A Visit to My Friend

Yesterday I drove down to visit my friend who is in the hospital very critically ill. Now I know that's not worded right since he's still asleep. I visited with his family. There is so much to write I hardly know where to begin. I know some of you may say, well then don't write it, but this is my journal written for me...so I want to write it up. I left here about 9:00, picked up a friend (sister-in-law of Lou) and got there about 11:30. We were immediately taken in to see Lou, even I was allowed in to see him, because they explained at the nurses station: I was very, very close to the family and to Lou. He looked so bad, he was all hooked up to every kind of tube and wire and just sleeping. All I could do was lift him up to God in prayer. There was a nice looking young man there that I didn't know. He was also allowed in the room to see Lou. After we'd been there for a few minutes, Thong (Lou's son) said the pastor was going to pray. Oh, so that's who that is and why he was also allowed in. So we all held hands and formed a semi-circle around Lou and Pastor Ger prayed. When we left his room Pastor Ger and I had a long talk, just the two of us. What a wonderful Christian man he is. I'll write more about this later. Different ones of the family were in and out of the lounge so I got to see so many of them and got hugs from them all! Kha and her husband took me down to the lounge for lunch. Kha and I are very close and that gave us a chance to visit by ourselves. Before Xeng and I left to come back home we went to see Lou again...I was so surprised at how much better he looked! He was still sleeping but his color was better and he just looked more rested! Thank you, Heavenly Father, because You are our Healer. I praise You, Father, because You are In Control. Thank you for letting me go down to visit Lou and his family and for keeping me safe as I drove. Help me to be a true witness for You. Help them to see Christ in me. Please give them a clear understanding of Who You Are. And, please, speak to Lou while he's sleeping, reveal Yourself to him.

Happy ...

Well, now what do I do? I've been writing a happy birthday/anniversary greeting to each one in our immediate family and now today it's MY birthday! So what to do???!!! Well, happy birthday to me! This is actually my last year of middle age! But so far my birthday's been really good! Started out on Sunday at the senior pot luck luncheon. All October birthdays were recognized. We were each given a center piece to take home. Here's something really interesting: There are five of us women who have birthdays just two days apart! Wilma 10/27; Lois 10/29; Anita 10/31; Joan 11/2; Irene 11/4! Monday evening Penn and Jerry took Joan and me out for dinner to our favorite restaurant, Logans, in celebration of our birthdays! I've gotten some e-mail b-day greetings. I have four cards on top of the tv now from Richard, Cookie, Jerry, and Judy & Bob! And maybe after the mailman comes in a couple of hours I'll add to them! Jerry is getting me a very special gift...I don't want to say here what it is until I get it...sorry! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gift of life and for the best gift of all: Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Silver Anniversary, Pam and Gene! This is a great day! I can't believe 25 years have gone by already. Time flies when you're having fun! Oh, I know, life isn't all fun and games but you've had a good marriage and raised two terrific sons. Happy celebration! So now, on to the next 25! Thank you, Lord, for Pam and Gene. For giving them a good marriage and two healthy sons. Please keep Your Hand upon them and their marriage for the next 25 years. May they praise You and trust You and serve You. Thank you, Father.

Tree Down

We had a maple tree right beside the driveway that just had to come down. We don't like cutting maple trees but it was necessary. It was so close someone was bound to knock their side mirror off their car if they weren't watching. So today was the day. Rob came over to help Jerry. The tree was in two parts. They had chained the larger tree but not the smaller one. Well, it turned out that the tree was rotten inside right where it split apart! The smaller part surprised them both by suddenly falling against the house, mainly the porch roof! Thank goodness there was no damage done. I took the picture from the porch and the bell was really in the way. It's hard to read my captions so I'll write them out here. #1 says: tree going down! #2 says: tree against porch roof! #3 says: Jerry on the run!

Thank you, Lord, for helping Jerry and Rob. This was a big job. Thank you, for keeping them safe. I praise you, Father, because You are In Control.

Senior Potluck Luncheon

These are a few photos from our Oct. senior luncheon. There were about 40 folks there and we had a really nice relaxing time with good food! Our friends Penn and Joan had been gone for several weeks and arrived back in town in time to join us for dinner. Were we surprised to see them come walking in! It was great. Thank you, Lord, for good fellowship, good food, and good friends.

