Mon.-First day of school for Susan after Christmas break. Dropped her off and went to Krogers and walmart. Washed, cleaned, etc. Michael cut Grandma Hertzlers 5 lb. sweet potato into fry shapes. Filled a 3 gallon kettle. Shippey's and Lucas's came over for supper. Michael and Philip made Angus and venison burgers. We had lettuce, onions,tomatoes, cheese, and condiments with the burgers. Sweet potato and regular potato fries, salad, cookies and ice cream rounded out our meal. We have such a good time with these wonderful people. Everyone's talking and laughing and there's a sense of coming home. Now we have an invitation to come visit with them in Calif. I showed Blythe-10 years old, I think-how to make the poppers I made with 2nd grade art. She loved the loud bang. Michael wondered if I had been holding out on him all these years but I told him that I just learned how to make them myself. I think he wants a lesson. Blythe showed Susan how to make them. Phil and the boys were cleaning up outside today. They took two loads to the dump. This is the wearisome part of a fire and the necessary part before we can rebuild. I am thankful for our new friends and that they feel like old friends. I am thankful for how much fun the boys have making food together and how they were dreaming about having their own homes-'no offense, mom'. I am thankful that God has helped me stay off sugar and drink more water for 3 days and counting.
Tues.-Back to school. Working on Recitatio. Clarissa was there visiting. She's doing so well in college and I'm so proud of her. She helped sing during several music classes today and it was great because I was teaching them 5 different rounds. She has a beautiful strong voice. It was nice to be back with the teachers and students. I like them all so very much. Stayed after choir talking with a dear friend. Left school in the dark. Going to bed early. Naomi called. Her friend died of cancer this morning. She went so quickly. This is a hard good bye. As I hung up with her I said, "Don't ever die." And she said, "Stop that coughing. I don't like it." And then we had to laugh. I am thankful for Naomi, and for my tub filled with hot water waiting for me and for the dear little darlings at school and the way they teach me so many things.
Wed.-Good day at school. Teaching rounds and how to sing them this week. Went through nursery rhyme songs with the youngest group. I put on a tape of nature songs and they laughed each time the song sang, "Dirt made my lunch." The idea is that everything we eat came from dirt in one way or another. Milk comes from cows who eat grain and grass which grows on top of dirt. The teachers are all putting their heads together to come up with songs and recitations that will showcase Early America. I love their enthusiasm and desire to learn things themselves. I'm so tired again and fighting the sore throat/cough stuff already. Trying to eat well and take some vitamins to help this time around. Went to church tonight and ran around with Carleen to catch up on her life. We went to Goodwill where I found 5 good books and to Walmart. Susan sang worship songs halfway home and then we played Family Feud on her ipod. The boys had their friends here-Erik, April, April's friend, Korin-sp?, and Christi and they have played Uno for several hours and are having a fun time. I am thankful for Lisa H's email and that I'll get to have lunch with her tomorrow in Appomattox. I am thankful that Phil greets me sweetly, "Hello, little darlin'. I am thankful that Susan sang until her voice gave out and that she always wants to sing after she's been at church Wed. nights. She sings because she wants to and because she knows I love to hear her sing. Amen. OH! I am thankful that Phil's sister called and said that if she doesn't have the baby naturally tonight, they will induce her tomorrow, so I will soon be an auntie again!!! I am going to have to get up to Pa. alot more this coming year.
Thurs.-Met a friend at Baine's today for coffee and lunch and as always, our time was too short. In art class, I told the second grade art students that if there was only one class I could teach the school, it would be second grade art. Kalie looked up after 'catching' the compliment and said, "Aww...Thank you!" We did some weaving today with paper. Then the 2nd graders created hang gliders with the large map paper. They taped paper under the glider for the person to hang on to. They cut out people and taped them onto the underneath of their hang glider. I was impressed. Their favorite part of art is when the main project is finished and they get to make their own things. I took Susan and a friend to Dairy Queen after school for a treat and their mother joined us shortly afterwards. At home we made chicken in the skillet and soybeans and had them with a big salad for supper. The five of us were all there at one time and it was really nice to sit down as a family. It is happening less and less with everyone's busy schedules but the kids voiced their desire to do this more often. We have been without TV now for a week at least and it is refreshing to not have that option. Sometimes, we'd sit down with a plate of food and watch something if only two or three of us was home. I am thankful for Mrs. VN and for the kind words she said about Susan today. I am thankful that Phil is looking forward to our date tomorrow night. I asked him out and he doesn't know where we are going. I am thankful that all of my children love to cook. Even Philip. He said, "I LOVE to cook." The other night at the party, the guys were talking about food and cooking and Christi said to the girls, "Isn't it funny how the guys are talking about cooking and we're not?"
Friday-Home. Glorious Home. Things have happened this week to reinforce that my focus should be on my own family and home. I love my family so very much. I am so thankful that Freeman and Alli are happily married and don't live far away. I am thankful for the way Philip teases her and scares her whenever he has opportunity. I am thankful for the way she whops him for doing it. I am thankful for a chance to write and to clean and do wash. I am thankful for the haircut I'll be getting soon and the errands I will run and the debt I will pay at the library for losing a book. I am thankful for the cool double date I'll have with Phil later at Baine's with Paul and Lisa while we listen to her sister and her sister's husband play guitar and sing. I am thankful for Freeman and Philip's efforts to make sure Susan was taken care of tonight. They took her to the New Life basketball games.
