Coming Together

Denver pictures

2009-09-24T06:37:00.001-07:00

Hello Family! Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile....I hope you still love me. Here's some pictures from my Denver trip. Look forward to seeing you this weekend!

homecoming

2009-09-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to three of our children coming home this weekend!! yahoo!!

Encouragement

2009-09-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last Week I was frustrated because half of my Spanish students were arriving late, so I decided to reward the half of the class that was there. I looked in my purse and saw that I had enough of Stephen's CD's to give to them, so I passed them out.
The next class, Mrs Allison came to me and said that they had been playing the CD all the time and their young son had been singing Free man's Song around the house. SHe was encouraged and wanted a copy for her sister Robyn Lovelady who had asked for one.
Also, Carter asked his mom to play the song, and she caught him at the table with his little Bible open singing as much as he could with Stephen .
May the Lord use this to encourage many people including the composer.
Rejoice!!

Humor

2009-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
Just wanted to share a little bit. Had a great time visiting the Records. So nice to spend time in that home. I praise God for them. The wedding I played at was great. Really God-honoring and fun. Here is the song I played:

http://free.napster.com/player/?play_id=23975869&type=track

Something cool happened to me this evening which was small but encouraging. I was feeling a little down, depressed and joyless (about who knows what) on the way back to Rolla form Jennifer's. I had prayed about it earlier but anyway my friend David from Sedalia texted me to see how I am doing so I told him my struggles. He then replied with a line from my song "Saviour". The line is: "...feeling high or low won't move His solid ground." in addition some other encouraging thoughts. Anyway it hit me as really funny and ironic that God would use something I had written and have someone preach it to me. I laughed out loud for a little while and realized that God must indeed have sense of humor :)

Needless to say I was encouraged since then. It's also kinda weird that John Dees emailed me those same lines this past week with an "Amen",.

I am beginning a book study with some of the bros here including Nick, Grant, Zach J, Chris Teel and maybe some others. Were are going to study Pastor Charles' book J&R. I'm excited. It's also going to double as an accountability time and encouragement in the area of purity. Everyone seems eager and hungry. Pray for us. Love you all.

Here is my current favorite song :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgRK0Bs6CE

Burned Fingers and New Couch

2009-09-10T07:56:00.001-07:00

Hello all,

Thought I would show you a little of what's been happening around here. Last night I made Nacho Chicken for my roommates and Devin and while I was putting the glass pan on the table, I grabbed the handle of the pan without the pot holder and burned four of my fingers on my LEFT hand. AHHHHHH!!!! It hurt SO bad. I held ice on it for a while then thought ok, they're probably fine by now but as soon as I took the ice off it felt like my fingers were on fire and would explode if I didn't get ice on them again. Finally around midnight I realized I wouldn't be able to sleep this way since the ice from my ziplocs melted so fast, so Casey took me to Walgreens and I bought some burn ointment. It didn't really help though and I couldn't sleep from the pain. So finally I grabbed some pork from the freezer and put it in a dish towel and held it so tight. Eventually I went to sleep, but kept waking up feeling the burning. This morning they're much better, but still hurting a little. Here's a picture of them this morning.

The next exciting news around here is that Casey bought a couch last night for our apartment! She found it on craigslist almost brand new and a really good deal. The lady even offered to deliver it! While she was delivering it she found out the girls and Devin worked for CRU and she said her and her family were converted through CRU! Her sister was witnessed to at Mizzou and came home and told the family and they thought she was crazy, but she kept sharing the gospel with them and I think she said now her and her parents are all Christians. Needless to say this was really encouraging for us, but especially for Kara, Casey, and Devin since these are the kinds of things they pray for everyday. She also had a Wheaton sticker on her van and turns out both her kids went to Wheaton. Small world! Here is a picture of the four of us enjoying our couch, and then a nice shot of how nice it looks in our living room. We ordered a giant map that will be going on the wall above the couch. It should be here soon.
Paz y amor!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T16:04:00.001-07:00

We had fun having the little girls over this weekend. They played dress up and had a ball with all the fancy dresses they found. Sorry I could not take pictures for a while.

On Sunday, after church, we went to the Chang's house where Grace and Hannah live. They had baby bunnies and the girls got to hold and stroke them. These were very small. The picture shows Abriana holding two. Once in a while they would twitch and jump, even though their eyes were still closed.

Afterwards, we took the four girls home and they played together. In the evening we went to Thousand Hills and took a trail. Erica was a trooper. She walked the whole thing and never asked to be picked up. Abriana and Natalie were fascinated by their Grandpa's knowledge of trees and had fun picking up acorns and looking for buckeyes.

Later we celebrated Abriana's coming 11th birthday.
Other highlights:
-Natalie started to learn to crochet,made a couple of friendship bracelets (good job, Natalie!!) fed the squirrels acorns and took Milton on walks with Pappa Jim.
-Abriana worked some more on her knitting and began another project (secret), with very even stiches. Good job!!
-Erica was a very sweet girl all weekend, and worked very hard on her k sounds, her aunt Elizabeth would be proud.
They all picked grapes and Nanna promised to make jelly.
It was a very wonderful weekend, and very fun for us all.

Labor Day

2009-09-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Saludos familia.I thought I would give everyone a little update from St. Louis because it is hard to tell everyone everything. Using bullets when I write is easiest for me, so here I go...

