Busy & Restful Day

Before church this morning, I made a top ramen salad to take to church for this afternoon's dinner. Every time there is a 5th Sunday in the month, we have an all church dinner. Everyone is asked to bring something to contribute to the meal. This time I brought a main dish/salad. The picture didn't turn out too well, so I'm not including it. Fortunately, the dish DID turn out well as was evident by what I brought home - not much.

The message was from Ephesians 5:8-14: Piercing the Darkness when Your Batteries Are Low. As always, it was very good, thought provoking and challenging.

After the service, we had the dinner. There was lots of food and fellowship. After the dinner I had a meeting with 2 other women to plan our next Ladies' Night Out, which will have a missions emphasis. It's going to be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work to pull it off. I'm depending on the Lord to give me the energy and ideas I need.

The rest of the afternoon and evening, I rested. After all, this is a day of rest, right? I sat on the deck and read a book Andy got, entitled: The Reason for God by Tim Keller. He is the pastor of a large church in Manhattan, NY, of all places. Andy has read most of it and was raving about it, so I decided to see what all the hype was about!

When I got tired of reading, I walked around our yard and took pictures of flowers that are blooming.

Mums
Rose of Sharon
Ice Plant
Andy's Dad's tomato plants

I've recently been blessed by a song Mercy Me sings, God With Us, especially the words, "the debt is paid, these chains are gone." Check it out.

Not Guilty

Several months ago, I found Colossians 1:22 even though I've read through the Bible many times and even studied it while attending PCB (now PBU). But the verse struck me with more significance this time so that I memorized it and have been ruminating on it ever since. It says: "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and FREE FROM ACCUSATION." How many times do we sin or do something foolish and wish we could hit the edit or delete button? Then we feel awful and beat ourselves up in our minds.

But...

What freedom there is in Christ. He has forgiven all my sins and does not accuse me, in fact he is always in God's presence interceding on my behalf. Can you believe it?! Don't we all struggle with the self-beating and hang-dog feelings when we've sinned? But when we confess our sin and repent, we are forgiven and no longer need to keep rehearsing it and feeling like a failure and that we don't measure up. Jesus died to forgive all my sins: past, present and future. He is my Advocate not my accuser. In fact, Revelation tells us that Satan is the "accuser of the brethren." So when I feel guilty, guess who is whispering in my ear. Certainly not Jesus. He is FOR me. What a GOD.

When Jesus died, my sin was imputed to him on the cross, but his righteousness was also imputed to me. So when God looks at me, He sees me through the grid of Jesus. What an incredible plan. Who could have thought up something so profound except the infinite God of the universe.

And when I am guilty of sin, He is gentle in His prodding. I love the verse that says, "his kindness leads us to repentance." Aren't you much more motivated to do what someone wants when they are kind and loving to you as opposed to someone who tries to motivate you out of guilt or obligation? I know I certainly am.

Dawn spent the day with us. She worked at the church yesterday, then wanted to go with Andy this morning when he did his bike trip. So they got up this morning at 6:00 am and were out the door. They got back to the church at 8:30. I think Andy said they did 27 miles.
I did laundry almost all day long. I hadn't done any since Monday night, so it was pretty piled up. I also made some spaghetti sauce and zucchini bread. Andy's Dad was gone most of the day with Dan & Lou who took him to NY to see the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays game. Anyway, Mom was here alone, so spent a lot of the day visiting with us. She's so social, which is fine with me. I like having her around.

The other day, Andy brought me roses. He is so good to me. What a godly example of how Christ sacrificially loves the church. Aren't those flowers beautiful? He brought them home on Wednesday and they still look really good on Saturday. They're a pretty color, too, with that darker red on the edges of the petals.

This evening I had to water all my flowers and plants. We have not had rain for a long time.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I love church!

