quick story

After watching the hurricane news with me yesterday morning, Katy sat down at the dining table and, with her saddest "such a shame" kind of face, said, "Mom, Mrs. Sippy lost her car in the flood." I was biting my cheeks trying not to laugh, so I didn't tell her that Mrs. Sippy is a state, but agreed that it is very sad that she's lost lots of cars in the flood.

Such a tender little heart!

weekend

Allison, we are so excited for you!! We are thrilled to be able to be there to celebrate with you on Sunday!

After going to orientation for the kids' new school last p.m., we've definitely decided to come home Sunday p.m. Is anyone going to be there on Fri p.m.? Can't wait to see you guys!

Anda

The lake......and stuff

Well, after reading everyone's blogs telling us of when everyone is going to be at the lake, we have decided to come either late sat. night or on sun. James' friend, Steven, got season passes to the UT football games and used James' employee discount, which means for him to even be able to get into the games, James has to go to the game with him. The first game is this Sat. night. We decided it's a good male bonding time for the guys. James needs that just as much as I need the girl time when I go play bunco every month. So......we won't be at the lake till after the game.

Now, for the other stuff. First, YEAH ALLISON!!! We definately can't miss that this weekend.
Second, we just found out that all our hard labor at work has paid off. We are now an accredited daycare. It's a really big deal to be accredited. It's also a big thing to be able to put on my resume that I helped a center become accredited.

Anyways, can't wait to see everyone this weekend and to see Mom's 17 roles of pictures from the trip.

April
P.S. Lena is kicking to say hello. She always kicks a lot when I'm on the blog, or on the Babies R' Us or Target websites.

Our Little Allison

I don't have time for a long post, but I wanted to let you all know that Allison has decided to be baptized at the lake this weekend. We are so excited that she has made this decision, and that she wants our family to all share it with her. We have checked and it looks like the best time is Sunday afternoon late. Tod, Lee Ann, Cary and Jill and their families won't be able to leave Midland until after church on Sunday. Hope you can all plan on hanging around until then.

The Church

Reading your blogs is so encouraging! Jamey preached on God's eternal purpose this a.m. - Christ being manifested through the Church (he's preached on this who knows how many times and yet somehow it is always "fresh"). He's always saying, "There is no Plan B!" Wall Family, did you ever dream you'd be doing this?! As Graham Cooke says, God is completely unchanging, but totally unpredictable! How else could He do more than we ask or imagine? Can't wait to hear about your first meeting!

Tod, I don't know how in the world you guys have any sanity keeping up with 4 kids who aren't wall flowers. I wouldn't think you were whining! I spent some time this afternoon trying to lay out my family's daily fall schedule and got a bit overwhelmed. I'm not sure we heard the Lord on letting McKenna try out soccer this year - RB thinks we missed Him on this one. We'll see - He is gracious and we can always drop something! We've got one week left until we dive in to this new school,etc. God may only have us there for one year, but we are very thankful. After leaving a get-to-know-the-new-teachers/parent dessert the other night at one of the school board member's homes, we left knowing that God undoubtedly has a purpose in us being there for whatever length of time we can. It's a new social "sphere" for us (one that we're not all that comfortable with, really), but I told RB that we cannot do the ministry God has called us to without many of these people - my sense is that God is going to use this time to make many divine connections in the city.

Not sure about our Labor Day plans yet. We're trying to figure out how to do the lake and still leave our kids margin to start a pretty strenuous schedule on Tuesday. May leave Sunday p.m.? Don't know yet, but we look forward to seeing everyone. Can't wait to hear more (and see the 500 pictures - ha!) of Alaska!

Blessings,
Anda

(normally, I'm not conscious at this hour, but was having trouble sleeping!)

Big Week, Big Day

I haven't posted in a long time, but this has been a big week for us so I thought I would share a little. Our kids start week 3 of school tomorrow. Anda, I don't know about 5 kids, but I know that our lives are very full with 4. I won't go into the schedule because it would sound like whining and you wouldn't be nearly as sympathetic as I want you to be. But it has occured to me that the level of inolvement required for a child to participate in even one activity was determined by someone that did not have more than two children. Earlier this week Alan and I were with a group of guys wondering if the world has gone crazy.

