Furlough Update July 25

We are now up in Redding. We made the drive yesterday afternoon from El Dorado after a couple nice visits with friends there. In the morning we met Del and Louise Freeman for breakfast at the Golden Waffle in Placerville. Joyce has known Louise since she was in high school and Del since the early 80’s. It was a lot of fun to sit with them for a while. In the early afternoon we met Bob and Jean Werum at their home in Folsom. Bob and Jean have been partners with our ministry since we began in 1984. We were so encouraged that they pray for us every day. I don’t have pictures of either meeting. All the pictures here are of the backyard garden at Joyce’s parents’ place. We made it up to Redding just before dinner time and enjoyed a quiet evening on the back porch with Joyce’s mom and dad.

We had a good week in El Dorado. In addition to the two presentations of our ministry at Camino Community and Gold Country Baptist Churches (see 2 previous posts) we got to spend a lot of time with my family and met with some other friends. If we keep eating at restaurants we may not fit into the airline seats! Joyce says that “eating out” at her parents’ place means going “out” to the garden, picking some fruit or vegetables and eating it. This is pretty much true although we have had some other things to eat too.

 

One of my favorite things to eat in California is the summer fruit. I am trying to get my fill of cherries, plums, peaches, and other summer fruit. This morning I had a peach-banana smoothie for breakfast. I had a bowl of cherries for dessert at lunch today. Last night I picked plums. In the picture you can see that the grapes are about ready. They look pretty good. I got under the grape arbor and took the picture looking up at the grapes hanging down above me. I took the picture late in the evening after dinner. We will be picking grapes soon.

We had a nice evening last night with Joyce’s mom and dad talking on the back porch and looking at the sunset. Though today it was over 105 degrees in Redding, last night was cool and pleasant. We talked until well after dark. Tomorrow after lunch we will leave Redding and head to Ashland, Oregon where we will speak Sunday morning at Ashland Bible Church. If you are in that area come and join us. We will be back in Redding on Monday for a few days before we head back to Scotts Valley. If you are near us we’d love to see you.