Mon.-Song-"I must tell Jesus..." Happy Valentine's Day! Spent most of the day with Lindsay. Susan watched the girls while she drove me to Chesterbrooke for a dentist appt. I need to take Clonopin so I don't get vertigo when I have to lay back and I get a little loopy on those meds. We went to Target and Sam's Club afterwards. Susan had a good time and the girls were taking a nap when we got back. We woke them up and got them dressed for their ballet lessons. Then I carefully drove home and went to bed and slept 2 1/2 hours. Michael made supper. Susan helped Phil with the cows and the high winds blew something hard against her and hurt her pretty badly. The winds are so high and the ground so dry that they are warning not to do any outside burning today.///I am thankful for my Valentine and for my other Valentine Hertzler's and for all my Valentine Bantons. I am thankful for my new dentist and the extraordinary care I was given and the way he made me feel better about my teeth. I am thankful that God will provide more than enough to pay for this extraordinary bill because He doesn't give us extraordinary care and leave us sitting with the extraordinary bill.
Tues.-"His love never fails, never gives up..." Great day at school. Enjoyed every class. I played one of Bach's melancholy pieces in every class. (Arioso) I had them close their eyes and asked them what thoughts they had as I played. One musically inclined 5/6th grader wiped his eyes as he said "It made me think of my mother dying." "Did your mother die?" another child asked with compassion. "No," he said, "it just made me think about her dying." I suggested that Bach may have written it after his wife or one of his children died.
I've been on the go since 5:30 this morning. Susan wrenched her back yesterday and today and asked to see the chiropractor. Three vertebrae where pushed to the side with a rib lodged in there some where. No wonder she was in pain. Christi and Philip were doing farm chores late this afternoon and came in and ate some soup and played Rook and Monopoly with Susan. Found out that Joe Petersheim died on Sat.
Had a good talk with Michael. I can imagine him as a commercial pilot giving gems of wisdom to over the microphone to his passengers while he's thousands of feet in the air. Philip's pet cow Jasmine finally had her calf. It is so little. It looks like a brown dog. It followed Christi the whole way up to the barn. I am thankful for the fun each class had today. They all seemed a little rowdy but in a happy sort of way. I am thankful for the excitement of farm animals and the way they make our kids want to hang around because they want to watch them grow. I am thankful for the laughter I hear as the kids play games around the table. I am thankful that we haven't had TV for awhile and there is no background noise.
Wed.-Didn't sleep much last night. My brain was over stimulated with that Bach piece and I kept playing it over and over in my head. It's a piece that lifts up your soul and drops it down again. Up. Down. And a gentle balance at the end. It makes me sad in a happy sort of way. I had a nice time with a little two year old girl today. Hadn't seen her for several months but she said she remembered me. She bowled me over at one point. I can tell she has older brothers. She's so smart and coordinated and has a wonderful sense of humor. I missed her and her brothers and am so glad to have them back in 'our' lives. Played more Bach pieces on the piano for the students. In the 3/4 class, I played 'O Sacred Head Now Wounded.' Bach wrote the harmony for that song. I asked them what the music made them think about and one young lady said it reminded her of an oriental coronation. I said that it was just that. "O Sacred Head Now Wounded...with Grief and Shame weighed down...Now scornfully rejected..with thorns thine only crown..." She was rather pleased with herself. //Went out to that new Japanese restaurant in Farmville with Candi in the eve. while Susan was at youth group. It was good to catch up with her. ///I am thankful for the sense of spring being right around the corner. I am thankful for God's protection and wisdom on our drive home. Right at Peaks Rd., a grey and black vehicle was parked perpendicularly across 460. I stopped before we rammed into them and pulled to the side and waited. Then they gunned their vehicle and went across the road. I agree with Susan. It seemed as if they wanted us to hit them. But maybe they were stalled. I don't think their lights were even on. I am thankful for more than enough...grace, mercy, wisdom, resources...I am thankful that He is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble. I am thankful for the 'oriental coronation' and the way it has changed our lives forever.