I have a pending interview with the St. Louis Special School District. Pending meaning that they have sent me two separate e-mails letting me know I will be contacted this week (not Labor day) to set up an interview. I think they have two positions open but I don't know which schools or where. I will be certainly interviewing them as well. I will let everyone know when the interview is scheduled so you can be praying because it seems like a great opportunity. We will see what the Lord wants though. I am very ready to be working again.
The church search continues! I was very encouraged last Wednesday when I went to Old Orchard Church (OOC)with Paul and Allison. They have a meal once a month and meeting in this old house that is across the street from the church. I got to meet a few of the people there and talk to the pastor a little bit. Everyone seemed really genuine in their love for the Lord. The songs were familiar too, so that was nice. :] The service that night was a time for a man in the church to share about his recent trip to Mozambique and a man named Todd from New City Fellowship South (where Casey and Devin go to church) shared about the ministry they have with the international refugees that make up a huge part of the population in South City here in St. Louis. They said there are about 80 different languages being spoken in that area now!! Santa vaca! Anyway, he brought 4 Nepalese refugees with him, 2 guys in their twenties and a man and his wife in their forties-ish who were all Christians. The 40-ish year-old man gave his testimony while the 25 year-old guy translated. It was really precious to hear about how he used to be Hindu and believe in many many many gods and then to see that there was only one true God. They were such sweet people. Afterwards Todd asked if anyone would be interested in helping teach English to some of the refugee women who were too intimidated to go to the International Institute of St. Louis. His idea is to get a few of them together in a home. This seems like a really unique opportunity to get to interact with people from obscure places of the world and help them learn English and show them what the Lord has done for me and can do for them. Allison and I told him we were interested in helping with that, so I'll be praying about if that's something the Lord wants me to do. I went back to OOC yesterday for church and the meeting was good, but I was a little disappointed that the pastor didn't preach. Instead, they had a woman share about work and how the Lord had directed her in her work since it's Labor Day. It was ok, but not my favorite. I'm going to go back though when the pastor is speaking.
Our apartment is a nice little haven. It's so comfy and homey now that we've gotten things in order and it's so great to have my roommates around. There are some really neat things happening on their different campuses and they are having more people than there have been in a long long time interested in Bible studies and one-on-one meetings to discuss the gospel. It's amazing. They call me their "axis to the outside of CRU world". Hehe, I'm happy to be that to them and thankful to get to see what's going on in the CRU world. They are really a blessing to me.
Yesterday I got to have lunch with Aunt Joanie, Uncle Bob, Taylor, Tara, Erin, and two of Erin's friends who were visiting from Chicago. It was delicious, and a fun time to see everyone. Taylor's been working in Joplin, putting in 12-18 hours a day and being on call 24 hours a day. Tara just got back from Ireland where she worked on a produce farm and lived with an Irish family. She had some pretty interesting stories. Aunt Joanie is happy to be working only part time this year, teaching just 3 classes and having more time to be with Bob on the weekends and take care of the house. Erin is busy with her Chemistry and Algebra courses as well as working at an eye practice to get some experience.
I recently started Mack Tomlinson's Bible reading plan and have been very blessed to be back in Genesis, and the Psalms and the gospels. I feel like the Lord is blessing His Word to my heart in a new way and I'm seeing more of the character of God in His Words.
Jennifer and I are looking forward to having Rebs and company (still don't know how many are coming) this weekend! We might go to this hispanic festival I heard about, and who knows what else.
Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all so much. The Lord is faithful and good to His children! I love you all so much.

Busy, expensive week

2009-08-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago our oven went out, and since this is the 3rd time we had to fix it, we decided it was time to get a new stove. Well, let me tell you, they are expensive. We hoped to get a good used one, but we could not find one. We ended up spending a lot on a new stove though it is not top of the line. Our renters on New also needed a new refrigerator, so we also bought one of those, ouch!!
Eliz was here this week, and it was great to have her. We cleaned her old closet in preparation for Eliz. Blum moving in, so it was a mess everywhere. On Thurs. we had a couple from Rolla, who run the BSU, and Stephen's friend, Zach, who is the missionary there come over for supper. It was a blessing seeing that the Lord has his people everywhere, and we were so thankful that the Lord has provided wonderful fellowship for him there, it makes his leaving a bit less painful.
We had a get together on Sat. so Zach could meet some of the people here, and it was a good time. The weather is much like Ely right now, so except for the mosquitoes it was very good. We played "catch a phrase" with a bunch of people and collapsed laughing at one point. It was great. Jim stayed up till 10:45 pm, which is very late for him, but he had a good time too.
We also finished working on Lawrence's house and the renters moved in.
Thankful for a day of rest.

Summer 2009

2009-07-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

This has been a summer of moving for our family, Elizabeth moved to St. Louis, Jennifer and Daniel moved to Crystal City near St. Louis, and Andrew is temporarily in Kansas.
It has been a blessing having Stephen here this summer and having him work with Jim. It has been a roofing summer, and at times gruelling, but they are thankful for work.
Enjoyed meeting Stephen's friends from Rolla last night. A blessing to see that the Lord has his people everywhere.
This verse has been an encouragement to me this morning: "Come unto Me you who are weary and heavy laden (who work to exhaustion)and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls... my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Sin is burdensome. The Lord Jesus is not. What rests there is in falling into His arms.
Beautiful "Ely" weather these weeks. My type of summer.

Update from heat central USA--St. Louis!

