Bummer birthday party

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Adam and Jill's house for a 

PARTY!!

A birthday party for Adam!

 Sandi, Adam's mom was having the girls make "pumpkins".  So cute!

Look at this picture.  Is someone missing?  Like the guest of honor??  Yep.

                                                                                 
What he wanted for his birthday party was
to watch the Packer game and eat pizza.

But the local college had a program and the
ministerial alliance was responsible to help with it.
So he was missing his own party.

We cheered the team on without him.

At least some of us did.

These girls love their Nana's new phone to play video games.

We had drinks and popcorn (cheerios for Claire)

My mom decided to go upstairs to help Jill cut up some fruit to go with the pizza we were ordering.  When she got to the top of the stairs, she was having trouble with the child safety gate.

What we can figure out is that when it flipped open, mom must have lost her balance and she went crashing down the stairs, pulling the gate with her.

My first thought was that she had broke her neck, as it was at an odd angle.  It looked like she hit a door jam. She was unconscious and some of us thought she was dead!  We called 911 and the ambulance came for mom, who finally gained consciousness.  She was quite confused though and we were still worried about broken bones.

Sandi took the girls with her to their bedroom and they prayed for their Grandma Lois.

 Mom was taken to the local hospital, just a couple of minutes away.  A CT scan revealed a brain bleed so  she was taken to Wichita where there is a neuro-surgeon.

X-rays showed NO BROKEN BONES.  Not her neck, not her spine, not her hip even.  AMAZING!!!!  My sweet 87-year-old mother was just fine, just a little sore from the fall.  The bleed will resolve itself.

She was in the hospital 2 nights and released.

When we got back to the home, I walked over to Dad's room in health care and told him we were going for a walk.  He did not know that I had brought mom home yet.  I wheeled him back to the duplex where Mom surprised him.  He said he almost had a heart attack!!

Dad is so happy to have Mom back; in fact, he cried!  She visits him 3 times a day and he truly missed her!  They are so in love!

Adam's party was not so fun I think.  He did make it home in time to watch the very  last of the Packer game (Jill called him when Mom fell)  - but they lost.  Bummer.  A win for his birthday would have been nice!

After Al and I and Mom left, they went ahead with the party.  They had pizza and sang happy birthday and Adam received some nice gifts.  So his birthday wasn't totally ruined.

Happy birthday, dear son-in-law!!

Proverbs 31 - Refresh and Renew

Our women's ministries hosted an R&R today.

Not Rest and Relaxation - although it was that.

Refresh and Renew

The morning began with worship

 

One song we sang was  "The Famous One".                      .

As we sang I realized that EVERYONE sees His glory.  

They may not attribute the beauty of the sunrise or sunset to Him,

they may not think that nature reflects Christ,

but it does!

You are the Lord , the famous one, famous one
Great is your name in all the earth
The heavens declare You're glorious, glorious
Great is your fame beyond the earth

                                          And for all you've done and yet to do
                                           With every breath I'm praising you
                                          Desire of nations and every heart
                                           You alone are God, You alone are God

 You are the Lord , the famous one, famous one
Great is your name in all the earth
The heavens declare You're glorious, glorious
Great is your fame beyond the earth

                                                         The morning star is shining through
                                                             And every eye is watching you
                                                         Revealed by nature and miracles
                                                             You are beautiful, You are beautiful

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After worship, we broke out into workshops.  It was not easy to choose which workshops to take!
They were:
              How to have an effective Quiet Time with your Bible
                Healthy Living
                  Style Class
                    Home Decor/Organization
                        Frugal Food
                           Growing Older with Grace

The first one I went to was "Growing Older with Grace" with Jill Moore.

"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you;  I will sustain you and I will rescue you."  Isaiah 46:4

We were reminded that Proverbs 31 describes the woman's life - not her daily agenda.  As we get older, multitasking becomes more difficult.  We have to graciously ask our family for help if we need it especially during the holidays.

A book she recommended was:  

We were encouraged not to live in fear of getting older.  Don't be pessimistic or despair or live with depression on our shoulders.  He is with us in our worst days.  I think that is the wonderful thing about being a Christian.  On our very worst days, He is with us by our side. Why would I want to live this life without Christ?  Life on this earth is hard.

