Christmas gifts!

Finally figured out what to do for my nephews on my husband's side of the family. We don't have much money but I wanted to do a little something... so this is what I'm going to make them:

For how to go here:

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/christmasornaments/farmtractor.htm

Waiting...

My car is in the shop getting snow tires put on (kind of last minute but when you're related to the owner, amazing things happen. *smiles*) So I thought I'd fill out a little quiz thing.

1. What time did you wake up this morning? 7am
2. Diamonds or Pearls? I have a diamond and I have a pearl. I love them both.
3. What is Your Favorite TV show? Probably... Andy Griffith.
4. What did you have for breakfast this morning? a bowl of fruit. I made eggs and sausage for my husband.
5. What is your middle name? Dawn
6. What foods do you dislike? anything that has chemically made sweeteners in it. They react somehow and leave a metalic taste in my mouth. ilck.
7. What is your favorite Cd at the moment? uhm... my "Christmas Belles" cd.
8. What kind of car do you drive? Either my Saab 900 or my husband's F350 SuperDuty
9. Favorite sandwhich? garlic, avocado and salt on Ezekiel bread.
10. What character quality do you despise? deceit
11. Favorite items of clothing? leggings. I think they look so cute with skirts.
12. If you could vacation anywhere in the world where would you go? I'd love to travel around Europe sometime. But probably not in this lifetime because my husband isn't even slightly interested.
13. Favorite brand of clothing? I don't care as long as they are soft and comfy.
14. Where would you retire to? the farm. I really love it there.
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? I haven't had a good birthday in a long long time.
16. Favorite sport to watch? Probably soccer because I know the most about it.
17. When is your birthday? January 1st.
18. Are you a morning person or a night person? I used to be a morning person but my husband is a night person and I am slowly changing.
19. Shoe size? 6
20. Pets? My husband just told me that there are new kittens in the barn. Who knows where they came from... *laughs*
21. What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to run my own orphanage.
22. How are you today? Okay. I have a bit of a cold.
23. Favorite candy? Babe Ruth. But I usually settle for a piece of dark chocolate.
24. Favorite flower? anything except carnations. Well, there are a few others that I don't particularly like but I don't think they ruin a bouquet the way a carnation does.
25. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Tomorrow. We're leaving to go to my Grandparents for thanksgiving.
26. What are you listening to right now? "He Is"
27. What did you last eat? apple salad
28. If you were a crayon what color would you be? No idea.
29. How is the weather right now? Just freezing so the snow is wet and sloppy. I think it's awfully pretty.
30. Who was the first person you spoke to on the phone today? My sister-in-law
31. Favorite soft drink? water
32. Favorite resturant? Well, I go to Cafe Z the most, as it is right in town. However, I think my favorite would be Olive Garden.
33. Real hair color? Depends on where I live. Up north it stays pretty dark brown. Down south it bleaches out pretty bright blond with deep red highlights. Weird. I know.
34. What was your favorite toy as a child? My mom's old doll "Susie" that she gave me when I was like 6. Most of it's hair was fallen out and the body was all floppy- but I loved that doll.
35. Summer or winter? both. and everything in between.
36. Chocolate hugs or kisses? I'm not actually big on chocolate. I only eat it to satisfy my sweet tooth.
37. Vanilla or Chocolate? Vanilla.
38. Coffee or tea? I have trained myself to like coffee with just creamer. However, I think I prefer tea.
39. When was the last time you cried? It's been awhile, actually. A week?
40. What did you do last night? Read the book "Forevermore".
41. What are you afraid of? Not many things. Driving big tractors when I'm not sure how might be high on the list. But my husband and I farm so guess what? I face my fears often.
42. Salty or sweet? salty
43. How many years on your current job? A wife? 1 year.
44. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.
45. How many keys on your keyring? 1
46.How many towns have you lived in? Uhm. Let me count... at least 7.
47. Do you make friends easily? For the most part.
48. Favorite fragrance? Body by Victoria Secret or Be Delicious by... ? I dunno.
49. Biggest pet peeve? gossip. it irks me.
50. Favorite verse? Right now? Romans 8. (the whole chapter.)

Latest Niece Quote

Brianna was talking to Aurora (3 yrs. old- twin) as she looked through the closet for something for her to wear. Everything was too small. (Mind you, Aurora is three inches taller than her twin sister) She looked at her and said, "No pants fit you, Miss Longlegs." To which Aurora replied, "Whatevs. I hate pants."

