Baby Paul is Here!

Little Gerhardt Gustav Paul Discher II, born tonight at 10:49 (July 17) He is enjoying his grandmother in this picture!

Peter helping Emma Jane hold "her baby". She wanted us to set him down on the floor to play with her! Oh, yes, let's watch Emma in the next few weeks as she learns that newborns are not dolls!

Grandmother and Granddaddy deciding that, yes, he is all Discher! Emma gives him a little kiss right after this picture!

Peter holds his much-awaited baby brother. Peter will be a good and godly example for Paul!

What a blessing to read the Word to help strengthen and encourage Bethie during labor! What a wonderful blessing to gather the family around and sing the "Doxology" in beautiful harmony and bow as patriarch Granddaddy Frodge asks the Lord's blessing on the new arrival and his family! Thank you, Lord, for the hope you instill in us with each new addition to the next generation. God bless you, Baby Paul. (See the Discher blog for more exciting details!

www.thedischerfamily.blogspot.com )

The Trip Update Will Have to Wait!

Beth has called from the midwife's, and she is in active labor, so we will be heading over right away. I asked if there was anything I could bring, and she said, "Your Bible verses!" What a blessing to be able to minister God's Holy Word to my daughter during labor! We will update soon!

Boston! Part 2: The Adventure Begins!

Well, actually, the train trip up was an adventure! But here we are in Boston. I really did not care to come to the "big city", and if it had not been for the wonderful occasion, I would have stayed home. The Lord knows just what we need, and I know Danny loved the occasion to visit so many historical sites with his grandchildren. I needed a lovely hotel room for rest, and that's what I had! I also needed to hear about God's providential hand in the lives of His people, and the influence of the Reformation, especially John Calvin's part, on the founding of America.


Before the conference began, Danny and the Stricklens toured the Boston Public Gardens, next to the Boston Commons. The first couple of days were rainy and chilly, but the garden was lovely and the hotel was warm!
Margaret Anne with what Mr. Phillips called the "Dr. Seuss flowers" -- actually an allium, a relative of the onion.

Here, that manly lad CJ and lovely lassie Mary and I prepare for the opening session.

What a delightful blessing to meet up with friends from previous conferences! Here, the dear and friendly Massachusetts native, Mrs. Thomas, greets me with enthusiasm. We talked and talked, and she was especially interested in knowing how Beth's pregnancy is progressing (it's almost progressed to the very end, BTW!) The Thomases were the winners of the Jamestown 400 hunt of 2007, and her daughter Melanie is the "Fifth Trustee", intricately involved in a new, mysterious hunt for the Mayflower Compact! The excitement builds . . .!

Bonnie lassies Abby and Margaret Anne keep me company as we wait for the opening remarks in the elegant Imperial Ballroom.

Part of the joy and fun of these occasions it rekindling friendships and fellowshipping with like-hearted believers. The Higginbothams from Indiana have six precious boys and always encourage us. Mr. Higginbotham, a physical therapist, gave me some excellent exercises to help rehab my knees and torn ligament.

Thank you, Lord, for the vision you have given faithful men and for the provision to bring families together to honor the past and prepare for the future! More to come . . .

Solutions

Well, you may know that my computer went black in Boston. As I was uploading pictures of a wonderful day. . . zip! Nada. Nothing. After we got home on Tuesday, dear son-in-law Eddie (my computer guru) looked it over, tried all his tricks, and announced that it is beyond his considerable abilities. So I will try to find a source to transfer what I have on it (years and years and years of documents, pictures, etc.) to another drive. Yes, I have (really, really, I have, I promise!) learned the lesson they have been trying to get me to learn for years. BACKUP!!!

Meanwhile, thank God for the little sale laptop sitting here at home barely used. Hopefully, today I can post the rest of the pictures of the wonderful, providence-filled trip to the Reformation 500 celebration in Boston! Coming soon . . . hopefully, today!

Boston! Part 1, the Train

The Reformation 500 celebration has arrived! I have promised (well, let's say assured) family who are staying home that we will post as many pictures as we can of this exciting trip. We got all packed up and ready and off we went!

Here we are at the Winter Haven train station . . . waiting. Susan, Molly's mother-in-law is going along on the train with us. I have no idea who the guy in the background is, but he was pretty friendly . . . in a friendly sorta way!

Our lovely chauffeur, Miss Kitty. Granddaddy posed her in front of this old luggage cart . . . because he likes taking pictures of old stuff! (And after all, Kitty is the oldest grandchild!)

Here comes the Silver Meteor number 98!

What a blessing to have a nice sleeping compartment! Especially since I had the wheelchair and Danny ended up with motion sickness! Don't ask me what I was thinking letting him take this picture!

Danny's favorite way to spend a trip, especially when under the influence of Dramamine!

We met up with friends going to the Reformation 500 also! These are Mr. and Mrs. Case and their daughter Emily, who were in our same car. We had looked forward to being able to fellowship along the way, but Danny's "condition" and my legs kept us in the compartment most of the time. They blessed us with Dramamine and lots of cheerful encouragement! Thank you, and hope to get to spend some time with you in Boston, Cases!

Trying to be prudent, we had shipped most of our clothes up to the hotel by UPS -- in a nice, neat hanging box, at some considerable expense. Uh oh!! This is the condition we found them in when we got here! Sorry about all those hours ironing, Kitty! Oh, well, the hotel room has a nice iron and ironing board!

Well, off to see what the first day brings us! Thank you, Lord, for the ability to get together occasionally with hundreds of like-minded families and hear men of God share what God has done throughout history, which is, after all His-story! More to come!

