God's perfect time to take Mom home to be with Him.

It was a Friday night in November. After battling the last three months and especially the emotional turmoil of the past week, I relinquished my bedside role to my sister and planned to sleep a little. I was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted when I went to bed, but knew that more of the same was to come. It wasn't over...yet. Just as I managed to fall asleep, I heard Dad awaken me saying, "I think it's time."

Yes, it was time. It wasn't my timing. This didn't fit into my plan. As a family we weren't ready for this. But it was God's perfect time. And as I was able to see my mother take that final breath and slip from this earthly world into eternity, I felt joy and sorrow all at once. Relief that the last several months were over. Sadness that Mom was physically no longer here.

It's times like those in losing a loved one that life seems bleak. That the world as you have known it is coming to an end. But think a minute from God's perspective. God brought us into this earth and He can take us away from it at any time. To us, with our human minds, death seems sad, sorrowful. The end of a life. There's a finality to it. But in God's eyes our life here on earth is just a moment...just a fraction of a second.

You see, death is part of God's plan. Our lives here on earth are temporary. What seems like a tragedy in death to us, is only glory and victory in the life of a believer. In James 4:14, God tells us that life is like a vapor that vanishes away..."Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

It was early Saturday morning now. After people had been coming and going for a couple hours, at 2 am, the final person left. I never will forget Dad closing the front door, then reaching for my sisters and myself and saying, "It's just the four of us now."

But then, through his own tears and breaking heart, Dad also said,"Just remember that our lives here on earth are temporary. Death is not the end. Our lives are like a flower that blooms and is here for a short season and then passes away. God will give us the strength to continue, to keep going on, even though Mom is no longer here. Our time is not up yet. God still has a purpose for us." As I was to find out in the months to come, He gives more abundantly than we can ever ask for or even hope to receive.

God has been so gracious and without His strength and encouragement I can't even begin to imagine what the last few years might have been like. He brought people into our lives just when we needed them. When the hard days and tough moments came, He was right there just waiting to provide exactly what we needed - whether a card in the mail, a hug from a friend or other believers to lift us up.

But keeping in mind the thought that we are here for a season, that our lives are like a flower that blooms and then fades, has been a true comfort. Realizing that God put us here for a purpose and once His purpose is finished, He'll take us home. Those simple words that Dad reminded us of that night did so much to help the grieving process. As a believer in Christ, I can't imagine anything more glorious than living for Him here on earth and sometime in the future receiving my heavenly reward!

Through Mom's death I've come to realize just how temporal my life is and to remember my goal and purpose in life - to serve Christ. To run the Christian race faithfully, serving Him in what He desires me to do. Who knows when God will take me away from this earth and will I be able to say I lived my life for Him?

As Paul says in II Timothy 4:7..."I have fought the fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith". That always refreshes me and challenges me to think and do those things that are eternal instead of focusing on the temporary things that really don't matter. Can I say like Paul at the end of my life, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith? While this verse is encouraging and challenging to me, it also brings back memories of Mom and the wonderful example of a wife and mother she tried to instill in my sisters and myself.

One thing I recall Dad saying so clearly after Mom died was, "God put her on earth to do what He wanted her to do and she has accomplished it. She finished the race. She ministered, encouraged, helped those to whom He desired her to and now she has her reward. She, like Paul, finished the course. She kept the faith."

Through the tough time of Mom's illness and death, God taught me so much! He taught me to lean and depend on Him more than ever! He reminded me to have heavenly mindset, to set my focus on things above, because things on this earth will vanish away! And He also challenged me through II Timothy 4:7, which is my true desire and hope - to fight the fight, to finish the course and most importantly...to keep the faith!

Don't you know you learn it all in preschool?!

In Sunday School this morning we were discussing thankfulness, drawing things that we are thankful for and then attaching those drawings with leaves to the trees we made.

As I was helping Rebekah draw, we had this conversation:

Rebekah asking me: How can you draw like that?
Felicity in her cute, "don't you know?" voice: Because she went to preschool!

And so I learned this morning that you learn EVERYTHING there is to know in preschool. :)

God's Word IS living and powerful!

