Monday, May 27, 2013

The House is So Quiet!

We were up and out the door this morning before six to get Mason
 to the airport on time.  With Memorial Day weekend, the airport was so crowded but Mason got to his gate with time to spare.
 

I stood trying to hold back the tears as I watched him
 go through security and then I couldn't see him anymore.   My baby boy was gone!  I praise God and thank Him for giving me the last 18 years to raise this child for Him and I thank God for Mason having a heart to do God's work, but I still feel like part of me is missing without him here.
 
 
On the way home from Denver we stopped at Cracker Barrel
to have our last breakfast.  I say last breakfast because with Mason gone, we no longer have to cook or shop for him and we have decided to do a 60 Day Juice Fast.  Chep will be giving up coffee for the next 60 days too so he fully enjoyed his last cup this morning.  When we got back home and walked in the house, the quietness seemed to overwhelm me
and reminded me that Mason was gone. 
 
 
When we got home we took Keith shopping with us as we stocked the fridge with veggies and fruits to start juicing tomorrow.  He sat in the cart and had so much fun playing with the steering wheel.  I so appreciated his baby hugs and kisses today!  We then headed back home for a barbecue with Chandler and Saraina and then went for a walk together.   It was just so weird to be spending family time together without Mason.  
 
The house, our family is just so quiet without him and his huge personality! 
Definitely something that will take some time getting used too.
 
 
 
  

Saturday, May 25, 2013

A Party for Mason


Since Mason will be gone on his birthday on the 6th for his birthday 
we had a Going Away/Birthday party for him tonight.  We had burgers and chips and his favorite drink, Mountain Dew.
 


Of course the noodles came out and Chand and Mason had an intense sword fight.  They have been fighting with noodles for over a decade and it never gets old for them.  They have graduated from noodles to Chinese fighting sticks and then to real swords but I was so glad they were back to noodles tonight as the real swords always worry me!
 
 
Chandler and Mason are truly best friends and I hate to see them separated.  When Chandler went to Bible College it was a very difficult year for Mason.  Roles are about to be changed and I think Chandler will struggle just a bit without his little brother this time.
 

Mason's favorite gift was a replica Tomahawk.  He has an awesome collection of knives and swords and has wanted this Tomahawk for a while.
 
 
Keith loved being outside and sitting in the grass. 
He kept picking individual strands and trying to eat them.  Yummy!
 

After dinner we played a few of our favorite games
 and we laughed and laughed!  Chandler and Mason are so funny and usually have us laughing so hard we cry and tonight was no exception!
 
We pray that God speaks to Mason through this experience but we also pray that summer will pass fast as we will miss Mason so much!


 
 
 



Friday, May 24, 2013

Little Things and Big Things

It seems like our days are full of so many things that keep us busy. 
Some are small everyday things and some things are bigger
 and out of the ordinary.
 
 
Sarina and I went couponing and got some great deals. 
When I got home my hard working husband was out mowing the church lawn with the push mower.  Our church lawn is huge and we usually use the riding lawn mower but after not being used all winter, the rider had two flat tires and a dead battery.  The lawn needed mowed so he started push mowing it.  After he had mowed for three hours I took over and mowed to give him a rest.  It got dark before we could finish so we it is on the list
of things that need done tomorrow!
 
 
 This evening a gentleman called the church and said
he was trying to earn money for a bus ticket and asked if we had anything for him to do.  Most people who want money from the church do not want to work for it but simply want a handout.  My husband told this man if he came to our church we would put him to work and pay him for it. 
He showed up a little while later and was ready to work!  This man was so nice and after talking to him a little while we found out he only needed to get three more hours up the road where he had a job lined up.  My husband told him since it was only three hours up the road, that he would drive him there tonight.  The man was overwhelmed and couldn't stop thanking my husband.  Of course my husband sees three hours of drive time as the perfect opportunity to witness to this man and get him saved! 
My husband should be back at 4 am, just in time to grab a little shut eye before men's prayer meeting tomorrow.
 
Little things like mowing the lawn or big things like taking time out to drive a stranger up the road, it's all just another day in the ministry!
 
