Winter pics by Evan

GOD IS SOO AMAZING!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!! A Family we've been studying and laboring with quite a bit just made a HUGE decision to follow the Lord in a specific way!!!

This is such an incredible blessing!!!!

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Happy Sabbath ~

Just wanted to wish everyone a very blessed and Happy Sabbath!! :)

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:13, 14

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The Lord is oh so very good!!!

Isn't He amazing?? :)

Today, other than being quite sick and in bed almost the whole time since yesterday, the Lord showed us His love in a special way. We all know that the Lord watches over us and provides for us, yet sometimes He allows certain things to happen to impress that in a very real and tangible way.

Today we got an envelope in the mail. It was addressed to Mr & Mrs. Tim and Pam McKinley, in what looked like childrens hand-writting. There was no return address and where it was sent from could not be made out.

My dad opened the envelope like he would any other envelope, little did he know that such a simple package could contain something quite valuable.

As he opened the cute little card his eyes got huge. Noticing his expression I walked over as he fingered through the money that was in the card. It was simply signed: "I love you, Jesus"

What a surprise it was!! My mom was so surprised that she didn't believe us at first. Oh, how grateful we are to whomever it was and to the Lord for the gift that we received.

May we all be used to be a continual blessing to others as we are continually blessed by our ever loving heavenly Father.

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I can't believe it!!!

I'M SICK!!!!! And I can't think of a worse time either. With 25 people coming over for Thanksgiving and a ton of cooking to do!!! Anyways, the Lord knows... at least I'm getting lots of rest time.

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Only 6 more minutes of being in my early twenties!!!

Yes, tis sad but true!!! Only 6 more minutes until I'm in my mid-twenties!!!

Well I just got home from giving some treatments to a friends son that has swine flu. It's kinda fun to get to go do house calls doing natural remedies :)

Had an interesting visit w/ the Amish family this week!!! Please keep Linda in your prayers as she has terminal brain cancer and is 11 weeks pregnant.

Preparations for "Lunch & Learn" are going amazingly!! It's exciting to see how the Lord is opening up doors.

Well... I must go to sleep now, I've got a long day ahead of me.

Hopefully I'll have time to blog soon.

Godspeed to everyone and a good night!!!

~Me :)

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The Salve is HERE!!!

Yup... all 85lbs of it!!!

We had some All-Purpose Herbal Salve and Herbal Chest Rub Salve made for our ministry and our shipment just came in!!

We're so excited.

If you want more information about the salves, how to order them, or testimonials from people that have used them just let me know. My email address is: laurakmckinley@gmail.com They are amazing products that we've benefited immensely from.

We have 4oz and 1oz jars of both.

The Lord is really blessing our ministry "The Creator's Way" and I can't wait to see what doors he's going to open up next :)

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Some more from this fall ~

Some Fall Photos ~

~ Hmmm..... ~

I'm so very very very very happy!!!!!!

I'll hopefully be able to blog about why later :)

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~ A day being Amish... cont ~

"Laura... now comes the hardest part of today..." Amy said with a serious tone

"Ok, what's that?" I asked wondering what her response could possibly be.

"It's one thing to look like you're Amish, yet it's a completely other thing to ACT Amish..." She said with a big smile on her face.

"Hmmm.... we'll see how that part goes..." I responded with an unsure smile, acting like an Amish women would be quite something for me to try and accomplish.

She was sure that everyone would mistake me as being "really" Amish, and that they did.

I pulled into the school/community center "parking lot" and got out of the car and walked into the meeting hall.

"Laura???..... Is that REALLY you..." Came suddenly out of the mouths of several women. Within a few minutes I had ten amazed Amish women surrounding me with huge smiles all asking me how it felt and what I thought of "being" Amish.

"When you first walked in I thought to myself, "Who is the new Amish girl", then it hit me that it was you" Said one of the women.

"It took me a few minutes to realize that it was really you" Another one chorused

"You look so authentic, just like one of us" Still another said with a joyful tone.

Had I known how happy they would be I would have been "Amish" the whole time I was there. It was great!! The "English" girls thought it was quite amusing to see me all dressed up. All throughout the day I had various girls coming up and asking for a picture with me.

Being "Amish" among the Amish is one thing, but being "Amish" around the "English" is quite another!!!

"Are you going to go like that into town???" One of the girls asked me.

"Of course, why not" I responded.

"Wow, we'll see how everyone reacts when you're driving into town"

That was something I had not thought of. So I went and asked someone if I should have a "driver" or if it was ok for me to drive. After getting permission to drive I took my two Amish friends and another girl and we headed off for town.

First stop: Amish store

No problem, yeah I got quite a few looks from shocked Amish and English people as they saw a young "Amish" girl driving into town. But walked through the store was no big deal as 90% of the people there were all Amish. Yet being that the store didn't have everything that we needed for me to make crisp and cookies for everyone we had to go to the English store. Hmmm...

Second stop: Main General store

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to be Amish, or maybe Muslim? Well let me tell you, I now know!! In the beginning as I was walking through the store I was wondering why everyone was looking at me. Then it hit me: I'm Amish!!!