Today was one of the most exciting days I can remember. It was a least 10 years ago that I can remember thinking and talking about planting a new church locally. My mantra was "new churches reach new people." I didn't do much to bring it about, but to see it born in flesh and blood was overwhelming to me. It was a great day. Ben and Trisha are doing some great work. It will be fun celebrating for the next few months. I can't wait to see what God is going to do with this work.

This week the elders decided to give me a chance at the executive minister position that Mike Wiley had. I am not sure what all that means and I am a little overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, but I am as excited about this new role as anything I have ever done. The elders are supportive if cautious. I haven't told all the staff yet, but those who know are extremely supportive. I am grateful and humbled by that. We will announce it to the rest of the office support team and talk about it with all the staff tomorrow. I believe that I can serve Jesus here. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Our house is a couple of weeks from completion. I love it. It is going to be a wonderful place to live and minister. We can't wait. I love you guys. I am looking forward to labor day. We won't be there until Sunday afternoon, but we will enjoy the time we have.

Grace,
Tod

Overwhelmed

What a day it has been! After a much needed nap this afternoon, I have been reflecting on all evening. And the prevailing feeling is overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to God for how He has been at work to lead us to plant a church in Odessa. I'm overwhelmed and humbled to know that so many people are sacrificing a church family they love, friendships for them and their children, to come and be part of New Life. I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the men and women at GCR. I'm overwhelmed with joy at the opportunity to be doing what we're doing. I'm overwhelmed--just overwhelmed by what's ahead ahead--the magnitude of it, the eternal significance of it, the God-sizedness of it.

For those of you who weren't at GCR today, I'll give a brief recap of the morning. The worship time was very special, a video about why we're going, Ronnie's thoughts about why GCR is sending us, Tim's communion message describing the journey of "believing God" through this process, a commissioning of our group, and all our new church members gathering in the center of the auditorium, surrounded by the whole church singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." During class time they had a baby shower for us. We set up displays of (at least a sampling of) everything we will need to start a portable church--from the sound system and office supplies to hundreds of things for nursery through high school ministry. I've done more shopping this week than I can remember ever doing! After the second service, the New Life church gathered in the gym again to eat and break down everything.

Some ways God has confirmed His work in my life this week--
*I have been praying for a leader for our cradle roll--the only area still needing a team leader. God has sent Tamarie--a newlywed who has never taught cradle roll before, but is so excited about it! Last night after she spent hours setting up her display with all the baby things and teaching things--puppets, animals, baby Bibles, etc., she thanked me for all "her stuff"! She is so excited to have the opportunity to teach Elijah and whoever else God sends us each week. Inexperience shminexperience. God has sent just the right person for the job.

*Mary Cooper, music teacher at LBJ whose room will be our cradle roll, asked me today whose class Alex was in at LBJ. I had been dreading sharing with her that we'd decided to send him to MCS, and here was the moment. I told her, she hugged me and exclaimed, "I'm so glad! That is an answer to prayer! I've been so worried about him being there." She went on to explain that, while she loves the kindergarten teachers, their classes have at least 22 children and not much learning is going on and didn't speak highly of the LBJ environment in general--"morale problems".

I'm rambling. I'll stop for now, but I sure am feeling blessed tonight! I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend. Our plans are still uncertain. It looks like Ben will have to be here Saturday morning at least. We plan to stay through Monday, though.

On our way home

It is just past midnight here on the ship and we just had a time of worship with Jim, Liz, Dave and Donna. They have picked up our bags to prepare for an early unloading in the morning. We are scheduled to pick up a rent car and drive from Vancouver, BC to Seattle to catch Southwest to Midland via Las Vegas. We are due to arrive in Midland at 11:35 pm Sunday. Will call someone to pick us up. See you soon. Love, Dad.

Labor Day and Sitka

Rita and I are planning to be at the lake Labor Day weekend with tee shirts and all. Hope everyone can make it for some part of the time but know some have conflicts. I think Connor and Mitch may have their first football game of the season and surely Bailey has volleyball. We will just leave it up to each family to do as they choose. As far as meals go, I will let Rita speak to that later, probably after we get back to Midland.

