A Well "Seasoned" Weekend

We enjoyed our weekend at the Steel Hill meeting.  The congregation usually only has 4 people in attendance...when Daddy and Bobby are in Spur, that is.  During the 5 assemblies over the weekend, there were between 25 and 30 in attendance!  Although there were people from every decade (up into their 90's) present, the average age was close to 70.  As Gene put it, it was a well-seasoned crowd!

After the afternoon assembly on Saturday, we went to visit 98 year old Sister Robbie Wyatt, who is no longer able to get out and attend services.  We all enjoyed meeting this sweet spirited lady and singing with her.

The weekend was filled with good food, good fellowship and good teaching!

Alan brought his 96 year old Aunt Sunshine.  What a cheerful name for a dear lady!

Ps 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;  15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Mother's Day Musings

I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite moms from the Bible.  The first, a heroine of mine for over 30 years, is Hannah.  I identified with her struggle of barrenness.  Her earnest prayers were an example for me to follow as I waited on the Lord.  Then when God blessed her with a son, Samuel, she gave him to serve the Lord his whole life, which is what we all, as mothers, should aspire to do.  Her sacrifice was very real...she would only get to visit him once a year, bringing garments that she had made.  What an example of faith and sacrifice!  One of my favorite quotes was uttered by her:  1Sa 1:27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

The other is Mary, the mother of our Saviour.  Can you imagine the faith it would take to hear the message delivered to her by the angel of the Lord?  She would have to bear the whisperings and rejection of those around her by being with child before marriage.  Then she would be responsible for nurturing and training up the Son of God!  What was her response?  Lu 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.   Then imagine what it would have been like to hold this special baby in her arms and watch Him grow into adulthood.  We are told by the gospel of Luke how she pondered and kept all those things in her heart.

Isn't that what all of us, as mothers, do?  We watch our children grow and are amazed at their sweetness, their energy, their enthusiasm, their intelligence, their talent...the list goes on and on.  And we keep all those things in our hearts...to be remembered and cherished.  We pull them out from time to time and smile or weep as we relive their joys and triumphs, as well as their pains and struggles.  We ponder about how their lives will unfold, about the mistakes we made along the way and how they will effect our children over the course of their lives, about the miracle of being allowed the awesome responsibility of being entrusted with the care and training of these amazing creatures!  And our children are mere mortals...Mary's firstborn was God in the flesh!

I am so very thankful for the wonderful blessing of being allowed to be a mother.  I'm thankful for the three children that I have had the privilege of loving and having as a part of my life.  I am thankful for all the older mothers that have influenced me and showered me with love and advice throughout my life. And I am thankful for the younger women who are currently working at training up their children in the Lord.  May God bless them with the wisdom, courage, strength, patience and love that they will need to faithfully perform their vocation.  Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

Cinco de Mayo

Our dear sister, Alena, invited the whole congregation over for the day and provided ALL  the food.

This is our new friend, Hector.  He has started attending our assemblies with Bro. Winston.  We enjoyed having him and his guitar at our get-together!

Along with games of horseshoes and washers there was, of course, 42!

Our gracious hostess!

The food was SOOOO good!

The boys enjoyed the fishing.

I'm weary and tired, I've done my day's riding...

This old song comes to mind a LOT these days.  Could it be that my age is catching up with me?

I never quite got rested up last week after our meeting.  Aside from the normal tiredness and stiffness, my left arm has been giving me trouble for about a month.  I went to the doctor and we think it is from my pinched nerve in my neck.  In the past it has only caused shooting head pains, but it is common for it to cause pain and weakness in the arm too.  I'm waiting on a referral to a neurosurgeon to see what he thinks.

I also had a cake to do for the bank last week.  They are celebrating their 25th Anniversary and wanted a cake for their board meeting yesterday.  I made the roses on Thursday and did the baking and decorating Saturday.  Finished up just in time to throw together supper for the girls and Paula (who had come down for the weekend to help get the girls moved) and then head over to start moving them into their new house.  They had received the keys around noon and had spent the afternoon cleaning.  We planned to do the bulk of the moving on Sunday afternoon or evening, but we wanted to get a little head start.  So we loaded up our 4 cars and got the process going.  Dennis came over after resting up a bit from work and did some "manly" things around the house.

We "invited" a few folks from church to come out to eat with us Sunday for lunch and then help move everything else.  After a quick lunch at Burger King, we met up with the Browns (who had already gotten one load moved) and got busy.  With Dennis, the 2 Thiesses, and Jared, we ladies didn't have to worry with the heavy stuff, like furniture or washer and dryer.  We concentrated on getting all the rest of the stuff packed, loaded and moved.  Then we started unloading the kitchen stuff and putting away what we could.  With the help of Josephine, Gina, and Debbie it went really fast!  We had everything moved and furniture arranged and kitchen (mostly) stocked by about 4:00.  We came back over to the house, freshened up a bit and made it back to the assembly in plenty of time.

After the evening assembly, a few of us went to McAllister's for supper.  Then we went with the girls to Lowes to pick out their refrigerator.  Then back to the new house to hook up the washing machine and tie up a few loose ends before bedtime.  The girls were excited to be able to sleep in their new home!

This Friday night is Relay for Life.  I am NOT planning to pull an all-nighter this year.  Our sister, Alena, is planning an all day get together at her place on Saturday.  I want to be awake enough to enjoy that!  I will probably stay at Relay until around midnight, come home and sleep several hours and then head back up there around 7:00 am to help the girls break "camp".  They will then try to grab a few hours of sleep before heading over to the get together that afternoon.

Well, that's what is going on around here.  What's happening in your lives?

Isa 35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.