Blowout Again! Bruce and Beyond...

We are in Bruce, WI. The weather is difficult, muggy and 90 degrees. Last Sunday we blew a tire and replaced 4 of the 6 tires. The other two looked good. Then yesterday we blew one of the two we didn't replace! So far we've been to the shop 3 times.

The church service in Bruce went great!!! The folks there we bright eyed and excited about our music. The service was very conservative. It was really like stepping back in time 50 years. The hymns were traditionally slow, with Hammond organ, and all 5 verses were sung. from all appearance these were not the kind of folks that would be encouraged by our music. We were wrong!!

They loved it and we were mutually encouraged. They all thanked us for coming. One thing different here is that they don't play games in conversation. They say what they mean. If they offer something they mean it and if you want to ask a question you can count on them answering truly the first time. Leon and I realized that as much as we fight to be sincere we could learn a lot from them.

We are going on to Simpler Times village in Indiana. We don't know what to expect there. Pray that God will give us the words to say and prayers to pray. HE has been setting up some divine appointments. So much so that we don't get upset when the tires blow out etc. We can see His leading. Pray for Havilah, her struggles have intensified but, I think we figured something out yesterday to help her. We petition the Lord on her behalf daily. Satan wants her and I am very sure she is to do great things for God.

Thank you for your prayers. Xea, thank you for the clothes, they really help. Dad , thank you for what you did at the funeral.

Update from South Dakota

We are in S. Dakota. The Ranch for Kids went great!! There were 19 kids there. All had been adopted from Russia (2 from Romania) and then sent to the Ranch when they exhibited some kind of behavior that the parents couldn't tolerate. They had killed pets, hurt siblings, tried to commit suicide or harm parents. Some were going back to there adoptive parents when they were ready. Some had been completely relinquished by there adoptive parents.
They had all been beaten, burned, sexually molested or in other ways seriously wounded emotionally while in the orphanage. Some never learned to bond. At the ranch they learn about Jesus and work hard. God gave us the words to say and the prayers to pray. I think we really connected with some of them. We had a hard time getting in the R.V at night to sleep. The kids wanted to continue to hang out with us. They wanted to go with us etc. et.. In the morning we had to get away early to make it to our next stop. We left Zuriel's shoes behind.

Check out their ministry at http://www.ranchforkids.org/

Thank you Noah for the great books. Thank you Fletchner's, Simonatti's , Swanson's, Fordyce's , all our family etc. for your prayers. We truly know God is in control. We love you all.
Then we saw the Mt. Rushmore. We were so much more inspired by the Bushnell's work then what Those men and money had accomplished carving Mt. Rushmore. What the Bushnell's were doing seemed vastly more important than the making of Mt. Rushmore. There are statues of the man who was responsible for Mt Rushmore. So much glory for such an empty dream.
Leon and I were inspired to acknowledge God and let Him direct our paths.

By the way, be sure to check out the Bushnells minisitry site www.nathhan.com Nathhan is a great resource for homeschool families with special needs. Also www.chask.org - Placing special needs kids into Christian homes!

We are going to my uncle Harold's today and then on to Simpler Times Village. Please pray that God will give us the words to say and the songs to sing for those 2 completely different venues. We want to encourage the church to not abdicate there responsibility for the orphan to the Godless state.

Blow Out and the Bushnells!

Hello , friends and family. God has taught us first off that he is in charge and not us. We acknowledge him. We went to Grandpa's funeral and I feel like I know him better now than ever. Then we camped at Mt. Si. in the Snoqualmie area. Then we headed off to Hope, Id. Leon had just finished saying what time we would arrive at such and such a place. It was all planned out and running smoothly "ah, yes, we could do just fine". Then BOOOM!!! Major tire blow out. The AAA guy came after an hour or so of heat and the R.V shaking with every passing Semi.
Then it took over an hour for him to get us hobbling along at 25 mph to a tire shop. The kids all had to stay belted in the whole time. We cut out felt people and told stories with them. Then the tire store was closed so we camped in the Les Schwab lot right next to the trains. About every half hour they roared by , all night. Leon has been cheerful and consistently trusting in God and we have all followed his example. We are having a blast!!
The next day the tires got fixed and we bypassed our first stop and headed straight to Porthill Idaho which is home of the Bushnell's and their ministry called NATHHAN.
We had a wonderful fellowship with them and 4 other large families that have special needs children who are created in the image of God. We fell in love with many of them. Now we are off to Eureka MT. to the Ranch for Kids. Please pray about this as we feel we have little to offer them. They are mostly Russian orphan teens who have been raised in an institution and then adopted to the U.S and then abandoned when they didn't 'work out'. They are God's kids and the Church's responsibility. Pray they would listen to our message of how God values them. Please pray for our time with them and that we could minister to them in some way. Thank you.

