastor and Mrs. Scott from their years at Tennessee Temple. The group had to drive 5 hours to the airport, then fly to Charlotte, then drive to The Wilds. It was a long trip for them. At least they didn't have to drive the entire way. Just their beign here is a demonstration of God's rewarding of their faith. One of their church members, when discussing how they could get a group of teens to The Wilds, said, "If we can build a new church building by faith, why can't we send our teens to camp by faith!" Enough said. They made it to camp!

Well, until tomorrow.....

Pastor Campbell

The Wilds 2007 - Family Reunion

Today, Thursday, was the day for "Family Reunions" at The Wilds. After lunch, we gathered all of our teenagers together for a short time of fellowship. We provided them with candy, gum, suckers, Gatorade, etc. that we purchased at Wal-Mart on Tuesday. We then gave them the opportunity to share some testimonies of what they have learned during the week. I also gave them a short Bible challenge that was based on some of the spiritual lessons they have learned during the week.

I stay busy "running" back and forth between the Juniors and the teenagers trying to video tape them participating in the games and activities. As much as the young people "hate" seeing me with a camera in my hand, they enjoy seeing the pictures later and remembering the great time they had.

The Junior Boot Campers played "Spoke Tag" this evening and the teenagers played "Feetball." Some of our teen girls don't get as involved as I would like to see them. The teenagers seem to have more fun when they "wholeheartedly" participate in the games. Tomorrow, Friday, is one of the teenagers favorite games - "Tube Tug!" That's always an enjoyable one to watch!

(Sorry, there's no picture today. Something was wrong with the internet to where I could not upload one to my blog!)

The Wilds, 2007 - Water Wars

Today, Stephenie & I went into Brevard with the "former" Meredith Plyer and her husband. Meredith's husband, John, is the Youth Pastor at Providence Baptist Church in Augusta, GA. We went to Wal-Mart to get some things for "Family Reunion Time" which is on Thursday afternoon.

We got back to camp in enough time to see the Junior Boot Camp's "Water Wars!" All of our Junior Boot Campers are having a great time!

Then we saw (and video taped) the teenagers playing a game called the "Buzz Saw." It's a crazy variation of musical chairs. (It's quite interesting to see over 800 teenagers playing musical chairs all at once!)

During free time, I (Joseph) manned one of the new "squirt guns" that have been installed down by the creek. Witihin minutes I was completely drenched!

After spending some time with the young people this afternoon, we came back to our room so that I could get a shower after my experience with the water cannons. Stephenie laid down to take a "sanctified" nap.

All of the young people are doing great! When asked, "Are you ready to go home?" they respond, "No." Don't worry, though, they will be ready by Saturday morning to get back to the own bed!

Don't forget to be in church (at SCBC) on Sunday night, July 29th. That is our Youth Service. The young people will be giving testimony from their week at camp. We will also being showing video and pictures from the week. You won't want to miss it!

The Wilds 2007 - Goin' Tubin'

There is always plenty to do at The Wilds. Here's a picture of some of our girls preparing to go tubin' down the creek. They've added a new attraction to the creek. It's called "The Wild's Water Wars!" They have positioned and installed water guns (that are fed by the creek) along the banks of the creek so that bystanders can drench the tubers as they come into the home stretch. My wife had a blast today getting the teens wet with the water guns. However, Travis soaked her in return!

The Wilds 2007

We arrived safely at The Wilds (Brevard, NC) on Monday. This was our (Stephenie & Joseph) 8 trip to The Wilds since we have been at South Charlotte Baptist Church.

Two years ago, the engine on the bus overheated on the way "up" the mountain. The engine had to be rebuilt because of that. Last, the same bus, with a new engine, once again overheated on the way "up" the mountain. I was able to coax it up the mountain without doing any damage to it. Well, this year, I decided to go a little different way to camp which I didn't think would be as difficult for the bus. We went I-77 north to I-40 west to I-26 east to camp. Even though it wasn't as steep, it was enough of a grade over a long enough stretch that once again the bus overheated. I drove the bus on the shoulder for about 3 miles going 15 miles an hour. We made it again without damaging the bus.

All 20 of the young people did just fine. They got a little stir crazy about an hour from camp. After leaving Charlotte at 9:30 AM, stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks, we arrived at the camp at 2:30 PM which is when they begin registration.

There are over 1,100 campers and sponsors this week at The Wilds. That does not include The Wilds staff. That's a lot of people.

We are having a great time! Stephenie is doing well considering that Jeremiah is a camper for the first time this year! Her biggest concern is that he take a shower on a regular basis during the week!

The Wilds takes pictures all throughout the week and posts them on their website. Check it out, you may see one of your children!

I may post more later this week if I get a chance! If not, we'll see you on Saturday!

Recent Happenings!

It's been awhile since I posted anything.

I had the privelage of baptizing Jeremiah and Titus last night in church. They have both been saved yet we had not been "pushing" them to be baptized. We would talk with them (and pray for them) about baptism every chance we would get. Well, a young boy was baptized yesterday morning during the church service. This gave us opportunity to talk with them again while eating lunch. They both decided that they wanted to be obedient to God and be baptized so we decided to do it in the evening service. (Being a good independent Baptist church we always have the baptistry ready!)

