Great weekend! I think that my work with people with disabilities has expanded into that time in which is very personal to me. Its not work but its spending time with them in social situations. Visiting their homes and just hanging out. That is where I think that we both see each other in new and wonderful ways. The communication and intimacy opens to new levels. Jen, Amanda, Sarah, Jabberjaw(DJ) and I went to the Cup of Joy and enjoyed the praise music. Jen and I also visited Peter and we listened to old vinyl records that he had. I had not herd an old vinyl record in a long time. I was captivated. We celebrated DJ's birthday at Jens parents house. All five of us had "beaner pizza" and cheese cake. Great time of celebration with family and friends. Sunday we went to the youth convention in Green Bay. Three thousand teenagers in the convention center singing and dancing for Jesus was stunning.

The future for Able church is very inspiring to me. I am very thankful to be a part of it. I am amazed at the Lords work building and maintaining it. I am very excited to watch people with disabilities connect with Christ in new ways and watch that extend itself into worship and praise. I think that its the worship from people with disabilities that is very sweet and special to the Lord. Its my prayer that its that worship that would stay pure and uncontaminated from the world or me.

The Weekend

Friday night we went to The Able Church. Attatched here is a picture from our Christmas service that we had on Dec. 18th. It was a very special and intimate evening. We acted out the nativity story, which has become a loved tradition over the years. One of my highlights is when Sara sang "Mary, Did You Know"

After Able, this past Friday, we invited ourselves over to one of our member's (Peter) appartment. We must have been there for about two hours and the whole time you could sense the joy he had we were there. You see, Peter, has a difficulty talking and is very hard to understand. Sometimes, I have to have him repeat himself 5 times and even spell out a word that I can't seem to get. He also has some hygiene issues, due to his disability, so most people avoid him. Understanding his speech takes extra time and care. So to say the least, he doesn't have too many people caring for him in his life. Actually, many people hurt him. At best, many people will just nod and pretend they understand what he is saying, but that's not loving, he knows if you are pretending.

He continued to excitedly show us photos, certificates he earned, music and movie collections. "Who's this? " I asked. Peter shared it was his brother and his family. I asked if they stop by or call and he sadly said, "no". My heart sank, they live in the same town and never take interest in him. Then I saw on the wall a list of all his family-neices & nephews' names with birthdays. "Do you send them all Birthday cards, Peter?" "Yes," he replied. Wow, his family doesn't take interest in him and yet he makes sure to send out Birthday cards to all of them.

He had a very large Cd, tape & LP collection. He turned on his turn table and out came Tommy James' Crimson & Clover. "I love this song," I yelled. And Peter and I got excited, singing loudly together. It was a beautiful night. Yes, he appreciated having us over, but we're the ones who really were blessed. Peter has a love and care about him that just being around him is captivating. He is someone who would do anything for you....and even without anything in return.....and even if you treated him badly, which many, many people do. Now that sounds like Christ to me.

This past Saturday, we met with leaders of The Able Church to discuss future direction of the church and plan next month's theme for messages.


In the evening, we took DJ to my parents house and made homemade pizza to celebrate his birthday. We had a music box cake spinner that played Happy Birthday that is a tradition in our family.

Then we met several others from The Able Church at The Cup-O -Joy coffee house to hear the group Reflect. Daniel & Catherine Lovette of the group have been guest muscians for The Able Church and we wanted to support them and enjoy their music. It was a fun outing for our church.

"No man will be fit for the kingdom of GOD until, laying aside such delicacy, he learn to desire the food of the soul so earnestly that his belly shall not hinder him."

John Calvin

The new year has sprung and I have been studying the miracles of Christ in the gospel of John. I have came to the fourth miracle and have had at least good meditation. Jen, Tony and I stayed up late attempting to calculate how many handfuls of food would fit in the back of a semi truck trailer. We thought that Jesus would have had to at least filled one trailer full of food to feed 5000+ people. The greatest miracle is that Jesus still feeds us every day.

Spent some time putting a thermostat in Jens vehicle the great thing is that it worked. Tomorrow I will put together the OLIVER 1650 (our tractor- backhoe )transmission. It should take a few hours but the relationship I have made with the Dumkie brothers has been worth it. John Dumkie has been good to us. He is

making sure that our piece of equipment will work again.