Rusty and Kathy Jones

More from DCA. Here's some news from Rusty Jones: "we are doing good, getting older,but doing good. We have 3 grandchildren and one more on the way. We are still in love with Jesus as is our whole family."

Former members of DCAnglers will appreciate this photo and email quote: "We got into a school of redfish a couple of weeks ago and caught 21 in about 2 hours it was awsome! rusty"

Jackson and Susan Plauche

OK. Heard from Susan and she directed me to a place on Josh and Ashley's site with a pic of them. Here they are: two very special people to Peggy and me, as well as a lot of DCA alumni. (It doesn't look like they've aged any. How do they do that?)

From Susan's email: "Joshua is now 27.....hard to believe. He majored in creative writing and graduated from UT. He played in a Christian Band for several years, was a Eagle Scout & Captain of the wrestling team in high school. We have been very blessed to have him as our son."

Katrina 2-Year Anniversary

It has been 2 years this month since Peggy and I were on the Gulf Coast following the immense Hurricane Katrina. She was there with Convoy of Hope and I was there for TPE, reporting and shooting photos. I made my photos into several slideshows. Here is one that clearly shows the devastation. (My sister, Pat, who lives in Pascagoula, MS, just got out of a FEMA trailer and back into her home.)

Hummingbirds at Maranatha

Viewed from Peggy's mom's balcony on Thursday, 8/23.

Ken With Thomas Trask

Taken yesterday. It has been my privilege to work with Bro. Trask the entire time I have been at HQ. He will be missed!

Thomas Trask, Charles Crabtree Appreciation Web Sites Online

I have been privileged to put up special Web sites for our two outgoing leaders in the Assemblies of God, Thomas Trask (top photo) and Charles Crabtree (both photos mine). I have felt blessed to know these men and have the opportunity interact with them frequently. They will be missed. I encourage you to visit the sites and leave comments.

Express Your Appreciation


Please express your appreciation for the ministry of Thomas E. Trask, who steps down as general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in October, and for Charles T. Crabtree who steps down as assistant general superintendent at the same time. Click on on the links below to visit their sites and leave your comments of appreciation and memory.

Thomas Trask Appreciation

Charles Crabtree Appreciation

Rain, Mexico and a Three-Toed Box Turtle

It started yesterday, a huge thunderstorm, giving us the desperately needed moisture for our dying lawns. It continued throughout the night and morning, knocking out electricity. We were down for a couple of hours off and on at Headquarters. It was part of a massive front described by Fox News today this way: "Severe flooding in the midwest and southern plains had claimed at least 20 lives Monday, after relentless thunderstorms...."

By noon the rain was gone and the mercury climbing. As I went to my car in the parking lot a little before 6 I was surprised at what I saw in the road—a turtle walking right into traffic on Division. I watched as 3 cars ran over him, luckily straddling him, after which I rescued him. This is downtown Springfield. Where could a turtle come from here? Peggy and I have each rescued turtles several times as they tend to charge into traffic and we tend to be turtle-rescuers. One thing I knew—there was no place to put him at HQ where he wouldn't soon find himself back in traffic. I was meeting Peggy and her mom at Red Lobster for dinner. I took him with me, and, finding no good place to put him, we put him in a box with some water between our cars while we ate. (Very appropriate ... he's a box turtle.)

Peggy had to bring her mom home so she took him to Maranatha in a Christopher and Banks bag and deposited one very lucky and very happy turtle in a very nice pond. These are really good photos; they seldom stay out to be photographed. They are called box turtles because they totally draw into their box-like shell when threatened.

He's a three-toed box turtle: "Out of the 17 or so kinds of turtles native to Missouri, none are as well-known as our two species of box turtles. Even folks who aren’t into fishing, hunting, hiking, bird watching or gardening have had opportunities to observe box turtles. Too often, unfortunately, such opportunities involve these reptiles trying to cross roads or highways" (MO Conservation Dept.). See, I didn't make it up.

In other news, as Hurricane Dean prepares to slam Belize and Mexico, I am getting ready to go down to report with a team on Weds. or Thurs.

(Read my Vantage Point from yesterday's issue, about storms.)

Reagan Adviser Michael Deaver Dies

From AP:

"Longtime Reagan Adviser Michael Deaver Dies From Cancer
Sunday, August 19, 2007

"WASHINGTON — Michael K. Deaver, one Ronald Reagan's closest advisers during in the White House and the director of the president's picturesque and symbolic public appearances, died Saturday. He was 69.

