Old-Marrieds Losing and Winning the Newlywed Game

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In honor of St. Valentine's Day, Pastor Dad and I attended a banquet this weekend with other church-going couples. Actually, we attended 3 but at only one did we play the traditional quiz game designed to show everyone how well spouses know each other, The Newlywed Game.

At this banquet it was announced that three games would be played throughout the evening to determine who the participants would be in that final prize-winning game. I looked at my husband and said, "You know that as the guest speaker and wife we are automatically going to be chosen as one of the couples no matter how well we do in the early games." And my theory might have been correct, but we'll never know. As one of the runner-up couples in the preliminary rounds we became one of the six doomed lucky couples. Mmm-hmm.

So there we were. We were the longest-married couple of those chosen. Obviously we should know each other pretty well after 35 years of marriage, right? Well, yes  but the score certainly didn't reflect it! We came in d.e.a.d  l.a.s.t.

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Did we know all the answers? Uh, no. Not only weren't they primarily made up of the standard fact questions like, "What is your wife's favorite perfume?" but even for the ones that were we have a lot more information to remember than those who have been married only a few years! Most questions were more thought provoking though. And one or two were just plain provoking. :)

Then there were the answers that we deliberately missed. Did we lie? No, but we chose answers that were the most edifying and least embarrassing for our spouse:  answers that portrayed our beloved at his or her best and not as the sometimes unpleasant person that each knows the other is capable of being.

We're used to looking at each other through eyes of love and seeing beyond each other's struggles. After all, it isn't unusual to see couples who have been married as long as we have been that are made up of a person who is bald and one whose weight went from 135 to 200 pounds during the child-bearing years. It's just unusual when you consider the way it affects this couple.

The funny thing was that neither of us knew that the other was going to take the edifying approach when answering about each other. Ultimately we each ended up telling on ourselves by choosing answers that we think to be closer to the mark and each was pleasantly surprised by the answers our spouse gave about us.

So, why did we do so poorly in the game? Do we not know each other very well? No, after 35 years of marriage we know each other all too well:  well enough to know where the hot buttons are and well enough to know that we'd like to be married to each other for at least 35 more years if the Lord gives them to us.

In other words, we each esteem the other more highly than we do ourselves. We may have lost a game but we definitely proved that we possess the greatest prize of all.

A Day in Lima

That's Lee-muh and not Lie-muh. I don't want you to think the pictures that follow are from a recent trip to northern Ohio. Nope! We crossed the Equator for the first time to make a visit to South America! We celebrated 35 years of marriage this past summer (at church camp) so we decided a special trip was in order.

In the early afternoon of October 15th Pastor Dad and I flew out of CVG and after a moderate layover in DFW caught a flight to Lima, Peru. We arrived there after midnight their time on the morning of the 16th which was after 1 a.m. at home where Daylight Savings Time was still in effect. It was well after 1 a.m. in Peru when we cleared customs and collected our baggage.

Our missionary friend, Sheridan Stanton, had arrived earlier in the day from his home in Huanaco. He had been able to rent a car, check into the hotel, and get a little rest before driving back to the airport to meet us. It was wonderful to see a familiar face waiting beyond the security barriers!

After a few hours of sleep we prepared to tour the city of Lima by daylight. (The post-midnight drive from the airport to the hotel didn't reveal much.) Daylight also revealed that we were staying near the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean as seen from our hotel balcony

We drove to downtown Lima so that we could view the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace at noon.

Just let me interject here that the drivers in Peru must be the worst anywhere. ANYWHERE! I mostly rode in silence because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth Bro. Stanton would be distracted. Believe me, we didn't want him distracted! 

Lanes? Ha! Want to turn left but you're 5 vehicles across (there are only 3 lanes) in the right-hand lane? Don't let that stop you! What's that you say? You're on a motorcycle and you'd need to cross in front of three cars and a double-decker bus? Oh, don't worry about it! They'll see you coming. You can bet your life on it!

(Nope! Not an exaggeration! Worst. Drivers. ANYWHERE! But Bro. Sheridan is an excellent driver. He even managed to return the rental car later that week without a scratch. And that's a miracle pure and simple! A miracle!)

We were told that the changing of the Peruvian Presidential guard isn't as grand as the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace but since we've never witnessed the latter ceremony we really have no way to make a comparison. We were impressed enough with this daily noontime ritual though. There were high kicks, ceremonial music, and plenty of pomp and circumstance. We spent several minutes enjoying the view of the rest of the Plaza de Armas, too.

Changing of the Guard

The Presidential Palace with the Changing of the Guards

Another side of the Plaza

The Archbishop's Palace next to the Cathedral of Lima, located to one side of the plaza

We two tourists on our 1st day in Peru, standing by the historic fountain in the center of the Plaza de Armas with the Presidential Palace behind us

The Cathedral of Lima

The Pastor and the Missionary/"Tour Guide," Brother Stanton

Nearby was the Inquisition Museum. Given that Catholicism is the religion of the country it was a bit surprising to find a museum dedicated to remembering her days of persecution of non-conformists. Also somewhat surprising was the way the history has been revised to make it seem as though just a mere handful were actually tortured and killed. (Here is a link telling about the museum. When you visit that site you will understand why I did not take more pictures.)

This museum is a reminder to us of what it cost some of our forebears for holding to their faith. Let us not forget that there are still many Christians around the world who are enduring persecution. As Jesus warned His disciples, His followers might be put to death by those who think they are actually doing God a big favor. (My paraphrase.)

A model of an infidel

A portrait of the Lima Plaza de Armas showing those convicted of crimes against the Church being led to their deaths

The steps down to the dungeons. Even now there are places were a person could lose their head, or knock herself out, if she is not careful! (The ceilings are extremely low in places and made of jagged rock. )

A couple of dungeon cells. People died inside here, which may have been better than the alternatives!

One part of the Inquisition Museum that is actually very beautiful: the courtyard.

After leaving the downtown Lima area we drove down the coast to an oceanside shopping mall at Miraflores. Enough time had passed since we had left the Inquisition Museum that we had regained our appetites. (And by now I was so tired that I closed my eyes part of the way and totally avoided seeing how close we were to the other vehicles we were trying NOT to hit a la "Bumper Cars" carnival ride.) We had the Executive Lunch at Tony Roma's! Since our Cincinnati restaurant closed a few years ago we now must go a long way to get a taste of these ribs.

