I find myself in front of the computer with a few extra minutes and no "have to do's" waiting to be done.

Yes, we are in our house and it is as wonderful as I expected it to be. It is modest but all newly painted etc. It is an old shotgun faux victorian in the central ward in Newark. Most of the buildings on our block are new 3 family condos and our little house had been looking very seedy, thus the remake. Most of the work was done by my husband and lots of skilled ( and a few less skilled like me), very committed and generous volunteers. I will truly try to put out some pictures soon.

The Christmas...uh oh, the doorbell...be right back. That was one of our school moms and she had locked her pocketbook in the school's garage. I was able to help her to find it, thank the Lord. That is one of the reasons we are so well situated across the street from the school.

As I was saying, the Christmas season has been rushing by me so fast. We moved in 2 weeks ago tomorrow and actually put up our (artificial) tree the next day. I have of course been teaching with Christmas music since the last week in November. Last weekend we were at a camp in Pennsylvania which is owned by our ministry. The ministries in Newark and in Chester, PA brought families to spend the weekend making Christmas memories. There were crafts for children and women, the chance to cut down live Christmas trees and then decorate them, cooky decorating, and gingerbread house decorating. You should have seen us all try to get people, luggage, presents and gingerbread houses all home again. Ours was the only one that fell apart on the way home. (o: It was a lovely time.

Claire will spend Christmas in the Phillipines...did I spell that correctly? It is hard for us all to have her gone, especially for her sister. These are the things that remind us that the season is not about us, it's about Jesus. And it's not just about a baby, it is about a Savior for the whole world.

The Lord truly knows just how much we can take. Today we received our CO, that is our permission to move in to our house. We will move as much as we can on Saturday and will begin to sleep and live there that night. What a blessing it will be. I am already thankful for so many things: no more locking and unlocking the gate to drive in and out, (We will only deal with that when we are in for the night), no more laundry 4 flights down and up the stairs, a working oven and (eventually) all my cooking supplies and clothes in one place.

There are things I will dearly miss as well. I will miss our missionary neighbors--both those in the building and those in houses all around. I guess that's it. (o:

Did I mention that I will only have to walk across the street to school and church? Eventually I will be able to have a knitting club and a cooking club after school, in my house. Thank you Lord!

Well, well, well. I must first let you all know that our missionary friend with the broken ankle is progressing nicely. Last year he had some heart issues and began doing some upper body strength work and that has helped him immensely. He is not allowed to put any weight on it so is not back at school yet. The doctor's are pleased with his progress though. Thanks you for praying.

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. We were fortunate to go spend it with best friends from our last church as we still have no functioning oven. On Thanksgiving morning I began to miss Claire in a way I have not done yet. I am afraid that tears will be near the surface from now until Christmas. There is no sense in trying to avoid the feelings, I just have to let them come. I have a friend whose son is in Iraq so I try to pray for her and for her son whenever I think of Claire.

No, we are still not in the house. We are very close but now all the nit-picking begins. We failed our first final inspection due to some minor things such as a missing piece of trim in the CLOSET! We went to Home Depot the day after Thanksgiving and bought 24 mini-blinds. Steve is busily installing them all. Today however, he had roofers and window replacers at the apartment building repairing fire damage. Tomorrow our lovely inspector comes again to see if we can finally move.

It's funny: I am so ready to move, yet so dreading MOVING again. We'll move the stuff from the apartment first because once we move anything in, we must sleep there to avoid break-in attempts. I told Steve that the first things to come down from the storage area will be the Christmas boxes and the kitchen things.

We had our all-school program right before Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. The song I had prepared with the kids went so well and all the class presentations were so good. Our school accomplishes so much with so little. I am proud of our terrific teachers and students.

This is a quick request for prayer to anyone who reads this blog. One of our missionaries who also happens to be our school librarian/vice-principal/Bible teacher, was hit by a car yesterday while riding his bike. Both bones in his ankle are broken and surgery was done late last night. Prognosis is that he is off that foot for 3 months. He is a runner and we are praying for quick and complete healing for him. His name is Steve Larson and I ask you all to lift his need up to the Lord, also pray for his wife Martha. We are experiencing much opposition here in Newark, but the school year is going very well and each attack leaves us all more determined than ever to be the hands and feet and light of Christ in this city that God loves. I read the last chapter of Jonah today and prayed that we would have the same love for Newark and its people that God had toward Ninevah. Thanks for your prayers.

