Usually it’s a bad sign when law enforcement has to be called in to physically remove one of your neighbors. But in this case, it was a very good thing. In fact, I have no problem that they even used deadly force to take him down. I hope you’d say the same thing if your neighbor was an 11 foot gator!

About 9 months ago I had a near collision with another neighborhood gator. (Read here) But this fellow had reportedly been reclusive but entrenched in our neighborhood ponds for over two years. He was finally spotted again on Monday in plain view in the parking lot at CCCI Headquarters where we work. Shannon and the kids had even walked through this parking lot an hour or so before he was sighted.

As you can see from the photos below, this gator was big enough to consume my family for breakfast. Emphasize was. He’s no longer with us:

Click and follow the link below to view the photos taken of the eliminated neighbor.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tom.yohe/LakeHartAlligator

The video only takes 3 minutes to watch in entirety. It was created by CommonCraft. You can view the original on the CommonCraft site or read a transcript of the video.

This is the BEST NON-TECHNICAL EXPLANATION of how to stay updated on your favorite web sites. If you have ever wished, “Boy, I wish there were a simple way that my favorite web site would notify me whenever they post new stuff,” then this video is for you!

It explains how to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to stay updated. Almost all new web sites are offering free RSS Feeds (or syndications).

RSS Subscription Feed for HandsHeadlines.com is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HandsHeadlines

Why not use what you learn in the video above to stay updated on HandsHeadlines.com? It’s one of your favorite sites, I’m sure!

Again, the video is super simple. It’s called “RSS in Plain English.” This is not for geeks. Normal people will like it.

If you are thinking, “I just want to stay updated by email, that’s all.” Then there is a different free service you may want to check out offered by a web site called FeedBlitz.com See our post about it here.

It’s well known that alligators inhabit many of the thousands upon thousands of lakes and ponds which speckle central Florida. They typically are not aggressive and keep their distance from humans. . . .Usually.

Usually, that is until you ride your bicycle alongside a conservation area with some tall grass – perfect for hiding alligators. Last Friday exactly this happened to me as I came within about 18inches of a 5 foot alligator!!

Conservation areas are “natural areas” which land developers by law must include in larger developments to help preserve some of the wetlands in central Florida. More often than not, these conservation areas include at least one pond and lots of dense grass/bushes/trees. If I were an alligator, I would like to hang out in one.

Friday morning on my normal bike commute to the office, I was pedaling along my normal route: A wide asphalt sidewalk trail which runs parallel to a rode heading to the office. A conservation area backs up to the sidewalk trail. So, as you ride to the office, the road is on your left and the conservation area is immediately to your right. The grass gets very high during the summer. And, by law, the grass must remain “natural” – meaning that no one can cut or trim it beyond a certain point.

So, now that you have the context, here is what happened:

1. I was pedaling along the asphalt trail at my normal moderate 8-10mph.
2. The whole width of the trail was at my disposal, yet for some reason I was hugging the right side.
3. At least once I thought, “Man, this grass is tall. I guess it’ll just grow out of control till the end of summer.”
4. As I glanced down, the corner of my eye caught a dark green blur buried within the grass.
5. “Yikes. That was a gator!” I said something of this sort aloud.
6. My bike tires were no more than 18 inches away from him.
7. My first thought was, “Keep pedaling, hard!”
8. Then, after I had put some distance down the trail, I turned around, crossed the road, and tried to gain an observation point to see the gator.
9. Quickly I saw what he was interested in: an armadillo (or what was left of him) had become roadkill in the middle of the road beside the trail.
10. After just a couple of minutes, the gator emerged from the grass and came right up to the curb!
11. He was aware of me, but had his eye on the roadkill.
12. After a few minutes of sitting still, he did a 180 and returned to the grass. (I guess he decided the roadkill wasn’t worth it after all).
13. Later I saw him returning to a pond in the conservation area.

After all this, I KICKED MYSELF for not taking a photo. I even had our digital camera in my backpack, just forgot! It was one of those memories that needed to be captured to share, but will definitely stay etched in my mind for a while.

If you want to see some good photos of gators found in some ponds very close to where we live, my friend Rob has a couple you need to see: Rob’s gator photo #1 Rob’s gator photo #2

May 16th marked the 6-month anniversary of the Hand Clan living in Orlando.

The moving truck unloaded all our stuff on November 16th, 2006. And, after we finally installed some shelves in the garage and freed up enough floor space to actually park the vehicles, we’re happy to report that about 95% of the boxes have now been unpacked!

But moving is a process that involves much more than arranging furniture and unpacking boxes. For us, it has been a relational process of getting connected with neighbors and new friends.

Back in November we had several specific prayer requests related to this relational process of transition. Amazingly, the Lord has answered every single one of our concerns, even beyond what we asked!

ANSWERED PRAYERS! . . .
New Relationships for Spiritual Growth:
A few other couples with young kids who are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ live in our neighborhood! After meeting them, one family decided to begin a small group Bible study for all of us. Now the weekly group meets in our home (see below)!
These new friends have really helped ease the transition for us. Shannon connects with the wives at a weekly Jazzercise class (see more). I ride my bike over to the office with a couple of the men. We see each other often and our kids play together.

Kids’ Friends:
Avery, Addison and Toby have each made good friends right here in the neighborhood. It has been a real blessing to have friends and a playground within walking distance! Shannon got connected with a homeschool co-op called HIGH Day, and during the school year took the kids there to participate on Fridays.

Church Home:
A big answered prayer. For a few months, we were visiting several churches but now we’re in the process of joining Crossway Community Church. Already we’re getting involved there.

