New Leaves

Dec 15, 2022 by Bonnie

Merry Christmas 2022

Wishing you a blessed and happy Christmas and a New Year filled with hope and joy through our Lord Jesus Christ

“…who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Phil. 2:6-11

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Dec 07, 2021 by Bonnie

Merry Christmas 2021

Dear Family and Friends,

What a blessing to write to all of you, and to catch up with you (Please let us know how you’re doing!) at this special time of year. After the challenges of 2021, it is an especially good time to take stock of our lives and pray for guidance for the year to come.

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Jun 28, 2021 by Bonnie

Paul Gardner: Single Father, Servant of God

I would like to tell you a story today about a man I had not always appreciated as I do now. A quiet, humble servant of Jesus. His name is Paul Gardner, and he was my great uncle. Paul was the oldest son in a family of two boys and three girls. His brother was my grandfather.


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Mar 06, 2021 by Bonnie

Time to Speak Out

Censorship by the media of anything not in alignment of the "accepted narrative" has reached epidemic proportions. During Black History Month, Amazon closed off access to the documentary "Created Equal," an excellent biography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in his own words, only because he was on the wrong side of their agenda. I watched the whole thing and it was excellent. I tried to share this opinion on Facebook, and was also censored. So I am posting the link here, on our own site.



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Oct 01, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Great Western Road Trip: The Way Home - Arkansas

On the last leg of our 9400-mile road trip, we drive on US-412 across the top of Arkansas, enjoying the great diversity of art at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, then spending the night along the Buffalo Historic River, and discovering a ghost town, before heading across the "foot" of Missouri and arriving back in Tennessee.

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Sep 29, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Great Western Tour: Price Tower, OK

As we head toward home, we take a day to visit Bartlesville, Oklahoma, home of Frank Lloyd Wright's only built skyscraper, Price Tower. This is one of his most unusual works, and one I had wanted to see for a long time. It did not disappoint.

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Sep 27, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Great Western Tour: Kansas and Missouri

Heading generally eastward toward home, we spend some time with family in Kansas City, Missouri, before heading south to Independence, Kansas to visit Little House on the Prairie.

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Sep 24, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Great Western Tour: Crossing Kansas

Having left the high country of Colorado, we continue our adventure, driving across Kansas along the old Santa Fe Trail, working our way toward Wichita, where we visit two Frank Lloyd Wright properties: Allen House, and the Corbin Education Center on the campus of Wichita State University.

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Sep 22, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Great Western Tour: Great Sand Dunes, CO

Heading across southern Colorado, we drive through the San Juan Valley, across North Pass, and on to the unique Great Sand Dunes National Park. Along the drive we discover a nice campground, a big blade, and a building made of petrified wood.

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Sep 21, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Rocky Mountain Loop, CO

New friends we met at Black Canyon mapped out a loop through the Rockies for us to take. So for three days, we enjoyed awesome views of the mountains, crossed the continental divide twice (Independence and Cottonwood Passes), explored a living historic town, a ghost town, a marble-mining town, and spent the night in what our new friends said was the best campsite in the United States.

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Sep 17, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado

If you're looking for a deep and dramatic view of a 48 mile long canyon, then you need to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado. The river drops an average of 95 feet per mile inside the park and is over 12 times steeper than the Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon. We invite you to come along with us as we tour this beautiful part of God's creation!

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Sep 15, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Colorado National Monument

We're in Colorado! Just over the border from Utah, rising thousands of feet above the towns of Grand Junction and Fruita, lies the 23-mile Rim Rock Drive in Colorado National Monument. Unlike the sprawling Canyonlands National Park, this drive packs a big punch in a few miles. We spent the day exploring several different canyons, with a variety of unusual formations, and enjoying close-up views of wildlife, before settling down in the park's mile-high campground to watch the sunset.

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Sep 15, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Hole N"The Rock, UT

We couldn't leave the Moab area without visiting Hole N"The Rock! We don't normally visit tourist spots, but we couldn't resist this one, a 20 room house blasted into the side of a huge rock outcropping. Be sure to see it if you're in the area. There is a very small fee for a tour, you won't regret it!

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Sep 15, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Join us as we explore the fifth and final stop on our Utah "rock tour." We explored only a tiny fraction of this huge 527 square mile park! But we were still awed by its vastness and diversity.

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Sep 14, 2020 by Arthur

2020 Van Life Rock Tour: Arches National Park, Utah

Arches is probably the most popular park in Utah's canyon country, so popular that we had a hard time finding a place to stay. Because of this, the nearby town of Moab vigorously discourages boondocking. We were there on a weekend, which made it that much harder. Even so, we found two perfect places to spend different nights while we were there.

The park covers a large area, so even though there were lots of visitors, we had no trouble parking, taking pictures, or hiking. Join us as we explore yet another of God's wonders of creation in southeastern Utah.

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