Here was our home away from home for a little while last week.

This is the front porch where we enjoy spending time - even when it's raining!

This is one of the farm fields that had already been mowed.

This is a field of wheat that is ready to be harvested.

This is the first camp that you come to on the way to the cottage where we stay. There is an Amish couple that stays in this occasionally.

Filling You In!

This is part of what's left of the tree that fell on the wires that Dad had the picture of on his blog. Bro. & Sis. Stoner came and we tried to clean it up as much as we could after it had been cut down this morning.

While we were working on the tree, we got caught in a couple rainstorms. This double rainbow is what we saw after the first one.

I also want to let you know that I'm going to be off of here for a few days. I'm planning on joining my parents on vacation for the rest of the week. I'll try to post some pictures after we get back.

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Going High Tech!

I got a very pleasant surprise this morning when Dad asked me if I wanted one of my birthday gifts early. It caught me off guard and I didn't really know what to say, so he handed me a gift wrapped box.
When I opened it, I found what you see in the picture above - an RCA Mp3 player!
So far I have put 69 songs on this little piece of equipment which measures 3 1/4 by 1 1/4 by 3/4 inches. This is a little less than half of its capacity of 160 songs without a memory card which would expand the memory even further.
I have really been enjoying me early, unexpected birthday gift - I'm listening to it while I'm typing this!
Thank You So Much Mom & Dad!
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From time to time, some people like to share photos from the past on their blog. That being the case, I thought I would share one from the very distant past here - as in about 40 years distant! In case you don't know who this is - go to The Happy Pastor blog and look at the profile picture for an up to date photo of this same person.
I have also heard that some people don't think there's a need to check this blog daily as it doesn't get changed very often. I will try to do better in that area.

Long Time No See!

Back sometime ago I had put a post on here about us hearing from a girl that had been a neighbor of ours in Berwick.
Well, today we finally got to see her again - along with her boyfriend Jon. We had a great time remembering things that we used to do and people that we knew.
Hopefully, it won't be so long until we see each other again!
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An Enjoyable Evening

After our new members reception service last night (for more pictures from that, click here to see the ones on my parents' blog), we were invited to the Sicklers' home for a time of fellowship and refreshments.

Everyone got involved in the preparation for this time of fellowship -

from clearing the table . . .

. . . to making the lemonade . . .

. . . to washing the dishes!

It was an enjoyable evening!

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Memorial Day

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend with all of the festivities and events that go along with it, I got to thinking about the patriotic part of this holiday.
This is an old poem that I have heard before but I still get chills when I read it.


Ragged Old Flag

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, Your old courthouse is kinda run down.
He said, Naw, it'll do for our little town.

I said, Your flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it.
He said, Have a seat, and I sat down.
Is this the first time you've been to our little town?

I said, I think it is. He said, I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag.
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.

And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams.
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though.

She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag.

On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low a time or two.

She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.

In her own good land she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused.
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.

And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.

So we raise her up every morning,
Take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
And we fold her up right.

On second thought I DO like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag.

Written by Johnny Cash

One Of God's Beautiful Creations

We had some rain here for a short time this afternoon / evening. Actually it rained pretty hard for a little bit. When it had just about quit, Dad called for me to come look outside and this is what we saw. I've seen many rainbows, but I still think they're beautiful every time I see one.
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Congratulations!

I realized tonight that it has been awhile since I have posted any pictures of Tim Calhoun on this blog.
I thought I would use this occasion to do just that and congratulate Tim on his apparent election as constable.
Congratulations Tim!
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My Mother

My Mother is a listening ear when I just need to talk – even if it doesn’t make sense!
My Mother is a shoulder to cry on – yes I still need that sometimes.
My Mother is a counselor when I’m confused and don’t know which way to turn – this happens more often than I’d like to admit.
My Mother is a source of encouragement when I’m frustrated and don’t know which way to turn – ever felt that way?
My Mother is always there to pray for me when I ask, and even when I don’t – I need that every day!
My Mother is a taxi driver when I need a ride – I know I should have my driver’s license by now, but I don’t!
My Mother is a cook when it’s meal time – even when I’m late getting home from work.
My Mother is a seamstress when my clothes need fixed – I don’t even attempt that!
My Mother is a laundress on wash day – something else that I don’t even try!
You see, my Mother is many things to me. Some people have gotten on my case about me not being married yet. They seem to think that is a crime. I have told some of them, “My Mother cooks my meals, packs my lunches, and does my laundry. What do I need a wife for?”
The most important thing that my Mother has been for me has been a consistent Christian influence. If it wasn’t for that influence, I don’t know where I would be today.
Thank You Mom!
I Love You!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who read this.
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My New Toy

We went to some yard sales today and I bought several things. Here is my biggest purchase of the day.
We have another tractor, but it's just too small for what we were using it for.
This one is a 12 horsepower Gravely with a 50 inch mower on it.
Fortunately, we can get both tractors in the shed. The concern with this one was the width, but it does fit - the total width of the mowing deck is 54 inches, the opening for the shed doors is 58 inches!
I'm just thankful that I was able to get this tractor. The man that I bought it from was very helpful and told me just about everything there was to know about it.

