Ric and Sharon Bruce While Sharon is back at the camp meeting her Cherokee language helper I’m spending some time with my family in southern Oklahoma. It’s been great to see them and even more fun to live life with them. Today I went to church and ate a huge lunch with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins then visited Lake Texoma with my grandparents. Here are some photos I took today:
Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
Visiting Family
Monday, August 31st, 2009Missouri
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009We are having a great time here in Missouri. We had a meeting Monday night with our leaders in Cambodia. We learned a lot about our future work and how they will be helping us transition into the country next year. We have several things to begin ASAP!
Yesterday Sharon and I helped a kind lady from our small church here in MO. Sharon helped her can salsa and I did several projects around her house. Last night we had a meeting promoting serving in Cambodia to new students at the training center that are interested. We leave for Oklahoma on Friday. We’ll keep you updated right here!
Three Days on the AT
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Many people know about our previous hike on the Appalachian Trail… when we walked from Pennsylvania to Maine after we got married. The past four days we were continuing the hike south, completing 50 miles more of Pennsylvania. I am in the process of typing a journal of our time on the trail. For now, here are some pictures. Check back later for the play-by-play.
Visiting Sharon’s Family
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Sharon’s parents grew up in a small valley in south-west New York state, where some of her extended family still lives. We love to come back to visit the family and take a much-needed break from the daily grind. Tomorrow we will take off for a wedding in Pennsylvania and a few days of hiking. We love visiting the town… the area is beautiful!
Please pray for safety as we’re on the road and for a time of refreshment and relaxation as we accomplish one of our goals before heading to Cambodia next year: spending time with family.
Suzie’s Eleventh Birthday
Friday, July 24th, 2009
I can’t believe that Suzie is eleven years old already. When she was born in 1998 she changed our family’s life for the better in more ways than one. Now she’s talking like crazy and has such a little personality. It’s great to see her grow up.
Suzie was looking pretty nervous toward the end of the day. She got up from her chair and began clicking her heals on the floor just as we finished eating our cake. When my dad asked her what was wrong she responded, "PRESENTS!"
See pictures from Suzie’s birthday here.
July Flies By!
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Normally during the summer I would be updating from somewhere exotic: Alaska, Cambodia, the Appalachian Trail. This summer is a bit more normal, but certainly not mundane! We’ve been all over the midwest to share our ministry and to connect with friends.
Our Summer Events:
Fourth of July
We spent the fourth with family, supporting my aunt and uncle’s local business in Grand Ledge, and lighting fireworks. Check out more pictures here.
Tenth of July
We spent a day up north on the Leelanau Peninsula and Traverse City with good friends and partners in ministry. The place was stunning! Incredibly beautiful. We were there on the last day of the National Cherry Festival. Delicious! Pictures.
Seventeenth of July
We traveled to Ohio for a good friend’s wedding this past weekend. It was a lot of fun to re-connect with old friends and make new ones. Pictures.
Well, those are our major events. During the week, our internship with Trinity Church continues and we are re-connecting with old friends and close family here in Michigan. Please pray for us as we raise financial and prayer support for our ministry in Cambodia.
24 Years Young
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Sharon baked me a cake for my birthday! She worked on it all Friday morning at her mom’s house. Can it get any better than that? Well, I actually met like three people for the first time at my own party, which was the icing on the cake so to speak.
Here are a couple more photos: 
Carrying on the Name
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
Some families do construction, some practice law, and others work farms. My family does missions. It started with my grandfather, Richard Bruce Sr. Following his example, my father (Richard Bruce Jr.) decided to go into the ministry. I’m the latest installment, Richard K. Bruce, III.
An Encouraging Conference
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
When I graduated high school I received a congratulatory card with a very smart looking professor on the front of it. He had his finger in the air and a bubble over his head that read, "Now that you’ve graduated, here’s a tip." The message inside said, "DON’T GO THERE ANYMORE!" Well, we broke that rule last week and headed back to the school we just graduated from… but not to attend class!
We attended our first missionary conference as official New Tribes missionaries with Sharon’s sister Michelle. The whole experience was terrific. The encouraging speakers, refreshment in the Word of God, and chance to re-prioritize life was incredible.
During the conference I worked with experienced photographers to produce a slideshow of the best pictures from the conference and set it to music. I learned a lot about photography and had a great opportunity to re-connect with childhood friends and family I haven’t seen in a long time.
To see pictures of the conference, click here!
By the way, do you use twitter? So do I! Add me here.
Sharon’s Race
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Today was a long day. It started at 5:00 AM and I’m just going to bed. It’s good to be back in Missouri after Sharon ran a race this morning in Novi, Michigan called "Flirt with Dirt". She did really well, finishing fourth in her age bracket despite the rain, mud, and hilly trails.
Thank-you to those who prayed for safety during our trip. We arrived here safely for a missionary conference. We will be back in Michigan next week.
Sharon’s Birthday
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
If you Google "Zingerman’s Deli" you will come up with all sorts of mouth-watering results. Just writing this article is making me hungry. Now I’m eating a bowl of cereal as I continue writing. So here’s how the day went down:
We went to our internships just like we always do on Wednesday mornings. During our morning meetings we celebrated Sharon’s birthday with yogurt parfaits from McDonalds and birthday cards. It was nice of Leslie to remember her birthday even though we’d only been working for a few days.
We left the internship early and went south. It took us a while to find Zingerman’s because we don’t have one of those fancy GPS things in our car… too bad. We actually had do the old fashioned thing and stop into a AAA insurance store to get directions. Actually, I thought it was fun to drive around Ann Arbor.
When we arrived at Zingermans and parked we walked in and tried all sorts of new things at the urging of the staff, who are very friendly and helpful as you look through their massive list of sandwiches. After our meal we took a long walk in downtown Ann Arbor and went back to Zingerman’s for desert.
We didn’t have a problem getting out of Ann Arbor and we arrived in Detroit in plenty of time of time to see Sam and Kari step out of the terminal gates into the baggage claim. It was great to see them and catch up a bit while we were looking for a Taco Bell. Taco Bell? After returning from Honduras that’s where they wanted to go. It was, perhaps, strangest birthday celebration Sharon has ever had.
A Year Ago Today:
We were in Cambodia! It was our last day and we went to a nice restaurant to celebrate Sharon’s birthday. That trip was an incredible, eye-opening oportunity (and a hard birthday to beat!).
We hope that in another year we will be weeks away from going to Cambodia to minister. Sometimes the steps seem insurmountable, but we know we have a great God and incredible support from our family and friends.
… And We’re Back!
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
Life has been hectic here. The day after we got back to Michigan was my sister’s graduation, then over memorial day weekend we roofed my parent’s house. This past week I have been working down in Jackson and Sharon has been working on getting us settled into our new home. Look for new updates at our blog and here on our website soon! -Ric
We Made It!
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
We arrived safely in Michigan after a 12 hour trip in a car with no air conditioning. 
Just trying to get used to Cambodia, right? We are now settling in to my parent’s place here and celebrating Chelsea’s graduation tonight. I will try to post pictures later. Unfortunately, we don’t have internet at the house yet so things on the site will be sporadic until we get that set up. Thank-you for your prayers.
Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
This mother’s day we’d just like to thank our mothers who spent so much time and effort raising us. We both are blessed to have excellent families and especially dedicated mothers who love us very much. Although we weren’t able to be with them we still thought about them often.
-Ric and Sharon