How Did It Get Up There?

On the platform of our windmill is an ear of corn! (See Wordless Wednesday) How did it get up there? In fact it's the second ear of corn to end there! We have lots of squirrels here and there is a corn field across the road. That's not exactly a good hiding place!
Lord, I thank You for all the nature we enjoy here. I praise You because You are the Creator.

Wordless Wednesday

The Hiding Place

Last evening we (missions committee) showed the movie, The Hiding Place, at our missions movie night at church. I've seen the movie several times, but it always impacts me in a sad, moving, meaningful way. I definitely feel God's presence through the whole movie. Jerry and I had the privilege of going to and through the ten Boom watch shop and home a few years ago when we were visiting our friends in The Netherlands. What a privilege that was.

Lord, I praise You because of Your Abiding Presence. You are Omnipresent, You are Love.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sean! The years keep rolling by, they don't miss anyone. Not even you, not even me! I wonder what Christy, Max, Megan, Miller, Mason, and Maddie are planning for you...with that many planning, it's got to be good! I wish we were closer so we could celebrate with you. You are close in our hearts. I wish you a happy, happy birthday!
Lord, thank You for Sean. He's a good son-in-law. Watch over him and keep him. Help him to know that You love him.

Warm Fuzzy Feelings

I had two really nice unexpected things happen to me today! First I got an e-mail from a friend I haven't heard from in a long time. She wrote to thank me for sending them the newsletter. She is a former pastor's wife, Bonnie, so she knows some of the folks I write about. The second was a letter from my granddaughter, Sydney. It was so unexpected and so sweet! Grandchildren make life worth living!
Lord, grandchildren and friends are blessings from You. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Explanation

I guess I'll explain, very simply, what facebook is, due to a comment written. I didn't mean to turn folks off. Facebook is a way of keeping in touch with family and friends. It's not like a blog where we can write as much or as little as we want. On fb you just write a sentence or ask a question. I'm amazed at the friends I have. Folks I've not heard from in years. Nieces and nephews I would probably never be in contact with! It's so fun! I'm nearing the 100 mark of friends on my list! I didn't know I had so many friends! So don't be turned off, check it out...that's what I did and I was hooked!
Lord, thank You for friends.

Dilemma

There is no way I can only check facebook only a couple times a week! So I think I have a solution to my dilemma. I get up early most mornings...check fb. I go to bed late most nights...take my computer upstairs with me and check fb. Jerry takes a nap everyday after lunch...another good time to check fb. This will work and I won't be wasting my time during the main part of the day when I should be doing house work, cooking, reading, working on the newsletter, etc. Where there's a will, there's a way!
Lord, thank You for Your Abiding Presence. You are my Everything.

Addicted

Oh no, I have a problem...you see I'm the kind of person who can become addicted to whatever the latest thing is. The latest thing for me is facebook. I just logged into it yesterday out of curiosity and before I knew it I was on it and in it and...you get the picture. So a friend said she gets on a couple times a week, good idea. I'll try to follow her example. Is that how the rest of you manage to stay sane?
Lord, thank You for technology. Thank You for my computer. Please help me to keep it in perspective and use it to keep in touch with friends. Help me to time myself and not get carried away with just sitting here with my computer on my lap. I have so much to do. I love You, Lord.

Quiet!

All's quiet on the home front... I was very sick most of last week but you know how it is, especially for a mom...you don't, you can't just quit. I kept going all week, although Thursday I basically laid on the sofa after nearly passing out fixing our breakfast! This was newsletter week so I had to finish writing it and get it sent out by e-mail; and printed to hand out today at church. Thursday evening Ted called and asked how we were and if we'd like company for the weekend! I was telling him how sick I'd been all week when he said, "Syd wants to spend Valentine's Day with Grandma!" Oh...how do I say no to that? So I said they should come but to not expect any extra activities because I'd been sick. Also I hadn't done any housework all week! So they arrived Friday evening while I was finishing printing the newsletter. Saturday Jerry and Ted went out for breakfast, that helped! We shared valentines with each other after breakfast, that was fun. In the afternoon we had a tea party (which is a lot of work for me but is so special to the girls) and had a good time. So now they are gone and all is quiet. I'm tired but feel very loved by my granddaughter's and by Ted. I'll finish cleaning the kitchen and then just relax for the rest of the day and tomorrow.
Heavenly Father, You are my Strength. Thank You for the good time we had with our granddaughter's and with Ted. Please strengthen me. Help me to get completely better.