Each Wednesday, it's such a delight to see kids trooping into the fellowship hall at church for a couple of hours. Our little group of two or three has grown to seven and then nine and hopefully more in the days ahead. What a blessing and encouragement that has been to Errin and I each week.

Since my sisters had been home over the weekend, I taught my quilt class in Dodge on Monday and ended up battling my machine again on Tuesday, I did not feel nearly as prepared to teach Wednesday afternoon as I normally am. That morning I quickly read over the story of Joseph, figuring out how I was going to weave in the theme of forgiveness before packing up my supplies for the afternoon and driving to the church.

After getting off to a late start, we had our snacks and I breathed a quick prayer asking the Lord to help me think and bring out the points I wanted to as I was teaching. I should realize by now that even when I'm the least prepared, God still uses what I say and works through me to reach the hearts of the kids listening. Two important things stood out as I was teaching that thrilled my heart! Here are some bits and pieces from the lesson of Joseph.

In my usual animated voice story-telling way, I started to talk about Joseph and that he had 11 brothers and was his father's favorite. But how his brothers hated him and were jealous of the beautiful coat of many colors that Jacob, their father, had given exclusively to Joseph.

As Joseph traveled to check on his brothers as per his father's request, his brothers saw him afar off and whispered among themselves trying to decide what to do about this brother that they hated. They decided that as soon as he arrived they would throw Joseph into a large pit in the ground so he could not get out and then take his coat of many colors, tear it and spread blood on it from an animal they killed.

At this point, I totally have their attention. I see all these pairs of eyes looking up at me and as I am talking about ripping Joseph's coat and the brother's telling their father of the "fate" of Joseph that they made up, Felicity (in kindergarten) all of a sudden puts her hands over her mouth and says, "Ohhh, that's lying."

To which I respond, "Yes, it is. And is that right or wrong? What is lying?" I still have that mental image in my head - she fully understood what they were doing and that is was wrong. Adorable and yet paying attention to what I was saying!

I finished teaching the story, ending where Joseph's brothers go to Egypt because of the famine and how Joseph forgave his brothers for what they had done to him many years before. And then Alex raises her hand and asks in a voice of awe, "How do you know all these stories?"

To which I said, "These are not just pretend stories, they are true. They really happened and they come from the Bible. Remember how we talked about that God's Word is true and that's how God teaches us and shows us what is right and wrong? Well, the story I just told you is in the Bible, every bit of it."

I turned my Bible to the book of Genesis, laid it in the middle of the table and showed them where the author talks about Joseph and the coat his father gave him. I started picking out verses and reading bits and pieces from the story such as Joseph's dreams he had and that he was sold as a slave to Egypt, going over again what I had previously told them.

Then in my scheduled mind, I am thinking we need to move on, so I started closing my Bible and Alex stops me and says, "No, keep reading. Read this part." They were excited about reading directly from God's Word! Their intent faces and interest was totally centered on listening to God's Word!

I usually have them look up a couple verses in the Bible and read them during the course of what I'm teaching, but just verbally tell them the story. But seeing their interest in actually reading the story and what happened from God's Word was such a thrill, I may have to do that again.

Is the Word of God living and powerful as stated in Hebrews? No doubt about it!

Hunched over the table, reading from God's Word.

See their interest?! So exciting and thrilling!
I love Alex's face in this one!

No matter what happens...

...God is sovereign and fully in control of each and every little thing. I know that, but to keep trusting that fact and not worrying about things has been easier said than done the last couple of months.

Yesterday afternoon I had the all-too-familiar-situation of having my embroidery machine turn off without success of turning back on...again. And then the same all-too-familiar-situation of packing it up, loading it in the car and taking it back to be repaired...again. The last two months I've dealt with this over and over again.

Needless to say my frustration level has gone from minor worry to major panic several times because I didn't have a machine to embroider or stitch what I needed to do...all with deadlines creeping closer and closer. It seems that one area of my machine would be fixed and then something else happens. Right when I seem to need it the most.

As I walked in the store, dragging my machine behind me, one of the ladies that works there said, "Well, at least you're still smiling."

Ummm, yes, I was smiling and at the same time thinking that looks can be deceiving. Can I honestly say that's the way I felt at that particular moment or that afternoon as I watched my machine turn off again? No, not really.