Good food. Good prices (in sols; at the time $1 USA = s/.2.75)

The view from the shopping center at Miraflores

A skydiver near the restaurant. Feel up to it after lunch? Yeah, right!

Busy 24 hours + full stomachs = 2 tired tourists

Looking for the Starbucks. Or was it the Italian ice cream? Well, we found the Starbucks but not the ice cream. Since it was nippy outside the warm brew tasted and felt good.

Back to the hotel. The statue of Mary in the Magdalena del Mar neighborhood taken from our hotel window. If she still rotated as she used to do she would look directly into the hotel rooms! Hmm.

From Fear to Faith: A Personal Testimony

I have been open about my private physical health problem so let me be just as frank about a private spiritual health problem I recently experienced. This may not be the kind of thing you would expect a pastor's wife to write - after all, aren't we supposed to be super-spiritual or something? - but what follows is true and from my heart.

* * *

One day toward the end of June I was sitting here at the computer typing a Bible Journal entry for the daily blog post.

"You know that this is all an exercise in futility. God is not real and the Bible is fake."

That's the thought that crossed my mind. I immediately stopped, prayed, and tried to dismiss it but it troubled me far longer than I thought possible! I've been a faithful follower of Jesus Christ for almost 40 years now. Recently I had even completed 27 years of providing my children a Christian education through homeschooling. Once that was completed I had turned my focus to personal ministry. After much prayerful consideration, and with Pastor Dad's blessing, I had begun investing additional time and money into helping people with their needs. Specifically, this was to be centered on the following 3 groups of people that God says cannot be expected to repay their benefactor:

• widows
• orphans (or those who are unwanted, or unborn, or from broken homes: all of whom can be similar to orphans)
• foreigners.

You know, those people that God told the Israelites to help when He had Moses write the Pentateuch.

Alumni and Faculty of Karabeth Baptist Homeschool, a division of Gateway Christian Schools, Memphis, TN

Things had been going well. At least they had been until that awful, frightening thought took up residence in my mind ...

A few nights later I had a terrifying nightmare! I had another a few weeks later. Those dreams made me not want to sleep for fear of having another. I began to doubt my salvation and this was not the first time. But when I was a child and doubted it was because I wondered if I had understood, or repented, or trusted Christ, or {fill in the blank}. This was different. This was "There is no God no matter what you believe."  I cannot conceive of a more hopeless thought!

Scriptures tell us that only fools say there is no God, that Jesus is God in the flesh who defeated spiritual and physical death for us, and that if there is no resurrection we are of all men most miserable. That pretty much summarizes my situation. I felt like a miserable fool. Things stayed that way for several weeks but I carried on as well as I could, including typing blog posts despite the troubling thought in my head. My life, and the rest of the summer went on in its course. (That was chronicled in a previous happier post.)

* * *

Then on July 19th I received the following excerpted email from a church friend. It was so timely and so appreciated. 

Just been thinking about you and the Pastor all week....especially yesterday and today.
Mrs. _____ told us that when someone comes to mind and you don't know
why, to just pray for them.

When I read this email I sunk to the floor and cried.  Someone was praying for us! For me!  God, if there truly is a God, had put me on this woman's mind. (She would later tell me that God awoke her in the night several times that week and that was when she prayed.)

Once I regained some composure I typed this reply:

Thank you for your prayers. Mrs. _____ was right. We need them! It has been a very stressful week.

Personally, I have been struggling with doubts. That's probably not the kind of thing you want to hear from your pastor's wife, but it is true. On top of everything else he has had to deal with lately your pastor has had to hold his frightened wife and calmly tell her that the God we say we love and worship really does exist.

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH and yet I am struggling with it. I have been very open about this with my husband and he has been very patient with me. He thinks that my Bible Journal that I post daily on my blog has earned me oppression and perhaps he is right. It had been my best year of personal Bible study so far and I had been devouring scripture like a starving person grabs food. Then the doubtful thoughts began sweeping over me and I panicked.

I'm still devouring scripture, though, and believe God will make Himself known to me. In fact, I find the thought that He told you to pray for us very comforting. Thank you for telling me.

Her response was simple but profound:

I love you and I want you to know that I never thought you were more than human. 

Okay, we all know I'm only human, but it was comforting to know that others do not hold me to a higher standard than other humans. Evidently ministerial family members do experience doubts and there are spiritual people who pray for them!

I later remembered that being human is what Jesus coming to earth was all about! Yes, He is 100% God but He is also 100% man (and no, I cannot explain this). It is because He is human that He could experience everything we do yet remain sinless and that makes it possible for Him to be our Savior.

* * *

The very next morning, July 20th, I picked up Lisa and Roman at the airport. As I looked at the smile on the face of that happy little cherub in the stroller my heart was pounding. I love that little guy! I do not want to lead him astray! We raised his mommy and her siblings to have faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone as their mediator between their sinful selves and the holy God. It is the same faith that we are presenting to our grandchildren. What if we had misled our children all those years and were continuing to do so? I must find the TRUTH before it is too late! After all, being sincere in a faith isn't enough. It is obvious that many sincere people are sincerely wrong since all views of faith cannot be right. They are mutually exclusive.

* * *

Besides my babysitting responsibilities at church camp I had also been planning to be a counselor. Given what I was going through then it did not seem prudent for me to lead a group of teen-aged girls in spiritual reflection. I attempted to talk to our teen camp director's wife Sunday morning, July 21st, to tell her that I was not going to be able to be a counselor but that didn't work out. I took my place in the choir and tried to get through the song service but that didn't work either. I left the auditorium in tears while we were singing a hymn. I later found myself sobbing in the arms of my surprised pastor-husband during the closing hymn. He asked the congregation to pray for me, as one God-awakened/email-sending member and he himself were already doing. (In the 4 weeks since that service I have had numerous people tell me that God has been awakening them at night and they pray for me. I haven't had any more nightmares so perhaps their intervention - and lack of sleep - has helped me rest.) Telling our congregation about my fear was one of the most humbling things I have ever had to do and yet it was the key to recovery.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16 

The next day was our 35th wedding anniversary as well as the first day of camp. It is not unusual for those two things to coincide and actually seems fitting since we have been ministering together since the days we took our vows. But my spiritual peace did not return to me overnight and so instead of being a counselor I worked as support staff which gave me more time to read, study, and pray. It was time well-spent toward examining the Bible, other belief systems, and my own heart.

