Our Thanksgiving photos are finally able to be uploaded... long story. But anyway, didn't Bailey set a beautiful table? It was so much fun! And even though the day is over, thankfulness is always in season, despite the pain in our world.

This morning is bleak.... just a bit overcast but not exactly cool. There are 2 really sick patients in one of our remote locations. They asked for an emergency flight Sunday night, which we hoped to do yesterday. Brian tried to get in there all day, but weather wouldn't allow it. This morning doesn't look much better. At least one of the patients is unsaved. We are asking God to spare her life so she can know Him and spend eternity with Him. Missionaries from the indigenous church have just recently begun teaching in her village, so she hasn't even heard the Good News of Jesus.

Garry and Josh are doing some more flying this morning... they've been burning up hours in the sky the past few days. Josh is doing a great job getting used to flying again and Garry is enjoying their time together.

Just got a text that Brian is in the location of the patients, but bad weather is coming quickly. I'll update when we find out the end of this story for the day. This morning I read in Psalms that God is two things: both strong and loving. What a wonderful Father we have who does all things well!

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! We enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday with our aviation partners. We had a traditional meal complete with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce! We really enjoyed our time with our friends-- chatting, cooking, and watching the kids entertain one another.

This morning Garry went flying with Josh, our new pilot in Palawan. He is just beginning to fly here on the field, and his first step is to get some hours and then have an official checkride with a national check pilot. He's hoping to get the required hours this week as well as getting comfortable in the airplane after a couple of years of not flying. We're also looking forward to some time together as families over the coming week.

Kevin has a big toe injury this week, so he hasn't been playing badminton. The advantage is that he's had more time to do other things, like ride his bike and study hard. It really is amazing how a toe injury can affect you.... one toe hurts, and he spent several days barely able to walk. The toe has a purpose, and when it doesn't do its part it's hard to stay balanced.

I started writing Christmas cards this week. What a great opportunity to remember our friends and relive good memories of times together. I am so grateful for each of you!

Garry just called from Palawan. They've been working hard on the engine inspection today and found a cylinder with low compression. He was planning to come home tomorrow, but he may stay another day if they need to change the cylinder. I guess they need to fly it in the morning and test it again... techie talk from a non-techie.

I finally got the photos from the guys time at the hangar last Saturday on my computer. So here are a few of them.

We spent Saturday in the city and enjoyed some great badminton. The badminton community here is quite small and appears to be quite fractured. It was a privilege to get some "warring sides" together for some games and see good camaraderie. A small step of reconciliation, but I think God smiles. Small steps, and we as a family wonder where they will take us.

On the way to the city we stopped at a small gas station and filled the tank and bought some ice-cream (for breakfast-- it was the healthiest option there). When we took it to the check out counter the lady needed to scan it, which is rare in a small store here. Anyway, Kaleb was holding his cone and the lady looked at him and asked, "Can I borrow that, ma'am?" It took us a few moments to figure out what she wanted and who she was talking to!

This evening the boys and I started putting up the Christmas tree. We didn't get it quite done because we have a major problem with the lights... only about a quarter of them worked when we plugged the tree in. Here in the Philippines we feel we're getting a late start as most of town has already been decorated for a few weeks. But since it's before American Thanksgiving it still seems early to us. The dilemmas of living in a second culture...

Ever feel like you're looking at the back of even the slowest vehicle on the road of life? Ever have the sense that while everyone else is going somewhere you're more or less standing still? It's not a fun feeling. And it's usually more rooted in our fear of failure and our tendency to compare than it is rooted in reality. Nonetheless, sometimes I feel that way....

I should blog more often, I should make school more interesting, I should answer letters more quickly, we should invite the neighbors over for dinner, I should get more exercise, I should make healthier meals, I should be more spontaneous or more scheduled, we should be more.... the list is endless! Yet God's words to us are never those of condemnation. He does convict us, but He never condemns us. He sees us through the blood of Jesus! He has made us new, and He is committed to conforming us to the image of His Son day by day.

