TAKE A MILE

You've heard the saying "give her an inch and she'll take a mile"? That's sort of how I felt on Saturday. The doctor gave me an inch and I took a mile and I paid for it. But I did get a lot of shopping done for VBS. Thank goodness for those painkillers.

Sammy and Lizzie came for a visit on Saturday evening. Pictures are posted on Facebook but here are a few favorites...

I went to church this morning but only for about an hour. I really needed to talk to some folks about VBS and Wednesday night. This week I plan to go back to work half-days. It'll be nice to be back and there is plenty to be done with VBS only 2 weeks away.

Kayla is helping with Sports Crusaders on Monday in East St. Louis so she came here from Bolivar to spend the night. It's always nice to have her visit. We decided to go to Ted Drewes for dinner. :-)

Pray for my week - lots to do but still need to "take it easy".

HALF RELEASE

OK, I'll admit that I was hoping the doctor would say "all is well... get back to work". Instead he said "all is looking well but you still need to take it easy for at least two more weeks." He asked about my energy level and I almost laughed, "what energy?" He said "you'd be amazed at how much energy it takes to heal from this kind of surgery." I'm convinced. However, I did manage to get some KidZone Worship and VBS work done before going for the other doctor's appointment. But that was thanks to Bug and Sam. They were a big help and didn't let me do too much. And then we had a nice lunch together at McAlister's.

Continue to pray for Masha. Her first final is Wednesday. I also talked to Sara today and she sounds great. She continues to pack and say her goodbyes. 4 days, 17 hours, 33 minutes... but who's counting.

Looking forward to Saturday... maybe another day with no rain?

FRUSTRATING DAY

I'm glad it's almost time for bed. It was a frustrating day for me. I think I'm at the end of my rope of staying in so it's a good thing I'm going for a post-op visit on Friday. Maybe... hopefully... the doctor will let me go back to work. It was one of those "nothing goes right" days as I tried to get some work done and didn't have everything that I needed. And I needed to complete a project and it wasn't going well either. But as often is the case, God sent a ray of sunshine. Justin and his mom dropped by with some fresh strawberries. They were already cleaned and cut up and ready to eat. And they were delicious! Thank you, Roni & Justin!!

Malikas and I played some gin rummy online this afternoon and that helped to forget about some things that were aggravating me... except that I'm behind on our bet 10-8.

I'm off to bed with hopes for a better day tomorrow.

VISION

The good part about about being confined to home for a couple of weeks is the time available to think about things. Things that are close to my heart but don't always get enough attention. While recuperating I read an article about the impact of a vision on one's ministry. So I began to think about the vision for our KidZone children's ministry. Do we have a vision? Do I have a vision but don't communicate it very well? How important is a vision? Andy Stanley, one of America's foremost church leaders, defines vision as "a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be." A vision could drive us to more and bigger things. But more importantly, what kind of impact would this vision have for our children's ministry if we embraced it and invested in it and thought about it's Kingdom impact? Even the Bible tells us that people without a vision will perish. How would we articulate this vision? How would we make sure that people would see it, experience it, understand it and invest in it? We want to have purpose... to focus on the future... to be invigorating. The article I read talked about having a brand. What is our brand? One way to get that across is through our website. We live in a media savvy culture so as we consider our vision, we need to decide how to make it clear. Is our vision as simple as the acrostic for HEART that we have on our children's wing wall and our brochure? It could be but what are we doing to focus on it?

Now you may be asking... who or what is this "we"? It will start with the leadership of our KidZone Ministry and that means our Children's Ministry Team. We will begin to focus on this aspect of our ministry. I will post this article on our website after we've done some redesigning of our page. I would love to have input from others even if you're not currently serving on CMT. There will be more about "vision" in the weeks to come.

LITTLE LUNCH GUESTS

The days are getting better... less pain... fewer naps... able to work. I spent the day on Boomerang Express, VBS 2009, except for lunch. At times, it was frustrating because I didn't have everything I needed at home and then it couldn't be found at church. No, I didn't go there... Dale tried to find things for me. Thankfully, Ken has what I need until I find mine so he was gracious enough to let me borrow it. Anyway, I made some good progress today.