* * *

I later spoke with my friend, the email buddy, about the things that had been troubling me, one of which is what happens when we die. What if I am wrong about death and there is no God, no Jesus, no Heaven? This wise woman told me that what I am seeking is dying grace and I won't need it until I am dying. Right now I only need the kind of grace necessary to live day by day. It is one thing to make sure that one is on the right path, and indeed, it is what I and my husband have dedicated our lives to help people find, but it is another to fear death.

She was right! It is grace for today that I need and God will take care of all my tomorrows. 

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:34)

If you want me to tell you how I reached my conclusions about God and the Bible I will be glad to do so, but not now. Since most of my readers are believers you may know the path I wandered. My starting point was this: If God is real, then I am a Christian because I believe Jesus paid for my sins. With that in mind, and the prayer, "Lord, help thou my unbelief" I began my research.  And once again I was able to experience the joy of my salvation! The fear is gone and faith has taken its place!

Pastor Dad and I with the 8 blessings that call us "Grandad" and "Gram." We are determined that each of these precious youngsters hear over and over again about the living God who loves them, sent His Son to pay for their sins if they will repent and believe, and desires to live with them throughout eternity! 

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39 

Family Friday: Counting Multiple Blessings

Last night the ladies of our church enjoyed our annual Mother-Daughter-Friend banquet and the speaker is a lady that our family has known for several years. Early in 2010 she received the news that her daughter was carrying quads! Our family was privileged to follow the story from the time the family received the news and we shared information with our church so they, too, could pray. God answered in miraculous ways and many ladies who prayed were in attendance last night. They were able to meet the grandmother, our guest speaker, and her daughter, the mother of the babies. No, the babies weren't there. I know someone will ask me about this.  :)

A DVD that was shared with our group is also online. The link to that is here. I thought some that weren't able to attend the banquet, and perhaps some that were, might like to see it.

The family was also featured by the cable series Facing Life Head On "Episode 17: A Blessing Times Four." You can find the link to that episode here. There is also a link at the site of an update that was filmed several weeks prior to the birth of the babies.

When I count my blessings my children and grandchildren are definitely included but so far all of them have arrived one at a time. This is an amazing and beautiful story of what can happen when those blessings are multiplied and it is much too good not to share!

Wednesday Wisdom: When Real Life Mimics Jesus' Parables

This past weekend the Bible reading schedule (which can be found at the tab above) found us reading three parables in Luke chapter 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Jesus told these three parables as a means of getting across one message about rejoicing when the valuable lost is found. I wish to tell you three parables (actually, real stories) about something or someone lost.

Parable 1
See the picture of the bank envelope above? It once held cash that we received from our bank. Specifically, it held several $20 bills that The Bear needed to pay for his expenses while traveling to a distant tournament with his basketball team over Christmas break. I handed him the envelope on the way to meet his ride. We made one stop along the way at a sandwich shop to buy lunch.

Thirty minutes later we met his team at the designated meeting place. When the Bear got out of the car he decided to look through his bags one last time to make certain that he had everything he needed. He didn't. The money envelope was gone!

Need I describe the panic in those moments? Probably not. We unpacked everything. We almost turned the car upside down during the search, but it had disappeared.

His coach was anxious to get on the road but The Bear couldn't leave without money so we made arrangements to meet them a few minutes after going to a distant bank branch for more money. A very distraught and embarrassed Bear then left on the trip with his team while Pastor Dad and I made the journey home.

We decided to call the sandwich shop to ask if they had found the envelope in the store. Funny thing, though. I couldn't find the receipt! Evidently it had been tossed out with the sandwich remnants during the frantic search through luggage and car.

As foolish as it sounds, we drove back to the sandwich shop anyway. By this time over 90 minutes had passed since we had been there with The Bear. As we drove into the parking lot my eye caught sight of the envelope lying in the parking lot right in front of the restaurant door. Anyone that had gone into that sandwich shop or the barber shop next door had walked past it without bothering to pick it up. Needless to say, we were overjoyed at finding our lost money!


Parable 2
The first Sunday in March one of the ladies from our church had a flat tire in the afternoon on a busy viaduct with very little emergency pull off shoulder. She was concerned about her safety as she sat there barely off the road while the traffic rushed past at moderately high speed. That night she told me about her scary adventure.

We were in the nursery together the following Wednesday night. She told me that the day after the tire blowout she realized that she had lost her wedding ring. It had not been found even though she had searched her car, clothing, and personal belongings. She was understandably upset. There wasn't much I could do except to ask a few questions to help jog her memory of the events of that day. She remembered the last time she could verify having it on her finger but from that point forward her memory was not clear.

I began praying that Wednesday evening that she would find her ring. I asked her this past Sunday if she had found it. Her dejected "No" made me sad, both because she hadn't found it and because I had reminded her of the empty space on her finger. I told her I wouldn't ask again but that if she found it I would like to know. Yesterday I received the phone call from one very excited lady telling me that she had unexpectedly come across her ring in the bottom of a bag! I was happy but she was elated!


Parable 3
At the beginning of the year those of us who asked for them received index cards containing the names of teenagers that have attended our evangelistic outreach at least once this year. I don't know all of these young people because I work in a separate area of the building each Wednesday when these services are held, but I am acquainted with a few of the teens whose names are on my card. It is a little harder to pray for those that I don't know because their spiritual needs are unknown to me but the fact that the Lord knows their circumstances is enough.

A few weeks ago we had a workers' meeting which I attended because I am a van captain. This meeting concerned teens that were disruptive and would no longer be allowed to attend due to their behavior, some of which crossed the line into criminal. That's no exaggeration. I was saddened to see that the name of one of the boys on my prayer list is also on the expelled list. I was even more saddened to hear that he is one of the ringleaders.

So what does this third story have to do with the parables that Jesus told? Well, these days I'm feeling a tiny bit like the man who stood watching the road for a wayward boy who needed to repent. As happy as I am to have found that lost money envelope and to have a friend find her lost wedding ring these pale to insignificance to this lost young man that needs to be found so I'm praying. . . and I'm waiting on the Lord. He's the only one who can make valuable lost souls be found.

Thursday Tune-up: Excuses

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Setting goals, and then following through with them, is never easy. There are a million reasons excuses why our goals can't be met. I'll just name a few for starters.

• Too busy? Yes!
• Not enough money? Absolutely!
• Too tired? No doubt!

All true, but all merely excuses. We work hard to come up with a list that validates our resistance to change. Too bad we don't work that hard to actually change!

