Tami is going to Oaxaca, Mexico, for 51/2 months starting the end of June. She's a friend of mine from Tree of Life, and we work together at Source. She's going to learn Spanish and work with a couple in Oaxaca, learning the ropes of missionary life. So, she needed good photos for her newsletters! Glad I could be of service.




We went downtown in New Braunfels and prowled around behind the Brauntex Theatre. Next we moved on down Castell Street to use the huge mural painted on the side of the buildings depicting the historical journey of German immigrants to Texas.

It was getting pretty warm (hey it's Texas!) so we tried to hurry and find places in full shade. I was shooting with the Canon 50mm 1.4 lens (thanks Chris!) but since it can be pretty soft wide open at 1.4, I left it on 1.8 or 2.0 per Krissy's advice. :) And it worked!

Hey all!

Just a quickie: I've turned in ALL my moolah for our trip to Turkey this June! Many, many thanks to all who gave and all who are praying! Our team is pruned to six: Mark Balderson (team leader), Larry and Judy Anderson, Beatrice Gonzales, Randi Hamm and me! All of us except Randi went last year. I haven't met her yet, but I should meet Randi tonight at our planning meeting. I hear she's very cool. :)

Our International Conference is August 5-9 in Kerrville, TX. I'm paying our fees in steadily; it's about $365 for me and Hannah to go. The directors believe that God will provide $45,000 for all us missionaries from around the world to come! That money would cover all the missionaries' hotel rooms and lunch for all 4 days, including their children. I'm tentatively scheduled to teach two workshops, one on newsletters and a general one on "How to Present Your Ministry." If you donors and pray-ers and friends want to give me any opinions on what YOU think missionaries could do to improve their communication or presentation of ministry, please email me! I am grateful for input.

Grace Spell is putting together a mission trip to Spain and Morocco for September. I'm interested in going, and would like to take Hannah with me. She'll be nearly 13 (gasp!) and is bugging me to take her on a trip. It's been over 2 years since she went to China. I imagine the cost will be around $2500 per person.

It'd be great for me to go because I only know one of the three missionary families we have there, and I haven't worked with any of them. Plus, one of the families has a great desire to work with Muslims, and that's sort of become my field of interest, too. And it'd be nice to go with a team from New Covenant! I'll let you know what develops...

That's it for now. Our birdies in the petunia basket are growing FAST. Max came over Sunday afternoon and was fascinated. He did REALLY well for a 3-year-old; he never tried to touch them. Aleiah does NOT like birds. She cries whenever she sees Izzy, but Max thinks he's the coolest thing.

Happy Friday. I walked into the office manager's office this morning to ask a question and spied this box of Hershey's Kisses on top of the bookshelf. It was full of Kisses, brightly wrapped in red, green and silver foil.

I inhaled the scent of Kisses and immediately was transported 25 years back when I was little and would visit my Big Mama and Big Daddy's house in Cherry Creek. Danny, Big Mama's mama, had the back bedroom. Her bed had a brass frame and an inexpensive gold-colored spread (I thought it was lovely). Next to the bed was a small night stand with two or three drawers. I'd sneak in the room and open that top drawer, because it was always full of Hershey's Kisses. The smell of that drawer when you opened it was heavenly.

Danny's been gone 20 years or more, and Big Mama doesn't live in Cherry Creek anymore. But that bed and that little table still stand in the guest bedroom across the hall from Big Mama's.

Every once in a while I'll go back there and open that drawer. There aren't any Kisses anymore, but I still imagine the smell is there. The smell of my great-mother who lived 103 years and made the best blueberry pies in the world and watched "Days of Our Lives." The chocolate smell of memories.

Hi again! These are our new neighbors! This spring, we have a beautiful brown dove living in our petunia basket on the front porch. I tried to swish her away from my flowers so I could water the plant, and lo! I discovered two tiny eggs! We have been carefully watering their "house" and watching to see what happens!
This morning the petunias were particularly droopy, so I gingerly lowered the basket, to find these!! We have babies!!
Aren't they the ugliest little things you've ever seen? I think they're so cute! They are sleeping head to tail (or head to butt right now, they don't really have tails). I can't wait to show Max!
A week ago there was a TERRIBLE storm...you may have seen news of it on the TV. A tornado touched down near the TX/Mexico border, 180 south west of our town. That night, I lay awake for a little while, listening to the rain and watching the lightening, and I prayed for our little eggs and the mama swinging in the basket outside. I'm so glad they were protected.

God even cares about the smallest of His creatures.

Be blessed! Feel His love and His care! He cares for you. Love, R