July 17-19, 2009

Sandy Creek Gospel Jamboree is always the third weekend in July and it takes place in a beautiful park and campground just west of Caronport, Saskatchewan. The stage is placed in a lush lawn shaded by giant oak trees and the yard fills with lawn chairs and blankets as folks come to get their fill of gospel music.

We arrived early Friday afternoon for a sound check. Well, Bobby had a soundcheck and I trimmed my childrens' hair in the back of the parking lot while we waited on him. I just realized I've put in a lot of hours just waiting in the van for Bobby on this trip and I'm always looking for things that I could be doing while I wait.

The festival began at five o'clock Friday evening and continued all day Saturday until five o'clock Sunday evening. There were approximately one dozen groups, duets and trios that sang and ministered over the weekend. The kids were so excited about seeing the Hunter Family once again. Landis, especially, was turned on to the Hunters when we met them a couple of weeks earlier and when I asked him why, he said, "Because they dance more than Dad." Neither Bobby nor I are dancers, but I so appreciate the way the Hunter Family has come out of a box and I can see why the kids love them so much. I'm not talking about my kids alone. I can see the Hunter Family reaching youth like many other singing groups never have. The Osmond Brothers and the Jackson Five are long gone but the Hunter Family is here for such a time as this, with a much better message, I might add. I believe Nashville and the rest of the USA will know who these singers/farm boys/hockey players are before long.

We also reunited with the Daae (doe) Family. I only got a little acquainted with mom, Cathy, at the festival in Oungre on July 1st. Spending forty-eight hours at a festival and sharing our lodging space with other singers helped in getting to know them a little better also. Sisters, Amanda and Crystal Daae are some the sweetest young ladies (they get that from their mother) I've ever met and fine musicians. Daae brothers, Brian and Michael married musicians, a drummer and a violinist and signed them up in the band too.

I mentioned our lodging. The campus of Briercrest Christian College makes up half of the town of Caronport and they are gracious enough to host the singers for the weekend in their dormitories that have emptied out for summer holidays. Everyone stays Friday and Saturday nights and when the jamboree is over Sunday evening, everyone goes home or on down the road. Because our next date was in western Montana on Wednesday night, we had a couple of days to make a twelve hour drive so we asked the jamboree staff for permission to stay Sunday night as well. Permission was granted and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that a couple of other groups stayed behind too. One of those groups was Freedom Band from Winkler, Manitoba. I walked passed the student lounge at one point Sunday evening and heard some beautiful singing accompanied by piano. Daughter, Catherine Plett was lying on the couch, singing and waving her hands and arms to demonstrate tempos and arrangements she was hearing in her head as her mom, Anne, accompanied on the piano, and never having heard the tune before was learning the song on the fly. Come to find out Catherine writes a new song nearly every day and her mother learns it soon after as Catherine teaches it to her. Catherine told me that she had struggled for years with song writing. She longed to write but it was such an effort to get something on paper. Finally she prayed and asked God to gift her with this desire of her heart and a couple of years ago on Christmas day, God gave her her first song and the words and melodies have been flowing like a river ever since.

I thought we were the southernmost singers at Sandy Creek this year but the Lumber River Quartet, I found out, came from North Carolina. What a great bunch of guys and anybody that flirts with Grace like these dudes did, are friends of mine. I told Grace later that I noticed she sure did make a lot of friends and boyfriends over the weekend. Grace enjoyed the music, the beautiful weather and the attention as she got lots of handshakes, kisses and the Hunters gave her a T-shirt and CD. When I asked her which one of the Hunter boys she wanted to be her boyfriend, I reminded her that second oldest, Dusty was married but his wife, Suzanne generously told Grace she'd share Dusty with her.

The Daae Family led some hymns and other worship songs on Sunday morning and as I sat apart from the congregation, I was situated off to the side of the stage where I could see many of their faces and not their backs so I could hear the singing very well. As the soft Canadian summer breezes blew and the sunshine sprinkled in through the waving leaves of the giant old trees, the chorus of five hundred voices rose melodically with harmonies as the saints stood to their feet and sang. Whether with heart-felt meaning or absent-mindedly, I don't know, but it was beautiful and I couldn't help but think of yester year's church services.

The kids were able to ride their bikes the whole weekend, catch frogs, fish and...leeches and make new friends. Needless to say head-to-toe cleaning was required each and every night before they crawled into bed.