"Bzzzzz.....bzzzzzzzz....bzzzzzzzzzzzz" went my phone. Without thinking I took it out of my Amish looking sweater and started talking and walking around the store. Being that I like to fidget with things in my hands while I talk I took the van keys out of my other pocket and was playing with them as well while walking through the store.

Walking out of the store I stood by the van while I was waiting for the girls to finish their shopping. As I was standing there this man kept walking by me all the while staring at me in somewhat disbelief as he went in and out of the store a few times. Maybe making sure that what he was seeing was really real.

Imagine this: your walking through the store and see a few young Amish women. As you see them walking around you hear something you never imagined coming from one of their pockets. To your complete shock you see them take a cell phone out of her pocket and start talking on it as if it is nothing. Still in amazement you see her walk out of the store holding van keys and then as you watch her several times not able to take your eyes off of something you can still hardly believe you are seeing you watch her and two other Amish girls get into the van and one of the Amish girls gets into the drivers seat and drives away.

I can only imagine what stories have been spread by this experience!

All the while us girls got quite a good laugh out of it :)

The rest of the day went great. Teaching class was so much fun, I looked the part other than using my Mac! All in all it was a great experience that broke down a lot of barriers and touched many hearts. A dear elderly woman asked me if I undertook a transformation overnight, and how I liked being Amish.

Would I do it again, of course!!

Have to end it now, will add some more later... :)

Off to go visit another Amish family that I met yesterday and had quite a wonderful time with them!!!!

The Lord is really opening up doors :)

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~A day being "Amish"~

The Amish have always intrigued me. When ever I would see an Amish person my eyes would be fixed on them until they were out of sight. Something about their life, their simple ways, unique way of living and the mystery of what life being Amish would be like entranced my mind. Yet finding a way to "get in" to an Amish community or to really see the "inside" of how the Amish really lived or who they really were was never something I ever imagined would come to pass.

Then it happened...I was doing prenatals with the dear midwife that I was training under when she mentioned that she had some Amish clients that she would like me to assist her with. Was I ever excited or what?! Through that I was able to work with two sweet Amish couples and to see a bit inside what their lives were like.

A typical "English" person would never get past the front door to most Amish homes, yet as a midwife they let you right in and warmly welcome you into their lives. I had the wonderful opportunity to see the natural side of such an un-known culture. Even after their babies were born I have gone to see them a couple times and have been joyfully welcomed into their homes.

The opportunity arose for me to attend Dr Mary Ann McNeilus and Patti Barnes out to Montana to drive Dr Mary Ann there and to help teach a Midwifery Seminar in an Amish community in a little town in western Montana. It was an Amazing trip!!! I took a train, for the first time, to Minnesota and spent a few days there doing home visits to some Swartzentruber Amish and helped get ready for the seminar and then we started on our LONG journey to Montana.

Parts of that journey are soo boring, yet others are just breath-taking. We spent both Sabbaths in Black Hills which was great, esp the second weekend. The first weekend I was "locked" in our room because the day before I coughed and dislocated my ribs and tore my intercostal muscles and so I really couldn't do much. Yet, praise the Lord we were at a Lifestyle center and they gave me treatments most of the time until we left.

I was like a little girl that just came downstairs Christmas morning and saw tons of packages under the Christmas tree as we were driving into the sweet little Amish village. Dr Mary Ann got some entertainment from my little squeals of joy when I saw the first buggy driving down the lane. I was practically floating I was so excited, we were working with the Amish and living with them as well. We were going to be part of the Amish community for a whole week!

"Mennonite?, English?, Mennonite, AMISH?????" Was the question that everyone seemed to be trying to figure out. Each day I seemed to come to the class as something different. Being that I was helping with the seminar I sat in the back row with all of the local Amish women. This was wonderful as it opened up opportunities to get to know them. One day I was sitting next to a sweet looking Amish young lady. Not being afraid to talk to people I don't know I decided to start talking to her about... of all things... midwifery stuff ;) we soon started talking, and talking, and talking, and we talked the whole class! Good thing I already knew the topic that was being discussed eh? :)

After the class the three girls that were staying with her, Amy, started walking to her house. She had mentioned that I could come over some time, so I decided to take her up on it.

"What was I thinking..." was the thought going through my mind as we kept walking, and walking, and walking to Amy's house. If I had known how far away it was I would have driven!

After about a half an hour of walking we could finally see her house!! An adorable home for a newlywed couple. Her husband was gone hunting for the week so it was girl's time for us all, and did we ever enjoy it!

After dinner we had a blast taking pictures, here and there and everywhere. So much fun that we lost track of time and were late for the next class. Amy invited me to come spend the night, her sister-in-law was going to be staying too, and after convincing Dr Mary Ann that it was a good idea I joyfully took my things and, this time, drove over to Amy's house. Come to find out she lived in Ohio when I was there and her sister-in-law lived in the community in MI where we did some deliveries and we knew many of the same people!

"So Laura, why don't you be Amish tomorrow..." Amy said with a little smile on her face, just waiting to see my response.

"Great!, I'll do it!!" I quickly responded

"What? Are you serious? You'd really do that??" She replied in complete disbelief.

