I'm alive! Today we're in Mason City, IA. It's a little rainy and cold but we're doing alright. Sorry this is so short. Going to be in MN this weekend, pray for us when you think of us. It's been a great week and a half on the road! The bus wouldn't start for us twice now but they got it working again. The generator is still working but we're trying not to use it.

Till next time....

We're off!!! Leaving in a few minutes for 7 weeks. We're way to relaxed. I'll check in as often as I can.

Laters!

The Bible is proven true again. Does that surprise us?

Check this young man's xanga out, he has some special news he wants to share with everyone!

I don't feel like writing today sooooo....

Before:

After:

First of all, Happy Birthday to Izzy! Hope you have an awesome day and hope you're having good weather like we're having here in MA.

Second, it's the 4th anniversary of 9/11. It's hard to believe it happened 4 years ago. I remember where I was when I heard the news. I was up in my room working on remodeling. (For my 17th birthday they gave me a room makeover, they helped the first month, I had to finish. : ) So I came down stairs for something and mom told me what happened and told me to turn on the radio. One week later my grandmother died. Kinda of a sad time all around. Still, God is good and on the throne no matter what we go through. Through her funeral we were given a banjo and that started the bluegrass division of the MacDonald Family Singers. God works in mysterious ways.

I spent a better part this warm day cleaning the driveway, working on the bus and shoveling dirt. We got a bunch of work done. I think we’re all ready for Sunday, the day of rest. : )

After a yummy Italian supper of spaghetti and meatballs I sat down to work on my baby which has been out of commission for weeks now. The new strings (Red Label and Prim) came last week and I was excited about trying them. Dad put the gut back on which I was afraid to do alone and after I put on the fine tuners and glued the nut back on I started to tune it up. It would NOT tune up. The bridge keeps popping out and the whole assembly seems to be crooked. WAAAAAA! Alrighty, enough griping about my petty fiddle troubles. Someday we’ll make sweet music together again…. Someday.

This is the promised pic of the little sweetie mouse that the kids treed.

: P

Have a great weekend!

The count down is on! By the end of next week we should be on the road again. I don't know how often I'm going to be near a computer to blog... you'll just have to check back once in a while to see.

On the way to work I nearly bumped into this guy coming out of a bar. So, I handed him an IQ test and walked off. I'm having second thoughts about giving tracts out men if I'm alone after he yelled after me 'hey, do you want to go out sometime?" SCARY! Not on my life mister. I gave another one away to a lady not far from that same spot and she thanked me for it. I was so surprised. Hardly anyone thanks me for one. The million dolar bills are popular. Although I did have a little gal, probably 6 years old turn me down. :p

Check out Lora's and Lindsay's Blogs for first hand information from a shelter in Texas and at the Astrodome in Huston.

Till next time...

Please remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Here is some news from Indonesia through Christian Aid.

Call to Prayer amid Escalating Persecution in Indonesia

Three women sentenced to prison after leading Sunday school

In light of shocking news from Indonesia, Christian Aid’s contacts there have called for 21 days of fasting and prayer September 7 – 21.

On Thursday, the international Christian community was stunned when three Christian women were found guilty by a court on West Java of “deceitful conduct, a series of lies and enticements to seduce children to change their religion against their wills.” Dr. Rebecca Laonita, Mrs. Ratna Mala Bangun and Mrs. Ely Pangesti were duly convicted and have begun a three-year term of imprisonment.

They had been targeted by Indonesia’s Islamic Council for holding a Sunday school program attended by Christian and Muslim children, all of whom had their parents’ permission to participate. Parents even attended some activities, which included games and visits to the zoo, with their children.

The women were accused of wrongdoing using the following excerpt from the hadith, Mohammed’s recorded sayings: “Every child is born in the state of purity [Islamic religion].” To cause a child to stray from the way of “purity” (Islam) is therefore considered a grave offense. Accusers alleged that, because the Sunday school program was an enjoyable time for children, the women were enticing them away from Islam.

According to Christian Aid’s contact, the first Muslim child to attend was the daughter and granddaughter of prostitutes who “did not want the child to go down the same path” and specifically requested the women accept her to the program. This girl apparently enjoyed Sunday school and recruited several of her Muslim friends to attend.

Despite such evidence that children were not enticed or deceived to attend, the Christian women were accused and put on trial for several weeks in a courtroom continuously dogged by Muslim radicals. Muslims, many carrying weapons, swarmed the court, yelled Islamic slogans and threatened witnesses, lawyers and even judges. On the day the verdict was read, extremists apparently arrived at court with a coffin in which they claimed they would bury the accused if they were not found guilty.

According to Christian Aid’s contact in Indonesia, this kind of intimidation is only one example of widespread persecution increasing across the country. He says, “Over 150 churches have been destroyed or closed down in Jakarta and throughout the island of Java over the last several years. In the last two months there have been 60 churches closed down, mainly in West Java.”

The dramatic case of the three Sunday school teachers on West Java highlights the troubling case of Christians in Indonesia. Their verdict will probably be appealed. Pray that true justice may be served.

Pray also for the entire Christian community in Indonesia. Christian Aid’s contact writes, “The churches in Indonesia do not stand alone. We are part of the international body of Christ, and we need your support at this time. Please join with use in a time of prayer September 7 – 21.”

For more information, write insider@christianaid.org and put E-ALERT 750-PERS on the subject line.

Christian Aid Mission email: insider@christianaid.org phone: 434-977-5650

I'm looking for the perfect gift for Bonnie's big 18th b-day. I'm so stuck. If anyone has any suggestions email me.

We haven't even released our first album but I'm thinking it would be fun to do a Christmas album! We wrote down a preliminary list of song we would like to do. It's nice because all the Christmas Carols are not copyright.

The driveway is still in a mess. At least it hasn't rained yet!

Bonnie's inspired me to take better care of my tresses. So, here's the before the TLC treatment.

What a full day we had! We left the house early and got home late. At the surprise birthday party we were at this afternoon this little gal was too cute. That poor frog looks a little stiff!

Some of the kids treed a mouse. I think Bonnie's going to post the picture of him. If she doesn't I will. He was SO cute. It was just a little tree too. Mouse sized!

We were able to sing at the party too. Seems like we’ve been doing a lot of impromptu singing recently. Two weeks count down to leaving on tour! It’s going to be so exciting getting back on the road again. The digital camera is going to come in handy taking pictures of all the beautiful western sunsets.

*yawn*

This is almost what I feel like tonight.

We started the daunting task of cleaning the driveway today! After we got it all torn apart we got the call to get over to our empty lot to move 80 yards of fill. Dirt, rocks, an and occasional root was flattened by hand. Well, the dump truck did pack some of it down, but we did most of it.

Tonight we played outdoors with the band out at a fireworks display. It was getting pretty cool out there as the night wore on. They surprised us and asked us to do some family numbers during halftime. It was great! I love a good surprise.

Well, it's getting late and we're singing tomorrow so I should go and get some sleep!

Happy September everyone! August has flown by and left some happy memories.

• my 21st birthday
• the bus passed inspection
• a new powered drivers seat for dad
• Vincent's 16th b-day
• my room was painted
• picture for the CD cover was taken
• BBQ at the empty lot

As we move forward into September the big topic is the trip. I started packing yesterday. Two shirts are in the 'go' pile. And I started to look for the right bags to put everything in. One problem with packing for a trip like this is everything we take gets washed over and over and over again, so we end up ruining everything we bring, or just about. So the key is to bring things you like but wouldn't mind throwing out or demoting to a work outfit when returning home. And since we will be in so many different climates having a summer, fall and winter clothing at your finger tips is important.

Till next time...