But when I'm at a total loss as what to do and not particularly liking the situation I am in, I know there is Someone to whom I can turn. Someone to whom I can pour out my thoughts, feelings and frustrations when everything seems to be going wrong. Someone to whom I can trust every single day even when I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything that is happening.

Taped to my computer screen is this little saying that reads, "Don't worry about tomorrow...God is already there!" He is! He created me and loves me! He's allowing these situations in my life to cause me to lean and depend on Him more and more.


When things like this happen that I have no control over, I have no choice but to fully rely on Him. Continually praying and asking Him to help me take one day at a time and quit worrying over tomorrow, the next day or next week. How privileged I am to have a great God who is in control of everything!!

Wonderful, Wacky, Wild Weekend (Ok, not too wild or wacky, but certainly wonderful!)

Ahhh....what could be better than a weekend spent with everyone home?! I've been totally excited (Dad has as well!) about Jena and Krissa coming home for a few days!

It all started with Jena driving home from OK City Thursday night. She worked Thursday, texted me during the day saying she might drive home after work. Uh, yeah. Work 12 hours, drive home to her apartment and then drive home to Kansas which is 5 hours?! Sure.

That's exactly what she did! She called around 9:30, said she was leaving and to leave the door unlocked and she would be home around 3:00. Thankfully she made it safely and about 3:15, I heard her come downstairs.

Krissa and one of her friends drove from Kentucky on Friday. They left at 4 am that morning and by the time they got here around 8:00 that evening, they were exhausted from the 15 hour drive! Such a long drive, but Krissa said they were about two hours from being here and she was itching to be back home!

It's been a while since all three of us have been together and we tend to get a little crazy when we are sleep deprived, exhausted and just excited about chatting and being together. We did a fairly good job at not being overly wacky this weekend, except for one exception.

Friday night, we spent a couple hours piled on the bed chatting and finally decided we better go to bed considering that we were cracking up with laughter at every single little thing that wasn't even funny. Laughing so hard to the crying point; you know, the uncontrollable laughs and giggles which make your eyes water and stomach hurt!

Ahhh.....good times! Fun memories! Moments to treasure! Nothing can take that away! :)

We spent the weekend talking, laughing, watching movies (yep, Andy Griffith Show included - a good funny Barney one!!), church Sunday morning, playing cards, watching football and catching up on all the news from Kansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma!

And now, today, everyone is gone. Back home. Back to work. Back to a quiet house. And together again - sometime soon!

Krissa and I

Typical "Kris talking on the phone" pic

Of course, the weekend included computer time! :)

Jena was trying to duck from this photo, but I managed to catch her with my camera - love this pic! Krissa brought home one of Kentucky's famous carbonated beverages - Ale-8, which are packaged in glass bottles.

We sit around with computers in our laps and Dad just flips open the newspaper! ;)

In one word: crazily busy (Ok, maybe two!)

Yes, that seems to be the defining two words for last week, this week and next week. All I can think of is getting this one thing done I'm working on and then moving onto the next. Crazily. Hectically. Late nightsly (ok, maybe that's not a word, but you get the idea.)

Last week and this week I've spent getting my online class lessons finished up. Since my machine has been seemingly crashing every computer board it runs on, it's been out of my possession for over a month, which has put me behind schedule. So last week was big time catch-up week. Thank goodness for a fabulous Bernina dealer and a loaner machine! Ahhh!

Saturday morning I had planned to attend Erinn's baby shower (friend from church) which I think I was there a total of about 5 minutes. As it turned out, we had a funeral dinner at church which I was asked to help serve, so I was busy with that. But I did get to sneak in on the shower a couple of times.

Kid's Klub has started and it's been a fun time! I know I really haven't posted anything yet on that, but I will once I get a chance. Since we've started a new program right after school with a new time frame, it's taking a while to gather a group of kids. We only had a couple the first few Wednesdays. But praise the Lord for a group of 7 kids last week! Erinn and I were thrilled and excited! Although that's been one more thing to cram into my already crazy week, it's always a fun couple of hours spent at church. And that time spent is of lasting eternal value.