A Friend

Those of my readers who know me well know that I have many Hmong friends. These are people from Southeast Asia. One of my very dear friends is very critically ill, with an enlarged heart. I plan to go to see him/his family tomorrow. I taught his children to speak English when they first arrived here and became very close to the whole family, and in fact, to the whole Hmong community. They have moved now to another city so I don't have close contact with them like I used to but we still consider each other very close friends. Heavenly Father, I praise You because You are our Healer and You are Love. You love these Hmong people. Forgive me for not bringing them to You consistently. Help them to know You personally. I don't know where they are spiritually. I know they believe in You but I don't know if they have accepted Jesus as Your Son. Please speak to Lou while he's sleeping and reveal Yourself to him and to the rest of the family. Thank you for the privilege of being their friend. Please help me tomorrow when I go to see him/his family. Keep me safe as I drive, help me to find my way. I love You, Father.

Kitty

Our little kitty loves to lie on top of the telephone. She watches everything that goes on. Nothing escapes her eyes! But she never tells any secrets! Isn't she sweet?! Thank you, Lord, for our blessings in abundance. We even have things we don't need, simply for our enjoyment!

Hold Outs!

We have a few flowers that are just hanging on in spite of the frost that has hit us. The blue is, of course, a lonely little petunia (not in an onion patch!) and the pink is a begonia. It's not like they used to be, they were full flowers with lots of petals, now this is all that's left.

But they're still beautiful and I love them. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of and creativity of flowers.

Safely

I got a phone call a little after 11:00 PM last night saying Mother, Bill, & Vel had arrived home in Colorado. Mother was tired but okay and excited to be there. Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer. I praise You because You are Sovereign.

Today is the Day!

Today is the day Mother moves to Colorado! This is a huge move! Today I am praying without ceasing. Heavenly Father, I praise You because You are the Creator. You are Omnipresent. You are Love. Forgive me for worrying. You are In Control! Thank you for my mom. I love her but You love her even more! Please be with her today. Please give the plane a smooth path to fly through; give them a safe take off and a smooth landing. Please be my mom's strength. Be with Bill and Vel today too. They are taking on a huge responsibility. Please give them love, patience, understanding, patience, strength, patience...

Lord, also, please be with Doug as he loads up her belongings and then drives the big truck to Colorado. Keep him safe and alert.

Being On The Sidelines of a Family Weekend!

Pastor Dave & Leah pledged to love each other for another 25+ years!
At the reception, after the 'ceremony', at the Holiday Inn. Leah having a little fun with Jerry! Pastor Dave is giving the okay!
Nathan, Linsee, and Isaiah! Isaiah was dedicated to the Lord on Sunday morning by Grandpa, Pastor Dave. This was a wonderful family time for our pastor's family. Thank you, Lord, for Pastor Dave and Leah, and for the rest of the family too. Thank you for bringing Nathan home from Kuwait safely. I praise You, Father.

Nature

These pictures that look like the woods are on fire are actually the sunset last night! I took the pictures from our back yard. The whole sky was red! It was beautiful and I couldn't resist getting out my camera!

We've been working hard cutting and splitting and stacking wood. Jerry cuts and splits; I stack! It's a big job so yesterday when we went inside Jerry built a nice fire in our wood burning stove. The chimney with smoke coming out of it I took this morning. It was a cool crispy morning, Jerry built a fire again and saw the smoke coming out of the chimney against the deep blue sky. He hollared at me to bring the camera outside and see if I could capture the scene. Well, it's not what it was when he first called me because the wind came up. It was just rolling straight up, but it's still a nice picture. Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful sunsets, for our health so we can cut wood, and enjoy a nice warm fire on a cool crispy morning!

Meteorites

Last night was to be a spectacular night of meteorites. I woke up very early this morning, turned off the night lights for total darkness and sat in my loft chair watching the sky...in about an hours time I counted eleven meteorites as they zoomed across the sky in my viewing area! I wonder what it would have been like to sit outside with the whole sky above me?! O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him... Psalm 8:1 & 3 & 4a.

