Military Ministry at The Lighthouse

Military Ministry at The Lighthouse
LEGO American Roadshow

Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Lion King, Pizza, and Skip-Bo!

This weekend was a direct result of last week's movie. After we watched Courageous last Sunday one of the guys said something. I didn't catch what he said, but everyone else did! They all knew it as a line from the movie "The Lion King". I had never seen it so I had no idea what the reference meant.



In unison all of the guys said, "You've NEVER seen the Lion King?" I said, "Nope, I've never seen
The Lion King."

They all acted if I was from another planet! John Ortiz said, "Next week we're watching The Lion King!" Austin said, "I've got it. I'll bring the movie!" Yvonne and I said, "OK. We'll bring the pizza and pop corn." For dessert we had Klondike bars.

So Saturday when I picked up Austin at the Naval Station, sure enough he had The Lion King with him. On the way to the house Austin asked, "What game are we playing after the movie?" Since he was soon to be going on deployment we let him pick the game. Skip-Bo!


We played two games. Josh won the first game and Andrew won the second. It was fun!












Sunday Yvonne fixed a pork loin roast and peas and home made rye bread. Gingerbread with hot apple sauce and whipped cream was for dessert.

Jonathan Silva and his wife Nichole came over for a little while after dinner. Nichole lives in Livermore, California, the same place Yvonne's sister lives. As a matter of fact, they don't even live that far apart in Livermore! What a small world!

Monday, May 23, 2016

Military Ministry at the Wagner's

Great weekend! John Ortiz, Andrew Raffety, Josh Ellinor, and Austin Fortner joined us.

Austin hasn't been here in quite a while. The Navy has him working all the time.

Saturday night Yvonne fixed bar-b-qued chicken wings and cole slaw.



After dinner we played "Golf". Andrew suggested it.





Austin is our resident shuffler. Here he's doing a great job of shuffling two decks. He does it better than our battery powered shuffler.





Josh won the game! I mean, it wasn't even close!

Then Sunday John Ortiz came too. Yvonne fixed pot roast, potatoes, and carrots, and home made wheat bread. She made bread pudding for dessert.



I have to admit, it gets pretty quiet around the table while we're eating...except for "Please pass this" or "Please pass that..."




After dinner we watched "Corageous" a movie about four men serving as law enforcement officers.



They're confident and focused standing up to the worst the streets can offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge they’re ill prepared to tackle: fatherhood. When tragedy strikes home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. This was an awesome heartfelt, action-packed story. Protecting the streets is second nature to them, but raising their children in a God-honoring way? That takes courage!

Monday, May 16, 2016

Joshua Ellinor, Andrew Raffety, and John Otriz

Another awesome weekend!

Saturday evening Andrew Raffety and Joshua Ellinor came over.

We had hamburgers and chips for dinner, followed by mint Oreo cookies. I don't know...I've got a problem with green Oreo filling. It just seems like it should be white. But...that's just me. They were good.



Then we taught Josh how to play Settlers of Catan. Wow did he learn that game fast! We played it twice. The first game ended really quick, the second game not so much.

I won the first game....then Yvonne and Andrew battled for the second game. Really Andrew won!


Sunday Andrew had to get ready for a room inspection so he couldn't come over. Josh and John Ortiz came over.

Yvonne made chicken Alfredo and rice and salad for dinner. Then for dessert she made strawberry compote over vanilla ice cream! It was great! Both Andrew and Josh took pictures of it, so if they send me one I'll add it to this post. And here it is!!!!!!!



After dinner we watched another movie. This one was "Fireproof". Great message! We had a nice discussion about it afterward too.



John asked Yvonne and me what the secret of the longevity of our marriage was. I said it was because we started our marriage out on faith in Jesus Christ. Yvonne wouldn't date me because the first time I asked her out she said I wasn't a Christian. I had never been born again and had no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And, she did not date non-Christians. After a few weeks of talking and listening I invited Jesus Christ into my life. After that we began dating. And, the rest is history!

