I left Florida on Christmas morning to head back to Koinonia Farms to spend the week between Christmas and New Year there, and to break up the drive to South Carolina. The one man I was working with, Jim, when he heard that I would be spending Christmas away from my family, invited me to his home to spend Christmas morning with his family. Jim's wife, their grown daughter, Carol and two grandchildren who are living with them and a bunch of very friendly dogs. Jim, quite the chef, made delicious omlettes for all and then we watched 3-year old Gloria tear into the presents.    Their family got me a cool steering wheel cover, a flash light and a warm blanket. I gave them one of my hand-painted collectors item 50/50 coffee mugs. After spending the morning with them, I hit the road for Koinonia. I had agreed to call my sister Mary at 1pm on Christmas day to talk via Skype. Around that time, I was in the middle of nowhere, Georgia, but I spotted a motel that advertized wi-fi, so I pulled off the side of the road and made the call. Most of my kids were there at their Aunt Mary's. I pulled out the laptop (still sitting in the drivers seat) and made the call. Mary asked, "Are you driving?"  Nooo, I'm not. What a great technology to see your family even when apart.
     Here at Koinonia, Wednesday is wood day . There is a saw mill that is used to cut up lumber from big old pine trees that are harvested from the property. There is on brother here, named Craig who knows all about all the equipment here, including the sawmill. Everytime I go to take a picture, he says- no pictures- he's the one driving the machine carrying the big log. Dont tell him you saw him or I'll be in big trouble.
     Lots of the folks who live here fulltime have gone home for the holidays, so attendance at morning service and meals is light. Still a great place to visit. I will be here until New Years day then off to work with the Spartanburg, SC Fuller Center for a week, then NC, then home for a bit (in Virginia) then off to Tenn, Louisiana, Texan then west. That's all for now- Happy New Year to all- Peter