November 14th Bill Wrote

Hi All

Sorry I'm late, no I'm not; other people have been late so why can't I be late too.

You know, I have really been blessed! I've had two wonderful parents, four great brothers, two great sisters, one fabulous wife, and three terrific kids. God has really blessed me in so many ways. As we come into this Thanksgiving season I am reminded of the many things I am so thankful for.

We just returned Wednesday night from taking Melissa to visit EMU, Liberty University, and Lynchburg College in Virginia. That makes six schools she has visited. I mentioned in the last letter that she was leaning toward going to Messiah but that has changed since we learned how their nursing department is set up for admittance. At this point it looks fairly sure that she may be going to Liberty University in Lynchburg Va. She has been accepted there and she likes the school except for a few things which she feels she can adjust to. She feels this may be where God is leading her due to some events that have led up to her interest in Liberty and she has a strong desire to live her life for Christ, which is one more thing we are extremely thankful for. Melissa is one marvelous kid and we are so proud of her.

Derek has been working very hard in school balancing: social life, R.A. responsibilities, and studies. He seems to be doing a good job by all reports that we have heard. He is planning on going to New Mexico for the January term on a desert science trip. He is excited about this opportunity. The end of October I was reminded of how admirable a son I have. Even though he had a big test on Monday that he wanted to study for, he made time in his busy schedule to come home Friday evening to celebrate my birthday. It really felt good to have all the kids home for that time together. Derek is one magnificent kid.

Alana, hasn't made herself scarce this fall. She's been home each weekend working at dorney park. At least we saw her things here. No, really, she and Brad, you know, the other important guy in her life besides Dad, were taking a Ball Room Dancing class every Friday night for seven weeks. So, we did see her, usually for supper Friday nights.One of those Friday nights,she informed us she was going to look into what she'd need to do to change her major to Early Childhood Education. She is in that process now. It looks like she'll finish her undergraduate studies in Speech Pathology and continue her graduate studies in Early Childhood Ed. instead of Speech at Marywood University. She's done very well in her undergraduate work and enjoyed it. But this year doing clinical's, and her continued work in the daycare, she realized her love for 4-6 year olds and decided she would rather work with young children. Alana is a fantastic kid and will do well in what ever she decides to do, she is getting tired of school though.

Bill was physically challenged last Saturday when he helped Alana's boyfriend put a new roof on his house. Yes in the COLD temp and wind. He came home and soaked in the WARM bathtub for about an hour to, 1.) get the chill out of his body and 2.) to ease the aches in his body. He is not as young as he used to be.

Last weekend, Friday and Saturday, Kathy and 33 other women from Swamp Church went to Philadelphia to be challenged in their walk with Christ at the Women of Faith Conference. There were 19,600 women in the Wochovia Center lifting their voices in song and laughter, and irrigating their sinus's (we women get quite emotional) as a number of women challenged the women there by sharing testimonies of how God was and is working in their lives. Praise the Lord for a Loving God who sees all aspects of each of our lives and desires His will for us. It may not always be according to our time or by our ways, but it is according to His will. He holds us in His loving hand, shadows us and Loves us, in all our weakness' and all our strengths. What a comfort it is to know of God's Great Love.

We leave you with the challenge to know and experience God's love manifested through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, who gives us comfort and strength each day as we reach out and receive that which is offered and available to each of us.

Love you all, Bill and Kathy