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My trip to Kentucky, Part 1 of ??

(sunrise over the Appalachian Mountains...)

I got back from Kentucky last night. Wow. What a trip! There is no way I could describe to you everything that happened in 1 blog post, so I'm going to spread it out over a few posts.

The main purpose of our trip was to serve with Heritage Ministries in their ministry to the Tri-Cities (Lynch, Benham, and Cumberland) in Harlan County, Kentucky. The term "Tri-Cities" is a tad deceiving, and a bit of a gross overstatement, however. It's a bit like calling our modest 2 bedroom ranch a mansion. This part of the country is very poor. I won't go into the details of how poor, but you can get an idea here...

Tonight, I'll tell you about our Bible studies that we had during the week, as well as a little about one of the families we worked with.

We had a Bible study every night, during which we focused a lot on this passage from Ephesians 4:

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

We also looked at Philippians 1:27

27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

What, exactly, does it mean to "live a life worthy of the calling" we have received? How do we conduct ourselves "in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ"? We focused on how we are to be a witness for God. How the world can see Christ in what we do. The time we spent in The Word was definitely the hightlight for me. One of our pastors (Dave Johnson) came with us, and he led the study each night. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dave, his love of God, his heart for evangelism, and his knowledge of the Bible.

God used this week to stretch me and my faith as well. One of the things I was challenged about was my perception of the poor, and my tendency to pre-judge people based soley on their appearence. We'll get into that in a later post...

One of the families we helped lived in a trailer on the side of a mountain. They had lived in a single trailer for 6 years. The husband is unable to work because of medical problems (as are many people in the area). Their old trailer was falling apart, and this past fall, someone donated a used double-wide trailer to them to live in. So, they tried to take down the old trailer. When they hooked it up to the truck, the old trailer basically fell apart, so someone brought in a bulldozer and pushed it off the side of the driveway. And there it sits.

The "new" trailer was brought in. How they got it up the driveway, I'll never know. Anyway, the new one was put in back in November. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to run new sewer lines to thier septic tank (actually, they did hook up the toilet line, thankfully...). Our job was to hook up sewer lines from his sinks, toilet, shower, and washer to the septic. The old ones were just draining out to the ground around the trailer. Like this one...

See the white pipe sticking down? That's the kitchen sink drain. The ground all around the trailer was a mess of water and mud. See?

So, we got the new sewer line installed and working fine! That was day 1 of work.

Please pray for the people of Lynch. Also, please pray for Jeff and Linda Sim. They are the ones that run Heritage Ministries. They felt called by God to leave their home in Illinois and move to Kentucky five years ago. They have an incredible love for the people of Lynch, and are willing to serve God in whatever place they can. They live on support that people send them, and are a true inspiration to all of us!

To be continued...

In His arms

Please pray for the McClenahan family. Their little girl, Cora, died today. We've been praying for them for the past week, and can only imagine what they're going through. Only 2 weeks ago, they discovered their 11 month old daughter had cancer.

There is a beautiful family picture posted on their website here:

http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/

Please pray for this little baby...

Danielle and I came across this blog tonight. We found it through another one that we read regularly. Please pray for this little angel and her family as they deal with the unthinkable.
http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/

This little 11 month girl has cancer. It was just discovered about a week ago. They are now going through the process of chemo.

Superbowl blues

Well, the Super Bowl is here. I'm bummed that the Giants are not in it. i'm not sure who I'm pulling for tomorrow.

On the one hand, I've always liked the Steelers. I'd have to say they're my 2nd favorite team (Behind the Super Bowl Champion NY Giants, of course).

However, from a strictly historical perspective, I'd like Arizona to win. So, it's really a toss-up for me.

I'll say......Arizona.

But it doesn't really matter because, we DON'T HAVE TV. So, I'll be watching a movie or doing school work or something. This is the one time where I really don't like not having TV. Oh well.

i'm going to have a DAUGHTER!

