Familia Marcum, Operation Ecuador: Furlough Highlights

Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.... “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Furlough Highlights

Well, we're over half-way through our furlough travels and I thought it was about time to post some pictures and highlights of our trip so far.

Brownwood-
We spent 2 weeks in Brownwood visiting our overseeing congregation of Austin Ave. We enjoyed staying with Leroy and Ruth Thompson. They were gracious enough to make the sacrifice of time and energy to keep our family for the full 2 weeks, even though they are great-grandparents in their own right. They have a house on Lake Brownwood and we enjoyed the peace and beauty of being there - and the girls enjoyed the swimming and the See Doo. We are very thankful for them both. Here are a few pictures of our time.

Leroy is a retired general in the Air Force. He met Ruth on duty in Japan where they fell in love and married before moving back to the States. They have a beautiful family and such stories to share of their life together. Ruth is a wonderful cook and they made Japanese food for us for many of our meals together - yummy stuff like skiaki and tempura (I know I'm not spelling those right, but that's how they sounded to me! Feel free to correct me.)

Leroy and Ruth kept saying they didn't know what they were going to do with themselves without our kids around when we left. The wonderful thing is I know they were telling the truth. They loved our girls - especially Jana - and were so great with all three of them.

Josh took the girls to a beach near the lake one day.

When it wasn't too hot, we spent a lot of time on their porch swing. Jana loved being outside.

We had meals with various families from the church - I don't have time to mention the wonderful visits we had with everyone, but here are 2 places we got pictures at. Doug and Sharon Rogers had us over for fajitas and then he let the girls bottle feed 2 baby goats. They thought that was pretty cool!