 

 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

"Let Us Run" Award Ceremony

 
Is it okay to say I was a little disappointed last night?  For most of the year we have had between eighteen to twenty five kids participate each night in Bible Adventures but last night for the award ceremony we only had six of our kids show up and one visitor.  Seven kids!  All the other kids had Scouts or sport activities or the parents simply didn't feel like coming.  So sad to see that God is so far behind on today's list of priorities!  We have no time for the one who gave us all our time, time we are supposed to be using to give him glory and honor and praise. (Revelation 4:11)  Even though I was disappointed not to have all our kids there we still have a great time!
 

Our puppets gave us one last skit as we talked about Paul
 and how Paul's life was never the same again after he met Jesus. 
 In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:".  What a wonderful example
for us as we run this daily race of life for God!
 

Of course Lawrence came and told us he was off on an adventure
for the summer and showed us everything he was taking for his trip.  I really had no idea what Lawrence (Mr. Chandler) was going to come out and say or do and I was having such a hard time being serious as he had me
and the rest of the congregation laughing so much! 
 

Pastor awarded the kids who said the most verses
and also those who had brought the most friends and those who had been faithful to Sunday School and Bible Adventures.
 

At the end of the night each child received one ticket for every verse
they had memorized during the year.  We then had an auction and the kids bid on toys, candy and pop with their tickets. 
 

 If my husband had not been called into the ministry
he would have loved to be an auctioneer so he had a great time getting the kids to bid.  The kids had a blast and got so much stuff! 
 
Mr. Chandler and Mrs. Saraina will be taking over Wednesday Nights for the summer and teaching about the Life of Christ and how we need to walk in Jesus' footprints.  I am going to enjoy sitting under our awesome Pastor's preaching for the summer and will be spending lots of my time this summer putting the finishing touches on next year's Bible Adventures,
 "Gone Fishing".  Gonna be another exciting year!




Tuesday, May 21, 2013

God Knew

For Sunday services, Missionary Don long was here to tell us about Shepherds Ministries, a very special ministry for the mentally disabled.
 
 
When they arrived Saturday night we took them out to dinner and had a wonderful time.  Don and his wife Sandy are truly amazing people with such loving hearts for God and all His people and we had such a wonderful time fellowshipping with them.  During dinner Sandy asked me if she could teach my Jr. Church class on Sunday.  I was very unsure about this as we had just started a new series and I wanted to build off the lesson last week but after praying about it I felt God was leading for Sandy to teach for me.
 
I had not been feeling the best Saturday night and by Sunday morning I knew I needed to go into Urgent Care.  As I sat in the waiting room I emailed my friend and told her it was so amazing how God knew I was not going to be able to teach my class that morning and had sent someone to teach in my place.  Thankfully I was seen within minutes and was able to get back to church just as Sunday School was being released.  Although I was back in time to teach Jr. Church, I did not feel like I could have stood there and taught for an hour and was once again thankful for Sandy teaching for me.  After services I gave Sandy a hug and told her how much I appreciated her and she just smiled at me and said, "God knew". 
 
After services we had a potluck and since it had warmed up outside and since there is no way we can sit our people in the church for fellowship anymore, we had our potluck in the new building.
 
 
 
 
 
It was so nice having so much room!
Everyone was able to sit down in the same area and enjoy fellowship together.  Sitting in the new building also got everyone so excited and talking about what needed to be done to get the new sanctuary done. 
 
It was a very good day full of God's blessing
 and I am so thankful for the good preaching, the wonderful food and most of all I am thankful that God knew and took care of every detail of the day before I could even worry about it! 
 
 
 



 
 


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Busy, Busy Week!

Since getting home on Monday night we have been running and trying to get so many things done before services tomorrow. 
 
 
 
Chep spent Tuesday and Wednesday working on the church driveway and parking area. They are planning on having trucks start bringing in rock soon and the area needed to be cleaned up, raked and measured out.
 
 
We also had a bunch of pallets lining the driveway to keep people from backing into the fence.  I am so glad my husband picked them up and burned them as I thought they made the church parking lot look trashy.
 