I can't believe I'm saying that.

Danielle had her ultrasound today, and we are most definitely having a little girl. I'm not sure what that's going to do to our house, but it sure will make things interesting!

I have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed by it. But, I'm absolutely thrilled to be having a girl.

i don't know what else to write...

Getting ready to go to Kentucky

On February 15, I will be going to Lynch, Kentucky on a missions trip with a group from church. Here is the information/support letter that i'm sending out this weekend...


January 23, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

You may remember that two years ago, I went to Gulfport, Mississippi on a missions trip to do disaster relief work in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. My experience in Gulfport was a life-changing experience for me and many of the other men who went. Ever since that trip, I have looked forward to the next opportunity that God would give me to serve Him in this capacity. I now have the opportunity to travel to Lynch, Kentucky with a group from my church.
Harlan County, in which Lynch is located, is ranked as the 17th poorest county in the entire nation. It has a median income of just over $18,000 per household. The town of Lynch is an old coal mining town with a population of about 1,000 people, and it has a poverty rate of almost 50%. We will be going to Lynch for the week of February 15 with an organization called Heritage Ministries. Heritage is located in Lynch, and is an organization whose main work is home construction and repair projects in the immediate area. Most of the homes that Heritage works on are owned by very poor people, widows, and people who are disabled, many from mine related injuries. We will be helping to work on many homes that need upgrades just to make them safe for the people who live in them.

There are two areas in which I will need support for this trip. First and foremost, I am seeking your prayers while we are gone. Please pray for safety, good travel, and most importantly, that God would use us to show His love to the people of Lynch. Also, please pray that we would have the opportunity to share the Gospel with people we come in contact with. If you would be willing to commit to praying for us while we are gone, please contact me and let me know about it.
Secondly, each person going on the trip needs to raise $500 in support. The money will be used for travel expenses, lodging while we're in Lynch, purchasing building materials, and food. If you would be willing to contribute towards the trip, please let me know, or you can send a check to my church, Lafayette Federated Church, 180 Route 15, Lafayette, NJ 07848. Any support amount would be greatly appreciated!

If you have any questions, or would like any more information about the trip, please e-mail me at jeffdanielle@hotmail.com, or call me at home, and I'd love to answer any questions that you might have.

In Christ,
Jeff Colarusso

**GASP** Jeff's changing a tradition!!!

For those who don't know, I'm a pretty "traditional" kind of guy. There are certain things that just don't need to be changed. I prefer hymns greatly over contemporary choruses. I bowhunt rather than gun hunt. I can't cook a turkey without making the cornbread & sausage stuffing that goes with it. I do experiment from time to time with new stuff, but, for the most part, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

One of the most firmly held traditions in our family are the "Grandma Corey" cookies at Christmastime. Grandma Corey is my great-great-great-great grandmother on my mom's side. As my mom says, "Christmas officially starts in our house with the first batch of G.C. cookies". These are as traditional as it gets for me. The chances of me changing this recipe are about as slim as the chances of my Poppop getting a tattoo and a nose ring. The same chances as my Uncle Tom in Minnesota voting for Al Franken. But, tonight, I made a change...

We had made a batch of the cookies already today, and needed to make a second batch, but, alas, there was not quite enough flour. Staring me in the face from the cabinet was a container of cocoa powder. Hmmmm? Might I use that? Make some kind of chocolate Grandma Corey cookie? So, I consulted with my Mom and her mother, Mee Mee. Both seemed to think that it just might work. I looked at the container, and it read, "Add 1/3 cup to choco chip cookies for at chocolatey treat!" I measured out my flour. The recipe calls for 4 cups. I had 3 2/3 cups. Do you see? The flour & 1/3 cup of cocoa add up to 4! It was as if Grandma Corey herself was looking down and saying to me, "Jeff, it's OK to try it..." So, I gave it a whirl. After I made the batter, I took a taste. Hmmm...pretty good....chocolatey....not bitter at all...

