Work and Play

 

Saraina's birthday was on Saturday, so I today I whisked her out of town for a girls day out.  We ended up in Fort Collins where they have such an awesome Downtown area.  We window shopped in some amazing stores, sat and had ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful day! 

 

 

Keith played on the animal statutes in the Square and got

 a very special toy from the Learning Store.  He was so good but totally exhausted after spending all day out!

 

As we were out playing, my dear sweet husband stayed home

 to work.  Although Monday is usually his only day off, there is always so much to do around the church.  Today he dug holes, filled holes and moved rock all day.   I got home in time to cheer him on as he finished moving the last of the pile of rocks and to feed him fried chicken before he collapsed exhausted on the couch.  Definitely a hard day of work and play for both of us. (Okay harder for him than for me!)



Sometimes We All Need This Reminder

 



Compassion

Last night as my husband was preaching, I ran up to ER
to be with one of our ladies.  I love this lady and would do anything for her.  She has no close family in the area and the doctors thought her prognosis was severe and she was very shaken and scared.

 

I do not mind hospitals at all, I mean I am fine with people bleeding all over, I have no fear of needles or machines, and I like doctors as I know they are there to help and save lives.  Seems like I would be a great person to hold your hand and be a comfort to you at the hospital huh? 
Well.............not quite.

 

I seem to have a huge problem with being compassionate when people are hurt.  My boys hated when I took them to the ER and to this day still tell horror stories of them being in pain and getting shots, stitches and various procedures while thier mother laughed, cracked jokes and played with hospital gloves and stuff.  I try to be serious, I really do but.................

So, as we are sitting in the ER the first thing I do, being the good Pastor's wife I am, is pray with this sweet lady.  After that it all goes downhill as I joke and laugh with the patient, doctors and nurses, (some who didn't think it was as funny as I did, hmmmm......).  All through the night, in between my jokes, we kept praising God as they eliminated several serious issuses and gave God huge thanks and praise when the doctors found it was not as serious as first believed and gave my friend some prescriptions and sent her home.

As we were leaving, I did apologize and told her next time she would know to call someone with more compassion and declared this was why I could never be a nurse.  My friend turned to me and said, "Amy, you made me laugh, you calmed me down, you helped me get throught this difficult time. 
I definitely want you there if I have to go to ER again". 

So sweet of her to say, of course she was kinda really drugged up
when she said that................

 



Teaching the Fruits of the Spirit

For the last several weeks we have been learning about

the Fruits of the Spirit in Jr. Church.

 

Each week we start off with our song "I'm Gonna Be Like a Tree",

 and then we review with the orange cards.  What have we been learning about - Where do we find the Fruits of the Spirit in the Bible - Who wrote Galatians (Who told Paul to write it) - How many Fruits of the Spirit are there - What are they - Why does God want us to have the Fruits of the Spirit in our lives - How does daily practicing the Fruits of the Spirit effect us and others around us?

 

After review it is time for our Bible story.  This week we learned about Jesus in the garden praying and asking God, if it was possible to accomplish this another way but at the same time laying his will down to do the Father's will.  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39  We talked about how one of the disciplies cut off a soldiers ear as the soliders came to take Jesus.  Jesus then told the disciple, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?  Matthew 26:53-54.  Jesus had the power and strength to deliver himself from the horrible death he was about to suffer but submited to His will to God's will. By submitting totally to God's will, Jesus had control over His strength and power. 

you know what Fruit of the Spirit we were talking about this week?

 

After our story we review with the yellow cards. 

What Fruit of the Spirit did we see in our story today - Where do we find it in the Bible - Who in our story showed this Fruit of the Spirit - Why did God want them to have this fruit of the Spirit in this situation - How did this affect this person and the people around them.  

 

 

We then did a craft to help us remember our story. 

 I found this awesome idea for crosses on Our Family for His Glory.  We gave each kid a ball of salt dough and let them cut out their crosses and then decorate them with jewels.

 

 

After church I baked them and will give them to the kids next week. 

I think they turned out great!

 





Lazy Saturday

It has been a very slow Saturday and I have loved it!  