2009-06-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I miss you all so much! I keep thinking lately how great it is to have such a G-R-E-A-T family. You guys are some of my very best friends and I love you all so much. I felt that way before, but being away makes me realize it way more. The Lord has been taking care of me out here and I am so thankful. A funny little story from the other day:Bethany and Melissa came to visit me Friday night and left Saturday evening. After they left I was feeling kind of lonely and sorry for myself. So I prayed and asked the Lord to take those feelings away and help me to trust that He is with me even I was physically alone. So I went on my merry way towards the muny to see 42nd street with a girl from work. I didn't really feel like it but really didn't want to sit at home and feel sorry for myself. So I went and was almost there, driving through Forest Park and I look up and the car coming towards me's license plate is the same as Rene' Ochs' and I was like hmmmm so I looked at the driver and it WAS Rene' Ochs!!!! I almost had a COW right there in the car. Actually I did have a cow. So I turned around and followed her and flashed her down and her and Jean had their own cows in their car too. We got out and were shrieking and hugging hahaha it was quite a scene. But I knew it was from the Lord that I would run into them. Just His way of showing me He is there and hears my prayers and cares for me. It was sooo good to see their faces.Things have been going well. I went to a pretty good church on Sunday with Paul and Allison (and Hudson) Tuttle. Seeemed like the people there loved the Lord and the truth was preached. I'm looking forward to going back and getting to know some of the people. Well Erin and I are headed to the muny to see Annie! It's kind of hot, but hopefully it will cool down as it gets later. We're going to try to get there early to find the free seats. Here are a few pictures from my latest adventures. Oh! I just got a library card! :) Now I can use the internet for free and it's really close to my house. I'm super excited.Ok, all for now. Love you all mucho. Looking forward to seeing (most of) you on the 4th.Besos,Lisbs~

More b-day pictures

2009-06-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

My baby is 3!!

2009-06-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Erica turned 3 on June 9. She had birthday party where she invited 2 little friends over. It was our 3rd time to have a Dora party for our girls. Can't believe she is so big!! Our friend had a blow up Dora. So, we took a bunch of pictures by it.

Lisbs gets her Masters Degree

2009-05-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

It is a bit of late news, but I wanted to share a bit about Elizabeth's graduation and post a few pictures anyway, since not too many were able to make it to the ceremony.

The time began with a "hooding" ceremony at Barnett Hall, where we met the professors. The head of the Speech Pathology Dpt. was not able to come because she had the flu, which was disappointing to the students. Elizabeth's roommates were there as well as Jim and Terri, and of course Rebekah, Jim and I. It was good to have a few friends share the time with us.

First we enjoyed a great breakfast planned by the graduates with some homemade goodies made by the professors. Dr. Cochran (the one in the cap and gown) gave a historical account and meaning of the different robes, hoods, etc that are worn at graduation, and then the "hooding" begun. Dr. C. being very short, had a hard time placing the hoods on the girls, who were either tall or wore high heels, but they bent over so the hood could go around their neck and it was thus accomplished. After the ceremony was completed, we took tons of pictures and toured the dpt. We enjoyed seeing where Elizabeth spent much of the last few years and all the great resources available.

The speaker at the graduation was ex US Attorney General John Ashcroft. He marched with the President of the college, as well as other professors and all the graduates. It was fun to see Jim saying "Hi John" and have him leave the march and come to shake hands with him. He seems to be a Christian from what we have observed and is a kind man. He was probably also happy to have someone on his side as there were demonstrations against his coming and receiving an honorary degree.

Well, lastly they all went into the stadium and amongst great excitement received their degrees. You can be part of it by listening to the video clip.

The picture on the right shows Elizabeth and her good friend Lisa Castillo from Colombia who received her BA.

Graduations always make me think of the passage of time and the end of a quest. In the midst of raising kids, working or studying, it seems that it will never end, that things will be always as they are then. Sometimes during wonderful times it is easy to forget that hard times may be around the corner, and when we are going through hard times it seems they will never end. However, things don't remain the same and at the appointed time the degrees are given or withheld, the honor cords are worn or not offered, your name is called if you made it or perhaps you wonder if only... (Do not mean this only about college) If our names are written in heaven by the work on the cross of Jesus, then the time will come when our names are called, abundant entry given , and we hear the words "Well done, you good and faithful servant". He has accomplished the work, the A is given by the Father, our righteousness is given to us. What undeserved grace.

Congratulations Elizabeth Ann Gates BA MA, may the Lord bless the years to come and the new chapters ahead !!

One more semester of God's fatihfulness completed

2009-05-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Thankful to be done! Man it feels nice to not have the chains of school dragging me down. Praise God for His goodness to me! He carried me through and taught more about walking with Him through it all. Gonna be mowing and cleaning and packing today. Also I've been able to do some recording which was actually enjoyable for a change! I wanna sing songs (especially to God) all the time right now.

Mona sent me a list of 22 songs she wants me to record! Haha, she's so cool. She was pleading with me to record them. She cracks me up. They were some good songs for sure. Some of my favorites. If I have time after I finish this recording I may hop to it!

