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.
*****
"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.
*****
We celebrated this grandpa's 71st birthday!
*****
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.
*****
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
*****
* Answer to the question of who had bad breath. It was Job.
This first day of September, my friend Elaine and I went to Hesston Dyck Arboretum to take a class on the migration of birds. We learned that the night before 13,000 birds flew over Kansas on their migratory path.
On August 22, they said 659,700 did so!! I guess they use Doppler weather satellite. computer modeling and specialized acoustic tools to determine this.
Most migrate at night, but hawks migrate during the day as warm air thermals help conserve energy in flight. Flapping takes a lot of energy; gliding is easier. And they also can see prey. The night flyers find the air calmer and they can eat bugs while in flight. They also can hide from big birds that are predators. Over time, they say there has been a 30% decrease in birds because there are fewer insects due to spraying.
Our grandddaughter in Chicago is an RA at her college. This week they had an unfortunate accident. A sprinkler malfunctioned in one of the rooms on her floor, dumping water everywhere! The fire department wouldn't let the facilities turn off the water until the building was cleared (since the alarm was going off) so it continued to pour into the room and spilled out into the surrounding rooms. The room it started in had 5" of standing water! So much damaged belongings, technology and books. Below, you can see the water seaping out of the building.
Our son and daughter-in-law who live in Arkansas told us that the University of Arkansas also had a huge water issue. "A massive overnight water leak at the University of Arkansas forced the immediate evacuation of Reid Hall, an all-girls freshman dormitory.While initial rumors inflated the numbers, the hall actually houses 450 freshmen - not 800. The flooding began around 11:30 PM on Thursday, August 20, 2026, when a water valve burst in an eighth-floor bathroom. Witnesses reported that a toilet had been flushing continuously before the valve ruptured, sending water cascading down multiple floors and reaching ankle-depth within minutes." They had to scramble to find alternative housing until the problem was fixed.
On Thursday we went to Wichita to take our car in to get a new windshield that was cracked from trips we've been on these past months. We drove 2 cars down so we could go to a doctor appointment and go shopping. We tried out a new restaurant called "The Big Biscuit" for brunch.
They have a biscuit called the Bonut. It is a biscuit dipped in french toast batter and fried and coated with powdered sugar. Definitely not healthy! But one has to try something new at least once!
On Friday evening, Allen and I went to 201 Main coffee house in Whitewater.
There was a concert by Katie and Jonna who are from Louisiana. They played Cajun music.
Jonna could play so many different instruments! It was fun to hear how talented they both were!
Friends Ed and Chris own this coffee shop and Katie's dad was a friend of Ed's from military days.
One song was played to honour Ed and Chris' son, TJ. I don't know that there was a dry eye as they got up to do a slow dance to the music.
Evan, who was our son's class-mate, did the mixing and sound.
Many "old" friends were there that we hadn't seen for some time. Did they look at us and think "Man, they sure have aged." We all are getting up there in years.
Evan joined in on the jam session.
I went on a bird walk this Saturday morning. The sun was just coming up as we gathered for the walk. It was so informative! Usually the monthly bird walk lasts about an hour, but this morning, we all had lots of questions and Jean, who teaches biology at the college enjoyed telling us lots about bird behaviour and about the plants along the path. It was delightful! And lasted 2 hours!
We heard the gutteral cry of baby cardinals, and there was a red-tailed hawk in the tree watching us. We saw several Mississippi kites. They'll be migrating south in the next week or so.
We heard the sound of several upset robins. We couldn't find what they were upset at, but sometimes it is an owl. We found a feather of a great horned owl. Jean told us that you can't take a feather like this home. Evidently, you wouldn't be able to prove that you didn't kill the owl to get the feather, and it is illegal to do so.
Red bellied woodpecker
A "kettle" of turkey vultures. Over 30 in all.
If I were a bird, I'd migrate north. This weather here is just too HOT and hotter down south!