Thurs.-Dropped Susan off and went to Lori 'G's and had cake and coffee at her house. What a nice visit. She is an easy to love kind of friend. I guess most friends are. ;) Went to see Dr. F. and she tried to unstiffen me. Had lunch with the teachers at school and taught two art classes. We are still working on penguin pictures and flour/water batiks. One little second grader was out because he was sick so I painted his batik for him. As soon as I was done, he showed up. He had had some sort of strange rash so his mother kept him home to observe him. He cried because he was going to miss Art so she brought him in for that last period of the day. He wasn't upset at all that I had painted his material. He just happily began making some things out of paper. Susan helped me clean up the art room like she does every Thurs. We treated ourselves to McD's soft ice cream cones in celebration of the 'car windows down' type of weather. I said to the girl, "I bet you have been selling alot of these today." She said they were selling cones and milk shakes all day long. It's in the high 60's. Ran into the Robinson's while we were getting gas. I told the boys I miss them and they said that they miss us too and miss carpooling with us. I said that I missed getting material for my blog from them and their mother said, "Come over any time!" They looked happy and wonderful. What great little guys! Made brussel sprouts with sauteed mushrooms and salad for supper. Did some wash and some clean up. It's windy. The firemen have been busy this week, putting out fires. There was a fireman sitting at our lunch table and he looked pretty tired. He is married to one of the teachers.///I am thankful that one can always plan to get to bed early. I am thankful for Susan's wild sense of humor and her very loud laugh in the car today. I am thankful that I could turn the windows down because the closed car and my ears cannot absorb the amount of volume that emits from her mouth when she laughs like that.
Fri.-Dropped Susan off. Stopped at Janelle's to give her some things Mom had sent back with Phil and headed out to Lindsay's. She drove me back to the dentist and I took my loopy meds right away. Went to Sam's Club first and then to the dentist. I was in that chair for 2 1/2 hours and she played with the girls at the playground across the street. I listened to classical music for most of that time. Right before my surgery, my dentist asked if he could pray for me. That was nice. Now I have a semi permanent implant in the front of my mouth along with stitches and the need for pain meds. Lindsay and I got some coffee smoothies for the ride home. I stayed at their place to try to get a bit less loopy. Judy stopped by and changed Sammy Jo's diaper. Gil and Don left for a camping trip. I drove extra carefully and stopped at Miller's and Flowers warehouse before heading home. Taking it easy tonight.///I am thankful that I have a doctor who gives me his cell phone number and says call anytime and now I have a dentist who gave me his cell phone number and said the same. I am liking the professional availability. It is a kindness. I am thankful that Lindsay won't tell anyone what I said on the way home because I had no filter and she found it rather humorous. I am thankful that my husband was concerned about how I felt and didn't mention the exorbitant cost of this dental procedure. I am thankful for Susan's excitement about the missions trip to New York and her motivation to take care of paper work. I am sorry that Philip 'lost' another cow to hardware ingestion but I am thankful that when life hands these guys a 'lemon' they make ground beef.
Sat.-Philip had some steak made this morning from the cow he lost last night. He made two big sandwiches of steak and eggs. He went to wake up Susan. "Susan. Can you help me with something?" She got up and came out and he said, "I can't possibly eat all this food by myself. Will you help me eat it?" She hugged him and said, "You are the best big brother ever." He had a little bowl of cut up steak for me. He knew I couldn't bite into steak with my front tooth situation. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and he said, "You used to do this for me all the time-not that I remember it, but I know you did." What a pleasant way to start our Sat. morning. Doing wash and cleaning up. Getting ready for the Brynan's visit this afternoon. Phil at Guilds. Michael working in Fairfax with Cutco. Phil at Guild's. Susan helping me clean house and cleaning up the camper. Someone needs to use it this weekend elsewhere.
John and Terry Brynan came this afternoon. We had a nice time relaxing with each other. Terry and I walked to the river and sat and talked down there. Freeman and Alli came for supper. We sang some songs from the hymn book after supper. "When my life work is ended...I shall know Him..." and our favorite Christmas songs as well. These folks are changing the world where they live in Kenya. Michael is on his way home from Fairfax. Traffic is tied up and lots of smoke from wildfires.///I am thankful for the fun Susan, Alli, and I had this morning-'working' on the dance exercise video. Alli so stiff from running she could hardly lift up her leg. I am thankful for a day to do wash and clean house since both my Mon and Fri. were taken up with dentist appts. I am thankful for Phil's friend, John, who has known him much longer than I have and the ease and comfort we have in our friendship with him and his wife.