 
Wednesday Night was the last race of the year for the puppets. 
Even Melissa, who had quit running after only a few months, came to run the last race.  The puppets who had been practicing every day did the best at running this last race, while the puppets who did not practice finished in last place.  Melissa and Ryan wanted a chance to run the race over again but I told them that just like in life, you only get a chance to run the race once.  The kids learned that it is so important to live everyday for God
 and not just when they feel like it or when it's convenient. 
 
 
Wednesday was also the last night to say Bible verses
for this year's Bible Adventures.  Chandler does such a good job helping 
the kids who can't read yet.
 
One thing I have wanted to do was spruce up the inside of the church.  I think the walls have really started to look shabby and in desperate need of new paint.  Saraina went with me and helped me pick out colors and 
we have been busy for the last three days painting.
 

 
We have two bathrooms and they are very plain
and at the top of my list to repaint.

 
The boys bathroom turned out so cute! 
I bought a western style mirror to replace the ugly mirror piece. 
 

I think the girls bathroom turned out so cute!  I love the mirror as the girls bathroom also had just a plain mirror piece like the boys. 
 
 
We all took a short break this morning as Sportsman's Warehouse opened here in Cheyenne and Chep and Mason had to go.  It was so crowded and it felt like the whole state had turned out for the Grand Opening.  Pappa had to buy Little Man his first Coon skin cap!
 
This afternoon Chep took the teens to Bible quizzing. 
Our teens again came in second place and one of our girls quizzed out!  I think all the hard work is definitely paying off!
 
 
While Chep was off with the teens I worked on the church bulletin
and also worked on a bit of cleaning.  Saraina, my so sweet Daughter-in-Love worked on painting the entry way of the church.  She got all the walls painted and it is looking so good so far.  Next week we will paint the trim in the entry way and hopefully lay new flooring.
 
We also had missionaries pull in tonight and my sweet husband took us all out to eat.  We had such good fellowship and I am so excited to hear our missionary preach tomorrow.  We are having a potluck tomorrow after the morning services so I also have been cooking all day.  Since we are feeding all the bus kids I try to make a few extra dishes just for them.
 
A very busy week and very busy day and I am totally exhausted but am so excited to be in the Lord's house tomorrow!

 
 


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

A Few Things about Home I Love

After a long week we are finally home! 
Last weekend my husband had a strong feeling that we needed to go home.  When his mom's nurse called last Tuesday to say her heart was getting weaker by the day, we dropped everything and went to spend some time with her.  It was a good week and in between spending time with his mom and taking her to various appointments we were able to do a few things we love to do when we have to cahnce to be home for a few days.
 
 
We know we're almost home when the mountains surround you! 
Love waking up and going outside to enjoy the view and breathing in the cool, crisp mountain air!

 
 
Several times we stole away and just sat on the bank of the Snake River.  There is nothing as relaxing as just sitting and watching the river flow by as you listen to the sounds of God's beautiful creation.  Of course my husband was dying for a fishing pole but we just didn't have time this trip. 

 
I was able to sneak away and have lunch with my very best friend
from High School.  We have so much fun when we are together and our laughs and conversation totally refresh me!  Aimee is so sweet and gave me a few succulent plants for my flower beds as I am still trying to find what will not die here in Wyoming!  She also gave me some beautiful strawberry plants I am so excited to plant.
 
 
Of course we can't have a visit home without having a barbecue with my family.  I love my brothers and they keep me rolling on the floor with laughter!  Matt and i went antique shopping and found such neat stuff!

 
I loved spending time with my nieces and nephews. 
 We played with them and took them for ice cream and helped them find Rollie Pollies!  While we were there one of my nieces did something that got her in a lot of trouble and through that I was able to talk to her about sin and how God hates sin.  I shared with her how Jesus died for our sins and how through His sacrifice, we can have our sins washed away.  She didn't understand everything and wasn't ready to ask Jesus to be her Savior but it is definitely something we will talk about in the future. 
What a privilege to share God's plan of Salvation with my family!
 
 
I can't go home without visiting several times with my uncle who is my most favorite person in the world!  I grew up next door to him and he was like a second dad to me and taught me so much.  He is the one I always call when I can't figure out how to do something as he truly does know everything!  He always feeds meand this time he made me waffles with homemade syrup, yummy!  Love my Uncle Allen!