Today we were in Sitka and an excursion watching bald eagles, sea otters and humpback whales. Perhaps the most interesting sight was walking onto a bridge over a stream in the forest just at the edge of town and seeing thousands of salmon as part of their spawning process. For the last month of their lives they do not eat and spend all their energy getting back to their birth place to lay and fertilize eggs then die. There were lots of dead fish on the banks and many in the water showed the coloration of deteriorating while others were still headed up stream to do their thing. Quite a sight!

We are at sea (our roughest water yet) on the way to Juneau tomorrow where we take a helicopter ride to a glacier and go on a dog sled ride. Tod, a pilot told me that a helicopter is not much more vulnerable to 'dropping out of the sky' than a wing plane is. The rotor free wheels and works a lot like a parachute coming down. Not to worry!

Love you all, DAD

bits of humor

A Luke story: Maybe there is no way to communicate the hilarity of this story, but if you can picture Luke...

We're sitting at our table finishing lunch over the weekend and Luke yells from the bathroom that he has pooped on the floor. After RB and I sit there kind of waiting to see who gets this one, RB valiantly stands and heads for the bathroom. After cleaning up, RB is back in the kitchen and we hear Lukey singing at the top of his lungs "You're never fully dressed without a smile." We look at each other and bust out laughing, but it's even more amusing when he emerges from the bathroom (still clueless that anyone else is on his planet) singing it again while walking around with no underwear on. If the kid ever truly realizes how funny he is, we're in trouble.

I've also been pondering lately if 5 kids is too many - I mean, obviously, it's not because God has ordained every single one. But I cannot count how many times I've been asked lately if they're all mine. Some people look amused, others look completely shocked, and some look at me like I'm crazy. About 3 weeks ago, a girl stopped me and asked if I was Catholic. Today, we were sitting having drinks at Sam's with Dad before we went shopping and these sweet little Mexican women were sitting beside us. After Randy left, the older one looks at me and asks if they're all mine. When I tell her that they are, she says that I have a beautiful family and that they just don't see many white people with big families. Okay, so maybe I'll start telling gawkers that we are fair-skinned Mexican Catholics! Ha!

Love y'all,
Anda

Jackson Hole pics

Labor Day & the poor

Just wondering if anyone knows the scoop about Labor Day weekend. Are we assigning different meals/grocery shopping again? Is this THE family weekend? Just checking!
Please keep us in your prayers - we're treading through this loving the poor/hearing the Lord TOGETHER/making hard decisions thing this week. LONG story, but we basically ended up saying no to Brandy's kids staying here for a week with their "dad" Dave (who is staying with us this week because he is temporarily homeless again). Randy also had to tell him that he couldn't be here when he wasn't home. We believe that we did hear the Lord on all this (the boundary issue is kind of a "no-brainer"), but it is still very hard to shut out guilt and walk in confidence (at least for me). We've been dealing with this non-stop since the night before we returned from Destin (yes, a single, somewhat clueless cell member called us in Florida trying to get us to make a quick decision about Dave living with us for the next 3 weeks). Anyway, the bottom line is that God is doing big things with me and Randy as we are learning to walk together in unity on the same mission. He is very good, and what He is doing is very good - but I was kind of ready to run back to the beach last night!! Ha!
Hope everyone's school kick-off was wonderful! We start 2 weeks from today, but our schedule is crammed full of pre - school activities and soccer practice before then! Back to life in the real world!
Love you guys - bless you all today with the revelation of the realness of Jesus!
Anda

We're cruisin'

Yesterday was one of the best excursions we have ever taken. A six hour boat trip from Seward, Alaska around the Kenai Fjords gave us super views of a 'calving' glacier, Orca (Killer) whales like Shamu breaching right beside our boat, little Puffin birds that dive 400 feet deep but can hardly fly, sea otters playing, dolphins racing along around and under the front of our boat, sea lions, all wonderful. We boarded the ship last night and today are cruising College Fjord on our way to Sitka tomorrow. Wish Conner were here to enjoy all the sea creatures. Maybe someday. Love, Dad

Congratulations Lee Ann and Bailey

Tod, we got your message about Lee Ann getting the results of her state nursing test. Congratulations, Lee Ann! We are proud of you for all kinds of reasons...staying on track to get all the course work done with flying colors, mentoring the other students, handling 'wife' and 'mom' roles admirably as usual and now getting over the final hurdle. "Nurse Brown" now ready for service.