July 13-16, 2009

Back in the mid-nineties Bobby sang with MidSouth. They did some touring in Canada and were fortunate enough to find Nowell Seaman who filled in as their lead guitarist for a couple of years. The guys found a good friend in Nowell and have stayed in touch with him over the years. Bobby went back to Canada in recent years with Heritage Road and Nowell, again, filled in a couple of times.

Monday and Tuesday, July 13th and 14th we had some time off and then a concert on Wednesday night in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Since Nowell lives in Saskatoon, Bobby asked him if we could come and invade their home. Nowell and Sandra were such thoughtful hosts. Nowell works at the University of Saskatchewan, and Sandra works in the medical field, yet they took the time to compose lists of things to do in the city and cook superb meals for us. Nowell the “grill man” prepared hamburgers on Monday evening and steaks and vegetables on Tuesday evening. Sandra whipped up salads and desserts and everything was absolutely delectable. Even her experiment with stir-fried Chinese broccoli was so tasty. I cut off a bit of that and after telling Faith to close her eyes, put the bite in her mouth. She said she liked it and wanted more but this time she kept her eyes open. How powerful the mind is. Because she could see the wet green leafy vegetable, she decided she didn't like the taste after all. Bobby and I agreed that we ate the most delicious and nutritious meals of this long trip at Nowell and Sandra's house. Oh, and Sandra introduced us to Saskatoon berries. Good stuff.


We are so grateful to have had such beautiful weather on this trip. However, Tuesday, the 14th was the only exception to this. It rained and blew and the temperature never got above fifty degrees. I was wishing by the evening hours for the heat to be turned on but just putting some socks on my feet helped tremendously.

We did venture out on Tuesday over to the University where Nowell is employed. But first Nowell came home to check on us during his lunch. I was not surprised by this as that is the kind of person Nowell is. He just wanted to check on us and make sure we were OK. Then he offered to go get his fifteen year old son, Aaron, and bring him over to play with the kids. He was back a half hour later introducing us to a blond-haired, blue-eyed, sweet-faced kid who, in turn, introduced our kids to Wii. Of course that was a big hit with the kids and it occupied their time with the exception of the jaunt over to the college to see Nowell.

As cold and rainy as Tuesday was, Wednesday proved to be just the opposite with bright sunshine and temperatures in the seventies. After doing up our laundry and packing up, we headed out to our hotel to check in and move in and then on to Living Hope Church on the northeast side of Saskatoon.

Pastor Stan Hussey and his wife, Linda welcomed us and made us feel right at home. After asking him how he pronounced his last name, he told me that he had been in the hospital within the previous week and a couple of nurses teased him about his name because it is, indeed pronounced “hussy.” The following day, one of the nurses returned for her next shift and with embarrassment, offered her apologies to Pastor Hussey. After he asked her why she was apologizing, she told him that if she had known he was a pastor she would have never teased him about his name. I laughed because this so reminded me of experiences that I've heard another beloved pastor relay to his congregation. So I added to his story in the fashion that I believe my pastor would have: I asked Pastor Stan if he told the nurse that he wouldn't forgive her unless she came to his church. It was his turn to laugh and admitted he'd never thought of telling her that. I admit I wouldn't have thought of it either but my pastor has.

I have to tell a funny story on myself in this post. As I was giving my testimony, I knew that I was about to use the word “prostrate.” At least that's what I was supposed to say. Seconds before the word came out of my mouth, I thought to myself, “now don't mess this up and say the wrong word.” And then as it came out of my mouth and as I saw the faces of the people in front of me, I knew I'd flubbed it up. Yeah, I said prostate.

Before the night was over we'd had some good fellowship with Pastor Stan and Linda and their son, Terry and his beautiful wife, Ruth. Someone very special joined us for dinner and that was one-week old Micah. Pastor Stan and Linda's very first grandchild. I was itching to hold him but didn't dare for fear of clearing the room with Grace's jealous screams.

The Travel Lodge where we slept had a 250 foot indoor water slide and how can you deny your children the opportunity to slide down a 250 foot waterslide? Since the pool was closed when we returned after church and a meal, the plan was to wake the children up in time to eat a quick breakfast on our balcony overlooking the pool and be dressed to swim when the pool opened at nine. And that's exactly what happened. Bobby watched the kids while I attempted to do laundry (the machines were busy) and showered. Then it was back toward the southeastern side of the province to Broadview.