As I type, the batter is chilling in the fridge until 8:30, when I will bake the first batch. We'll see what happens. I will update when the first batch is done.

I just might be bringing Pop Pop down to the tattoo parlor...

*********UPDATE********************

The cookies are great! just the right amount of cocoa and a little extra sugar, and they are fantastic. Tomorrow we'll put on the icing! woo-hoo!

What's that smell?? Part 2

So, for the past 2 weeks, there's been a smell in the basement. It started as a faint odor, and grew from there. At the end of last week, we got our septic tank pumped, thinking that the smell was maybe coming from our tank, which is only a couple feet from the house. Empty tank, smell was still here.

Today, I get a phone call at work from my beautiful bride. One of those "good news-bad news" calls. The good news was, she discovered where the smell was coming from. The bad news was, the smell was coming from our freezer FULL of meat, which had been (for the past 3 weeks) not closed all the way!!! It was my fault. I was the last one to close it, so I take the blame...

The good news is (and I thank God for this!) that we only lost about a quarter of the meat. I guess because of the moisture in the air, most of the meat in the freezer was encased in a block of frosty ice. The meat in the door, and the front part of the freezer, however, was encased in green/black/red goo. Smelly goo. And, the goo was on the bottom of the freezer. And it had leaked out of the freezer door, and was pooled on the basement floor.

The other good news that I really thank God for, is that the meat that we lost was mostly ground beef and ground venison. We unfortunately lost a few venison backstraps (the best part of the deer), and some venison steaks. Although, we just got a quarter of a cow (that's when i didn't close the door all the way), and the prime beef cuts were frozen solid in the back of the freezer (sirloin steaks, rib steaks, t-bones, roasts, london broils, etc), along with the last cuts from the half a pig we got last year (2 fresh shoulder roasts, spare ribs, and scrapple). In other words, the stuff we lost is relatively inexpensive to replace.

So, in the midst of chipping away at a glacier in the freezer this evening, I actually found myself feeling happy, and thanking God that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Yes, I'm bummed about losing some of the BEST ground beef I've ever had (from a local farm), but, it could have been worse. A LOT worse.

And, the smell is gone...

Where have I been???

Sorry to all 3 of you who check this blog regularly...

The past month has been a little hectic, and I haven't had much time to blog. Here is a quick update of things at our house:

1) The Christmas Tree is up
2) We now have FOUR deer in the freezer, and a quarter of a cow...
3) Thanksgiving was great!
4) I'm starting my Master's Degree in Music Education in January
5) I'm currently in the middle of concert week (3 concerts in 8 days)
6) God is Good. ALL the time!
7) We have decided to live a debt-free life (more details to come later)
8) We have canceled our credit cards. Yay!
9) Pellet stove is great!
10) Danielle is the best wife ever!

There you have it!

My trip to Kentucky

I got back from Kentucky yesterday afternoon. It was a marathon trip. We departed church on Wednesday at 7:30PM, drove until we reached Staunton, VA at 2:30 in the morning. Slept in a hotel until 7AM, ate at Cracker Barrel, got in the truck, and arrived in Lynch, Kentucky at 2:00PM on Thursday afternoon. Do you think we stayed long?? NOPE!!



We got back in the truck at about 5:00PM Thursday, drove back to Staunton, VA, arrived at midnight, stayed at a hotel, got up at 6 AM, ate at WAFFLE HOUSE!!!! and then arrived back at church at about 3 PM Friday afternoon. So, in 43.5 hours, I drove to Kentucky and back, stopping only for sleep and meals. about 25 of those hours were actual driving time. Woah!



Why all this craziness? Because we're planning a mission trip. Lynch, KY is a coal mining town with a population right around 1,000 people. The mine is the main employer in the town, and most everybody else is unemployed. The work at the mine is not consistent, as it fluctuates with the price of oil. Oil goes way up, people buy more coal. Oil comes back down, people stop buying coal, and the mine lays off the workers. A large number of the houses are in terrible shape, and the people are either 1) Disabled and can't afford to have the work done, or 2) able to do the work themselves, but can't afford to buy the materials. There is also a pretty big drug problem in the town.

