Kansas Restaurant, March

This is where we were going to go last month, but made a mistake and went to Logan's. Not that Logan's was a mistake, but the coupon I had was for here. And it was quite good!!

The couple we took tonight was Joel and Kendall. We have known them for around 9 years now. They came to our church as newly marrieds. Allen and I had just felt led to begin a young marrieds Bible study small group and they signed up. Here are a few pictures of the "old" days.

On a summer trip to Oklahoma.

A Halloween party we had. Aren't they so clever?!

Christmas - don't you like our holiday sweaters? And Joel being his old goofy self.

The food was quite delicious. Salads, warm bread, sweet potatoes, steak, chicken, ribs...


and a bottle for this little one who came with us.
Thanks for a fun night guys!

Spinning around

This year in Bible study I am doing Beth Moore's "David: Seeking a Heart Like His". This week we looked at Psalm 32. David wrote this Psalm after he confessed his sins. God forgave David of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and of the murder of her husband.

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven.
"Blessed" means "sheer happiness". There is no one, absolutely no one He can't redeem. And because that is the kind of God He is, we can experience sheer happiness!

"Rejoice in the Lord and be glad"
The term "be glad" means "to spin around".

Have you ever watched a child spin around in delight? I often have seen my grandchildren spinning and dancing with joy. We can be going through awful times, but when we keep our hand in His, just like a child holds on to her daddy's hand, we can still be happy and spin around. I am so glad that in the "storms" of our lives, we don't have to go it alone. He is there holding on to us, sustaining us. Next time I feel down, I think I will just spin around to remind myself to "be glad" and "be full of sheer happiness" because despite circumstances that can pull me under (which is what the evil one desires) I can hold on to my Father's hand! He will never leave me nor forsake me. Ever.

Tonight at Awana, during our Cubbie singing time, Jon led us in a song called "Happy, happy" and we decided to have the children spin around while we sang it. It was so fun - but we sure got dizzy!



I had to include this picture of my son and his daughter getting ready to go to their church father/daughter dance this past month! Emeri did a lot of spinning and jumping around. She just loved dancing with her daddy!

Princesses

The girls are in ballet this year.

And they were having pictures taken at the studio.

The girls were to wear make-up so they wouldn't look washed out in the photos. They felt like little princesses!



They had to be careful how they would sit in the car so they wouldn't mash up their tutus.

At the dance studio.

Excited little girls! It will be fun to watch what all they have learned this year at their program in May!

World Impact

I believe this is the first winter I have not had to shovel the driveway. There has been no snow. Well, a trace perhaps. Have not had to deal with icy roads - which is a good thing actually. I do NOT like icy roads! But no sledding at all which is a little sad for the grandkids.

And another "benefit" of nice weather in Kansas - look at the geese who decided they didn't have to go south!

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On Friday I subbed for the preschool for an hour while Mrs. Smith went to a funeral. The children were learning their letter X. Of course I didn't do things just like Mrs. Smith does them and was promptly corrected by the little 5 year olds. But they are sweet kids! I have 2 of them in my Cubbies group on Wednesday nights.

When the teacher returned, I headed out to Wichita. The older ladies Bible study I am in was working at World Impact thrift store in downtown Wichita. World Impact works with the urban poor. They are such a blessing to that area! This day they had lots of free breads and cake they were giving away; very good quality too. Not just some old cheap white bread.

The neighborhood is quite interesting.



Unfortunately, there is a lot of gang violence in the area also. Often grafitti sprayed on the side of the thrift store. Shootings. There are lots of stories about the ministry. I was told that one day a woman came in. She said they needed a space heater as they had no heat in their home. And would you believe that just 1/2 hour before, someone had dropped off a space heater! The store plays Christian music and you can just feel the peace and joy of Christ inside! I commend David, Miriam and Gene for all they do!!

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

After a morning of sorting and pricing baskets of materials and laces, we went out to eat here.

If anyone else wants to help out, check out the web site for World Impact and get involved! They are always looking for more donations. They were needing men's clothes this week and so I had my husband go through his things. Before the morning was over, several of those things were snatched up!

Be a blessing to someone today!

Arkansas, part 2

Sunday morning we went to church. I love their church! Josh is the worship pastor and we are so proud of him and are so grateful to the Lord for how He is using him for His glory! We got to talk with Todd Ahrens, who was the speaker at our Missions Revolution last week. He attends the same church as our son!

After church, Al and I took the kids home and fed them lunch and got them down for naps. Josh had to undo the set up so he got home later. And Staci came home from her girl weekend! The weather was just beautiful so we went to a park.















When we got home, Josh grilled teriyaki salmon. Soooooo good!!
What a wonderful weekend with the kids! I was so happy not to feel ill. Back in July of last year, I got a bite, followed by rash, some pain in my side and weekly flu-like symptoms. A test confirmed positive for some sort of Rickettsia rickettsii, possibly Rocky Mountain spotted fever. We aren't certain. But the infectious disease doctor says that for now there really is nothing else to be done and it can take some time (possibly 2 years) for symptoms to finally subside. Am trying other things, but I was happy to feel good on this weekend visit!!

On our way home, we stopped in Joplin, at Chik-fil-A. Imagine our surprise bumping into another family (the Wellers) from our church back in Newton who also love this restaurant! (and a Chick-fil-A will open next month in Wichita!!) They had spent the long weekend in Branson. It was a good weekend!

Arkansas, part 1

Ooops - I made an error on one of the quiche recipes that I posted last week. I have since revised it, but just to let you know that on the cheese/bacon quiche recipe I omitted 2 cups of whipping cream!! I hope no one tried making it! It would not have turned out. My mom called me to mention that it surely had some milk. So sorry!!

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This past weekend, we went down to Arkansas to see the kiddos. Our daughter-in-law was having a mommy getaway weekend with her room-mate from Vanderbilt college days. She drove up to KC and had such a good time! And in the meantime, we were able to help Josh with the kids.

On Saturday, it was a little chilly, but nice enough to play outside for awhile.

My two handsome men!

Me too, Papa! Me too!

Eli goes through a "car wash".

After an hour, it was getting chilly so we went inside.


Josh fixed some artichoke/chicken pizza (and cheese pizza for the kids) and asparagus. So very good. For dessert, we had some pudding pops.

Baths definitely needed!