Fall seems to have finally arrived! It's been cold here. Well, it feels cold to me anyway since it's been in the 60's. But we've had some cloudy and windy days which makes it seem even colder. Plus Dad started the fireplace last week, so that really makes it feel like winter. I guess capri and flip flop wearing weather is over....*sigh*

As for this week! Exciting news! Jena and Krissa are coming home for the weekend! Whoohoo!!! I'm excited!!! Krissa hasn't been home since March and it's always more of a challenge for her to come home since she's 15 hours away, but that's the plan. It will be fun to have a little more excitement in our house for a couple of days.

Although there are days that Scamper and Skittles have enough energy during the day and night to cause ALL kinds of excitement. The unwanted and frustrating kind. ;) Do you know what it's like having a cat trying to catch a fly at night, on the ceiling, right above your bed? Not pleasant!

But since my sisters are coming home, that means I probably should clean the schoolroom so there is more than just a one foot path to walk though all my SS and Kid's Klub stuff. And I'm sure they would like a room to sleep in, so that means moving my stuff off the bed. And in addition to that, it would be much easier to navigate downstairs without boxes at the bottom of the stairs, thread strewn all over the floor and the chaos of last week still evident.

They don't ask for much, huh? However, I'll gladly comply to have them home for a weekend!

24/7: My computer is always on and working!

Anyone who knows me has knowledge of my complete dependency on computers. Yes, I am rarely without one. In fact most of the time, I'm working on more than one; I've even been seen with up to four in front of me. But that isn't the point of this post. Most of you already know that.

My Dad for sure knows that. He sees me sitting at a desk in front of a computer just about every time he comes downstairs. Or sees me carrying around my laptop upstairs from the kitchen to the family room to the schoolroom. But that is not the true point of this post either.

The main fact here is that Dad knows how invaluable computers are to me, so nothing should really surprise him in that area. But I guess that's exactly what I did.

We were discussing how long it took to upload my class lessons every month and because this last one I taped was so long, how long it would take, etc, etc. So I told him that I have to start it, let it upload for a couple hours, check on it, start another, etc.

THEN, I proceeded to tell him how the best time to do it is at night. So I would start one when I went to bed about midnight. Then set my phone for 3 am, get up and check on it. If it isn't finished, I would set my phone and check it every hour until it was finished and then start the next one, etc, etc.

Well, after I said THAT, he looks at me with this unbelievable face and starts laughing. Well, chucking. Dad isn't one to really laugh (unlike us girls; I'm not sure where we got that from).

What's so funny or surprising about that? I've been getting up in the middle of the night to check my computer for months. Just like he gets up in the middle of the night to check on cows getting ready to calve. Only mine is much easier; I don't have to go out in freezing cold weather to check on my job-related, necessary uploading.

I guess I did surprise him with that bit of information. Maybe I'll just keep more details like that to myself in the future. :)

The official start of fall was last week...

...and now my Sunday School classroom looks a bit more in the fallish festive spirit!

One, two or maybe three ladybugs?

Ben, one of the boys in my Sunday School class, had a birthday last week and he was greatly excited by the fact that he is now 6 years old! So Sunday morning I brought cupcakes for his birthday!

Ladybugs just don't hang out in groups of one or two...

There's LOTS of them! :)

And then we had fun eating them and turning our tongues red and black. Maybe this was not such a good idea! :)


We also started decorating our books that we'll put all kinds of things in for this year - memory verses, Bible lessons, pictures...and whatever else I can think of!

Ben decorating his book.

Charlotte creating her book!

Ahhh...September!

September has to be one of my favorite months! (Although I'm sure it wasn't when I was in school!) Part of the reason I love this month is because it's my favorite season for decorating. Some of the fall decorations I put up are my favorites all year long!

I love the reds, browns and golds that blend together into luscious, rich colors. The leaves, the pumpkins, the hay-bales and all that goes with it. In addition to that, do you know how many beautiful fabrics are created in those colors tones?! Yep, I have a collection of them. I probably have more fall themed sewn somethings than I do Christmas.

But not only do I enjoy the fallish color theme that starts in September, but this month also holds so many, many memories.

Like corn harvest at "the farm". My sisters and I would get to spend a couple of days at our cousin's house while Dad helped Uncle Ron with corn harvest. Waving to Dad as he drove trucks in and out of the driveway while we jumped on the trampoline. Trying to find a way to surprise Mom for her birthday. Fun times!