Sun.-Nice breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms and bagels and coffee with Johnny and Terry. During SS hour they set up a table with display of pictures of Kenya, etc. A number of those who had been to Kenya stopped by to chat with them. Good Service. Went to Country Cookin' with Freeman, Alli, Philip, Christi, Michael, Susan, John, Terry, Pastor Frank and Lisa. Said farewell to J and T around 3. They were headed to see John's daughter. Connected them with Steve and Ruth who are in South Africa and they are already helping T with some of her symptoms. Email is an amazing tool. I took a nap until it was time to go back to church. Pastor Frank shared about forerunners and the leadership qualities and habits of a preparer of the way. I will attempt to combine the morning sermon with the evening service notes. Pastor Frank shared what was foremost on his mind. He had just recently come upon a tragic accident where a drunk driver had hit a couple on a motorcycle. The drunk driver was crying with remorse and the man who had been hit suffered a few injuries. But the wife literally lost her leg in the accident. Pastor Frank laid down beside her on the road and touched her helmet and prayed and said, 'Stay with me...' etc. He shared this for several reasons. It was an experience he had that he needed to talk about. He wanted us to pray for this family that had suffered this tragedy. And he wanted us to prepare ourselves for divine appointments. He feels that we will experience things like this more and more as the day draws near. My brother in law, Johnny, was hit by a drunk driver while he was on a motor cycle. I've been missing him. A neighbor man, in that area of Thailand, when he heard the crash, decided to finish his breakfast before going to check on the accident. I kept thinking, 'If only Pastor Frank had been the first on the scene when Johnny was destroyed in that accident.' I wonder who was with him during those last 10 min. of his life. (There are many times we will be first on the scene. First on the scene to the bad news of cancer. First on the scene to hear an offense. First on the scene of a broken heart. Will we lie down on the ground beside the wounded one and pray and say, "Stay with me...?" Will we hold them until help comes? Will we check in with them later to see how they are recovering? For me, this story was one of the sermons of the day.)
Sermon Title-"An Invitation that Requires Participation"
Judges 7-Gideon-He had too many warriors to go against the enemy. The men were all called to be warriors but only a few were chosen to be warriors against the Midianites. "And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
So, God told Gideon to tell the warriors that if any of them were afraid, they could go home. So 22,000 went home. 10,000 remained. Still too many. So God had them go down and get drinks of water. Some put their heads down in the water and drank. Others dipped their hand in the water and sipped water from their hand. They stayed alert, ready to see, ready to run, ready to draw their spear. So those were the 300 who were chosen and every other man was sent back to his own place. That night, because Gideon was still a bit afraid, he took his servant, Purah, with him, and they went down to check out the Midianite camp. God had told them they could do this if they still needed some reassurance that they were going to win. They arrived just in time to hear two men talking about a prophetic dream. One man had dreamed that a loaf of bread tumbled down into the camp and struck a tent so hard it collapsed. The other man said, "This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand!" Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation and he worshiped God and returned to camp and woke everyone up with the faith filled words,"Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand." He divided the 300 men into 3 groups and put a trumpet into every man's hand with empty pitchers and torches inside the pitchers. He said, "Look at me. Watch and do what I do. When I blow the trumpet-you blow the trumpet and shout 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" And that they did. Then they broke the pitchers and the enemy turned on each other and killed each other with their own swords and ran all over the place.
We were asked this morning, if we knew whether or not we were called and what we were called to. I am certain of only one calling. To hear and to obey. This means that I must stay in the Word and stay close to Him. This means that I must resist evil while at the same time I pursue Him. And with the Psalmist I cry,"With my whole heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your precepts."
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I am thankful that when things are completely out of our control, God holds it together for us.
I am thankful that when I am worried about what seems important to me, I see pictures of children who are dying of protein malnourishment, and what was important is not anymore. I am thankful for Philip's words on the way to church yesterday while driving with Phil, Susan, and I, "Michael is my most favorite person on earth." I am thankful for John and Terry's love for our family and for his affirmation, "There is no condemnation in this home." I am thankful that I sneaked a peek at Susan's paper work for the missions trip and she said that her dad is her hero and that she wants to be like him as much as possible.
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