And Bailey, we are pleased to hear that you won your volleyball tournament yesterday. Hope that is a preview of a wonderful season at the gyms across west Texas and beyond. We love you very much.

It is raining in Anchorage. We are to board the ever-present tour bus to take us to the excursion ship for a visit to the Kenai Fjords on the way to the ship in Seward. We are loving Alaska.

Our praise today will be special as we marvel at the wonders of this amazing world created by an amazing God.

Grandma and Grandpa

On to Anchorage

Hi kids!
Dad found a computer for a few minutes before we board the train for an 8 hour trip to Anchorage. Yesterday we spent the morning on the train, and 7 hours on a dusty school bus through the tundra. We saw beautiful caribou and even a bear wandering around.
We miss all of you and wonder what all is going on. We are enjoying our time with Jim and Liz and the other couple. Tomorrow we take a 6 hour cruise to get to the ship to board. Bus is ready, so bye for now. Love, mom

Checking in

Hey everyone! Just thought I would check in and see how everyone is doing. You all must be really busy with school starting up since there hasn't been much blogging lately. I guess that's what I have to look forward to someday. Work has been a little hectic for me this last week. We had 4 children with Croup in the last 2 weeks and I sent another one home yesterday with
102.9 fever. It's been major disinfecting the room week. I love the children in my class. It's a whole new class with new kids just moving up into my room, 8 of which came from the toddler class that I had before. The kids show me their love everyday which makes me feel good about the job I'm doing.

Lena is doing fine. She lets me know she's okay by moving all the time. She plays games with James. She'll kick a bit, and then when James puts his hand on my tummy, she stops. Then when he takes his hand away, she starts kicking again. They'll go back and forth with it for a bit and then she settles down. This morning we sat there and watched my tummy move. She was really kicking a lot. I'm enjoying being pregnant, and I'm getting quite a belly. Don't worry, I'm not gaining weight too fast. The last two doctor visits, I had gained 6 pounds at each visit. The visits before, I was either not gaining or gaining half a pound. The doctor says I'm doing just fine.

James is doing well too. Work keeps him busy. For the month of August, he was voted Employee of the month. He works very hard. I'm quite proud of him. Fatherhood is setting in. He's become quite the penny pincher. He's just trying to make sure that he can provide for his girls.

Hope everything is going well for everyone. Can't wait to see you all at Labor Day weekend. We miss you all. I miss Annie, Ashley and McKenna's silliness; playing games with Allison, Emily and Connor; watching Mitch get a kick out of blowing up food; seeing Reagan get excited about everything; watching Josh's eyes get big when Abby Claire catches a big frog; watching all the others scramble around to catch frogs; Luke just makes me laugh; watching Katy follow Abby Claire everywhere; catching Moriah with a marker and a blue mouth; and who can forget that contageous laugh that Elijah has. I also can't get over how much of a young lady and young man that Bailey and Hutton have become. They're all growing up. I just can't get enough of my family. God has blessed me so much, and I thank him for such a wonderful family.

Love you all!
April

We're home!

Hey family!
We loved our trip to Destin - we'll write details later and blog pictures. Thanks so much Dale and Rita! We were aware all week that it was a gift from you and thanked God for Grandma and Grandpa! More later!

Anda

Strother Simpson on QVC

Strother was on the plane with us to Seattle. He is there to do a live QVC appearance to sell his Toddy cold-brew coffee machines. He is to be on sometime after noon on Friday. If anyone gets a chance to record it I would like to see it since we had a chance to visit with him about it. DAB

Day one in Fairbanks

We landed to a valley full of smoke. They told us it has been that way most of the summer and is caused by fires started by lightning. Today, however, was clear and sunny, really beautiful and made for a great day of sightseeing on the river and at the gold mining dredge. We visited with Susan Butcher, the 4 or 5 time winner of the 1000 mile Iditerod dog sled race. She is one tough gal. Still raises and races sled dogs. We panned for gold and got the tremendous quantity of $12.52 worth! The day was more fun than either of us expected. We finished off with a salmon bake dinner and show about the history of Fairbanks.

