Saturday morning, before the convention opened, Anna and I went in and inventoried what we might need for the day so John could restock. Mom’s session, From Chaos to Peace, was scheduled for 9 a.m. and was almost full.

The time management session

Dad’s Preparing Sons session, which was in the afternoon, was out of standing room in the back! I love to hear Dad share his heart with those who come.

Even though Mom only had one session in the morning, she stayed busy, talking, almost all day, to ladies who would stop by and want to chat.

Mary and Mom

When 5 o’clock rolled around, it was time to pack out our booth. Two of our friends’ sons, Tyler and Carter, helped, and I think that’s why we made such record timing.

Tyler helping

Carter taping up boxes

Joseph hand-trucking boxes out.

Having the opportunity to share at the CHAP convention was a blessing!

Sarah

“What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose” (Psalms 25:11-12).

We arrived safely home a little after 11 a.m. Thank you so much for praying! I know I have several updates to catch you upon, which I will do over the next few days.

Love,

Sarah

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

We are now a few hours from home, with an estimated arrival of before noon. It’s a beautiful, blue-sky day, with cool temperatures. We are rejoicing over the opportunities the Lord gave us this trip to share.

We took a “Uriah-gets-a-drink-stop” a little while ago. Now that he’s set, we’ll complete the final leg of the drive.

Thanks for praying!

Sarah

Jesse is very faithful to clean the windshield at each diesel stop.

John

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalms 19:9).

We’re on our way again. Here’s what happened. There was a cap that failed that was on an unused oil port in a very obscure hard to see and reach position. John was able to find it and use a steel epoxy to plug ite.

We will stop by a Detroit Diesel shop to pick up some more oil in about an hour. We are about 7 or 8 hours from home, but we plan to stop on the west side of St. Louis tonight.

Thanks for praying!

Sarah

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

We stopped at a rest area for a few minute break, and I got out with Mary to get a few pictures.

And, I saw John checking the bus over. When we came back inside, he told Dad we had an oil leak, and it is significant. So, we’re figuring out what to do. The local shop is busy until next week. So, maybe we can cap it and figure out if there’s a way to limp home. We shall see. Please pray!

Love,
Sarah

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

Thursday morning dawned, and we felt rested and ready for the weekend. Instead of parking at a church, our home sweet home was the Farm Show parking lot.

Mid-morning, we found our booths and went to work. It seemed pretty simple to set up, and after the guys had trucked in the boxes, we girls did our part.

Setting up

Mary

Dad and Mom spent a lot of their time Thursday revising their sessions, since most of their sessions are generally an hour, and the workshop time slots were 45 minutes. We were delighted that our friends from New Hampshire took the time and effort to come and see us at the CHAP convention. We had hoped to work it out to visit them, but since it didn’t, they came to us! We went out with them for dinner Thursday evening.

At dinner with friends

Table #2

Now, to Friday. The convention opened at 8 a.m., and it was exciting to see the lines of people as they checked in or registered for the first time.

Finding name tags

Dad and Mom’s Hearts session was at 9 a.m.

Dad and Mom

At first, people steadily came in, but there was plenty of empty spots. But, before long, the room was packed, and many couldn’t get in due to being out of space. John grabbed a picture on his phone.

Erie

Mom gave Chores at 12, and I already posted a few pictures from that.

Redeeming the Time

Dad’s session was in a different room that afternoon, and it was also stuffed, even using the standing space.

Meek and Quiet

Mom’s Meek and Quiet session was extremely well received. After the chairs were filled, ladies sat on the floor, lined the walls, and stood in the two doorways! It was so full ladies couldn’t get in to the session.

Jesse talking with people

There was a constant flow through the booth. You'll probably notice Joseph on his computer. He was still working on ITonRamp things as he was able.

We also had the occasional visitor into the booth, who took a chair next to Dad or Mom to talk for awhile. It is our joy and delight to be able to be an encouragement in whatever way we can.

Since there are eight of us, we had many different and varied conversations with people throughout the day, especially with the many people who came by our booth. I was excited to meet twin sisters who came from out of state to attend the CHAP convention. We talked to quite a few blog readers too. It was a full and wonderful day, sharing with those the Lord brought our way.

Love,
Sarah for the rest

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Here are a few pictures of the Pennsylvania landscape, taken yesterday. I’m working on blog posts from the weekend. We would be grateful for your prayers for traveling safety as we journey home. We’re currently outside of Columbus, Ohio.

Sarah

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalms 19:1).

More later!

“For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5).

More later!

“For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death” (Psalms 48:14).

The last two days have been busy, and I will try to catch everyone up at some point. For now, I’ll leave you with several things. Conference has been going incredibly great, and we have been thrilled to talk to many people and encourage them in the Lord. We’ll post more later.

Sarah

Thursday morning

We saw an aircraft from the Presidential Fleet.

Mom's Chore Session

The lady pictured with Mom and I actually came from Canada for the conference. She and her husband drove many hours to come.

Mom's Meek and Quiet session was packed out.