Catsup

For being an empty-nester, I've seen a lot of our daughters and their families in the last 3 days. Yesterday morning, I drove up to see Amy and help her make catsup (she spells it ketchup and I'm using the alternate spelling just to be different!). We worked in the morning at washing the tomatoes and putting them through the grinder to get rid of the seeds and skins. Then the juice just had to cook down to the consistency of catsup. So all afternoon, it just simmered and cooked with us occasionally stirring the pot and checking on it.
The rest of the day, I helped Amy with housework and just hung out with her and the kids. We worked in her garden and folded laundry. She had been feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that she had to do, but hey! She has a newborn and a 2 year old. I think she is very productive considering. And isn't taking care of little people of so much more importance than getting work done? I mean, in 50 years what will you be remembered for: an eternally immaculate house or well adjusted children who've grown to productive adulthood?

By the way, Chase is well on the way to following in his daddy's footsteps:
Anyway, it was a pleasure to do what I could to help her. No wonder she was feeling overwhelmed. Look at this garden...
Pretty discouraging???

I got a path cleared and uncovered a rose bush!







And here's another kind of rose!
I stayed and had dinner with the family, then left so I could meet Christy at the McDonald's in Morgantown. I had left my sneakers at her house on Saturday and was wanting them back so I could do my exercising every day. She had been out in Lebanon picking peaches so we were able to connect on our way home.

I also talked to Dawn yesterday, by phone not in person.

So what did Andy do while I was gone all day? The concrete truck came in the morning and poured the slab and steps. They were done with that by 1:00 pm, then he had the rest of the day for other little jobs. He cleaned/organized the old garage and did some spot painting in the bathrooms. He went out to dinner with his mom and dad. In all my 16 years working in the church office, I've never had babysitting as part of my job description. But this morning, a young mom came in to say she had a strange question to ask me. She said she just applied for a part time job and needed to have a drug test, but they wouldn't let her bring the baby in. Her mom was in Maine, her sister-in-law was at the shore and she had no idea who else to ask to watch her baby. She said he was sleeping and he would probably remain asleep. I said, "sure, bring him in." He did wake up, but he was in a happy playful mood and sat in his stroller and smiled, played and waved his hands and feet the whole time she was gone.

I was even able to get some work done which I had a lot of today.

One More Thing

Andy and I went to work today, but he did some back and forth from church to house because he had hired someone to frame up for pouring concrete tomorrow on our front porch. A concrete truck is scheduled to come tomorrow to pour the slab.

Happy 75th

Amy and Andy's mom actually have the same birthday, but we celebrated Amy's on Saturday and Mom's on Sunday. Our church had a hymnsing planned for Sunday night and since Mom loves hymns and it was planned for the day of her birthday, she decided to have a party in her honor! She invited her children and grandchildren and some friends and other relatives to join her at church, then to their/our house afterwards for eats. She had originally planned the party herself, but it got bigger and more elaborate until she got herself so worked up that she decided to call the whole thing off. Then Dan (Andy's brother) and Linda (a cousin) took over and let everyone know we were still going to celebrate but we wouldn't let her know. That way we could still honor her but she wouldn't have the headache of planning it.

Dawn organized and led the hymnsing. She did a fantastic job with an orchestra of brass, strings and woodwinds. The music was awesome. After the hymnsing we all went over to their/our place for the party. Mom and Dad had rented a tent and everyone had helped set up things and prepared the food.
Dan, of course, was the master of ceremonies with creative games and a lip sync that he had himself, Andy and Jeff do to a song. I had never heard it before, but it was very funny. The lyrics were: I'll Always Love My Mamma...

