Tragedy and Joy

Hey everyone,

May is about over and we're headed into June already. Does anyone else feel like this year is flying by? 

We live on a busy street and a couple weeks ago I had gone to bed around 10:00 when I heard a car fly by our house. The speed limit is 35 but sometimes people go so fast. I laid in bed calculating their speed 'They have to be going at least 60' when I heard 'Bam!!" I thought, 'Oh no! Please don't let that be from the car!' There's a very sharp turn a block or two from us and the street heads up a big hill. Then I heard, "Ka-boom!"

I flew out of bed, grabbed a sweatshirt and headed outside. Chuck had been watching TV but heard the sound too and was right behind me. By that time we could hear the sirens. From the sidewalk in front of our house we could see tons of flashing lights up the street. The article said the driver 'was traveling at an excessive speed.'

We learned the driver didn't survive and now there is a memorial at the corner where the car left the road. I don't think I will ever forget the sounds of that car that night. I keep thinking about that persons last thoughts as they lost control of the car, and about their family members receiving the news. It just breaks my heart. 

On to something a little lighter -

I was out watering the other night and happened to notice this on one of our evergreen trees -

I've been watering these trees for 25 years and this heart has just appeared in about the last 6 months. I just smiled thinking about how God's creation sings it's praises to Him. Isaiah 55:12 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace, the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." The Lord speaks to us through His word, through others, and through His creation. His love is like no other.

Beth had some lab work done recently. It showed she's slightly anemic so she's now taking iron a few times a week.

Before I got on here, I was going around closing the blinds and noticed a pink hue outside. Our house faces east so I headed to the backyard and sure enough, a gorgeous pink sky! The sunset was beautiful tonight.

And tomorrow... Diana and Peter fly in and we get to see these two!!

Not sure I'll get much sleep tonight! We saw them back in December but when they're this age it seems like forever. They'll be staying with us for a week so Sharaya and Ally will be over a lot, we bought a kids slide, kids patio chairs, lots of new toys, took some extra furniture to storage, our house looks very different than it did a couple weeks ago!  

There's going to be a lot going on at the end of next week too so I'm not sure when I'll be back on here. I'll try to log on and read posts when I can. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Test Results

Beth's results all came back normal - the monitor and the sonogram. We're so glad! We really believe it was just syncope, the exact same thing that happened to Chuck back in March. BP is usually low when you first wake up; hadn't had any water for many hours so was probably dehydrated, was exerting herself coming up the stairs; and it just... happened. The perfect storm so to speak. Plus she had a stomach ache so she was in pain. There haven't been any episodes since it happened. She hasn't even felt dizzy or light headed, thank you Lord!

 

Haven't taken many photos in the last week. We pulled out all the Christmas decorations and they're in the den now, just waiting to be unpacked. We hung Christmas lights outside, cleaned the house... including those little things, like the stainless steel electric tea pot. Now that the weather has gotten cold, I'm using it a lot more!

 

We're headed into the busiest week of the year at church. I don't expect I'll be on here much, if at all. On Thanksgiving Chuck, Beth, and I will be at church, then we're having our family Thanksgiving on Saturday. Peter will be cooking the turkey, then we're all providing the other parts of the meal. We're very traditional - stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, black olives, and rolls. We buy pumpkin and apple pies, and I make ice box pie. Then into the living room to watch Muppet Christmas Carol!

 

Have a great week and a blessed Thanksgiving!

 

Hearts, Shopping, and A Cute Little Car

 Beth had a sonogram today of her heart. I got off work early and when we got to the appointment we were ninth in line! The place was packed. But they got us in pretty quickly and Beth got up on the table. We noticed this one had an actual sheet / thin blanket on it! 

 

She laid down and the tech got to work. She had to move her a few times "because her lungs were getting in the way." Lots of measuring and beeping. She was so good with Beth, telling her exactly what she was going to do before she did it, and explaining why she was doing it. Beth was pretty surprised when the tech told her the sound she was hearing was her heart beat!

 

After her appointment we went to Michael's. Just needed some good old fashioned retail therapy! 

 

 Went directly to her favorite aisle in the whole store.

Looking... looking...

Found it! Crayola Washable Markers. 💖

 I saw this little car on the freeway the other day, I've never seen one before! It looks like a tiny minivan. Does anyone know what kind of car this is?

 

 We went to Molbaks Nursery over the weekend. They were all decorated for Christmas and it was so nice to walk through there. They had free hot chocolate and danishes, live music and the most beautiful displays! Put me in such a good mood and made me want to come home and decorate! We had a good weekend. Hope you did too.

Monitoring, Characters, Responsibility

 After Beth passed out a couple weeks ago her doctor wanted her to get a heart monitor. Wear the heart monitor for a week, then do an Echocardiogram. I would get the monitor at one doctor's office, then the echo would be done at a different office. They weren't able to find a date that worked so I told them I'd call them to set it up. Then I got sick.

 

Finally made the appointment and on Monday we went up to the doctor to get the monitor only to find out we were at the echo office. Thankfully they were able to get us in anyway and we walked out with her all hooked up. They're hoping these two procedures will give some idea as to why she passed out.

 

 Our church hosts a Trunk and Treat and we did our usual Winnie the Pooh theme. We had it on Saturday and this year I bought some fun stickers. They were a huge hit! Unfortunately I didn't get nearly enough. We had about 600 kids come through! It is so much fun, we look forward to it every year. "Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood!"

Have you voted yet? It seems each election becomes more important than the last. We sit down with Beth and explain a little about the issue and about each candidate. Sometimes she votes with us, sometimes against! We filled ours out and dropped them off a week early! Please vote.

Love in the Shadows

This has been one of the hardest, and most exhilarating two weeks I've had in a long time. This will be a short post but I wanted to get on here and let you know I'm still around.

This post will be about the exhilarating part ~

We hosted a pastors conference last week and I was on my feet non-stop for 3 days. Pastors came from all over the country to be fed spiritually, to be pampered and just have time to rest. We had over 500 pastors attend! It was powerful! 

We hosted a dinner for them the first night they arrived

 We served over 620 box lunches each day of the conference

(For the pastors and volunteers)

There were a lot of volunteers, they prayed throughout the day and worked so hard to make sure everything went smoothly.

The Sanctuary was full for every day and evening session

 

It was so good to be able to bless these hard working men and women. When we were setting up and preparing for it all, I was helping my team with the tables and chairs in the Commons (gym) and something happened that I have never seen before. I've attended this church for more than 30 years, have eaten a whole lot of food here but last week for the first time:

Love appeared in the shadows.

It was a sign to me that the Lord knew exactly what I needed at exactly the moment I needed it. More on that next time.