"Deaver, who had pancreatic cancer, died at his home in Bethesda, Md."

I read Deaver's book A Different Drummer: Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan. If you are interested in Reagan even a tiny bit you will enjoy it. I recommend it. (Of course, I am a Reagan fan. I even have a sister who is a Reagan!)

Congratulations to Mel & Dorothy Zecher & My Aunt Ruby

I have been way late in sending special greetings to these special people. Just got them ready to go today.

Mel and Dorothy are my second parents. Peggy and I love them very much. They just had their 60th anniversary!

My Aunt Ruby Horn celebrated her 90th birthday!

This is the photo of us we sent both.

Peggy's Dad With "Bob" the Bob-Tailed Squirrel

Peggy has been missing her dad today. So I searched for this video clip of him with a squirrel he named Bob, because it had no tail. This was one of his favorite pastimes before they moved to Springfield.

Plauche News

Received info on the Plauche family from my days at DCA. Joshua, the little tyke I remember running around the church, is getting married. See their Web site . I lifted the photo from that Web site. It has Susan with Josh. Didn't find one of my old fishing buddy, Jackson.

Perkitty rises to new heights

Tortoiseshells are jumpers we have been told, and Perkitty is no exception. But when I found her up near the ceiling in the kitchen I was surprised enough to shoot this clip. That's the refrigerator top she is jumping DOWN to.

Heat Wave Continues in Springfield, Kills at Least 37 Across South, Midwest

Friday , August 17, 2007

The following AP report lets you know what we've been going through here. At 11:00 am today it was already 90 degrees. We can't get enough water on the lawns. They are brown and crispy. But that's not too bad when you consider this:

"Residents across the South and Midwest were hopeful that the weekend would bring some relief from brutal temperatures that have killed more than three dozen people and set records for power demand.

"Forecasters expected temperatures in Memphis and other parts of the Mississippi Valley on Friday to drop slightly, into the 90s, a relief from several consecutive days of triple digits.

"In Tennessee, the Shelby County medical examiner's office confirmed Thursday that heat caused the death of a 53-year-old man found in his apartment the day before, bringing the death toll in Memphis alone to eight.

"In all, 37 deaths in the South and Midwest have been confirmed as heat-related, and heat is suspected in 10 more, authorities said."

Muscovy Ducks

OK, I have gone YouTube. I don't have a video camera so you won't see much, but I can shoot short clips on my new digital camera. You know I love nature. Here is a cute family of Muscovy ducks. As you'll note, the ducklings don't look anything like they will look when they become adults. Shot at Drummond Lake near our home.

Visit my other blog

Hey, friends. If you have not checked out my TPE blog yet, take a look here. There has been lots going on recently with the AG and TPE. If you're a visitor to this site only, there is more I'd like you to see. New content is added daily. I also want your news and pix. As I get older I realize more and more how important good friends are. Let's get ... and stay ... connected.

Blessings!

Record heat wave

Springfield broke another all-time high today for this date. 102 degrees was by 1 degree a new record, beating one set in the 1930s. Record highs and heat advisories continue ... and lawns are dying.

Still more adventures in flying: Delta refuses to locate passenger in wheelchair

Delta's ubiquitous delays reached an all-time low when they stranded a passenger in a wheelchair and were unwilling to assist family members in locating her. Lengthy delays prompted Peggy's attempt to get help for her mother, who was flying alone from Oregon back to Springfield, Missouri, and was using wheelchair assistance to get from place to place. Delta was callous to pleas to help locate her after several failed attempts at cell calls; they outright refused. Wheelchair passengers do not get special attention from Delta ... or even reasonable consideration. A several-hour delay made it very difficult for Peggy's mother, but amid great distress and difficulty, with no consideration from Delta, she managed to make it home. Let's hear it for Delta ... king of the callous airlines.

(The Becker-Posner Blog [http://www.becker-posner-blog.com] reported this on August 12: "The past few years, and especially this summer, has seen loud and frequent complaints against American airlines because of flight delays, cancelled flights, lost baggage, poor on-board service, overbooking, and other problems. Only 68% of airline flights were on time in June, down from 73 % a year ago, and complaints in June rose almost 43% compared with June 2006.")