Before this year began I prayerfully set a few goals that I knew God wanted me to fulfill. And I'm doing pretty well with most of them. But there's one goal that isn't so easy. That's the one about singing more in church. I've been so reluctant to add my name to the sign-up sheet that Pastor Dad took the initiative and signed me up to sing on Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. Yikes! Sunday morning prime time!

Yes, we're still married.   :)

It isn't that I mind singing. I love being part of the choir. It's that whole "solo" thing that scares me. As a matter of fact, that day I confessed to a friend in the choir that I was very nervous. As my time to sing grew closer the butterflies in my stomach began reaching into my chest and snatching my breath away. I felt like I was alternating between swallowing and gulping. Desperately, I prayed for the Lord to help me get through my song without making a fool of myself. And that's when I felt like the Lord replied, "Oh, I see! So it's all about you! You're more concerned about what everyone will think of you than what they will think of me." I was both shocked and reproved. I had been totally focused on myself and not on the Savior I wanted to glorify. I'd like to say that I wasn't nervous after that little spiritual peptalk but I'd prefer not to add lying to my list of trangressions. However, I did make it through the song without a meltdown or chirping like a hiccuping Minnie Mouse.

What about you? Are you doing the things God is telling you to do? If not, why not? If you don't think you have the time perhaps you need to be realistic about your time management. How much time do you spend watching television on any given day, or reading books, or listening to the radio, or reading blogs? (Ouch!)

Do you need more convincing? Perhaps you need to read those verses in Exodus chapters 3 and 4 where Moses argued with God over his ability to do the job that God was calling him to do. God didn't buy that whole self-deprecating "Who am I?"speech! And when Moses made the claim that he wasn't an eloquent speaker God got angry. If even Moses couldn't compose a list of reasons to convince God to let him off the hook I'm reasonably sure that God isn't impressed by our petty list of excuses either!

Bible Reading Schedule for February 13-19, 2012

February 13-19, 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012

Genesis 46, 47

Matthew 28

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Genesis 48-50

Mark 1

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Exodus 1-3

Mark 2

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Exodus 4, 5

Mark 3, 4

Friday, February 17, 2012

Exodus 6-8

Mark 5

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Exodus 9, 10

Mark 6, 7

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Attend church!

Catch up any readings that were missed.

Bible Reading Schedule for February 6-12, 2012

February 6-12, 2012

Monday, February 6, 2012

Genesis 31, 32

Matthew 20, 21

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Genesis 33-35

Matthew 22

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Genesis 36-38

Matthew 23

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Genesis 39, 40

Matthew 24, 25

Friday, February 10, 2012

Genesis 41-43

Matthew 26

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Genesis 44, 45

Matthew 27

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Attend church!

Use the afternoon to catch up any readings that were missed.

Thursday's Tune-Up: Are You A Dummy?

source: www.Christianphotos.net

It's mid-January and for many of us some of the New Year excitement has started to fade and the determination we had to read God's Word daily, attend church regularly, memorize scripture methodically, and pray fervently in 2012 has faded along with it.

Does that describe you? Could this be your photo above? Let's see if there's any resemblance.

• Are your eyes glazed over when you read your Bible each day?
• Do you paint on a phony smile when you "have to" go to church?
• Is your brain wooden when you try to memorize verses?
• Do the words coming out of your mouth when you pray sound like a well-rehearsed script?

Mmm-hmm. I thought so. It happens to all of us sometimes.

Unfortunately, it's natural; meaning it's part of our nature. We easily slip back into old familiar habits like puppet skits performed many times.

And that's exactly why we need to keep practicing new routines whether we feel like doing them or not. Reading the Bible, praying, memorizing scripture, and attending church are the means God uses to change the old nature into a new one that resembles His own.

We have a tendency to resist change in spite of all good intentions. (I wonder how crowded the health clubs are these days?) But if you continue your new spiritual exercises one day you'll find that your eyes no longer stare vacantly at the pages of your Bible, your smile is genuine when you meet with other believers, and your brain meditates on those memorized scriptures with the result being honest heartfelt prayers to God.

What a picture that would make!

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Col 3:16-17 (KJV) -- imported from Bible Explorer 4 (emphasis mine)

Easy Night in the Nursery

I'm the designated Wednesday night church nursery worker. It has to be that way because most of the adults are elsewhere in the building working in the various departments of our children's ministries. Sure, I could be one of those workers, too, if I really wanted to be.

I don't want to be.

I'm perfectly content in my small corner with the small fry. My helper changes from week to week but I'm the permanent worker.

The little ones were especially good last night. They decided to "read" books.

Miss Lili and friend choosing a book

Could you turn it this way?  I'm having trouble seeing the pictures!

Hey!  Where'd you go? I thought we were reading!

I don't want to read anymore.  It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.  And mine has changed to thoughts of Cheerios.

Did You Miss Me?

Or did you even notice I was gone?

Matters of life and death have kept me away from you recently.

The "life" matters have been a whole lot more fun.

• Three of our children had birthdays in May. (Oh, yeah. I blogged briefly about those.)
• One of our children and her husband graduated from college in May. (Oh, yeah. I blogged about that also.)
• I didn't tell you that I orchestrated a major church banquet for both men and women in honor of Mother's Day and the upcoming Father's Day.  And then I panicked when my planned guest speakers (a husband and wife team) cancelled 3 days before the event. :( Not to worry! The Lord worked everything out because He obviously had other plans. And His plans turned out very well indeed.
• Well, okay, then. Did I tell you that my father-in-law, son-in-law, and grandson have birthdays on three consecutive days in June? And did I mention those were last week? I thought not. We celebrated Fen's second birthday yesterday (and his other grandma hosted a fine shindig for him!) and we celebrated Fen's daddy's birthday today. Whew!
• Did I also mention our church had Vacation Bible School last week? No? We did. I taught a class of kindergarten age kids. I'm still recovering. :)
• I won't tell you about the Mother's Day lunch menu that . . ., well, I'll stop there. Let's just say that all of the guests were fed anyway. :)
• It wouldn't be right not to tell you that many hours during the month of May were spent downstairs because of tornados and major storms. You have no idea what it is like to be in such close quarters with a scaredy-cat dog in such moments!I'm not sure all the bruises have healed yet.
• Then we had a major, MAJOR rainfall of about 4 inches within a couple of hours this past Friday that turned just about every street within a 5 mile radius of home into raging rivers. I watched 2 or 3 cars sliding off "the hill" on loose gravel that had washed down from somewhere and onto the road. I headed my car in the opposite direction only to lose visibility within minutes due to bucket loads of water hitting the windshield. What I did see was a lightening strike to a nearby telephone/electricity pole. I didn't stick around long enough to see the fire department respond.
• My family and I participated in an event last week called "Cross the Bridge for Life" to benefit our local crisis pregnancy centers.