Kristi was sweet and brought lunch today. She and the lovely Miss M, along with the funny Mr. C, stayed and had lunch with me. We had a good time!! Being the Moppy of a grandson, there were plenty of cars and balls to play with. Miss M enjoyed the very noisy dinosaur that Keith had brought to the hospital for the grandkids.

Charlie grilled a hot dog for dinner tonight. And for those of you who don't know him as well - that is a big deal. He HATES hot dogs. He could not understand how I could even want one but he put them together anyway - just for me. He's sweet that way!! Of course, now that he has won Miss M's contest, he might think he's the top dog! We watched Night at the Museum. I really didn't think I would enjoy it but Malikas suggested it and since there was nothing on TV tonight, we decided to give it a try. It was cute... and fun! Now I want to see Night at the Museum 2.

I can't believe it... 7 days 18 hours 41 minutes... and counting!!!

GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD FOOD

Painkillers are taking over so it's off to bed shortly. It's been a good day.

Two friends from church, Ginny and Susan, brought lunch today from Pastries of Denmark. I ate the salmon salad. Yummy! We had fun talking about our grandkids.

I spent the morning working on Sunday's KidZone Worship. I'm not sure yet if I'll make it but it's all worked out and assignments have been made in case I don't. Thank you Lord, for friends who have so willingly helped with chuch responsibilities.

Congratulations to the Feelers on the birth of their second child - Luke Douglas!!

Charlie went out and bought ice cream from Silky's. Chocolate almond concrete... my very favorite... so smooth... so creamy... so delicious. While he did that, I contined to root the Cardinals to another victory. Cards are in first place. Great pitching... and a homerun by Adam Wainwright. I can't wait to go to my first game of the season soon... a Mother's Day gift from Christopher.

Completed reading "Playing for Pizza" by John Grisham... prefer his legal thrillers but it was a pleasant read. I've read 2 fiction books this past week so now it's on to more serious material.

Pray for Sara as she enters her last week in Nigeria. She's anxious to be home... she's sad to be leaving her home of the past 2 1/2 years. Also pray for Masha as she studies for finals that start next week.

Sara: 7 days, 17 hours, 18 monutes...
VBS: 18 days, 18 hours, 50 minutes...
Masha: 22 days, 16 hours, 52 minutes...

MEMORIAL DAY

A yucky day if you one only thinks about the weather. If you are or ever were in any way connected with the military, it was a day of memories. If you are an American, it's a day of gratefulness for those who have fought for our freedom. I recently read about the beginnings of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is on the last Monday in May and honors those men and women who lost their lives serving their country. What we celebrate as Memorial Day today, began at the end of the Civil War. Family members of the many soldiers slain in battle would visit the grave sites of their fallen relatives or friends and decorate the graves with flowers.

On May 5, 1868, General John Logan proclaimed this day a holiday through his General Order No. 11. The day was entitled Decoration Day and was first observed on May 30, 1868. The northern states celebrated this day every year, but the southern states celebrated a day similar to this on a different day until sometime after World War I.

In 1882, the name Decoration day was changed to Memorial Day, and in 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday of May every year. Over the years it has come to serve as a day to remember all U.S. men and women killed or missing in action in all wars.

"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for their county, for us. All we can do is remember."
-- Ronald Wilson Reagan
Remarks at Veteran's Day ceremony, Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia, November 11, 1985

SUNDAY MORNING

I should be at church... I feel like something isn't quite right when I sit on my bed on a Sunday morning. I did watch a worship service from my sister's church. Her family attends Hilldale Baptist in Clarksville, TN. They include their entire service - music, too. It was nice. The service was a very worshipful blended service. I like the way transitions were made so smoothly and no time was spent on "extras", including annoucements. I guess they assume people can read. :-) I did not get to hear their pastor because they had a guest speaker so maybe another time. If you have to be home on a Sunday morning, they broadcast at 9 am and 10:30 am... www.hilldale.org. And in case you're wondering what kind of PBC supporter I am, I did try to listen to Pastor's sermon but nothing was being broadcast, according to my computer.

Charlie is home now and I can smell George's cowboy potatoes in the oven. Yummy!! I can't wait.

ACCUSED!

I think Charlie just accused me of going out while he was gone today... but I did not!! He picked up my bluetooth earpiece off the bed and wanted to know what it was. I told him. He asked how I got it. I told him it came today. He replied, "It CAME today? You didn't just GET it today." Yes, it came today. I would not risk getting caught going out... at least not quite yet.