I haven't gotten a lot of sleep recently. I am trying to, in a week, completely remodel the kid's bathroom (minus the shower/tub). Stephenie would like it to be finished before we go to camp next week. I'll post some pictures later.

Finally Finished!

The siding on the house was finally completed this past Friday afternoon. The last thing that they did was put new gutter up. The house looks great! We have had quite a few comments from people about how the siding looks. We just have a little bit left to do on the deck.

Progress - In Several Ways!

From the following pictures you should be able to see the progress that is being made on the siding to our house. Just is the little bit that has been done we can tell that the house is going to look beautiful when it is finished and that between the new deck and the siding that the value of the house is sure to go up as well.

We've made "progress" in other ways as well. A couple of weeks ago, we were informed that the rack & pinion system (steering) of our van was in need of replacement. The cost of replacement would have be close to, if not over, $1,000. After praying about the situation and also getting some guidance/advice from my father and Stephenie's father, we decided that it would be better to "bite the bullet" (Dad Campbell's advice) than it would be to "nickel and dime" (Dad Campbell's advice) our old van. (Rest assured that Dad Moulson's advice was the same although he did not use the same words!) (As a side note - Had we known that we were going to have to purchase a new vehicle, we would not have spent the money to side the house and put a new deck on. It's "funny" how God works things out. Romans 10:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to those who are the called according to His purpose.")

Well, after a week of searching and praying, we finally purchased a new van. It has everything that we had wanted in a new van. Allow me to give you the specs: 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan, 27,000 miles, stow and go seating, installed DVD system, (the kids were excited about that one) and the list could go on.

The final price tag was $13,900. The same van, everywhere else we looked was anywhere from $16,000 to $18,000. This also happened to be the very first van that we looked at last week. The Lord allowed us to wrap the deal up at just the right time. We are going to be travelling to Durham tomorrow afternoon in order to attend the high school graduation of 2 of Stephenie's nieces and one of her nephews.

Why do we feel that we needed to purchase a new van? The following picture should answer that question.

For the past several weeks I have had to add power steering fluid to our "old" van on a daily basis!

Finally, pray for Stephenie. She has had a stomach virus today. I had it yesterday and spent more time in the bathroom than I did anywhere else. I felt terrible! The only thing that I ate yesterday were two packs of crackers and a toasted peanut butter sandwich. She is still lying on the coach. She hasn't moved a whole lot from that position today. However, she handles pain and discomfort a whole lot better than I do.

Until next time!

Home Improvement, Continued

As you can tell from the pictures, the deck is in the process of being built. Two men from our church and one former church member all came over on Saturday morning to help in the construction. Two of those men have spent many years in construction and so this was an "easy" job for them. By Saturday afternoon the deck was finished. All that remained was the stairs and the railing.

I have been shoppoing for a new grill for awhile. Saturday afternoon, while at Home Depot, I has approached by a salesman, as I looked at the grills, who asked me if I would be interested in last year's model. (The HD distrubution center had sent them a couple.) He said that the price was $100. When I saw the grill I paid them the money and came back later in the afternoon to pick it up. That same grill, this year, costs over $200. Thank the Lord that I was in the right place at the right time. It works like a champ!

Home Improvement, Part (I've stopped counting!)

I truly have stopped counting! Because our siding contractor is a small, family business, if problems arise on a jobsite, it delays him in other areas. Needless to say, he was supposed to start this morning, but was held up. The material was delivered tonight but we don't have anyone to put it on. He is to call me tomorrow to give me an idea of when he'll be able to start. The Lord is allowing our patience to be tested.

Also, we have been unable to get ahold of the mobile mechanic that repaired our power steering pump on the van. It has developed a leak and it is still under warranty. Stephenie thinks he is ignoring us. I'm beginning to wonder myself. We have to get it fixed, though. We have to go to Raleigh next week for a graduation.

With the van "under the weather" I bought Stephenie a pre-paid cell phone so that she can call me if she gets "stranded" by the van. We'd love to buy a new van but with having just taken out a home eq loan to pay for the siding and other improvements on the house, I can't see how we could afford a vehicle payment right now. It's all in the Lord's hands! He's never let us down and I doubt He'll will!

Until next time!

Home Improvement, Part 4 - The Saga Continues

Last Thursday evening, I began in ernest to demolish the back deck.

I spent the entire day on Friday working on the demolition. At times, it was slow and tedious but it wasn't too difficult. The hardest thing was taking down the 2x10 that was how the roof of the deck was attached to the house.

I spent Saturday afternoon working on the demolition. The pile of debri continued to climb. I wasn't looking forward to hauling it off. Our city taxes pay for large trash to be hauled off. However, we have to "prepare it" and then drag it to side of the street. Preparing this trash meant removing the nails from the wood or driving the nails completely into the wood. I did haul off the roofing material to the local landfill. I would have been too much work to pull all the roofing nails out of the plywood.
I took a vacation day on Monday so that I could finish the demolition. Finally, late Monday afternoon, I finished the demolition and clean up of the deck. I discovered that there was some dry rot to the house band. I am having a general contractor, who is a member of our church, come to look at the spot to see if it will be okay or if it needs to be repaired. I think that I will be okay to simply treat the wood so that it doesn't disinegrate anymore.

This is what our deck looks like sitting by the edge of the road (minus the roofing).

Home Improvement, Part 3

Demolition on the back porch continues...