Life

Tuesday the 21st I hopped on a plane and headed to JFK airport to meet up with a former classmate from Purdue, co-worker at ABG/Adayana, and good friend, Mitch VanKampen. We toured around NYC for a day, then on Wednesday headed  to Boston, took in as much as we could for a few days and then Friday went to Albany, NY. On Saturday we attended the wedding of good friend (and former co-worker in Indy) Becky Graves. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but a lot of fun, got to see lots of cool and historical sites, and had quality time with a good friend. It was also really neat to see Becky around her family and to see all the people that are so important in her life. She was an awesome friend while we worked together, and I'm thankful for the Lord's provision for her in Jim, her husband.

These are the three main reasons I can come up with for why all the kids aren't here. It happens every time after a Holiday / break...many kids don't come back right away. And I expected it, BUT, it seems like so many more than normal, and, in the past it has only taken a week or two for everyone to be back. Its now been two full weeks of school and so many are still not here. I miss them a lot and hope they arrive soon. The first reason is that the government is now requiring all students to present a form to the school proving they underwent a health examination. This is a good thing. I'm not opposed to it. But for whatever reason a lot of kids haven't gone to the doctor, or someone lost the form, or whatever, but they can't come unless they have the form. One of my little girls, Kimberly Anderson, came last week but had to return home because there was no form. They are so excited to come back to school, I hate to see them go. For others, parents just haven't gotten around to bringing them, or they lack the money to hire a taxi, they could be ill, etc. But many others simply haven't shown up at all. My sons Daphawn Samuels and Shaquaine Bryan (had some type of surgery, don't know details). My boys Akeem Bowen, Brighton Johnson.  My little girls Antoinette Stephenson, Shavel Thorpe, Shadia Williamson, Ashley Gordon, Kera Johnson. So much joy that is not here. Please pray for them, that they are healthy and ready to come back, and that the Lord would allow them to come back soon.

August 2010 E-newsletter

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This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

I am now back in Jamaica, but to get here I had to pack my bags, and in packing my bags I weighed them, and in weighing my bags I also came to the realization that I had gained around 12 pounds while back in the States. How does this happen in ONE month? Well, I decided to find out, so I dug through e-mail, texts, and my memory to find out where I ate and what I was doing. It became a bigger chore than I thought, and so essentially this blog entry will be ALL about my 5 week furlough in america, chronicling my traveling and eating schedule while I was home. Lots of food plus lots of sitting in a car = just a 'few' pounds tagging along...but many blessings too!

Taylor, Missouri for Caleb Sutter's baptism:
23 - Logan's Roudhouse for dinner on the way home from St Louis airport with God provided friends Rusty and Amy Adrian
24-25 - AC church meals and home-cooking...need I say more?
Home/West Lafayette:
26 - Taco Bell for lunch and my mom's dinner
Central Illinois for Jordan Schroeder's funeral and revival service:
27 - McDonald's for lunch and Ringger's for dinner (grilled burgers, yummy!)
28 - Church provided lunch and Brooke and I got Subway on the way home (footlong meatball marinara, 5, 5 dollar, 5 dollar footlong!)
Home:
29 - Pizza at church ministry night
30 - McDonald's lunch, mom dinner
Indianapolis for Leman family reunion:


1 - hotel breakfast, Cheeseburger Paradise for lunch, KFC for dinner
2 - hotel breakfast, Wendy's for lunch, mom dinner
Lake James, Ft Wayne, IN with my siblings and Tamara and her family:
3 - Tom's donuts on the lake for breakfast (yummy, ate 3 plus a breakfast burrito), grilled cheese for lunch, and I skipped dinner due to stomache pains (I wonder why...)

Home:
4- Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch (with awesomest friend Hannah Young), Mom's dinner
5 - Christo's New City Grill for Lunch (with coolest man in the world Bjorn and Jan Nielsen), Mom's dinner
6 - Panera breakfast sandwich and tons of coffee (with cream and sugar) with Hannah (she is now in Papua New Guinea serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators)

Leo, IN for Gateway Sale
7 - Coffe cake for breakfast, Porkchop sandwich for lunch, lots of fried food, ice cream and lemon shake-ups, and then Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner
Home for Kim Furrer's wedding:
8 - church lunch, wedding reception dinner
9 - sleep day, get ready for Matt's bachelor party, grilled pork chops and good times!