Let me tell you all a little about inner-city life. The first and biggest difference is in the amount of keys and locks in my life. I have a front door key and a back door key and a gate key. I have 2 keys that go to our Care Center. I have 2 keys for the school (I still don't have the school office key) and I hav 2 keys for Steve's office in the building. I have one more key for our house doors and an electronic opener for the school parking lot gate. When I leave my house I lock my back door and make sure I have both of my key rings. I go down 3 flights of stairs, undo 2 locks, and relock one of them from the outside. I get into and start my car, drive it toward the gate, turn it off, get out and unlock the gate, get back in the car and drive it through the gate, turn it off and get out with the keys in hand so I can lock it with my purse inside while I close and lock the gate from the other side, unlock my car, get back in, turn it on and go. I have a pretty funny story about it all: Several weeks ago on a Sunday morning, I went out for Dunkin Donuts and a newspaper. When I came back, one of the men who attend church at our Care Center was waiting for the pastor/missionary to come over and let him in. I kind of chatted with Bill while I went through all of the above steps in reverse. All of a sudden I realized I had just driven my car through the gate, left it running because now it was inside the lot, got out and went a locked myself out on the other side of the gate. I was now on the outside while my car, running with the door open, was on the inside. Fortunately the missionary-pastor came by a let me back in. I haven't done that again!
More on city life later.

It has been too long since my last post and I apologize. Five days after I last wrote, on the first day of school, while we were all in Chapel worshipping, the vacant house next door to our caught fire. My downstairs neighbor, another missionary, whispered the news to me as we sang. Less than five minutes later she whispered to me again, this time that our roof had caught fire---did I want to go home with her. Yes I did! We got outside only to realize that our husband's had each taken off with the family car so we were stranded: only until we asked our city director for a lift. We were only able to get about 3 blocks away and hoofed it the rest of the distance. There were seven firetrucks on our street and at least one more on the block behind our house. the firefighters did a wonderful job and we were left only with water and smoke damage, plus 3 very traumatized cats...2 of ours and 1 downstairs from us. One single missionary teacher had to move out, fortunately there was a house for him to move to.

Now we deal with the demolition and renovation work, which my husband will oversee. At first we were discouraged, thinking that it would take even longer for us to get in to our house. Instead, the opposite is happening. So that they can renovate properly here in the apartment, there is a push on to get us moved out of here and into the house. This week Steve and I went to Home Depot to choose colors and buy paint. Keep praying!

School is going well and I enjoy my students: all 70 of them. I see all of the classes twice a week. Last Thursday was the anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner so we had a good time learning the story, listening to the song as sung at the Super Bowl by Whitney Houston, and then singing the song for ourselves. This coming Tuesday is Johnny Appleseed's birthday so we will learn a song, hear the story of his life, and I will give an apple to each of the kids. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Thanks for reading, and for continuing to check my blog even when NOTHING changes for so long.

Well, we are never too old to learn something new. I suddenly became curious about my word "detrious" and found out that there really is no such word according to the dictionary. I was able to find plenty of people writing on the web who THOUGHT it was a word though. The actual word we all were searching for was "detritus" which can mean accumulated debris. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about.

I am sitting at my fully hooked up computer here in Newark. We have actually been here for 1 day shy of a week. It is peaceful in a city way. The peace comes from our assurance that we have followed the steps God has laid out for us.

We live on the top floor of a 3 story brick apartment house. It is quite secure, in fact one of our bigger adjustments will be all the locking and unlocking we have to do everywhere. We are fortunate to have trees outside our windows and I can hear birds singing as I read my Bible in the morning. This morning there was a very loud bird chirping just outside our bedroom window and our cat Sarge was most interested.

Today we will make our last trip back to Wyckoff to get half a truckload of what I call the 'detrius of moving', you know the stuff I mean; the things that you haven't been using but have been collecting in the corners of your life. We also have lots of items for our next neighborhood garage sale to take place here in Newark on the first Saturday of September. It creates a wonderful opportunity for us to see and be seen in our new city and to get to know our neighborhood. We have fun.