Love you all. Just wanted to share with you all.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Flowers and money hardly communicate the honest love and thankfulness for your faithfulness, protection, tutoring, love, gentleness, kindness, humility, instruction and fun you've given each one of us!
We think we have it hard in college or whatever. But I don't think we....at least most of us ;).....have even had a taste of what hard work, sacrifice and humility really mean until we will have had children! But you have been such loving example of those characteristics. Thanks for enjoying your job!
It is an honor to be the last one at home. I might not act like it at home all the time, which is just pride and selfishness. But trust me mom, I...we sing your praises all day long (to borrow the expression) meaning all of us kids tell people how wonderful and faithful, and giving, and loving our parents are. It is an honor and privalege to have parents like y'all. Not only are you NOT all these negative things...you ARE all theses positive things... :) does that make sense. Praise the Lord.
Happy Mother's Day Mom,

P.S. "MOM, Just soak up the compliment...like a spounge!" ~Elizabeth Gates

Going to Phili

2009-05-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am going to Philadelphia, after all. I am kind of sad to be going by myself, but could not be helped. Look forward to seeing many old (literally now) and dear friends.
Leave May 22 from St Louis and return on Monday May 25.
God is good.

Explanation

2009-05-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

I thought I lost the blog I wrote, so I wrote a small note saying I would rewrite it later, but somehow I found it. I am not sure what I am doing. Alzheimer?

Not lost, just misplaced!!

2009-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Today we had our last day of classes. We had a small program for both the Intro to Spanish class and the Spanish I. The first class has 9 students and they are a great bunch. One of the students is Melissa Yakes who is Elizabeth's roommate. (For those who don't know) I love getting to know the new kids. Most of the time I have seen them at homeschool functions, but we really get to know each other in class.This class did two skits today and they really excelled. I has so happy, because they have only had three months of classes.Melissa was going to sing a song that Elizabeth translated and she wrote the music to, but she had to work. So sad!!

The second class has been with me for a while, and has made a lot of progress. This class also has 9 students and one is a mom. Today for a skit she showed how to make salsa. She is a Pamper Chef sales lady and does a lot of this in English\. I thought it was great to be willing to learn new words and phrases and actually do a demonstration in Spanish. There were two other skits very well done and three girls sang and dramatized a song called "Me gustas tu". It was so good and so funny. Nothing shy about those three.

I am still interpreting in Milan, and for the summer my hours will increase from 1 a week to three or maybe four. I also will be working as an ABA implementor for an autistic child, also with First Steps. One of my jobs for the family in Milan, is teaching the mother from the driving manual so she can learn to drive, since she cannot hardly read in Spanish or in English. I enjoy it.

We had thought of going to Philadelphia to Calvin Hoops' wedding, but we decided wDe were not able to do it. Maybe some other day.

Daddy is busy with his work, the Lord has provided for him enough work right now, for which we are thankful. When you are self employed you depend on His provision always, so our eyes are on Him during this recession. He alone can "fire us".

Had a good visit with Stephen in Rolla and really enjoyed his jazz concert, as well as friends. Too bad we missed Grant!!:)

May your eyes be on the Lord each day as you seek His Will.

Daniel was published!

2009-05-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Check out the article featuring an invention by Daniel at http://www.oandp.com/articles/2009-05_03.asp. Pretty cool!

2009-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Texas pictures

2009-04-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures from my Texas work trip. I worked a lot but found time for a little fun here and there. The pictures are in order of where I went. Austin, Dallas and then Houston.

Austin by the river

Austin by the river. JE Dunn built the tallest building

This is downtown Dallas. I got to tour one of our jobsites. Its a 30 story condo. I took this picture from the top floor of the building.

View of the pool we built

The condo across the street where a lot of famous sports players live.

Dallas mavericks basketball game. You can't see very well but Shaq is out there somewhere

The infamous Jonathan Ochs

David and I

Me wake boarding for the first time

And.....me crashing

Oil refinery in Houston

The gulf in Houston

George Bush Sr at the Rockets game

So thats all folks. Its really good to be home. I'm doing laundry and catching up on sleep and its back to work on Monday. Hope you all are having a good weekend. Love you

Our Very Own Olympic Hopeful

2009-04-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Mom for winning silver for the Gates team. Mom ran in 5K on April 4, 2009 and did wonderful. We are so proud. :) You're amazing. Not too many can say their mom runs in marathons.

God has a tool box

2009-04-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is my first time posting, but I love the blog. I wanted to share with everyone our little miracle that occurred on our way home from Kirksville today. Most of all I want to thank the Lord and give him the praise he is due for his wonderful works.

Just after entering Illinois from St. Louis we stopped for a quick pit stop at Suwanee, IL. When we started out again I noted that the battery light popped on at idle, but went off as we accelerated. I was concerned, but felt we would be okay to proceed. But about an hour later the light came back on while driving and stayed on. We were in the middle of nowhere, 34 miles from Mt. Vernon, IL. with a light rain falling. Jennifer called the kids to order and we prayed together that the Lord would help us get to Mt. Vernon.

We were able to continue on with every accessory turned off and sparing use of the wipers. We started noticing that the clock got dimmer and dimmer and the wipers slower and slower. Ten miles out of Mt. Vernon, the car began to sputter and we just knew we would stall, but continued to pray.

Suddenly a car that was directly in our path slowed to 50 mph. I wasn't happy about this, because it would mean slowing and accelerating again, burning more energy from the battery. Trying to spare the battery, I decided to coast the car onto the shoulder to avoid burning the brake lights. Somehow the jolt of the rough shoulder caused the alternator to start charging. The clock brightened, the engine came back to life, and we continued on. The slow car suddenly sped up to the speed limit once again.

Our rejoicing was short-lived. Soon the lights dimmed again, and even the tachometer, speedometer, and airbags stopped functioning. It looked like we were stranded about 10 miles from our goal of reaching civilization.