So, we're partnering with a small organization whose purpose is to minister to the people of this part of Kentucky. We visited some of the potential houses that we'll be working on. There is no building code enforcement, so a lot of the houses that have had work done are substandard. For example, a lot of people don't have indoor plumbing, but if they do, many of them drain into the river that flows through the town. Some houses just have a hole below the bathroom, and some still have outhouses. At another house we saw, the daughter built a house right behind her parents' house, and until recently, didn't have power at all. She didn't have water either. She now has a garden hose that runs from her parents' house to hers so she has some water.

In the past 10 years, we've been told, the town has made some improvements, due largely in part to church groups and mission groups that have come in to help build. We're hoping to bring a group of 15-20 people to do some work. We'll see what happens...

Highlights:


1) Driving through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I've driven there a couple times, and it is just about one of the most beautiful places in the Eastern US. Especially when it's November, and the leaves are still in their autumnal glory!



2) Climbing Black Mountain on the VA/KY border. It's the highest point in KY (about 4,300 ft.), and the road that goes up it is full of switchbacks and no guardrails. The view at the top is awesome!

3) Waffle House!! OK, so it isn't the finest in cuisine, but every time I've been south, I've wanted to go to one. I finally got my chance. How was it? In one word...GREASE! It was great. The best part were the hash browns. They come plain, or with you choice of the following toppings: cheese, ham, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, chili, or jalapeno peppers. Or, you can get them "all the way". That means "all of the above". Which do you think I got??? That's right, ALL THE WAY!!! No regrets!

Add a generous portion of grits and sweet tea at every food stop, and i'm a happy guy!

And now, here's a video that has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post. It's a tribute to John Williams. He's the guy that wrote the music to Star Wars, Superman, ET, Jaws, and many others.

Deer Season Scorecard

Well, the first part of the bow season is done, and yesterday began the extended permit bow season. The extended season is basically a money grab conducted by the state of New Jersey. Your regular bow license ($27) is good for hunting in Sept & Oct. If you want to hunt Nov & Dec, it's an extra $28. Oh, and if you want to shoot a buck, you have to now buy a $28 buck tag. Oh, and if you want to hunt in more that one hunting zone, you have to buy a $28 permit for each zone. Then, some guys go pheasant hunting ($40), or muzzle loader hunting ($28 for each zone permit, $28 for buck tag). Wow! That's a lot of money the state gets! The only permits I buy are the buck tag (you never know when a big one will walk by), and one or two zone permits. Some guys spend a fortune just on permits & tags, and don't get much chance to get out hunting.

So, anyway, so far, my deer hunting season has been productive. I have 3 deer in the freezer so far. One big doe, one small doe, and a button buck. Then there was another doe that I shot at, and missed. Just as I released the arrow, my left arm (holding the bow) dropped, and I saw the arrow go right under her. Oh well. A missed deer is better than an injured deer.

So the score is Jeff 3, Deer 1. We'll see how the rest of the season pans out. I'm hoping to get 2 more big deer in the freezer, which will get us through a good part of the next year. I've only blogged about one deer this year. Here's the post if you want to read it.

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday)

My beautiful wife is...

...with baby #4!!

Finally, a new post

So, I've been busy lately. All 3 boys have had pnuemonia, and I've had a ton of stuff going on. With Election Day right around the corner, here is a clip for your consideration. This is a "Man on the Street" type interview, done by the Howard Stern show. now, i don't listen to Howard, but I saw this clip on Reepicheep. It's staggers the mind that the people interviewed are blindly supporting Obama, and have absolutely NO IDEA what he stands for. In fact, the interviewer asks them questions about Obama, and puts McCain's platform positions in the questions, and they don't even realize that they are McCain's ideals. Listen to this...