We had some confusion about the time zone we were in versus the time zone we were about to travel to. Was it the same or were we going from Mountain Time to Central Time? I looked it up on the Internet while the kids and Bobby were at the pool and Google told me that Broadview, Saskatchewan was in the Central Time Zone. So we were losing an hour heading south and east. We called Pastor Abe Driedger, who was grilling burgers and hot dogs for us, to let him know where we were and that we were running a little late. We decided to check in to the motel Pastor Abe booked us in. The gentleman behind the desk at the Sweet Dreams Motel gave Bobby the key and then told him we were still on Mountain Time. This was a pleasant surprise and we realized we had time to move our stuff in and change clothes before proceeding to Pastor Abe's home.

We ate well once again and afterward Pastor Abe led us 4 blocks up the street to Broadview Community Fellowship, which is affiliated with the Cleveland Church of God. The antique building has been there since 1890 and its doors were closed for a period of five years before Abe and Donna opened the building up for the assembling of the saints. It only holds sixty to seventy people and Pastor Abe said the roll had gone up to twenty-five, "but then," he said, "all hell broke loose," and now only a faithful four meet there on Sunday mornings. The exciting thing is they are having Sunday school and eleven curious children are coming to hear about Jesus. I just had the thought that if Jesus started with eleven, then Brother Abe is on the right track. He told us that even with the children there has been some testing of the waters. One certain little whippersnapper walked up to him one Sunday morning and proudly announced to the pastor that his daddy told him God wasn't real, and looked at him as if to say, "so, what do you think about that?!" Pastor Abe proceeded with sharing the love of Jesus with the little guy without missing a beat.

On Friday morning we hugged Donna goodbye as she had an appointment in Regina but we had a quick breakfast with Brother Abe before moving on. He shared with us his burden for the town of Broadview and his realization of what he's up against. The religious spirit that is over the town has been there a very long time but he believes this stronghold can and will be broken and people will come to the realization that even though they acknowledge God, they need his Son Jesus desperately. We told him we'd be praying for him and to keep the faith because one man (and his faithful wife) can make a difference.

Onward to Sandy Creek Gospel Jamboree in Caronport for the weekend.

July 10-12, 2009

Friday morning, the 10th, another cool and windy day across the plains and on to the Canadian border. Just like two weeks before we stopped in Pembina, North Dakota before crossing and when we got out of the van to use the restrooms, the wind nearly took the van door off and the air felt cold. I guess that's the way it is most of the time. At least this time it was sunny.

It was a smooth crossing over the border...again and we had only a little over an hour to Winnipeg from there. We ministered at Church of the Living Hope, pastored by Fred Sebastian. He and his wife, Alice are Philippine and have led a largely Philippine-populated church for several years. As a matter of fact, the church name was changed from something with the name Philippine to the name it has today simply because it's Pastor Fred's desire to reach to all people in the city of Winnipeg and not just the Philistines...I mean the Philippines.

The concert was to start at seven o'clock so at six fifty we prayed as a family and asked the Lord to anoint us to minister to at least one. But at six fifty-five I whispered to the Lord, “Why are we here? This doesn't make sense. These people aren't going to like our music and look, Lord, there aren't very many here.” Pastor Fred approached us as we sat in the front pew waiting for the service to begin and asked if we could pray together (surprisingly, we don't have many pastors that request that) and then he told us that he'd get the service started around 7:30. Bobby and I looked at one another and wondered if we'd heard him correctly. Maybe Bobby had the wrong time recorded in his notes or maybe Pastor Fred just knows his people pretty well and knew they needed a little more time to get there. Sure enough by seven thirty we had a lot more people and we got things started with prayer and introductions. I have to tell you we have not had such an enthusiastic group of people in a long time. My favorite part of the evening was the three sweet elderly ladies in the second and third pews who, like teenagers, jumped to their feet and clapped when they heard a song they liked. Once again, God showed Himself faithful and gracious and we ended up having one of the better concerts on this tour thus far. Pastor Fred said that he wanted us to come back in a year so a few days later we recalled the evening in Winnipeg and I suggested to Bobby that the next time we go the children ought to sing a song in the Philippine language. I think Church of the Living Hope might appreciate that.

