Thursday, April 29th

Now I'm convinced you can find pretty much anything online... here's a picture of the guys I went to school with in Grades 2-7 when they were in 8th grade @St. Andrews Scots School (Buenos Aires, Argentina)My best friends were Enrique Piñeyro (front row center) and Robert Clement (who went back to the Netherlands after 7th grade)... wonder if I can track them down on the internet!

Wednesday, April 28th

One month from today Tim will be giving his Baccalaureate speech in a packed auditorium... the graduation ceremony is the next morning (Saturday, May 29 @10:00.)
Kara will be back from Australia May 18th (just in time for her brother's birthday May 22nd.) There is still work to be done in the meantime... Tim is at Philip's house studying for next Wednesday's AP Calculus Exam as I make this entry, for example...

Christ School - Game 2

Drizzled the entire game... making for an ugly (albeit gutsy) 5-2 victory, the worst part of which was a knee-injury to our lead-off hitter, star shortstop & pitcher Brad Guengerich... as a freshman in 2008 he pitched 10 innings in the state championship series...

We are all praying for you, Brad!

Monday, April 26th

I got to lead our Monday staff devotions for faculty & staff this morning... piggy-backing on the President's visit to Asheville, I chose I Peter 2:11-17 as our focal passage emphasizing our "alien" status and the need to honor those in authority over us.

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."

Ivania's Birthday

It's Wendy's mother's birthday!Ivania was the first person I hired as Director of NCA (13 1/2 years ago)... she was definitely God's choice for the position of Business Manager. She continues to faithfully lead stewardship efforts for the two campuses of Nicaragua Christian Academy, and raise three precious children...
¡Qué Dios te siga bendiciendo grandemente, Hermana Ivania!

The Junior-Senior

We don't have a prom at ACA... our "Junior-Senior" (dinner & swing dance) are the closest thing... here's a little snap-shot of the dance floor early on. Tim is dancing with his friend Megan (in the black & white checkered dress) at the end of the clip...

Spartanburg Day Double Header

President Obama vacationed in Asheville this afternoon... didn't put a damper on our double-header in Spartanburg, both games of which we won by a combined 30-2. The boys did have a little fun between games with this life-sized cardboard replica...

Thursday, April 22nd

We had our rising 6th and 9th grade orientations tonight... a chance to welcome those who will be entering those classes next fall and answer the most commonly-asked questions...

Asheville High - Game 2

Asheville High has a beautiful field. We hit the ball pretty well; couple of solo-shots by Zach Hines & Zack Gahagan and an RBI Double by Hines gave us our three runs, but four errors produced three unearned for them... just enough to spoil another strong pitching performance by Matt Justice 4-3.

Carolina Day - Game 2

A first!... we had a crying baby in the dug-out for part of today's game. Part of the course for students in Anatomy & Physiology is to care for this artificial infant for a 24-hour period... no excuses!
Zach was able to overcome the distraction, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles in leading his team to a 19-1 victory! It did help that his mom watched the baby during the actual game...

Grace's Birthday!

One of several flower arrangements Grace got from loved ones on this occasion...

I posted the second picture in July of last year, but since today would've been Grace's mom's 91st birthday were she still with us, I thought it worthy of a second run. Grace Yeager Potts Vaughan was born April 19, 1919; she had other names in mind for a daughter, but when born on her mother's birthday, she thought it most appropriate that she share her name as well... I'm glad she did; "Grace" fits her!

Sunday, April 18th

Last day for Tim to wear the red-and-black of Highland FC... he made the most of it scoring twice in an offensively-exciting 4-4 match against Cape Fear. Tim is the one in white cleats hoping to put a head on this cross from his future UNCA teammate Kenneth LingerfeltWe took the scenic route on the way home from Greensboro, swinging by the school I attended in grades 8-10... 37 years ago!!
Speaking of years... guess who tacks on another one tomorrow?

We're exactly the same age for 15 days (this and every year), which makes me 350 days older, since 1958 was not a leap year...

Happy Birthday, Grace!



Tomorrow is also my oldest niece Kristen (Kynast) Eklund's birthday... she was born on Grace's 25th! She and her husband Joel are members of one of the most challenging ministries on the face of this earth... they (like Grace) are middle school teachers!

The Caldwell Academy Game

Tim drove in our first two runs with this bases-loaded double-down-the-right-field-line, en route to the third "knock out" (game shortened by ten-run rule) in a row (by a combined score of 40-1)! This one was a 10-run complete game shut-out for our ace Matt Justice.

The Shannon Forest Game

Took care of business today, using three pitchers to record a 13-0 shut-out against a team that gave us trouble last year. Next up is a home game against Caldwell Academy tomorrow (Saturday) @1:00 p.m. No good pictures of today's game, but how about this shot of the whole team!Kneeling (L2R): Zach Roddy, Zach Hines, Matt Justice, Brian Zurlinden, Katon Harwood
Standing (L2R): Coach Lanter, Andrew Johnson, Coach Filipek, Josh Thornburg, Bailey Clark, Patrick James, TK, Jared Robinson, Michael Moore, Zack Gahagan, Coach Clark, Eric Fontaine, Coach Ramsey
Absent: Brad Guengerich (who hit his first ACA home run today!)

