Monday, September 2, 2024

What We've Been Up To

August 31 was my moms birthday. It dawned on me recently that she's been gone for 19 years. Her birthday has been less significant as the years go by but for some reason this year I've been thinking about her a lot. It blew me away when I realized it's been nineteen years. I'm really missing her this year.
 
This was around 1978
 
 
Let's see, we've been to the dentist; did some grocery shopping; checked the mail; just basic day-to-day stuff ~
 



 Our church held it's annual water baptism service in the Puget Sound. I heard the water was 56 degrees! 😬 But we had 16 people get baptized! There's always a lot of people from the congregation that come out to cheer them on, it's such a joyous time!
 


 
Chuck, Beth and I went to see The Forge. Have you had a chance to see it yet? It's the story of a mom concerned about the path her young adult son is taking. It's about mentoring, and forgiveness and the power of prayer. It reminded me that every person has a story. It's really good. We all cried.



And, our church had a week of prayer and fasting. We had prayer meetings every morning and evening at 6AM and 6PM. We set up 100 chairs in the foyer and the very first morning they had to set up more. We ended up with 150-175 every single meeting! Morning and evening. That's never happened before. Usually it trickles off by the end of the week to just a handful of people but it didn't this time. (Chuck went to some of the mornings and all of the evenings. Beth and I didn't make it to any of the morning meetings. I knew I wouldn't make it the whole day if I did, so I just prayed at home.) This picture didn't capture everyone, there's more people to my right, a few more rows in the back, plus people in the stairwells to my left, it was so powerful!
 

Chuck and Beth both take meds that require food so it's difficult for them to fast food. Chuck suggested we have dinner at the kitchen table (we usually eat in the living room) while reading the prayer guide they gave us and praying over each item. Beth would read the prayer points out loud and then pray with us. (I'm glad I was able to sneak this picture. She was praying out loud when I took it.)
 

 I'm writing this on Labor Day. We slept in today, watched a movie, and just got to be lazy all day! I hope you had a relaxing day too.
 

7 comments:

Latane Barton said...

What a wonderful, blessed way to start the new month. We all should take the example.

Billie Jo said...

Our Labor Day was very much the same my friend. So wonderful to see so many prayer warriors! And please tell Beth I love her new hair!

ellen b. said...

Sweet photo of Beth. What a wonderful turnout for prayer! Glad you had a good day of rest on Labor day!

Barb said...

Hi Cindy~ The picture of, Beth praying is precious. My special needs granddaughter always wants to say the blessing on the food and any other time as well. We all love it, I feel like it really brings the Spirit to whatever we are doing. I feel like we all need to pray more, there are so many hard things in life right now, and we need to be diligent in prayer. What a wonderful turnout you had! Also the baptism! What a great experience to baptized in Puget Sound, and what a blessing in their lives! I love Beth's shirt! She looks so pretty in pink with the hearts... Adorable! I haven't heard of that movie! It looks really good - I may have to go! Have a great week! Hugs, Barb

Terri D said...

Lazy days are so good for us!! I loved seeing your photos today and reading about your last few days. How wonderful to have so many participating in your prayer & fasting services!! God is so good!!

Jeanie said...

Oh Cindy, I know exactly what you mean about your mom's birthday. I get the same feelings (and it has been much longer). And cheers to lazy days -- we all need them.

onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com said...

That Beth makes me smile. Please reach over and put a kiss on her cheek for me.

What a wonderful turnout for the icy baptism. Our pool water is often around 80* even in the summer, and that is pretty cool. Can't imagine braving colder weather.

Thank you for the recommendation of The Forge. I have broken my foot and can't do the things we usually enjoy on the weekends. Maybe I can manage a move with a reclining chair so I can keep my foot elevated.