When Jill had asked me to come to their home to help while they went to the conference, I said "Of course!" I asked for a schedule of what all I would need to do. Oh my goodness! Cello and violin lessons, piano practice, play practice almost every night, youth group, crossing guard duty, 2 basketball games, a spelling bee, and a hair appointment for me. Wow.
BUT...
almost everything was cancelled due to wind chills of -50 degrees!! There had been no school on Monday due to so much snow and now no school for 2 days more days; no lessons, no play practice....
SO
we baked cookies
played dolls
practiced our instruments
learned splatter painting with a toothbrush
played school - Claire loves to be the teacher!
did experiments like making popsicles out in the snow
and throwing boiling water into the air to see it vaporize!
Claire made a slushy from snow and grape juice
We exercised to a dance video I brought
Made home-made pizzas
waitress Claire
and Hannah updated the chalk board with a new verse
I was sad to miss out on the basketball games and the spelling bee!
Claire just loved climbing the mounds of snow after school
while we waited for Sophia as she did crossing guard.
Before I took the girls to school, I had had my devotions. A couple of verses that I had read were "Do not fret...Trust in the Lord" and then later "Be anxious for nothing" and "God is in your midst". His presence was to be a constant calm in me.
I guess I needed that reminder because there was much to fret over that day! First off, the internet was down.
Do not fret.
When I took the girls to school, I dropped Hannah off and then Sophia was showing me how to get to her school a different way than I had done before. I didn't know the street to turn on until it was too late. I couldn't slam on my brakes because the car would skid on the snowy roads. So we took the next road, but boy, it got us a little lost!
Do not fret.
Good thing for GPS on my phone! It got us to their school just before the 2nd bell and they weren't tardy.
When I got back to the house, I wanted to work on some sewing for Dress A Girl but the sewing machine was acting up and bunching up!
Do not fret.
I called my husband in Kansas and Allen helped me figure out how to get the internet up and running. Then I downloaded the instruction manual to Jill's sewing machine and was able to fix the situation and sew the dresses.
Claire wanted me to come have lunch with her. She told me she'd like Arbys and that it was located by Culver's. Well, she didn't know that it was at the location clear on the other side of town. I had only allowed time to run to the Culver's location close by. When I went to look on-line where exactly it was, I realized the oops and that I wouldn't have time to run to Arby's. Sorry, Claire! But she was just happy to have Nana come for lunch and didn't mind the Culver's.
Do not fret.
I went to the school and parked where I normally do, thinking I could go in the door I usually pick them up at. It was locked! Where do I go in? It was the wrong door for during the day. I found the right door but it was a little distance - not bad, but considering the COLD - not so fun.
Do not fret.
When I had gone to have lunch with Claire, the garage door wouldn't come down! After calling Adam, I did as he suggested and it came down. But later, when I went to pick up the girls, it again would NOT come down, no matter what. So, he had me bring it down manually (I had to climb up on a chair to reach the door to slide it down. Not easy for a 63 year old!). He was able to get someone from church to come help fix it later.
Do not fret.
After school, when we got home, I thought Claire looked a little peak-ed. I felt her and she was running a fever.
Do not fret.
Then that day, I also got news from dear friends in California that he had cancer, stage 4. My heart is just broken. Then I thought, there really is no reason to fret or be anxious. The Lord is near. He is in our midst. Ever present. I thought of a devotional from Anne Graham Lotz and it rings so true to me.
The Narthex to Eternity
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3, NIV
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Westminster Abbey in London. It is a grand cathedral where many of the kings and dignitaries of England are buried, and where the kings and queens receive their coronation. The narthex is small, dark, and cramped—just a brief space to pass through between the outside door and the door leading into the cathedral itself. I can’t imagine anyone visiting the abbey and being satisfied to stay in the narthex. I also can’t imagine anyone who would make an enormous effort to stay there with no thought to passing through to the glory of what lies beyond.
Your life and mine here on earth is like the narthex to a grand cathedral. Our lives are simply an area to pass through on our way to the glory of eternal life that lies beyond the door of death. Physical death for a believer is simply a transition into real life. And it’s God’s purpose that you and I live forever—with Him. - From the book "My Heart’s Cry"
Some of us have already purchased the ticket and are just waiting for the door to open to that very beautiful cathedral!