Valentine Tea Party

We thought Valentine's Day would be a good day for a tea party!

It's Monday morning now and I think I should add to this blog. It was a happy time. If you click on the picture you can see that Haleigh's cup is turned up side down and her spoon is across the top. The girls learned in the movie Felicity that when you don't want tea you do just what Haleigh did! That's the polite and proper way of saying no thank you. We ate red, heart shaped jello jigglers and heart shaped cookies with red hots on the icing. The tea was apple cinnamon.
Thank you, Annie, for your sweet comment.

Thank You, Lord, for granddaughter's, for fun, for tea parties.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Lorraine! Now you're the same age as Jerry! I do wish we lived closer to each other so we could get together more. Our long phone calls are good! It's so fun to reminisce about our childhood: playing house, school, and paper dolls. I hope you have a good time with your daughter's, son's-in-law, and grandchildren today when they take you out for dinner! I wish I could crash your party! Boy, wouldn't you be surprised! Well, don't worry, it's not going to happen. I wish for you a happy, happy birthday!

Lord, thank You for Lorraine. She's been a good sister to me. Help her to know You love her and You are with her every moment of every day. Touch her body, her aches and pains that come with getting a little older. Please give her a good day today and a happy birthday. I love her and You love her even more!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. God is love. We love because He first loved us.
I John 4:10-12, 16b 19

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Elmise! You'll soon be my granddaughter! We haven't met in person yet but I pray for you and I love you. I can hardly wait for you to come home! You will only have to follow the path through the woods to come to my house. Grandpa and I love it when grandchildren come to visit! I hope you are having a good day. I wish for you a happy, happy birthday.

Lord, thank You for Elmise and for the plan you have for her life. Please keep Your Hand upon her as she grows. Help this red tape and finances to get finished soon. I love Elmise and You love her even more!

I'm a Cartoon!

What a fun surprise to wake up to! A friend of our assistant pastor is an artist. He drew a cartoon of Pastor Eric and Susy...Eric put it on his blog...I wrote a comment...the artist read my comment...he drew me from a picture on my blog...I'm now a cartoon! How fun!!!
(A note to you reader's who don't leave comments...sometimes a comment yields rewards!)

Lord, thank You for fun surprises. Thank You for the gifts and talents You give us human's.

Update on my mom

It's Friday now and I've heard from my brother telling me how my mom is adjusting to the nursing home. So far she's doing pretty good. She has her electric wheel chair (scooter) so she doesn't have to walk. It's a really big home and her room is far away from the dining room. Hopefully she can ride her scooter right up to the table. She did that at the senior community she lived at in Washington. I'm really anxious to go out to see her again. I just need to see for myself that she's okay. Thank you to those of you who prayed for her and for me.

Thank You, Lord, for friends who help us carry our burdens. Thank You for helping my mom adjust to this nursing home. Please continue to be with her. Please be her strength. I Praise You and I Love You.

My Mom

Here is a picture of my mom and me last December when I went to visit her. She's almost 95 and I'm 70! I miss being with her. She moved today into a nursing home. I'm on the verge of crying...I should be with her. The weather is the only thing keeping me away. I live in Michigan, she is living in Colorado. As soon as spring arrives Jerry will take me out there.

Heavenly Father, please, please, be with Mother. Help her to feel Your Presence. Help her to make this adjustment. Please let this be a good nursing home, not like some are. Please wrap Your Arms around her and help her to Feel You.