It is so nice to have a day without nonstop running every once in a while.  Since there was no where to go and nothing pressing to do I sat and totally enjoyed my Bible study and fellowship with God. 

 

I then sat down and finished the first square in my "Praying for Ben" quilt.

 

 

The colors look a little washed out in the picture but I really liked how it turned out.  In the corner of the middle square I put a silver cross with a fish symbol on it.  At one point in my sister's life, she wanted to be a tattoo artist and practiced on my little brothers.  She gave each of them a Christian fish tattoo on their ankles so when I saw this cross piece I had to get it as it symbolizes a time in Ben's life.  (I personally hate tattoo's with a passion and am so glad I was gone the day my sister was giving these tattoo's!)  The quilt square is 16x16 and I figure I need 30 squares to get the size I want and since there are 30 weeks until Ben gets back I figure on I have to do at least one square a week.  I'm planning on making each square different in pattern and material used so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

 

At noon today we headed to our local Home and Ranch store

where one a couple of our church kids were selling hamburgers for a 4-H fundraiser.  When we got there we found a table with several of the ladies from our church sitting there.

 

We sat with them and enjoyed the 'spring' weather and ate hamburgers and laughed and laughed.  we only planned to be there for a few minutes but ended up staying over an hour as we fellowshipped with these dear ladies!

 

After our wonderful lunch I had paperwork to get done at church and a few other things to get done in preparation for tomorrow.  As it continues to be a lazy Saturday night I think it is time find a good movie and have some cuddle time with my sweet husband!

 

Praying everyone has a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!

 

 

 



April Blizzard

 

This what our church looks like during a blizzard! 

For the last three days we had have had blizzard like conditions and it seems that everything in the city has shut down.  From schools to restaurants, stores, government offices and so much more.  The roads have been treacherous and many roads, highways and the Interstates outside city limits have been closed.  My husband never cancels church because you never know who will come for services and he always wants to have the doors open for that reason.  We had four families come to services last night and we had a wonderful time of Bible study, prayer and fellowship.  I had to laugh as one of our young ladies has a huge four wheel drive truck and offered to pick up anyone who could not make it through the roads.  She was disappointed no one took her up on her offer!

 

We had four kids in Bible Adventures and we had a great time

 learning about reverence and Mr. Chandler told a wonderful Bible story about the Ark of the Covenant.  We hate when we are missing so many kids but the kids that were there loved it, as it gave them a chance to catch up and pass the other kids on the race track by saying their verses.

 

Today the sun is out and there are rivers running down the streets

 as all the snow melts.  We are praying we have seen the last of the snow and hope to see spring head our way soon! 

 



"Praying for Ben" Quilt

Yesterday, my brother Ben left for a 6 month deployment in Afghanistan.  Throughout the last couple of years, three of my brothers have done several rotations in Afghanistan and this will be Ben's second tour there.  I think it's ironic that two years ago this week started a very rough time for Ben in his life.  During the last two years, as he has gone through this difficult time,
 I have seen my brother run to God as the situation has threatened to overwhelm him.   I have watched him call out to God, search the Bible for answers and come out with a more closer and deeper relationship with God
 than he has ever had before.  Through his attitude and what God has taught him, he has showed me how to be a better Christian too, and how to stay strong in God, even when your world falls totally apart.

 

I know as he flys and travels to his assignment that the situation
in his life is still very heavy on his heart.  I don't need to tell anyone how dangerous it is in Afghanistan but it is even more dangerous when something is weighing heavy on your mind.  To keep myself from constantly worrying about him I wanted to start a quilt for him which I'll call
"Praying for Ben".  Of course I'll pray for Ben everyday throughout the day, but I plan on working on the quilt everyday and during that time
 pray specifically and fervently for him.

 

 

I talked to Ben for a few minutes on Monday night and asked him what his favorite colors were and his answer, "You know, browns, leather and burlap".  As I drove around from store to store yesterday, I picked a few things I thought matched what he said and a few ideas started forming in my mind.  I picked up several different shades of brown, materials with a lot of texture, a little leather and a roll of burlap.  I am excited to start cutting today and to pray for my brother as he begins another tour.  Please pray with me for all our men and women that are fighting for our freedom, here and overseas.