Do not fret.
Frankly, I was ready for Tuesday to be done. What would the rest of the week bring? Do not fret.
It snowed about 12 1/2 inches on Monday. School had been called off the day before in anticipation.
It was just beautiful! Big, large flakes.
The city was johnny on the spot, clearing roads. In Kansas where we live, the city does not clear our residential streets. This snow plow came by twice that day that I saw.
No school means lots of playing. Claire wanted to make a movie. She calls them "Claire's Night Out."
I told the girls they could stay in pajamas all day if they wanted. We had lunch in the basement and watched "The Waltons".
We made cookies.
Claire has a dairy allergy so she put skittles in hers and dairy free chocolate chip cookies. And we didn't use butter.
The girls wanted to play outdoors. The windchill was -10 degrees.
I checked to see how long it was safe for them to play outdoors.
The site I checked said 20 minutes.
So off they went to play!
That evening, some people from church came with their truck and snow plow to scoop off the driveway and a couple of guys shoveled the sidewalks. Many thanks!!
On Tuesday, the sun was out and the kids went off to school.
See what a good job the city did? It was no trouble getting around! Well, unless you were this guy.
Jill and Adam's church was sending them to a pastor's conference in Orlando, Florida and I was asked if I would be willing to come and watch the children. Of course I would! So, last week Allen took me to the airport to fly up to Wisconsin.
As I waited for my plane, who should come off the very plane I would be flying, than some dear friends from church. They had been in Ohio at her brother-in-law's funeral.
He was a Samaritan's purse pilot and had been killed in an airplane accident. I gave them a big hug and they shared about Brian Stolzfus. They said I should go on-line and watch the funeral. It really is uplifting! Wow, wow! Please take time to watch! I'm adding the link if you want to be blessed by this man's life.
God counts all our days.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16
It was my turn to board. I was in row 2. This was a smaller plane so there was no first class, but I almost felt like I was in first class, being up so close to the front!
I enjoyed visiting with my seatmate. He was a young man from Canada and had been taking training in Wichita to be a co-pilot. I asked him who his teacher had been and it was a friend of ours! He mentioned that he saw that people here had faith. That led to me sharing some of what it means, to have such joy and peace because we know Christ died and rose again and how God gives us a purpose and hope in life.
Close to Chicago, Lake Michigan was freezing over.
Deb Raney had posted on her Facebook page that a fellow author was putting this book free on Kindle. I thought I would download it and read it on the plane. Maybe not the best to read a book about a plane going down in a blizzard and landing in a frozen river! Not while flying in the air, anyway, but it was captivating. I also knew that if my plane went down, and I didn't make it, I would be with the Lord. "One last breath on earth, our first in heaven!"
In Chicago, I changed planes. The gate was only a couple gates over. I met a family who had an adopted girl from China. I showed them some pictures of our girl we adopted from Korea over 34 years ago.
As the plane was leaving the gate, I saw this plane.
Flying over Lake Winnebago.
I was on the wrong side of the plane to see Fond du Lac below.
Appleton - later Adam showed me where his parent's house was.
The family I'd met in Chicago was sitting in front of me and they received a text message that their children's school was being cancelled the next day due to the impending storm. I wondered if my grandchildren's school would also be closed.
At Appleton, we sat on the tarmac for some time. My seatmate, a young black man who told me he was from New York, had been watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie on his device. But as we waited, he began to share how disappointed he was in the decline of morality in our country. Me too! We had quite a conversation, feeling unity in sorrow over this nation.
Adam picked me up at the airport. We drove to Culver's and met up with the family. The girls came running up "Nana!!" An older couple said "Oh, they love their Nana!" So I told them I'd just arrived from Kansas.
"Oh? Where?"
"A town north of Wichita - Newton."
"Oh, we know Newton!"
"You do?? How do you know Newton?"
"I'm a truck driver and I stop there!"
Isn't it a small world?
After eating our delicious burgers and creamy custard, we drove home. Because of the blizzard that was in the forecast, Adam and Jill decided to drive to Milwaukee that night and spend the night in a hotel by the airport before taking off in the morning. It was just too iffy about traveling the roads in the morning. But we were hoping the plane would be able to take off.
Good-byes were said along with lots of hugs and kisses.
