From a Burden of Material to Blessings of Quilts

We have missed 4 days this week due to the ice storm. I should do my homework (like I expect of the children) but instead, I have been making quilts for an orphanage in the Philippines. It's an interesting story of how someone's burden became the blessing of so many. One of my teacher friends had a "ton" of material to get "rid of" after her grandmother passed. While talking about it to me one day, I told her that I would be able to use some at our church for costumes. Long story short, she was able to bring three loads of the material to my house. Besides using it at school for bulletin board covers, at church for the stage at Children's Worship, and for costumes, I was able to send three shipments to a mission called Gifts for the Nations which uses/sends materials all over the world. And now several ladies from our church are making quilts from the last of the material for an orphanage in the Philippines. And a local nursing home has ladies ready to tie the quilts. The blessings keep growing and blessing more.

Duct Tape and Faces Do Not Make Good Combinations

Our preacher had a very unusual sermon this past Sunday. We were featuring 30 of the ministries people can be involved with in our church. For example, I manned the booth for Diapers for Haiti, Gifts for the Nations, and CARES. We need help sewing, clipping threads, turning, and stacking the diapers that are sent to a birthing center in Haiti. Well, the minister had a lady from the congregation tape his mouth shut with duct tape to illustrate, well, I'm not sure what it meant. Anyway, he had balloons with the names of each of the ministries written on them. He ask the lady to juggle two, then three, then more. He eventually had the congregation try to keep the balloons going. His point was to show that the ministries are in need of people. It was a great sermon, very effective. Then he had a man rip off the tape! The preacher was stunned, speechless again. The tape ripped off part of his skin and sideburns. OUCH!

Let's Sing and Pray

My granddaughter, Toots, spent the night last night. In fact, she spent the day also. When we were ready to go to sleep, (okay, I was past ready, and she was still bouncing off the bed) she told me how many songs we were going to sing and how many prayers we would say. After we had finished, I asked her who taught her to give such wonderful prayers. She said that we had done that. Don't take credit for it though. She always talks as if she is speaking directly to God, as we all should, and talks about what is important in that day. Someday I hope to be able to record what she says. Her prayers and sincerity would put most elders from our churches to shame. Thank you, God, for this wonderful girl who teaches us so much!

Can't See the Tree for the Tree

Hubby and I are leaving for a vacation to California this week with part of his time in church administrators' meetings. We have so much to get ready to take with us and notes explaining what to do here while we are gone. If all goes well, we are hoping to visit the Sequoia National Park to see some of the largest and oldest trees on this continent and get an updated picture in front of the tree. Hubby also wants to visit Disneyland just to check it off his bucket list. I have been twice, once as a kid, and once as a chaperon to 10 Special Olympians from our state. So this trip will be a different perspective. Hope I will be able to connect somewhere to continue my posts. Time will tell.

Bible Bowl Reflections

Well, we are home from the National Bible Bowl tournament. Our teams did well, learned much, and behaved within expectations. It is so rewarding to be with all the teams, sponsors, and parents who value learning designated verses of the Bible for competition. Thoughout the year we tell the kids they are learning God's Word to hide it in their hearts. At the competition, we reveal or show what is in their hearts as we play the games. Next year it is on to Denver for the finals.

Lemon in Black Paint

We have had our Saturn Vue for 6 months. And we have taken it in for minor repairs 6 times. The worse part is that the service department gives false information causing us to make more trips to fix the same item. Hubby didn't get the back hatch rubber covering fixed on Friday, due to their miscommunication. He has to return with it when the part arrives. But that's okay, because when we drove to church yesterday the oil light came on and stayed on. After church hubby checked the oil and it is fine. Oh, and he found a loose bolt lying beside the engine! Now where does that go? What is not attached this time? So another trip to see them, another adventure. Hubby is threatening to put a lemon sign on the side of the car when he drives it there the next time. Is this some kind of test for the owner? For the service department?

Busy Day!

Cleaned the house, off to Sunday School and church, lunched with the daughters and families, swam with the granddaughter, lead water aerobics, off to Indy for lunch with son and wife, back home to walk to get my 10,000 steps in for the day for a total of 70,000 for the week, read the Sunday paper, checked out Facebook, and now my post. Whew! Makes one very tired.

Hot Time at Church Camp

Hubby and I went to a church camp held locally to help serve dinner last night. The facility is new and not fully developed, so not everything is completely functional nor "done". There is no air-conditioning in the mess hall. And was it ever hot last evening. The sweat was pouring down my face and down my back. If I had the luxury of standing in front of a fan, it helped a little, but you can't work and stand in front of a fan too. The kids were having so much fun! Sweaty, in wet bathing suits, mud-smeared, barefoot, hair plastered back, sunburned, and smiling! People cared enough about them to provide this opportunity to attend camp. Many lasting impressions have been made this week. Many lives have been touched and changed. Thank you, God, for bring forth adults who have the call to serve You by serving the children.

Depressing News from the News

It is so depressing to listen to the news this morning. Father shoots and kills his 5 children then self in Washington. Three police officers killed in a hail of gunfire in Pittsburgh. Man barricades self and 4 hostages in house. Hours later police find the girlfriend shot dead and gunman dies at the hospital. He had lost his job. Gunman from the NY massacre was wearing a bullet-proof vest and was made fun of because he did not speak English well and he had lost his job. The common thread of most of these shootings was the loss of their jobs. Is this the beginning of more carnage because of the down-turn in the economy? How sad that when faced with the loss of one's job the only answer becomes death by guns. Is there a way to give people hope and help? When will the carnage be addressed by government? Or am I dreaming? My fear is that more deaths will occur by the result of guns because the idea has been planted in the heads of those who seem to have no hope. The news story of violence by guns becomes the solution. We need to pray that God will turn this around. And we need to be ready to help.