“For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me” (Psalms 31:3).

More later, but we woke up to being in the midst of a flash flood. In an incredible way, we were able to get out, and warn others as we left, along with notifying emergency personnel of the situation. We are praising the Lord for His protection. Watch for more pictures and the story!

Sarah

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalms 91:4).

It is always a delightful relief–if one can get past thinking of all the things you might have forgotten–to get in the bus and be gone. This is only a small trip, about a fifth of the length of the last one, so things did seem much easier to get ready, but we still managed to forget a few food items, but no big deal.

Yesterday was full as we prepared. Dad, Mom, Joseph, Jesse, and Nathan were heavily involved in ITonRamp.com, and the rest of us all had our own responsibilities to prepare for leaving. This morning dawned early, and our goal was to leave at 7:30. It was actually about 8 when we left. As we drove down the street, we heard an odd noise. We weren’t making it very far. John got out and discovered we were dragging a stick, which shouldn’t have made that much noise, but anyway, the noise was gone, so we were set.

Temperatures and humidity were up today, and we decided to do an open-air ride until about lunchtime (so we wouldn’t have to run the generator), when we neared St. Louis and rain. We fired up the generator and turned on the air, not without event, though. For some reason, the circuit breaker on the generator had been tripped. So, we pulled over to reset it. After we were on our way again, the air was on for only about two minutes, and we lost power again. Puzzling! So, we pulled over and John discovered the reason. It was because the extension cord in the generator bay had shifted and shut the breaker off. Very odd. John moved the extension cord to another bay, and we were set. We were very grateful for the cool air! Most of us took naps, since sleep was on the short side last night.

Late afternoon, we were excited because it was going to work out for us to briefly see our friends, Dave and Liz, at a W-M in Indiana off the interstate. The call was made, and they hopped in their car and began driving. They arrived only a few minutes before us. What a delight it was to chat with them and eat dinner. We had a great time of fellowship in the bus. It seemed surreal to think that we were actually sitting in a W-M parking lot with our dear friends! What a blessing it was. After awhile, though, we had to say good-bye, because we needed to make it further tonight.

About twenty minutes after we left them, I had gone to grab what I would need to work on a blog post, when there was a loud explosion, and the truck next to us swerved back and forth as he struggled to maintain control over his truck. The noise was so dramatic, some thought we had been hit, but since we didn’t feel any impact, we knew that wasn’t the case. We immediately knew what was going on: one of the tires from the truck beside us had exploded. Debris from the shredded tire flew everywhere, and we think some of it hit the bus. Dad could see parts of the tire going everywhere in his rear view mirror. We are extremely grateful for the Lord’s protection over us and all the other drivers around; there could easily have been accidents and serious damage. In the meantime, the truck driver was able to pull safely off of the interstate.

We are stopped for the night outside of Columbus, Ohio, and we’ll drive the last 7 hours to Harrisburg tomorrow!

Sarah

Where's John? I took this yesterday when he was under the bus working.

Jesse was speed waxing the bus.

Loading up yesterday. It was warm!

Nathan and Melanie had us over for dinner last night. It was delicious, and the fellowship was top-notch!

Cute Abby.

Usually I'm on the other side of the camera.

Bible time

The guys and Dave

Dinner was salad, chili, chips, and ice cream pie!

Liz and I

Dave and Liz--thanks so much for driving up to see us!

“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:11).

Things are a buzz here at our house as we prepare for the trip. So many projects going: ITonRamp.com is about to launch (later today or tomorrow morning, and we will post when it launches so you have first opportunity to sign up for classes), the May Corners will be sent out tomorrow, thus last-minute items on that, books are being prepared to be loaded into the bus, CDs are being compiled, personal packing is being done, errands need to be run, more supplies brought over for the family who ships our Titus2.com orders while we’re away, and the list goes on. We’re grateful John was excused from his jury duty, which starts today, because of the trip. They postponed him until June.

This morning, after our individual Bible time, a number of us compiled Chore books. The only disappointment today? We are missing Dave and Liz and their company and help! They were with us as we prepared for our last trip.

Please be praying as we prepare today. The Lord always helps us to accomplish all that needs to be done. We are excited about this trip and look forward to what the Lord will do. It’s a Kansas “summer” day, with temperatures soaring into the 90′s with humidity.

Love,
Sarah for all the rest

“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house” (Proverbs 24:27).

Chore Books! We started a little after 6:30 a.m.

The audio girl.

I know this is long overdue, but Omaha was a great way to end our trip. Our coordinator did an excellent job of spreading the word, even though her conference was scheduled while we were on the trip. The group hosting the conference made us feel extremely welcome, and then they provided an incredible dinner of BBQ chicken on rolls, lots of side dishes, and even cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning. Thank you to all who helped! Several families came early to set up each of the rooms, which was also a blessing. Thank you!

An excellent group came out, on that cloudy, cool Monday evening. Between speaking and then keeping up with the book tables, which were busy, it was a fast-paced night. Hearts were again open, and we’ve heard from families who were blessed.

