Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Hertzler Doings-Oct. 18-25, 2010

Mon.-Nice day at home. Went to PTF in eve. and all the children sang a composer medley of songs. Several parents thought the children were singing, "Beethoven's dead.." instead of "Beethoven's Fifth." I am thankful for the new friend I made this evening. I am thankful for people who are real. I am thankful that Phil went to a township meeting tonight and things were decided that will benefit our community.

Tues.-Rough night. Didn't sleep much. Great day with the kids at school. Gave them their first real test in music since I am going to start issuing grade point averages for the high schoolers. I am thankful for the kind hugs I received at school today and how they helped me make it through the day. I am thankful for Dianna's call tonight. I am thankful for my mother's e-mail. I am thankful that the nail that flew from Philip's nail gun only glanced off his knee bone instead of going in. He is in alot of pain however. Broke the skin and hit the bone. Knee cap is red and mushy. Michael left for Richmond today. Will be there until Thursday. I am thankful for the giggling episode between Philip and Susan.

Wed.-Good day of teaching. Kids say that craziest things and sometimes they do them as well. I was going to write one of those incidences down but decided against it to protect the innocent mothers from humiliation. (Changed my mind later) It rained hard today and I love my corner room with the two windows and precious privacy. Went to church early for the WM meeting and discussed the upcoming conference and other future events. Went to Belks and Walmart during Youth Group. I am thankful for the loud ruckus Susan made on the way home. We had the windows down because she was laughing so hard and her head was out the window, as usual, and I accidentally pushed the button to make her window go up which just plain scared her silly and she freaked out, screaming and laughing and making strange noises and when we got to the top of our lane, all three dogs had been waiting to greet us for quite some time since they heard her screaming before we even turned onto our lane. They made sure she was okay before they relaxed after escorting our car to its stopping spot. I am thankful for Lisa's patchouli hug. I am thankful for the little baby girls that are walking around at church even though they seem way too little to be doing so. They look so cute in their fall outfits and little hats.

Thurs.-Susan woke up with chest pain, thick throat, and 120 pulse rate per minute. We're wondering if she had a shrimp allergy. Teri checked her out at school and Susan went along to Luray Caverns with the other students. I then went to Krogers/Walmart and whle waiting in line at the cheese counter I met the sweetest lady named Marjorie and we got to finding things out about each other. Meanwhile, the grandmotherly type lady behind the counter kept calling us both 'dear' and 'sweetie' and gave us samples of 1.98 a pound sliced turkey so we both bought two pounds and I thought that was a good deal until I read the fine print 'sell by Oct. 21.' Came home, studied, washed, talked with Lindsay on fb and decided to go out to Farmville early and have lunch with her and the girls at the Longwood cafeteria. Caught up with Linds and snuggled with Adi. Went to church to make phone calls regarding the Ladie's Fall Conference coming up next weekend and the bake sale on Nov.7 we're holding to benefit The Dollar Project in Ecuador. Went from there to CCA to pick up Susan by 5:00. She had a good time with her friends, her Mt. Dew, and Pete-the Hubler's boxer. Pete made her homesick for Sampson. Came back home to Michael who made up our tortilla meal for supper with venison, salsa, beans, and rice. We had an invasion of flies during the day and I killed at least 20 of them before cleaning up supper dishes and finishing wash. Watched 'Gone Fishing' with Susan. The tall guy in the movie looked like our buddy, Mabe. When I said that out loud, Michael said with relief, "THAT"S who it is!" Don't you hate it when someone reminds you of somebody else and you can't think of who it is?

I am thankful for safe travels for Susan and that she seems to be feeling better.
I am thankful for Longwood College and the fountains, flowers, students, two little girls, their confident mama, and the presence of God which makes it such a beautiful place.
I am thankful that Michael is home.

Fri.-Relaxing day catching up with cleaning out bags and purses, washing, talking to Naomi and Janelle, and watching Monk. No school for Susan. She isn't feeling well enough to go. Spent the day on the sofa. Made tabbouleh for the first time. It's delicious. Naomi is looking forward to checking out the movie 'Gone Fishing' so she can see what her husband looks like with some difference. I am thankful that Susan didn't miss a day of school even if she was sick. (No school) I am thankful that Naomi always yells at her dog, Tink, while on the phone and I have to laugh so hard. I am thankful for the life of her little grandbaby. I am thankful for my sister, Rosalee, who gave birth 29 years ago to Annika, on her 29th birthday.

Sat.-Great wonderful day. Relaxed and worked on blogging some of mother's writings, cleaned a bit, walked to the river, worked on school fundraiser, made turkey scrapple, turkey sausage with apples and sweet potatoes dish, homemade pizza and homemade bread. Took Susan to Freeman and Alli's for supper. Jesse, Emilee, and Kelli came as well and after supper they played 'Apples to Apples'. On the way back from dropping her off I saw Micah outside so I pulled in and he hugged and hugged me and held my hand as he showed me his one remaining very limp little froggie, and eventually, I just brought him home with me and he watched 'The Three Stooges' and I made homemade pizza. We ate two whole big pizzas between Micah, Phil, and I. Susan was so disappointed when she got home because there was none left. I tried to remove the evidence by washing and putting away pizza pans but when she tasted the bread and said it would make good pizza, I just had to open my mouth and confess. Micah watches The Three Stoogies and gets his exercise, meaning that he totally acts out and interacts with whatever he sees, giggling all the while. It's an experience in itself just to be in the same room with him. Oh, he showed me his new gadget for ...well, he showed me his new gadget, let's leave it at that. Anyway, I met Susan at Janelle's where Freeman had dropped her off and I brought Micah home. He didn't really want us to leave, hugging and kissing me and wanting to show Phil his dog, but we promised him we'd see it tomorrow since we are keeping it for the week.