God bless all of you who prayed us through to this point.

Today is the last day before we move to Newark. The apartment here is looking pretty empty on the one hand, and still with more to pack. Where does all the stuff come from? Everything calls for a decision. Is it being stored?, Are we taking it to the apartment? Do we still need it or want it? Could someone else use it? Moving is just no fun. But God's faithfulness is new every morning and His love never fails. And don't forget that in our weakness He is strong. God's promises are the stuff that gets us through the day.

We will not be in our house till near to Christmas but we will be in a spacious 3rd floor apartment in a building with other missionaries, owned by World Impact. We've been in a 2nd floor apartment so one more flight of stairs is ok. I'll enjoy the friendships of the other people and the help in getting acclimated.

School starts after Labor Day so as soon as I am unpacked I have to begin my lesson plans in earnest. I have ideas about how I will structure it all but need to flesh it out. The internet is a wealth of lesson plans and ideas that work for other teachers. Remember, I have no training. I plan to teach music basics plus chorus. If God ever sees fit to send a trained music teacher, one who can teach instruments, I will gleefully step aside and be an aide. Until then, I will do my best with what I know. I love the kids so I am highly motivated.

I just thought I lost this whole post, but thank God I recovered it. Again God is faithful.

Just think, my next post will be done in Newark for the first time. We will finally be the "Hoernigs in Newark".

This will be a quick one. Micah and Kim (my son and daughter-in-law) left for Aruba this morning at 5:00 to attend her brother's wedding. We are babysitting for Caleb and Isaac for 1 week. Wow! Caleb is your typical extremely bright and precocious 3 year old boy. (o: His brother Isaac, 4, is anything but typical. He was born with 5P- disease, a genetic condition that causes retardation with its own little twists. One of these twists involves digestion issues. We are thankful he has not needed surgery or a feeding tube and he is even considered high on the weight charts for Cri du Chat (the other name for the condition) children his age. And you should see what a long, skinny little guy he is! He semi-woke up this morning with what Kim guesses are gas pains and he is just so unhappy. Apparently this happens infrequently and he just has a bad day. Poor little boy is just whimpering in his sleep and nothing will make him more comfortable. If this had to happen, I'm thankful it happened while Micah and Kim were still here so I knew it was not some kind of emergency. Cri du Chat kids don't speak till way late so he can't tell me what hurts or where. If you are reading this, pray for him and pray for us as we parent a 3 year old and a special-needs 4 year old for a week. I'm tired already. Good thing I know God's strenghth is perfect in my weakness.

The Lord encouraged me in a personal way on Sunday morning as I read a devotional called "A Gentle Spirit". The reading was taken from writings of Ruth Bell Graham and was titled EMPTY NEST. Does that sound like something I've been worrying over? Here is the notable quote which I am turning into a prayer: "From my vantage point I can look back on circumstances involving our children, situations I once felt were hopeless, only to see in disbelief and amazemant as God brought order out of chaos, light out of darkness." What a great God He is.

This morning my readings took me to Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Micah, Psalms and finally to Romans 8. It was there that I was reminded again that if we hope for what we do not see, then we can eagerly wait for it with patience. And while we wait and pray, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us when we don't know how or what to pray. Thank God for His wonderful promises and His faithfulness that keeps those promises.

Yesterday (Monday) I went in to Newark with Steve, having not been in for several weeks. How good it was to see some of our school kids who are enrolled in our summer daycamp program. I was mobbed with love and reminded again to be faithful in prayer for them. Steve and I went over to the apartment on Eighth St. to see what we might need while we live there. It will be fine and will also help World Impact for us to find out firsthand what needs to be done before any other missionaries come to live there. The only major things were a hole in the ceiling that needs to be repaired and no cold water in the bathroom faucet. We have pretty well figured out what we absolutely need to bring there and the rest will be stored.