Yes, "life" has been busy. We had something going on every Sunday in May and most of the other days as well. Both June Sundays have similarly been busy, as have the weekdays.

But that "death" part was what really threw us into a tailspin. The departure of souls into eternity added actions that cannot be comprehended as mere dates on a calendar.

• Since Easter (which was 7 weeks ago: today is the recognition of the Day of Pentecost) Pastor Dad has preached 8 funerals. Not all of the dearly departed were members of our church, but all were somehow connected to it. Pastor Dad takes that "pastor" part very seriously and visits not only his flock but their loved ones as well, consequently he gets asked to participate in many funerals. These last few weeks have been very grievous one.
• I sang at a funeral for the first time. It wasn't my singing debut but it was my funeral solo premier. Oh, my! I thought singing solo in public in general was stressful, but it's nothing compared to that of singing at a funeral! And I'm aware that it isn't "about me." But I was acutely aware that it would not be a good time for a major mess up or melt down.

As you can see, a manic May is quickly becoming a jump-to-it June. I've been here, but I've just not been here much of late.

Prey Without Ceasing?

That's not a misprint.

Do you plan to attend church tomorrow? If not, why not?

Tomorrow is the Sunday following the the one designated on the calendar as Easter. You know, those of us who regularly attend church to worship the risen Savior do so in celebration of the resurrection each week and not just on one Sunday. For us, it's Easter every week when we gather to acknowledge the God-man who died to pay the penalty we owe for our sin and give thanks for His resurrection.

You really should go to church tomorrow and the next week, too.

Some might say, "I'll stay home and worship privately." Okay, I won't argue with you about your sincerity. But I must warn you that it's hunting season and you're fair game.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (KJV)

I've watched enough nature programs to know that the ploy of the hunting lion is to separate one member of the flock from the others. It usually chooses one of the weak as its victim. Get the picture?

Is it any wonder that support groups follow the Biblical leading found in the Book of Hebrews? They know that those recovering from any form of trial or addictive behavior don't stand a chance of successful acceptance of critical circumstances or will receive healing if they try to make it alone. As my friend said in her comment in my last post, there are many times that she has felt so alone. That's exactly when we're the most vulnerable to Satan's attacks. There's relative safety in numbers.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Heb 10:24-25 (KJV)

But we're not meant to be alone. We're meant to be part of a herd. We'll stop being "prey" without ceasing if we'll get together and "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17) as the Bible exhorts us to do.

We're all being hunted. Some of us just don't want to admit it so we wander off and try to make it on our own. Take a friendly word of advice and get back into the safety of the flock.

Early Warning Systems

Nothing is a greater object lesson of the need for early warning systems than the events of recent weeks. Just look at the horrendous destruction in Japan due to earthquakes and tsunamis. Here in southern and mid-America we've been hit by floods several times over the past three months due to tremendous storms. Cars and houses have been damaged by water or tornados or lightening strikes.

We are safe on this High Hill but we are also being effected by the storms. I'm not sure when the last time was that we had a full night's sleep. We have two weather alerts and one or both of them have sounded an alert every night recently. The first is an alarm hooked up to NOAA radio. The second is a terrified dog afraid of thunder storms. She alerts us to their approach long before we can actually hear anything.

We can ignore these alarms or we can take precautions accordingly. It's our choice. I, for one, tend to take both alerts, including the dog, seriously. She might be only a cowardly canine or she might have God-given instincts that could save our lives. I'm not willing to chance that her senses are false alarms.

We could also turn off the weather alert beside the bed and go back to sleep. We've been tempted to do that a few times, but that would kind of defeat the whole purpose of having one, wouldn't it?

Where am I going with this?

Well, did you know that most in America have access to spiritual warning systems but they rarely avail themselves of them? Most have a Bible and live near a local church but do not see the need for either. They are like the individuals who ignore the warnings of a weather alert. The Bible tells us to flee from the wrath to come but most people just ignore it and spiritually go back to sleep. Or they ridicule the preacher who tells them that the storms in life (this one and the next) are coming. To them, he's like the dog whose foolish yapping disturbs them. Oh, sure, they'll attend Easter services to keep Mama happy, but they'll tune out the day's message: death is coming; seek shelter in the Savior that conquered death!

I wonder how many paid lip service to Earth Day last week by honoring the so-called "Mother Earth" while totally ignoring the Father God in Heaven who sent His Son? When it comes down to a question of which one is worthy of worship, it just makes sense to honor the one who will ultimately redeem creation rather than the creation that requires redeeming from its continual groaning and travailing (cf. Romans 8). The creation can't be redeemed no matter how many trees we plant or cardboard boxes we recycle. There's nothing wrong with recycling supplies but to think it will save the earth is a mockery in light of recent weather-related tragedies! The earth is dying. People are dying!

Heed the early warning systems. The storms are coming!Flee from the wrath to come!

Don't turn off the message of the resurrected Jesus and go back to sleep. The results promise to be disastrous.

The Books of February 2011

This was not a month spent reading a lot for pleasure. This was more a month for research, specifically as it related to the Ohio History Class that I teach each Monday in our homeschool co-op. But even that netted me some reading pleasure.

This was also a month that saw me spending a great deal of time on the road for the sake of basketball. I'm one of those folks who can read just fine while riding in a car, but I've never tried to do it while actually doing the driving.

Without further ado (and whining), I will review the books I read last month. But first, I'd like to draw your attention to something. It's March! Yippee! The month that spring officially begins. :)

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, here are the books I read in February.

• Suddenly Frugal by Leah Ingram.

You might recognize the author by her blog of the same name. I know that I did and that is one of the reasons I checked out this book from my library.

This was the book I alluded to when I said I wondered why I hadn't written it. (Well, I know the answer to that, really.)  To say that I do - and have done - probably 90% of the stuff in the book is not an exaggeration. In our case, it is not that we are suddenly frugal. It is that we are looking for more cost-cutting tips. I did find a few that were new to me and some that I knew already but needed to be reminded to do.