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5

She encouraged making new goals as we age and to work at bringing God glory in our remaining days. Some elderly can get pretty self-centered, but we need to be outward focused; to use our spiritual gifts more.  If health keeps us from serving physically, we can pray, send cards, etc.  We need to invest in the eternal.

As far as dying Jill reminded us that we had already passed from death to life, so there is no need to fear death.  And finally, to preserve our story.  She gave examples on how to do that.

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The next workshop I attended was on Home Decor/Organization by Beth Buerge, one of the girls in my young mom's Bible study and daughter of my good friend, Debbe.

 

I was encouraged by her presentation and making the home more organized.  

I have to admit to having a lot of stuff.  

My poor children will have to haul a lot away to the dump I'm afraid.

Unless I get rid of stuff.

She said we should set reasonable goals;

such as attacking 1 closet or 1 junk drawer a week.

We made decorative jars, like the one with the star in the picture above.  I should have taken some "after" pictures.  Some people painted theirs.  We used the hot glue guns and attached ribbons, buttons, etc.

I kept mine neutral tone.  And when I came home I decorated the taller jar too.  It is going to be a thankful tree.  I printed out some leaves (from this blog) and when my guests arrive for Thanksgiving, they will write what they are thankful for on them and hang them on the branches.  I'm not sure what to put in the smaller jar.  I was going to put the branches in it, but they needed the larger jar.  Maybe M&M's?

**************************************

At this point it was time for lunch:

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After a time of visiting with people at our table, we went to our last workshop.  I chose Frugal Food by these ladies -

Kristin shared how she does freezer meals.  She currently has 80 freezer meals in her freezer!  She will go shopping and then do marathon cooking!  I got great ideas!

Kerry (I love her blog!) gave tips about couponing and saving money.

Caryn has been in my older ladies' Bible study group for years and she passed out a flyer on soup recipes and things that freeze well.

What a great day!   Thank you, women's ministries, for encouraging us!!

And here was a picture of the sky as I left the church.                    

  The heavens declare You're glorious, glorious
                                            Great is your fame beyond the earth

Judgement House

Two weeks ago we completed Judgement House.  I know this is late but I have to post about it!

When it was announced that we would have Judgement House again this year, I was so excited!  I LOVE this opportunity we have as a church to work together to share the Gospel!  Last year, because of our 2 church plants, it was decided not to do it. I MISSED it!

Judgement House is a walk through drama where the visitors walk through 7 different scenes to see the "play".   Through this production the truth of people's choices and the consequences of those choices both in this life and the next are portrayed.  

This year the story "Abducted" was chosen.

Allen and I love to be involved in JH!   Allen has always been in the Gospel presentation room along with a few other men.  I have done various things.  One year I was an actress in the heaven scene and I debated doing that again.  I LOVED doing that!

Then I heard that Steve needed more people to do spiritual advising.  I had done that last year.  Maybe I would do that.

As time went on, almost all the directors for each scene and position was being filled - except for the Prayer Director.  "Why isn't someone doing that??!!" I moaned.  That is such a key role to even pulling off such a production like JH.  We can't do this without God's help!!  Someone had to come forward!!!  As time went on, I could just feel God's hand on my shoulder and Him saying "You do it."  Really?  I prayed about it for 2 weeks.  Then I called Joe to tell him I would do it.  I knew I wouldn't be able to do it like Della had.  She was so good!  But since God was prompting me, I knew He would help me.  

And so did my husband!!  Look at the picture below.  He is such a handy guy!  God put an idea in my mind to use the sofas and chairs from the Fireside room in the prayer room.  I wanted to make the room a quiet place, with soft lighting and soft worship music playing. I wanted people to feel free to come for either 10 minutes or for all evening.   They would be able to either pray with another person(s) or just quietly.  

I like to pray Scripture, so I printed out Scripture cards for each pray-er or prayer walker.   Perhaps you don't understand what I mean.  Basically, it is taking verses from the Bible and using them as a guide in praying.  Example:

"You have searched me, Lord, and You know me."  Psalm 139:1

Lord, You know each person who will come through this night.  You know their thoughts.  There is nowhere they can go where they can hide from You.  You love each one!!   Draw them to Yourself!"