And then there are the tougher ones that will never be forgotten. Like Mom slowly deteriorating more and more. Her brain tumor biopsy surgery. The darkest days spent in the hospital watching her condition worsen without any hope of recovery. The agonizing decisions we were required to make. Sad, but unforgettable times.

And what will September hold in the years to come? Don't have a clue! And I'm not sure I would want to know either!

Almost ready....for a fun year of Kid's Klub!!

The last couple of weeks I've been collecting, printing, cutting, planning, organizing, taping, etc., getting ready for another great year of Kid's Klub! It's just about here! Here's a sneak peek of our theme this Fall!

Color theme is purple; can you tell?? :)

BIG Bible, paperdoll people, stickers and smiley faces; now doesn't that sound like fun??!!

Scamper had to add her input (she tested everything out by playing with and sleeping on them). Cat approved! ;)

What happened this week?

Good question! Lots! August turned into September which has brought some cooler days than we've had in quite a while. Dad had the doors and windows open for a couple hours in the morning several days this week. The cooler weather has been nice after those hot summer days.

Plus Jena, Krissa and I have had several conference calls and skype meetings (still working on the skype thing - web cams have issues at times!) with each other and that's been a blast! The trying to get it all figured out has been just about as fun (there have been some not-so-fun-moments) as actually talking to one another. :)

Monday - the 31st. I spent the day getting last minute details uploading for my online classes. I started a second Latte Quilt class with over 100 students enrolled. I'm thrilled beyond thrilled! I can't believe all the interest in this quilt! Keeping up with two large classes in addition to everything else will be a challenge, but exciting!

Tuesday - The dentist. If there's one thing I hate doing, it's having dental work done and my mouth being numb. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. I went in with the thought of having only part of my mouth without feeling and ended up getting out of there with both my right and left sides of my face numb, even up to my nose and ear! My mouth still isn't quite back to normal almost a week later.

Wednesday - Sorting and organizing orders and inventory. With the start of a new class always brings an increase in orders, email and inventory. Which all has to be sorted, filed, packed and shipped. Some things I've just managed to get in and it ends up going right back out the door. Email can always be a challenge to stay on top of each day, but so far all has gone really smoothly!

Thursday - Planning future classes. My local quilt guild had their meeting that night and I had paperwork to plan, prepare and get ready for a couple local classes I am teaching there. It's been a while since I've taught a local demo class, so I'm looking forward to doing that in November and March.

Friday - Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Friday is my normal day for doing laundry and my weekly house cleaning chores, but for some reason I was on a cleaning spree. Much to my delight I got lots of it accomplished! More than I planned on getting done.

Saturday - Fall decorations! I took down all my patriotic stuff last week and had gotten a small start on fall. And then finished it today! Ahhh...my favorite season of the year! In between putting up leaves, wagons and pumpkins, I was also trying to help Jena recover her phone that died. But the decorations are up and at least now Jena has her old phone working so she's not totally without one.

Mmmmm...mmmm...good!

Two coconut cream pies + church dinner = NO LEFTOVERS!

That mischievous cat of mine!

I'm not sure I should leave Scamper alone with my machine while it's stitching! :)

My list for today

Today I decided it was time to get out of my sewing room/office for the majority of the day. I've spent countless hours and late nights getting class files and student files ready for my new class starting in September and I need a short break from it before I dive into class lessons next week. Plus I have a list of other things that need to be done.

Here's my list:

-- chicken noodles & mashed potatoes for lunch
-- prepare minutes steak & sauce for lunch tomorrow
-- chop up & freeze wal-nuts
-- chop up & freeze onions
-- bake sugar cookies for Sunday School tomorrow
-- cook chicken for next week

And then, depending on how my days goes, I may start taking down all the 4th of July decorations and put up some fall stuff. First I'm off to tackle a few emails this morning and then get started on my list...

This time it wasn't me that called home...

It was about 4:00 this afternoon when the phone rang and I picked it up seeing it was Dad calling...

Me: Hey, Dad!

Dad: Hey...I'm spraying Max's (one of our neighbors) field and I need you to come get me. (This isn't too uncommon since he usually asks me to come get him to move machinery or move to another field.)

Me: Ok...where are you at?

