And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

                                                                          I Corinthians 13:13

There are lessons to be learned from having two pups. As you know, we acquired two Cocker Spaniel puppies four weeks ago today. During this time, people have stopped to see the puppies, some have called ahead to make arrangements to come by while others have seen the puppies in the yard and just pull in. No matter whether it is planned or unplanned, the puppies, Penny and Patsy, welcome everyone with tail wagging and lots of kisses. There doesn't seem to be any stranger to them. They love everybody, and it appears that everybody loves them. Below is a picture of Avery and Nolan Hartwig who stopped by with their grandmother to see the puppies last Thursday. We noticed that even when we travel and stop at a rest stop, the puppies have no trouble attracting the attention of other people. 

                                          Avery, Nolan, Penny and Patsy

The lesson we have learned from the puppies is to genuinely love others with unconditional love and to be accepting of them.

On another note, our daughter Christiane returned safely from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.
She was able to reach the summit safely and in good health.  After six days of climbing, in order to reach the summit, they had to begin very early in the morning on the seventh day while it was still dark. In order to see, they had to use headlamps.  The climb was very slow and tedious, and they were just following the person in front of them without saying a word.  It was very quiet when all of a sudden one of the men carrying some of the supplies began singing, In The Sweet Bye and Bye in Swahili. He was then joined by the other porter, guide, and assistant guide. This caused Christiane to be overcome by emotion and began crying, but had to quickly regain her composure due to the thin air and required concentration. The total altitude of Mount Kilimanjaro is a little over 19,300 feet. 
During this experience Christiane learned many life lessons that come through the struggles to reach her goal.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny

. . .the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.       Psalm 33:5b

The last two days have been absolutely beautiful with radiant sunshine, fresh breeze, and pleasant temperatures. At night the stars have been highly visible displaying that part of God's creation. Not only has the weather been perfect the last few days but we received word that our daughter Christiane had made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, she even indicated that her health was doing very well.
We have heard nothing more but expect to hear soon since she is returning on September 12th. Most likely she is flying back from Africa while we are blogging.

                                                        Patsy and Penny

Our lives have been kept busy with many projects preparing for Art-i-licious coming up a week from this Friday. Paintings are being assembled and pottery glazed so that things will be in readiness for this event. We will be having a booth called Palpant's Paintings and Pottery. Adding to our busyness are two little puppies names Penny and Patsy. (Originally we called them Molly and Maggie, but after talking with our daughter, Christiane, we decided to go with their current names,)  They add a delight to our home, most of the time. However, they don't quite have a house breaking system down to perfection. In fact, they are a long way from perfection. With two puppies as part of the household, we have to take into consideration the time we are away from the house as they still need a lot of attention but they continue to bring us much joy.



Throughout this past weekend we felt very blessed to have several opportunities to fellowship with friends and neighbors. From breakfast with friends to our church picnic to our annual block party, we certainly had time to interact with people we love. Our neighborhood is a special blessing in that everyone seems to enjoy being together. Of course, all of these events had plenty of delicious food which affectively ruined our diet.

We find ourselves counting our many blessings and feeling the goodness of the LORD!

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Penny, and Patsy

...encourage one another daily.      Hebrews 3:13

Our Labor Day weekend was spent with our son, Roger, in Kentucky. We had a great time with Roger as well as some of his neighbors. For Roger's birthday, the neighbors came over for dinner Saturday evening and Monday morning we all went out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was such a blessing to see Roger surrounded by a group of people who are so supportive of him and encouraging.

While driving home today, Gail asked the question, "Who do we know that has the gift of encouragement?" For a few minutes we struggled to come up with any names, but once we got started the names began to slip off our tongue very easily. We were able to name several people from different areas of our life such as the church, school, neighborhood, friends, and even people in the medical field who assisted Paul during his surgery and recovery. What an incredible blessing they are as we walk this journey of life! It inspires us to take every opportunity to encourage others. Whether at work, worship, neighborhood gatherings, or just a quick greeting at the store, we pray that encouraging words will be at the forefront of our conversation. Proverbs 25:11 says, A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.  It might be good if we would all examine ourselves to determine if we are one of them who encourages others.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul and Gail