Gorges in the Sun

Hey friends,

It's time for us to get back in the schedule of updating this blog.  As i've emphasized before,  our goal is to update this thing about every 4 days.  The fall semester has started and things are going really well on campus so far.  I'll write some news on that later.

For now though, i just wanted to share some pictures.  As I write this now, the rain is pouring down and has been for hours and days!  But last Monday the Sun was out and it was a perfect day for a Staff Picnic.  We gathered with the Simpson's, Brenner's, Wright's, and our intern Charlene and went out to Taughannock Falls park up the road and hung out and enjoyed the outdoors together.  Nic and Christy took some great pictures!

We were hanging out in the shallow's under a little waterfall. Jack and Joe loved standing beneath it!

Hudson Simpson is getting big and joining in the fun!  He'll be one year old on Oct. 18

I just love the different facial expressions!

The Mindset of the Freshman Class

I don't know a whole lot about Beloit College and their "mindset" studies, but their work is pretty interesting and helpful for those of us who work at connecting and with students.   The Beloit College Mindset List,  looks at the "cultural touchstones" that shape and influence the lives of students entering college this fall. 


This video summarizes some of the findings.  One guy does the talking and the other guy sits there looking like a major creeper!



For this class of Freshman born mostly in 1993 Andre the Giant, River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, Arthur Ashe and the Commodore 64 have always been dead.  They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe: Michael Who?  O.J. Simpson has always been accused of some crime, their parents have always been able to create a will and other legal documents online, charter schools have always been an alternative, Frasier, Sam, Woody and Rebecca have never Cheerfully frequented a bar in Boston during primetime, and they've quite possibly broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
find out more at http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/

King Size Grill!

Today we got things going on campus with the annual Fellowship fair BBQ!  We served over 700 hamburgers and hot dogs to hundreds of students.

This year we upgraded our grilling situation and rented two of these big dogs from Aardark Welding and Fabricating.

It was an excellent day!  Beautiful weather and the chance to meet and welcome tons of new students to campus!

Visiting Santa Fe 2

Today we drove from Windsor Colorado where we had been for the past three days visiting Stephanie's parents and some of our cousins and other relatives.  I'll post some pictures from those three days soon, as there are many good ones!

But right now, we are back in Santa Fe for two nights before we had back to Ithaca.  We came back down here so that we can accompany my mom and dad to the UNM hospital tomorrow to meet with a team of doctors.  It's a big appointment with a team of specialists that my dad goes to every three months.  We'll get a lot of information related to my dad's rapidly degenerating health.

Two weeks ago, when I wrote a post my dad was feeding himself.  But at this point we must feed him.  Two weeks ago when I wrote, my dad was still walking around the house without any real assistance,   but not this week.   His confidence is down after a recent fall off the bed and so now he is using his walker around the house.  We borrowed a wheel chair from the neighbors, and when my dad goes out we are using it.  In the coming weeks, he will get one fitted specifically for him.   We acquired a motorized hospital bed from a friend, and hopefully in the coming weeks my mom can put that together.

Over the past few weeks we've been modifying the house in little ways to make it more ready for the wheel chair when it comes.

We love spending this time with my dad, and as we get ready to head back to NY we feel extremely burdened as we strive to figure out what exactly we should do to best serve and help my mom and dad.  Please pray for us as we learn more and walk together thru this season of difficulty.

A glorious and helpful passage comes from Nehemiah 8:10 -The joy of the Lord is your strength...


Tonight we also read Psalm 111 together.  My dad has been going thru the One Year Bible for sometime now.
[111:1]  Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. [2] Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. [3] Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. [4] He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. [5] He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. [6] He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. [7] The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; [8] they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. [9] He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! [10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Visiting Santa Fe

We have been in New Mexico for 5 days and it has been good to be with family. 

In January of 2011, my dad, Bill was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s) Disease.   For the past few years he had been feeling more and more ‘run down’ and found it necessary to sleep a bit more and schedule in a daily nap in order to make it thru the day, but otherwise he seemed in pretty good health.   He began working part time in 2003, and he visited his doctor more frequently during the past few years, always suspecting something wasn’t quite right, but his day to day life was not drastically altered really until last fall.  