Hey I figured out what colors to use in the kitchen when I found an adorable knob to use on the cabinets. I'll paint the cabinets "BROWN BAG" and the walls will be "COZY LIGHT", both Glidden Paint colors. The knobs are antique-looking ceramic knobs the color of the wall paint with flecks of the counter paint color. It should be very warm and welcoming. I'll keep y'all posted on other decorating decisions. Nancy can let me know how I'm doing. (o:

I'm packing again. Now that may not seem like news since we do move in a month. It is though because I've somehow been stuck in inertia. I couldn't understand why I was just doing ANYTHING else rather than pack, until today when the lightbulb came on, dim though it may be. I think if I just don't pack, I'm just not moving. And if I'm not moving, I am not sending my daughter out in to the world separate from me. I keep a pretty tight lid on my anxieties but now and then I let them up for air. So now I'm packing again.

It seems the house will NOT be ready for several more months, so now I am packing two types of boxes: boxes for storage till the house is done and boxes for the temporary apartment we will move in to. Wonder if I will just feel like pitching most of our stuff once we are reunited with it? Actually I promise not to toss it, I will sell it at one of our famous sales at World Impact instead. We pretty much see how little we can sell it for and still let people keep their dignity as they buy it.

I had a happy phone call a little while ago. My dear husband will be home this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. I really miss him when he is gone. I can't believe I would be separated from him for a month or more at a time when he worked for Touch the World! Of course I worked full time so it seemed a little easier.

I do realize it is a wonderful thing to miss your husband of almost 31 years as much as I miss him. (o: !

I read Psalm 119 this morning; all of it at once. In the past, I have the sections separately, one a day but decided this morning to read it all at one sitting. That gave me the desire to study it, section by section. I know there is so much more meaning than I get from a read-through. I have a favorite Bible study site on the web:
www.blueletterbible.org. They have all sorts of helps there including written and AUDIO of Ray Stedman. He was a wonderful pastor/teacher from California. I'll start this morning and see how I do.

Even if no one (besides my sister Helen)ever reads this blog, I find focus as I think about my days. It's a good thing for me.

I've created another refreshing iced tea for all those who are watching their sugar intake. Brew a pot of tea using 4 decaf teabags and 1 mint teabag. When it has steeped for about 30 minutes, pour it into a heatproof pitcher (2 quart). Add 1 container of Crystal Light raspberry lemonade mix and fill the pitcher to the top by adding cold water. We really like this one and it is not too sweet. The hint of mint makes it special.

Have you heard of the dog days of August? In New Jersey we manage to also have the dog days of July. It should hit 99 to 100 degrees today and tomorrow and Steve is staying in Newark all week to host a visiting group. I can't imagine what the temps will reach in the city.

I've been reading through the Bible during this past year using an unusual method that is quite enjoyable. The ideas is to read 1 chapter each day in 5 sections of the Bible, beginning with Genesis, Job, Isaiah, Matthew, and Acts. I have reached the point where all my reading is in the Old Testament so I pick a chapter in the New Testament to re-read. I have to keep a good Old Testament commentary with my Bible so I can begin to understand some of what I read. For instance, I am halfway through Ezekiel and have to read explanations every day. Imagine my happy surprise when my pastor preached from Ezekiel 1-3 last week and Ezekiel 18 yesterday. I was so appreciative of his insights. If you want to hear some excellent sermons, go to www.cornerstonenj.org on line and click on sermons. We plan to listen on line after we move because his teaching is so good.

Keep cool everyone.

Well it's Monday afternoon and I have just returned from a Nuclear Stress Test Part I: Just routine, no worries.

Our week off was great. We wound up spending Saturday and Sunday nights with our niece and nephew in Manahawkin, NJ. That is officially "down the shore" for anyone who doesn't know NJ. They are two of the best hosts I have ever met! Especially since we called on Saturday to ask if we could come. I love you, Kathy and John. We had fresh crabs caught off their pier, a wonderful Sunday afternoon on their boat in the bay, and lots of good conversation and time together. Oh, and not to forget showering outside in the sea breezes and sunshine. Lovely!

Our other highlight was going to the half-price matinee of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Half price but the price still made me gasp! It was absolutely the most wonderful experience. The music is breathtaking and the voices were flawless. The scenery and the pyrotechnics were also quite amazing. What a memorable day. It was quite rainy and humid so we found a little bread and soup restaurant to eat before the matinee. If I never see another Broadway play, I will have seen the best.

