Thanksgiving

This whole month Today in the Word has reflected on being thankful. I have really enjoyed reading all the Scriptures that speak on that.

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in Him,
rooted and built up in Him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness." Col. 2:7

It isn't always easy to be thankful - when getting a flat tire (right, Mindy???) or in the face of cancer, like my dear friend Debbie. Or facing the holidays without a toddler.

But - "since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe" Hebrews 12:28

God IS good, He IS kind, He IS just. He IS in control. And He is ALWAYS present and there to help us during those hard times. I have to trust Him. This world can be a hard place to live, but we can rejoice in Him and also we look forward to the Kingdom to come that He is preparing! I just read that when we go to that heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God we will "come upon thousands and thousands of angels in joyful assembly". (Hebrews 12:22) You usually don't envision angels laughing and being joyful. But that is what it says! It will be such a wonderful place!!

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln stated: "The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come....They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God...I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States...to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." (He declared this holiday while the civil war was going on!)

So we celebrate!

Here is my mom's famous, fabulously decorated turkey that she makes every year.


And pies! Jill made apple and I made the pecan and pumpkin.

Mom, Dad and Aunt Millie.

We had Jill and Adam's friends, the Petersons too. They are going to France as missionaries with Avant. They have 4 kids and 1 on the way! The house was brimming with happy sounds of children last night!

The kids enjoyed playing together!

Today I tear down Fall decorations. Ready for a new season. The grateful heart continues as we celebrate His greatest gift to us!! His Son, Jesus!

Emeri and Eli

I went down Tuesday to Arkansas to see my kiddos - Josh and Staci

and Emeri

and new baby Elijah!

Emeri loves to read books! So I enjoy going shopping and getting her some of the oldies - Eloise Wilkin's books, the nursery story book series by Katherine Royer, Herald Press published in 1947, Pattibooks from the '50's. The latest book I found for Emeri was a children's Christmas songbook that was published in 1948. I found it in an antique store. Josh likes to play these for Emeri on the piano and Emeri loves to sing them!

We made a bracelet and necklace for both her and for her bunny, made a crown out of construction paper and also an Indian headdress (since Thanksgiving is coming up), we colored lots of pictures, played games and had so much fun!

You can tell that Emeri loves to wear her "jammies". She says they are "comfy cozy."

I got to hold Eli a lot!!

They would bring him to my room in the wee hours of the morning so they could sleep a couple more hours.
Can you spoil a baby too much??

I wish we lived closer! I cried a lot on the way home.

"Children's children are a crown to the aged" Proverbs 17:6

Happy Birthday, Adam!!

30 candles! Adam turns 30 on November 18.

We had an early party.

Hannah wrapped her gift in a heart package.
She said all the hearts show all her love.
And the bow on top for extra love.

We love you, Adam! You love Christ so much and love to tell others about Him - how Jesus can change their lives! You are faithful, so funny, your spirit is gentle and peaceable, you are a great Daddy!! and love our daughter sooo much! You are a gifted teacher and leader. Love your sermons! Love how you lead worship!!!

Happy Birthday!

Have a fun time at the Switchfoot concert!

Teletubbies invation!

Ever watch the British children's television show, the Teletubbies? They came to visit tonight! Dipsy and Laa-Laa, I think.

House for sale!

No, not my house!

But my friend Sheryl and her husband found a house in town, so this past month I went out to help them fix up their home to sell. We cleaned, scraped off old wallpaper, painted..... It is beautiful and move-in ready!

Hannah came to entertain the kitties while we worked.

Sheryl and I used to be neighbors many years ago in Quail Creek. Then they moved out to the country and we also moved to a different neighborhood. But we still try to walk together during her lunch hour. In our younger years, we used to jog together. But our old creaky knees won't allow that anymore.

This gorgeous home is located on Eastlake Road just south of Highway 50. Beautiful scenery! Rolling hills. Becky Wheeler with Remax has it listed in case you are interested!

Gotcha Day!

It was 25 years ago that Mindy joined our family. She arrived in Kansas city very late at night. The airport was practically closed. No other planes or passengers. Only we 4 families waiting for our kids to arrive.