One of the new tips I learned was that vinegar can be used to clean laminate floors. We replaced most of the carpet in our house with a quality wood-look laminate a couple of years ago and I had found that the cheap store-brand alternatives to Swiffer mopping cloths were not worth the money I paid for them so I always used the real thing (which should make several members of my extended family who work for P and G very happy). However, I am pleased to have the vinegar and water frugal alternative. My floors look G-R-E-A-T.

If you "suddenly" find yourself needing some frugal suggestions I recommend this book. It will get you moving in the right direction. And then, for more industrial strength frugality, go borrow the bound volumes of The Tightwad Gazette (written by Amy Dacyczyn) or better yet, find them in a thrift store.

• A Slow Burn by Mary E. Demuth

This is the second book in the Defiance Texas Trilogy. I began reading this set a year ago while in Texas (which was purely a coincidence). The first book, Daisy Chain, didn't get a fair review when I listed all of my 2010 reads in one lump sum. I said that I didn't remember much about the book, and that was true. Now that I've read the second of the trilogy I remember the first, too.

The series is about the disappearance of a girl named Daisy and is set in 1973. Book 1 is written from the perspective of her friend, Jed Pepper, a preacher's kid. Do you see any similarities to my own family yet? Well, yes, The Bear was a 14-year-old preacher's kid this time last year. Like Jed, he is also pretty trustworthy and somewhat of an introverted deep thinker. Perhaps now you see why the book disturbed me a bit too much to want to remember something written from the perspective of the tortured 14-year-old boy who feels responsible for his best friend's disappearance.

These good qualities are about all that The Bear has in common with Jed, though. The Bear's preacher-dad is NOTHING like Jed's dad, thankfully. In fact, despite the fact that I kept seeing The Bear's face as I read, the rest of the family and the people in his father's church resemble nobody that I know.

A Slow Burn picks up the story where Daisy Chain left off but the thread is picked up by Daisy's grieving mother, Emory. She is haunted by her own feelings of remorse. She wasn't a good mother to Daisy. In fact, she wasn't a good neighbor, friend, employee, or anything to anyone with whom she came in contact. This book is about her journey to find her daughter's killer (yes, Daisy is dead) and the spiritual journey she begins in spite of her desire to avoid it.

I recommend these books, but only if you have the time to read the whole trilogy because the first book left me totally deflated and this second book left me waiting for Emory to find the answers to the questions that troubled her, including the identity of the killer.

(P.S. I began the third and final book in the trilogy this month but did not finish it. I just completed it last night and will review it next month.)

• The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This was the audiobook presentation of the much-beloved Narnia tale. I know it is the bonafide first book in the series but I read (heard?) it following The Magician's Nephew. I've seen the movie so the story line was not a mystery to me. Still, I think it is good to actually experience a story in an author's own words.

• "Ohio Valley History" Volume 9, Number 3, Fall 2009

This book is not a book at all. It is a magazine. But it happens to be an exceptional magazine. The magazine itself states on the inside that it is "A Journal of the History and Culture of the Ohio Valley and the Upper South, . . ." Subcriptions may be obtained here. I borrowed this copy from the library.

Why did I read this magazine? It provided research toward a lesson I was teaching in my Ohio History class. My students are 4th-6th grade homeschoolers and I think it is important that the information I present be both interesting and accurate. This particular edition had an article concerning European migration and the Kaskaskia Indians. We happened to be studying how the Native Americans in the Ohio region were influenced by French fur traders.

As an added bonus, after I returned home with this magazine I found that another article in it was written by a professor that Pastor Dad and I met last year at the conference we attended in Mississippi. And as an added added bonus the article was about the pastor of one of the churches that started the church that Pastor Dad now pastors. Okay, that's not quite as confusing as it sounds. (A certain pastor pastored a church in KY in the 1700s. That church later helped start our church.) The article was interesting to me, too, because it discussed regional and cultural biases among Baptists in the late 1700s. Ohio was a frontier microcosm of the blending between the New England  and southern cultures. Most historians are familiar with how that blending in the 13 original colonies wreaked havoc with the nerves of our Founding Fathers as they worked to coalesce the colonies into a nation. Those regional prejudices extended beyond governmental procedures and into how churches conducted their worship and missions. This, of course, was aggravated by how differing affiliations interpreted Scripture concerning church polity and its offspring, missions.

But for those of you who are not interested in Native Americans or church history, this volume also contained an article about a heinous robbery/murder and the resulting execution of the perpetrators, plus one about a steamboat of long ago. There was also a section for book reviews, which I found helpful for suggestions for further reading, particularly to adequately prepare for certain future Ohio History lessons, which was the impetus for obtaining this magazine in the first place!


So the results for this month are not that spectacular, but they are what they are:

1 non-fiction book
1 non-fiction magazine (which had more information in it than many of the non-fiction books I've read)
2 fiction books (1 via audiobook)

Sweet Pea as Big Sister

Sweet Pea is our third granddaughter. Until a couple of weeks ago she was the youngest child in her family. But Sweet Pea recently became the Big Sister to Lili. Her parents had prepared her for this change in status because after being their youngest for three-and-a-half years they anticipated some adjustments.

Sweet Pea seemed to relish the change from being The Baby to being The Big Sister. And as a casual observer I think I can say that the transition has gone smoothly overall. But Lili was only hours old when it became clear that Sweet Pea had harbored some false notions about what her benefits would be as Big Sister.

That first shock came when she discovered that she would still be required to sit in a carseat. She thought that this is something big sisters do not do because her two big sisters do not sit in them anymore. True, Tigger has a booster seat, but it is definitely not the 5-point harness system like Sweet Pea requires. So while Sweet Pea has graduated to the back of the minivan due to her elevated family status she has not graduated to a booster seat due to state laws.

Other of Sweet Pea's "Big Sister" misconceptions have come to light. The most humorous - to me, anyway - involves something that happened when she was sitting with me in church. Yes, when Sweet Pea sits with Gram (that's me) I feel that I must stay on the alert. Remember the myriad rubber balls and their suction cup and light displays from earlier this year? See here for that story.

On this particular Sunday night our church was holding communion. At such times it is not unusual for either Sweet Pea and/or her sister(s) to be sitting with me as their mother sits in the front where she can hastily get to the piano for the closing hymn and their daddy sits behind me with whatever of his offspring are not beside me. On this particular night only Sweet Pea was in my row.

As the unleavened bread was served I saw a shocked look on Sweet Pea's face as the plate bypassed her. She was decidedly not pleased. By the time the cups were passed I was aware of the mounting storm forming so I opted to hold my cup in my hand and risk a spill as opposed to my usual manuever of putting it in the cup rack ahead. I feared I would open my eyes from prayer to find an empty vessel at the appointed time if I did.