The Shack

I read a good book this week called The Shack. If you know anything about me, you know that I am not a reader. So to read a book in a week is something big. The book puts a whole new perspective on God, and on how we relate to Him. There were parts of the book that I didn't quite agree with, but for the most part, the book caused me to think in a new way. I don't want to give the storyline away, but trust me, you will be intrigued.

Celebration

Happy 36th Anniversary, Hubby.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My husband and I have been away to the National Missionary Convention in Tulsa, OK. We had a good time and were renewed in our desire to work in short-term missions. I was excited to find the booth that had the painted marble people and animals. I had seen them last year, but only bought a few individual things. This year I bought the Nativity scene as well as a gift for our granddaughter for Christmas. After we arrived home, our granddaughter, Toots, came over to visit. I had her help unwrap the Nativity scene and arrange it on the table. She was excited to do that until she saw the baby Jesus. Instead of being a marble, it is a small piece of something stretched out to look like a baby in swaddling clothes. She asked, "What's that?" When I answered that it was Baby Jesus, she said it couldn't be because Jesus is God. "Mimi, don't you know that our God is big?" Anyone know where I can find a painted marble that is BIG and still looks like a baby in a manger?

In Times of Pain

Pastor Bob came to my school today to meet with us and help with the healing process. He did an awesome job with the group who is in such pain from the sudden loss of a husband, sister, grandbaby, friend, or a relative diagnosised with cancer. We are a close staff so when one hurts, we all hurt. Thanks, Bob.

Sympathy to J

We never know how much time we have on this earth to love our families, witness to others, enjoy life, etc. The husband of one of our teachers was killed in a car accident this past Sunday. He was driving on a state highway, just like we all do, when the accident occured. J never thought she would be a widow at such a young age. But do we even give it a thought at any age? Our thoughts and prayers are with J and daughter.

Make a Bug, Buy a Block

Hubby and I worked at the Youth Kickoff at our church last night. It was for pre-Kindergarten through 5th graders. I was helping at the booth where children fingerpainted a concrete block to resemble a ladybug. The block was already painted black on the smaller end for the head and red on the other for the body. The kids used black paint to put dots on the red and white paint to make a smily face. Some of the bugs ended up being works similar to Picasso or Van Gogh. The bugs will be sold to the parents for $5.00 each. The goal for that is to raise funds to buy the materials to build a church building in Mexico. We need $7,500 to fund the materials. By enlisting children in this project, we are growing mission-minded children.

Prayer Journal

I keep a prayer journal and have for years. I write down on each line who or what I am praying for. Then I jot down the abbreviated thoughts of the prayer on the line. I have been using only one side of the sheet of a composition book. Seems these days I need to expand the list. So many people are in need of prayer and have asked for prayer. Those needs include health, catastrophic disease, death of a loved one, job change, life decisions, food, direction for career, a mate, marriage, the church, and more. Sometimes I become overwhelmed at all the problems/needs. But I need not be overwhelmed but turn all of those concerns over to God.

Sew, Sew, Sew

Would you believe that two ladies and I were able to sew 89 pairs of curtains in just 4 days?! Yeah, we used our talents to figure materials needed, purchase the sheets on sale at Wal-Mart, press, cut, sew, and transform them into custom-fit curtains. The curtains will be used for the 11 houses that are still in some stage of construction. You see, when the hurricane victims move out of their 300 sq ft FEMA trailer or 720 sq ft FEMA cottage into the 1100+ sq ft house built by IDES volunteers, the victims cannot remove any furniture or even the microwave from the trailer or cottage. So besides building the houses, the houses also require curtains, furniture, etc. Living in our own sheltered world, we have no comprehension of the magnitude that the hurricane still holds over its victims. I am now back to my home, enjoying the many comforts I have always had. I hope I will continue to be involved in helping them in some way.

Mission Mississippi

I know, I haven't posted in a while. I forgot to tell you that I am on a mission trip to Slidell, Louisiana and Pearlington, Mississippi. We left last Friday night, met up with 34 others and continued driving down on Sat. I am staying back at the church every day to sew curtains for the houses that IDES is building for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, I know, you are thinking that was over 3 years ago. But you wouldn't believe the amount of devastation and destruction that is still very visible. Back home we don't give them another thought, but being here in person changes ones perspective. More about this mission to come, but I right now I need to rest. I sewed 12 pairs of curtains today!

Inspirational Video

While watching the Today Show yesterday I was able to see the Lion video from You Tube. If you haven't seen it, please check it out. The original was shot 34 years ago, but is worth seeing.

Saving Money to Feed the Poor

Our granddaughter, Toots, stayed the night with us last night and will stay this morning. We have already had an exciting morning (it's always exciting with her.) Last night she was putting more coins in her fish bank. Actually, it is a savings bank for IDES, International Disaster Emergency Services. When the bank is full, we are to send the money to IDES so they can use it to fight World Hunger. When I explained this to Toots last night she seemed to understand. Well, this morning she picked up the reminder note about where to send it and began "reading" it to me. She said, "This is what big people take away from little kids so they don't have it any more." Somehow I don't think she got the message.