Dressing up

Pastor Dave and Leah were so dressed up on Sunday for the beginning of the Love series so I took their picture. Pastor has on his tux! The Sunday before he suggested that folks dress up this Sunday. Jerry wore a suit and tie but he grumbled saying he'd probably be the only man to be dressed up...wrong! (I didn't tell him to dress up, he did it himself) Well, there were several others wearing suits! Jerry and Pastor Dave looked the best of all the men! I always wear a dress or skirt to church on Sunday morning so it was no big deal for me. I think it's a matter of respect to dress up; respect for God, respect for church, respect for myself!

Lord, thank You for this special series of sermons. Thank You for giving us clothes to wear. Help us to dress as we think we should, not as others do.

Chili Supper

Friday evening was another chili supper fund raiser for the adoption. I would say it was a success. This is a photo of some friends who came. The one on the left, I don't know. The one in the middle is Sigi and beside her is Sherry.


Jessica with friends and former neighbors, Kay and Jerry.


They had a raffle for folks to have a little fun and maybe win a prize! Haleigh is in yellow, I don't know the other girl. Kathy is making out her ticket so maybe she'll win. I bought one too but didn't win.


These are the crock pots of chili waiting to serve folks. It was good chili, mine included, third one on the right. There were all kinds of corn breads and muffins to go with it. And desserts.


This sign was just below the tv monitor where Kelby showed a DVD of the kids that he had put together. It was good. All in all, they raised almost $2200.00.
Thank You, Lord. You are Faithful. You are Love. You care for the orphans and widows. You Love us all. Please continue to help with raising the final amount so Armon and Elmise can come home.

Church Decorations for February

The Pastor is bringing a series of messages on Love during the month of February. Our sanctuary is decorated for a wedding! It's really beautiful. This is a wall hanging, there are two of them, one on each side wall. This series of messages is on the Love of God and His Church. Of course the love of a husband and wife are included, but main message is Christ and The Church. Out in the foyer there is a whole bulletin board covered with wedding pictures of folks in the church. Yes, ours is there too. It's fun to look at them and try to guess who folks were way back when! Of course some are young folks too.

This candelabra with these beautiful white candles is on one side of the platform.


This beautiful white cake with red roses on each tier was donated by a bakery downtown on Main Street. It's like a Canadian wedding cake. The icing is real but the cake under the icing is false! I learned in Canada they have a beautiful cake like this and then serve another cake, possibly a spice cake to guests. I notice the top layer is a different white, it's got to be my camera that caused that. The three layers are all the same white. It's a beautiful cake.


This bridal gown is hanging in front over the baptistery.
There are two of these large wreathes hanging. My friend, Judy, has made all these decorations, except the dress and cake. I don't know where the dress came from...it's beautiful. Judy has a real gift for decorating. It's so good she uses it for the Lord. She and Bob had help putting up the decorations, Herb and Jane, and Dave and Naomi. They all deserve credit.

Lord, I praise You because You are Love. Thank You for the Love of Christ and The Church.
Thank You for inspiring Pastor Dave to preach this series. Help us to apply it to our own lives. Thank You for the talents and gifts you give to folks to be used for You. Thank You for Judy's gift and for helping her to use for You. Thanks also for those who helped her.

Weekend

Isabella going down the hill.
Sydney coming down the hill.
We have a great sledding hill here in our town. It's not far from where we live. I was out with them until I thought my feet were going to fall off from being frozen. Then we all went to the warming house and sat by the fire. When they went back out I stayed inside and watched them out the big plate glass window. They waved at me every time they came down so I knew I'd better not stop watching! That was yesterday now today they went to early service with their dad so they could go sledding again during 2nd service. They're on their way home now.

Lord, thank You for the fun times we have with our grandchildren. Please watch over them, keep them from any harm, both physically and spiritually.