Tornado Damage

I am giving you links to two other blogs.  The first one is Mary Helen's.  It is mostly pictures.  She was on one of the work crews that went out from our church.    The second is the Munck's Family.  She wrote about what it was like here in Cleveland on Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

http://bigmikemh.blogspot.com/2011/04/tornado-damage.html

http://muncksquiver.blogspot.com/2011/04/devastation-in-south.html

Our family was one of the more fortunate ones.  Although there were trees through roofs and across roads just barely over a mile from us, we had only sticks and leaves on our property.  We lost power for only six hours.

The stories that have been reported are amazing.  One couple in their seventies heard the storm and ran to the basement.  They had just reached the bottom step when they looked up to see their entire house gone.  Their view was of the sky.

Some are humorous - - - like a friend who said they had 24 rolls of someone's toilet paper in a tree in their yard.

This link gives the number of homes destroyed as well as the current status in our county.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14546201

One of the roads they list as closed is Freewill.  It is the area just over a mile from our home.  Remarkably, only nine deaths have been reported thus far.

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy .  Psalm 61:3

Easter Family Fun

Siblings - - the first time in ten a half years we were all in the same location!

Birth order L to R

Kev = #4; San = #2; Lynn = #1; and Rick = #3

Within the last two months, Rick and wife, Mary,

 moved from downstate GA to be within 20 miles of Sandie.  Kev made an impromptu visit from NY on Friday for the weekend.  So my sweet husband and I decided we could drive five hours to join the other three.

We took lots of pictures.

Ate a LOT of food - - excellent barbecue.

 

Equally excellent Mexican lunch at Vera Cruz on Peach Orchard Road in Augusta, GA

 

Took a little time to 'smell the roses'

 

And just generally hung out and had fun together!

 

The four of us could write a book on the many experiences we have had in the last half century.  We started out together, went many different directions geographically, but whenever we are together, we LOVE being with each other because we love each other a lot.

We stayed at my sister's new home.

  It was just a couple of weeks after the anniversary of  when her home burned last year.  The new house is beautiful and spacious inside.

Living within 25 miles are her children and 'Princess' granddaughter (Mom is on the left).  (If you ask the granddaughter what she plans to be when she grows up, she will tell you 'a princess'.)

 

 The princess' dad was not present for this photo but had been there the previous evening.

A couple of friends of the family were there, too.  Here is Melissa.

 

She is an amazing woman who has lived and fought with a serious blood disease for 10+ years.  She is beautiful and vivacious.  We are always delighted that she takes her time to visit with us when we are there - - but she is family to all of us so should be there!!!

Amber is a good friend who helped my sister a LOT with last year's clean-up - - - but the only picture I have of her is the back of her hat!  She is a remarkable young woman, too who has served our country and is now in college.

And I saved the best picture for last - - my sweet husband 

 who drove 600 miles round trip - - - the worst part of it all was the horrendous traffic in Atlanta!!!  We hits delays on the way down and then the HOV exit to 75 was CLOSED - - found that out at the last minute and could not merge over 4 lanes in a mile so detoured around until we could get back on 75 - - but Praise God - - - we arrived home safely.

Today was a wonderful Easter celebration worship service at our church - - - followed by an amazing dinner at my son-in-law's parents & grandmother's home.  I've said it before but it bears repeating that we are honored and blessed to be including in their loving families' celebrations!!!  They are wonderful people and have become precious friends.

He is not here: for he is risen , as he said . Come , see the place where the Lord lay .  Matthew 28:6

Show Time!

This cute donkey was part of our Easter Musical Celebration at our First Baptist Church this weekend.  It was the only live animal.  He walked through our sanctuary with the young man who was portraying Jesus - - and then walked out.  Here he is calmly waiting to make his grand entrance.  He was such a calm animal. 

 

As you can see, there was a great turnout for this Easter Celebration Event.  The cars in the background represent only about 1/3 of our parking lot.  The sanctuary seats about 1,400 people.  We were almost 100 percent full Friday and Saturday evening.  Tonight there was an overflow crowd.

 

The music was phenomenal.  We have an orchestra and band so all the music is live.  Did I mention it was phenomenal and definitely gave our Lord glory and honor!

 

  

Last Sunday afternoon, our younger daughter and I went to see My Fair Lady at Lee University.  They have two productions each school year and if you live in the area, they are well worth the price of the tickets.  The music and costuming this year were exceptional!  Amanda and I enjoyed ourselves immensely since this has always been one of our favorite shows.  What is one of your favorite musicals?

And there's more I could write about this week but I have taken half a Benadryl and it's helped me fight the heavy pollen in the air - - but it has also made me very sleepy.

O come , let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

It’s a Jungle Out There!

 On Thursday, I took a vacation day because I needed/wanted a day off.  Bill and I met for lunch and Dovino’s.  Later that evening, it seemed like a good idea to eat supper outside on our upper back deck because there was a lovely breeze.  Instead of totally relaxing, Bill said, “I see all the work that needs to be done.”   Even before our dinner on the deck, he had planned to work outside a few hours today - - - and he did.

 It’s the time of year when everything grows really fast!  But it’s also the time of year when everything is the most brilliant green - - - before the scorching sun and drought of summer.