Getting Ready . . .

What a blessing to be able to travel to Boston for the Vision Forum Reformation 500 celebration! This event (July 1 - 4) is a wonderful opportunity to experience God's faithful providence toward His people over the centuries. There will be historical re-enactors, stimulating lecture sessions with some of our favorite godly teachers, fellowship with families we have met before and new friends we will make, and the historic Boston atmosphere for the 4th of July.

Daughter Molly's family is traveling by SUV, and they leave on Saturday to do some sightseeing along the way. Danny and I are taking the Amtrak (one of our favorite ways to travel!). Our train leaves on Monday afternoon, so there is much to do!

Since part of our train trip involves travel on a commuter line on which there will be no allowance for checked luggage, we decided to ship most of our clothes for the week. Sweet Sarah came over to help with ironing all my dresses . . .

. . . and mending needed items! What a blessing she is! Sarah's family loves the Vision Forum events so much, ever since we all piled in in 2007 to go to Jamestown. But this time, her family has decided (wisely!) to stay home and welcome Discher baby #8, who is due about the same time! This is a blessing they wouldn't miss for anything, and Grandmother only hopes Grandbaby #23 waits until we return to make his/her appearance!! Thank you for your invaluable help, Sarah!

Here Danny is helpin pack the UPS hanging container -- hopefully, everything will stay on the rack and still be nicely pressed! It is a funny feeling to place most of your clothes in a box and send them away days before you leave! Trusting all arrives in good shape!

Taking care of last minute details. We have discovered another family we met at Jamestown will be in the very same train car as we will!! We are looking forward to fellowship along the way. In addition, Susan, daughter Molly's mother-in-law, will be traveling along with us on the train, so the trip going will be a pleasant part of the whole experience! Thank you, Lord, for the opportunities You provide for us to meet, fellowship with, and develop lasting relationships with families of like precious faith! Hoping to update during the adventure. . . . !

A Special Celebration Part 2

Well, by now, diligent traveling companions have faithfully recorded for interested family and friend our adventures on the road trip to North Carolina. So I will just post a few more pictures, especially in honor of my Aunt Mary Lee, the honoree of our trip!

I remember Aunt Mary Lee when she lived in the Atlanta area with her first husband and her son. I vividly remember going to visit just after her husband had passed away, leaving her a grieving young widow. Even in those circumstances, she was a picture of peace and trust in the Lord.

Later, she married Uncle Clarence, who became a favorite of ours when we visited the family home town. He was a character, and into "rasslin' ". He didn't want to miss his rasslin' shows! He brought Aunt Mary Lee companionship for her older years.

When my little sister, Ginger, passed away at age 19, Aunt Mary Lee expressed her grief through poetry, "Sweet Little Ginger Girl". If I can get a copy of that sweet poem, I will post it. She inspired me that I, too, could use poetic verse to express what the Lord had placed in my heart. Some day, I will post some home-grown poetry.

When my father passed away a year and a half ago, Aunt Mary Lee broke down in sadness for her "little brother". I had not ever thought of my father in that way. To me, he was always a powerful and forceful man of God, but to her he was her little brother. I loved her even more that day.


I am so glad we were able to take the trip to honor her and to bring my mother there for a good reunion. It was a special time, seeing these generations of my family together. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to our generations.

Aunt Mary Lee, on her special day. I think she is more spry than I am!

Aunt Mary Lee had one request -- that I play "Indian Love Call" for her. Well, I couldn't find sheet music for it, so I had to resort to "YouTube", listening over and over to Jeanette MacDonald singing it in the old black and white movie, "Rose Marie". She said that many, many (well over 60) years ago, for her first wedding, she had wanted someone to sing or play it and could find no one who could in the backwoods of Georgia.

It was not an easy task, but we did it! Abigail played the echo on her pennywhistle, and Margaret Anne and Callie did the "ooohing". It was beautiful -- at least to her! She was in tears and asked us to do it again, so we did! (But I won't be sad if I don't hear it again for a long, long time!)

Kitty and Markie with another of my father's sisters, their great-great Aunt Benita.

Callie and Margaret Anne give Uncle Bob a great big hug.

My sweetie on the right, and my oldest cousin, Theron Teagle, who is close to my father's age. Daddy was 10 out of 12 children, and Ted's mother, Aunt Evelyn, was oldest, so Ted and Daddy were like brothers. We love to hear him tell stories!

Every family has an eccentric (actually, our family seems to have more than our share!), and this is our long-time friend, Bob, who lives in Charlotte. We had not seen him in decades! I guess, as a child, I got the impression he was an eccentric because he lived a very different life. He was (I suppose still is) a great artist and musician and has a doctorate degree in French. He told us he reads the Bible in French and prays in French. It is almost like his first language. He has lived in Paris and traveled much abroad. Hey, maybe he thinks I'm the eccentric! It was good to see him.

On the way home, we stopped in the lovely city of Charleston, SC, and the girls and Danny did a tour of downtown. Mother and I stayed in the RV, feeding the parking meter kitty! Here they are in front of one of the memorial stones of the Confederacy.

Night falls on the road, and next day . . . home! Thank you, Lord, for these journeys of remembrance. Thank you for your faithfulness to Your plan for families. Thank you for your mercy on our family!

For a more detailed travelogue and young'n point of view, visit these sweet blogs:

http://www.thedischerfamily.blogspot.com/

http://www.thestricklenfamily.blogspot.com/