 
On Sunday we went back to our home church for services. 
So many faces have changed but it is still home.  All our old friends were so glad to see us and made us feel like we had never left. 
 
 
It was a long week and filled with a lot of running so we were so happy
 to finally get back home.  When we got home our little man was there to greet us us with a smile and baby kisses. 
Can't get a better homecoming than that!
 
Today we are off and running again as God showed and taught us
 several things while we were gone and we are excited to back into the rush of the ministry and busy for Him!
 


 
 


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

On the Road


We are on the the road tonight with a sudden trip.  I love watching the scenery go by and am enjoying having time with my sweet hubby as we talk and laugh. We are also listening to some wonderful sermons as we travel along.  We are praying that we reach our destination by 2 am and can get some sleep before we have to start a very full and busy day tomorrow. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Nerf Wars!

What a busy day we have had!  After a morning of running errands around town and getting a few things done at the church office we had to make a quick run to Denver.  I absolutely love Denver and could get lost shopping in all the amazing stores there!  Sadly we had no time to play around today as we had to get back before Teen Quizzing Practice. 
 
 
We have been trying to do an activity with the teens every Monday Night before we practice for Quizzing and tonight was Nerf War night.  The teens loved running around and playing the various games we set up for them.

 
I usually cook for the teens every Monday but because we were gone all day, we fed the teens pizza.  Keith loves pizza and was happy to eat with the teens.  After dinner we throughly went through Hebrews 9, reviewing and answering questions about each verse.  We only have two weeks left until the next quizzing and the teens still have a lot of memorizing and reviewing to do!
 
 
Even with a busy day I am trying to stay faithful to getting rid of all my clutter with the Clutter-Busting Challenge.  Today I got rid of two almost dead Easter Lily's, 8 magazines and a hot plate/warmer.  So glad to be getting rid of so much stuff I do not need!
 
   
 
 
 


Sunday, May 5, 2013

Revamping Jr. Church

With Mason leaving in just three weeks I am looking at how I can change the way we do Jr. Church.  Currently we start the kids singing songs together and then we divide the class in half with Mason taking one half and doing a craft that goes along with our lesson while I teach the other half of the kids the Bible story.  After about twenty minutes the kids switch classes and the kids that were in craft time, hear the story and vice versa and at the end we bring all the kids together again for a review game.
 
 
Today we had 37 kids and we tried keeping them all
in the same room together for the whole class time.  First we started out singing and then went straight into story time.  We learned about Satan and the lies Satan tells and tries to make us believe and that the only way to fight all of Satan's lies are with God's truth, the Bible. 
For our craft we made "Belts of Truth" from Ephesians 6.
 
 
I could not find plain white (cheap) belts so I made my own.  I found thick ribbon and metal rings that were about the same size as the ribbon.
 

 
I cut belts for each child and then sewed two metal rings into the ribbon.
 
 
Since we were did not switch class rooms I had all the kids just turn around and use their chairs as a table.  Each child colored their belt and wrote words such as "Truth", "God's Word" and "Bible" on them.

 
The kids absolutely loved them!  Of course we did have a few kids put them on their foreheads and act as Ninja warriors!
 

For the review game we played "Grab the Beanbag",
where I asked a question and whoever grabbed the beanbag first got to answer the question.  If a child answered correctly they got to continue to stand up front to try to beat the next person.  Everyone got a small package of M&M's for trying but if a child answered two or more questions
correctly in a row then they received a big thing of M&M's. 
(Notice Lila has the belt on her waist and Josh has it on his head!)
 
I thought it was a good class today even though I saw several things that need to be changed if we are going to have all the kids together in the same room every week.  This week I will be praying and asking God to give me new ideas to help make the class better and run more smoothly!
 
 
For lunch today we had Loaded Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole.  Earlier I saw this recipe over on Lori's blog, Frog's Lilypad. 
 
 
We absolutely love Frank's Hot sauce, so whenever we see a recipe
that calls for it, it is definitely something we have to try.  I changed the recipe a bit by cutting up the potatoes and chicken, and then mixing everything the sauce in and then throwing it all in the crock pot. 
After church we walked into the house and it smelled absolutely wonderful! 
Everyone loved it and I think it will definitely be a favorite Sunday meal!