Ladies Meeting

So, last night we started up with our first ladies meeting since our break for summer. It was SUCH A BLESSING! There were two ladies that had not come before. One who had never come to our church before. The Lord just seemed to bless every part of it. Opening up discussions about praying for our children and not giving up on them. So hard for so many when they choose rebellion, but so worth is when the Lord gets the victory in their life and they end up loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, strength and mind! I really wasn't feeling well, fighting a cold and sore throat, but the Lord gave me strength, energy and enthusiasm to teach the lesson on Miriam. So many lessons to be learned from her life. She was so courageous and responsible at such a young age when her mother told her to keep an eye on Moses in the basket. To approach the princess and not let on that she was related to the baby. How God blessed Jochabed for trusting the Lord and giving up her son in order to save his life. I was touched by how God allowed her to still have the privilege of nursing him, even after thinking that she might never get to hold him again. Thinking about giving up any of my four and the precious time of nursing them, yes, even those late night feedings:). It was a bit heartwrenching, but the Lord rewarded her obedience and allowed her those extra years to nurse, train and instruct Him in loving the Lord. If not for those years, he would have probably been reared to worship false gods. Anyway, back to Miriam. How she was a leader with the women in praising the Lord in song. How thankful I am that the Lord has given us so many songs and praises to sing. They are the uplift on a discouraging day and often can change the whole attitude of the household! Then he allowed her to help her brother when they were leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Also the lesson on how pride and envy can get the better of us. They, in leadership, were not immune to human feelings. Wanting to be noticed and appreciated more. She went to far as to murmur against Moses and God had to punish her with Leprosy! How Moses pleaded with the Lord to heal her, even after she hurt him. The love of a brother was wonderful to see and made me appreciate my brothers even more. Even though they are really far away I know that they care about me and if I really needed them they would find a way to come. The fact that they will pray for me when I need it is also a big comfort. I just praise the Lord for allowing me the opportunity to study for this lesson and to share it with the ladies. It was a sweet time of fellowship and after talking with some of the ladies I arrived home close to midnight. I think that I had Scott a bit worried at the lateness of the hour, but the Lord just opened up the opportunity to talk and really share love and concern for some of the ladies and what they're going through. Praying that we will have many more meetings like this, only not such late nights:).

Our usher shares his thoughts...

As many of my friends know, our son, Garrison, age 3, is our usher. He has been doing it since we held our first service and has done a very good job. Occasionally he gives us cause for much laughter. For instance, when someone waves him on because they are not putting anything in that week. He gives them this look that is better than any guilt trip. Believe me when I tell you that we DID NOT teach this too him. He has a definite gift of expression. Something my dad was blessed with and I pray that Garrison inherits a LOT more of his good qualities. The gentle, loving way that he dealt with people is evident when his sister pleads with him to share something. He often says, no, but if you say please then I will:). So, this week I have a new usher story to tell. He took the offering, but for whatever reason our pianist did not play any music. After he was done he hands the basket to Scott and says, There isn't much money in there this week. Just paper money! He has never made a comment about the money before so it was hard not to laugh. Many of the other people were laughing, so I don't think that he offended anyone. Maybe it is a testament to the fact that our people are very giving and there is usually quite a bit more, or just the fact that there weren't coins, which kids seem to think indicates a lot more money than that paper stuff:) Either way, he keeps us smiling!

Almost August!

Where has the time gone? Oh wait! I know:) Scott has been keeping busy with carpentry jobs, but we did manage to have a very nice vacation with my mom last month. We picked her up in Saskatoon after Scott preached at Southside Baptist Church. We stayed in the Thriftlodge, which was okay. Tried to go to the little zoo, but it was closed. Went to the Christian Bookstore, the Value Village:) and the Chili's for lunch. Getting back 5 minutes before Prayer Meeting on Thursday night. The rest of the week involved visiting, bowling, Scrabble and other games... All in all it was a pretty good visit. Kiersten loved snuggling with Grandma and the older 3 warmed up pretty quickly too.
The next week involved a Preacher's conference in Saskatoon, picnic at their cabin, and packing for our trip to Alberta. Bro. Goff came out to check on Sam while we were gone and thankfully there wasn't any damage due to a neglected dog...
Alberta was full of the unexpected. The mosquitoes out there are just as mean and I got a severe reaction that required taking something for the swelling and the itch. We headed to Calgary on July 1st(Canada Day) and that meant missing the festivities. No parades, no fireworks, nothing! What a difference from celebrating the 4th of July in the States!!! I didn't get to do anything for that day either because it was a Sunday. There's always next year, right? On Friday we went to the zoo and once the again the kids really enjoyed it. Garrison was terrified of the dinosaur section, even though we assured him that it was all fake. We had a nice picnic lunch and headed home a couple hours later. I have to say that one trip to the zoo is enough for me, but for the kids sakes we went again. There were quite a few things closed and the power was out in one building. That evening we stopped in at the little shopping center and used my gift card and birthday money. The next day we headed out and stopped at the new shopping mall. Something to remember for sure. I'd like to go there without the kids some time and just enjoy walking through everything and just take it all in. It's nice because all our favorite stores are in one place. Just not the best place to take the kids because they want to run around and you don't really get to look at much. We discovered a new store that we really like. It's called Indigo. It has books, but also a good kids section. Could probably spend several hours in there. Then it was the drive home. I think it's always harder than the drive there.
Since then we've had church, counseling sessions with a couple in the church, minor and major issues with the kids, lots of rain, two teeth for Kiersten and a little girl that wants to be off and running. Pretty soon:) Caleb has also surprised us by going on the potty a couple times. Looking forward to him using it ALL the time!:)))) Well, other than things that can't be shared that about wraps up the last couple months for us. Sorry I haven't been posting much, not that anyone's reading, but there just seem to be a lot of things going on that are a lot more important. Most importantly, Garrison got saved on the trip home from Calgary and needs a lot of discipleship. How people can think that there's nothing to raising children is beyond me. They require more time, prayer and dedication than any job out there. Praying that the Lord gives us wisdom and patience to do it according to His will and not our own. See ya next time!