God so loved...

It's been a wonderful day with the Lord. There were so many prayer requests in Sunday School today. We got word during church that one of our members, Debbie Schmidt, had passed away this morning. She had been suffering from colon cancer and is now in her Heavenly home. Pastor Mike preached on John 3:16 this morning. A very familiar verse, but an awesome story. It is difficult to comprehend such love. I can't imagine sacrificing one of my children or grandbabies for the whole world. To think that God sent Jesus, His only Son, to die for me - it is a very humbling thought. I pray I will be able to remember each day that Jesus died for me so that I might live my life for Him. Thank you, Jesus. Music is such an important part of my life and the one thought that comes to mind now is from a favorite hymn: "Then sings my soul, my Saviour, God to Thee, how great Thou art, HOW GREAT THOU ART"

Grandbabies & Friends

We had a great time at church - had Abby and Katelyn with us. There is nothing like spending time with your grandbabies and it is an added blessing to have them in church with you. They both enjoyed wearing one of my necklaces with their dresses. I'm teaching them young the importance of accessories and coordinating your outfits. God's blessings are so many - friends are one of my favorites. We had dinner with Pastor Mike and Ms. Deb at Ruby Tuesday's. The food was good and the company was even better. It was wonderful to be able to relax and just visit...

It's a God thing...

Today we headed to Thurmont to see AJ and Stephanie appear at Food Lion's Customer Appreciation Day. They performed their different routines in baton. Abby sat on my lap while we watched. The girls did real well. I can see AJ improving each time and Steph continues to do well. While we were there a Catoctin Zoo rep was handing out free passes for adults and kids. I asked for 2 adult and 5 kids to give to a family I know in the community. Then I thought about Scott having the girls this weekend and how much they love animals. Chris went to see the guy about getting some passes for his family. I asked him to get another adult and 2 kids since I realized I had one extra (kids under 2 don't have to pay). Abby was holding our passes. She would hold up one at a time and we would look at the animals. Then I would hold them and pass them back to her one at a time. John even took a turn. We did this numerous times with me growling if it was a leopard or making monkey sounds if it was a monkey. We had 2 adult (passes were blue - this will be important momentarily) and 5 kid passes (which were yellow). I heard the man tell Chris he only had two adult passes left, but plenty of kid ones. Chris took the 2 adult and got 5 kid ones. (Adults for he and Desiree and then 3 kid tickets for their girls and 2 kid ones to give Scott.) I told him it would be OK - I would just give one adult pass to the family - maybe just the Dad could take the kids and the Mom could have some rest time. Here comes the God thing - get ready. Abby gave me the tickets as a group which were now all mixed up - could see two blue ones in different spots amongst the yellow. I went through them to count out the number for the family and the ones to give to Scott. I took 1 adult and counted out 3 kids for Scott. Then when I went to check the tickets for the family - I suddenly had 2 adult and 4 kids - just what I needed. I immediately looked up and said it is a God thing. John, Abby, and I had all handled the tickets one by one and there were only 2 adult tickets. I looked at John and said you know there were only 2 adult ones and he nodded his head. I looked at Chris and John and said IT IS A GOD THING. Then I looked toward Heaven and repeated several times - Thank you, God ! How awesome a God do we serve... Thank you Jesus for a wonderful day, showing me once again you are in control, and with You nothing is impossible ! I love you, Lord.

Time with the kids

Cliff and Chris came by on Thursday night to change the radiator in the John's car - the Toyota. Then it was such a beautiful night, I made supper and we ate outside. We had beef stew and rolls. We talked, laughed, gazed at the stars, and laughed some more. We talked about the wonder of God to make the stars and how many there were. They were just beautiful. Friday night, we met Julie and Scott to look at some tiles for the kitchen counter. Then we went to Applebee's for a late supper. (Julie had to work late again) We talked about everything - mythbusters episodes, childhood memories, movies, funny things the kids have done, etc. I can truly say God has blessed us with a wonderful family and we enjoy spending time with them.

Happy days...