Dad: Well, I'm out in the middle of the field, but I'll walk up to the road so you'll know where I'm at. I hit a mud hole and I need the shovel in the back of my pickup.

Me: You mean you're stuck?

Dad: Uh...yeah, I'll have to dig out my sprayer. They must have gotten more rain here than we did.

Me: laughing, laughing, laughing

That's the first time that Dad has called home, saying he was stuck and needed someone to come get him. Usually it's one of us girls (although he's not driving to Kentucky or Oklahoma if Jena or Krissa call him now.) :)

Yep, the sprayer is out there in the middle of the field...stuck! See it way out there?

Dad headed back out with a shovel to start digging!

Lady had to come with me; anytime she spots Dad's black pickup, she's begging to jump in for a ride!

Just "nothing" and then a whole lot of something in one day!

I can't say I'm a fan of doing nothing, but it seems as though that is the only thing I've gotten accomplished this month. After the hustle and bustle of July, it seems as though my body is taking its own sweet time in recovering. My list of things to do hasn't decreased (although the first couple of weeks of August did slow down a little), but my energy level for doing it just disappeared. However, I'm optimistic - this is a new week! :)

Last Thursday I spent the day in Newton and Wichita. I met with Deb Gilmore, one of the ladies in my online quilt class to discuss fabric, quilts, etc. It was fun to get together and chat. We are planning some fun and new satin and fairy frost quilt blocks (with machine embroidery!), so I'm looking forward to inventing some new ideas.

Then I dropped by to see Sharon Regier and her family. Oh, what a time we had! Lauren, Clara, Luke and Nehemiah were so thrilled to see me; I'm not quite sure why - I just spent two weeks of camp with them in July! ;) We had a blast checking out how tall we were, riding bikes, playing games, eating lunch, planting soybeans and chatting so fast I could hardly tell what they were saying!

One of things I've laughed and laughed at is Luke! When I got there, he told me that every time he thinks about Clara going to school, he has a conniption (def: a fit of rage, hysteria, or alarm)! And any of you who've been to camp with 3 1/2 yr. old Luke would know exactly how he pronounces each word with his facial and hand expressions.

Apparently he's not too thrilled about his older sister, Clara, starting school this year. I'm not quite sure he even knows what the word means, but he sure can say it (if you listen close, you can understand what he's saying as well!) Fun times!!

Then I went on to Wichita to do some shopping and of course, I didn't have enough time to go everywhere I wanted to, but had a fun time shopping around. I did have several specific stores in mind to go to like Office Depot and Office Max looking for a letter file for my desk. Still have yet to find what I want.

I did manage to find a silver pair of dress shoes which I had been on the lookout for. And they were even on sale! Plus, I admit, I did find a pink pair as well which wasn't quite as much as a need, but....I have lots of pink clothes, so I'll put them to good use.

And then I went to Hancock Fabrics looking for several things. I started browsing the decorator fabrics looking for a gold/tan piece to blend with something I already have. And what did I immediately see? The perfect and most beautiful fabric for something that I didn't even have on my list to shop for! Of course! I did get 8 yards of it, but I haven't firmly planted in my mind what exactly I'm going to do with it, but I'm thinking about it....I know, like I need more fabric!

As far as the gold/tan piece...I found just what I needed except they did not have enough of it. So I was told to go to the west store and they would probably have the yardage I needed. Sure, I thought to myself, I can do that; it will be on my way out of town anyway. So I asked for the address and plugged that into my gps.

Uh...yeah...I spent the next hour driving around all over Wichita because that gps did not know where that store was. Really! Seriously!! It initially started taking me east, which I thought wasn't right, but trusted it. Umm...nope, that was the wrong thing to do! I never did find it, but after the three hour drive home thinking about it, I'm fairly sure I know where it is. And that was without the help of my gps. What did I buy that thing for anyway?? lol!!

The really sad part of that driving around for an hour happened on the way home. Right outside of Wichita, I stopped to get something to drink (that's the best place to stop for dt. mt. dew!) and looked at my gas tank. No problem; I knew I'd have enough gas to get home. I can always get to Wichita and back on only one tank of gas.

