The End of Summer

As I chopped potatoes for some yummy potato salad, I realized how quickly the summer has flown by and sadly the fresh tomatoes and other seasonal dishes will disappear.

Henry preaches at the Little Brown Church's Homecoming Sunday tomorrow.  This old family tradition of heading up Signal Mountain to worship with lots of cousins in the woods has taken on a sweetness now that I have lived in Tennessee longer than I lived in Minnesota.

Singing old time hymns together is a wonderful bonding experience, especially with the wooden chairs scraping backwards as everyone stands to belt out "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus".

How thankful both Henry and I are to have the simple testimony of parents who loved the Lord and taught it to us as young children!  In Miss Olive's three year old Sunday School department I learned to sing and believe "For God so loved the world that He sent is only Son..."

Thank you, Lord Jesus!

His Way is Perfect

Here's a comforting poem by an unknown author. My husband's partner's son had a very serious accident this past weekend. He is in our thoughts and prayers. So is my brother, who's birthday is today.

His Way is Perfect

I asked the LORD for quietness
The lightening flashed, the thunder roared,
The earthquake and the fire and threatening waves
Overwhelmed my soul.
And then, even in the center of the storm
He made a place of calm,
And in my heart there came a hush,
A stillness double sweet
Because the roar was still about
But could not touch me.

I asked the LORD for joy;
The treasures of my heart were swept away,
And sorrow followed woe
Till naught remained.
And then He came and filled my cup
With healing potions rare.
He touched my lips with heavenly song,
And comforted my soul.
He brought me to the banquet house -
His banner over me was love!

I had not known the LORD if joys on earth had stayed;
I had not seen Him as my All-in-All
Had He allowed my heart to rest in transient loves
That dimmed the vision of His face.
Through fire and pain He took the veil away -
And lo! He filled all things;
The fairest of ten thousand,
The Prince of Peace, the Life of God!
I had not known Him thus except through death.

"I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me...and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

The couple in the photo are Pat and Mary Jane, the parents of my dear friend Kathy Thomas who was killed in a car wreck almost 5 years ago. She is in heaven with Jesus and her husband Rock and son, Morgan. I loved her, and remember her encouragement to me when she would often remind me of her favorite verse in Isaiah 61:3..He gives us beauty from ashes.

20 Year Friendship

I had a surprise today that I can only describe by borrowing our pastor's favorite phrase," it blessed my socks off!!!"We received an invitation to hear a presentation about our friends' missionary trip to Iraq, which was very inspiring!  But I saw my old friend, Linda Crutcher walk in the back and we hugged for several minutes after the talk was over.  Someone was curious at our joy in seeing each other and Linda introduced me as Marcus's other mother.  Hard to believe it has been exactly 20 years since we placed the adorable black baby, Mark, (the name Tacy gave our 5 lb. baby)who had been a part of our family as our foster baby for 4 months in the arms of the Bethany social worker who presented him to the Crutcher family.  It was Labor Day weekend that he went home to his new adoptive home. We had so much catching up to do that we talked madly all through supper together. We laughed at the joy of seeing our two big "Bethany sons" all grown up and going to college.  I reminded Linda that she was the inspiration for us to adopt Eric, since she already had three kids and made room for one more and then we did the same thing the next year!

Our family at Palm Coast, Florida

Cousin reunions

Reconnecting with family is one of the distinct joys of summertime!
I had the opportunity to stay in my cousin's home in Minnesota this month and it was fun to catch up on the last year since we saw each other at a big cousin reunion in Monterrey, California last summer. I also spent time with my dear friends that are like family to me. We rented a vacation spot on Clark Lake in northern Minnesota.
Also in August was a reunion of our children plus one grandchild, Molly, with their cousins plus two other grandchildren of Henry's sister, Margaret as we gathered in Palm Coast, Florida to unwind and enjoy a time of relaxation together. Swimming in the ocean, sharing meals, playing games and laughing over two toddlers trying to stand upright after twirling madly is so delightful!
Henry and I especially enjoyed babysitting our granddaughter as she played in the sand.
A definite highlight was Sunday morning worship as we praised the Lord together in song while Evan led us on the guitar and could look out at the rolling sea.

"Here comes Jesus,see Him walking on the water,
He'll lift you up and help you to stand,
Here comes Jesus, He's the Master of the waves that roll,
He'll lift you up and make you whole."

Longtime Friendshps

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Proverbs 25:25
Thankful to have the resources to return to my childhood homeland in Minnesota, I was thrilled to join the celebration of a wedding shower for the future daughter-in-law of my dear friend, Barb.
My longtime friendships with a group of high school friends(who call themselves the O.M.'s) has blessed me with the richness of many extra "sisters" in my life and causes me to eagerly anticipate our yearly retreat together "up North" near to one of the famous 10,000 lakes.
This was an extra-special year because we not only celebrated our 60th birthdays by renting a beautiful vacation home on Clark Lake but we also rejoiced over the coming marriages of two of the offspring of our members.
And we relaxed, talked, cried,remembered, and laughed together as we have every year since we were 15 years old and starting Roosevelt High School. What an amazing blessing to have such devoted friends to journey through life together.

3 Phases of Faith

When trials come, as they do throughout our lives we can be comforted with the knowledge that the LORD is our Shepherd. (Psalm 23)

Our family has some intense struggles going on right now. 

 In my devotions from "Streams in the Desert"by Mrs. Charles Cowman there is a meditation on

 3 Phases of Faith.

1. Faith with a sign and feelings (like Gideon,(Judges 6)

2. Faith with the absence of feelings

3. Faith when we believe God and His Word even when circumstances, emotions and reason say 

     NO.

 (Acts 27:20 &25...all hope was gone. Yet Paul told the others..."Be of good cheer; for I believe GOD...")

Draw near to GOD, and He will draw near to you.

James 4:8