"Of course, why not" I said to her in a nonchalant way. "I think it's a great idea."

And then followed the hour of "does this dress look right? Or what about this one"... "AMY!!!.... I'm stuck and can't get out of it!"... "HELP!!... how do you ever do this on your own?"

Surprisingly we were just about the same size, which made it helpful, I guess.

After trying on 6 dresses I finally realized that nothing was going to look "natural" on me. So, I picked my favorite of the 6 and let her finish me off by putting the bonnet on.

"You look great Laura, just wait until tomorrow when everyone sees you!!" Amy said with a cute little laugh, still in shock that I was going to be Amish the next day.

"Um... Amy... can you please help me get this off???" I said with a smile.

The evening flew by, we made popcorn and had some wonderful times sharing stories about the people that we knew in common.

Bzzzz....bzzzzzzzz....bzzzzzzzzzzzz.... the alarm went off, it seemed like only minutes since I had fallen asleep.

"Laura?" Amy said still laying on the couch with her eyes shut. "Are you still going to be Amish today?"

"Yup, but let me go turn the generator on in the barn so the girls can cook and then I'll be back so you can turn me into an Amish girl" I whispered as I quietly slipped out the front door.

It's kinda hard to sneak anywhere in an Amish community early in the morning when you're driving down the road with the lights on. I finally figured out an easier way to see the generator in the barn... I pulled in directly in front of the bar and turned the brights on, and with that light I could see the generator clearly enough to turn it on.

Having successfully accomplished my task I drove back to Amy's house.

The girls were all excited and eagerly anticipating everyone's response to seeing me "Amish" when I went in to class that morning. I had two classes to teach that day and they were even more surprised that I was going to teach all dressed up too.

Amy had a great day getting me all ready so that I looked genuine. And did she ever do a good job!

"One thing....if you pass some Amish on your way to the building duck and don't let them see you since you'll be driving."

"Um... ok, I'll do my best" I said, not realizing that I was leaving at the time when ALL the school children were on their way to the school (the same building we were using.)

So as I drove out her driveway I realized my predicament. Well... I had a shirt next to me... "ok, that can go on my head", it just happened to be bright blue, "oh and I can wrap my coat around my shoulders and duck down."

Who knows what all those little Amish children thought of this strange lady driving down the road!!

I have to go now... will continue my story of being Amish and driving into town, going to an "English" store and more later... but for now, here are a few pictures of that day.

~GYC Early Bird Registration Ends Today!!~

Register now to get $20 off of your registration for the 2009 Generation of Youth for Christ Conference being held in Louisville, KY. Our theme this year is unAshamed. For more information visit www.gycweb.org. To register go to:

https://v2.registerat.com/GYC09/Home.aspx.

If you have any questions, email me :)

I'll see you there!!!

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~The Creator's Way ~ Our First Day

Today was our first full day of the program. We have two wonderful "clients" and they did just great.

Last night when they arrived we had our "Last Supper" and then informed them that that would be their last meal for 3 days and last regular meal for a week. We had a wonderful dinner, had orientation, went for a walk, had worship and then went to bed.

This morning started at a very early 5am with the sweet music of my alarm.
We had about 8-10 juices today, I felt like I was constantly juicing! We had juices, bug juice, exercise, classes, hydrotherapy treatments, outside work (it was a beautiful sunny day today!!), worship and prayer time and now it's time for bed at 9pm.

It was quite the day. I'm still alive after fasting all day. There were a few times that I felt starving, but over all it's ok. We're going one day at a time and before I know it I'll be able to eat real food again... I hope...!

Anyways, I'm absolutely exhausted so I'm off to bed. G'night all :)

Please keep us all in your prayers ~

A quick update...

I know I said that I would have more Montana pictures up soon... yet sadly, soon has not come yet. Since coming home from my wonderful trip I've had to work on recovering from my rib and back injury and then we canned at least 5 bushels of tomatoes before going to Restoration International Indiana Family Camp. Hopefully I'll get some pictures from family camp before long. Camp meeting was such a blessing. It's always wonderful to see dear friends and be spiritually encouraged.

Now we're getting ready to have our first in-home Lifestyle program. We've always thought about having people come to our home for health education, natural remedies, hydrotherapy treatments, nutrition education and complete physical, mental and spiritual healing using the Creator's methods. This last month we were asked to teach a Natural Remedies class about 4 hours away from us and while there we mentioned that some day we'd like to have an in-home program. After the class she approached us about being interested in coming up and a couple weeks ago she called to let us know that she had taken time off of work and was wondering if it would work for her to come be our first client this month. So, we are now busily getting ready for her and one other person to come for our first 14 day session. It's quite exciting to see how the Lord is growing our family Health Ministry ~The Creator's Way~ If you could please keep us in your prayers as we are seeking to give glory to Him through this ministry.

As well as the above I'm busily working for this years conference for Generation of Youth for Christ. Our theme this year is unAshamed and is being held in Lousiville, KY. Registration is now open and Early-bird ends October 21st. So hurry up and register :) The website for GYC is www.gycweb.org and the registration website is: https://v2.registerat.com/GYC09/Home.aspx.

A little sample from my trip... more coming later