Nevertheless,the Lord brought us the full 34 miles to Mt. Vernon, carried us up the exit ramp, and had the light turn green for a turn as we coasted through and safely to the side of the road ...across from a Toyota dealership. We thought we had the Lord's answer to our prayers figured out, but we were wrong. They were closing in 20 minutes and were no help. They wanted us to get a tow truck to pull us the 100 feet to the dealership, get a motel, and see the repairman in the morning... But God wasn't finished. Across from the dealership was a service station. I was able to get a jump start from a girl who worked there, but to no avail. After a few feet, the car died again would not start again. The battery was completely dead.

Just as we were trying to get the car to the side of the road, out of nowhere three guys showed up and pushed us to the side. One just "happened" to work for a local auto repair shop and was friends with the girl who had tried to jump start us. He offered to take me to the parts store, called his boss to get tools, and stood by to jump start me when I was done.

A new hurdle came when we tried to buy a new alternator. Although the faulty alternator had a national lifetime warranty purchased from this chain, it wouldn't show up in the auto parts store computer. It looked like I would have to shell out over $200. However, the parts store decided to take my word and handed me a brand new $200 alternator with a $95 core charge at no cost! He only asked for the old core back with the box. They declined to charge me or even take my license number down!

Every detail was miraculous. The children were able to play at a McDonalds playland nearby as I worked and Mollie, our dog, was an angel the entire time as she calmly waited in the van. God met every need.

I was able to replace the alternator in the parking lot in about an hour or so with enough light and the rain even stopped. I was praying all of the while about how to share with the guy helping me. We chatted a little about his life, and I shared how the Lord had brought us this far and used him to miraculously answer my prayer. I wanted to share more with him but didn't feel at liberty to say more. I was discouraged until I realized I have his number and place of business, I plan to send him a thank -you letter and enclose a copy of Kurt Daniel's testimony. Please praise the Lord with me and pray for this gentleman that God used to meet our need.

Hope this is an encouragement. Jesus still answers prayers and performs miracles. And, as I told my girls... he sometime carries a toolbox. :) Daniel

The Future

2009-04-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hey beloved fam,
As some of you know I have an interview Thursday April 2nd (tomorrow). If you think of me pray that I would be calm and collected during this interview. If God wants me get this job I will. If not He's got better things in store. May His will be done. Love you all.

Stephen

Take my life

2009-03-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello family! Thanks to all who prayed for my CPC2(Clinical Process Commentary 2) yesterday! The Lord really helped with the delivery of the presentation and in answering the professor's questions (even the unfair ones), and I passed! The Lord is very kind. I've been dreading that part of my graduate program since the day I entered grad school so I'm SUPER relieved to have it done. I've been listening to a lot of hymns lately (I'm so thankful for Christian musicians who can give us contemporary music to go with those good words!), and the hymn "Take my life" has really been on my heart lately. Especially with my life changing and all the uncertainty I have about the future. So I thought I was just post the words here because they're so full of truth! I love you all, thanks for all your prayers and support (even though it sounds cheesy) with my school, and decision-making. I'm so blessed to have a family like I do. :)

Take my life

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee

Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withold
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall by Thy royal throne

Take my love, my Lord I pour
At Thy feet, its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only all for Thee

Grooming Molly

2009-03-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

A beautiful March day

2009-03-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Correction

2009-03-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

I mentioned on my former post that Erin was going to go to opthalmology school, and it is supposed to be optometrist, sorry.

We have a friend of Stephen's here visiting. His name is Grant and he is such a nice guy. He is in tract and field, so he is training right now. It is good to have Stephen here for this week.

Hope somebody is reading these things. :(

Spring is in the air

2009-03-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hello, everybody! It has been a long time since I posted anything. February somehow managed to fly by, and all I remember is doing taxes and putting in applications for financial aid,but then, that is normal for February. I also worked on the final touches of the translation of Justification and Regeneration. Hopefully we will have a book out in a few weeks.

I wanted to send this shortcut for those who may be interested in hearing Stephen sharing one of his songs. It was a blessing to us.
http://sermon.net/sermons-Lake_Road_Chapel-15087.html

Rosana and Andy's wedding was very special. It was great to see the Lord bringing two wonderful people together, and also be a part of it with Elizabeth as a bridesmaid and Stephen singing. (Sorry, I have no photo of Stephen yet.) Aside from being beautiful and well coordinated (great job, Deanne!!), there were special touches that made it very sweet. I really enjoyed seeing them wearing aprons and serving cake to the family, as well as the tributes given to the couple by different ones at the reception. Though the general consensus was that Andy did not deserve Rosana,(all said in good humor, of course) I beg to differ. Rosana is very blessed. Thank you to Rachel Greene for posting the photos from the wedding at http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelleighgreene/TripToKirksville#

I borrowed a couple for this blog.

In other news: Stephen is returning today for a week of vacation. Super good!! His friend Grant is coming Sat and staying overnight. We look forward to meeting him.

Andrew is flying to Texas for three weeks for his job. While there he plans to see his friends Jonathan and Randall, and together with them David Ochs, go and see two big teams play basketball. Can't remember which. Hopefully he will keep in touch with us all. :) HINT, HINT

Jennifer, Daniel and familia are coming April 4th and staying for about a week. As Erica would say: uhooo!

Grandma Gates is eating some solid food now, Wow! She takes two of her meals in the dining room.

Grandpa is having what he calls "A Rotor Rooting job" done on his prostrate so that they can remove the catherer. I hope no one fainted at the thought.

Erin lives in St. Louis and is planning to attend Ophtalmology school and be an optometrist. It will take 4 years and she will also be another Dr. Bear, though the Lord could give her a new last name by then.