To round off our week, we also went to Turtleback Zoo...it will be more fun with the grandkids. From there we went to visit Thomas Edison's estate which has just undergone several years of restoration. Quite interesting to see how the other half lived at the turn of the century.

We cut our week short one day to babysit our boys. We took them to a local farmstand
that has animals to feed. Caleb puts his hand behind him and says "No Thanks" when asked if he'd like to feed the animals. Isaac has no fear, just has a little trouble grasping the cracker. It was fun and relaxing and tiring all at once.

It's vacation time. I remember the old days when my mom would research the right place during the winter and write for reservations. We would wait months before we knew for sure if we were accepted. How the internet has changed things. One thing that hasn't changed is that I am my mother. I plan the vacations and Steve prefers it that way.

This morning I spent HOURS on the internet. I began by researching state park campsites until I realized that sleeping in the back of our jeep with a tent-like attachment would be good for about 1 night. And that will be in a driveway down the shore where Micah and Kim are staying. More about that later. Next I looked at cabin rentals at state parks. No vacancies for next week which is 4th of July week. What were we thinking?! Finally I sat back, lifted my eyes to Heaven and did what I should have done first. I asked the Lord where He thought we should go. As usual, He gave me an awesome idea. We will do day trips in NJ, a different county each day. Even at the high cost of gas, we will pack lunches and sleep in our own bed at night. I believe we will save money in the end. Since missionaries have quite limited budgets, that's a good thing. I found an awesome site to help us in our planning and am providing this link. www.fieldtrip.com/nj/index_nj.htm It's name is "Are we there yet?" It catagorizes the places to go by genre and tells you what else is nearby. Very cool. We will have to take pictures with the digital camera and learn to put them on the blog. Keep posted.

Every summer I seem to try a new iced tea recipe. This year's favorite came about because good friends treated us to lunch at Red Lobster. I tried Boston iced tea and fell in love with it. I looked at recipes on line but they all used WAAAy too much sugar. Here's how I make it. I brew a teapot with 4 decaf tea bags and let it steep for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I pour said tea into a pitcher and add a low sugar form of cranberry juice. If I have lemons on hand I add fresh lemon juice. It is refreshing and can be adjusted for more sweetness if needed. For me, the more tart the better I like it. Anyone else have a refreshing iced tea recipe to share?

I've been reading recipes for Dutch Baby for two days. My search began when I realized I had some strawberries that had better be used soon! First I thought of an omelette for dinner, topped with sliced berries and it quickly led to Dutch Baby obsession. And I found out lots of people are really obsessed, too. For anyone who does not know, it is an oven-baked, eggy, puffy pancake thing. Being the lazy person that I am, I didn't want to bother with the heating of the cast iron skillet, the stove-top beginning, the pre-heating Etc Etc Etc. Thus I put a little unsalted butter in a skillet-for-one...(my husband was away in Newark all week-hence the sketchy eating), I whisked up one egg, a little flour, a little milk, some salt and a bit of sugar. Poured the mixture into the hot butter, lowered the flame a bit and watched to see what would happen. I have never seen one egg turn into such a large amount to eat. It did start to get too brown before I lowered the heat, but then it puffed. I turned it, shut off the heat and covered it. After about a minute, I plated and covered it with my sliced strawberries. Ummm! I am sure all the real Dutch Baby afficionados out there think I am crazy, but I am also well fed. Try it.

O, for a booke and a shadie nooke
Eyther in-a-door or out,
With the grene leaves whisp’ring overhead
Or the Strete cries all about!

Where I maie read all at my ease
Both of the newe and old;
For a jolle goode booke whereon to looke
Is better to me than golde.

I hand copied this poem years ago on a little slip of yellow paper and just unearthed it in a desk drawer whose bottom had not seen daylight in a decade. Packing does have a way of helping things come to light. If you know me or my extended family, we ARE this poem.

Today is Friday so I babysit for Caleb, my 3 year old grandson. Every week we go to the library, the BIG playground, and the stream next door to "throw rocks in the water". What fun we have. We also bake something every week. Today it is to be brownies. We are making memories as I will see the boys much less once I move.

OOOkay, just realized my last 2 posts aren't showing up so I'm trying to figure out why. Since Claire set this blog up for me before she left the country, I could be in trouble.