My new toy in action! I really like it!


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Just An Update

This is just an update on my week so far.
Our Revival services ended Sunday evening - it was a great Revival!
Monday evening - I didn't do a whole lot of anything.
Tuesday evening - Dad and I went to Penns Creek and from there to New Berlin to look at some books which Dad ended up buying.
Wednesday evening - Prayer meeting
Thursday evening - Barbershop appointments for Dad & I
Friday evening - We're planning on going to New Berlin to get the rest of the books from Tuesday evening (we couldn't get them all in the van!). From there, we're going to Penns Creek for the annual Drama / Reenactment (Is there a difference?).
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Revival This Week

I would like to invite everyone to our Revival Services this week. Bro. & Sis. Smith will be singing and Bro. Smith will be preaching.
If you can't come, please pray for us that this truly will be a time of revival and refreshing.
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Some More Miscellaneous Dayton Pics

Of course we had to stop to eat. This is the Hometown Buffet that we stopped at on the way out.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. The man with the sunglasses in the middle of the picture was some of our entertainment for the week.

Riding on the bus is also a good time to get some much needed rest!

As usual, Bro. & Sis. Cooley kept us entertained with a variety of jokes and stories during our traveling time. This included Bro. Cooley's memories and imitations of some of the PA Dutch people that he has known over the years.

This was my traveling buddy for part of the time going out and coming back. I think I drew more pictures during that time than I have for a long time!

Of course, it was good to get to see some of our fellow bloggers. We got to talk to a few of them, but not all of them like I would have liked to.

We're Back!

We have returned home from our trip to the Interchurch Holiness Convention (IHC) in Dayton, Ohio. I promised to post some pictures, so here they are.
One of the highlights for me this year was the patriotic service. I'm sure that no one who was there will forget it for a long time, if ever. I have posted a few pictures below - notice I said "a few." I didn't even try to get a picture of the parade of veterans coming into the service, along with many other scenes.
The last time that I was at IHC, I managed to miss the Time Of Discovery youth service - but not this year! With several Bible College groups singing, Travis Johnson speaking (see pic below for more details!), and Dwight Rine speaking, it was a great service!
Once again this year, the Mass Children's Choir (something like 235 children) and the Mass College Choir (approximately 300 including the orchestra) did a fantastic job!
I have more pics that I want to post some time, so keep checking back!
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Miscellaneous Pics From IHC

The exhibit area contained a great variety of interesting displays.

Patriotic Service

The Color Guard from Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

These two flags contained the names of the people who lost their lives on 9/11.

The Patriotic Service choir - which included our bus driver, Bro. Andy Cooley.

Tim Calhoun singing "The Cross Is My Statue Of Liberty."

Time Of Discovery Youth Service

One of several Bible College groups that sang.

Travis Johnson speaking on "Top Ten Signs You Need To Go On A Diet."

Dwight Rine speaking on "You Are Valuable."

The IHC Mass Choirs

The children's Mass Choir did a great job!

The college Mass Choir was wonderful again this year!

Taking Some Time Off

I know that I haven't been as faithful as I should be in updating this blog, but that being what it is, I will be taking even more of a break than normal.
As I said in my blog post last week, we will be leaving for IHC in Dayton, Ohio tomorrow morning.
I hope to have some pictures on here around the end of the week.
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Dayton, Here We Come!

In case you don't know what this picture is, this is the front entrance of the Dayton Convention Center in downtown Dayton, Ohio where the Interchurch Holiness Convention - better known as simply "IHC" - is held each year.
This year, the convention is being held April 17 - 19, which as you can figure out, is next week. I guess you could say that I have been looking forward to that week for two years now. I was at the Convention two years ago. Last year, the convention was held shortly after I had been put on full time status at my job and I didn't go but my parents did. I have to admit that for that week last year, physically I was in Lewistown, PA - mentally, I was in Dayton, Ohio! Shortly after the convention last year, I walked into my boss's office with a Post-It note with "Dwight Donahey Vacation April 16 - 20, 2007" written on it. He didn't know what was going on for a little bit until I explained it to him! As it worked out, I'm not taking the whole week off, just Tuesday thru Friday. It's not necessarily that I want to be there that much, it's more a matter of saving a vacation day!
Like we did before, once again we will be traveling with Bro. Andy Cooley who owns Cooley Coach & Charter. Within the past year, Bro. Cooley moved, so instead of traveling to Cooperstown, PA like we did before, we only have to travel to Penns Creek, PA on Tuesday morning. That's the reason that I'm not taking Monday off work.
The plans are for us to leave Penns Creek Tuesday morning at 5:00 AM - I know, that's going to make for a short night - but you can sleep in those bus seats!
I said the other day that I think they ought to have a special get-together at IHC this year so that all of the bloggers can get to meet each other!
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Hope to see you at IHC next week!

