Legacy

Last week was Legacy, a mininstry for all women in our church.  It is "a place to provide a gathering where intentional intergenerational fellowship combined with spiritual encouragement and challenge can take place."  Three of them were planned for this church year.

It began to snow and snow and snow.  It was debated whether to cancel or not.   They decided to go ahead with it.

Several women who had registered, decided that it was too risky to drive.  But the speaker, Malinda Just, who was from Hillsboro (30 miles away) came!  She said it was pretty treacherous.  She was worried about some of her friends who would also be coming, but they made it safely!

Marilyn and her granddaughter, Lillian, played music while guests arrived.  It was beautiful!

 Jess and Courtney welcomed everyone.

There were 2 kinds of soup, cornbread and also delicious cupcakes for dessert.

I had been asked to share my story.  One's story can go in so many angles.  Growing up in Japan, how I moved to Newton, adoption....

When first asked, I wasn't sure which way to go, but when Courtney also asked if I would do an origami craft of a bird, I knew!  I incorporated my bird watching with Christ's love for sparrows.  

Who would care about a little brown drab bird if there are beautiful, colorful birds around.  Yet, the Gospel is upside-down.  God LOVES the ones no one cares about.  The world worships the beautiful, the successful, but God looks upon the hurting, those who feel worthless or don't fit in.

Several have told me they were disappointed that they could not come to hear, so if you are one of those and want to take the time to listen, here it is!

I had asked Laurel if she could sing "God Sees the Little Sparrow Fall" or "His Eye is on the Sparrow."  Well, her mother and Marilyn helped her put the 2 songs into one!!  You can hear her on the track around 28:20 on the above video.  She has the most melodic voice!!  Like a songbird!!

Why should I feel discouraged?

Why should the shadows fall?

Why should my heart be lonely,

And long for Heav'n  and home?

When Jesus is my portion,

My constant friend is He,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me!

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me!

     God sees the little sparrow fall

     It meets His tender view.

     If God so loved the little birds,

     I know He loves me, too!

     He loves me too.

     He loves me too.

     I know He loves me too.

For His eye is on the Sparrow

And I know He loves me, too.

     I sing because I'm happy.

     I sing because I'm free.

     For His eye is on the sparrow.

     And I know He loves me too.

He loves me too

He loves me too

I know He loves me too

For His eye is on the Sparrow

And I know He loves me too.

If you want to see the little origami lesson faster than trying to follow me teaching a room full of women (ha!!), look here:  (I was going to have my friend who is an artist, Kaori, teach it but the roads were too icy for her to come from out of town.  Luckily, I did have the video!  But I wish Kaori could have come!!)

They are so sweet!  

Malinda Just shared about Foundations.  Excellent!  If you enjoy home renovation shows, this will get your attention!

Laurel ended the evening leading us with the hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus."

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Earlier that day, I had been ironing and listening to my son-in-law preach the sermon from the Sunday before.  And guess what?  He also talked about Foundations!  (I guess God wanted my attention?)   It was so good!  About building on the rock, not on the sand.  Not on the "Wadis" in Israel that can have flash floods.  He showed a flash flood video from his trip with my husband in Israel.   Go in 35 minutes to hear this.

Ups and Downs of Kansas

We had snow these past couple of weeks.  The past few years, it hasn't snowed much at all here in this part of Kansas.

 

How I enjoy watching the cardinals from my kitchen window!

The Canada geese seem to love this weather.

 I had to swipe several inches of snow off the feeder to fill it.

We had to cancel our Young Mom's Bible study 2 weeks in a row due to ice and snow!  When school is scheduled 2 hours late or cancelled, we also cancel.

Kansas weather is fickle.

Most of the snow melted the next day when it hit the 40's.

Look at our forecast.

and     

Up                  down.

Remembering Aunt Betty

My Aunt Betty's funeral was last week.  After spending Friday with our son and his family, we went to the funeral home in Bella Vista and met my Uncle Bill and my cousins, Marc and Marty and their families.  

Our son, Josh, led the service.  He spoke words of such comfort and encouragement.

 A book he referred to that has become one of my favorites is "All Things New" by John Eldredge.

People often imagine that we become angels, or that we sit on clouds and strum harps.  Please read this book and get a new perspective of how amazing and spectacular heaven will be - it will NOT be at all boring!!

The kids did a great job of putting up photos.  

Isn't this sweet?  I had never seen it before!  Aunt Betty in color (is she in a bird bath?) and Uncle Bill at the same age added in black and white.

Here is a photo I found of the family.

Aunt Betty is the "baby".  Dad always called her his baby sister.  All are in heaven now.

We lived in Japan so I didn't get to know them until I was older.  I do remember getting air mail letters from them.  We were so excited for them when they adopted a little baby they named Mary Martha, after her two grandmothers!  It happened so fast they didn't even have bottles for this new baby!