I am thankful for Micah and the way he learns and the way he can tell me about the movie he saw, 'Lewis and Clark', and how he had a good grasp on Sacajawea and that she 'gave birth!' on their journey, and how they ate candles and drank water to stay alive, etc. and only one man died in two winters even after they went through 'all that.' I am thankful that Susan is feeling better. I am thankful for Phil's delight in Micah. I am thankful that when Micah closed his eyes while he was hugging me, that he looked just like Philip, who looks so much like Micah's daddy. I am thankful for this wonderful day. I am thankful that Rosalee called me with some good news. (Annika's engaged!)

Sun.-Good morning at church. Loved what Lisa shared about the words in the song-"...I will worship you here.." 'Here' being more than this place, but in the place were you are, whether you are depressed or happy, in debt or wealthy, sickness or health, in bondage or free..." Worship Him in your present state. That was so helpful to me and I hope I never forget it. It was Pastor Appreciation Sunday and somehow I missed that announcement last week. We have a Sr. pastor, Associate pastor, Pastor for the older folks, Pastor for the running of the church school, young adult pastor, youth pastor, children's pastor, and the drama 'pastor.' Equally as important are their wives who do any number of things, such as loving the people their husbands bring into their homes, leading worship, directing dramas, counselling parents and youth, being a friend, giving great hugs, heading up nursery work, etc. etc. It's really an amazing staff. Everyone is necessary and everyone helps the others to look good. Alot of honoring goes on as well as serving. Everyone of them deserves a long standing ovation. Jamie did a great job in publicly acknowledging the pastors and I liked what he quoted-"A leader is someone who was backed in a corner and came out fighting." Then he said, "Every one of our pastors are leaders who have been backed in a corner and came out fighting."

Pastor Frank will be speaking about 'Wives Tales' in the upcoming weeks. He referred to some of the disciplines that we partake in because we are Christians, such as Bible reading, and prayer and he said that we wouldn't practice the disciplines of the Christian walk if we didn't believe that Jesus is the only way to God. He also said the following.

There is a way of thinking in the world that is infiltrating the church and that is the belief that there is more than one way to come to God. (Some think Jesus is only one of the ways, but personally, it makes no logical sense to me, for God to provide such an extreme measure of salvation through the death of His only precious Son, and then to say that we can approach Him in other ways besides this very narrow way that leads to a broad, abundant life. Why would the death of His Son be only one of the ways? It makes no sense.)

It is popular now to believe in God, but even the demons believe in God. They also believe in Jesus. The real question is, "What do we do with Jesus?" If we say He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then we must respond in obedience to Him. We must take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him.

Jesus Himself said that He and His Father were one. They picked up stones to stone Him when He said that. He also said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father except through Him. He said that we have seen the Father because we have seen Him. Jesus wasn't crucified because He was a good teacher and performed miracles. He was crucified because He claimed to be God.

In Acts 3, Peter was speaking to the crowd who was amazed at the miraculous healing of the lame man who stood at the temple gates. There was nothing politically correct about what he said. He said that they had ...crucified the Prince of Life...that God had raised Him from the death, and it was through His name, and through faith in His name, that this man was healed.

We, too, are witnesses of Jesus Christ. We see Him in the transformation taking place in the lives around us. And it is through His name, and our faith in His name, that we will see miracles take place.

Earlier, Pastor Frank said something like, "Holiness is not an action. Holiness is a state of being. We say, 'You ARE holy' not 'You Do holy things.' Too often we set up a standard and try to be holy. God is holy. He lives inside us and we surrender to Him who is holy. Then our holiness is a state of being inside God and of His being inside us. His holy life inside of us is why we are holy. "

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Sunday afternoon-Freeman and Alli came over just after Janelle and Micah got here with their dog, Buddy, who we are keeping this week. Roco came barrelling into the house and tried to get into Buddy's little cage. Phil insisted that he was only curious, but I got the distinct impression that he was hungry. When we let Buddy loose, Roco thought he was a chew toy and when I rescued the little Shiatsu, his fur was rather wet. After that, whenever we wanted Buddy to go potty outside, he wanted to come inside and I found little puddles and 'gifts' at least five different times this evening. He smells 'Big Dog' when he goes outside and no wonder. We have three big dogs and Freeman brought their big dog over to frolic while Freeman made us ribs for supper. Alli and I made apple strata dessert and watched 'Pride and Prejudice.' That movie is worth putting on just to hear the classical music sound track. Michael is at the Davis's today and Philip is with some friends at Bush Gardens.

I am thankful for the grace and strength God gives those in the midst of pain.

I am thankful that so many women from our church are signed up to come to the Women's Conference this weekend. I think nearly 150 women are coming.

I am thankful that Buddy is still with us.

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