It seems the days are passing more quickly. I had a wonderful time on Thursday with the Shepard, Lawson, and Yoho families. Went to Woodbridge to practice Ms. Deb's and Kim's song for the upcoming wedding - our first practice. We got more comfortable each time. Had done some personal shopping for Ms. Deb and Kim - finding red dresses for the wedding. They looked sensational in their outfits if I say so myself - however, the guys all thought they looked good too. Then we all went to lunch: Poppa Shepard, Ms. Jean (fiance), Pastor Mike, Ms. Deb, Davey, DL, Kim, Andy, and my hubby. Sat beside one of my favorite hunks - Davey (the youngest son of Pastor Mike & Ms. Deb). Both their boys (John - mentioned in earlier blog) are such handsome hunks and I'm privileged to get hugs and kisses from them all the time. Eat your hearts out ladies ! Hadn't seen DL in a long time - it was good to joke around with him. He's such fun and a wonderful guy. Missed Ben (son of Kim & DL), but will see him in a few weeks. Got my hugs and kisses from Andy too - another gorgeous hunk (son of Ms. Deb's brother, Mike). With my hubby beside me, I was thrilled to be in the company of such handsome men. Ms. Jean, Ms. Deb, and Kim looked pretty good too. I feel like part of their family - God is so good. What a blessed day !

AWANA kick-off carnival

AWANA is a program at church for preschool thru elementary aged kids. John and I went tonight to help with the kick-off carnival. Jill Yoho did a great job organizing it. She has a special way with kids and organization. There were lots of volunteers to help out. John helped Cliff & Woody put up the moonbounce. It was a big hit as all the games were. Couldn't tell you how many kids registered for sure, but it was a great turnout. Had some new folks in the community come and register their kids. It is a great outreach tool. I manned the "guess how many candies are in the jar." The first jar (about half the size of a gallon jar) had tootsie rolls , the second (same as first) had candy corn, and the third (gallon jar) had blow pops. You wouldn't believe the guesses we got. One lady told her son to guess high because the little girl in front of him had guessed 29 tootsie rolls. The little boy guessed "10 hundreds" - it took a moment for my tired brain to realize that equaled a 1000. (I actually was good at math in school - I just hadn't heard 10 hundreds in a while.) For the candy corn, he guessed 10,000. The numbers were 267 tootsie rolls, 697 candy corn, and 107 blow pops. Three different kids won the 3 jars - they were excited ! All the kids seemed excited about AWANA starting next Wednesday. It was a great time in the Lord with good friends and volunteers reaching out to the church and the community. We serve an awesome God. Luke 18:16-17 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

God blesses...

Wow - these last few weeks have been busy. God blessed me with the most wonderful of husbands - one perfect for me. He has been a real trooper with our schedule - mostly commitments I've made. I'm thrilled with the new kitchen except for the countertops. Scott stopped by tonight and suggested putting tile over them. It's a great solution and he's willing to do the work even after I told him I wanted/needed it done now. I want it all done so we can clean the kitchen (dust from installation, scrub the new sink, etc.), put stuff back, and decorate. I've been looking for new curtains - even thought of sewing them myself - but, can't find any material or curtains I like. I'll keep looking until I find the right thing. Thanksgiving isn't that far away and everyone comes here. It will be exciting to cook in the new kitchen. Thank you God for a wonderful family...

Another great few days...

Been a busy few weeks and it doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon. Saturday we ran some errands in the afternoon; Sunday - we had a great day at church. Mr. Woody is back for a visit and it's always good to see him. Told him he should move back here and I think he's ready. Then we took Mom to Red Lobster Sunday evening. We had a good dinner and an enjoyable visit. Then Cliff and Julie stopped by after SMYDEK to see the progress on the kitchen. We had a short visit with them. Today the guy came to install the floor - it looks great! We won't walk on it until tomorrow. Almost a complete transformation of the kitchen - have to hang curtains, get shelves lined, and everything put back. An exciting time. Can hardly believe it is our home. Went with Ms. Deb over to Tysons Corner to meet her sister, Kim, and her daughter, Dawn, to look for dresses for Poppa Shepard's wedding. We found one for Dawn, but nothing for Kim. We had a great time laughing and shopping. Friends are a special blessing God gives us to enjoy. I'm very blessed to have so many friends and I love spending time with them. Bonus for the day - got to see one of Ms. Deb's hunky sons, John, before he left for work. I love that kid and he is easy on the eye! Never hurts to appreciate all of God's wonders...

