Pics of family

 

G-ville Wedding Reception for Andrew and Emily

We had a wedding reception for Andrew and Emily on Saturday night at BJU's CVA Blue Room. It was very nice. About 50+ people in attendance. Aunt Donna did the cake which, as you can see, was beautiful and there was enough for an army! Andrew found out he has 3 weeks of leave and will probably not deploy until February. I'll add another blog with some cute pics of our family.  

Hebrews preaches!

I put this on my church blog as well, but I think you will enjoy it. The fellow is from North Hills Community Church in Taylors. ~

Throughout the series on Hebrews you have often heard me say that I agree with the scholars who speculate that the Epistle was a sermon before it became an epistle. It preaches! Well, here is an outstanding illustration of what I mean. In the following video clip we have only two chapters of Hebrews, but it makes you want to hear the same person deliver the entire book. He "preaches" chapters 9 and 10. Listen to it (and watch)! It is an 11 minutes well spent.

St. Dad

There should be no more doubt now that a sanctified camera was able to catch the halo that is invisible to the naked eye. Dad IS a saint. May all the nay-sayers be forever silenced.

If only they would believe. For if they would believe, they would have this - um - blessing (?) signed over them... I'm glad our expert cameraman was able to catch the evidence. (Of course, the thing about sanctified cameras is that they discolor everything else. We do not have purple chairs.)



The Blessing

Thanksgiving at 604

Okay, this is my third try to get this to go up. If ANYONE can tell my why I am having such difficulty with the blog, I would greatly appreciate it. So, this blog won't be as long as the last two--each one gets shorter!

We had a very good day at 604 Confederat Circle. It was Jo's and my first time to have Thanksgiving there since Grandma and Grandpa died. It brought back a lot of memories. I ended up doing most of the meal, since Aunt Donna was in Denver at Andrew's wedding, and Amy was called out to a birth on Wednesday and Amber and Na???? Well.... :-)

Our menu: sweet and white potatoes, brocolli casserole (oops I just realized I forgot the corn--o well, no one mentioned it!), dressing, turkey, salad, green and red jellos (made by Aunt Donna and Naomi) rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin crunch, and chocolate chess pie. I think that's all! Johanna made the pies and Brian did his wife-to-be proud by eating 3 pieces of pecan pie plus one of all the others! (My rolls--well, I may be able to cook, but rolls just are, apparently, not my thing--they weren't bad, but they certainly weren't the best--and they rapidly became the joke of the meal!)

It was quite the Bixby induction for poor Brian. I don't think he knew which way to turn at the table--16 people means 16 conversations!! (Well, minus Emily who was totally engrossed in her new husband and therefore too busy to talk!) And, minus Brian who didn't know what conversation to participate in! We played games, sang around the piano, and talked until about 10:30pm.

Okay, this got a little longer than tries one and two! I thought you might enjoy a glimpse of the family that was there--'cept me. We had a good time, but we certainly missed the Bob Bixby Thanksgiving tradition--maybe next year.

Hope you all had wonderul Thanksgivings,

The Newlyweds!

Andrew and Emily Bixby made an appearance at Thanksgiving dinner less than 24 hours after they were married. It was a great sacrifice on their part, but the family was all very glad to get to meet her and heartily approved. Aunt Donna and Uncle Steve were thrilled to have been able to go to the wedding. Aunt Donna cried when she thanked me! That made it all worthwhile. We really enjoyed them, but we were glad to shoo them off to their awaiting "honeymoon suite." (The Wiginton's PC.) They are a cute couple.

Happy Thanksgiving To You All!

Well, it is almost Friday here and our Thanksgiving is over. Most of our company has left and the rest are headed for their beds! We have had a nice day. Our group was smaller than usual, but we had a wonderful meal, sweet time of singing and special songs and readings and lots of good fellowship. The Bergmans are up from Spain, Cheloudchenkos from Bayonne (with their brand new Anna Grace who is one month old), Christys, Roxanne, Huguette, and "our girls." We were 20 in all. Ruth, who was here two years ago, is also back for a visit but she got in too late for the meal (but not too late for leftovers!). Thought you might like to see how big turkeys grow in France. 

