Idaho Trip & West Memorial

On the weekend of July 24-26th we (Bob, Katherine & our daughter Sarah Joy) headed to the Sun Valley area for a wedding. A pastor friend of ours had a daughter getting married who is also a friend of Sarah's. It was a great wedding even though it was warm. They say Sun Valley hasn't really experienced much sun these days as they've had lots of rain. What a change! On the Sunday we were there Bob preached at Larkin Memorial Community Church in Carey, Idaho. This is a predominantly Mormon town with LMCC being the only other church; one building down from the LDS church none-the-less. And with a last name of "Kimball" the pastor gets many questions. Yes, he is distantly related to Spencer Kimball, past president of the LDS. While it was a short weekend it was a pleasant time. On August 6th, the two of us made another trip to Idaho spending five days on the road visiting different ones along the way. We started out early Thursday morning dropping by Noel & Lorraine Olsens home in Gleed then ending up in Yakima for lunch at a local restaurant. We drove on to Nampa, Idaho arriving at Leroy & Carole Reddings home for a late dinner and overnight stay. The Reddings served a short time as Associate Pastor at Bonney Lake Community Church. They are great hosts and we had an enjoyable time of fellowship. Friday morning we packed back in the car and headed to the Sun Valley area. We made a stop in Fairfield, Idaho to visit our friends, Chuck and Fay Butler who pastor the Community church there. After a time of visiting we decided to grab a bite to eat at the local cafe and then headed to the church and visited some more. We're glad things are going well for Chuck who has recently had eye surgery. Friday night we arrived in time for dinner in the Wood River Valley at our friends, Dan & Mary Shoemaker who we also stayed with for the weekend. Saturday was a slow start to the day but eventually we meandered over to the Hansen's house, another friend of ours, for lunch and fellowship. Saturday night found the Shoemaker's and us in Bellevue for a bite to eat and then home to review & print the Sunday morning message. Sunday am came quick and off we went to Sunday School, which after we arrive with just a couple people, we discovered it had been canceled. Oh well, we had a good time talking with those who came. Bob preached to a full house which was great to see. A number of people from various churches, for various reasons, have been attending Calvary Bible. Bob shared from Hebrews 12:1-3 on Focusing on the Right Perspective in the Course of Life concentrating on the theme "Faith initiates responsible action by concentrating on Christ in the Christian race." He shared the need for three responsibilities: Responsibility of Laying Aside Various Hindrances, Responsibility of Running with Endurance and Responsibility of Concentrating on Christ. It was great to see the new Sanctuary that has been framed and now ready to finish off the interior. God has been gracious to CBC and they continue to trust God for the final financial resources to finish the Sanctuary.

Sunday after we headed back to Fairfield where we visiting some more friends, the Browns. We had a great chicken dinner with Apple pie & Ice Cream (one of Bob's favorites). We stayed the night and headed out Monday morning for home which was about an eleven hour trip. All in all Katherine handled the trip well as she is recovering greatly from her surgery.

On Tuesday morning Bob headed to Carson, Washington with Earl & Shirley Brubaker, Executive Director of Northwest Independent Church Extension, for a Memorial Service for Florence West. Katherine was unable to come due to a prior commitment with Andrew and his upcoming job. Florence and her husband Bill have served with N.I.C.E. for a number of years. Her son David, pastor of Carson Bible Church did a fantastic job, as did many other members of the family, in honoring their mother and faithful saint.