So I started on my journey, thinking about where that fabric store was, what I was going to use that new fabric I bought for, when I could come back since I still had things I needed, etc. I was talking to Krissa on the phone when I heard that familiar ring of an empty gas tank. Yeah, it's 10pm, I just passed the last town with a gas station, realized that I missed the turnoff for the shortcut home and just lost Krissa on the phone because my phone now said, "No Service".

Believe me, I turned everything off in my car that even might possibly use any gas - gps, radio, computer, air conditioner. Not only would I dread calling Dad to come get me for the fact that I ran out of gas, but not having the ability to do that at the touch of my fingertips, was not something I wanted to happen.

Thankfully I did make it to Dodge, filled up my car with gas and then when I called Krissa back, do you know what she did? She just laughed! All I told her was how would she like to be without gas, no cell phone, no computer, no gps, in the dark, at 10pm at night, on the side of the road? I wonder what really happens when your car runs out of gas? I'm not sure I want to know...

I made it home, unloaded my car, told Dad I still needed to go back to Wichita again, checked my email and went to bed. Next time, I think I might fill up with gas before I leave Wichita, just to be on the safe side! :)

"Normal" feels so nice!

Ahhh...what can I say? I think the return to a normal week is happening! As much as I loved everything I did in July, I must say having the beginning of a normal week is just so wonderful. Two weeks of CEF camp, one week of Vacation Bible School and then this last week of returning to work and getting caught up on classes, emails, orders, sewing, paperwork and taping made for a very full and exhausting month! But I'm not sure I would have changed one bit of it!

As I was cooking several things for one of our neighbors who passed away last Friday, I kept thinking to myself, "I am so ready for a normal week. Normal week as in my schedule of work, cooking, cleaning, laundry and such...back to normal."

And how wonderful it felt to actually be working in the kitchen again! Thankfully, as was my plan, I had plenty of food for the two weeks I was at camp, the week of vbs and my catch-up week of business work. I haven't done any cooking for a month! Well, unless you call fixing hamburger helper or baking a frozen pizza (I didn't even bake my homemade one...desperate times call for desperate measures!) or warming up leftovers "cooking".

Over the weekend I was able to fully unpack from camp and put away things from teaching at camp and vbs, which felt so wonderful! And Sunday as I was planning out my week, I thought to myself, "I think I can actually go to bed before midnight this week." How wonderful! Now...just getting my body to adjust to that! :)

Normal is wonderful! Oh...and my two cats agree with me! :)

Blast Off for Operation Space!

It's time to BLAST OFF!!!

Our week of VBS at church went wonderfully well! I have to admit, it was a busy week and after two weeks of camp plus this week of VBS, I was exhausted. But every night was fun and exciting! There were lots of people who put in countless hours and it was fun to see all the hours of work come together for the final event!

We had around 40 kids every night, which I was very happy with considering this is the first VBS in quite a while there. The first night we had 23 kindergartners trying to put together the Robo Robot craft in only 20 minutes. Just imagine 23 little hands trying to cover cereal boxes bodies, cardboard roll arms and index card feet with foil! Then add foam eyes, colored paper squares and silver chenille antennas. Yes, it was quite the evening Monday night!

Thankfully there were three of us working with crafts that night starting with the first group of the oldest kids. Our little group of four turned into about 18 by the time our last group, all 23 kindergartners, came trooping through. As I saw how much time these robots were taking to put together, I started recruiting more help, knowing that this last group would require the most attention. Anyone who passed by the craft tent was pressed into service! I mean anyone - even Pastor Kirk was in there helping wrap foil onto cereal boxes.

But with all the combined help of everyone, we made it successfully!! The kids had a marvelous time and it was fun to watch them play with their robots for the remainder of the evening. Worth every moment of panic! ;)

And then Tuesday night, one of the guys from church had this mischievous smile and told me that our group of kindergartners would be doubling tonight! To which I responded that if that happened I was putting him in charge of crafts that night! I admit, Monday night I was a little frazzled, but the other nights went very smoothly. And no, we did not have 50 kindergartners. :)

Here's a few pics from our week of VBS and you can see the full details here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117605&id=611533155&l=1b14b59540

It was so fun watching the little ones singing!

Bible reading clipboard!

Be sure to use lots of glue!

Making space rockets!

Enter into the spaceship tunnel...