Read for the Lord, Track One

The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan

This is a classic. It is a must-read for the Christian today because it has earned its reputation as a valuable companion along with the Bible for many great Christians of times past. Charles Spurgeon read it over 100 times. William Carey could only afford to take a very small collection of books with him when he went to the field. This was one of them.
The Power of Praying Together, Oliver W. Price. 181 pages. Kregel Publications.

I have selected this book because it speaks to a subject that has been a central theme for our church - corporate prayer. The author is theologically sound and you will find the account of revivals to be inspiring. This is easy to read!

Spurgeon, A New Biography. Arnold Dallimore. 244 pages. Banner of Truth Trust.

The first biography in our Read for the Lord program just has to be one on Spurgeon! Dallimore was a well-respected Canadian pastor who wrote several outstanding biographies. This one on Spurgeon is short, but captures the essence of Spurgeon's life and ministry.

Knowing God. J.I. Packer. 275. IVP.

Our first in the theology category. This is a very popular book by a very popular author. We appreciate this esteemed author for his many helpful contributions to the cause of Christ. We regret that lately he has compromised much of what he has taught. This volume, however, is an excellent overview of the study of God. As a young man I read throught his little book every year for a period of five years.

Spiritual Leadership. J. Oswald Sanders. 202 pages. Moody Press.

This is a classic on spiritual leadership.

Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism, The Battle for Gospel Preaching. Iain H. Murray. 160 pages. Banner of Truth Trust.

This is the first book for the "thorny issues" category! Sadly, most people do not understand the issues and they assume that Calvinism is Hyper-calvinism. You will see in this book that Spurgeon, an outspoken Calvinist, fought Hyper-calvinism with holy fury. I believe this easy to read book will contribute to your understanding of this critical issue. Iain Murray is a respected conservative theologian and Chief Editor of the Banner of Truth Trust. Enjoy!
The Pursuit of Holiness. Jerry Bridges. 157 pages. NavPress.

If you find a book by Jerry Bridges, pick it up. This man's writing is simple and humble. Everything that he writes is good. This particular study is invaluable to the Christian walk. Thus, it is our first in the "Christian Walk" category.
Foxe's Book of Martyrs. John Foxe.

Another one in the "Classics" category. Though the accuracy of some of these accounts has been questioned by professional historians, it is still remarkably trustworthy - a near 500 year old book written by an author running for his life! John Foxe has sometimes been called the Father of the Puritans. Read of the faithfulness of the martyrs and be stirred to be more dedicated to God.

An Outsider's Inside View

This is Joy McCarnan's take on life with mom and dad. I think the readers and family here will enjoy it.

Brian's Bachelor Breakfast with Beaucoups of Books and Bricolage Boons

Well, we're off!

This past Monday we signed for our new place. Lord willing, the new facility will be finished by mid-January. We are all very excited. We are so grateful for the skilled people that God has brought to our congregation at the right time. Pat is our legal expert and in the video you see him making sure everything is fair and as friendly to us as possible. I think our whole congregation is ready for this next step.

Who Nose These Three??

 

Beautiful Bergerac

Yesterday we took Ellen Doyle, Laetitia and Alicia to Bergerac. It was a gorgeous day--beautiful fall trees and clear blue sky. We had a great time and Cyrano is bigger and better than ever! The old statue which was crumbling the last time we were there has been replaced. He is quite impressive, don't you think?  

Jacob came to church!

This is a picture a nurse took last week with a phone camera. Wish I could have gotten one today. He was trying to talk a little more, though it is still difficult.
Thank you for your continued prayers. 

Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah & Johanna Dierking

 

Fun in the Leaves!

This afternoon while Tim and Ruth were at Jerry Dierking's wedding, M & M and I played in the leaves that Auntie Donna kept raking into piles. They never stayed in a pile for long. We had absolutely GORGEOUS weather--in the upper 70's, so it was perfect for playing out of doors. The pic of Miriam and me is Micaiah's attempt at taking pics. This is the only one that my head is actually in!! We had a blast. Wish my other nieces and nephews could have been here. I might not be quite so itchy right now!!! (I'd have let you all jump in the leaves. :-) ) (By the way, I know it looks like I am hitting Miriam--I promise I'm not!) 

