BOWDOIN BULLETIN 2013

What an awesome privilege we have to know, love, and serve Jesus! Each one of us!  Thank You God for giving us Your Son Jesus to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light!  Thank You also for the blessing of Your Holy  Spirit to teach and mentor us and bring Your words and ways to our thoughts. Thank You for Your Word, Your awesome Word, to keep teaching us Your ways and how You have worked throughout the history of the world since Creation.

This year of 2013, we found that we were eager to take on new challenges.  Redwood Country Church needed a new pastor in January.  Terell began longing to do this and we talked and prayed about it.  The Lord opened the door!  What an awesome privilege and responsibility.  Thus we began our new ministry here at Redwood Country Church!  His many years of leading New Hope Christian School helped prepare him for pastoring.

Back home we began planning the garden.  This year we planted tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, parsley, 2 blueberry bushes, spinach, cherry tomatoes, 4 plum trees, a fig tree and looked forward to the apple trees and grapes my parents had planted.  Terell and Joshua spent many hours building a beautiful cedar deck to replace the deteriorating old one.

Our international student, Colin Wang Yu, was from Kunming, China and was a very good student and graduated in June. We were also blessed to have Corey Brenner and his little dog Jed rent from us for several months this Spring. A native Texan become an Oregonian, Corey searched out Redwood Country Church after his decision to follow Jesus.  Fred Schmidt, the Pastor at the time, mentored Corey for a number of weeks and Corey then chose to be baptized.  He worked at the Redwood Nursery and hopes to study plants at Oregon State.

After 4 years of hard work, study, friends, and many hours of running, Jacob graduated May 4, 2013 from Corban University in Salem, Oregon. What a blessing his years at Corban have been in preparing him for his life's work. He kept to his goal and first choice of teaching the Word.  The next weekend of May 10-11 was the Conference Meet in Portland as well as Tyler's Junior Kindergarten program and Collin, Kate, and Tyler's Awana Award Program.  We had so much fun!  Jacob ran crazy fast, 1:52.9 in the 800M, so that he qualified for going to NAIA Track Nationals in Indiana! At Nationals he shaved the time down to 1:52.4 in the preliminaries and took 6th in the Finals! We watched it online!

God chose to take my Dad home to heaven in May also.  I had the privilege of being with him his whole last day.  His hands have always been so awesome, and I always check the newest baby for those nice long fingers and toes.  By evening he seemed so peaceful so I went home.  As soon as I left the angels walked in to take him to heaven.  Praise be to God.

My brothers shouldered most after this.  Terell, I, Jacob, and Aunt Genevieve were at his graveside service a few days later.  Blessed time.  I visited his grave for weeks.  Then my other two brothers came and we had his memorial service June 22nd at Redwood Country Church.  We thoroughly enjoyed having my older brother Michael come for this visit .  He brought his xylophone and played for us numbers of times, both at Redwood Country and at Countryside Village.  We all enjoyed having Mom and Joe, Aunt Genevieve, Uncle Lee, Cousin Carol Paulette and husband Neale come for a nice dinner outside on our deck, as well as her brother Keith and wife Daisy and their daughter.  We celebrated Neale and Carol Paulette's 50th wedding anniversary with a cake and pictures!

Debra Siefker came from Lebanon, Oregon, to visit Ben.  Having met online, they began to forge a delightful friendship.  She makes good angel food cakes.  Thanks Deb! Ben has been working at Partners in Community Living  (PCL) with handicapped people. 

In July we hosted 4 kids who were here from China to study English at New Hope for two weeks. They prepared delicious homemade noodles for us! Terell and I ran over to Brookings so he could go ocean fishing with Ron Wingerd.  The fish escaped and we so enjoyed hanging out with Ron and Norma and Jo Wood in their nice motor homes. Deb visited us and Ben again.  Seems like they were always laughing or disappearing in town to eat somewhere. Fires started by lightning storms made the air become very smoky.

Our annual Bowdoin Family Summer Get-together was at our home this year instead of going to a campground like other years.  We loved the hot weather.  One day was a regular water day with kids, big and little, running through sprinklers, pouring buckets of water on each other.  Tyler, 5, delighted in being under a big towel, pretending to be a ball.  Then he would call out "the ball wants to go to the porch!"

The highlight of our family camp was the baby shower for Suzy & Dave.  We had a wonderful time with family and friends and they received many lovely gifts for little Sydney.  Cute outfits, towels, diapers, a wood crafting with her name carved on it by Priscilla, a darling yellow knitted sweater set, a kitty bath towel.

In late August, Jacob came home to begin helping Terell at Redwood Country as assistant pastor. Stephen (Sirapop Ketmethakarun) came from Thailand and we got our second international student a week after the first.  Ash (Li Hao) came on the 31st.  The same day Our Redwood Reunion was in full swing!  Phyllis Faszer's dream of having a reunion was being realized.  She and everyone worked hard on the Silent Auction, BBQ, inviting the many friends and connections of Redwood’s long history, Sunday services, Sunday potluck, and pictures.  It was wonderful to see so many people from past years!

As school began, we trade off taking our two international boys to New Hope and bringing them home.  Jacob was one of the Cross Country coaches this year, helping Michele Laird. I got to go over to visit Susanna & Dave in Klamath Falls.  It was wonderful to see all the preparations she had for having their first little one!  She had several showers beside the one we had for her.  So Grandma felt more prepared for the big day!

Susanna went into labor early October 17.  It was a hard labor but what a little trooper our daughter is!  She and Dave worked together so beautifully and in the evening, little precious Sydney came and we got to see her and enjoy her!  7 lbs. 15 oz. and so much dark hair!  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! The two grandmas clucked and fluttered all over!  Dave and Susanna were so happy.

November has truly been filled with thanksgiving!  Benjamin and Debra Kristine Siefker visited each other regularly and discovered they had both been to South America and both knew quite a bit of Spanish.  After many visits Ben asked Deb to marry him and she said Yes!  They plan on a January 4, 2014 wedding to be held at Debra's home in Lebanon.

David has been courting pretty Wanda Park this year also.  On November 19 they became engaged!  We had been looking forward to this also.  So we are doubly happy that two of our boys have found their partners to share life with!

We held our Thanksgiving dinner at the Redwood Country Fellowship Hall this year.  Terell asked the men and boys to cook, which made us ladies feel honored.  It turned out so well.  I had time to write a verse for each of us, about 23, and we shared these in the course of the meal.  We were so happy that Colin and two college friends were able to come from Southern California to share our thanksgiving time!

So our year is finishing up and we were happy we could attend the bridal shower for Deb on December 7 in Lebanon.  Quite a saga to get there in a time of much snow. God helped us and we took Jacob's Subaru with all-wheel drive and did not slide at all.  We stayed in the Inn at Cottage Grove and I was thankful they had room.  Very nice to get to visit the Siefkers - their lovely home they built, the fun shower, and the family. God is good.