HE IS RISEN!

I don't mention very much on here about my job, but something happened a few weeks ago that I thought would be very appropriate to share at this time of year.
I'm sure you remember a few weeks ago when the controversy came out because of some guy saying that the bones of Jesus had been found. A lady that I work with was talking about this one day and asked me if I had seen the documentary about it on television. I said that I hadn't and that it was - and I quote - "a bunch of nonsense." She proceeded to inform me that, since I hadn't seen the documentary, I was uninformed and uneducated! I said, "I know that He died and on the third day, He rose again."
To tell you the truth, I got tickled and had to laugh at being told that I was uninformed and uneducated about this issue!
About a week or so later, another coworker who was there when this exchange took place came to me and told me that someone had been on the news saying that the guy that started the controversy didn't know what he was talking about. I just laughed, but inside, I was thinking something like, "I tried telling you that!"
Matthew 28:5 & 6 says, "And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
HAPPY EASTER!

The End Of An Interesting Week

I know - today's actually the beginning of the week! I just wanted to give an update on the past week.
This past week at work was the week when they close the books on the month / quarter. It usually gets quite interesting during these times. Fortunately, things have improved, so it wasn't as hectic as it has been in the past, but we were still busy and able to get out of there at a decent time each day.
The highlight of the week was the revival that Dad was preaching at the Big Valley Brethren In Christ Church. I was able to be with them for all of the services except two. I may be partial, but I thought Dad did great - God really helped him with the messages. I don't think I'm the only one that feels this way!
Yesterday was sort of a take it easy day. We did some running around in the morning, but other than that most of the day was spent together here at home.
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I'm Still Here

I just wanted to put something on here to let you know that I am still around!
Thing have been a little hectic around here for about the past week and a half but hopefully I can get some more on here this weekend!
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In Memory Of Pap

My father has mentioned on his blog about his father being in the hospital.
My grandfather passed away early this morning.
This picture was taken several years ago at the apartment where my grandparents were living at the time. Left to right are Pap, Darv (my brother), me, Dad.
Please keep us in your prayers throughout this coming week.
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A Celebrity Among Us!

It's not very often that I can say that I have met, let alone know, someone who might be considered a celebrity, but this time, I can say just that!
Yesterday as I was listening to Saturday Afternoon Gospel with Dave Colyer on WTLR / WQJU, it was quite a pleasure to hear Aaron McCarty's song "One Jar Of Oil" as part of a three in a row set of songs along with the Kingsmen and the Bradys. Needless to say, Aaron's song was my pick of the three.
If you haven't gotten this album yet, I would highly recommend that you get in touch with Bro. McCarty to get one. It is great!
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Hang In There!

I was recently given this postcard and I liked the message on it.
I'm sure we've all had days when we felt like that dog looks!
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An Update On The Family!

For those of you who may have been getting tired of looking at a picture of a monkey, here you go, a picture of two monkeys!
First off, I would like to congratulate Connor Davis - the subject of many of the posts on the Davis Doodles blog - on being the winner of the unofficial contest to name the monkey! His full name is now Grilly the Gray Gorilla, or Grilly for short.
On the second note of business, I would like to report that Grilly's long lost cousin Moe has now come to live with us after an extended stay in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. That's Moe hanging out with Grilly in the picture above.
I realize that it may seem a little strange to some of you that I would be posting pictures of stuffed monkeys, but hey, I'm having fun and we can't take ourselves seriously all the time, if at all!
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A New Addition!

I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family. He came from Florida with my parents when they returned.
The bad thing is - I haven't come up with a name for him yet!
I was thinking about something along the lines of Morris the Monkey or something like that, but I'm not sure!
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Some Changes!

Several years ago, I inherited a large collection (it has gotten quite a bit larger since) of church announcements - revivals, youth rallies, etc.
I thought it would be fun to post one of them on here every once in a while!
The one above is one of several Penn View groups that we had while we were in Berwick. The people in the picture are (Left to Right): Dwight Rine, James Plank, Michelle (Mason) Durkee, Dan Durkee, and Dan Peachey.
You can click on the picture to enlarge it.
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Sounds Like A Good Reason!