Great day with friends and the Lord

It has been a very busy week. The contractor has been working on the kitchen. He finished today - it looks great, but doesn't seem like it's our house - shock of having some new items in our home. The floor will be put in on Monday. That's when it will all seem real - a finished product. I spent a good part of the day with my cousin, Ms. Jean. We haven't spent time together in over a year at least. We had lunch and I gave her the tour of the growth in Urbana. We had a wonderful time. I enjoy Ms. Jean so much - she has always been a special part of my life. She kept Julie for us when Julie was just a baby until she started school. I can never thank her enough for that piece of mind in knowing my child was loved and safe. Hope to spend time with her again very soon. Then when I got home I finished the church newsletter and powerpoint presentation. The paint smell was strong so we were going to go out to supper when John remembered a message for me. I called my friend, Dianna, and she invited us to a revival meeting tonight. The speaker was Dr. Branson who was fantastic - scriptural preaching and he had a great sense of humor. He preached on the Glory of God. Ends up he is the brother of Poppa Shepard's fiance - small world. Got to see Poppa Shepard & Ms. Jean (Poppa's fiance - not my cousin), and Pastor Mike & Ms. Deb. We all went to IHOP afterwards - there were 16 of us. We had a great time. It's been a full, glorious day and I'm off to bed...

Busy weekend

Since we are without a stove during the kitchen remodel, we had to grab something for supper on Friday night. Then we went to Lowe's in Frederick to get some sample hardware for the cabinets. Came back and decided on the one we wanted, but it was too late to go back and get more. Had a good time with the grandbabies this weekend - Scott's girls. We celebrated Katelyn's 8th birthday by going to the movies, McDonald's, and then to Mom's for ice cream and cake. It was good to be in church today. We made Sunday School and church - PowerPoint presentation went well except for one slide - it didn't translate well, but I'll correct it before next week - not bad for the first time. Got to hold some babies - what fun. Sammy is growing up so fast. He is really crawling at a fast pace now. Jude was all full of smiles. Jack was absolutely adorable in his cute outfit. After church, we headed to Hagerstown for Josh's & Eli's birthday party. Got to hold Phoebe - she is petite but growing. She has the cutest giggle. Then we had to go to Lowe's in Gatihersburg to pick up the faucet and cabinet hardware for the contractor's to install tomorrow - had hoped the Lowe's in Hagerstown would have the hardware, but no such luck. The kitchen is coming together quicker than we expected. God is so good...

An exciting week...

My creative side has had a wonderful time this week. We are launching the new format for the church newsletter/bulletin on Sunday. I enjoyed redesigning the newsletter and giving folks a little something different to look at. I'm a firm believer that people get used to the same look too quickly and pretty soon aren't really reading it - more like skimming it for something to catch their eye. I also did my first PowerPoint presentation to be used for our church announcements before we start the praise part of the worship service. I just found out tonight that the church laptop can't handle the new version of PowerPoint that I used. I had to go back and save it to a lower version - we'll see what converted. Wes (our worship leader) is going to review it - he also has an earlier version so he couldn't view my presentation the first time. Am waiting to hear what he thinks of it now that he'll be able to view it. I'm excited to be releasing my creative side in new ways...

What a beautiful night...

The stars are absolutely beautiful tonight. I'm a big fan of God's imagination and sense of humor. He made us which I'm sure provides Him with plenty of laughter. We can be very funny human beings. Then He gives us so much beauty to behold. The full moon was spectacular last week and now tonight the stars. I tell the grandbabies I look up at the stars and say "I love you" and God carries the message to them. When they look up at the stars, they will get my "I love you" message delivered by God through the stars. What an awesome God we serve...

Praising the Lord in a different way...

Yesterday, John and I praised the Lord in a different way - we went to Hagerstown to support two of our grandbabies in a baton competition. Ordinarily we wouldn't miss church for anything, but this was their last competition and we hadn't been able to attend one this year. It was exciting. Stephanie won Miss CAMA (Capital Area Marching Association) for 7-8 year olds. AJ won 1st runner-up for Miss CAMA, 9-12 year olds (I think the ages are close to this, she's 11). They both did very well and we are proud of them. Abby - the 2 yr old - would ask me if I wanted to see her routine. She would then mimic stuff she saw the older girls do. It was hilarious, but she is really good for a 2 yr. old. She sometimes "forgets" she's 2 - she'll make up a new age. Yesterday she ranged in age from 3 - 11. Basically she wants to do anything her sisters do. She even ran and got in the picture with Stephanie and was quite distressed when her Mom told her to move. We missed being at church so much, but we were still praising the Lord !