Itinerary (a work in progress...)

Sat, Jun 18, 05
Bremerton WA
Collins Funeral

Sun, Jun 19, 05
Hope ID

Mon, Jun 20, 05
Porthill ID
Chask home

Tue, Jun 21, 05
Eureka MT
Ranch for kids
406 889 3106

Wed, Jun 22, 05
Hardin MT
Hardin Grandview campground

Thu, Jun 23, 05
Kadoka SD
Cedar Pass or Sage Creek

Fri, Jun 24, 05
Albert Lea MN
Site 88 white foxcampground
Sat, Jun 25, 05

Bruce WS
Harold and Winnie
715 233 1506?

Sun, Jun 26, 05
Bruce WS
Harold and Winnie
715 868 1378

Mon, Jun 27, 05
Bruce WS
Harold and Winnie

Tue, Jun 28, 05
Fortville IN
Josh and Sarah Browns
(317)485-6515

Wed, Jun 29, 05
Fortville IN
Josh and Sarah Browns

Thu, Jun 30, 05
Clarendon PA
Chapman State Park

Fri, Jul 1, 05
Clarendon PA
Chapman State Park

Sat, Jul 2, 05
Clarendon PA
Chapman State Park

Sun, Jul 3, 05
Youngstown NY
Niagara falls

Mon, Jul 4, 05
Youngstown NY
Niagara falls

Tue, Jul 5, 05
Thurmont MD
Cunningham Falls SP

Wed, Jul 6, 05
Thurmont MD
Cunningham Falls SP

Thu, Jul 7, 05
Thurmont MD
Cunningham Falls SP

Fri, Jul 8, 05
Boston MA
Rick and Shiela's
781 837 4162

Sat, Jul 9, 05
Boston MA
Rick and Shiela's
781 837 4162

Sun, Jul 10, 05
Boston MA
Rick and Shiela's
781 837 4162

Mon, Jul 11, 05
Clarksboro NJ

Tue, Jul 12, 05
Kinston NC
Baptist Childrens Home
252 522 0811

Wed, Jul 13, 05
Camping
Black mountain

Thu, Jul 14, 05
Franklin TN

Fri, Jul 15, 05
Camping
Not yet

Sat, Jul 16, 05
Plano TX
David and Teresa Alexander's

Sun, Jul 17, 05
Plano TX
David and Teresa Alexander's

Mon, Jul 18, 05
Plano TX
David and Teresa Alexander's


Tue, Jul 19, 05
SanAntonio TX
The Alamo

Wed, Jul 20, 05
Camping

Thu, Jul 21, 05
Camping NM

Fri, Jul 22, 05
Grand Canyon

Sat, Jul 23, 05
Camping CA

Sun, Jul 24, 05
Camping CA

Mon, Jul 25, 05
Camping CA

Tue, Jul 26, 05
Camping CA

Wed, Jul 27, 05
Home

Gearing up for the big trip

Saturday we plan to leave for our big sabbatical Goodenough family tours the US visiting family, historic sites, and singing to all sorts of important peoples trip, Lord willing. See, we lost the keys to the RV. Again. I think they are inside. I'll let you know how that turns out. All in all we're pretty exited to go and do what we love to do - sing, visit with loved ones, and learn new things! God created us to worship him in these ways and we love to do it!

I'm a little nervous about some things and request your prayers on our behalf:

1. Our spirits: I really want us all to abide with Christ on this trip. - we have a fairly tight itenerary (to be posted here soon!) and I don't want my stress level to get in the way of the Holy Spirit's leading.

2. Our health. Jenny and I are both a little more fragile than average health wise. Pray we don't get sick.

3. Night time. The sleeping quarters in the RV are sufficient, but tight. Pray we all get enough sleep.

4. Money. We basically will have 'just enough' money to cover our planned costs. If something comes up that requires extra pray the Lord will provide.

5. Safety. Of course mercy is sought while travelling.

6. Our works and message: We ask that God would use us to encourage, lift up, and love everyone we meet, and not be burdensome, boring, or inappropriate.

Welcome to the Goodenough Family blog. We will be keeping you updated on the activities of the Goodenough Family!