December 11,
2017
We hated to say goodbye to the
Porter’s in Missouri, but Texas here we come!
We drove into Kansas, turned around, and drove south into Arkansas. We stopped in Siloam Springs to visit Cameo
Neuharth’s mom and stepdad: Sue & Burton.
Burton also worked at Town and Country Tractor for a couple years with
Dave. We had a great visit, but much too
short. We hit the road again and Dave
drove until midnight.
December 12,
2017
I woke up at 5am and started
driving towards Houston. We went to the
Museum of History and Natural Science.
We had been there 2 years ago and found it to be the best natural
science museum.
THE FOSSILS
They have the most amount of
fossils I have seen under one roof. It
is a great variety – hundreds if not thousands, and there are large spectacular
ones. We have noticed before that many
of the animals that are fossilized are in positions of being hurt and have
multiple broken bones – it totally aligns with a biblical flood! In fact, for the first time in a museum, I
noticed that on many of the signs they said the fossils were from a global
flood. In the description of several of
the ancient time periods they describe it as a global flood. One sign said that 97% of the species on the
planet were destroyed in that flood -
sounds pretty close to Noah’s flood to me!
There was also a fossil of a fish swallowing another fish – that tells
me they were laid down pretty fast! One
of the most fascinating ones to me though was of a small horse with a fish laid
down right underneath it and a fish impression right above it. Of course, they say there were millions of
years between these species, but they are buried right next to each other
without layers of mud or rock between. And
there is a fish right below and right above!
Also the signs were talking about how many of the animals scientists
have found in the fossil record that they thought were dead, they have since
found these same species in the oceans of this world. The more scientists uncover, the more
evidence there is to back up the global flood account from the Bible!
THE GUARD
There was a guard in the fossil
area. There was no mention of the fish
on the plaque beside the horse fossil.
So I asked the guard if he had any knowledge of the fossils there in the
museum or if he was just a guard. He
said he had a lot of knowledge. I asked
him about the fossil. He explained how
it was very interesting how they were laid down in those layers so close
together and yet millions of years apart.
I sewed seeds for God. (This was
my whole point of asking him the question.)
I talked about how we love coming to this museum because of the vast
evidence we saw present for the Bible’s account of a biblical flood. He didn’t argue. He kept showing us other things around the
museum. Then when we said goodbye he
walked by the lineage of human exhibit and said, “If you want to argue about
something, this is the area you can really argue.” Benjamin was distraught that I hadn’t been
more forceful in proving creation and flood, but I explained my job isn’t to
prove – just to plant seeds. Please pray
it will grow!
Mr. RICH
We met Mr. Rich two years ago
when we came. He is an amazing guest
service man. He is originally from
Washington state but moved here because of his love for evolution – specifically
for “Lucy” – the skeleton evolutionists use as the missing link between apes
and humans. 2 years ago when we were
here he walked us to the fossils, explained to us how to know which dinosaur
fossils are real and replicas, and he told us to ignore the section about the
evolution of man because scientists have since discovered that evolution is not
linear – that one animal doesn’t evolve into another, but that a species comes
from within its species. So this time I found
him and asked him if he could explain this all to Serenity. (and so we could hear it all again.) He explained how rapidly science is changing
and showing what we learned in school to be incorrect. They now know Lucy is no missing link but
rather a chimpanzee and they know humans did not evolve from chimpanzees. He pointed to the skull of a chimpanzee and
said “Do you really think we could come from this?” Inside I was laughing hilarious at what he
was saying! Basically the same as a
creationist! He said while he
specifically moved to Texas and got this job because of his love for the lucy
fossil, he was so excited to be learning all these new scientific
discoveries. I asked him how the museums
still teach the other and he said because the textbooks and museums just aren’t
being updated – it takes a lot of time.
So big shocker huh? The more
science that comes available the more evidence for a biblical global flood… When I get home I want to send him a book
with a note in it. Please pray for this
man and the seeds we sowed with him also.
SHELLS,
ROCKS, ANIMALS, CHEMISTRY, ENERGY, ANCIENT CULTURES
There were hundreds of beautiful
shells! I was humbled to think of how
beautiful of an imagination the Lord has and how He truly made all of these
beautiful creatures just for our benefit – to show us how much He loves
us! And the rock collection!?!?!?! Gorgeous!
Guards had to stand around. I
can’t imagine what heaven is going to be like and what our mansions will be
like. Levi was in 7th heaven
with a large collection of taxidermy animals from around the world. They also had a nice exhibit on chemistry and
so we had our own Chemistry 101 class.
They opened a whole floor that was on energy and we were able to learn
all sorts of things about oil, solar, nuclear, and wind power. They had a section on ancient cultures that
focused on Egypt. They had hundreds of
artifacts including multiple mummies and over a dozen mummy caskets.
We went to the closest Walmart
parking lot but were told we couldn’t park there. We drove across the street
and there was a couple cleaning a medical office. Dave asked if we could park there and they
said yes as long as we left before 7am.
We were so thankful!
MISSION TRIP
PLAN CHANGE
We received a phone call today
that we need to drive our motorhome down to Brownsville, TX next Monday to join
up with the mission trip because they don’t have any more seats available from
Houston. Please pray. Our motorhome will be parked at a hotel while
we are gone in Mexico for 2 weeks. This
has changed our schedule too for this week – but we have learned to be
cheerfully flexible!
December 13,
2017
There is a beautiful park in the
museum district in Houston. We drove
there early in the morning and I walked the park while I did my Bible
memorization and time with the Lord.
There were amazing birds and ducks there! A birder’s paradise right in the middle of
town. The air was cold but refreshing.