I`ll always love my mama       She`s my favorite girl
I`ll always love my mama    She brought me in this world

Sometimes I feel so bad  
When I think of all the things I used to do
How mama used to clean somebody else`s house
Just to buy me a new pair shoes
I never understood how mama made it through the week
When she never, ever got a good night`s sleep

Talking `bout mama         Oh, she`s one of a kind
Talking `bout mama          You`ve got your yours, and I`ve got mine
Talking `bout mama    Oh, hey mama, hey mama, my heart belongs to you, oh, yeah

I`ll always love my mama     She`s my favorite girl
You only get one, you only get one, yeah
I`ll always love my mama      She brought me in this world

Mmm, a mother`s love is so special
It`s something that can`t you can`t describe
It`s the kind of love that stays with you
Until the day you die

She taught me little things
Like saying `Hello` and `Thank you, please`
While scrubbing those floors on her bended knees

Talking `bout mama         Oh, she`s one of a kind
Talking `bout mama         You`ve got your yours and I`ve got mine
Talking `bout mama
Oh, hey mama, hey mama, my heart belongs to you, oh, yeah

I`ll always love my mama, yeah She`s my favorite girl
Only get one, you one get one, yeah
I`ll always love my mama She brought me in this world
Mmm, I`m talking `bout mama
I`ll always love my mama

Sweet old mama                I`ll always love my mama
Used to scrub the floors         I`ll always love my mama
On her hands and knees         I`ll always love my mama
Used to get a little rough, sometimes
I`ll always love my mama  Poor old mama                                       
I`ll always love my mama Hey, sweet old mama                              
I`ll always love my mama
Said, I love you, I love ya, I love ya, mama
I`ll always love my mama
Hey, yeah

It was hilarious watching those guys "sing" this song. I wish I had a picture of them, but it was too dark by the time they did it. Dan had brought hats for the 3 of them and given each a "microphone" he had made.

We also played Family Feud, with Andy, Jeff & Dad against Lou Anne, Cindi and me. The guys won by 1 point - which is pretty good, considering the guys were all blood relatives and the girls were all in-laws.

All in all it was a fun party. I'm very thankful for Mom, she's a great mother-in-law. I've always felt loved and accepted by her. She's also got a generous heart. She's a great example to me.

More pictures...

Happy 27th

27 years ago, I gave birth to our dear Amy. What a delight she is to our family and everyone who knows her. Amiable Amy.
She was happy with the gift we gave her. Actually, we couldn't go wrong when it was on her Amazon wish list. We also gave her a Yorkie t-shirt which Grace modeled for us.
We used her birthday as an excuse/reason to get together as a family. Yesterday was the day. We had planned to get together at 10:30 in the morning, do a bike ride together, have lunch, then play the rest of the day. Needless to say, with nursing babies and 2 year olds, not to mention the rest of us, the plan got changed a number of times so that it didn't look much like the original.

Well, we still had a good time together. We all got to C & C's late, then one baby needed to be nursed, another needed to take a nap, the guys were trying to figure out the bike situation (if we could all ride, what to do with the kids, etc.). We finally decided to eat first. Good choice!
After lunch, babies needed to be fed, were waking up from naps, daddies were needing naps...

kids were looking at books

others were playing...

Amy & Ricky decided to go on home. I think they were brave to come on out with such a new little one and a 2 year old right at nap time. You can read about their adventures from her perspective on her blog.

We finally got ourselves together and were ready to go. Christian loaded up the bikes and tag along and cart for the kids in the dump truck and we all drove to the park.
Everyone was on bikes except me. I walked quickly pushing Asher in the stroller. Of course, I couldn't keep up with the bikes and they were out of sight in no time. So I enjoyed the day, the scenery, the exercise and the privilege of giving my daughter the opportunity to enjoy biking herself.

The trail we were on was a former railroad track that was made into a "Rails to Trails." So the path was level and followed a beautiful stream through the woods.
Andy who is usually very accurate in his "guesstimates" thought they biked 5 miles in, then 5 miles back. It was quite a workout and some were pretty tired when they reached the end.Andy and I hung around for a while visiting with Christy and playing Uno with Grace. Where was Christian? Oh, he decided to work on his brick walkway, looking like he might like some help from Dad-in-law. So how could Andy resist? (You know how he loves projects!) So we stayed till about 7:00, then all went over to Sheila's for ice cream and water ice - a perfect ending to a lovely day.

