It's an old shed.  Tilting ever more.  Back wall is rotting from the ground upward.  He learned that Papa Jim is getting rid of it.  Going to pull the good board off to use on some future project.  Toss the rotting boards.  Before he got around to it, Joseph, our night guard, had a talk with Papa Jim.  Would it be OK if he talked with his wife about the old shed?  She might find it useful for her business.  Papa Jim said OK.  Talked with his wife.  Explained it would need some fixing up.  Brought her over to look at the old shed.  She's excited about the prospect.  Rents a location a 15 minute taxi ride from their studio apartment.  Installed a table and large umbrella there.  Hauls her merchandize back and forth in a taxi each day.  We set her up in business two years ago.  She's making a go of it, but it's quite a challenge to lug everything back and forth all the time.  Joseph will find a carpenter.  Repairs will be made on the back wall of the shed. Shelves will be fastened to the walls. Then it will be installed at her job site.  Life will become considerably easier for her.  Her merchandize will be locked in the shed each night.  Her busniss is becoming more sophisticated.  She's coming up in the world.  Everybody is happy.  Especially Papa Jim.  He got out of having to pull the old shed apart and haul off the rotting boards!  As they say, one man's garbage is another man's treasure.  This little story fits with who we are.  We're all about helping people in every way possible.  For the Glory of God..

Thought I'd post a recipe for a change.  We've developed our own Granola recipe over the years.  Made lots of modifications and finally ended up with this:

Granola

Combine in large bowl:

4 cups oatmeal

2 cups powdered whole milk

2 cups chopped peanuts

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine separately in pan and cook until bubbly:

2 cups honey

2 cups oil

(can replace 1 cup honey and 1 cup oil with 2 cups applesauce

Mix together with dry ingredients.

Put into rectangle baking pan and bake at 300º for 45 min. or until brown.

After baking, stir in:

2 cups coconut

½ cup raisins

Our Shiloh granola is very popular with Cameroonians and Westerners alike.  We make it three or four times a month, depending on how many people eat breakfast at Shiloh.  So try our recipe and enjoy a taste of Shiloh at your home.

It was just a week ago that the neighbors contacted us. Would we like to rent the house they are in when they move on to Kenya ten months from now?  

Prayed a whole bunch.  Talked it over several times a day.  Measured every single room.  Walked through the house.  Twice.  Checked out the large yard that wraps around three sides of the house.  Drew a floor plan of the house.  Made paper cutouts of our furniture.  Placed it in all the rooms.  Needed to know if our stuff would fit there.  

Found a perfect spot to build a workshop for Jim.  Got cost estimates on all the materials needed.  Totaled it up and took a long look at it.  Prayed some more.  Talked it over from every angle.  Feeling a great peace about this.  

Planning on taking the next step forward.  Probably tomorrow.  One big, big plus for us is the ground floor apartment, complete with living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  Seems to be the ideal solution to my aching joints that sometimes cry out in pain with all the stair climbing every single day.  Probably go upstairs and back downstairs around a dozen times per day.  Living on the ground floor would dramatically reduce the stair climbing.  

Still praying.  Still wanting to make sure this move really is God's plan for our lives and our ministry. 

Went to town today.  Jim too.  He rarely goes in, so misses out on all the fun.  Traffic is getting more congested by the day.  One of the most congested places in all of Yaounde is not far from Shiloh.  Eric told us yesterday was the worst day ever.  Took him 55 minutes to go from Total MVAN to Tropicana.  On a normal day, it shouldn't take over five minutes!  Soon walking will be faster!  I predict that someday we will be in total gridlock.  Something has to change someday, somehow.  It just gets worse and worse all the time.  Well, if life out here were easy, people would flock here to share the Gospel.  So we'll just keep on keeping on, no matter what happens.

We were at the neighbors on Monday to look at their house and seriously consider if it would be wise for us to move there ten months from ,when they leave Cameroon for good.  We were impressed with what we saw.  Went back home to talk it over and to pray.  What does God want us to do?  That is the most important consideration.  The house has many advantages for us, but only if this is His will for our lives and our ministry.  

 Went back today and took mearsurements of each room.  Came back home and drew up a floor plan.  Cut out little furniture pieces and began placing them in the rooms.  Need to know if our furniture will fit in their rooms.  Also choose a site for a workshop near the back door.  Took measurements of Jim's dream workshop and came home to draw up some plans.  Next he will write up a materials list and get cost estimates for everything.  

How will be know if this move is of the Lord?  That's easy.  If He provides the means to build Jim's workshop, then He is in these plans.  If not, then not.  It will be that clear.  We move forward by faith, leaning on the everlasting arms.

"It's good to see you.  How are you?"  I asked the young man who comes to Shiloh for a spiritual retreat from time to time. 

 "Physically," he said "I'm doing just fine.  But spiritually, I have a lot of questions for God."  

"And God has all the answers you need," I assured him.  "Sometimes He says 'Yes!'  That's the answer I like best.  Sometimes He says 'No".  But sometimes He says 'Wait'.  And that's the answer that is the hardest of them all."

He's here at Shiloh, fasting and praying, seeking God's face.  And we have the honor of praying right along with him.  We don't have any idea what his questions are.  But we can pray to the One Who knows all things.  The God Whom we serve is more than able to lead and guide him to the right answers to all of his questions.

Just an ordinary day, 
serving an extraordinary God.
Helping people.
A bit of yard work.
Some computer work.
Nothing exciting.
Nothing extraordinary.
Life is made up of a whole series of ordinary days.
But with God at the middle of every one of them, 
life is worth living.