Round Two, FIGHT!

We've finished our first leg of this trip. Well, kind of. We have 2 more meetings up north here and then we're down south for the rest of October.

Our meeting on Wednesday went awesome. Roanoke Baptist Church and Pastor Tarr were such blessings to us. We enjoyed a great time in chapel--the students' hearts were so tender and there was such a sweet spirit. They filled the altar during the invitation--a credit to their spirituality and that of their godly pastor. After chapel, we went to eat and then soul-winning. We got back just in time for the evening service, which went (somehow) better than chapel. I got to preach and again, the altar was full. We rested that night at the pastor's home, and got back to my parent's house on Thursday afternoon.

Tomorrow (Sunday, October 3rd) we're going to visit a couple churches that we've already presented our work in. I'm going to be back on the phone on Monday and Tuesday, then we start a missions conference in Clyde, OH.

Everyone in the family is healthy. Erika is feeling great, no cramps or bleeding. Ashley's little mouth is all better. I'm still fat and bald and feeling great!

Poor Baby!

So Ashley has a sore mouth. She has just enough of an overbite that she can bite her upper jaw, just behind her front teeth. It wouldn't be so terribly bad, but she has been aggravating it with her fingers, making her entire mouth a huge raw mess. We've been putting baby orajel on it and giving her baby tylenol, but it has just been getting worse. She's been so horribly cranky, too...no sleep, no food...just plain miserable.

Finally, I decided our methods must be flawed. It's day # 4 with no reprieve in site, so I went to CVS to get some antibiotics for her mouth. The only thing is here in the States, you can't get antibiotics over the counter. Unlike Mexico, where they give you what you need (to be continued in some other post), you have to get a prescription, bla bla bla, pay more money, bla bla bla, go broke just trying to keep your family healthy yada yada yada. So, I made a plan. I wanted to get an edge on whatever infection she may have, get rid of the pain, and start the healing process.

What was the culmination of that plan scared my wife, let alone poor Ashley. I got some adult ambesol, some canker sore treatment, some tiny toothbrushes, and peroxide. When I got it all in order, I started with using a q-tip and the ambesol to numb the area. Then, the tiny toothbrush with baby toothpaste, scrubbing all of the accumulated "stuff" off and away. Then, I used the other side of the q-tip to put peroxide all over the area. Finally, it was time for the canker sore medicine to coat and re-numb the area. Ashley really loved it! RIGHT. She screamed like we were killing her for about 5 minutes, even after we stopped "helping" her.

When it was all over (but the crying) Ashley fell asleep for about an hour, the first complete hour since last Friday night. Consequently, Erika and I got a full hour of un-interrupted sleep too! As Ashley woke up, she screamed for a few minutes and I thought maybe it didn't work, but she soon calmed down and was ready to eat, again for the first time in days. She had eaten a bit here and there, but not a complete meal since Saturday lunch time.

Now, it's just keeping her mouth clean and her fingers out. Nothing but cold food, either. She's been awake now for 2 complete hours without acting like she's being tortured, so we're going to claim the victory on this one. We had to hurt her pretty bad to help her, but it was worth it because now she's so happy. Until tonight when we put the ambesol back on, and give her another dose of tylenol. :)

GLORY to His Name!

The Lanier family has truly been blessed yet again! We went up to Chicago on Friday and had a blast. We started by getting to the church on the north-east side a few hours early to beat the rush hour, and just walking along the lake. There was a little park nearby so we were able to play with Ashley for a while too. We had a small supper and finally had church that evening with a very ethnically diverse group of people. I preached and we had a great time. I preached too fast, though, as far as my talking-speed was concerned. Many of the people don't speak any English and needed a translator, but I just couldn't get on the same page. It was my lack of ability, but God still worked in the invitation. Afterwards, we ate at a church-members house. They cooked a fabulous meal--we ate and ate. It was Burmese food, I think! We drove up to Wisconsin (almost 2 hours) that night to sleep at a farm. On Saturday, the folks from Chicago came up to the farm for a family day of shooting, fishing, and horse-back riding. We had some more AWESOME food again, but I don't remember which "ethnicity" it was. We went visiting afterwards, and we met a lot of good people from all over the world. We went to a Pakistani restaurant to eat that night and I loved it. Erika was a bit leary, so I ate for her too!

Sunday was a FAST day. We rushed out of the hotel to get to church on time (it was an hour away, in heavy traffic) and Erika and I did SS for everyone. We showed our DVD, then gave testimonies, and Erika spent a while giving the testimony about how we met and then got married. She spoke in Spanish and I translated, then all of the other translators. If I remember correctly, there were 6 different languages represented and translated into! The good pastor preached the morning service. During the service, the pastor had asked my wife beforehand to counsel with one of the Spanish ladies, and the lady received Christ outside where we met. GLORY!

RIGHT after the service, we packed up and sped south to Indianapolis for our evening meeting. We made it about 45 minutes early and it turned out perfect. We set up and got to meet the people coming in. Everyone was so kind and friendly. The pastor really is doing a great job and his people are too. They had only guitars for the song service and it reminded me so much of Mexico. I preached and afterwards the altar was filled and one lady got born again. God's so good...we are always amazed. After the service we had a marshmallow and hotdog roast. It was a great time of food, fun, and fellowship.

Tomorrow is a little while on the phone for me, and then we're all heading to the Zoo. The pastor tonight offered to treat us to tickets there, and we eagerly agreed!

Erika Update:
She's doing very well. By Wednesday we'll know for sure she's out of any danger of infection and positively will NOT require a D&C.

TRIP UPDATE:
3,500 miles to go and we've only been on the road for 3 weeks, with 5 weeks to go (including going from northern-Ohio to southeastern-Florida)
2 Saved! (and many serious decisions about being a witness for Christ)
8 church visits, with promises of support from 6
11 more churches to go, including 5 missions conferences

Praise The LORD!