Here and there; Awaken conference, sandhill crane

 It is always a good day when visiting with our kids!

There was a bit of snow the next morning.

Jill went to the school for teacher's meetings and then to the church to get ready for the Awaken conference.  There was no school.  

Claire, Adam and us went to the coffee shop where Sophia works.

That afternoon, Adam left to fly to Kansas along with several pastors to look into church planting models. 

So he was there in Kansas while we were here in Wisconsin.  Switcharoo!

Al did a little work around the house.

We took Claire to ballet lessons.

Sophia was doing homework.  Then we tried to decide what to do for dinner.  I had them each write down 3 restaurants and then we would see if they chose any the same.  They had to do it 3 times before the decision was made.  

The Awaken conference was on Saturday.  As I was walking in to the church, a Sandhill crane flew overhead!

I could hear its call as it flew right over my head.  

Here is a video so you can find out about them and hear their call.

The conference began with worship.

 

Sophia was on the worship team.  Worship time gave me chills and brought me to tears.  What a wonderful God we have!

I asked Sophia if she could send me the list of the songs they sang during the 2 worship times.  I would encourage you to look these up on-line and spend some time in worshiping.

Story to Tell (Worship Together)
Great are you Lord (All Sons and Daughters)
Like incense/ Sometimes By Step (Brooke Ligertwood)

      Love the Rich Mullin's add-in!
My Jesus I love thee (Worship Circle)
Goodness of God (Bethel)
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Jesus You Alone (Highlands Worship)
Such an Awesome God (Maverick City)
Holy Holy Holy Jesus Reigns (Highlands Worship) 

When I was in boarding school in first grade, at our evening devotions time, I would regularly raise my hand to pick hymn #1, "Holy, Holy, Holy".  Often enough that I remember hearing groans. 

Lydia Brownback was the speaker (not related to former Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.  I asked.  But she does have a brother named Sam!)

She spoke on Wisdom from Proverbs.

"God shows us how to live and He didn't have to do that."

"Christianity is a gift, not an obligation."

"Fools fall for the lie that blessings come from sin."

"In a fool's eye, wisdom looks crooked."

I went to 2 workshops that were offered.  So good!

The Power of Perspective

and

There were more people who registered than who initially signed up.  But God "multiplied the loaves and fishes" and there was just enough food for everyone!

I thought this was a wise saying from the speaker:

When a 6th grade band performs Beethoven at a concert, you'd never say "Beethoven is awful." No, you just understand that 6th graders are not very proficient yet.  But when Christians 'play' poorly, people put the blame on God.  People who have church hurts blame Him, not the Christian who are poor examples of what believers are to be like.

Papa and Claire were home together.  Claire ended up having a fever so spent the day in bed.

* * *

The next morning, Sophia wasn't feeling the best either so Al and I went to church by ourselves.

"When you live by faith, you can be amazed by God whether He sustains you THROUGH agony or miraculously delivers you FROM agony....Even if you don't feel it or see it, God is at work.  He never stops working."  Ken Nabi

"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."

Psalm 112:7

Claire started feeling better that afternoon so she and Papa shot some baskets.

Jill and I took Kobi for a walk.

Visiting in the evening.  

To be continued...

Iowa - Towns of Fairfield, the Amish town of Kalona, and Herbert Hoover home in West Branch

The next town on our travels to Wisconsin was the town of Fairfield, Iowa.   I read that it was named for the "fair fields" in the area.  Sounds like our town of Pretty Prairie, named for its' pretty prairies.

Evidently the Smithsonian Magazine named it one of America's best small towns.  Oprah dubbed it "America's most unusual towns."  It used to be a stopping point for the underground railroad.  There is a Carnegie library, the first one outside Pennsylvania or Scotland.  The Beach Boys performed in this town.  It has the largest synagogue in the US and the largest Liberal Catholic churches.

As we drove by, we saw this huge building and the sign read Transcendetal Meditation center.  There was also a Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome.  I was pretty surprised to see this here in rural Iowa.  

And sad.

I believe Christ is the One who gives us true peace.

The Skunk River. 

 

That doesn't even seem  like anyone would want to go to a camp with the word "skunk" in it?  Although the river would be nice to swim in or canoe on.

We puposely decided to drive to Kalona.  We wanted to eat an Amish/German lunch at a restaurant there.

Would you believe there is no such thing in Kalona?  We went into a coffee shop and an Old-Mennonite girl was serving coffee.  We asked her if there was a place to eat "Dutch" food.  There isn't!  

There is a Tequila Grill, Los Amigos Taqueria, Tuscan Moon Grill, breweries - just the restaurants you would expect in a town that visitors come to who are interested in finding out more about the Amish.  Ha!

She said it was sadly lacking.  She agreed that it would be a big business!  It really would!   Well, we'll have to go back home to have it I guess.  We have a few back in Kansas that are really good!

The Star Trek Enterprise!

This building did not seem worth moving!

A little snow is left in the ditches, even though this day it was 60 degrees!

Next stop, West Branch, Iowa east of Iowa City.

President Herbert Hoover's birthplace.

A tiny 2 room house.

Smaller than our main living area.

A small kitchen on the porch.

Herbert's father was a blacksmith.  The shop was across the road from the outhouse.

The schoolhouse he attended.

Their meeting area - a women's side and men's side

Mirror sides.  At first it looked like there was a mirror on the wall until Al went to the other side.

I thought cry rooms were a modern thing.

What is this statue of Isis doing here? Did you know that one of the 10 plagues of God against the Egyptian gods was against Isis?  And their other gods.

Here is why this bronze is here:  "The bronze, seven and a half foot tall statue “Isis, Goddess of Life” is the work of Belgian sculptor Auguste Puttemans. It was a gift from the peope of Belgium in gratitude for Hoover's famine relief efforts on their behalf during the First World War."

President Hoover and his wife are buried on the grounds

Next post - In Wisconsin with the kids