Since we saw him a year ago, much has changed.  Last summer Bill flew to NY to pick up my sister Rachel and together they drove across the country to NM in a car with no A/C.  That was an adventure and a fun memory for them both.    Our whole family met up and spent time together in Alamogordo, New Mexico before my brother and his family moved out to England with the Air Force.   We went to White Sands, NM and had a picnic, took family photos, and went to the (Holoman) Air Force Base pool with Uncle Dave.  We went up to the mountains, had a camp-fire.  We had easy late night conversations and played games together.

We hung out at White Sands last summer. 

But as summer the summer of 2010 ended and fall came along, my dad’s health began to decline more significantly.  At times his speech would slur in conversation and that prompted more doctor visits.  Something was certainly wrong.   Tests were run and specialists were consulted.  In time, the numerous symptoms left no room for doubt in anyone's mind that my dad has ALS.  

This summer everything is drastically different.    Now his speech is slow and he is very difficult to understand.  It is a labor for him to communicate.  His fingers are curled and no longer useful.  His walk is slow and unsteady.  His neck muscles struggle to hold up his head. He has lost significant weight.  He can no longer button his shirts or zip his pants.  Though the disease has progressed much in the past 6 months, there is still a lot Bill is able to do.   We are grateful that his is still walking!  He is still able to feed himself with the use of a special grip on his utensils.  We praise the Lord that we can still communicate some.  Bill has a good sense of humor and has joked that his speech is a new “foreign language” for us to learn.  We love to see him smile and hear him laugh at our stories!  Just this morning we took the kids to nearby park today to launch rockets and Bill joined us.  He was able to walk there on his own and got to enjoy his grandkids run around.  We are grateful for each new memory we get to make, and keenly aware that each day we have is a gift.

Shaving is difficult, so when we showed up, Bill was sporting a nice white beard.  I helped him shave it off the other night.  We called it "manscaping".

Crossing Cultures in Wildwood

Have you ever seen that T.V.  show called Jersey Shore?  I guess it’s about these wild New York ‘Italian’ kids who go out to the coast to waste their lives partying and hooking up with people.  It has characters with names like “Snooki” and ‘the Situation’.  It’s sort of popular, but to be honest I’ve never seen it.  And call me an idiot for not paying attention to details, but I never even knew Jersey had so much shore!  But it does and down at the southern tip you’ll find Wildwood.  

Before going to serve in Wildwood, New Jersiey this summer Stephanie and I were told that there are “tons of international students” there.  But to be honest, I didn’t totally believe it!  Even though my sister Rachel had served on the project and told me about it and my best friends told me what a great place it was to meet people from other countries, I thought they were all basically exaggerating!  I sincerely thought “sure, there probably are a few more international students in Wildwood than there are in Daytona Beach or something, -but seriously,  how many could there really be?”   But let me say that I was totally failing to comprehend the reality!  It’s basically mind blowing how many international students there are in Wildwood over the summer.  I don’t understand it!

But what does make sense to me is having a summer project there!  At least part of the  reason so many students come from all over the world is because of Mory’s Piers.  Mory’s Piers is a beach side boardwalk string of amusement parks. They have a very proficient internship system that involves sending recruiters to universities in countries like Romania, Kazakhstan, Turkey and China to promote their job opportunities.   Students sign contracts and then get on planes and move out here for the summer to work at Mory’s wannabe Disneyland.  I met some guys from Bulgaria.  They told me that there are at least 100 students from Bulgaria working at the Piers! At another point I heard there are 500 in the area and they jokingly call Wildwood –New Bulgaria during the summer.   And some students love it so much they come back year after year. 

In the middle of the project we host a raging BBQ and invite co-workers, neighbors and anyone else who the students have met.  Our students are working beside students from countries where it’s actually difficult to send missionaries.  They are  gaining cross-cultural ministry experience and having opportunities to proclaim the Gospel to people who have never met a Christian before!  

On Thursday nights we host what's called "international Cafe."  We broadcasted a wireless internet signal for people to use and the students would hang out on the driveway.  It's a great way to hang out together 

Some Wildwood Pictures

Here is the group picture of the Wildwood Summer Project 2011

This is the summer project house in Wildwood.  Around 40 of the students live in this house an another 6 are across the street.  We utilize the driveway and the back yard for events and hang out.