Some people have sort of gotten on my case about why I'm still single. I've given these people various reasons - maybe I'll share some of them in a future post - as to why I'm still single.
Here is the most recent one that I heard of someone saying - "Be wise and stay single and hear the money jingle."
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Excitement In The Neighborhood!

Yes, those fire trucks are in front of our church - no, there wasn't a fire at the church.
It turned out to be a faulty smoke detector out the street from us. Somebody decided this would be a good place to wait until they found out what was going on, which fortunately turned out to be nothing!
Oh well, it did provide some excitement for a little bit on a cold - 12 degree - evening!
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THEY'RE HOME!

I think this sign says it all!
Actually, at this point, they're not home yet, but they are somewhere between Harrisburg and Lewistown!
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Update From The Travelers

Just in case anyone is checking here - I just talked to Dad a little bit ago.
They made it to Florida safe and sound - their flights went great. The flight from Harrisburg to Charlotte was actually a little early.
The only complaint (if you want to call it that) was that it is so warm down there and they're not used to that in January!
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P.S. - I tried posting this on Dad's blog but it didn't work - hopefully it will work here!

Fulfilling God's Call

Our Sunday School lesson this morning was titled "The Call To Service."
This lesson was looking at the issue of all Christians being called to do something and not just focusing on preachers, evangelists, and missionaries. Even considering that, I think that - considering his own calls throughout the course of his years of ministry - my Dad was very qualified to teach this lesson. I may be a bit biased, but, so be it!
After having served for quite a few years in the role of an assistant pastor(at the Lewistown God's Missionary Church), Sunday School teacher, fill-in minister, and nursing home ministry (which he feels was a call in itself) - he felt that God was leading him to step out into the area of being a pastor.
Let me point out here that there was no human reason for him to do this. He had a good job and was being offered a better job within the factory where he was working (the same factory where I am now working).
In the spring of 1988 we started going out for "trial services" (a very appropriate name!) in different churches.
To make a long story short, in July of 1988, we moved to Berwick, PA to pastor the God's Missionary Church there after God very clearly told Dad that's where he should go.
In 1996, after eight years at Berwick, God asked Dad if he would go to Lewistown to pastor. Dad, not knowing that the church at Lewistown even needed a pastor said yes. The condition that he eventually put on this agreement was that the people at Lewistown had to come to him - which happened a few months later!
Suffice it to say - in July of 1996, we moved back to Lewistown to pastor our former home church. This, despite our Conference General Superintendant's assuring the Lewistown people that Dad wouldn't leave Berwick!
Hopefully, after reading this, you can get a little bit of an idea - even though I left out a lot of details - why I said what I did about Dad teaching a lesson on "The Call To Service."
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Finally Done - Here It Is!

I said that I would try to post a picture of the project that I've been working on in the shop. Well, here it is! This is a project that I had started back some time ago and just got back to finishing it over the last week or so.
It measures 21 inches wide and is 13 1/4 inches high.
It is made up of 96 individual pieces of wood - not counting the backing board or the dowels holding the shotgun shells - and yes, those are real shotgun shells!
There are seven different kinds of wood in this project - walnut, aromatic cedar, poplar, purpleheart, birch, maple, and oak.
I just thought I would share this picture of one of my hobbies with you. Believe it or not (some people can't) this is one of the ways that I relax now!
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Another Week!

I just wanted to pop in and let you know I'm still around.
We're getting ready to finish up another busy week at work - it sounds like tomorrow could be pretty busy too.
I've been working on a special project in the shop - I may post pictures of that in the next couple of days.
Around home here - it's been pretty much business as usual!
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The End Of The Weekend!

Well, here we are at the end of another weekend. Is it just me, or do the weekends seem to fly by faster than the rest of the days of the week? Maybe it's because I look forward to them so much!
Friday evening we went to some friends' house and played a whole game of dominoes. I lost - as usual! We had a good time!
Saturday I got a chance to work in the shop for a while. In the afternoon we went away and out to eat. It was great just to be together as a family! I worked in the shop for a little while in the evening.
Sunday has been pretty much a normal day - Church in the morning and evening and rest in the afternoon!
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Possession or Profession?

Dad preached a tremendous message tonight on "Possession or Profession?"
After he read the Scripture, he proceeded to ask the people if they would believe him if he told them that he had a million dollars with him.
He then preached a great message on the need to not only profess Jesus Christ, but also to possess Him.
See the pictures below for the rest of the story on the million dollars!
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He set the bag with the money in it out for all the people to see - just to keep them wondering!

Yes, he does possess it - but is it worth anything?

This is what the money looks like up close.
Once he pulled it out of the bag, Dad's point was that while he did possess what he said he did, it was worthless.

A Beautiful Sunrise

This is part of the sunrise that we saw this morning. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was beautiful!
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!