While Winter is not our favorite time of the year, there are some aspects that are enjoyable. We watch the various and colorful birds that arrive to eat at the feeder and are amazed at how God created these little creatures to be able to endure the cold and harsh weather. Their little feathers are all puffed up against the cold, making them look fatter than their true size. Here is a little peek in the video below.
When the temperatures drop in to the single digits and our furnace works overtime to keep us warm, we bring in firewood and get the old double barreled wood burner going (located in the basement). Dwight describes the wood heat as a "thick heat" and it feels absolutely wonderful. He burns the wood until we have a thick bed of coals that sends heat to the upper barrel that radiates heat for the whole house. This was our only source of heat for a number of years before the furnace was installed.
Loving the "thick heat"
Serving us for 30 years!
Because we live on a small hill, sledding is an attraction for the grandkids and friends. We posted a video of them sledding in an earlier blog, but you can see it again here.
The Shoveler at work!
Have a cozy and safe Winter from our house to yours!
Just a glimpse into some work going on in the hangar. This Cessna airplane owned by MAF Mission Aviation Fellowship, has been used in ministry in several countries - Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. What a history for this airplane! MMS personnel are restoring it for continued use by MAF.
Putting the big pieces back together
Not long after the wings were re-installed on the MAF plane, Dwight went to Venice, Florida to help conduct a governance workshop for the Board of Directorsof Agape Flights.This ministry provides a valuable purchasing and shipping service for quite a number of missionaries in the Caribbean and parts of the Bahamas.
Over the past several years, David Green, a retired CEO who lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, developed what he calls Values Driven Governance to help Boards better govern the organizations entrusted to them.
Workshop facilitators listen carefully, speak when necessary, and write a lot of ideas on flip charts and marker boards. A Board of Directors needs to come to its own conclusions.
He's not angry, folks, he's just concentrating! And trying to quickly distill lots of words into a succinct phrase for the flip chart, not changing what the speaker said.
Dwight and Michael Stroh, CEO of the International Association of Missionary Aviation, assisted David with this intense three days of Board training. The MMS Aviation Board went through a workshop like this last April and MMS will realize the benefits of better governance well into the future. The MMS Board recognizes that Dwight's participation in these Board training workshops is another way MMS can serve the missionary aviation community.
Back at the MMS facility in Coshocton, preparation of people and planes for worldwide missionary service continues daily.