By now Sweet Pea was overly indignant and the storm broke. She stood up, turned around to face her daddy, and with hands on her hips demanded in a loud whisper, "Why can't I have it now? I'm a big sister!!"

I asked the Lord to forgive me for my undignified giggles but I suspect that He was engulfed in a few of His own.

Celebrations That Just Don't Quit!

I haven't blogged much recently, but that isn't because I haven't had anything to blog about. It's because I've had too much to blog about and very little time in which to do it.

The out-of-the-ordinary events:

• A new granddaughter that we're calling "Lili" on the blogs (although I kinda think of her as "Ladybug" for some reason).
• Taking food to a couple of new moms and a woman who recently returned home from the hospital following surgery.
• An evening in a corn maze.
• A family reunion in another state.
• Lisa at home for a too short (weekend) visit.
• My birthday.
• Pastor Appreciation Sunday.
• The first couple of weeks of a Bible study that is being held in my home.
• Proctoring a test for a local adult education student taking online classes from a distant university.
• Finishing the writing and publication of our family genealogy.  Remember those two books I was writing.  That number is now down to one.  Hallelujah!
• Following my Cincinnati Reds.  I'm proud of them even if they didn't get any further in the playoffs than they did.  (I'm old enough to remember the ups and downs of the 1970s and the Big Red Machine.  There's still next year!)

All of that on top of the usual stuff which consists of:

• Teaching 2 classes at a homeschool co-op (Ohio History for the 4th-6th graders and Apologia Physical Science for the 7th-8th graders).  I love it!!!!
• Teaching my own homeschooled student.  Sure, I love that, too.  :)
• Still writing a book. . . A more complicated book. . .
• Political involvement.  Oh yeah, I'm not sitting this one out.  Tea, anyone?
• Completing the sorting and cleaning of all the nooks and crannies of our house.  Rarely does a charitable organization get a negative response these days when requesting cast-offs.
• Feeding the Bear: to be repeated almost hourly.  When not feeding him, I'm shopping for things to feed him.
• Transporting children to and from taekwondo lessons.
• Diapering, feeding, swinging, and playing ball and/or games with any of my 5 grandchildren whenever possible. 
• Working in the church office.
• Keeping the church nursery on Wednesday nights while the children/teen ministeries are being held.

So, as you can see, my days and evenings are full!  I could - and probably should - write a blog on each one of the items on the lists but perhaps some other time.  I do have a funny story that I want to share with you about Sweet Pea's transition to "Big Sister" and how her perception of the event and the reality of it haven't quite been the same thing, but that must wait for another day.  I've got "stuff" that needs completing before bedtime, which seems to be getting earlier and earlier these days!

When "Murphy" Comes to Visit . . .

It makes for some great blog fodder . . .
     But no time to blog!

Such was my week.  Murphy (of "Murphy's Law" fame) came for a prolonged visit this week and I'm hoping that he has now moved on.  I couldn't say for sure, though, because I'm leery of opening the door to the spare bedroom to see if his bags have been packed and removed.

He wreaked a lot of mischievous havoc while he was here:

• Monday he made sure that the morning history class that I am teaching at our co-op would begin its first class without the workbooks.  A quick change of lesson plans resulted.
• Also Monday, in the afternoon physical science class that I am teaching at our co-op I discovered 2 interesting things:  first, that my son's homework for his chemistry class (which was in session elsewhere) was in my briefcase; and second, that having studied both the chemistry and the physical science units the previous week made me present more difficult information to my younger class than what they were expecting.  Those of you homeschooling multi-ages will appreciate this phenomenon and especially those of you familiar with the first chapter of Apologia Chemistry and Apologia Physical Science.  The charts and information in the first module of each book are surprisingly similar. 
• Wednesday morning Pastor Dad got up and left to make a hospital visit, the Bear and I got up to go to a taekwondo lesson, and Karen and Philip showed up unexpectedly with the girls.  I'm positive now that we had been told of the time of her prenatal doctor appointment but it hadn't registered with any of us.  So there I was with no car seats currently installed in my car (I have 3 of varying age-appropriateness even though my youngest child is now 15) and we were all in a hurry to get to our respective destinations.  We quickly switched keys and vehicles.  Almost immediately a game of "Gym bag, gym bag, where are you gym bag?" began. Thinking it to be in my trunk, I ran out to stop my car's departure.  Too late!  Therefore, the Bear went to his lesson without the necessary gear.  We later discovered that the gym bag wasn't even in my car.  Pastor Dad had it in his.
• Also on Wednesday, several minutes later we reloaded the girls in their own vehicle and left for the taekwondo studio.  We were probably going to be 10 minutes early but that was fine because the Bear hadn't changed into his uniform yet.  We hadn't been driving more than 10 minutes of the 30 minute drive when Sweet Pea announced that she had to "go potty."  The current leg of our journey was on a seven-mile long two-lane highway that has few public restrooms.  The nearest one was in a grocery store about half-mile behind us.  Obviously, I turned around.  After the pitstop we returned to the 2-lane road only to find ourselves in a long line behind 2 very large and slow trucks.  As a consequence, we were 10 minutes late instead of early, and we still had to explain why the Bear had no gym bag.
• Thursday while the Bear and I were working through a math problem the phone rang.  I recognized the name on the caller id as one of my lineage society acquaintances so I answered.  After exchanging brief pleasantries she asked me if I'd had my baby yet.  {Insert stunned silence}  Once I found my tongue I asked if she meant my daughter had had her baby yet.  No, she assured me, she meant my baby.  I almost quipped right then, "Sure!  I've had my baby.  Do you want to talk to him?  He's sitting right here doing trigonometry."  {Insert her stunned silence}  I didn't say it.  She obviously had me confused with my daughter, Karen, whose baby is due any day now.  People have confused us for years, but never quite to this extent.
• Thursday evening I attended an information meeting about the Bear's upcoming basketball season.  It was obvious that Murphy had been working hard here, too.  The gym location for practices and games is in question as are practice times.  This Murphy has been a busy guy indeed!

Tomorrow we will be having special homecoming services at our church which will include special preaching and dinner (we're Baptists - it's what we do).  Among other things, I'm making two pies for the meal.  I know that several of my readers will be there so I'm just warning you now.  If something I make doesn't taste good, cut me some slack. Remember that I've had Murphy visiting me this week and I'm not quite convinced that he's gone!  Anything is bound to happen.