New Friend

I met a new friend a couple of weeks ago on my way home from Washington while I was waiting for my connecting flight in a large airport. I had a wait of several hours, the seats were all empty except for one just on the other side of my row and over about three or four seats. It was very quiet. Ernest and I smiled at each other a couple of times and then I shyly asked if he was also going to Michigan. No, he said, he was going to California. Our two gates were very close. We began visiting and something he said gave me courage to ask if he was a Christian! "Oh, yes", he said, "I'm a servant of Jesus!" Among other things, he's involved in Prison Fellowship. Well, as you can imagine our conversation became very interesting and even exciting at times! Near the end of our time he said, "You know, I missed my plane and I was so discouraged." Then he told how he was actually there while they were still loading but because of circumstances beyond his control he was not there ahead of time and his seat was given away! Now, he was waiting for the next flight and his status was stand by. He's a business man and needed to get to Calif. for meetings. Then he said quietly, "You know, if I had caught my flight we never would have met and had this very interesting conversation!" "And," I added, "I wondered why I had to wait so many hours for my connecting flight!" Our meeting was a God thing! We both agreed on that. Finally people began arriving for the next flight to Calif., then they began boarding, his name was called over the speaker and as he went to the check-in counter, I prayed, "Lord, please help him get a seat on this plane. He needs to get to his meetings." All of a sudden I saw him hurrying my way, waving his ticket, a big smile on his face. Then he hurried off to board the plane. "Good-bye, Ernest!" "Good-bye, Anita!" We may never see each other again on this side of life, but we're corresponding by e-mail and praying for each other and someday we'll be praising Jesus in heaven! Thank you, Lord, for meeting with Ernest and me. What a wonderful time we had together with You. Thank you for good God Times!

Yesterday-part 3 - Autumn!

This beautiful tree is in the yard of our church! Every year it's just beautiful. So, autumn has arrived. You can see play ground equipment under the tree. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of nature. I praise You, because You are the Creator.

More of Yesterday! Log Cabin Day

The front of Richard's and Marilyn's log cabin. This is an authentic log cabin first owned by a couple who were members of our church many years ago. They had no children and after their death Richard bought it and moved it to his own property. If I remember right, I think Richard said this is actually two log cabins that he put together to make one big cabin.

This is a working cookstove! There is a pan of mostly eaten cinnamon rolls sitting on top. Yes, Jerry and I each ate one! Mmmm! Marilyn made them in this old stove! I don't know how she knows how hot the oven is...it's a mystry to me!

The back of the log cabin.

Emmie made stone soup outside over the fire. Here she is stirring it to keep it from burning. She said this old black pot was full yesterday and it's almost gone now. I didn't taste it...I was full from eating Marilyn's cinnamon roll! The soup did look and smell good!

Richard had all kinds of old machinery working. Men love this. I don't know what they are all called except one, inside the barn, was a corn grinder owned by Richard's grandfather. Friend, Dale, was grinding corn in it. It looked like it'll make good corn bread! I just couldn't take pictures of everything, I wish I could have. Dear Lord, thank you for the preservation of yesteryears. So much progress has been made but our forefathers worked very hard. They would be totally shocked to see how things are done now today. I praise you, Father.

Yesterday-part one, Mexico!

Yesterday was my day to feature a missionary family in Mexico at our church. It was a lot of work to do it up right but it was also fun! First of all, we drove our new car down to Covenant Hills to get the large Mexico flag you can see hanging. The two round disc's that are also hanging, Jerry cut out of Styrofoam, I blew up photo's of the family to put on one side and the other side says South of the Border. Jerry let me use his DVD player to play a DVD of A Day in the Life of Emily. It had Mexican music playing. We had lots of artifacts on the table from Mexico, some loaned to me by Jessica. Even with all this people would have just walked by with hardly a glance...but the tantalizing aroma of taco's was more than they could take! Yes, a crock pot full of taco meat, scoop size nacho chips and grated cheese drew them between services and after, to have a taste of Mexico! They had been smelling it all morning! Then we were able to talk about the family we were featuring!

Pastor Shane stopped by to eat a taco! He gave us a thumb's up!

Here I am ready for the people! Come on over and enjoy a taco! We'll do this again next Sunday but I may serve something else if I can think of something simple to fix. I couldn't have done all this without Jerry. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of serving You; for the families who are called to serve You in another country; and for giving us creative ideas of how to promote these folks. I praise You because You are Omnipresent!

New Car!