 I went after the base of this vine today.  (I hope someone can tell me it wasn’t anything with an allergic poison.)  My prayer is that it is just another invasive vine.  Also, some of the “volunteer” trees were cut down, too - - while they were still small enough to be gotten with the long-handled clippers.

Our younger daughter has been hard at work at her place, too.

 Hard work deserves some yummy food and we discovered this new side dish this weekend.  It is very, very good.   I cooked it in a glass casserole dish rather than microwaving it in the original plastic bag.

 Earlier this week, I made Quesadillas that had sautéed red bell pepper and onion combined with chicken, salsa, and Mexican Blend Cheese.  It now ranks up there in our top three or five favorite sandwiches!

 And for those of you who are very crafty or wish to be with ‘re-do’s’, have you seen this blog? If the link doesn't work, go to www.betterafter.blogspot.com.  I saw some GREAT ideas and made a Publisher file with some of my favorite pictures.  Only go there if you have time.  Plus, I hope to see some of your accomplishments on there in the future.

Have a great week!

For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.  Psalm 50:10

Busy Week

Some weeks are busier than others and this seemed to be one of them.  The pictures of the flowers in this post have nothing to do with this week’s activities.  They were actually taken a couple of weeks ago at our local Chick-Fil-A.  They have the property landscaped.  I only had my phone with me but I do believe it did fine.

 

Our winter reading program for adults is over at the church.  If you are interested, the results are on this link.

 

Not everything was sunshine and happiness though.  After having this cat for sixteen and a half years, she made her final trip to the vet on Thursday.  One week ago, she had a ‘medical’ accident - - like a stroke or something similar.   She had trouble remembering how to do tasks as simple as drinking.  The below picture was taken a year ago.  I am glad I did not have a recent one because it was depressing to see how she had aged.

Missy, also known as Miss Kiss, Miss Kitty, and Wobble-cus, was a wonderful pet.  She was not even weaned when we got her.  Our church’s youth pastor thought her mom might have been killed by a dog and he asked us to take the little kitty that had wandered into their yard.  We bottle-fed her, transitioned her to cat food by putting it in the blender, and even let her sleep with us the first two weeks.  Her personality was great for a cat - - one of the best we have owned.  We will miss her - - but we still have more cats left so don’t anyone try and replace her for us!

 On Friday, I was happy to help judge one event in a speech tournament for Christian Homeschoolers.  This is at least my third year doing this.  When I retire, I will help them even more.  If you ever get the opportunity to judge for The National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, take advantage of it.  You will be impressed at the caliber of young persons involved in these tournaments.

 Today I was invited to attend the fourteenth anniversary of The Haven.    It is a ministry of Shenandoah Baptist Church.  We met the girls through our First Baptist Library Ministry.  The directors and other staff at the girls’ home do a wonderful job of pouring lots of love and energy into the lives of these teenagers.    Our library staff has come to love all of them, too.  Afterward I visited their dormitory.  It is nestled in a wooden area overlooking a large pond.   God is using that environment to help those girls make improvements in their spiritual life, education, and relationships with their families.

Now we are playing ‘catch-up’ with laundry and other necessary things to prepare for next week - - - so I’ll catch you next weekend!

This is the verse on the bulletin at the anniversary celebration today.

"...that our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace" 

Psalm 144:12

Ridgecrest, NC

Bill and I

went to Ridgecrest, NC last weekend for a national library conference.  There were a range of classes offered from beginning a library and all that includes with selecting and processing books to advanced classes in our library software.

We stayed in Mountain Laurel.  The room rates are extremely reasonable.  This is only the right half of the building.  Please notice all the stairs.  The beautiful campus is on a steep mountain so you are constantly on stairs or inclines unless you choose to take the elevators in the buildings.  We did both.

 

In the middle of the building is a covered walkway to one of the buildings where we had classes.  Look at the stone columns.  I really liked that architectural feature.

 

Here is a view of the beautiful bridge to the building.  Notice the different levels.  Many of the buildings were like that.  I'm glad Bill had a great sense of direction because I never knew if I was on the Concourse or Level 1.

 

Look how clean this is.  We had a lot of wind and still there was no debris anywhere.

 

This porch was on the left of the covered entrance.  As you can see, we were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather.

 One interesting thing about Ridgecrest Conference Center was the number of volunteers we saw working.  They were all ages.  Some friends from our church did this last summer and enjoyed it a lot.  The woman ended up in housekeeping.  She said she changed a LOT of beds.  I was impressed with the restocking of clean towels - - - - better than a hotel.  If you might be interested, here is the link for volunteer opportunities. 

This weekend, we are home and even though we have had two terrific weekends out of town, we are happy NOT to be riding in our car for any distance tomorrow or Sunday!

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep : for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:8

St. Patrick

If you follow our church's library blog, you have already seen this.  If not, I want to give you a link to the real story of one of my Christian heroes.  St. Patrick's day is not about getting drunk on green beer or just eating corned beef and cabbage -- - - which we did on Saturday because we love it - - plus it's what my daughter requested when she came to visit after one of her certification tests for teaching.

St. Patrick's day is about being obedient to the call of Christ on your life and honoring one who was.  So here's hoping you have a great green day on Thursday!

http://libraryfbc.blogspot.com/2011/03/who-was-st-patrick.html

And be ye kind one to another , tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hathforgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32