...and out into space!

Counting pennies!

Our craft space turned out so neat, created with yards and yards of tulle!

Blast Off Into Space!

Return to Earth!

All ready for Monday night!

Isn't that spaceship just the coolest thing?! Our decorating team did such a great job!

CEF Camp 2009 Week 2

Week 2...what can I say? It should be fairly the same as week 1, but it is always so different! Different kids, different staff, totally different camp! I got home Friday evening and spent Saturday catching up on email, snail mail, orders and anything and everything else I had on my list and then headed back Sunday afternoon.

Much to my dismay I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat and cold. I was hoping this wouldn't happen until a week later as I knew I had another week of camp plus a week of VBS after that. So I downed just about any kind of pill that would keep my rose from running, suppress my cough, allow me to breath and keep me standing and still able to think. Just don't ask me how much I took of everything, because you honestly wouldn't want to know. Monday and Tuesday I was taking stuff every time I went upstairs to my room.

But I can really praise the Lord because I did make it through the week. I was able to do everything I needed to do, teach each morning, take photos during the day, do memory verse work with the kids, sing during singtime, etc. Wednesday morning I started losing my voice and by Thursday I was squeaking, but I tried (I'm not sure I succeeded, but I did try) saving my voice for Bible lesson and sing time. Do you know how difficult that is? Even when we said I Timothy 4:4-5; I lip synced the words. Perhaps a little deceitful?? But I didn't want to set a bad example for the kids by NOT saying it. :)

This week I again taught 1st-3rd grade and could have taken several of those kids home with me. One of the little girls, Gabbie, was just so cute with her little pigtails and a little homesick during the week. I tried spending some time with her and one of our take-your-mind-off-missing-mom-conversations was about switching siblings. You see, she had brothers and I have sisters, so we decided to make a switch, except we couldn't quite come to a conclusion on which ONES to switch. And then on Friday, Gabbie gave me hug before she left and said, "I think I want to keep ALL my brothers." So adorable!

And then another one of our get-your-mind-off-being-homesick-conversations was that I thought Gabbie was just tooo sweet! Every day I gave away a piece of candy in Bible class and I told Gabbie that she was just soooo sweet that she didn't need any more candy. So she continued to tell me all week that she was sweet, but that she wasn't too sweet yet! Too cute!

This week proved to be much hotter than week 1, but we were so thankful for cooler weather Thursday and Friday. There were several staff members (including Brian and Sharon) who unfortunately caught what I had, but we all did manage to make it through the week. I know there were several who were just exhausted after the week was over.

It was amazing to see God work in the lives of several kids this week. There were 3 kids in my Bible class who trusted Christ as Savior this week and so neat to see. That's always exciting and gives us as staff encouragement during the week.

I have to admit I missed my sister, Jena this week (just a little!) to take photos! Thankfully Bethanne (another one of the teachers) was able to take pics for me during the week (and a few others as well), but I did miss not being able to shove a camera into Jena's hand several times a day. I honestly considered not doing a slideshow this week (getting a couple more naps in and getting to bed earlier), but knew the kids would miss it. It's always such fun to hear their response on Friday to the pics that come up on the screen! I wouldn't want to miss that for the world!

By the end of the week I had over 700 photos and can only get in about 150 in the slideshow, so it's always a challenge trying to select which ones to put in. Here's a few and there's more here.

I love sing time! Camp is becoming technologically updated - sing time is now on powerpoint! lol!! One of these years my Bible lesson will be on powerpoint as well!! :) My computer and projector already make the journey to camp each year anyway!

Some people just had names....

...and others were dressed quite well!

This week we saved just over 200 people, therefore memorized that many verses! Great work by the kids!

I'm sitting at the little kids table with my computer and camera during evening snack time. I had such a fun time watching Luke and one of the campers talk about all kinds of things. And of course I started snapping pics. In this one Luke was talking about the snakes over at the treehouse and that snakes don't shiver (see him shivering??)! Too adorable!!

Nehemiah - such a sweetie!!

Jed had been sticking paper people on my back all week, so with the help of a couple of my campers from Bible class, we were able to get one stuck to his back for about 15 minutes before he knew it! :)

My Bible class of 19 kids!

Janet is so sweet!