Ruth's 1st Party!

Comment from Phillip Dodd upon seeing the numerous gifts that Tim and his children gave to Ruth: "Good grief, you can tell Tim grew up as a missionary kid!" We all hooted with laughter!! It was a very fun evening. 

Free Downloadable Book

~I put this on our church blog, but I though you might be interested~


Some of you like to listen to audio books or messages. Here's a good deal. You can download a free audio book of Spurgeon's All of Grace. You'll have to sign up, but it may be worth it for some of you! I just did it. Shannon Brown is the one who pointed this out to me.

If any of you cannot get it, please talk to one of our tech-savvy people (i.e. Jeremy, Kurt, or Pat). I am sure they would be glad to help you get it or burn a copy of this on CD for you. I notice that there are twelve downloads possible per sign-up.

The New Look

We finished our little project last night at about 1 am! We took off the wallpaper in the hall and painted it and then "ragged" it with a little mauve. We are all pleased with the outcome. It turned out to be more work than anticipated -- do you know there are 6 doors in that small space that they all have "panels" to paint! That doesn't count the armoir! Laetitia and Dad did most of the work and I came in at the end to add my artisitc talents to the final project. Come see us--the hall is cheery and all the signs of the fire years ago are finally gone (Dad put crepi on the ceiling which had had wallpaper!) 

The BIG 3-0!

Congratulations to Ruth for officially attaining adulthood! Don't forget to wish her a big one on this momentous occassion. Ruth as been a part of our family for nearly 7 years and has been a constant source of blessing. Happy Birthday, Ruth. This is take 3, so if it doesn't go this time, I won't have anything else nice to say!! Why am I having such issues with the blog lately? Anyone else experiencing such frustrating phenomena? 

Three Church Retreat 2006

The 3 church retreat is over for another year. The Christy's church was in charge this year, so we basically only had to show up. That was nice. There were about 100 people present and Jamel, Dan Lacey's son-in-law, was the speaker. Everyone had a good time. Our meal was rather complicated but I had a willing and happy crew. There was a volleyball tournament and Alicia and Laetitia were on the winning team. Joy looks really in form, but I hear her team lost royally! Our special guests were Rachel Barnes and Joanne Sopt (FOF2003--BJ grad) from Paris and, of course, Laetitia and Jean-Baptiste who came "home" for the retreat. Yaya went this year and added her own special flavor. I had to add the picture of Benoit Servas with Florent's baby--isn't she adorable?

Johanna's Shower

(Second try--I'm having issues with the blog! Grrrrr......)
We were very surprised and blessed by the turnout for Johanna's shower. It was hosted by Judy, and she was incredible! Her them was "Bordeaux--French" so there was everything from Bordeaux colors, to grapes, to French food. She even went so far as to check out a cookbook on French cuisine from the library! She is fantastic. Jo got a lot of very nice gifts, and nothing doubled except coffee makers of which she got 3! I guess people know her well! We guess-timate there were about 60 ladies there. Most of the ladies in the pics are church ladies, but you will notice Brian's mom in the lower left hand corner and a friend of theirs from Faith. The whole event was wonderful thanks to the great ladies of our church--especially Judy, and all the ladies who came to help make it special for Johanna.
 

Our Radio Outreach

Just in case you are interested, you could hear our radio program every Sunday morning at 8 AM Rockford time by going to this link here and clicking on the "listen now" option.

Trick and Treating in Rockford!

Patience and Mommy had a hard time coming up with what to "be" this year... and since Mommy was also getting ready for Ladies Bible Study chez Bixby it was decided to "be".... "Ready for Bed".... We hope you like our fluffy slippers... teddy bear... and "cold-cream"! She had fun going to the neighbors, Auntie Ruth's, Uncle Mark's (Garards), and Grandma and Grandpa Martins, were they got more than just treats... for a little begging they got some soup and sandwiches! (Suppers are hard to come in our home on LBS nites)....

I just got a news flash.... "MOM, I know...next year I want to be Pipi Longstockings!!" ...ahh..I better starting thinking now...!