*sighs* What are we to do with that girl? (I know, put her in dresses. Which is what happened.)

story for church newsletter

I was asked to write an overview of Amos and I for our church newsletter. This is what I came up with...

In the fall of ’74, in Lancaster, PA the youngest of five children was born to Abe and Arlene Metzler. They named him Amos and, as the story goes- his arrival was anything but pleasant. Thankfully, his Mother survived the ordeal and eventually made it back home to her family.

Before long the Metzler family piled their children and belongings into a vehicle and moved to upstate New York. Young Amos would travel around with his father to work on tractors at neighboring farms and before he could read or write he knew wrench sizes. His future, in the work aspect, was set. This (often) greasy little boy would grow up to be a mechanic.

When Amos was ten years old something happened that would change his life forever. He, of course, didn’t know about it until twenty-two years later, but in the southern tier of New York, a little girl was born to Brian and Cheri Siegrist. She was the third child and only girl in a family that would eventually have an additional boy. Her birth was dramatic as well but in an entirely different way. Born on New Year’s Day, the first birth in the county, her picture was plastered on the front of several newspapers and her family was given piles of gifts from local businesses.

Before long young Natasha, along with her three brothers, were piled along with the families possessions, into a big green van. The family moved to Alaska where they would stay for seven years.The purpose of the move was for Brian and Cheri to attend Bible School and the family stayed on afterwards as staff. She began babysitting when she was ten and found her love: watching children. Little did she know that eventually she would travel through many states and countries to teach children.

The Siegrist family then moved to North Port, Florida where Brian was Pastor, and after seven years there, back home to New York.

Amos and Natasha could have met in Sarasota, Florida where they both attended the Mennonite Relief Sale, but they didn’t. They could have met in Homer, Alaska when she was 17 and he 27 but they missed each other by a few months. They could have met in Port Au Prince, Haiti when they both were in the country, but they didn't. They could have met at the Conservative Conference in Beaver Falls where Natasha was writing for the Conference Crier but they didn't.

The reason, of course, was that God had other things for them to be doing. Natasha worked with children in the Alaskan Villages, in Haitian orphanages, in a trailer park in Rosedale, Ohio, in an El Salvadorian orphanage, in Lowville, NY and in Macapa, Brazil. In between her travels she taught pre-school in Florida then eventually became the Head Teller at Community Bank in Lowville, New York. To continue traveling she stepped down from Head Teller to the position of call-in teller.

Amos also traveled. He visited every state except three; working with MDS and various other ventures. He traveled to Haiti many times and also took a six week trip to Chuuk in 2003. He built and repaired houses and rebuilt engines. In between travels he worked as a mechanic and eventually bought a farm on State Route 177.

In 2004 Natasha officially moved to Lowville having just completed a year at Rosedale Bible College. Amos met and interacted with her family, everyone that is, except her. She remained “elusive” as she bought and sold houses and traveled in and out of town. He knew who she was and she knew his name because the tractor repair business had an account at her bank. The only problem was that she didn’t know which brother was which.

At a Christmas program one year they were officially introduced. Amos thought, “I already know who she is but maybe she’ll notice me.” And Natasha was completely distracted by the three children she was watching. Several months later, after they were dating, Natasha was informed that they had been introduced that night. Her response: “Oh! Huh. That’s who that was.”

Eventually her attention was caught but not before she was committed to working in Brazil for several months. The Lord used their time apart to reaffirm in both of them His call on their lives and their need for each other to fulfill that call. However, before Amos could make his intentions clear, Natasha arrived home early from Brazil and showed up at his bonfire one night. This took him by complete surprise so it took a couple gentle nudges from a friend to send him decidedly in her direction and their courtship turned from interested friends to “three months is plenty of time to prepare a wedding!”

November 10, 2007 was the date. They were married in Lowville and made their home in Amos’s little house on the hill. After several months of marriage they were asked to spend an extended period of time in Lacolline, Haiti. Their first response was, “Sure, we could do that… in like ten years.” Then they thought: “Why not now?” And since they couldn’t find any reason to put it off and God confirmed their decision in many ways, they said yes.

Now they are preparing to spend a year on the mission field. Amos will be doing a lot of mechanic work and also provide direct oversight to the projects in motion at the mission, as well as looking to start any new projects that might be useful. And together they will hopefully show the people in Lacolline the love of Jesus. Because that is, after all, the whole purpose in living, whether here in New York or any other place else on earth.

Amos and Natasha will have email while in Haiti. Their address is natashametzler@hotmail.com .

one year ago.

And what a wonderful year it has been...