A Tribute

This week marks the passing of my Aunt Lorine Turner and my cousin Willey Ernest Turner (her nephew, not son). Aunt Lorine is my mother's sister. Willy Ernest is my Aunt Mary's oldest son. Two sisters married brothers (Cecil and Willy, respectively). Of the twelve O'Quinn children (eight girls and four boys) there are now only four sisters left: Mary, Dorothy, Betty, and Mildred.

Aunt Lorine was one of those quite but forceful children of God. I offer this tribute in thanks.

Aunt Lorine, thank you for facing sorrow with hope; pain with faith; and disappointment with determination. Thank you for making God a part of every conversation. Thank you for praying without ceasing. Thank you for caring for me, my wife, my children and now my grand-daughter. Thank you for the laughter.

Willy Ernest is a testimony to the grace of God and the human spirit. He struggled for many years to overcome the power of alchohol and by God's grace he did and found his place in the house of God.

As I walked with Aunt Mary away from Willy Ernest's grave, she grieved greatly. In the midst of her sorrow she paused and reflected, "I don't know what I did to deserve to be born into a family like mine." I too have wondered why God allowed me to be born into a family that loves and serves Him in the good times and the bad.

Please pray for my mother's family. Linda and Diane are Aunt Lorine's daughters. Alice, Bill, and Winette are Aunt Mary's remaining children. Alice has battled cancer for years. Also, my Uncle Moncie (Aunt Betty's husband) is struggling with congestive heart failure.

Slow News

There's not much to report. I'm seeking God for a new sermon series and I have nearly completed transfering all of my old home videos into my computer for editing and transfering to DVD's (I should finish about the time they no longer make DVD's). I am making slow progress on my writing projects. Cheryl is trying to get ready for the new semester and complete some writing/speaking projects. She will be speaking at the Princeton Center for Theological Inquiry in a few weeks. In our spare time I mow the grass and we take motorcycle rides in the mountains.

We appear to have a couple of new house guests, Bill and Hillary have been seen entering the crawl space below our den and Cheryl saw one of them in our basement TV room. They are three to five feet long black snakes. But we have not seen either of them in a few days. I think Hillary has moved to Kentucky to run for office and Bill has become a traveling evangelist. Cheryl has mistaken them for Laura and George but I pointed out they moved too fast from left to right and back. She countered with something about their forked tongues.

Karisa will be speaking in chapel in early October. She is now officially "dating" a Wheaton student named John Mark (I don't know his last name). He is highly involved in one of the student missions organizations and comes from a missionary family. Camdyn is now using pronouns. She apparently thinks every couple she sees on a motorcycle are her Nanny and Papa and she wants to know where we go to all the time. Alethea is busy in her second year of residency. Justin is excited about a new year at the University; he led in a major renovation of the Wesley Center this summer.

The attached photo is of my fmily at my brother Jimmy's house circa May 1980. I think they are celebrating his and my sister Darlene's birthdays (May 10 & May 11).

Busy Week

It was a busy week. Cheryl had faculty retreat. Jackie worked at home. He has started transfering old home movies from VHS to DVD. He attended four meetings for the Bradley Initiative for Church and Community (BICC) for which he serves on the Board of Directors. BICC is in a capital funds campaign.

Last Saturday we went on a long ride into the mountains (Telico Plains) It was beautiful, but it rained on us for the last thirty minutes. Today we went up tp Reliance, but we left late an came back in the dark. We love the cycle.

The attached picture is Jackie and his baby sister, Darlene, way back when.

Alone Again

We are alone again. Alethea, Justin, and Camdyn returned home this afternoon. It was great to have the whole fam together. We will adjust to the empty nest.

I realize I am working backwards with my pictures, but I thought I would catch people up on our summer. The attached photo is from the first week of July when Cheryl and I traveled to Charlotte for the Mennonite General Assembly. Cheryl addressed the Assembly and co-presented a workshop. With her is the President of the Mennonite body and their Director of Inter-church Relations. They are a little more casual than we Pentecostals tend to be.

Previous Visit

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had Camdyn here by herself. It is one of my favorites. Karisa took the picture.

Also, Karisa returned to Wheaton today. She is the student chair of the Student Missions Project and will be leading a retreat next week. Classes begin the next week, I think. Alethea, Justin, and Camdyn will return home tomorrow.

Alethea's Blog

Alethea has a blog where she posts pictures and updates on Camdyn. Click on the title above "Alethea's Blog" to go there and save it as a favorite place if you wish.

Lake Trip

By the way, the picture attached to "Summer Ends" is a family photo taken on St. George Island, Florida during the last week of June. The photo attached to this post was taken last Saturday at Lake Nantahala, North Carolina.

Summer Ends

This is my first attempt at blogging. I hope to create a page to keep family and friends up to date on our family. Since Cheryl and I are now well into the empty-nest phase of life, this should also help us to stay up to date as well.

This week is bitter-sweet. Alethea, Justin and Camdyn have been with us since Friday evening. We are all together for a few days, but Karisa leaves for Wheaton on Wednesday. We had a wonderful time Saturday afternoon on Lake Nantahala. Shirley and Ryan drove up from Atlanta and we spent the afternoon on a pontoon boat exploring the lake. Camdyn loves to swim. She started calling for the water as soon as we started and got more intense until we found a place. The event was colored by the condition of the boat we rented. It was old and it took us an hour to restart it after our swim. It sputtered off-and-on all the way back to the marina.