Before JH began, I contacted scene directors to get prayer requests and would send out e-prayers to anyone who wanted to be a part of the prayer team.  We had an army of prayer warriors!  Prayers were answered!  We got actors and actress roles filled.  They couldn't find anyone to be the Jesus; in the end we had 4 guys!  An ambulance was found.  What fun to drive into the parking lot and find that God had answered prayers about finding extra lighting for the parking lot!  Uniforms were found for the cast members. People lost jobs but new jobs were found.  Several had mothers get VERY ill, but God sustained.  Then how about the night there was an 80% chance of rain?  We prayed and that held off until the last worker was leaving for the night after midnight!  We had LOTS of cast get ill.  I was reminded of the story of Gideon where his army was reduced from 32,000 men to 300! All to show that it was only by God that the victory was accomplished.  And we all saw that it was only by His hand we accomplished this!  In one scene, their cast was cut in half.  Luckily, in that scene, the kids use cell phones and they were able to put their lines on the cell phones!  Another scene had issues with their feet.  Two had surgeries prior to JH on their feet.  Then one night a girl's toe nail got yanked out - no clue how that happened.  Then a couple got broken toes.  Because this is the first scene where the Gospel is shared, I was reminded of that verse "Beautiful are the feet that bring Good News"!!!   It was incredible that Drew, with Aspergers just "happened" to be the actor when a group of teachers of autistic kids went through!!  Only God could have arranged everthing that happened!

"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?"

 * * * * * * *

The Sunday before JH was to start, we had rehearsal in the sanctuary (not in the rooms which were still in process of being set up)

Jesus' hugs are the BEST!  It is probably the #1 reason people feel so captivated and drawn to Christ!
Here is my sweety doing his thing.

Worship and praise is a big part of Judgement House (JH).  We began each evening in praise.

Some evenings we would begin worship at 4 or 5 and at the beginning there might not be many people, but as they got off work or school or practice, they would file on in.





We sat across from this sweet family most times.  Luke was always curious where Mr. Allen was (if he was not there on time because of work).  Luke sometimes asks his mommy to drive him in to the hospital parking lot so he can see if Al's truck is parked there.  He always knows when Mr. Allen has a day off work!

 During worship, sweet little Kate would go through her diaper bag and dump things out!


Amy and Joe celebrated their anniversary during JH.

Allen and I are bummed by the dates of JH too since our Arkansas grand kids celebrate their birthdays during this time!!  Their birthdays are on the 27th and 29th!   We sent them their gifts.  And we called them on the phone to sing Happy Birthday to them.

 

* * * * * * *

Praying -

Each evening when JH would start, my pray-ers would arrive.  Some would be there just to pray in the prayer room, but others would come to pray a little, then they would walk around with the people and pray specifically for those who were attending. These were my prayer walkers.  In the beginning, I didn't have many but God answered prayers and supplied enough for me to have usually 2 walkers per group - 8 per hour for 5-7 hours!

 









We would place prayer requests on the board.  Sometimes scene directors or actors would text me with more prayer requests and these would be prayed over.


We would praise Him for His many answered prayers!  God is good!!!

At the end of the evening, some of us would go to the affirmation room to see where those who made decisions - either those who wanted to give their lives to God or those who wanted to rededicate their lives - would write on a sheet of paper to indicate their decision.


There were so many stories!  People who came on a whim.  Just compelled to come.  People who invited others and saw them raise hands to come to Christ.  People came from other countries even!

 111 people made the decision to follow Christ!

134 decided to renew their relationship with Him!

1. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
   Calling for you and for me;
   See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
   Watching for you and for me.
   • Refrain:
     Come home, come home,
     You who are weary, come home;
     Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
     Calling, O sinner, come home!
2. Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
   Pleading for you and for me?
   Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
   Mercies for you and for me?
3. Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
   Passing from you and from me;
   Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
   Coming for you and for me.
4. Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
   Promised for you and for me!
   Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
   Pardon for you and for me.