Lowe Tribe

Our dilemma has always been that it would take too much time and effort to train a puppy…and plus you never know what you’re going to get.  Some dogs are just annoying and stupid.  Maybe for some people like the dog whisperer it doesn’t matter, but we’re not talented or patient enough to get through that tough training phase and enjoy the more mature dog phase.

Kimberly and I gave pets a try when we were first married about eight years ago.  We took the plunge and bought a cute, little, black kitten with a white star on her chest.  Lucia we called her.  Well, Lucia made it a few months…maybe it was a few weeks I don’t remember and then we decided that we weren’t cut out for pets.  Lucia found a new home.

After that we waited about four or five years and then it happened again.  We were new missionaries in Bolivia and thought that it would be a good idea to get a guard dog for our house.  Jada (Jade-uhh) was her name.  She was a cute little boxer puppy who loved to sleep…for the first few days.  After that it was, “Jada just pooped on the floor again” or “Jada is tearing up the flowers” or “Jada ripped the flag up”.  We chalked it up to Jada being inbred (common occurrence in Bolivia) and moved on.  Jada found a new home.

Enter Sterling.  Sterling has lived in Florida his whole life.  In fact, I don’t think he’s so much as sniffed the snow let alone romped around in it.  The thing is that Sterling is a husky and was made for the cold weather so when Kimberly’s aunt and uncle heard that Kimberly’s mom would be moving to Michigan after spending a few years down with them, they decided that if we would have him, Sterling would be a good addition to our family.  Besides Sterling just didn’t get enough stimulation being the only one at home all day.  It would be good for him they figured and so it was decided.

As of a week ago Sterling set foot on Michigan turf and hasn’t looked back.  Now I’m sure he misses his mom and dad in Florida, but he has just loved all the new attention that he’s getting here.  Wrestling with me…being petted all day long, playing out in the snow, even sleeping by the kids beds and waking them up in the morning.  Sterling may be 13 but at times he seems like a puppy again….I’m just thankful that it’s only “at times”.   The rest of the time he’s curled up by the couch “cat” napping.  What a good dog.

Sterling settling in…we set his cage up first thing but he actually hasn’t been in it except for this picture….he seems to have found his spots that he likes in the house though.

The kids have had a good time walking the dog…his first day here it was almost 50 degrees…today there were about 3″ of snow on the ground and it was in the mid 20’s…welcome to Michigan.

I know this isn’t a great picture but it’s the only one I have of them in the snow…this was earlier this evening when we went on a walk…yes a walk in the snowy, slushy, cold outdoors.

Just thought I would put this one up quickly…I walked in the door a few mornings ago after going for a short run and found Jonathan trying to help himself to the cereal.

Here is the most current update that we have on Norm from his wife.  Thank you to all who are praying.

“I write this with a happy heart this evening. I am both encouraged and blessed by the outpouring of love and prayers on behalf of Norm. He has been steadily improving today, and all his “numbers” are looking good. Every doctor that has seen him today has said he is looking better than they expected. With physical therapy, Norm was able to walk down the hall with a walker and sit in a chair for a while, which immensely boosted his mood. Tomorrow he may be moving to a step-down floor. They are not rushing things around here, especially in Norm’s case. Thank you so much for all your offers of help. We are taking this day by day and do not really know what is needed right now, except continued prayer. I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving.”

This morning we found out that our beloved Pastor Norm Dufrin has been admitted into ICU with a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis.  The infection is in his blood and is a serious illness. I would like to ask any of you who might read this to be in prayer for our pastor, his wife Janine and their five children. Our prayer is that God would heal Norm and that this would be cause for those of us who love and interact with this family to be drawn into a deeper and more abiding relationship with the King of kings.  Also, that as a church we would be united in more fervent prayer on Norm’s behalf but also in our daily battle with our enemy.

Thank you.

Pastor Norm

So Ben suggested that we begin the tradition of a yearly Lowe family cook-off.  This year was chili which is one of my favorites so I was feeling up for the task.  Unfortunately for me there’s another young man in the family who apparently is quite the chef himself.  It ended up that Simeon took first place with 17 points and I came in second with 16 points.  I believe that there were 9 entries in all including Tim’s now infamous “coffee grounds chili”…don’t ask.  I just snapped a couple of photos so there’s not much here but at least you get a glimpse of what we had going on.

My chili in the middle here had both beef and sausage and a good kick to it with 4 different peppers.

