Today I am confined to my house. Some sinus thing going on. I left work early last 2 days, and yesterday finally decided that I should rest up a bit. At first I wrestled with the decision, as there is so much to do. But it has been good to sit and read and think and pray. And work on past pictures. I read the last half of Ps 119, and was encouraged by that, but a bit surprised. That’s all I’ll say here—give you something to read and ponder yourself. But before I go, I leave you with this. And remember, this just points to how wonderful is the Lord who made it all (just by speaking, that is, except for us!)

Yesterday I drove out to Bellingham to see the Laws, spent the night, and then today drove down to Seattle to pick up an skid of Korean Stranger books. Along the way, I was able to stop and see Gene as well as Dan and Joan. While we can have these shipped to our office, it’s cheaper for me to pick them up, as well as giving me an opportunity to visit with friends. Besides, it’s a road trip. And you all needed to know what Washington looks like. Right?

Drove home today. Took Highway 4 in Washington (on the north side of the Colombia Gorge this time, and will continue this in the future.) Still 8 hours of driving, and good to be done w/ driving for a few days.

Left Yosemite and took Hwy 120 out (had to create a new GPS track) and spent the night with the Palos in Philomath.

Left Fresno this morning at around 6:00, arriving in the valley at around 8:30. (I can be a little more specific if you like.) I started hiking before 9:00 (8:58:01 am), finishing at 6:11:41 pm. I hiked around 16 miles, up around 4,600 feet up and down. In all it was a great day, and would do it again with snowshoes. My plan was to go up Tenaya Canyon, to North Dome and down Yosemite Falls. With the amount of snow up there this time of year, it wasn’t feasible without snowshoes or skies. Too bad I left both at home! After hiking, Ken and I went to the buffet and I re-energized before a shower and sleep.

Some misc shots of Vegas today…

Probably one of the longest drives I had in a l-o-n-g time. Took an indirect route to my destination (Racetrack Playa) and couldn’t make it due to the low clearance on the Corolla. On the way I out, I tried to get out of the valley to the South (I had come in the North) but couldn’t pull the hill as I was just spinning (although I didn’t try it in reverse.) In the end, we left the way we came, adding only 120 miles, but 8:20 hours to the trip! It was like driving about 60-70 miles of washboard, but was beautiful however. Glad I went, but won’t do it without a DRZ.

Good drive today - no major problems.

First leg of the trip—leaving Cour d’Alene, and headed to Medford, OR. Took some back roads—more direct, less miles, more time, less gas!

I realize I haven’t updated much, but it’s hard to write and say I’ve been working in the office, doing office stuff. Answering phones, packing boxes, this and that. One thing I have been working on lately is looking at some back-up software for our server, trying to get another solution for backing up all our files. I have been looking at Acronis, which looks to be the ticket for us. However, I’m still on a trial version, and will be for a few more weeks.

Today, being Wednesday, I was packing boxes. There was quite a few today, with a lot of non-standard shipping problems (like people using Media Mail for Tabernacle items, which we can’t do and requires getting in contact with them to charge more for the UPS option, etc.) Those type of things tend to slow down the whole process.

One other thing is trying to get ready for a trip to NAB in Vegas, starting on Saturday. Most everything is done, really, but the packing. I’m planing on picking up Ken again and drive down to catch up on all the new technology in the video world.

This encouraging email came in the other day to a co-worker, and I thought I’d share it with you!

=============
Subject: By This Name books

Hello Larry,*

I thought it good to share with you all the cool things God has been doing here through the BTN books you sent. I prayed that God would use the box of books any way he like, and that they wouldn’t just sit in my room. Sure enough, one week in I gave Bill* a BTN. He isn’t a reader, but he read it in about two weeks.

When people heard that he read the whole thing, and liked it because it helped make sense of the Bible, they said that they too wanted a copy. Frank, our church treasurer, asked for one, and told me today at coffee that he is really liking it too. He wanted to know if there is a book that picks up where the BTN leaves off. Dave, our men’s ministry starter, two nights ago said that him and his wife both are reading through it.

This Sunday for Easter, the church plans to give away a BTN to anyone who wants to understand the big picture of the Bible, and they have people willing to disciple anyone willing through the book. On top of that Jim (a youth in high school) and I are on page 100. Cindy, and Michelle are going through it together. Roy (in the army from our church) is reading it. I really am excited to see people get excited about understanding the gospel. This whole time I’ve only had to give one away, the rest of them came to find me, and ask for one.

I don’t write all these stories to praise just a book. I hope to encourage you that God is using your work to impact lives here in Wisconsin for His own glory. I would say that most of the people excited to read this book have been going to church for 10 years or longer. Thanks for the books.

=============

(*in keeping with GoodSeed policy, the names have been changed.)