-What a lovely evening. Coffee, tea, books everywhere, soft leather sofa, great friends and relaxing folk music, soft snow falling through the light of outside lanterns, God's love hovering over searching souls...
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Sat.-I've been weaning myself off sugar and caffeine this week and today I felt like I was having oxygen piped into me and I got so much done-cleaned house, put Christmas things away, got back shelves organized, etc. Made kale, white bean, and kielbasi soup and picked up Ruritan Clubs stew. Philip, Michael, Susan, and Christi played Uno at the kitchen table. Phil worked with cattle most of the day. Watched a Mrs. Marple mystery DVD in the eve.
I am soooo thankful that Anne came to the end of her 2 1/2 days of labor and brought forth a son and named him David Andrew. Glory Be! A Hertzler Miracle Baby! I am thankful for the fun the kids are having playing games, relating to each other, rather than watching Direct TV, which we don't have anymore. I am thankful that Freeman and Alli came over this afternoon and made bread in my new mixer and that they gave me some dough. I am thankful for how much fun they have doing things together and for how consistently kind she is to all of us.
Sun.-Sat with the Bantons during church and Adi leaped into my arms before I could sit down. She fell asleep during worship and even when she wasn't asleep, she was so relaxed. There was a time that the pastor was leading the congregation in saying 'Holy, Holy..' and at that time, I was drawing Adi a little picture of a manger and baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, 3 wise men, two shepherds, and two little girls standing in front of the manger. We were decorating the tiny business size cards with little sticker stars. Then I drew baby Jesus in Adi's arms, seeing that she and Emma were the two little girls in the picture. I told her that she was holding baby Jesus and she looked and listened and all the time I heard voices saying, "Holy, holy..." and I worshipped Him in His holiness as Almighty King and in His holiness as a baby in Adi's arms.
Pastor Frank spoke from 1 Samuel 1, referring back to the books of the Kings, to the time in history where no judges ruled and where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And then came Hannah, a woman dearly beloved by her husband,Elkanah, with no children to call her own. His other wife, Peninnah, had a number of children, and she was unkind to Hannah in regards to her barrenness. Hannah was desperate for a child and her desperate situation caused her to be desperate for God's answer. She went to the temple to pray and she was bitter in her soul and wept with anguish. " O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look at the way things are in my life and remember me, and give me a little boy, I promise to give back to you for all of his days and he will never get a haircut." (The lack of a razor had to do with consecrating him to God.) She trusted God with the longings of her heart and He answered her for her sake and also used His answer to bring about His greater purpose for a nation in dire need of guidance and direction. (She had Samuel within the year and when he was weaned, she brought him to the temple and presented him to the Lord and to Eli. "And he ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.")
Determine; Determination-
One act determines the other.
1-The magnitude of the circumstance will determine the level of commitment.
2-How God responds to us is determined by what we are willing to return.
(Hannah's vow-"If you give me a son, I'll give him back to you.")
The name 'Samuel' means "ask of God."
Samuel became the main influence on the house of Israel.
He was the one God chose to appoint the next king of Israel.
3-The size of your God will determine the size of your requests.
What are you magnifying? Your problems or your God?
Hannah referred to God as 'The LORD of the hosts of heavens armies."
She had a great big God.
Do you know how big Jesus is?
Think of all the things He did.
Walked on water.
Healed the blind, lepers, deaf, crippled.
Demons had to leave when He spoke.
Death could not keep Him in the grave.
He conquered Hell.
He loved us while we were sinners.
We have authority-the same authority of Jesus-
in His name. "Ask anything in my name and I will do it."
What will He do for a committed, desperate people who believe their God
is greater than any need they might have?
I believe, that when God answers a prayer for us personally,
it will also affect those around us in a major way.
Just like Hannah's desire for a baby-which was a desire sent from God-
caused her to cry out and receive an answer
she was able to hold in her arms
for a time,
was also an answer to the cry of a desperate nation.
Kelli S. came back home with us and she and Susan went outside for a hike while Phil and I watched the another Mrs. Marple movie. Janelle and Micah came over and played Apples to Apples Jr. edition. I got to snuggle with him a bit while we played. I liked his decisiveness and the way he ate popcorn as if he hadn't had food for a week. After awhile, he asked Phil if he could watch The Three Stooges and Micah got his serotonin's for the week. Phil loves to see what strikes Micah funny. Went out to church in the eve.
I am thankful for the way Adi studies my face even though it makes me feel a little self-conscious. I am thankful for her long eyelashes and the way she looks like a porcelain doll when she's sleeping. I am thankful for Dianna's Journey class on Spiritual Disciplines. It's so good. I am thankful that my mother was so excited for Anne and her good news. I hope I can show her 'my' new babies soon.
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