Well, we passed our last building inspection: Plumbing, electric and the building inspector all had to sign off before we could close up the walls. The insulation was being done yesterday and today and the next thing will be sheet rock. Whoopee!

Steve has begun to build some relationships out on "our" street, one neighbor in particular has had long conversations with him. My contacts are limited to hellos and smiles as I am not so good at working on the truck in front of the house. Now when I can start gardening, it will be a different story.

Speaking of gardening, knowing we are leaving Wyckoff in August meant we had to be creative about what we did here. Last year we did some container gardening and wintered over several of our plants. We have a huge red hibiscus, an azalea, and white climbing rose bush. Last week we put 4 cherry tomato plants in another large pot so they will all come with us. We have no grass, only a cement double driveway. We think we will put down some astro-turf outside the back door and in front of the (unusable) garage and call it a lawn. There we will put our container garden and our table, chairs and umbrella and call it a yard. (o: We also have narrow gardens in front of and at the side of the house, and a good place in that side garden for bird feeders. I love to feed the birds, watch them and listen to their songs. I was in Newark for a teacher's meeting yesterday and as I walked back to my car, I heard birdsong! What a blessing!

Sorry to anyone who reads this little blog, I missed a month. May was busy, as that is when I directed my first choral concert at Newark Christian School. Since I have no training to be a music teacher, this was a very big deal. I am so glad to say the kids did a wonderful job. Fortunately they liked the music I selected and the (mostly) drum track that accompanied it. I was so proud. The fun part was that it happened to be my 55th birthday. What a present!

I have just finished reading ONE VISION ONLY, a biography of Isobel Kuhn. I found myself in the story of her life as I read her thoughts on being called to Thailand after the age of 50, thinking she was done with foreign mission work. Let me quote Isobel: "When does the life of God pour through you richly? When you accept the challenge of a new thing for Him!" She has articulated for me what I could not quite put words to for myself.

Work on the house is progressing nicely. We still may not make it in by mid August however. If it is not ready, we will move temporarily into an apartment in the building that houses other World Impact missionaries. I realize that if that happens we will have the blessing of living side by side with our mission family. If the house is ready, we will have the blessing of not having to move twice. Maybe the apostle Paul is finally getting through to me. Am I actually learning to be content with whatever happens? Thanks for reading.

I am a slooow blogger. Until we actually move in to Newark, there isn't much to share. We are waiting for one more building permit so the inspectors can come check out the work that has been done. The outside of the house looks great. The next step there will be to have the iron worker in. He is putting up a fence with a locking gate in front of the driveway. We added 2 windows to the house so he is also making 2 more sets of bars for the downstairs windows. (o: We need to do a little more painting on the front of the house, and then there is just the matter of finishing off the entire inside of the house. Just a little matter. Our move in date is August 1st no matter what! As soon as I learn how to add pictures and links to my blog, I will let you all see the house.

I admit it. Sometimes I think we have lost our minds. It's a good thing to know that Jesus said whoever loses their life for His sake, are the ones who will find their real life. I trust that applies to our minds as well. There is just such a huge learning curve in leaving the white suburb life and living incarnationally in the inner city where we become the minority. It is a good thing, and good things are seldom easy. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I'm having a (thankfully) quiet day today. Teaching music all day is tiring, though its not the music, it's the discipline.
I have rediscovered baking and am baking my 3rd iced cake from scratch in 5 days. Don't worry, I give them all away. This one will go to Newark Christian School to the office staff, teachers and custodian. This, of course, after Steve taste-tests!

I really should have called this blog Hoernigs on the highway to Newark. My husband Steve and I are in the process of becoming missionaries with World Impact in Newark, NJ. Right now we are support staff and Steve commutes in 5 days a week, bringing me in with him 2 days a week. It is a 40 or so minute commute on the Garden State Parkway so that speaks for itself. Steve wears lots of hats but mainly building maintainence oversight and job-training and discipleship of high school boys. I teach music at the K-6th grade Christian school in our facility. A house is being renovated for us and when it is done we will move to Newark permanently.
It is a privilege to be called by God to continue to work for Him in a new venture. Steve spent 11 years at a para-church youth mission and I spent those years working at the local Christian bookstore. This is all new and a real adventure. God is good.