Nice Try - Not!

Well we harvested our grapes and a friend and I tried to juice them with my champion juicer while our husbands were ripping our roof off. Well neither one of us had ever done this and the result was something that resembled grape pudding. We did not taste it. We decided we needed to stop and figure out a better way. I was really hoping for the process to be as easy as putting the grapes through my juicer but no. I was deflated. With the help of the internet and my friend taking the initiative we (she) were able to successfully juice the remaining grapes using a whole different method. Chalking this one up to a learning experience. Maybe next year I will even can it.

I have some pictures of the kids and Ken harvesting the grapes. I will try and post them in the future...but don't hold your breath. I need to contact Papa Joe about how to care for our vines so they produce again for us next year.

Bekah did make a yummy apple crisp with our apples. Go Bekah!

An Awakening

About a week ago the former owners of our new home in Oregon gave us a welcome basket. It was full of information about Pendleton and such and of course food! :) Homemade bread, gourmet popcorn, homemade jam and homemade grape juice. It was this gift that woke me up to the treasures we have on our property. The jam was made from our plum tree and the juice from our grapes. That is not all the fruit we have either. We have an apple tree (unlike our crab apple tree we had in Jersey) and two rasberry bushes. How fun! Tasting the goodness from our land suddenly has me wondering about how I can help foster the growth of these fruits. Today I tried one of our concord grapes...they are just about ready and I hope to juice them as the former owners did before me. They actually used the grape juice for communion in their church. Fun. I feel so uneducated about the fruit on our property but before I tasted it I did not have much of an interest in it. Now I want to know. There has been some spiritual parrellel here. :) "O Taste and see that the Lord is good...(Psalm 34:8)" And He is good. The rest of the verse ends with," blessed is the man who trusts in Him."

All New Plans

Most know by now that our plans have done a complete 180. Most who know us know that is normal for the Burcham train. :)

After much thought, prayer and discussion we have decided that Ken will hold off from going back to school. Instead we are planning on moving out west to Oregon where Ken's family is. This will be our first time living near Ken's parents. We are looking forward to that. We are also anticipating quite a tearing from my family and the friends we have here in the East. We are in the preliminary phases of this move and Ken is deciding on what kind of work he will do out there....there are different options. Also, what kind of property do we want and will we buy or rent? So many decisions. We are just about ready for this adventure. And it is always an adventure!!!

For now I am plugging along in gaining my degree and only have 2.5 classes and 237.5 counseling hours between me and my diploma. Amazing. The schedule is a bit intense and we will all breathe a deep sigh when it is over. Moving here and living in this home has been an important part in my being able to actually finish. Though it is small and with only one bathroom we could not have done this otherwise. We are enjoying having our walk and driveway plowed and shoveled by the school. We were able to sell Ken's commuter car because his commute is walking across a small lot.

The kids are in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this March. Rebekah is Susan and Andrew and John are both Edmund. They may use Andrew as Peter on one of the nights he is not playing Edmund. That would be the night to come and see because they would all be the leads together and their good friends will also be leads that night playing Lucy and Mr. Beaver. Sam may be in the fight scene as an extra and Ken is both Father Christmas and Aslan. :) The boys are starting up baseball this spring (the playing field is literally in our backyard). Rebekah will be finishing up her choir with her last performance in April.

Just in Case

I mentioned Scotland for Ken's studies without mentioning that we do have some backup plans. He is looking at several schools in the U.S. as well. We prefer to go overseas but if that is not feasible then we will hope to attend stateside. For these he needs to take his GRE which he is scheduled to take December 5th. The result of these scores will help determine where to apply. :)
So these days you can find Ken study math and vocabulary words.

Graduation!

Yesterday in my school mailbox I had a form that needed to be filled out for potential graduates. I was taken back, like how the Christmas Trees in BJ's jolt you, almost offend you of their early mention of a sacred date. I began to dwell on graduation. Can it really be this year?

This has been such a long road for me. It started right after John was born (he is now 8) when I was looking into a school in Florida - where we lived at time. After much thought and prayer it was decided that the timing was not right. Then about 5 years ago I began school at Biblical Seminary. After two more babies I am finally coming down the home stretch. And if I get pregnant again, from now on, I can still make it to graduation - if I deliver late like usual. :)

In other news, we are heading to the Franklin Institute today where we will meet up with home schooolers from South Jersey, most importantly my sister Robin and her sweet children. Rebekah will go home with her and get to attend our old coop and a girlfriend's birthday party. We are excited for her but oh so jealous! We plan to come down and get her on Sunday where we will go to church and mow our lawn down there. :) That is right! Our house has not sold yet. Please pray.

Burcham News Brief #1

Ken just sent an email to Trevor Heart at St. Andrews in Scotland. If I understand correctly you need to get someone willing to supervise you and your work to be accepted into their doctoral program. That is the reason for the email. His response is therefor pretty significant. I will post a link to the program Ken is interested in.

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institutes/itia/

Also, we have been invited to attend R.A.C.E. with World Team. This is the missions agency that took us over to Cambodia. To learn more go to http://www.worldteam.org/default.asp
We have not decided either way yet if we would accept this offer.

Please do pray for us as we continue to walk forward.

I start my internship at Amnion Pregnancy center this week. This is exciting and a bit scary for me. Also, I will need to find somewhere else to get all the hours I need to graduate. There is a possibility for me to intern with World Team and counsel with those on the mission field or preparing for the mission field. This excites me terribly! We shall see.

We have a growing sense for the need of prayer support. We so appreciate those who pray for us on a regular basis. Thank you!!!

Some other tidbits: Sept. 11th - Ken and I have been married for 14 years; Sept. 14 - I turned 38; Sept 29th - Nathan will be 2! October 8th - We will have our first teenager, Rebekah will be 13!

Cambodia, Showers and God

This is an email I just to one of the missionaries that we met while in Cambodia:

Dear Carolyn,

I am praying for you and enjoy getting the updates on what is happening there in Cambodia. I have shared, often, the comment you made about your favorite time of the day. You said turning on the air, taking your shower, and climbing into your bed. After being there for 10 days (short I know) I think I got a small glimpse of the reality of that statement. I really think that statement embodies what it means in a day to day basis to go to Cambodia or somewhere like that. It puts it into perspective from a practical standpoint. Of course that said, we must, like the author of Ecclesiastes, look up above the sun to God. Under the sun it is all meaningless but when we get the eternal perspective everything changes, even the mundane.

The harshness of the living in Cambodia is seen clearly to me in that statement. Because of this I am amazed at a God who could move in the hearts of His children, giving them the desire to move there. Surely you must be looking up above the sun to the Father. Kevin Cain just invited us to R.A.C.E. We are not sure if we will attend. I am humbled though, and fear he is mistaken, that we have what it takes to go overseas.