A Busy June Sunday in Washington DC

Although I am prone to hyperbole, it is no exaggeration to say that after 12 hours of restful sleep the world looked a whole lot brighter the next morning. We awoke about 7 a.m. feeling much refreshed and not quite so grumpy. I use the word "we" in the way that guest speakers often do, like they've got a mouse in their pocket as they make their pronouncement.

Armed with a new cache of energy we left the motel in the 'burbs and drove 30 miles back into the city to go to church. Neither Pastor Dad nor I had been in DC in oh, say, about 35 years so we had neglected to pay attention to the fact that just because one is armed with a street's name is not enough. One must also know its directional designation in relationship to the Capitol and The National Mall (NW, NE, SW, SE), We didn't know that then but we learned the hard way.

Asking for directions to a certain street will result in having the person tell you that there are 2 streets by that name and in order to help they will need more information. Sort of like me asking, "Bear, did you pack such-and-such . . ." and having two boys answer. Which boy are you asking? Or, for instance, to which D Street do you wish to go, madam? Hmm.

Thanks to being up and at 'em so bright and early we had plenty of time to repent of the error of our ways, get the proper address and directions, and go to church.

Later in the day we bought our passes and traveled around the city via the light rail system. We were scheduled to meet the Bears and their group at their dorm in the late afternoon but since we had plenty of time we made our way to Arlington National Cemetery. The place was packed and people were lined up everywhere waiting for tour buses. We decided to return another day.

We eventually made our way back to meet the group just in time to take the walking tour of the monuments with them. At several locations one of their teachers would give talks (they don't like to use the word "lectures") about the person being memorialized and some of the inscriptions found within. The students would then be led in a patriotic anthem, which would invariably lead to applause from passersby, before being dismissed for several minutes of assigned research and reflection before meeting back together and moving on to the next one.

(None of these people were in our group. But evidently the Lincoln Memorial is a popular location for group "talks.")

We made our way through all of the monuments. I was deeply moved by the whole experience, but especially so at the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I saw the traveling replica a few years ago and was touched by it then but not like I experienced this time. I thought at first it was because this was the war of my childhood and maybe that was the reason for my feelings. But I didn't personally know any of the people whose names are engraved on that wall because all the soldiers I knew came home, so why was I so overcome with emotion?

It was because I suddenly became aware of the vast funeral-like service going on around me. For all I know it could be like that every day of the year but for the first time that day I remembered that it was Father's Day. Many were there to visit the name of their father on that wall. It would take several posts for me to tell you of the stories I overheard as I passed through there, but I won't. Father's Day was also why Arlington National Cemetery was so crowded as dads who didn't come back from war were honored by their sons and daughters at places where they felt closest to their memories.

The events of the day - the church service, the monuments built to great Americans, the students singing Christian patriotic anthems, the families honoring the sacrifices of their loved ones, and the surging thankfulness in my heart for the privilege of being an American - all made my day blessed indeed.

God bless America!

"Busy June" Gets Ready for Traveling

After that week of VBS followed by the weekend of rain and celebrations, there were preparations to be completed in the following 6 days for the upcoming trip to Washington DC. I had my doubts as to whether we could do it or not. Time was tight and there was much to be done!

First, there was the shopping. Contrary to others' opinions, this was not a vacation. In our family a trip is defined by how many dress clothes one must take along. No dress clothes might* mean a true vacation. Several sets of dress clothes mean that Pastor Dad will be preaching as a visiting speaker and we will be attending each session. On such trips we add as many vacation elements as we can to provide some leisure. Sight-seeing might consist of brief moments seeing what the locale has to offer in way of amusement, cuisine, or historical significance. "Dress clothes required" trips are not to be spurned, but they're not technically vacations either.

(*An exception to the definition: church camp is not a vacation even if we don't take dress clothes! There's always one brave soul who will ask me after I return from a week away at church camp if I enjoyed my "vacation." Sigh! I say "brave" because so far the looks I've given the person have not resulted in injury but I fear there's a first time for everything. )

This trip, it was not Pastor Dad and I that required multiple two-suiters. It was the Bear. And given the fact that the Bear has grown significantly taller in the past few years the pickings in his closet were less than he needed. (More like slim and none.) Therefore, for the price of what it would cost to be hooked up to an EKG machine in the emergency room we bought the Bear a new dress wardrobe. I'm kidding, of course. It's just that when I saw how pale Pastor Dad became when he paid the cashier I began to fear that we were going to be making a first-hand comparison shortly.

Okay, shopping done. On to the next item on the list.

Second, there was school to do. We're still at it. We've been blessed with several "dress clothes" trips this year and we think traveling with Pastor Dad is one of the perks of homeschooling. Therefore, the actual bookwork has to be done at more unconventional times, like summer.

Okay, school work for the week was done. On to the next item.

Third, there was Father's Day to consider. We're very blessed to have our fathers in this area. We were also very un-blessed in that we would be nowhere near this area on Father's Day this year. So that meant making sure greetings were made in advance of the actual day. Cards and gifts were bought and delivered. No dads fainted due to receiving their gifts early.

Okay, done. On to the next item on the list.

Fourth, there was my upcoming family reunion and the genealogy book that I've been writing in honor of it.

Uh, undone, on both counts. I would not be attending the reunion again this year, and the book would not be completed either. But I worked hard to get a partial prototype printed out for viewing. It was all I could do under the circumstances.

Fifth, there was Pepper to take to the vet for her booster shots so that she could go on her own little trip to the kennel.

Okay, done. Keep going...

Sixth, there was Pepper to take to the kennel. She hates this part. I hate this part. Our usual kennel was booked solid so we had to use one that is reputable but definitely not folksy like our favorite. This one treats her like it is their job or something. Our usual one treats her like she's a guest.

Okay, done on Friday afternoon. On to the another item on the list.

Seventh, there was the Bible reading schedules to put on the blog. Since I wasn't sure of the Internet reception at any of the places I'd be staying (or even where I'd be staying part of that time!) I typed them in advance and scheduled those schedules to appear on schedule.

Done! On to the last item on the list.

Eighth, there was laundry and packing to be completed. Making the lists, checking them twice. Santa has nothing on mothers.

Okay, done! The busy week preparing for the trip was complete at midnight on Friday! Time for some sleep before the alarm went off on Saturday morning . . . at 3 a.m!

(Still, to be continued!)