How Great Thou Art

It's been a good, but rather busy, weekend. I worked nights on Friday and Saturday and even though they were crazy-busy, everything got resolved by the time to go home and nothing major occured (at least not in my area...).

Yesterday (Sunday), I slept in til noon then got up and putzed (sp?) around the house. Mandy and Jorge phoned and it was good to talk to them. They were in Pichilemu but heading for Concepcion because Mandy has a doctor's appointment for today. They're going to call us either today or tomorrow to let us know how that went... Praying for you, Mandy. I finished up the scrapbook of her wedding and was able to tell her that. I'm so excited for her to see it but I think I just need to put it away and forget about it! I'm going to start, now, on my photos - only about 5 years behind! Actually, now that I think about it (horrors!), I think I'm 7 years behind because I believe I'm scrapbooking our trip to North Carolina for Bryan's 50th birthday. I believe what I'm going to do is just buy a few albums and stick the photos that I have in those, so that they are, at least, in order and viewable. Then maybe I won't feel so far behind. I have "events" to complete and that might be the best thing to do for them. Let's see...to mention a few: my trips to Bolivia and Chile, Kristy and Bob's wedding, our trip to Minnesota, Tanya's last 3 children (LOL!!). I feel so bad because I filled so many albums with Adriana (not to mention countless hours of video) and I have NONE of Erilyn!! I'm so sorry, Erie-bear. Sometime during those past years, though, we also switched to digital, so a lot of the photos I haven't even printed yet. And that's a good thing because, for some reason, I feel less guilty about a CD than I do an envelope of photos! I'll have to give this some thought (as you can tell...) and take it from there.

Anyway...back to yesterday. I also made (taa daa!) my first greeting card! No, I'm not going to get "into" cards but I've realized recently (when seeing girls at work making them) how much an extension of scrapbooking they really are. I've also realized that it's really, really easy to type up what you want to say, in a nice font, throw some fancy paper (like vellum) into your printer, and print off your sayings! Ha ha. Hmmmmm..... I can see my calligraphy going out the window... So, yes, I whipped up an anniversary card for the Rusts who were celebrating their 50th anniversary! I was really pleased with it and it only took me a couple of minutes!

We went to Rusty and Velma's party at the church yesterday afternoon from 3 - 6 p.m. and it was wonderful. We learned a lot about their family as, by the time we came to know them, only the last of their six children was still at home. All were able to come home for the celebration and that thrilled them, I'm sure. There was a short program where hymns were sung by quartets, people spoke and a slideshow was presented. We all joined into together on the singing of How Great Thou Art and it brought tears to my eyes - to see the glory and faithfulness of God in all of our lives. I'm particularly thankful for what He has done, and is doing, in the lives of our girls and their families. How great He truly is... For the girls, who know Velma and Rusty, I just want to mention a couple of things Rusty said, because you know him and his sense of humor. At the end, they stepped up to say a few words. Rusty picked up the mike and giving it to Velma, said, "Here, Mama, you talk and I'll agree." LOL! So Rusty-like!! Then, after she spoke, he did talk a bit. He was reminiscing about their 25th wedding anniversary that they had. He said he was talking to Pastor Runge (pastor at that time) who was asking him about his line of work (he was a fireman for 25 years). Pastor Runge said, "That's a dangerous line of work, isn't it?" Rusty agreed, and Pastor continued, "You must face danger almost every time you go out, don't you?" Again, Rusty agreed. Then Pastor asked, "What was the most dangerous thing you can ever remember doing?'' Without hesitation, Rusty answered, "Get married". Well, Pastor loved that, in fact so much so that, Rusty told us, he used it the next Sunday in his sermon! Rusty's comment? "Then I really learned what danger was...." ROTFLOL! What a silly man. And what a blessed couple they are. Do you know that Rusty has ushered for 51 years! And Velma has done nursery duty for 49 years?? She also taught Wee College for 25 years. What servants they are. We had a lot of fun visiting with friends who also attended and catching up on their news and sharing ours (about Kristy & Bob's trip, and Tanya & Tom's new little one!). After we left the church, we headed over to Cynthia and John's for a visit. I stopped in at Starbucks to pick up a gift card for Samantha who's turning 16 tomorrow!! Happy Birthday, Fa!!! We showed them our albums of Chile and then we played a game called Apples for Apples. It was interesting and we had fun. Bethany was my helper. We were there til about 10:15, then headed home.

We really slept in this morning as I was so surprised to see it was 9:47 when I woke up!!! Wow. I guess we must have needed the sleep. Oh, I forgot to mention about Kristy and Bob - they have news but I don't know if I can share, so you'll have to read her blog. Suffice to say, the Lord is working things out for them for their mission trip and we're excited with them. Back to us: we got up and had breakfast, as Floyd had certainly missed his weekly A & W with the seniors! Then Tan called and we chatted about her weekend retreat - sounds like she had a really good, relaxing time and I'm so thankful for that. She also mentioned a girl's name that came to her while she was away and I just love it!! She's already bonding with the name and I so am!! Soooo, let's hope it's one that Tom's okay with - LOL. If not, let me know soon, Tan, 'cause I'm already starting to use it!! LOL!!

After talking to Tanya, we both headed out into the back yard and Floyd got the fountains out. We're thinking it might be a little too early to put water in them yet. I weeded and took out the old dead plants out of the back fence flowerbed, the delphiniums and almost all of the bed that runs along the back of the house where the hollyhocks grow. That one was definitely the worst, as I haven't really got down into that one for a couple of years. The grass had taken over. I got most of it done and it looks good but needs some more dirt as it's one of those places where Madison digs whenever she's mad at us for leaving her home alone! LOL. What a dumb dog. Or maybe a smart dog. Too smart for her own good. But it was good to get back into the garden and I was pleased to see that a lot of my perennials survived the winter and are coming up. The soil was still really cold though, so I think it's too early to do much more than what I've already done. Mind you, we had snow...what?...two-three weeks ago?!! Sigh. Hopefully no more. As I was on my knees pulling grass, the Lord reminded me of how my life needs to be "weeded" on a regular basis as well. If I wait too long, the bad weeds (habits) have taken root and are much harder to get rid of. I love it when He speaks to me through nature and daily experiences. No wonder Jesus talked so much in parables...

Well, I should get off here and get busy doing something....not sure what. I've had enough of the garden for today and Floyd's gone off to do some work for somebody. I will either tackle and organize my photos or sort out the drawers of the dresser in my bedroom.... Hmmm...I think the photos are winning....