Pastor Fred put us in CanadInn which is one of Canada's nicest chains. Kids are so funny. Landis went with Bobby to check in and he came back out exclaiming, “They where ties here!” Unfortunately we didn't have time for the water slide but we had a beautiful room with modern décor and a view of the pool and restaurant below.

We had a concert scheduled for Saturday evening but it had canceled and so Bobby contacted someone from Winkler Mennonite Church and asked if, since we were in the area and planned on visiting their church on Sunday morning, could we sing a couple of songs and make our CDs available for sale. The response was positive. The bad news was that we had to pay for a hotel room and little was available in nearby Morden since there was a triathlon competition in town over the weekend. We went to the Super 8 and all that was a available was a large suite. The good news it was HUGE and consisted of sleeping space for everyone, a large eat-in kitchen and jacuzzi. The bad news was it cost way more than Bobby had planned on paying. But...we gotta end this with good news...the good news was we made more than that money back from CD sales the following morning.

Winkler Mennonite is a beautiful church with a large congregation and it's only one of at least three others in that denomination in town. The style of worship and preaching there reminded me a lot of that of Locust Grove Mennonite Church near my home growing up in Burr Oak, Michigan. After church, a gentleman by the name of Dan invited us over for lunch. We gave him a lift to his home since his wife had already gone home to prepare the meal. Dan, his wife and their three handsome sons welcomed us into their home for a delicious lunch. I'm so embarrased that I can't remember Mrs. Dan's name (that's what happens when you blog two weeks after the fact) but she told me that during the preaching that morning the Lord spoke to her and told her she needed to fix us lunch. Since the pastor was preaching about obedience being better than sacrifice, she heeded the calling of the Lord and then wondered, "What will I fix? I don't think I even have enough chicken in the freezer." She left the church as soon as they were dismissed and rushed home to find plenty of chicken in the freezer which she quickly thawed and grilled. Dan said later, "I'll bet there wouldn't have been as much chicken in the freezer had she not been obedient." We were very appreciative for the good food and then moved westward back to Brandon where we had been 2 weeks prior.

Sunday evening we ministered at Bethel Christian Assembly in Brandon, Manitoba and I'm going to make a confession. Before the church service, I was feeling dry and empty. Had I not been worried about messing up my makeup I would have been sobbing. I did have to blink back the tears as I told the Lord that I needed Him to speak through me like never before. I never want a service to be wasted. I always want to serve to the best of my ability and for His anointing to be heavy upon me. But that night I felt like I could do absolutely nothing worthwhile and surely anything good that would be done would be because of Him. I just felt empty.

I went in to the sanctuary with a smile and sat with the kids on the front pew. We were having a good time in music ministry and then Associate Pastor Les, stood to receive the offering. This is when God showed me His faithfulness yet again. Pastor Les told the congregation that he had already made his check out for the offering that evening but before he left his house to come to church the Spirit of the Lord spoke to his heart and said, "This family is worthy of a double portion." So he tore the check that he'd already written and wrote a new one, this time doubling the amount. Can I just say, "God is SO good!" You know, I really didn't care how much Pastor Les was giving in the offering. What got me was when I heard that God told someone else, a perfect stranger, that He will see to it that our every need is met, that as our Heavenly Father He looks at us with admiration and He sees us as righteous through the precious blood of His Son Jesus. This simply broke my heart and I nearly had a breakdown during the offering appeal.

July 8 & 9, 2009

We spent the first half of Wednesday packing up, cleaning up the apartment and washing all of the bedding. Mrs. Kay didn't ask us to but I wanted to show my gratitude by leaving things exactly like I found them and even cleaner, if possible.