Enough pondering! This week Garry has been helping Brian between flights and doing a little flying himself. He's also spent a lot of hours in the office, catching up on e-mails, parts orders, and program paperwork. This weekend he's headed back to Palawan to sign off the annual there.

Kevin and Kaleb are still studying hard. School is going well and they are making progress, seeing the halfway point of the school year getting somewhat closer.

The airplane is back in the air, helping our missionaries accomplish the job God has given them! We are so thankful that our paperwork was approved on Wednesday afternoon. Brian has been doing a lot of flying to get back in top form and Garry has done some flying as well.

Today Brian picked up some people from one of our remote locations. They are native speakers of the language our missionaries are translating the Bible into. This week they'll be here in town helping our missionaries check their current translation of Exodus. Soon our missionaries will be back in the remote location, continuing work on the translation and disciplining local believers.

Garry and the boys are at the hangar today. Garry is planning to do some flying himself in preparation for more checkout that he will do soon with one of our new pilots. He and the boys will also wash and fuel the plane to shorten Brian's day a bit.

I'm enjoying some quiet time at home and catching up on some things I've had waiting for me in the office. I'm also trying to get a little cooking done today. I had a nice chat with Mom B this morning... being able to talk on the phone is truly a blessing! I had also hoped to talk to my mom, but the internet has been poor, so we couldn't connect when she had time to talk.

God does all things well... I've been pondering the implications of that this week again. No reason to worry, no reason to fear, no reason to hurry or be impatient. Grounds for faith and hope. Grounds for peace. A solid promise on which to build life!

Crazy Friday blended right in to Crazy Saturday, Unexpected Sunday, and Get-Going Monday....

We actually had lots of fun on Saturday driving to the city (it's about 3 hours, more or less), doing a little shopping, seeing the chiropractor, taking the boys to badminton, and wrapping it all up with ice-cream with a friend. Lest you get the wrong picture of our illustrious city, here are some photos of the normal traffic there and a look at the wiring.

Sunday we slept in a bit then had breakfast at the hotel, went swimming, and headed out for lunch before parting ways with Garry. He was headed to Manila and the rest of us were coming home. We were nearly out of town when Garry called to say his flight had been delayed a few hours.

While we were driving home it started pouring and looked like late evening by 3 pm. All considered we made good time. While we were enjoying supper we got a call from Garry that his flight had been cancelled. A few minutes later he called to say that maybe they were going to do it after all. In the end he spent the evening standing in different lines for different things. Around 10:30 pm he got to a hotel and called it a day.

Garry took the first available flight to Manila, which was this afternoon. It was thankfully quite boring today! Now he's at our mission guesthome and the boys and I are home doing school and keeping the dog fed. Garry had some things planned for this evening, but both of them got cancelled, so he had some time to touch base with friends and still call it an early night.

It's getting late, I'm getting old, or both. You see, I can't seem to remember what else I wanted to blog about today.....

Good morning... crazy Friday here! It should be a calm day, but so far it hasn't felt like that. I did have a nice walk with Garry this morning and a good chat with my mom. But I'm feeling the pressure of a lot of things that need taken care of today.... or that I think need taken care of, to be more accurate. God's perspective on it is what I really need, because what HE is doing WILL be accomplished!

The guys turned in the paperwork last Friday, but the lady who is supposed to take the payment for processing the papers hasn't been in the office. We continue to pray and wait expectantly for His will to be done. Soon several of our teams will be doing translation checks and it would be a big benefit to have the airplane flying again then, from our perspective. But again, our perspective isn't the one that matters!

Tomorrow we will head to the city for the day and on Sunday Garry will head off for some leadership meetings.

The boys did, in fact, get a badminton trainer. Coach Roy spends about 6 hours on the bus to come train the boys for 3 hours. Amazing, isn't it?! He's a very good trainer and has already been helpful to the boys.

Oh, and I finally got the photos of Garry... I'm posting a few today and changed some of the photos from last week.