Happy 101st Birthday to Grandma Bryan! Ruth Bryan turned 101 today, went to church with us, was her spry old self at dinner and even blew out all of her candles on her cake! After blowing out the candles one replied that "she was a professional." She's had lots of practice!

We are blessed and honored to have a dear saint who is a prayer warrior and very generous giver to Missions.

Just think of all that has happened in our world, the inventions, the technology, the people who've come and gone, since 1907 when she was born. Are we a better nation now than we were back then? Are we more Godly or more wicked? Can it still be said today that, "America is great because it is good?" Are we more hooked on being "Great" than being "good"?

I couldn't resist this picture because the shirt is cute. Picture taken at a recent Church dinner!

Happy 18th Anniversary, Laura! Your are the greatest and I am so happy God brought us together. Laura and I enjoyed a wonderful Anniversary weekend at Serenity Log Cabins. www.serenitylogcabins.com It was absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!!!! Just what we needed! If you want time away with just your wife, snuggled back in some peaceful woods, then this is the place. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful butterflies, hearing and seeing the birds, saw one doe about 30 yards from the cabin, and the beautiful cabin itself.

The cabins are owned by some friends of ours, Dave and Regina Eckert, who attend the Christian Nation Church and they have done an excellent job. You won't be disappointed! We want to especially thank Jackie Foley who gave us this special gift for Laura and I to relax and get away. Thanks Jackie, it was worth every dollar you spent and we came away not only just having a relaxing time, but more refreshed and rejuvenated.

Please visit their web sight for more information!

The Cabin was decorated so nicely with red rose petals on the bed and a special "welcome tray". The theme of this cabin was Bears!

Someone please let us out! These 4 prisoners seem way too happy to be in jail!

What are these two sisters up to? I don't know but I'm scared to ask! We've been enjoying the Dickinsons as they've been staying with us. It's fun to hang around with other "strange missionaries" just like us.


Happy Birthday Laura! You're the greatest!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY LAURA

Happy Mothers Day to Laura! She's a wonderful woman, great wife, cook, homemaker, mother and friend. I'm glad God has allowed her to be my wife. I'm truly blessed. If you want to know what a Proverbs 31 woman is, then just get to know my wife. We've joked about the part about "buying and selling" property, which isn't Laura's strength, but if you apply all of that to one who is frugal, makes good financial decisions, etc. then she passes the test. God has blessed our family with a Great Woman! Happy Mothers Day, Laura.

Mothers Day has come again, same as any other
And yet on this special day, we must thank our mother
Thank her for the work she's done, even when her praise is none
Thank her for her love and care, for it is only fair

She works all day and night
She works with all her might
To make sure her "cubs" are fed
And then tucked into bed.

Thank you for the work you do,
Mommy, I love you.

NMH

What are we doing having a child old enough to go to VIP Day? I don't know but I don't like the fact that our kids are growing up way too fast.

Natasha expressed interest in going to VIP day at GBS&C. So, since we don't live too far and have no idea how God will lead us in the future, we decided to jump at the chance, even though she has plenty of time before heading off to College.

She's expressed interest in Music, Missions, and does a good job in teaching as well so I'm not sure just how God is going to lead her but I'm thankful for her openness to God's will! She said she really had a good time and I enjoyed taking her.

It's been a busy week, but a good one! We spent some time at the Inter-Church Holiness Convention. The kids had a great time and we did as well. Wonderful preaching and singing and God's presence was there! It's nice to get to see some friends and fellowship but the most important thing is that God comes and draws us closer to Him.

Happy Birthday Natasha!


We celebrated at Skyline Chili with Philip, Heather and family and then later enjoyed eating the birthday cake. What a joy it is to have Natasha as part of our family. Happy Birthday our dear Natasha!

Two peas in a pod! The cousins are loving the time they've had to spend together!

Welcome Home!!!! Philip, Heather, and family arrived home from Columbia, South America and we thank God for the safety.

It's good to see you all again and we are enjoying the time together.


There's nothing like coming back "home" after a couple of years in another country. However, you come with mixed emotions because you love the people you just left and love the people you are going to see. You also realize that, in once sense, your "home country" is not like it was when you left. God enlarges our coasts and home really ain't home. Confused yet! One man has said it something like this. A Missionary is most comfortable in an airport, for he is always going to see someone he loves.