Aunt Joanie had her 60th birthday, or so she says. She is the youngest looking 60 year old I know.

Well, exercise awaits, I am afraid to wait too long, or I will put it off.

Rejoice in the Lord, ALWAYS.

My post

2009-03-06T06:45:00.001-08:00

Well I tried to post this the other day, but it wasn't working correctly for some reason. But anyway I thought I would share with you all this project that I have been working on at school in my Design Software and Processing class. This class and I generally don't get along very well, but I just recently finished a big project where we had to re-build "Our Favorite Ride" in this graphics program called illustrator. It was super tedious and I ended up turning it in late, but when I finally finished it at least i was satisfied with it! It is a Venturi Fetish......whatever that is. We also had to print it on this special paper with a special printer, and pay for it and everything. It was a pretty big deal.

A life changing verse for me in just the past week has been "Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." ~Matt. 6:33

A lot of times we look at the end of the verse and use "seeking God" as a crutch to get things done for us. When in reality it is all about the first half of the verse. When it has all been said and done, we will be face to face with God...alone, we won't have our church, our family, our connections, it will just be me and God, what have I done for Him alone, not for myself or someone else. Living life for God alone is very rewarding! Especially when you aren't looking at the reward but at the saving face of God.

80s out

2009-03-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know its 80 degrees outside here. Going for long run after work. Love you all

Life in Rolla

2009-03-03T21:13:00.001-08:00

Hey family,
I just thought I would share some of the things going on here in Rolla. God has been so good to me. Gotta share it with you all.

One highlight has been a discipleship program I'm doing with several others led by leader's at the BSU, Randy and Zac. We're using a Navigator's book called, "Growing Strong in God's Family". It's been really good. I've been learning how important it is to know the Bible, through study and memorization.

Another recent highlight was a conference that I went to with leader's from the BSU and the worship band (since I'm in the band now). It was called "Engage". I was kind of skeptical about the teaching we'd get. But I was pleasantly surprised. One theme that kept coming up was the extreme improtance of knowing what the Word of God says. There was also a lot of emphasis on discipleship which I hadn't really thought much about before but it seems like the Bible talks a lot about it.

One of the breakout sessions I went to at "Engage" was called "Authentic Masculinity in a Feminized Christian Culture". Surprisingly it was taught by a woman. But she had a lot of really good biblical stuff to say. It was convicting and encouraging at the same time.

Also I had a great time hanging out with the BSU folk and getting to know them better. Seems like God is working in all of them that were there. Very cool. OH! and I just remembered that at the very end of the conference they gave away some prizes and my name got drawn to win an 8GB iPod Nano! I couldn't believe it. It was so crazy. I'm very thankful, it seemed like a physical token of all God's blessings that weekend.

I have been encouraged by quite a few people here at school. God has His people wherever He wants them.

Anyway just some cool stuff that's been going on with me that I thought I could share. I love you all. Praise God for His goodness.

Company came

2009-02-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

This past week we had Paul, Damaris and Jeremy Johnson at our house. It was a very good time and we really enjoyed them. Paul preached in his very unique style on Sunday and it was a blessing. You can hear it on podcast.

Paul has been in Panama and said that the work there is like working in the Sahara Dessert and expecting a beautiful garden. All of God.

Jeremy reminds has smiling eyes like Martin, and is in a private school where they are required to learn English and French.

Damaris is very sweet and friendly. We call each other "hermana" like they do in South America, and it really made me feel at home.

I wrote a long blog yesterday and accidentally erased it. I can hear "Mom!!" from my kids right now, but they have come to expect these things from their high tech mother, so I don't worry.

More, hopefully, in the future, Daddy calls. :)

Old Picture

2009-02-26T18:34:00.001-08:00

JJ and I at Bentley Feb. 96.

Erica being a frog

2009-02-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Natalie's island birthday party

2009-02-22T15:40:00.000-08:00

Natalie turned 7 today. I can't believe it. Yesterday, we had an "island birthday party." Natalie decided it was time to exclude her friends that were boys "because they are too wild." So, we just invited two sets of sisters that are Abriana and Natalie's ages. We did invite another little girl that is her best friend in 1st grade. She wasn't able to come. It was a perfect day for an island party because it was snowing and 33 degrees. :) We played musical chairs, what's missing, and had a treasure hunt. I think she had fun.

My first post

2009-02-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

So this is my first post...Hope everyone is doing well and had a good Valentines Day. I spent mine with my best girl that I love very dearly...my beautiful mother. I was feeling under the weather this weekwnd with a cold, but besides the ticket I got on the way home it was a really good visit! We had a romantic dinner at home...well it was romantic till Daddy burped haha just kidding... it was a very nice time and I enjoyed myself. It was a little different this time being home without any siblings there. I got some good quality time with Mom and Daddy and I got to sleep on the bottom bunk of Stephen's bed for a change (don't worry Bro I know you are busy at college, I made the bed for you this time). We are blessed to have such good parents and I'm very thankful for them.

This year has been very busy for me at my job. This last year, we were in the process of centralizing out IT for the entire company to the Kansas City office. Its a very large process because we have offices out east and on the west coast that have had their own IT setups with their own IT people. So we have to go in and change all their systems to match ours and network them to us. In the process of doing this we found that these other offices have a newer email system than we have running in our Kansas City office. So instead of converting these offices to an older system we decided to change our email system to match theirs. It was a tough decision for management because its a million dollar investment to do this. They decided to go ahead and do this and it has become a huge under taking. I have to work overtime everyday and am pretty much on call at all times. We finish this project by the end of April and will barely have time to catch our breath before we start into the next project of getting moved into our new headquarters. So it will be a very busy year for me, but I'm thankful to have a job where I am in high demand.

