Melanie's Updates.

Link to >> MLMILLER & FAM

I can see in the "stats" section of Marty and Lori's blog that a lot of you are using this blog to get the link to MLMILLER & FAM. I really don't mind but perhaps you could eliminate this step by adding them to your "favorites" in internet explorer or "bookmarks" in firefox. Just a suggestion.
Melanie has sure been through a lot. My heart just aches for her and the family. We continue to hope and trust in the Living God that He will provide the needed grace for this major interruption in their lives. I tried to imagine having a whole summer turned upside down by something like this! We plan to leave today on a little vacation to my brother Ben's place near Lynchburg VA. Its hard not to feel guilty considering the situation with Mel and the family. Our thoughts and prayers will certainly be with them even while we are gone.
Up to this point, this has to be my favorite picture taken from Mel's hospital room. Doesn't it get to you?

Mel and her youngest sibling Jana....

Please Pray...

How does one go about coping with illness when its pretty close to home and the person affected is so young? For those of you that have not heard, my brother Marty and his wife Lori have been facing one of the hardest trials in life. Having to deal with one of their 5 children having a brain tumor is way up there in the category of “tragedies”. Although the surgery went very well, we now have the agonizing wait to get the oncologist’s report on what type of tumor it is that they took from her head. My heart just aches for them during this time of uncertainty. I have thought long and hard about how fragile life on this earth can be. I am so thankful for friends who continue to care and pray. What would we ever do without such support at times like this? This post goes out as a request that you would continue to lift them to the Lord as they await the report. Our hope is for a miracle that the report ends up better than expected. More importantly that God would provide much needed continued grace for the days ahead. I have already sensed that “amazing grace” in the life of Melanie and the family.

We have set up a blog for them to post updates on Melanie. There are a few pics on there as well.
Click here> MLMILLER

THE NEW ROBLOG!

THE ROBLOG HAS MOVED! CLICK HERE> "THE ROBLOG"

Blown Up!

Check out the latest Blog update as of 4/28/07. Here> The Roblog

Dont forget to bookmark my new blog URL.

A Blog Change.

Here at the Roblog we are in a process of change. The words "clean" and "better" are what I like to see in a blog and/or website. I will admit that this blog service has been very good but when you find something even better why not go with it? I have made an executive decision to switch to "Wordpress" for all my blogging. For those of you that visit the Roblog often, don't get too concerned. I have imported all of my archived posts from this blog into my new Wordpress blog. Yes, all those exciting crabbing trips are still on there for your viewing pleasure! And yes, even the various wedding posts are still there. Just use the handy "search" tool to find just about any post. As far as my old xanga site goes, I will no longer be updating it. It will only be used to provide a link to my new wordpress blog.
How can I find your new blog? I am glad you asked! Click the link below and begin to enjoy a new, and hopefully, more frequently updated "ROBLOG"!
AWAY YOU GO! >> THE ROBLOG

Various and Sundry.

The longer it goes before I do an entry on here the harder it is to think of what to say. Oh well, this will probably be a bit disjointed.
A lot of activities coming up. I shall list a few:
1. Regional student convention this coming week in PA. We plan to stay up there to watch some of the events that Brendon and Andrew are involved in.
2. A wedding in VA next weekend.
3. Our annual school festival is next month.
4. Tax time is here. Oh joy!
Other news:
It snowed early this morning! What a wild beginning to this spring. In the past 2 weeks we have had temps around 80 degrees and a forecast over night saying as low as 28 degrees! They cancelled the sunrise service for tomorrow. I can't fault them for that decision.
Here is a quick picture of our beloved dog "Kibi".... (pronounced "key bee")
This dog looks very docile in the pic below but he has been involved in a rather disgusting activity lately. He drags the skeletal remains of a deer carcass out of the woods and on to the front lawn. Its not my idea of a nice yard ornament and he comes around smelling rather repulsive! Hopefully he will tire of such antics real soon...

Typical This Winter.

Here is the typical sort of weather system we have been having all winter. Plenty of snow just north of us in all of PA! Oh well, lets just forget it and get on with spring. I am soooo ready! I can hardly wait till its time to fire up the boat and start crabbing again.

Business and Bible Quizzing.

Have any of you been aware of the recent slow down in construction? I have been self-employed since about 1990 and have seen a few slack periods but nothing to compare to the way this winter has been. I know many guys that would probably say they have had the slowest winter ever. Someone said we are in the midst of a "correction" as far as real estate goes. It makes me realize how blessed I am to have had a fairly busy winter with electrical work. I am not sure why because I don't feel I deserve it any better than anyone else. I just want to go on record here to give all the praise and thanks to God. He really is the One that controls such things and I don't want to take it for granted. He may choose to take me through some slow times. Spring is nearly here and hopefully it will turn things around!
Today was the end of the big Bible quizzing event at Black Rock Retreat. Our students did admirably considering the competition they were up against. Brendon and Andrew both won "All Star" quizzer awards! They did great even though their teams didn't win any trophies. It is such a blessing to see the eternal Word of God memorized and imprinted in the lives of so many young folks!

Way to go Brendon!


Way to go Andrew!

MennoDiscuss

One of my favorite places to "hang out" online is here> MennoDiscuss Comps
You can often find me posting or replying on various computer related topics. I really enjoy the various discussions and they can be very informative and helpful.
Looks like a frigid week is coming up for us next week. I hope I can find enough inside work!

Today's Activities.

I got the idea for this post from here> "Random Pitches"....
Here is a summary of my day:
1. Got up at 7:30.
2. Made a quick pot of coffee before rushing to get Andrew to a friends house so they could go up to the basketball tourney in PA.
3. Came home and drank a cup of the coffee mentioned in point 2.
4. Continued working on a friend's PC trying to get Windows Updates installed on it. It was horribly behind on those!
5. Got dressed for a wedding about 40 minutes south of here.
6. Continued to struggle with the PC to get service pack 2 for Win XP installed on it.
7. Left at 10:00AM for the wedding.
8. Stopped at WAWA to fuel up the van with gas and me with more coffee.
9. The wedding and reception meal was nice and we left at 2:30 to come home.
10. Got home, changed clothes and continued working on the PC and got all Windows updates installed including IE 7. Also put the latest version of Firefox and AIM on it.
11. We continue to wait for Brendon to get back from the basketball tournament in PA. In the first game they played Brendon scored a game winning 3 point shot as time was running out! Andrew was there helping to cheer them on today.
Short delay...
12. Its now coming up on 10:00PM this Sat night and the guys are back.
13. Its time for me to wrap this entry up and get busy studying for the Sunday School lesson for the men's class I teach tomorrow.
14. I often start with some commentary found at this website> Christian Standard

Winter?

This looks more like the end of March...so says our daffodils!


What a warm day we have had! I guess winter is going to skip us this year. The record high temp at Philadelphia WAS 71 degrees set back in 1950. The new record, as of today, is officially 73 degrees. It seems that the prediction of a mild winter last fall is coming true.
I should have updated sooner since we returned from our trip to Alabama over Christmas. Yes we made it home. Getting back to the grind of work for me has been tough but at least the weather has been nice to work in. School has resumed and on we go to the business of schedules etc. Basketball games, Bible quizzing, to name a few.