What a weekend to Remember! We had about a foot of snow or more (last weekend) and we were snowed in, but we didn't mind for we were at a weekend seminar! I don't want to be guilty of just saying my wife is important, but I want to be guilty of proving it to her! She wanted to go to one of these for a long time, but our circumstances haven't allowed us too. So when we found out that there was a Family Life - Weekend to Remember seminar here, locally, we chose to invest in our marriage and family. Sometimes we are so "bottom line" oriented that we only look at the dollars and cents and make decisions on this fact alone. Investing in our family and marriage can't be weighed by dollars and cents. It's an investment!

With that being said I state some of my core beliefs in these areas:

1. My relationship with God is first and comes before everything else. I am to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength!
2. My relationship with my wife comes second! When we got married, we became a family! Adam & Eve were the first family! Children increase the size of the family. They should not be the focus but an addition to the family! Our focus should be on our mate.
   
3. The children come next and are my third priority. "The best thing you can do for your children is to be a good husband to their mother." If I have a good relationship with my wife, loving and caring for her, it will bring security to the children.
   
4. Ministry/ Missions/ job/etc. comes 4th. This is not a selfish kind of thing where family comes above all else but a Biblical thing where I invest the most in the lives of those who God has placed under my responsibility. Why would I forsake those that I have the most influence over in order to spend more of my energies on those that I only influence for a short while. In reality, our family has expanded our ministry, not limited it!
   

The spiritual well-being of my wife and children is more important than any ministry or job that God calls me too! Now that I've said it and believe it, may God help me to LIVE it!

Recently, while my parents were here to visit, we took a field trip with the kids. (notice their notepads that they brought along with them) We went to the Creation Museum and it was a wonderful field trip. Not only was it Scientific but it was Biblical and you didn't have to constantly hear things like, "billions and billions of years ago". We came away not only learning more about Creation but more about our AWESOME God. Truly He is the only one who is AWESOME for it is only God who we look at in awe!

Here's the special assortment of flowers that I bought for Brittany. She's a special girl and God has been helping her tremendously!

For those of you who even care!!

Here's the answers to the birthday questions:
1. . How much weight has Daryl gained since he got married? 10-15 lbs, depending on the day
2. What is his favorite sport? Basketball
3. What is his favorite car manufacturer? Toyota - a wise use of God's money
4. How many states has he visited? 48 or 49, I've been having doubts about the state of R.I. other than that, I'm trying to figure out how I can arrange to visit Hawaii
5. How many countries has he been in? I think 16
6. What is his favorite non-veggie food dish? Chili
7. What was his favorite dog's name? Rita
8. What is his hobby? Playing basketball
9. Is he right handed or left handed? "Everyone is born right-handed, but only a few, talented, gifted individuals soon overcome this obstacle!" (that should give you a clue)
10. What foreign country did he enjoy visiting the most? Austria
11. What historical place did he like visiting the most? Hard to limit it but it would have been Red Square, Aushwitz & Dachau Concentration camp
12. What Bible College did he graduate from? (smile) I put this in as a little bit of humor because we had a bunch of our GBS friends over, so I had to get them to write down HSBC, Hobe Sound Bible College.
13. Is he an early bird or night owl? Mornings were made to be taken real slow and very little talking.
14. What is his least favorite household job? Cleaning the bathroom, in particular - the TUB!!!

Here's the three girls with their wonderful violin teacher, Mrs. Collins.

I will try to upload some of Natsaha's piece if I can, since the memory is quite large.

Here's just a piece of Brittany's piece. If there's any poor sound quality, it has to do with the digital camera, which isn't the greatest for videoing.

This is just a sample!

God really helped and we thank God for the wonderful teacher, Mrs. Collins.

Brittany is playing a piece by J. S. Bach, entitled Bouree

Here's a quote that I've recently run across. It is very profound and obviously, not original with me. If it was original with me, it wouldn't be profound. Don't say "Amen" to loudly!

"Politics don't determine a culture; Culture determines Politics."

It's no wonder we are in the shape we are in with our political world. We as the church have not done our job to reach the lost and therefore impact our culture.

The predicament we are in politically, should scare us to our knees and then scare us into actually getting out and impacting our world.

I usually don't buy my wife dead flowers for Valentines Day because of being too practical. Both of us would rather have something living, like a plant, but the Tulips reminded both of us of Russia, where Tulips were abundant (during the summer) and they were very inexpensive.