What a wonderful way to finish out the trip!

Sarah for the rest

One thing I noticed was the bright chairs.

Mary

Looking

Talking

Packin' up for the last time, well, for a few weeks! We had lots of practice, and it is always rewarding to do another load out.

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jeremiah 32:17).

For three weeks, that is. We pulled into our driveway around 10:30 a.m. We set to work immediately carrying things in and trying to get all of our personal belongings in.

Then, the guys loaded up their work supplies and headed to Nathan and Melanie’s. The goal? Nathan needs a studio/office for video conferencing with his students (ItonRamp.com). So, the next few days will be spent converting part of their basement for this purpose.

What a sweet welcome. Thanks, Anna Marie!

The cute jelly-bean welcome home, not to mention all the food that was left for us. Thank you, Nathan, Melanie, and the C. Family.

Jesse unloading the bus.

Unloading the fridge.

The Before Picture

Pulling things out.

Joseph's work shirt

We have tons of pictures, so watch for more as the progress continues!

Sarah

“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name” (Psalms 33:20-21).

After 5 1/2 weeks and thousands of miles, we are headed back to Leavenworth, Kansas. We had a surprising start to the day, at 5:18, when hail rapidly hit the bus roof. Pretty soon, five of us were in the front of the cabin, peeking out to watch the storm. It’s a cool, spring morning, and we will be home in an hour. Yes, home sweet home. We’ll be catching up on blog posts, and then we have a new project, starting today, which is an exciting, next step in ItOnRamp.

Sarah

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith” (Galatians 5:22).

We’ve gone West many times, and every time we drive through South Dakota, we would see signs advertising Wall Drug. It never seemed to be a good time to stop, but since Wall is a little over an hour from Rapid City, we drove there after the conference. We explored the large store, which was compartmentalized into many sections, and purchased a few gifts.

Wall Drug

It was an interesting time.

John and I

The Girls

By the time 6:15 rolled around, we were tired and ready for food. There were only two fast-food places in town, and since we enjoy ice cream, we opted for Dairy Queen.

Sarah

“Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord” (Psalms 105:3).

It’s a cloudy, cool morning. As I woke up, I heard birds chirping outside the bus walls. Little buds are on the trees, and the magnolia trees boast pink flowers. We’re back to spring!

We plan to do music at my grandma’s nursing home this afternoon, and then we’ll be heading to the church after that. We look forward to our final conference on this trip, at the Bellevue Christian Center, and then home tomorrow–home for three weeks, until we leave for Pennsylvania.

Love,
Sarah for the rest

Yesterday, we fueled up for the last time on this trip!

Joseph is smiling here, but when we were done fueling, the pump wouldn't shut off. The boys have never experienced anything like it. John ended up being able to get it off, but he got diesel all over his clothes and it was pooled on the ground as well.

Dinner last night at my aunt and uncle's house.

Bible time together last night

Uncle Gary wanted to make pancakes for us this morning. They were great!

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin” (Matthew 6:28).

After our momentous trek across South Dakota, we arrived at the church early Friday afternoon. It was great timing for all we had been through. We did a “walk through” of the church facility and then began to unload. It seems set up is getting easier each time. Lots of practice must really help!

Setting up Friday.

Music

Friday evening went well. We switched the order of a few of the songs around, and the stage was a bit tight, but the family adapted well to the minor challenges. Several families drove a distance to come, including one who braved the storm we went through.

Building a Vision

Some of us hadn’t slept so well for several nights, but Friday night, we had a refreshing night’s sleep, which we needed. Even though we’ve been in cold weather, we’ve not had to run the heater at night. I think we warm up the cabin . Saturday morning dawned, and about 6 a.m., we were all up and having our individual Bible time. We like to be inside the church by 8 to set up sound, projectors, signs, etc.

We are so grateful to families who give up their weekend to attend a conference. The day goes quickly as we move from session to session, talking with people in between, keeping up with the book tables, and getting things set for the next session. Hearts were definitely open, and we could tell the Lord was moving greatly. Thank you for your faithful prayers for these conferences.

Our final conference for this trip will be in Omaha tomorrow night. Tonight, we are going to be staying at my aunt’s house, and we’re looking forward to that. It feels strange to think we’ll be only three hours from home sweet home.

Sarah for the rest

Joseph sharing.

Anna

Dad

Jesse talking

Mary

Book tables

John and Anna

Often, I'll make signs to direct people where to go.

Looking in through the window on the door.

Mom sharing

A little guy entertaining himself during a session under his mom's chair.

Anna

Headed for their next session.

Dad

Joseph and Anna

One of the families who drove a distance to come.

Talking

Loading out

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

It was a wonderful weekend conference. We still have our last evening to go, on this trip, Monday night, in Omaha, Nebraska. We stopped in Wall, South Dakota, and we’ll be driving to Omaha tomorrow. We’ll report on the conference later, and yes, for those who might know the area, we did go to Wall Drug and experience the experience.

John with two young boys

Jesse

Good night!

Sarah

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).