Here's our new car! '06 Buick Rendezvous! Get this: the color is Cappuccino Frost! Sound delicious? It is. ( I really don't care to drink a cappuccino!) It seats seven so when we want to go somewhere with someone (like family) we don't have to drive two cars! We're very happy with it! We just got it Thursday. Yesterday we drove down to Covenant Hills. It really rides and drives nicely. Thank you, Lord, for our new car. Thank you for helping us to wait for just the right one. Now, please keep us safe as we drive and please keep deer from jumping out in front of us or into the side of us!

Friends

Harold and Marilyn, friends from our days of going to Mexico to work. Now they're living at the senior center where my mom is. Thank you, Lord, for good Christian friends and for the great memories we have of working together.

Roses

These roses are in various stages of blooming just outside Lorraine's windows! They are so beautiful! The black mark on the yellow rose is an insect! It slows clearly in a closer up view!
Thank you, Lord, for the exquisite beauty of roses!

Teddy Bears!

I love this picture of my mom. Lorraine and I bought these bears...we couldn't resist! The darker one is mine, we're giving the other one to someone. So we had some fun times along with all the work of packing! Mother is moving Oct. 26 to Colorado. Thank you, Lord, for good times to look back on and smile.

Sunset in Washington

I stayed with Lorraine for the weekend and took these pictures of the sunset from her deck! The entire sky was red! It was gorgeous! For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 108:4,5. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets the name of the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 113:3.

Autumn in Washington

Autumn has arrived in Washington! It's beautiful and I couldn't resist taking these pictures. I praise You, Lord, because You are the Creator!

Afternoon Tea

We had a tea for some friends one day. Here is Lorraine by the table.

Mother. You can see we used Bone China to serve everyone. We tried to do it up right!

These are friends: Mary (Mother's care giver) and Marilyn.

Lorraine and Harold (Marilyn's husband). Harold was the only man but he didn't seem to mind! It was a very nice afternoon. Thank you, Lord, for good friends.

Thanksgiving Day?

For all my Canadian friends: Happy Thanksgiving Day! If I recall, the second Monday of October is the Canadian Thanksgiving Day. So I wish for all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all my Canadian friends.

Grieving...

Every time I come out to this senior center I end up grieving and this time is no exception. There are two empty places at a table in the dining room where two couples always sat together for almost every meal. They were great friends. But, I watched Ed go down hill every time I came out here. First he had trouble walking, the next time I came he had a walker, then a wheel chair, then a care giver. The two couples still always sat together and enjoyed each other's company. This time I'm here and Howard and Lucille sit alone or with other residents. I finally asked about Ed and Betty. Ed died in August and Betty died in September! How sad...

Then there is Lawrence. He loves to tell stories of his past. He was a choir director for years. He and my dad were good friends and now he would stop by my mother's table and share another story with us. I loved him. I saw him being pushed in a wheel chair down the hall one day this week and I almost cried...even now writing about him makes me very sad. He has fallen a couple of times, broke his leg and some other injuries so he's now in nursing. The day I saw him I was shocked at how he looked. I said hello to him but he didn't respond. It's very sad. Thank you, Lord, for these wonderful folks. Thank you for this wonderful place where they can grow old and be well taken care of.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Betty! Yes, another year has gone by...for me too! But, life is good! The weather in Michigan is good! It's a beautiful day here in Washington too. I saw three bald eagles this morning! I hope your kids give you a wonderful day to remember today. I wish for you a happy, happy birthday! Thank you, Lord for my family... sisters-in-law too!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a very good day! It began with handing out the 3rd issue of Prime Time News. Everyone seemed pleased with it. Then following the 2nd service we had our first senior pot luck dinner. It was actually a soup/salad/dessert luncheon. We had a good turn out for so many folks being gone, 33 people! Lots of good soup and salads and desserts. Jerry and I hosted this one and folks signed up to host the next five months! It's a once a month luncheon. Photo # 1 is Vera & Marge; # 2 is Harold, Mary, Lois, Ken, & Bob.
# 3 Bob & Judy arrived home Saturday evening after being gone for a few weeks. # 4 is Richard, Jim & Muriel, Emmie & Bob. # 5 is Barb, Lena, Evelyn, & Marian. These are some of the better pictures I took. Everyone seemed to have a really good time and are looking forward to the Oct. luncheon. Thank you, Lord, for the privelege of serving you and for good Christian friends and fellowship!