10 - Panera breakfast and coffee with awesome friend Maria Tucker, Wendy's with college buddy Ryan Smethers, mom's dinner
Indianapolis:
11 - Orange chicken at my big bro and sis's (Robin and Peter Kim)
Rittman, OH for WR meeting and Elder Conference:
12 - McDonalds for breakfast and lunch at a little town diner while traveling with my cousin, Randy Leman,  and then grilled brats and burgers at buddy Joel Landis's house for dinner
13 - AC mom's breakfast (was amazing cinnamon rolls and eggs), Subs for lunch with ice cream, Applebee's for dinner
14 - AC provided breakfast, morning snack, lunch and dinner while at the World Relief meeting
Home:
15 - church lunch (yummy!) and Widmer family dinner (with Matt and Tamara too!)
16 - Rollerblade around campus with Katie to find her classes and get books, lunch at home and then drive to...
Francesville, IN to visit great Aunt Arles, Grandma and Grandpa Leman and meet with Randy Gudeman
16 - Ice cream at Todd's Patio Drive-In, snacks and cookies at Grandma's then drive to...
Indianapolis:
16 - ...Grilled salmon and other delicious food at Makoto and Anna Inoue's, followed by coffee and Big Wheels (ice cream cookie sandwich) for dessert 1 followed by more coffee and chocolate chunk fudge brownies with ice cream for dessert 2


Ft. Wayne, IN for a Deaf ministry training with good friend Bob Ayres (http://www.dtquest.org/):
17 - Starbucks for breakfast while traveling to Ft Wayne, Subs for lunch, drive back to Indy
Indianapolis:
17 - Dinner at my adopted Indy family's, Jerry, Doreen, Kaylin and Teryn Leuthold's


18 - McDonalds for breakfast with former roommate and good friend Eric Frantz, Paradise Bakery with good friend Jaimie Oppermann, Ice Cream at Adayana social event (my former employer)


Home:
18 - Widmer Boys golf outing for Matt's bachelor send-off, then Bruno's for dinner!


19 - Sleep day
Bluffton, IN for Matt and Tamara's wedding
20 - Pizza Hut in Bluffton at Matt and Tamara's pictures
21 - Hotel breakfast, McDonald's lunch, awesome rehearsal dinner, amazing desserts and junk food at Raber's
22 - Hotel breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, delicious wedding reception dinner, DQ sundae on the way home
Home:

23 - Purdue dining hall lunch (quite good for dorm food!) with Katie and her best friends, Er-Bear and La-Hora Bond, dinner 1 at home and....
Indianapolis:
23 - ...dinner 2 in Indy with friends and former co-workers (Shauna Pauszek, Will Feest, Jaimie Opp's, Hannah Brescher)
24 - Homemade breakfast (eggs, sausage, etc) with Indy bro's Eric Frantz and Aaron Price, then lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings with Aaron for some good catch up time
Home:
24 - Chipotle dinner with Kevin and Erica Kipfer (missionaries with LSM in Ethiopia) and Ben Stoller


25 - Einstein bagels and coffee for breakfast with my bro Rusty Gahn, McDonald's for lunch,
26 - Randomly run into good Jamerican friend Julaine Ferry and her adopted Jamaican son, Enoch (first met her in 2005) and childhood friend Amy Schieler, then lunch at Purdue with Katie, then a delicious "Freshman Welcome" dinner at church with amazing peach and blueberry cobbler for dessert
Central IL:
27 - McDonald's on the road for breakfast, tour KSI, Inc., then lunch "uptown Cissna Park" with John and Silvia Eisenmann (John is a good friend now serving with PAZ in Brazil and was recently married to Silvia), then drive to Gridley to David and Kate Ringger's home then drive to Goodfield, IL to spend time with friends at the Monfre's and to celebrate Kaitlyn's birthday where we had grilled burgers and brats for dinner at Monfre's with delicious dessert


28 - Coffee at David n Kate's in Gridley, then drive to Morton to meet close friend Sam Getz for lunch at Yin's Chinese Buffet, then back to Gridley to hang out with David, then drive to Cissna Park for John and Silvia's wedding reception (great turkey wraps, fruit, cake and mocha frappucino's), then drive to Gridley for testimonies for Jamaican mission trip friends (Romesberger (spl?) family and Amanda Vercler, then second meal of pizza and pop at the fellowship hall after testimonies, and then cinnamon rolls at Harvey Kaeb's at 1am while playing the awesomest game ever, Acquire



29 - Awesome breakfast casserole and rolls at David n Kate's for breakfast, church lunch, then hit the road to...
Home/West Lafayatte:
29 - McDonald's sundae on the road, then WL church Sunday School picnic at the park (AC potluck, oh yeah!)
30 - Lunch at Taco Bell, then catch up visit with my bro Carlos Soto, then Widmer family dinner (lasagna both with meat and veggie, parmesan potatoes, delicious rolls, green beans, fruit, and cake)
31 - Coffee and cookies for breakfast at 5am, then Sbarro pizza for lunch in Fort Lauderdale airport....dinner at Kirk and Keri Plattner's in Manchester, Jamaica!

And the journey is over, at least this one is. I am thankful for God providing a wonderful 5 weeks back home, with lots of sweet fellowship. I am so blessed, more than I could ever ask for or imagine. Thanks to God, but also thanks to all of you who prayed for my time at home, who welcomed me into your home, who fed me, who encouraged me, who showed me the love of Christ. I miss you all and appreciate your continued prayers as I transition back to Jamaican life.