A Great Saturday!

Today was a fantastic day. Some of the highlights were:

1) Getting to sleep in until 7:30
2) My breakfast - 2 eggs, perfectly over-easy, wheat toast, and cafe con leche from our espresso maker, made with Cafe Bustelo.
3) Mowing the lawn with the boys
4) Getting other yard work done
5) Laying on the couch with Ryan & Kevin, watching hunting videos while Sean slept and Beautiful bride was grocery shopping
6) The super awesome cross rib roast with delicious homemade mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner, made by the loving hands of my spectacularly beautiful bride.
7) The pan gravy that she made along with the meat.
8) The smell of the roast in the oven when i came inside from yard work and playing with the boys all afternoon.
9) The caramelized onions that were atop the roast (I really liked dinner!)
10) Picking up worms and caterpillars with all 3 boys.
11) Getting my voice back (sort of...)
12) A feeling of accomplishment
13) Having a day that was Blessed by God in every way!

We really need some new movies

We have an absolutely pathetic movie collection. With the exception of the Indiana Jones Trilogy, The Green Mile, and Saving Private Ryan.

Other than that, it pretty much stinks.

So here we sit on a Friday night with nothing to do...again...trying to pick a movie to watch. Last time this happened, we had the grave misfortune of watching Jurassic Park 3. Boy was that a bad choice.

Anybody else just sitting around tonight? Ugh. I so want to do something. HELP!

The venison wagon has arrived!!

Success!!!






Today was an absolutely beautiful early fall day. Completely clear, blue sky, temps in the upper 40's early on, got into maybe the mid 60's later. I was out in the woods at 6:30 AM, set up in my tree for the first hunt of the season. As far as hunting days go, this was a great one. Lots of activity in the woods. I had 2 juvenile red tail hawks come gliding through the trees, and land on a limb about 20 yards from where I was sitting. It was great! Later on, one of them came back again, and buzzed right through the woods. I was amazed at how they can so easily navigate their way through the trees going so fast! My stand is set up on Pastor Rick's property, which is just bursting with wildlife!



At about 8ish, 3 does came in from my right. The spot where I was set up was on the top of a ridge on a well used path, about 30 yards beyond a fork in the path. I watched these 3 does work their way up the ridge towards me, but they decided to take the left fork. (I was on the right fork).



They passed about 15 yards away behind my tree, and I was not able to get around the tree with my bow to take a shot. So I enjoyed watching them take their time going by. The good thing was that they were not aware of me at all, so they'll be back again another day. I was pretty bummed about not having a shot, but I was still enjoying the day.



At about 8:45 AM, I thought I saw something. Across the path from me was a clearing in the trees, to the right of which is a big patch of bushes & stuff. Through all the bramble, sure enough, I saw part of a deer's face, maybe 40 yards away, walking straight towards me. By the time I turned and got my bow ready, these 2 does were already only 25 yards away. The bigger of the two actually stopped, looked in my direction, and kept coming. Good! She didn't see me!



I could see where they were heading, and it was a good place to be. The bushes opened up in to the clearing about 15-20 yards from my tree, and that's where they were going. No sooner did I draw back my Hoyt Supreme, loaded with my new Gold Tip 7595 with the Muzzy 125 grain broadhead leading the way, and the big doe came out into the clearing, and stopped right in front of me, perfectly broadside, just begging to be in my freezer. WHUMP!!



I saw the arrow hit home, and she jumped, and turn & ran back down the other side of this little ridge. So, I waited about 20 minutes, climbed down, got my arrow, and walked back to Rick's house. He brought the quad out, and we set out to track the deer. Wasn't too difficult to do. The Muzzy broadhead did it's job. She ran about 35 yards, and that was all she wrote. Great double lung shot. Once we got the deer back to my truck, Pastor Rick suggested we sing the Doxology in thanks to God for His Providence. So Rick, me, and our friend Dave, who was over to fix Rick's chainsaw, sang the Doxology, out in the clean fall air, giving praise to God, from Whom all blessings flow!

Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful day!

What's that old Lynyrd Skynyrd song?

You know..."That Smell"?

Well, today on the way home from work, my beautiful bride texted me the following message:

"The dryer smells like dead animal." Great.

When I got home, I checked the dryer, and didn't smell anything. For a minute, I really thought she was imagining things. That is, until I got down behind the dryer and took a good sniff. Yup, dead animal smell. I disconnected the vent hose, and dumped it out. No animal there, just a little lint.

So, I got down on the floor behind the dryer and looked into the vent pipe. Looking into the shadowy pipe, I couldn't see anything at first, but then a shape became noticeable in the darkness...a grey shape with a long tail. Thankfully, not moving.

So I donned a plastic bag on my hand, reached in, and pulled out the source of the offending odor, a dead mouse.

I guess it must have climbed up into the dryer vent outside, and then found itself hurtling down the 4 feet of hose to a place from where there is no escape. What a way to come home from work on a long Monday!

I'm just thankful it didn't somehow work it's way into the dryer by the clothes. That could have been a disaster! I wonder what the rest of the week has in store??

Ryan's first ER trip...

There was an incident yesterday.

Let's just say an accidentally flying toy (not intended to fly) met Ryan's forehead. The cut wasn't all that big, but since it was on his forehead, and it wasn't staying closed, we decided that Daddy and Ryan should talke a ride to the local hospital to have it checked out.

The cut was small, but it was "Deep and Wide" (who remembers that Sunday School song?) so the Dr. gave me a choice - either Steri-strips or stitches. The drawback to the Steri-strips, said the Dr., are that they cannot get wet at all, and that Ryan would have to "take it easy" for 4 days. Well, let's see...

So, I opted for the stitches.

Ryan, needless to say, was not happy AT ALL with the prospect of needle & thread going through his forehead, but after 2 lollipops from the nurse and the promise of any dinner & dessert he wanted from Daddy, he agreed to let the Dr. sew him up.

The worse parts of the whole ordeal were:

1) Waiting for about an hour and a half in the ER, during which Ryan would periodically start crying, "I don't want stitches..."

2) The shot of Novocaine (SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!)

3) The nurse who decided it would be a good idea to basically lay on top of Ryan even though he was already holding still. He was doing so well, until he felt trapped underneath this woman. (SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!)

The best parts of the whole ordeal:

1) Quality time with Daddy. Yes, not the most ideal quality time setting, but, still, we had some good bonding time.

2) Friendly's for dinner, and Dairy Queen for Dessert.

3) The ER doctor who was the greatest thing in the world for Ryan. He explained everything to Ryan, and told him what was going to hurt (the shot), and what wasn't going to hurt (everything after the shot). He was totally honest with Ryan, talked him through the whole thing. Ryan trusted him completely, and was willing to do anything the Dr. asked. Thank you Dr. with the last name I can't remember. I do remember it had an "X" in it somewhere...

Today, Ryan is feeling much better, and enjoyed showing off his head in church. Lots of attention, which is right up his alley!

Reasons why I love my wife, Part I

My wife, Danielle, is the best. There are so many reasons why I love her, so every once in a while, I'm going to post one.

So, today, on my way home from school, I called home and asked my beautiful bride, "What's for dinner?" Her reply? "Venison Steaks".

Oh yeah, baby!

When I got home, I had to post this weekend's homework assignment for my students on my school webpage. As I was working, my kids were watching "Bambi". All of a sudden, I heard the love of my life say to the boys, "Well, guys, this movie is wrong because it shows the hunters shooting at anything that moves, and starting a forest fire. No real hunter would ever do something like that. That's something that I don't like about this movie".

What a woman! Not only does she like to eat venison, but she stands up for hunters!! Just one more reason why I love my wife!