Busy, Busy

Yesterday and today were very busy days at work. I had 2 mailings to get out to the membership. After work yesterday I took the car to the carwash. Wednesday is Ladies' Day with everything half price for women. So the car got a nice bath for $3.00. It was pretty buggy from traveling up to Berks County on Friday night. But I still had to scrub the windshield when I got home because I forgot to mention to the guys about the bugs.
Also yesterday, Andy had to report for jury duty. He sat at the Mt. Holly Court House all day while people were being interviewed. They didn't interview him till late in the afternoon, then he wasn't picked. I can't imagine how boring that must have been. But he didn't seem to mind too much.
After dinner, we both went to the church for the 2nd week of the Impact classes in preparation for the Greg Laurie Harvest Crusade that will be held in October in Philadelphia.

Today was another busy day at work, but I got everything done. Yeah! Andy picked up a crab cake salad for each of us from Izzy's. It was such a big salad that I could only eat half of it. Delicious!

After dinner, we mowed the lawn. Andy mowed on the tractor and I used the push mower around the trees. It was so dusty and dirty. Ugh. We could use some rain again.

With all that work and exercise, we felt justified in treating ourselves to a bowl of ice cream! Yum! And yes, Mother, I did take a lactaid tablet first.

Ahhh! What a Life!

You would think that on our day off, I would sleep in. But I'm such a creature of habit that even though I didn't set the alarm, I woke up at 5:30. I could tell I wasn't going to get back to sleep, so I jumped up and got going. It was so pleasant outside, I decided to make the rounds of all my gardens, pulling out all the weeds that dared to show their ugly heads in my neighborhood. I also did some bush trimming and deadheading. It is so therapeutic for me to work in my gardens, it soothes the soul.The impatiens love this side of the house next to the driveway and makes coming home a sight for sore eyes.

Andy spent the morning tarring the part of the block wall of the front porch that would be underground - to waterproof it. He had also finished filling in the porch to prepare for the concrete slab. All together, he had put in 3 1/2 tons of crushed rock and gravel. That's 7,000 pounds! Yup, he shoveled it all in by himself. Wow! What a guy! (How do you like all the exclamation points, Amy?!)The tar needed time to dry before he did anything else, so on a whim we drove down to Lake Oswego for some R & R. That lake is way out past cranberry bogs and pinelands, but what a beautiful spot. Andy did some swimming, I read the Reader's Digest which happened to come in the mail this morning. We both also nodded off a time or two!

When we got home, I made a chicken salad for supper. It is rather labor intensive but well worth it - very tasty.All in all, it was a lovely day. But it's back to work tomorrow. Well, that will be fun, too. I love my job!

Toot & Me / A Day with the Grandkids

So maybe the picture I posted last time of my sister and me didn't really have us looking much like each other. But what about this one???This picture was taken in April, 2006. We have similar haircuts, both holding babies! I am 8 years older than Toot. The fact that we look alike is that I look younger, not that she looks older!

Anyway...
Yesterday morning, Andy and I both were feeling like we hadn't seen C & C's kids for a while and we needed a "kid fix." So we called them, they had no plans and we drove up to see them and spend the afternoon with them.

Andy wrestled with the kids, I read a book to Grace, that Aiden and Naomi listened to part of the time. And Grammy is always good for mints. I also happened to have a piece of candy in my purse for each of the kids this time. I believe in bribing! Actually, I remember my own Grandpa always having root beer barrels and long stick pretzels for us when he and Grandma came to visit. That was always special, so I am trying to pass along the tradition.





Naomi was in rare form. She sang "twinkle, twinkle, little star," while beating on a toy drum set.










Patrick is doing well and making progress. He is walking around pretty good. It was a thrill to see him upright. It's a challenge for him sometimes to remain upright with rambunctious siblings around. Is that a smile or a grimace on his face?
And here is little A - already 6 1/2 months old.

Somehow I didn't get Big A in any of my pictures, but he's quieter and not as outgoing as his sisters. I'll have to do better next time.

We bought them dinner (hoagies) and had a wonderful time. Our kid tank was filled up for another couple of days.

Then back to work today.