Anyway..thats my post for now. I hope everyone is doing well and I will try and post more later.
Love you all

Bentley

2009-02-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hello family, this will be short because I'm trying to catch up on work after having been gone for several days. I just wanted to give a brief report about the weekend though and share some pictures. :)

Bethany, Ryan and I left Kirksville at 4am on Thursday, stopped in Columbia and picked up Colin and the Skinner's SUV (very nice!), then stopped around 7am in Rolla at Hardee's and ate breakfast with Stephen. It was nice to get to see him briefly. The rest of the trip went pretty well, we only went crazy a few times and made it just in time for the first message. The whole weekend was very refreshing, just to be around so many Christians and it seemed like the Lord was really present. The messages were all really encouraging, and full of truth. I think I got the most out of Charles' messages, haha. Yes I drove 15 hours to hear Charles preach! He spoke about Abraham and how His covenant with Abraham is our covenant too, and the Mosaic covenant is old! The biggest thing that stuck out to me was how God didn't see something good in Isaac (and not in Ishmael)so as to merit God's blessing, but Isaac wasn't even in the picture at all and God brought him forth even though it seemed impossible. Charles just brought out that's how it is for us Christians. There's nothing good in us that merits eternal blessing, but God brings us forth from death to life. I don't know if that made sense but it was really a blessing to me.

I got to spend some time with the LaCour girls and was really encouraged by them. Lauren (26) is a speech-language pathologist in a school in Baton Rouge and she speaks Spanish, so we had lots and lots to talk about! Megan (24)and I had been fairly close at the Bentley camps in the past , so it was fun to catch up with her too. I'm hoping they'll come up and visit soon. There were lots of other highlights but those are the main things.

The trip home was good, but almost unbearable towards the end (We all went a little crazy...Mostly Colin). We stopped for about an hour in Rolla and ate at Pizza Hut with Stephen, Nick and Grant. It was nice to get to spend some time with them. Anyway, here are a couple pictures, love you all! Thanks for praying for the time. :)

Clean up in Record time

2009-02-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is what we did today. We worked for 4 hours cleaning up. Daniel and our friend Michael and the kids worked 3 hours on Sat. Then Daniel and I worked separately a total of 4 hours during the week. It looks much better but their are piles everywhere. We did find out there was some damage to gutters and a little part of the garage roof. Also, the camper has a few little things that were damaged. Not too bad for such a bad storm. We are thankful.

P.S. The picture of Abriana on the roof was from Thurs. I had to add it just to scare Mom. :)

Just wondering about the zodiac.

2009-02-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

I was wondering since some of you posted your zodiac signs on your profiles what your thoughts were on that subject.

Open to all, even if you did not put up your profile.

Love you all.

On the home front

2009-02-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today it was 2 degrees F., but it is sunny and beautiful. It has been a long two weeks of cold, cloudy weather, minus a couple of days which gave us a taste of what is to come...in about three months...spring. I can see why people move south in the winter. Our bones are starting to complain even when we are inside.

Since Daddy has not been able to work for a while, he did some repairs in our house, for which I am very happy. He did some work in our bathroom, connected the vents in the study and living room and fixed the drywall upstairs in the hall and bathroom. I am in the process of painting it now. He is using his new older-than-the-last-truck-by-10-years truck, but I admire his desire and commitment to paying cash for purchases.

We have started to have home meetings every other week and our group meets at our house. We are studying the Sermon on the Mount by Lloyd Jones. It was a blessing and we stayed talking till about 9:45pm. It was great to have everyone. Mason leads it, and Charles is in it, so we have good resources. The Noes are in it, and Russell shares a cowboy poem once in a while. We also have Tracy Christman, Reece and Reb and her friend Michaela, a real sweetie.

Charles book Justification and Regeneration is back in my court, which means that I need to proofread it again. It is amazing how easy it is to miss little mistakes in spelling, accents, etc. Sometimes there are things I did not see in the previous times and at others it is stuff that gets messed up when they are correcting other things or laying it out. Anyway, I need prayer that I will be able to get it all done and if possible all the mistakes corrected. When Charles had it done in English he had about 10 people proofreading it and they still found mistakes in the book. Ay ay ay! Is there hope for lonely me?

Grandma Lola sends greetings, I spoke to her last night. She had a fall at the store, but did not get hurt, though she hit her head. I told her it was plain to see she had a hard head, and she said it was true. I wonder how I turned out so easy to get along with :) Wish there were some smiley faces to place here!!!

Dany also sends his love, he and family took a trip to Chile on a new road that goes from Purmamarca (remember the cerros de siete colores?) all the way accross the Andes. Very interesting . It went up to over 5000 meters (the cuesta that we took to Cafayate was around 3000 at the highest point), and the kids all threw up. Besides that they really enjoyed it. They swam in the Pacific Ocean which they said was freezing.

I am teaching two classes now. I started today to teach Introduction to Spanish. I have 8 students among whom are Melissa Yakes and Rhonda Noe. Interesting. The adults are so attentive. The kids are too, but some of them looked terribly scared. I thought the Askew girl was going to pass out today. My, I guess I look scary. These homeschoolers...

Well, I wanted to put a picture, but Rebs has the camera. She is supposed to document a whole day for one of her classes.