A few years later, Marc, the miracle baby, arrived!  He is named after his two grandfathers!  

When we moved to the States, we lived in Pretty Prairie and they moved to town by the city park.  We weren't that far away so Marty would come to play sometimes.  Then when Al and I were at KU in Lawrence, they lived in Topeka and we would go visit them and also Uncle John and Aunt Mildred.  Now that they lived an hour from my son, we stopped to see them when we'd go there and either go out to eat or visit at their place.

Betty Jo Engle, age 86, of Pineville, Missouri passed away peacefully at home, Monday, December 23, 2019. She was born in Castleton, Kansas, August 27, 1933 to the late Carl G. Voran and Martha F. (Unruh) Voran.
Mrs. Engle was also preceded in death by her siblings and their spouses: Helen Mitchell and husband Doc, Mildred Austermiller and husband John, Mary Hayes and husband Lee, and Peter Voran and wife Lois.

My parents are on the right.

Mrs. Engle is survived by her beloved husband of 60 years, George W. Engle; one daughter, Mary Martha Chambers, her husband Brian, their children Collin and Gretchen; one son, Marcus Carl Engle, his wife Janelle and their children, Carly and Piper.  (don't have a picture of their family)

She grew up in Kansas and graduated from the Pretty Prairie High School. She was a nurse with the Mennonite Youth Service volunteering her services at a hospital in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where she met her future husband through his sister, Irene, who happened to be a patient she was working with at the time.

She enjoyed baking snickerdoodles for family and friends, including her children’s friends and later for her grandchildren. She enjoyed reading and spending time with her family. Her children and grandchildren were the joy of her life. She was a wonderful and devoted wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and treasured friend. She will be missed by so many.

Mrs. Engle always offered a smile, a hug and genuine care for others and above all, she put others before herself. She was raised in a family of faith and retained her belief and hope in God’s grace.
The family wishes to express their thanks and appreciation to the Missouri Hospice caregivers for their dedicated service in caring for Mrs. Engle during the past several years.

A Memorial Service will be (was) held January 18^th at 1:00 p.m. at Bella vista Funeral Home Chapel, Bella Vista, Arkansas. A private interment was held at Fayetteville National Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to a church or charity of the donor’s choice.

***

We said our good-byes and drove back home, a 4 1/2 hour trip.

We stopped at HuHot in Wichita.

The next morning, Al was commissioned as an elder.

It was a fast trip to Arkansas and back!

Arkansas for a memorial service

Friday morning began icy.  The forecasters were saying that by 10am the roads should be fine, which would be good since we were planning a trip to Arkansas for my Aunt Betty's memorial service.

We packed the car and were on the road by 10, and just as was predicted, the roads were just wet, although the trees were still icy.

    There was rain off and on.

 As we were going through Augusta, I glimpsed a cool looking building and I had Al turn around so I could see this.  It happened to be a motorcycle museum.  Al may or may not have accidently driven wrong way on a one way.  Good thing it was just a short distance!  And that there wasn't a cop around!  I would have felt terrible asking Al to go back if he'd gotten a ticket!

 I love this tornado!  Isn't it the coolest?!

 The ice transitioned into just rain.  We could tell that southeast Kansas had been dumped on for some time!  Look at the flooded fields!

Why does rainy, cold  weather make us crave Panera?  It just does!  I searched for it in Joplin area on my phone.  Google Maps took us on a very interesting drive through town.  I suppose it thought it was the fastest way, but I wonder.  We are always looking for roads we've never been on before so it was all good.

I think we had a new waitress.  Usually they ask if we'd like an apple.  Bread with a bread bowl seems odd.  We wrapped up the bread to take to Josh's.  He had told us we'd have lasagna for supper so it would go good with that.

When we got to Josh's, they were wrapping up home-schooling day (they go to a classical school; 2 days on campus, the rest at home).  Here is a project that Eli is working on.  He would need to paint it and make flags and banners.

 Of course the first thing Eli wanted to do was fight Papa!  The castle could wait for another day!

 This is his aresenal in the closet.  With a gajillion bullets!

Eli loves to bang on the piano.

That evening after supper, Staci needed to go shopping and Josh and Al had to go to The Home Depot.  The kids weren't keen on going and I didn't need anything either.  Plus who wouldn't want to play Life?   Emeri won, although Eli knew and was going to guess on his round.

 * * *

The next morning, the guys were up early installing a new garage door opener (what they got at The Home Depot).

 Emeri wanted to make waffles and I cooked up some sausage I brought with us from Meridian Market.  Good home-made rope sausage!

We are always grateful for staying with Staci's parents who live next door.  They will be staying at our house on their way to skiing in Colorado next month.

 This is Eli's magnets.  Sure are magnetic!  He could barely spread his fingers.

We gave kissses and hugs.  We packed up as we would be leaving for Kansas right after the memorial service in Bella Vista.