Tax Day...

...or (more importantly) Jim Palmer's 60th Birthday!Jim (in glasses) was my mission boss and mentor in Managua...
He and his wife Viola are modern day heroes-of-the-faith in my book, God's servants in Honduras & Nicaragua for the past three decades!

The young man pictured at right grew up calling him "Uncle Jim", and even though Tim is now 6'3",
180 lbs. he will always look up to him. I am so thankful for the men of integrity God has placed in the lives of my "kids"...
Happy Birthday, Brother Jim!

The Brevard College Scrimmage

Great game of soccer! Current and future (UNCA) teammates Kenneth Lingerfelt and Tim scored equalizers in the first and second half respectively in a "scrimmage" with a young Brevard College side... The boys showed that they are ready to play at the next level, having (in my opinion) their best game of the season in a 2-2 tie that easily could've gone our way. I did catch a short clip of Kenneth's goal:

Asheville School Game Two

This one was over before our ten-run first inning... the final tally 17-1 in five. Not much to entertain the faithful, but a sorely needed win after four consecutive losses. This brings our overall record to 7-7 (5-0 in the CAA conference.) Next up is Shannon Forest (in Greenville) Friday @5:00.

Kara wrote to say that she and five other young ladies have put a rent deposit on a house in Atlanta for the fall, so it appears we'll have her a little closer next year. Pictured are Kara and three of her five future housemates (at the airport last fall when she was leaving for Australia.)
L2R: Sam, Logan, Amanda, KK

Closing Day

Notice anything different looking down our drive?Riiigght... no more "Sale Pending" sign; the closing went off without a hitch! Tim and I are now officially renting the house we used to own (through June 12th)!

Sunday, April 11th

Tim's team won its soccer game 3-0 and we are back in Asheville ready to get back to our regular routine (perhaps more physically than mentally)...
Big day tomorrow with the 3:00 closing on the sale of our house!!

Saturday, April 10th

Florida mini-vacation over... Tim and I are staying overnight in South Carolina; he has a club soccer game in Winston-Salem tomorrow afternoon... school starts back Monday!

Two Year Anniversary of Lana's Departure

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands." -II Corinthians 5:1

For more see: www.caringbridge.org/visit/lanakynast

The West Henderson Game

We got smoked on the diamond today... gave up 3 homers and 5 doubles en route to our first "knock-out" of the season (14-1 in 5)...Doesn't mean we're not having fun... ready to drive south to Florida tomorrow; Tim will be applying for a summer job at Disney World Friday morning, and has a soccer game in Winston-Salem Sunday @6:00... back to work/school next Monday, and we close on the sale of our house that afternoon!

The Enka High Game

Absolutely gorgeous day in the mountains for baseball!We're starting to look better than our 6-6 record... dropped an 8-6 decision; rallying after falling behind 5-0 in the third. We play @home tomorrow @4:30 against West Henderson... free admission!

The Brevard High School Game

Terrific day in the mountains!
This threesome spent a little time in the woods this morning, admiring all the trees in bloom and enjoying each other's company...Settling in later for what ended up being the longest high school baseball game I've ever seen ACA play... 31 hits between the two teams, the last of which was a three-run homer by our opponents that capped an impressive rally in their 14-13 victory...
We play at Enka tomorrow @3:00...

Monday, April 5th

They got in last night around 11:30... Easter Sunday traffic on I-95 in Georgia being the culprit for the extra two hours of driving... they arrived amazingly bright-eyed... Mom still dressed "to the nines" from her Easter morning church service!

Easter Sunday

Couldn't have had a better Easter morning... got to spend nearly an hour on the phone with my daughter! She wanted to let me know she'll be out of range on the second anniversary of her mom's arrival in Heaven (next Friday)...
The family she works for is taking her to a resort island 18 km. off the coast of Fremantle... "Rottnest" got its name when a dutch explorer mistook the native marsupials (quokkas) for rats!The day is wrapping up beautifully too... Grace and my mom should be pulling into Asheville around 11:00 tonight!

Saturday, April 3rd

The last pesky repair I've had hanging over my head the past couple of weeks was a small leak in this system we had installed when we bought the house to filter the water from our well...
Got 'er done today.

We are now ready for the April 12th closing on the sale of our home!

Good Friday

Easter Break has begun for us... at school we sent students home at noon with the traditional Tenebrae service, remembering the sacrifice born by Jesus on our behalf almost 2000 years ago...

Coach Filipek gave his team the afternoon off... bringing the families together for a barbeque dinner @the James'

The Tuscola Game

ACA's pitching ace Matt Justice threw a no-walk two-hitter against the only undefeated team in our area... they are 12-0 and have been averaging 11 runs/game against some of the best teams in these mountains... A two-out homer in the 6th was the difference in the 1-0 game... If we can just get our bats going, we might just be able to knock off one or two of these big public school teams!We play @Brevard Monday @4:30; @Enka Tuesday @3:00 and home against West Henderson Wednesday @4:30... Grace and Tim's G-Mom will be there!

Last Day in March

Totally unplanned... this bunch was all in our office this morning, so someone suggested a picture... pink day?(L2R) Linda, Angela, James, GK, Laura, Cheri & Jeri