Milton sends his love. He is out in the cold enjoying the sun. He thinks this weather is a blast.

The Records are back home with electricity and heat. Wish we were closer and could help them cut brush. I look forward to reading a blog of their experiences and seeing pictures.

A thought from Lloyd Jones: "If you want to have power in your life and to be blessed, go straight to the Sermon on the Mount, live and practice it and give yourself to it, and as you do so the promised blessings will come."

State of Emergency in Kentucky

2009-02-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through. Praise the Lord! On Monday night of January 26, 2009, we had an ice storm so severe that the whole region here in Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, North Tennessee, and the Boot heel of Missouri was left devastated. We were declared in the State of Emergency. The whole city and surrounding areas lost power on Tues. We did not regain power from Tuesday at noon until Monday of the next week at noon. We have no alternative for heat. We lost so many limbs of trees, they were hitting the roof constantly all of Tuesday and Tuesday night. It sounded like a constant 4 of July without the celebration.

We spent the first night at home bundled up. Then we went across the street to stay with our elderly neighbors who have a gas log. Some of Paducah regained their power on Wednesday. The mail didn't run for two days. The banks stayed closed and the gas stations were unable to pump gas, so there was a gas shortage. We had many from Daniel's work come to check on us and bring us a generator. It was a small one and allowed us to run a few things like our freezer for a short time and charge phones. That was a huge blessing.

On Thursday day, we were able to go to Daniel's work all day and enjoy heat and electricity. That night, we moved to our friends' the Sandlins. They had heat, power, Internet, and phone. It was such a blessing to be warm. Everybody was such a good sport about bathroom lines, crowded tables, and lots of kids. Total there were 8 kids under 11 years old! We ended up staying there until the power came back on Monday.

In conclusion, we are so thankful to the Lord for so many things. It could have been so much worse. No one was hurt. When we were so cold, at the right time we found places to warm up and stay. When we were really desiring a hot meal, the Lord provided restaurants that were open. Even though the banks were closed, we had decided to set aside $60 in cash the week before, in case of emergency. When we were running low on cash, the Lord opened up the banks. We had enough gas to run the generator for several hours. Our cars were full of gas. What a blessing! We are so thankful for our house, heat, warmth, Internet, phone, and most of all, that God is always in control

The real new look

2009-02-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

So this is actually the real new look. Just wanted to scare mom. Hope you like it.

2009-01-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,
I thought I would share with you what has transpired in the past couple days. I have been thinking that if I am ever to find the right gal I'm going to have to change my style a little bit. So I did. I hope you like it!

Before

During!
After!! Looking my best ever!

23 and BEYOND!

2009-01-27T20:04:00.001-08:00

Hello Family,

I like this idea, I hope everyone figures out how to work it soon, because I think it's the future of our family. Haha, just kidding. Well I'm 23 now, or as my friend Laura likes to remind me: A million years old! I had a super fun party, and I'm going to post some of the pictures that I took with my SWEET new digital camera. The other highlights from my birthday were grandma Lola calling, Stephen surprising me at my front door, my friend Chori's call from Spain, and mostly all the love that was put into my party, gifts and many birthday greetings. I've been getting back into Morning and Evening by Spurgeon and on my birthday morning the verse was "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler."--Psalm 91:3 It was a huge encouragement and reminder to see how the Lord has delivered me from so many things in the past 23 years and even more encouraging to know that every temptation that comes across my path has a way of escape! I look forward to this next year and seeing what the Lord has for me. I need lots of prayer as I graduate and make big scary decisions! Love you all...

This photo was during the "entertainment" portion of my party. HAHA Mom blindfolded me and told me a creepy story about a war hero named Joe. You can ask her for details. It was pretty freaky, but hilarious too. You can tell by Mom and Stephen's faces. (Mom was crying from laughing so hard) :P

Answer to Prayer

2009-01-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Last night Jim spoke with Dad, and he told us that Mom had a swallowing test and passed, so... she was able to actually eat food. Of course it has to be pureed, but it was food. She had eggs and sausage and loved it. She did have some stomach problems later, but I guess it is from not having had much in her stomach for a few weeks. Hurray for Speech Pathologists as well, specially Mom's, and Elizabeth who, Lord willing, will receive her degree at the end of the summer .

Dad is doing better, but goes to the urologist for tests on Wednesday. Thanks to Aunt Joanie and Bob for taking him last week.

Well, let's remember to pray for Erin who has lost her job. The good thing is that she is moving to St. Louis.

Love you all.

Record Times

2009-01-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

I am going to try to add a post from the Record family. I think this is an awesome idea. I love reading blogs. Several of my friends have one. I am including a picture from the most recent time all of us saw each other....Aunt Joanie and Uncle Bob's reception. It was such a lovely evening. I can get more than one picture to load up. I will have to learn a little more about uploading my pictures.

Welcome to our family blog

2009-01-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

While some of you enjoy spending time on Facebook, and thus keep track of each other, I thought it may be fun to have a family blog that can help us keep it touch not just with the Jim Gates family, but with the Browns, Bears, Nesteroffs, etc. I have not read too many blogs, so I am not sure how to go about it, but maybe we can give it a try.
So, here it goes. Hope you all can participate and keep in touch. Hope this is a good way to:
-find out what is going on in each family
-encourage others
-keep in touch
-see lots of pictures
-get to know each other better
-have fun

Since I don't have photos at the moment, I will close, looking forward to seeing how this develops.
Mom