A Milestone

Yesterday was a significant day as it marked the end of Kathy's college days.  Yes, she's finished!  After a little more than four-and-a-half years, she finally completed her degree!  We are all so grateful for God's faithful provision along the way as she's pursued these studies and for enabling her to finish well.  What a milestone worth celebrating!

Upon submitting her last assignment, Kathy took a picture of her desk and surrounding "study lounge":

Besides having my sister back, I hopefully get to reclaim our room soon!   Computers, books, papers, binders, tea pots, and snack bowls...it all hasn't been my most favorite way to decorate our bedroom. :)

We are rejoicing in what God has done and look forward to seeing where He will further lead Kathy in the weeks and months ahead.

Capitol Call Women's Ministry

On Monday March 10, I had the great privilege of being involved in the very first Capitol Call Women's Day at the Indiana Statehouse!  The focus of this new ministry is imparting to women in the church the vision of praying for their leaders.  Our leader, Pam Russell, developed this vision while we were in Washington, DC together last November, so it was exciting to actually see it come to reality!

Being that this was our first one, we hand-selected a small group of women from Pam's church for our trial run.  We talked about the Scriptural mandate that women have in praying for their leaders, went on a Statehouse tour to learn how our government works, heard testimonies from several legislators on how much they value knowing that people are praying for them, gathered together in the Statehouse chapel room to pray together, and briefly observed the House and Senate in session.  It was a full morning and afternoon!

Here is our group picture:

I am excited to see how the Lord will expand this ministry in the months and years ahead!  We are planning to host at least three more Women's Statehouse Days this year, so if you know of a group of ladies from your church who be interested in participating and learning more about this ministry, please let me know.  We would love to host you for the day!

Wisdom's Words: Darkness

The soul that has to wade through deep waters has always to do it alone; for no human sympathy reaches to full knowledge or, or share in, even the best loved one's grief.  We have companions in joy;  sorrow we have to face by ourselves...Unless we have Jesus with us in the darkness, we have no one.

-Alexander Maclaren

Order in Chaos

In times when nothing makes sense and I don't know which route God would have me take, these things are certain -

1. God is in control.

2. I don't need to panic.

3. I must live by faith.

4. The God who delivers is also the God who provides.

There is always order in chaos because our God is always working.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.  (Psalm 37:5)

Wisdom's Words: Faith

"Hands lifted empty to heaven in longing trust, 

will never drop empty back and hang listless, 

without a blessing in their grasp."  

~Alexander Maclaren

A Tea Shower

A dear friend of ours is looking forward to an April wedding, and last weekend was her shower.  What a wonderful time was had by all!  Since the bride likes tea, those planning the shower went with the appropriate theme, and every table had its own tea pot and tea cups.  So beautiful!

The food was equally amazing: brownies, chocolates, scones with strawberries and whipped cream, little quiches, cream puffs, and finger sandwiches. It was quite the spread!

There was a very good turn out to support this future couple.  It was fun to see all the young girls crowd around and watch the gift opening.

We rejoice in God's wonderful provision for our friend after many, many years of waiting on the Lord for marriage.  What a testimony to God's sovereign power!

"White Stuff" - Again!

I enjoyed a lovely, refreshing walk last night in 65 degree weather and had difficulty believing the weather report that snow was coming the next morning.  But this is the current view from my office window:

It is beautiful, though I confess I'd rather be seeing green right now rather than white.  But spring IS coming one of these days - and coming to stay!

Wisdom's Words: Strength in God

“To strengthen ourselves in God means we remind ourselves of what Scripture says about God and his promises, and we bring those truths to bear on the situation. Every trial causes opposing voices to ring in the ears of the children of God. One is the voice of our circumstances, telling us that our situation is hopeless. The other is the voice of faith, telling us that our God is sufficient for the trial.”

Wisdom's Words: Serving Christ

"We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: We should do much service and have much communion at the same time...See to it that sitting at the Savior's feet is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing Him service. The first thing for our soul's health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus and to see that the vital spirituality of our faith is maintained over and above everything else in the world."  (Charles Spurgeon)

Working Together

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all."

-1 Corinthians 12:4-6-

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"

-Psalm 133:1-

We just finished a week where the truths in the verses came alive in new and meaningful ways.  Our church hosted the annual Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery meetings February 27-March 1, 2014.  From meals to transportation to housing delegates in homes, it was encouraging to see the Body of Christ with varying strengths and gifts unite together and offer warm hospitality to all those who attended.

Our family volunteered to coordinate all the snacks and meals for the three days of meetings.  What a task that brought much joy and fellowship!  True, there was much labor involved, but the satisfaction of serving our teaching and ruling elders and seeing their needs met far outweighed the early mornings and late nights.

Preparation for all this actually began a month ahead of time.  Every Sunday afternoon, Mom, Kathy, and I would sit down with cups of tea in hand and go through our list of questions, make a new list of to-do's, hammer out menus and amounts, and finalize our shopping list.  It proved to be a fun family project!  And it was rewarding to see all the planning come to successful fruition under God's blessing last week.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mom and Kathy made the final food and supplies delivery to the church, and I helped them unload the van, organize the kitchen, and set up the dining room.  Here we are trying to figure out where to put everything.  Thankfully a system of organization quickly developed! 

We tried to add a feminine touch to each of the tables:

Our dinner on Thursday night consisted of a noodle casserole, salad, steamed carrots, homemade bread, and cake.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The mid-morning and afternoon snacks always looked so colorful and delicious.

Reinforcements arrived mid-morning on Friday with homemade Italian Vegetable soup and Caesar salad.  We are grateful to the Pokone family for preparing this meal for us and bringing along some extra help!  Here we are hard at work:

For the Friday evening meal, we arranged for a fresh set of workers to come throughout the afternoon and evening to help with setting the tables, preparing the dinner, and washing all the dishes afterwards.  

The menu:  roast, mashed potatoes (albeit a little burned... :/), salad, bread, green beans, and pie.  It all tasted wonderful!  Pat Turner's homemade pies were a particular hit with all.

Many hands made light work that evening.  Even with all the messy tables and dirty dishes, we made it home by 9:30pm.  

On Saturday morning, we prepared a light mid-morning snack and offered sack lunches at the conclusion of the meetings.  Here are the lunches ready to go:

Once the last person had eaten, we went about packing up leftover food, cleaning the kitchen, and loading up all our supplies.

What a full week!  Not to mention the regular office work, in the midst of all this, my office printer had to be repaired.  On Thursday afternoon, it looked like this:

And the parts were all over the table...

Thankfully God provided a competent repairman and I was still able to complete all the office work and print needed documents for the meetings.  It's ironic how things break down the times you need them the most...

It was a wonderful week of serving together with the Body of Christ.  God richly blessed our efforts, and we thank Him for all that was accomplished and for the memories that were built in His house.