Tripping up to Wisconsin for a retreat

We took a quick trip to Wisconsin this past week.  We left early in the morning, just as the sun was rising.

This cloud reminded me of a dragon.  Or maybe a wolf or coyotes?  There was a pack of coyotes behind our house the evening before that were howling.  They are so frightening to me.

By the time we were half-way through Iowa, we were getting low on gas.  Al checked how many miles to empty and thought we could get to the other side of Des Moines (where on-line it said gas was considerably cheaper).  When he filled the car up in Bondurant, he was able to put in 18 1/2 gallons.  Our car supposedly holds 18, so miraculously we didn't end up on the side of the road!!  

(Once my mom and I went to Wichita and we ran out of gas just a few feet from the pumps!  I had my mom get behind the wheel and the kids and I pushed the car to fill her up!)

We stopped for lunch in Marshalltown, Iowa at Maid-Rite, where the menu is sloppy joes.  That's it.  You can order a shake or a pie with that.  We stopped there last time and really liked it!

As we were getting ready to leave, a guy by us ordered his "wet".  I looked at him and inquired "What does that mean?"  "Greasy!" he replied.

We made it to our daughter, Jill's home in 12 hours, even with the 1/2 hour stop at Maid-Rite!

Their hydrangeas are so beautiful!

We gave Kobi some lovin'.  He always wants lovin'!

Sunday morning, we attended church.  Once a month they feature a missionary.  It so happened that this couple was in the States for awhile so they spoke about their ministry.  God is at work in people's lives!

At the luncheon afterwards, we visited with this couple. When they heard I grew up as a missionary kid, they asked me if I knew this guy who was an MK in Japan.  I did!  He was in my brother's dorm and his sister and I were room-mates one semester!  I love making connections like that!

Every year, the church has 2nd graders come up to the stage and they present them with a Bible of their own.  It has tabs for each book so they're easy to find.  They also teach them how to read the Bible for themselves.  I love that idea!  So many people are Bible illiterate these days.  Years ago, even those who weren't followers of Christ knew some Bible.

I enjoy our son-in-law's teaching so much!

Guess what we did the rest of the day, besides take a nap?

We watched the Packers and the Brewers!  Both teams won.

Jill and Claire also packed their bags and we loaded the car up so we wouldn't have much to do in the morning for our trip to Green Lake.

To be continued:

September recap

The temperatures finally dropped into the 80's and I decided I was ready to decorate for the Fall.  (Today it dropped to 70 and overnight it is going to be a glorious 53 degrees!)  Fall is my favorite season!

I got this new picture this year at our Christian bookstore. 

 It has sparkles on it!

My daughter did some re-decorating too.  Her girls had been sharing a room, but with Tenley starting kindergarten and getting tired so early, she thought it would be best for them to have their own rooms. 

I love this Jesus with the pink toga.  Tenley loves pink!  When Mindy bought this picture, Ten asked "Does Jesus like pink?"  "Oh yes, He created pink!"  In actuality, He probably wore a brown outfit.  But sweet to think He'd do that for her.  

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"Build each other up in your faith, and pray"  Jude 1:20

I love that verse; the reason why I meet together with my friends, just a day together or in Bible study with them.  It has been so good to be back after summer.

Our older women's Bible study is studying "Heaven" by Jennifer Rothschild.  Many of these women have had husbands that have passed on.  And most of us have parents who are there already!  We were asked what we thought of when we thought of Heaven.  An adventure!  Awe!  Rest. Wholeness. Unimaginable!  Peaceful. Joyful!!  No more sorrow.  No sin.  Unity.  No politicians!  Seeing loved ones.  Home.  

If you think it is sitting in the clouds, strumming a guitar, you need to read Randy Alcorn's "Heaven" and John Eldridge's "All Things New."

Our older ladies group likes to start out with breakfast.

My younger mom's group are sharing what we are learning from the LORD as we spend time with Him each day.  Growing in "knowledge".   "De’ah (knowledge) comes from yada, the Hebrew verb for the deepest, most personal kind of knowing, the word used for how a husband and wife know each other, how God “knew” Abraham. De’ah is relational knowledge: not knowing about God, but knowing him, the way you know a face and a voice you love."

(a couple of the moms were gone this day)

Speaking of knowledge as in knowing facts, do you know who in the Bible had bad breath? 

     *answer at the end of the blogpost

What encouragement I had from time with my friends and family too.  My friend Barbara and I went out to eat.

My cousin, Kathy

I met Kathy at Norm's Coffee Shop, with our friend Jo, who is in my older women's study.  Also another friend of theirs with their husbands (who went golfing.  But we kept drinking coffee and encouraging one another!)

My friend Ruby and I enjoyed going to a doll show in Wichita.  We both enjoy dolls!   We laughed and loved talking all day! 

Here Ruby is holding a silicone doll.  It feels lifelike!  The fingers move and you have to hold the head up.  Some people would find it creepy.

I wanted to find a dress for my Tiny Tears doll.  A lady had given me this doll when she found out that my mother wouldn't let me bring my dolls to America.  Mom donated them to the kindergarten my parents ran, and I know the children enjoyed them.  But for someone who "mothered" her dollies, that was HARD!

At the last booth, I found Tiny Tears a dress!  I had her out in the car and brought her in to make sure it fit!

This doll in the middle...oh, I would have loved to have taken her home with me!  She is so cute!  But she was rather expensive.

We were really encouraged in the Word with other grandparents at a grandparenting conference at our church.  

We had an encouraging day with many missionaries at church.  We had a good old potluck!

Our family got together.  Our youngest brother and wife couldn't come due to a conflict, but what a joy to be together with the others.  Reuben recently was diagnosed with cancer; he and Brenda will have a journey ahead of them, but what an encouragement to hear them testify to God's presence and hope in Him.

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We celebrated this grandpa's 71st birthday!

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One of his pharmacists retired.  He was Allen's first pharmacist that he hired years and years ago (1981-2).  His wife Bev and I joked that these 2 probably spent more waking hours together than we did with our own husbands!  Al is looking to retire.  They've put out the ad for a Director of Hospital Pharmacists.  If you know someone willing to move to middle grainfield USA, let them know!

They had some pictures at the party that I had not seen before.  

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God's hand in the sky always marvels me.  "It was My hand that laid the foundations of the earth, My right hand that spread out the heavens above."  

Isaiah 48:13

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* Answer to the question of who had bad breath.  It was Job.

"My breath smells bad to my wife"  from Job 19:17