Harper's Ferry

"Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,"
Psalm 98:8

We recently had the pleasure of visiting the historic -- and totally charming -- old-time village of Harper's Ferry. The site of many significant events in our nation's history, it was also refreshing opportunity to get out of the bus and do some hiking and exploring!

Of course, our favorite part of the outing was the fact that we had oodles of time spent with our beloved Mr. & Mrs. Dan Beasley. We've officially decided that we love traveling to Virginia! *smile*

"Hello blog world!"

As the Days Fly By

The gentle breezes of the Lake Erie shore gave a refreshing hour of delight last week. We've spent much of the past several days in Ontario, Canada enjoying both the gorgeous colors of autumn and the encouraging fellowship of the saints.

In addition to several music concerts, Dad also taught a 'Family LIFE Conference' in Canada. We were so encouraged by the dozens of young families who came, soaking in the teaching of Biblical principles. There was obviously a desire to raise a generation to love the Lord!




Admittedly, this has been a very full trip for our family. Yesterday was actually our first 'free' day since we left on September 9th. There have been many miles of travel, many opportunities to share, many rich conversations. And intertwined have been the moments of 'real life': piles of laundry, schoolwork, grocery shopping and meals, preparations for Branson, finalizing details for our new CD...and the list continues!

But along the way, the Lord has given these moments of rest. Time to soak in His Word and enjoy His creation. Time to pull back from the craziness and rejoice in Him.

And somehow, it's those quiet moments spent resting in Him that enable the rest of the schedule to function. He is faithful!

"Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds."
Psalm 36:5

Charissa

Happy 4th Birthday Charissa!

C heerful

H elpful

A ffectionate

R ollicking

I maginative

S ociable

S weet

A ctive

"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen"
2 Peter 3:18

CD Update

Newsflash: We are still 'in the works' with our latest CD recording. Regretfully, several roadblocks have been slowing down the process. But we are slowly plugging away at all the details that need to be completed in the coming days and we covet your prayers! We hope to have the 'pre-order' option on our website soon as we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Thank you in advance for your prayers for this project. We are very excited about the quality of the recording -- and especially the message of each of the 15 songs!

"Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing."
Psalm 100:2

Elizabeth

Happy 21st Birthday Elizabeth!

E ager

L oving

I ndustrious

Z ealous

A thletic

B rilliant

E nergetic

T ender

H ospitable

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Cor 15:58

Josiah & Abi

Happy 2nd Anniversary Josiah & Abi!

"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
Zeph 3:17

Songbook!

Almost every week I get an email requesting sheet music for many of our songs. Unfortunately, while we do read music, all of our family arrangements are played 'by ear'. Thus, we've never made the time to write out all our lyrics, chords, and arrangements.

However, our good friends at Bright Lights have created a songbook to accompany our latest recording, "Let My Life be a Light". We're so excited to offer this songbook for sale -- and we're impressed with the high quality of their labors. It includes the lyrics, piano accompaniment, and chords for each song.

Until I get the songbook information uploaded to our family site, you can purchase the songbook directly from Bright Lights by clicking here.

We pray this is a blessing to you and your families!

"Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."
Psalm 30:4

Homeschool Family Camp

We just completed our week at Homeschool Family Camp. What a blessed time! With seventeen families to fellowship with and learn from, each day was a kaleidoscope of activity and and encouragement.

This year our theme was from 1 Corinthians 16:13-15, and we were challenged to hear the various testimonies of families making an impact in their communities for Christ. Whether its traveling in music ministry, sponsoring a summer "Bible-study in the park", mowing lawns to meet and minister to neighbors, there are so many ways to reach out in our world! We were each challenged to earnestly pray for the Lord to "prepare us and place us where we can be most fruitful for Him!"

We enjoyed a variety of activities during the four days:

Instrument worshops

Potato shooters

Skits to illustrate teaching points

Tug -of- war

Strong men!

We're already looking forward to Camp 2011!

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men,
be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.
1 Cor 16:13-14

Reunion Concert

This year marked the 10 year anniversary of our first trip to sing at the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Over the years, it has truly become a 'reunion' for our family as we look forward to seeing hundreds of familiar faces, friends, and family [and many of you blog readers!] that have literally watched our family grow up.

But this year, it became a "reunion" in a different way! Since our family is growing and spreading out, the moments we're together are becoming few and far-between. So you can imagine our surprise, elation, and squeals of delight when we discovered that Josiah decided to fly the rest of the family to Mt. Pleasant for the day! We spent 12 amazingly delightful hours together -- which included two very memorable concerts.

Thankfully, our wonderful sister-to-be, Kori, captured some of the priceless moments:

Charissa singing "God Bless America"

With two banjo players in the family now, we had to have a "dueling banjo" challenge!

Stiff competition, Andrew?!?

Joanna never lacked for attention...

...but didn't quite know what to think about the enthusiastic crowd!

And a reunion concert isn't complete without singing "Praise God."

And as an added twist, Bethany's lil' look-alike took the mic to give it a try!

Such fun!

Praising God together...

...and lovin' every minute of it!


"Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"Let God be magnified!"
Psalm 70:4