Sammy, Lizzie and Jason came over tonight and shared dinner with me that Lydia and Sherry had brought this week. They were both scrumptious. We also have a dinner in the fridge from George but I didn't want to share so it'll be for Sunday dinner.

I'm very proud of myself for managing to get my email to work on my new iPhone... at least from my SBC account. The church account... now, that's another story... and not a pretty one at this point.

Have you read "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"? If not, you should. I can't get it off my mind. It's a short read and would be willing to lend my book to anyone who'd like to read it. Now I'm reading "fluff" as one of my friends calls it... "Playing for Pizza".

"Oh, wait... I need to give Moppy a kiss." :-) Music to my ears.

WEIRD NIGHT

It was a night of some weird dreams... well, maybe not weird but it certainly says what is on my mind recently.

We've been trying to decide if we need to change the room where we have KidZone worship because we will probably start to have more kids in a couple of weeks. So last night I dreamed that we could use the old fellowship hall - which doesn't exist anymore!!! So much for that idea. And then I dreamed that I brought a stack of work home because I was freaking out about VBS and KidZone worship. OK, that will probably come true if I can get Charlie to take me to church to get it all.

I can smell breakfast cooking... Ohhhhh... those pancakes. I'm telling you... CW's are the best in the world.

AND TODAY'S WINNER IS...

...ME!!! Malikas and I spent part of the morning playing gin rummy online. It was what I needed... made me not as antsy about getting out of the house. And it always helps to win. We actually have a wager going on. We'll keep track of the games between now and our trip to Branson. Loser has to buy dinner and jelly beans when we go to the Landing. Thus far, I'm up 4-1. Woo-hoo!!!

How 'bout those Cardinals? Sweeping the Cubs!!!! How sweet is that!!!!

I can't believe it is FINALLY Friday! I thought it was Friday 2 days ago... sloooooow week.

My kind friend, Chris K, dropped off the video this morning of our Awana Awards Night. He's such a servant... a great guy. Thanks, Chris!!

SMILE AND WAVE, BOYS!

Kids say the funniest things and my grandkids are no exception... actually, I think they say the very funniest of things. I had put this on my old blog on Monday but thought I'd add it here and give folks a few laughs.

Sammy is walking around the kitchen and family room - around and around in a circle - with no apparent purpose. Moppy: "Sammy, what are you doing?" Sammy: "Taking my head for a walk!" His mom told him not to ever go for a walk without it and he said "OK!"

Lizzie is finishing her dinner and says, "Masha is scared. Masha is a little bit scared." Why? "I don't know. Masha is a little bit scared." No idea where that came from. Malikas, why are you scared?

Sammy comes in with 2 little penguins. He walks over to me and shows the penguins to me... and then says "Just smile and wave, boys. Just smile and wave." Yep, we watched Madagascar last week.

A Lizzie story from a few weeks ago. Jenny tells her she can go shopping after dinner. As soon as the food is ready she climbs onto her chair and and eats very fast. Jenny says, "Lizzie, you must be so hungry. Do you want some more to eat?" Lizzie: "No, Mommy, I want to go shopping!" Watch out, Jason!!

On the phone with Masha, it's about 11:30 p.m. her time. The sun is still shining here and we haven't even had dinner yet. Sammy and I are on the phone with her. She tells us she's going to bed. Sammy wants to know why she's always going to bed... then calls her a "kaban!" He doesn't quite understand the time difference so it makes no sense to him that she goes to bed while the sun is shining.

NEW BLOG

My sweet little friend Miss M and her mom have inspired me. I didn't like my previous blog site and I did a terrible job of keeping up with it (and no guarantee this will be any better but I will try). I'm recuperating from surgery and needed something to occupy my time while sitting... which I'm already tired of doing. I'm supposed to "take it easy" for 2 weeks and it's only been 1. I could become quite a bear in the next week so watch out. "Take it easy" - what does that mean anyway? OK, yes, the doctor was a bit more specific but that's what my friends and family are telling me. I don't like to "take it easy"... and how does one do that when VBS is in 24 days, 6 hours, 35 minutes and counting?

And speaking of counting down... Sara arrives home in 13 days, 6 hours and 32 minutes...