We went to the Health and
Science Museum. They had a display on
world hunger and said hunger was the #1 killer.
The pictures were very compelling and it was sad to see how many people
struggle for basic needs. We are so very
blessed! I was reminded “I have never
seen the righteous forsaken.” God is so
very good to reveal Himself to us, speak to us, and provide for us, but most
importantly to be preparing an eternal life for us if we will simply accept His
gift and His way of life. I was puzzled
though, because as I did my own cell phone search I found the causes of death
to be heart attack, stroke, etc. Thus it seems to me the #1 killer is
obesity. Maybe the distinction is how
developed a country is. It seems so odd
though that the greatest killers in the world are hunger and obesity.
They had a very hands-on
informative display of the entire body.
The kids were able to climb through a “colon,” read real x-rays, see how
the brain works, measure how loud they can scream, view a 6 foot heart replica
pumping and even going into cardiac arrest, etc. It was fascinating all the things we were
able to learn about the whole body in such a small area!
They also had a lab. The kids were able to do their own
experiments such as seeing DNA from a fruit fly, cells from their cheek, Red
blood cells, and how fast your digestive juices dissolve starch. They were like real scientists! The trick is definitely follow the
directions…
They also had an exhibit on
prosthesis. We saw a video of one boy
who was born missing his leg and fingers.
He said he prayed to God for a leg, but finally realized God had created
him that way. So he decided to make the
best of life. Even though he is a young
boy, he has a great inspiring attitude.
What a role model! They showed
how different people use different prosthesis and the science behind developing
them.
December 14,
2017
We went to the Alamo. Benjamin and Serenity were the only ones in
our family who haven’t been there before.
Although now that we have studied history in-depth the last few months,
I have a new perspective. The history of
Texas and the Alamo battle sounds to me just like the Revolutionary War between
the U.S and England. Change the names,
dates, and locations, and the details are pretty much the same. The Texans wanted to govern themselves rather
than a centralized government in Mexico and so they rebelled. The Mexican government sent troops to put
them into submission. The Texans revolted
and drove the troops out. Santa Ana
himself and 3,000 troops came up to Texas to squelch the rebellion. There were less than 200 people in the Alamo. The only people spared were the few black
slaves, the women, and children. Several
valiant people died including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. The Mexicans won the Alamo, but the Texans
then mustered a bunch of men and attacked and in exchange for Santa Ana keeping
his life, he agreed to give Texas its independence. But as we know, a few years later it became part
of the United States.
We learned about the population
of Texas. The Mexicans appointed people
who would bring settlers into Texas.
Because the United States had higher prices on land, many United States
citizens came to Mexico and were given tracts of land to farm as long as they
agreed to become Mexican citizens and Roman Catholics. Within a few years, the Caucasian population
outnumbered those of original Mexican descent.
Thus Mexico stopped allowing United States citizens to come and settle
Texas. Change the date and switch the
country, and we are there. Lol
We took a nice walk and had a
nice Mexican dinner on the “River Walk.”
It is a little canal in downtown Houston that is charming and
beautiful. A mariachi band offered to
sing a song for us for $20. That was out
of our price range! We still got to hear
them singing to others though. They make
good money! We were coming up with all
sorts of crazy ideas for our family to go around making money. Maybe we should become Dickens Carolers. Our lunch entertainment was watching birds
and ducks find food on the floor and tables.
They are pretty aggressive! One
bird knocked a glass down on the ground shattering it in its quest for food.
We pulled out our suitcases from
under the motorhome and began sorting what we have and making a shopping
list. We stopped at Goodwill, Lowes,
and a sports supply store. We decided to
indulge and go to Cheesecake Factory, but by the time we received our food we
all decided we are done with food soaked in oil and prefer home-cooked food any
day. God is definitely changing our taste
buds and desires.
December 15,
2017
Friday morning we finished our shopping
for our mission trip at Walmart and then headed to the Ray and Carol Paden’s
home in Dripping Springs, Texas. We
found out about Mexico Missions trips from Carol when I volunteered at the YD
camp kitchen with her. We arrived at
their home and were welcomed by their two Jerusalem donkeys. Dave and I took a walk in the beautiful
countryside and the boys played football. We had a nice worship and dinner with the
Paden family.
December 16,
2017
We attended South Austin SDA
Church with the Paden family. They were
having an international and Christmas Sabbath.
They had the nativity and special musics. People were dressed in their native costumes. The potluck was scrumpcious! We had a
wonderful afternoon with our friends.
Then in the evening we helped Carol prepare for VBS.
December 17,
2017
Sunday morning we drove down to
Corpus Christi and saw our friend Estyn Goss from Kirkland church who taught the
boys voice for a year. It was so nice to
see him! He took us out for a wonderful
Mexican lunch and then we went back to his place and enjoyed singing some music
together. We then went to Dave’s 2nd
cousins’ house: Ingrid and her husband Tim.
She is an excellent homemaker and spoiled us with a delicious
supper. We did some laundry to prepare
for the last packing for Mexico Missions.
December 18,
2017
Today is the big day where we
will meet up with the Mexico Mission grip and get visas. Tomorrow morning we will get up early and
begin our 21 hour drive straight through into Mexico. We are all excited!
We love you all! Happy Holidays to you all and our deepest hope is that this season we all remember what it truly means - Christ loved us so much that He left his splendor and luxurious life in heaven, was born into a stable full of manure, lived the perfect life, and died on a cross for us. What better gift could anybody give anyone?!?!?!?! How great a love Christ has for us! May each one of us individually dwell on this and accept Him and love Him back with our whole heart, soul, and mind. And may we spread the best news on planet earth to everyone!
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