The first person off the plane happened to be no other than Art Linkletter who did the show "Kids Say the Darndest Things"! That was the best show!! Children can be so funny! (Like - last week Hannah told me she was nocturnal!) Incidentally, he was abandoned as an infant and raised by a preacher.

Josh and Jill were so proud to be a big brother and sister!

Our family.

Mindy is such a wonderful Aunt!

She is so good with them!

She is so compassionate and considerate.

The funny thing is, it doesn't bother her to be in surgeries and see brains and insides of people, but she can't stand to see any little animal that is injured.

Mindy has a tender heart.

She has a wonderful eye for decorating!

She is really smart and pulling A's in nursing school.

She can sit down at the piano and begin playing Classical pieces that she memorized years ago. Doesn't even need sheet music.

Love to see her laugh!

Competetive. You don't want to play the game of "Life" with her. You can't beat her.

Her school teachers would tell us that Mindy was "determined". I think they were trying to nicely say that she was strong-willed! And really, that can be a good thing sometimes too! It has helped her in life!

We love you, sweet beautiful daughter! So glad we "Gotcha!"

Judgement House

Well, Judgement House 2009 is over. Wow! Over 2,600 people came through. This is a production where the audience moves room to room to see the play. Our presentation this year was "59 Minutes". The audience began the journey in a morgue where they were given brief descriptions of the deaths of 4 people; a dad (he's good. he gives to charity. but he does not have a personal relationship with Jesus), 2 teen boys (1 is a Christian, 1 is not) and a teen girl (who accepts Christ in the last hour of her life).

After leaving the morgue, the participants were taken on a journey through the last 59 minutes of each person's life and what would await them in eternity.

This year, I was in the heaven scene, directed by these 2 dear friends of mine - Kathy and Mary Ellen. They did a magnificent job!!

Behind the curtains of heaven, Mary Ellen and RJ would run the music and sound. There was a tv monitor so they could watch for cues. They chose wonderful music. All night long, we would be bathed in worship!
The cast took turns having breaks behind the curtain also.

After the audience left the hell scene, they would be greeted in heaven.

This wonderful lady has a tremendous testimony of her own journey with Christ!

We adored all the little kids who helped! It was hard work for them with late hours. Once someone who came through said some awful things to them. The next night we gathered around before we began and Doug gave the children (and us) encouraging words from the book of Timothy. It touched all of us.

Those of us at the banqueting table felt we had the best seats in the house. Infact, none of us wanted to take a break because if we gave up our seats, it was hard to get them back! Everyone loved to sit here. Not only did we have great food - grapes, bread dipped in oil, nuts, chocolate! - but we got to see the faces of the people who came in. We would pray for each person as they would watch the scene played out.

At the end of the scene, the audience became part of the act as "Jesus" would step up to each person and say a word to them and hug them. This is where we would see the Spirit move! People would break down and cry as "Jesus" would have just the right Scripture verse to share with each person. We would literally see people with hard faces, crumble. As "Jesus" would kneel to talk to the children, it was so sweet to watch them eagerly hug him so tightly around his neck. Many times the children were brought to tears too. And I've never seen so many grown men cry. Doug and Ryan would often share how God would place words in their mouths that they knew came only from God.


There were 3 groups of Chinese who came through (the first group had head sets for translation), also an Hispanic group with headsets and translator, and 3 groups of deaf persons with their own signer to translate what was said. We were all so touched to watch these dear people filled with such wonder and happiness as they watched the story.


I remember one group that came through. Hard faces. Disbelieving faces. But what joy to find out later that all of them accepted Christ!! In one youth group, 16 of the 18 did. There were 203 people who gave their lives to Jesus - and that is of those we know of. I'm sure there were those who perhaps did not want to raise their hand, or perhaps made a decision later. We did hear of one who did the next morning. 130 people also rededicated their lives.

At the end of each evening, Mary Ellen would play the song "When we all get to heaven". It had a western twang to it. I told her that country music will not be played in heaven! Ha! But it really was fun to praise Him for the promise of the joys of heaven! We would worship and dance each night at the end of the performance. It wasn't easy for these actors to do their act 24 times or for us to sit for 5-6 hours, but worth it all!!

On the very last night of Judgement House, Hell came to visit Heaven. That was the best night of all! All the demons and angels and saints all praising God together!!

I anxiously look forward to next year!

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:36