We rolled out of Rapid City around 2:00 and headed east toward Huron, South Dakota where we would spend the night. On Thursday morning we drove the short distance from Huron to De Smet, which is where Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family settled around 1880. When Gracie was four years old I began reading the beloved series of books written by Wilder and we finished the collection when she was six or seven. I read the series when I was a young girl so it was intriguing to me to see the places Laura rode her horse By The Shores of Silver Lake, walked the streets of De Smet in Little Town On The Prairie, fought the bitter cold, endless snow and starvation in The Long Winter, and married Almanzo in These Happy Golden Years. We took a guided tour of the Surveyor's House which is where the Ingalls family first lived when they came to the area, the first school that Laura and younger sister, Carrie attended, and a replica of the Brewster school where Laura first taught at age 15. After that we all got in our cars and our guide led us to the Ingalls home on Third Street that Pa built for he, Ma, Carrie and Grace after Laura married Almanzo. We drove out to the site where Almanzo and Laura first lived after they were married which was also the birthplace of only daughter, Rose. From there we drove out to the cemetery where the entire family is buried with the exception of Laura, Almanzo and Rose. Even the infant son of Almanzo and Laura is buried there outside of De Smet. Almanzo and Laura are buried in Mansfield, Missouri, The cemetery was something I hadn't thought of seeing and that was one of the highlights for me as it made the stories seem all the more real. Besides the graves of the Ingalls family, we saw the graves of the Boasts, the Fullers, the Browns, the Gilberts and the Loftus families, all names mentioned in her stories. When those people lived, died and were buried there, there was nary a tree to be found. As a matter of fact I read in one of the houses I visited that Carrie, when she was very small girl, asked Ma, "What is a tree?" It was endless prairie and Laura spoke fondly of it for the most part. But now the cemetery is nestled and protected in a haven of evergreens and giant oaks. There are trees scattered throughout the entire region leaving the sea of grasses a thing of the past.

Following lunch at the Oxbow Restaurant, we drove east out of town around the Big Slough to which Laura often referred, to the Ingalls Homestead site and Memorial. A replica of the house now sits yards away from the Cottonwod trees that Pa planted. The kids enjoyed stepping inside a dugout house like the one the Ingalls' lived in at Plum Creek, pumping water from the well, and washing clothes in a wringer washer, Hope tried her hands and feet at the sewing mahine and Landis made some music at the pump organ. Finally, we made our way to the stable where the kids took turns riding horseback and being pulled in a cart, They made corncob dolls, ropes and hay bundles (you gotta read The Long Winter to know why they would make hay bundles). The husband and wife duo, Paul and Joan, that guided us throuh our activities, were visitors themselves from Iowa just a few years ago. When they saw the place they fell in love with it and believing they could meet some needs, decided to move there. They now live on a farm across one road and a field from the Ingalls Homestead. Their Shetland Pony, Star, was a favorite for Faith, who loved petting her and telling her what to do but refused to ride her. But when Paul took the whole family on a covered wagon ride, he dismissed Star and told her to go home. A minute into our wagon ride and we could see Star's little blonde mane trotting across the field barely above the crops and nearing her barn. The kids were worried about Star running off but Paul assured them she knew how to get home. He was so good to us and even went off the usual route to drop us off at the parking lot in order for us to avoid pushing Grace's wheelchair up the grassy hill.

As we off toward Interstate 29 with the sun setting behind us I told Bobby that this family was no different than any of the others that originally came and settled this land. But the fact that a grown woman took the time to sit down and remember and then write everything down in order to tell others what pioneer life was like has made the Ingalls a family icon and a familiar part of our American history.

Our stopping point on Thursday night at 11:00 was Sisseton, South Dakota, home of the Lundstrom's.

The "Surveyor's House" where the Ingalls family first lived when they came to De Smet and some original chalk drawing found under the walls in the school where Laura and Carrie attended.


Ingalls family left to right:
Ma, Carrie, Laura, Pa, Grace and Mary


Streets on the way to De Smet cemetery.
Pa's headstone and family graves. Laura and Almanzo are buried in Missouri.




Hope doesn't like the smell of a dug-out house.









Hope making a rope



Landis making a corncob doll and driving the team toward the Little House.

July 6 & 7, 2009

When we first arrived at Jim & Kay Williams' apartment on Saturday evening, we asked them if we might possibly stay a little longer since we had nothing on our calendar until the following Friday in Winnipeg. They quickly said that would be just fine. There was no one else needing the place so they said we should feel free to stay as long as we needed.

So on Monday morning we set out to see the sights and below are pictures of first, "Bear Country, USA" which is a drive through park consisting of bear, elk, wolf, sheep and more. Following Bear Country we went on up to Mount Rushmore. It's a little like seeing the Grand Canyon in that you think you know what you're going to see but when you get there and see it in person, it's so much grander than what a photograph can capture. However, I hope you can get something out of the photographs below.

You can click on a picture to enlarge it. To go back to the blog just hit the "back" arrow.
















Yes, Hope and Faith sang a song in the amphitheatre.


Hope and Landis helped with sculpting Mt. Rushmore by using some dynamite.