What I'm Thankful For

A group of ladies at church have been challenging everyone to count the many blessings God has given them. One gentleman said that he came up with more than 1700. Now, I don't have time to sit and write down everything that I'm thankful for, but I have been challenged to think outside of the box. Here are a few things that I've come up with besides my relationship with God, family, and friends.
* my dishwasher
* chemo drugs
* hair
* Walmart
* a job
* chapstick
* e-mail
* Christmas trees with built in lights
* coupons
* books
* campfires
* blueberries
* backrubs
* Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
What are some things you are thankful for??

A New Church Experience

Can you read what this says? Neither can I, but I saw a lot of this type of writing on Sunday. Jeff was invited to preach at a Vietnamese church in Des Moines on Sunday and Zach and I went with. This church is part of our C&MA Denomination. The people there were extremely gracious and loving.

During the Sunday School hour, the adults all gathered together and Jeff showed them a slide show of our church and our ministry in Boone. While Jeff spoke, everyone ate a traditional Vietnamese breakfast (a crusty hoagie roll filled with meat, shredded carrots and cabbage, and cilantro; a fruit cup; and clam chowder). Jeff then spoke during the church service.

This was a very interesting experience. The entire morning was spoken in the Vietnames language except when they were speaking to us (often through a young adult that knew fluent English). Probably 40% of the people spoke flawless English, 40% spoke broken English, and 20% do not speak any English. Both services had an interpreter so everyone could understand Jeff. Of course, we couldn't understand the first part of the church service. They sang hymns that I recognized (and the hymnal did have a few verses written in English so I was able to sing along). I think that the neatest thing was to see people very different from me worshipping the very same God. I guess we aren't really all that different after all!!

Feeding the Birds

While at my parents house in Michigan, I really enjoyed watching the birds eating at the bird feeders in their backyard. One morning I counted twelve different types of birds with in an hours time! It got me inspired.

So, last weekend, Jeff and I went to Wal-mart and bought several types of bird feeders and a pole to hang them on. They have been up for almost a week now and I've seen three different types of birds feeding from the feeders. The sparrows are our most frequent visitor, but I have also seen a black capped chickadee and a downey woodpecker. I'd love to hear your bird feeding tips if you have any!

Cookie Baking

The last couple of days has been cold and dreary here in Michigan. Sunday afternoon, my mom, sister Julie, and I decided to do some baking (after a much needed nap). We made some Lemon Bars and Cry-Baby Cookies. We packed some goodies up and sent them out to Josh at college and I have a container to take home to Zach. My dad insisted that he needed to taste-test the first cookie to make sure they were safe for us to eat!

Visiting Relatives (Dead Ones!!)

Tuesday morning I boarded a plane and flew to my parent's house in Michigan. One of the things that we like to do together is to work on genealogy. My parents have retired to the same area that all of my dad's ancestors are from. Since the last two days have been so warm and sunny, we decided to find the burial place of several of our decedents.

This is a picture of my dad and I in a cemetery near Hickory Corners, MI, about a half hour northeast of Kalamazoo. We are standing next to the grave of Francis and Jane Norwood. These people are my great, great, great, great grandparents. They were born in the 1700s! I'd love to know more about their lives.

Josh's Weekend Home

Josh came home late Friday night after his football game. I must say that he does pack his time at home quite full! I thought you might like to hear what all he did.

- Met with the Marines recruiter and parents to discuss future
- Visited with worship band at church
- Hung out with family
- Spent most of the afternoon with a "special" female friend
- Watched part of the Madrid High School football practice
- Ate a home-cooked meal of spaghetti with parents
- Helped put carpet down in a friend's dorm room, then hung out
- Caught up with church friends following service
- Went out to eat at Red Lobster with his family to celebrate mom's birthday
- Went shopping with mom for groceries for the dorm room
- Ate Mexican food with a friend on the way back to Crown

It was great having Josh home!