But the essence of our longevity is the ability to forgive each other. Because we have each experienced forgiveness in our lives from Jesus Christ, we are able to forgive each other. And trust me, in any marriage relationship there is always plenty of stuff to forgive!

The director of the servicemen's center where Yvonne and I met used to say jokingly, "If you don't forgive each other, you won't go to heaven!" I believe there is truth in that statement! And for both of us, we decided together that divorce was not an option! No matter what, we would not discuss or consider divorce!

And praise God, He has blessed us with 43 wonderful years!

John did ask if we ever had any rough patches. And Yvonne and I both told him we have had our ups and downs. But Jesus has always been there to see us through those times!

After we prayed together, John had other things to do, and Josh came to church with us. Our church had a stewardship banquet last night. The food was great! It was a nice time of fellowship too. Then we took Josh back to Oceana, and the weekend came to an end.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Mother's Day and Military Ministry!

OK, let's start this off with Yvonne's trip to Minneapolis to see our younger daughter Elizabeth. Before she left on Thursday she cooked a big pot of spaghetti and baked two loaves of home made bread. All of it went into the freezer for Sunday.

She flew back to Norfolk Sunday and landed about 12:00. I picked her up at the airport with a bouquet of red roses and dropped her off at home. That is, after we stopped at the store to buy some spaghetti sauce for Christian Fabella, one of our sailors who does not eat meat. He just came back from deployment.

I drove out to Oceana Naval Air Station to pick up a new sailor who wanted to come over. Yvonne met his mother on Navy for Moms.com. While I was gone Yvonne put the finishing touches on dinner.

By the time I got back with Joshua Elinor Yvonne had everything set up. John Ortiz was helping set the table.

Dinner was GREAT! as usual.

After dinner it was into the front room and time to relax. We shared our background stories and then started a movie. This one was called "WWJD II: The Woodcarver". The story is about a young boy who vandalizes a church because his parents are divorcing. Then he helps rebuild the things he destroyed.


But that wasn't the end of the afternoon. Sarah, Brian, and Jacob came over and ate dinner here too. After they ate and the movie ended we played the electronic version of Taboo. We all had fun! Jacob is really good at this word game even though he's only six.

Andrew and Me!

Saturday evening it turned out to be just Andrew Raffety and me. All of the others had other things to do. It turned out to be a really good night!

We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut and just shared about our week. Then we watched two of Joel Osteen's messages online and were encouraged by them. One was called "The Secret Place" and the other "Acceleration".

Then we went back in the living room and watched a movie. It was called "Daniel's Lot".

Daniel Carr was sure his life could not get worse. After all, he was in a dead-end job; his wife's real estate business was non-existent, they argued constantly and the only thing that everyone told him would be the answer to all of his problems, he could not do. His late father bequeathed him a valuable piece of commercial property while making him promise not to sell it until the time was right... but his father gave no due as to when that time might be. Then his life did get worse. He lost his job, prompting his wife to decide she could no longer handle the pressures of their marriage. But, a chance meeting with a local Pastor convinces Daniel he must be obedient to God's plan for his life. The result of that obedience proves that God's Plan is our purpose.



During the movie my leg started hurting a lot so I asked Andrew to pray for me. I asked him to read James 5:14-15, then to take my anointing oil and anoint me, and pray. He did great!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Alex Sturgis joined us for Sunday dinner this week


Yvonne was shopping at the commissary where she ran into Alex Sturgis. They originally talked about raw, unfiltered honey. Then the conversation turned to an invitation for Sunday dinner. Alex accepted and joined us!

Yvonne made Italian Crepes and tossed salad for dinner. And for dessert? Remember a few days ago Suzi Bagrow came over and showed Yvonne how to make a Salzburger Nokel? Yup Sunday she made it for the guys for dessert! It turned out really good!


We also discovered that John Ortiz really likes powdered sugar - straight! A man after my own heart.




After dinner we watched the third episode of the Origins series. This one was called "The Origin of Life".



Saturday night John Ortiz came over and we chowed down on hot dogs while we watched the movie "Do You Believe?" that Bob Kroeger sent us to add to our library. It's really a good movie. The last half hour or so is really exciting!