So, how do we like Orlando?
The Lord has made the transition much better than expected. A lot of it centers around new friendships and the kids enjoying things here. Of course we miss Atlanta. And, no doubt, Orlando is NOT the South (culturally). But, hey, there’s still hope: Several restaurants here have good sweet tea, people DO understand our accents and even occasionally say “ya’ll,” and opportunities abound here for fishing, bbq cookouts, car races, cow tipping or a variety of other redneck activities. So, I think we’ll stay.

Good friends come to visit:

Recently we had some visitors from our sending church in Mableton, GA.  Frank and his son Jonathan came to town for a few days to attend a conference in Orlando.  We had a lot of fun hosting them and catching up.  They also enjoyed a tour of Wycliffe Bible Translators as well as our office at Campus Crusade for Christ – featuring the Jesus Film Master Studio Tour.

Come on down to Orlando – “VacationWorld USA” – and we’ll show you around too.  Our welcome mat is out for you!

The Lord chose a perfect location for us! I’m certain this is the easiest commute to work I’ll ever have.

** Campus Crusade for Christ Headquarters on the horizon. Photo taken from our back window. **


** The six minute commute **


** Closer view of CCC World Headquarters **

Moving Day at the Hand house was November 14th.

After packing for days on end, our house in Mableton was stacked deep in boxes.  Our last move was “pre-kids” almost 9 years ago, so we’ve seen exponential growth in our ‘Household Stuff’ department.

Understatement of the year:  Moving is overwhelming!

What did people do before the cardboard box?  Certainly back then people must have had much less stuff to put in the boxes anyway!



Avery, Addison and Toby say farewell to some friends and take one last turn on the backyard swingset.



Go with the the pros!  The movers arrived and promptly tackled the mountain of boxes.  These guys did a great job:  Hardly a scratch on any of our items; they were very throrouh and courteous.  All of our stuff arrived in Florida on time and we did not lift a thing.  Praise the Lord for so many answered prayers with a good, safe move!

Here is a bird’s eye view of just how close our new home will be to Campus Crusade for Christ Headquarters. (Map courtesy of Google)

Although the photo indicates there are only open fields in the area north of Wycliffe Bible Translators and Campus Crusade for Christ, over 100 houses have been built there during the last year.

Only the Lord and His grace could have provided such a convenient location for us! It will be a ½ mile drive, 4 minute bike ride or 10 minute walk to the office each day!

To sum up: The Lord God heard all our prayers and He answered! . . .And He answered even beyond what we prayed for!

Sold Our House
We asked you to pray that our house in Mableton would sell by Columbus Day (October 9th). The people buying our house came to see it the day before Columbus Day and gave us a formal offer two days after Columbus Day! Please pray that the closing goes well – it was scheduled for November 8th but has been postponed a day or two due to some technicalities (incomplete paperwork) on the buyers’ side.

Support Provided
We still need approximately $200 per month more to be at our minimum goal, but compared to where we were support-wise a year ago, it is simply amazing! What’s even more amazing is how God provided again and again through unexpected and unplanned avenues. Praise the Lord!

Home in Orlando
It’s still coming together, but it looks like we will be able to purchase a new home in Orlando which is within walking distance of Campus Crusade for Christ Headquarters!! Originally, the price of this home was way more than we could afford. After they accepted our low-ball offer, we can only give credit to the power of prayer through God’s amazing kindness. See more.

Turkey on Columbus Day?

  Albeit only October, we had a small Thanksgiving service at the Hand house this evening.  After praying for our faith goals for the last 40 days or so, we have so much to be thankful for!  

  Many prayers – specific prayers – have been answered.  Yet the best result we’ve seen is that our hearts have grown peacefully more confident in our Father and His great love for us!  He is a God of grace.  Truly, although He was rich, he became poor for our sake, so that through his poverty we might become rich.  If our lives are gripped with this simple truth, everything else falls into place.

Answered Prayers
These are the results of your labors of prayer!  Give thanks to God with us for what He has done so far. . .and we believe there’s more to come!

• Almost $800 in monthly support has been provided in about the last 40 days.
• Over $400 in commitments have come in just the last 5 days!
• We’ve been introduced to and personally spoken with 27 new potential financial partners in the last month.  With busy schedules, that is a miracle in and of itself!
• About 90 new people have joined our prayer team this year – approximately 30 new in the last 40 days.  It’s no coincidence many more prayers are being answered!

There are amazing stories behind several of these new commitments.  Too much to share here right now.


Inside the Ballpark

• About $250 in monthly support is still needed at this point.  With at least 2 people still praying about their decision and several more potential partners we have yet to contact, there’s great hope this remaining amount will be provided.
• After conferring with our leaders in Orlando, we are close enough to our goal to begin tentative plans to move!!  Perhaps as early as next month.

House Update

• Several of you know that a realtor showed our house to a couple Sunday – while we were at church which allowed us to recruit even more people to pray for it to turn out well!  This particular couple had seen our house once before and returned for a second showing.
• We did get word that the realtor called our agent with a few “standard fare” questions about our house on Sunday, and did not indicate one way or another what they were thinking.
• Our agent will check back with them soon.
• Please keep praying!  This is our biggest need right now – for our house to sell.

 
Needed Break

• Early Wednesday morning we are leaving for a needed break!  This is a trip we had planned a few months ago yet it is coming at a great time.  The Hand Clan will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Washington D.C., plus several friends and family in Virginia.  It should be an educational and fun time for our family.
• We’re planning to return around October 20th.  After then we’ll begin ramping up towards our move.
• Pray that we’ll be refreshed and have some good ‘down time.’
• Pray that the Lord will continue to do miracles while we are gone.  Specifically, that the house will sell.

Thanks a TON for your persevering prayer.  The Lord is answering!!