Tomorrow morning early we head by train to the Denali National Park where we will spend the night then on to Anchorage. I will have to say that the idea of a guys' fishing trip to Alaska is more appealing than it was a couple of days ago.

Love, Dad

We're in Alaska

We made great connections and are in Fairbanks, Alaska to start our tour-cruise tomorrow. The sun does not go down until about 11:30 pm so we are going to bed before sundown for the first time I can remember. There is a three hour time difference so there is that to deal with too. We are looking forward to a great time with Jim and Liz and there friends, Dave and Donna. Lots of love. Dad

Family Baby Shower

I just wanted everyone to know that we are going to do a "family-style" baby shower for April & James on October 1st here in Midland. Since a lot of us wouldn't be able to go to Austin on Oct. 8th, we thought we would treat April to a lunch or dinner and then "shower" her at someone's house with gifts and dessert. Guys and kids will fit in somehow - either at the house for dessert, or for the lunch or dinner. Exact plans may change, but the date is set for Oct. 1st.

Randy and Anda, we know this is relatively easy for us to do here in Midland (around everyone's soccer, football, and volleyball schedule, of course!). We definitely want you to be a part of this if you can, but since you're the only ones that would have to load up a suburban and 4 kids, please don't feel pressure (inevitable, but try not to!). If this date works for you - great. If not, we understand. Hope your trip was wonderful - can't wait to hear about it!

We got back from Branson & Kanakuk in great shape (I love the Ozarks - it's the hillbilly in me), and then headed to school on Monday. Mitch will start in two weeks so he is "buffering" the empty nest feeling that I should be feeling with Josh starting kindergarten. Maybe the loss will hit me later when things settle down. Regardless, it was precious watching Josh sit at his desk and seeing that look in his eye like, "so this is it-real school!"

Just wanted to let everybody know about the shower! Have a great week!

Addresses

Okay, the ladies who are hosting my shower have asked me for the list of people that I want to invite to the shower. I have the list, but not all the addresses. Here is a list of people that I need addresses for so if any of you could email me any of the addresses needed, it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Tod and Lee Ann

Randy and Anda

Marty Johnson

Jennifer Clark

Judy McLeod

I'm inviting family and those that live near Austin. If you think of anyone that I should invite that I might have left out, please let me know.

April
abcogburn@yahoo.com

Shower

It's official, my baby shower date here in Austin is October 8th for those of you females who would like to come. Of course I would love to have you all there. I've already put you girls on the invite list to give to the ladies that are hosting, but I thought I would give you a heads up about the date so you could see about what your schedules look like. Of course I understand if you can't come. Just thought I would let you know.

April

Our information

Hi everyone. I just thought I'd give you our info.

Our address:
3109 Bainbridge Drive
Odessa, TX 79762
Phone: 432-272-4447
Ben's cell: 432-770-8558
Trisha's cell: 432-770-0321
ben@newlifeodessa.org
trisha@newlifeodessa.org or trishawall@juno.com

More than you ever wanted to know!

Happy Birthday Katy!

Happy 4th Birthday Katy! You're getting to be such a big girl now and oh so beautiful. I love to see your sweet smile. We wish we could be there to celebrate with you. We love you!

Ben and Trisha, hope everything is good with your house. Could you give me your new address and phone number please, so we can keep in touch that way too. Thanks.

I have a doctor's appointment on Wed. Everything is going well with the pregnancy. She is constantly on the move. Especially at night. Sometimes it takes me a while to get to sleep because she's moving so much. At least this way I know she's okay. I would rather feel her move all the time than hardly at all.

Well, it's time to go to bed. It's transition week at work. I'm getting a whole new crew of kids. Actually its all the kids I had in my toddler class. I'm excited to have them. Anyways, it's a busy week.

The birthday wish is a little belated, but I remembered.

Love you all!
April (and James)

Where is everyone?

Just wondering what's going on with the Wall's new Odessa adventure (you may not even be able to find your computer!), Tod and LeeAnn's return home, and how the MCS board retreat went. Not much going on here - just getting fat. We leave for Destin a week from Saturday. Love you guys,
Anda