 

  



Can We Do it Again?

We have had been having Bible Quizzing every Monday night

for the last month and after the Bible Quizzing Saturday,

(We placed second again!) they asked if we could keep meeting every Monday.  Since we will be meeting every Monday with the teens we decided to have them come an hour earlier and do an activity each week with them.  This week since it is snowing, we hooked the sleds up to the trucks and wildly drove them all over the church field.

 

 

They had a blast and even Keith got his first sledding ride,

albeit the truck drove much, much slower for him!  After the kids were frozen we headed inside for hot chocolate and hot soup.  We finally got everyone settled down and were able to work on the Bible Quizzing for an hour before we packed everyone up and took them all home.   The last thing they asked as they walked out the door was, "Can we do it again next Monday?!". 

We told them if there was still snow on the ground and with how it is snowing here, that is very likely!



Gary and the Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever!

After such a busy week preparing for Easter Sunday and then Easter services itself, my husband wanted to escape for a few hours.  With the idea of escape in mind we headed up the road and had lunch at his favorite barbecue pit.  It was a relaxing lunch and we had such a nice time sitting and talking and praying.

 

We got home right before the teens weekly Bible Quizzing practice. 
One of our dear sweet church lady made us a pan
of her absolutely fabulous and delicious cinnamon rolls. 
She brings to all our fellowships and they disappear in seconds! 

 

 

The teens also devoured them in seconds!  I had made a crock pot full of Spaghetti Soup, a new recipe I found and thought it looked good.  I was wrong and thought it was very nasty but the boys each ate four bowls!

 

 

We had five teens tonight and they practiced so hard.  We have one more practice before the Bible Quiz and I think we will be ready!

 

While the teens were here, Chep had gone to our local Ranch and Home store and came home with this.

 

 

This is Gary as Chandler and Mason have officially named him.  

Gary is a Cayuga duck and should love to eat bugs when he gets bigger and bugs are definitely what we have here! 

 

 

Gary fell in love with Chandler who can perfectly whistle like a fellow duckling and has a warm hoodie to snuggle into.

 

Mason has always wanted a duck and has adopted Gary.  It looks like Gary is quite taken with Mason too and thinks he should be allowed to sleep on Mason's shoulder.  Gary was very upset when we put him in his tub for the night!   Looks like Gary will be a nice additon to our family.



Amazing Sunrise

 

I absolutely love Sunrise service on Easter morning! 

 There is just something about singing "Christ Arose" and "He Lives" as the we watch the sun come up.  It was so exciting to have over sixty people at sunrise services this year!

 

Of course after Sunrise services we had a huge breakfast.

 

 

And of course we had way too much food, but it was so good!

 

 

As our church grows and grows our little fellowship area

seems to shrink and shrink!  We had peopl all over trying to find a place to sit and eat and when the seats ran out people just stood.  We will be so happy when the new sanctuary is done and we can move the fellowship hall into the old sanctuary!

 

 

While we cleaned up and waited for next service,

the boys all gathered for a game of basketball.

 

The auditorium was full for services and we had several visiting families.  Mr. Chandler's class was overflowing with 13 teens!

 

 

In Jr. Church we learned focused on the tears of Mary Magdalene as she watched Jesus be crucified and also later as she went to Jesus' tombstone and didn't find him there.  We talked about how we sometimes have tears here on earth, how there are always weeping and tears in Hell and how in Heaven God promises to wipe away all tears and there would be no more tears there forever.  For the craft we then made cross bracelets with the colors of the wordless book.

 

We have had several salvations in the last few weeks and so we were blessed to be able to watch three of those people get baptized! 

 

It was a very long day but there is no better way to spend Easter Sunday, than to be in the house of the Lord from sunrise to sunset!

 

Up From the Grave He Arose With a Mighty Triumph Over His Foes,

 He Arose a Victor From the Dark Domai and He Lives Forever with His Saints to Reign,

He Arose, He Arose, Hallelujah Christ Arose!