Baily got a little sampling before the event began.

It’s been awhile since I last posted again but I wanted to put up a few pictures from the wonderful visit we had recently from Matt, Dalton and Oliver.  A few weeks ago I received a surprise call from Matt wondering if I could drive out to Maryland and pick him and two of his kids up and bring them back to Michigan for a few weeks.  Wanting to beat the weather that was headed toward Maryland from the hurricane, my dad and I left that evening.  We successfully accomplished our objective and returned right away with the three of them.  Although it would have been great to have the whole family visit we enjoyed the three of them while Helen continued to work on their housing situation in Maryland.  We had a good time with Matt and he held up like a champ considering that he was just a few weeks removed from his 5th and 6th brain surgeries.  Here are a few pics from our time.

This isn’t the best picture but it was the only one I got of all the kids…the batteries to my camera went dead just as I was going to take some pictures but Denny came to the rescue and snapped this on his phone

We went to the Hawk Hollow mini-golf course and had some fun

As you can tell it was pretty stiff competition.

A few minutes ago I was sitting in the living room reading while Kimberly served the three little ones a snack (gluten-free muffins) in the adjoining dining room.  After she exited and left them to enjoy their snack Olivia (6) took upon herself of leading the three of them in a short and simple prayer thanking God for their muffins.  Upon the “amen” all three of them giggled and Olivia said, “It’s just a kids prayer.”

My thought…thank God for kids prayers

As part of our desire to support Matt my brother Ben suggested that we all shave our heads.  After I had shaved mine I thought that it might be fun to do Jonathan’s as well so I asked him if he would like to have hair like daddy to which he responded, “uhhhhh…yeaaah!”  He had to think about it for a second but then his response was a resounding yes.  So out came the clippers again (after mommy said that it was up to me) and he stood in the bath tub while I shaved it all off…

The final result:

It is quarter to nine and I sit here.  Another day is coming to a close as the last bit of light fades into the grey of night.  I hear Jonathan and Olivia going back and forth and every now and then Jonathan yells something out to me or Kimberly but I can’t make out what it is.  Kimberly is upstairs taking care of Ayla who is doing her best to let us know that she is not going to listen to us or obey us.  It’s one of THOSE nights for her.  That’s what’s going on here but my thoughts are not here….they are in Maryland where Matt and Helen are spending the night in the hospital again.  Whenever I am tempted to bemoan silly little problems that I face I am reminded of what they have had to go through and are still going through.  I want to be able to ease the pain but there is little that I can do.  I feel a little bit helpless and if it weren’t for prayer I wouldn’t know what to do.  At least I can pray.  So here is my prayer tonight, ” Father, may your grace and peace rest upon Matt and Helen tonight.  Keep them from fear or despair and plant within them a supreme confidence in the faithfulness of the only One who truly is faithful.  May they shine as lights in a world that would look to extinguish the only true hope.  May that light be something beautiful and precious in your sight and may it so shine as to attract others to you.  Thank you Father.  Amen.”

It has been almost 3 months since I have blogged.  The reason.  I have become the owner/operator of a thriving, lucrative business.  Okay, it’s not necessarily thriving and the term lucrative is being used loosely, but I do have a DBA and I have been working.  It has been a time of learning and growing to understand (in at least a limited sense) some of what an owner must think of.  It has been early mornings and late nights and less time with the family.  I don’t really like it and don’t plan on continuing it for too long but for now it’s paying the bills and I am thankful.  The good thing is that I have good helpers and an understanding wife who has been holding down the homestead.

The first order of business was advertising…

Jonathan on the other hand wasn’t quite as good of a helper…

From staining decks to…

aerating lawns and much in between…

Other note worthy occasions included the celebration of the day that I entered the world 29, yes 29 years ago.

Also, we had our annual Labor Day Lowe/Duchene/Brackenwagen reunion and spent a few days together.

We kicked it off with a stop at Biggby where I bought absolutely nothing because it’s crazy to spend 3 dollars on a coffee.

What a lovely group of young gentlemen

Another milestone was reached when Olivia successfully graduated from kindergarten.  If you know Olivia, you’ll know that she is very timid and especially so in front of a large group.  When her name was called to go up front she slowly walked to the front, took her diploma with her head bowed and then proceeded to walk behind the screen at which point everyone laughed.  We love her so much. 

Last but not least, Micah graduated from high school and is now planning on heading to New Tribes with his girlfriend Malia.