More adventures in flying: Northwest inconsiderate of Springfield passengers

After debarking our small plane from Memphis, we found ourselves waiting for 45 minutes for our luggage (in our hometown, Springfield, Missouri). Usually this takes minutes. We found out that Northwest had a second flight arriving and they decided to wait for that flight so they could bring all the luggage at once! And our plane was VERY close to the baggage pickup area. Not only did this make no sense, it was incredibly inconsiderate to passengers. Making it even worse was the fact that they did not inform us our baggage would not come until the other plane arrived.

Horns Meet the Beatles

Actually, we have met them once before. They were in the waiting area with us in Memphis as we flew home today. They are obviously not the real Beatles, but the Liverpool Legends, who perform in Branson. They told me they were coming back from a show in Minneapolis. On our small plane, "John" sat in our row and "Paul" and "George" in front of us, while "Ringo" sat next to the Convoy of Hope intern, Samantha, who flew home with us from Indy.

It was 105 degrees when we arrived in Springfield. Terrible heat and drought here, just like in Indianapolis, which was broiling. It was nice that we could do most of our walking between venues in enclosed, air conditioned walkways.

Indy Convoy

The Convoy of Hope in Indianapolis today was a resounding success. The Convoy involved 1,331 volunteers from 56 churches and 47 organizations. They served 4,275 guests; 317 received Christ as Savior. Peg has done more than 70 of these. I have only been with her for a handful of them, but I did get to be with her today. We are in one of these two pictures. Guess which.

Monumental changes

A great week with some very good changes. For now, please check out the TPE Blog for news and images from the booth. More here later.

Lots going on in Indianapolis

Yes indeed. Close to electing a new superintendent. My office is directly under him so my life will be changing. Should know who it is tomorrow. Have been extremely busy so hard to post. I will do catching up soon. In the meantime,
you can visit our TPE Blog where I added a couple of posts today. Had to get that done since we have been advertising daily posts on the blog.



Shown: Fountain at an Indy museum near location of the 52nd General Council.

Horns in Indy

We arrived in Indianapolis. We are here earlier than we would have come for my duties because of Peggy's Convoy of Hope activities. Tonight was the leaders' meeting and volunteer rally at Crossroads Church in Avon. An eventful week is ahead.

Change of Leadership

Tomorrow Peggy and I leave for Indianapolis and General Council. We are going in two days early because of Peggy's commitment with Convoy of Hope. On Thursday we will be electing a new general superintendent. I have had the opportunity to work with our current superintendent, Thomas E. Trask (see photo), and I have appreciated his leadership. The same for the outgoing assistant general superintendent, Charles T. Crabtree. Yesterday I did a photo shoot at the Crabtree home for our tribute issue to both men. I have appreciated Bro. Crabtree since we were in the same district together in California. I also did a casual photo shoot earlier for Bro. Trask for TPE. I ask everyone to pray that God's choice of leadership for this crucial position will indeed be the two voted in.

Rome trip with Mike and Sheri Hillenga

We went to Italy in March to spend time with our close friends Mike and Sheri Hillenga, who have a home in Italy. What a great time! Here are Mike and Sheri in front of the Colosseum. Then, Peg's pic shows you that it rained when we got to St. Peter's Square. Ashland Christian Center folks, we're wanting you to check in. Leave a response here and we'll put you on the ACC alumni list.

Peggy at a recent Convoy of Hope

Here's my wife, doing what she does best, helping people. The small photo is a capture still from the slide show so you know who to look for. Open the slide show below.

Indigo Bunting

One of my favorite spring/summer residents in the Ozarks. Any nature lover is appreciative of any glimpse of an indigo. I see them frequently on the trails I walk. They usually flit about quickly, making them difficult to photograph. This shot, shaded as it is, doesn't do justice to this guy's gorgeous irridescent hues. I shot this July 27.

Adventures in flying

Less than a week ago I found myself with delayed and extended flights. Today, as Peggy is supposed to be home from Oregon, she is stuck in Salt Lake City overnight due to plane mechanical problems. She'll lose a whole day, not getting home till tomorrow night. That leaves only Friday and Saturday at home for her before we leave for General Council in Indianapolis on Sunday.

Book Signing Promos

These are the book signings we will feature at our booth at General Council August 8-10. I will be signing all three days and Peggy will be signing on two of the days. Click on the image for larger versions.