The Stage Was Set

 We spent days setting up and prepping for Thanksgiving. There were more than 500 volunteers this year! That's a record.

 

 Our reception area - with coffee, tea and snacks. 

Plus a few areas with games and puzzles for the kids.

 

 

 

Our clothing bank. 

Everything throughout the entire day was free.

 

 Preparing the 'dining room' and the server stations

 

 

Then the stage was set and the guests were brought in.

 

This was taken at one of our outreaches before covid

The servers resetting the tables for the second seating

With all three seatings we served more than 1100 guests

 

Can you guess which one was the entertainer?

He's phenomenal! He goes by Chagy, (Shaggy) He's bilingual and does the show in both Spanish and English. At once! A sentence in one and then the other. And he doesn't skip a beat. He absolutely captivates the audience - they laugh and clap and cheer. I peeked in one time and every one was captivated! Every face looking at the stage. And best of all? He explains the gospel so well. More than 80 people gave their lives to the Lord!

 

We had our family Thanksgiving on Friday (forgot to take pictures) so I was up, put the turkey in the oven and got the house ready for Sharaya and Ally. After dinner we played Mexican Train and had lemon meringue pie for dessert. Then I was back at work on Saturday to help the custodians get the building ready for Sunday. Sunday of course was church and I taught my Sunday school class.

On Monday we got the day off so I was able to just relax. Stayed in my bathrobe the entire day. Took a shower... and put on clean pajamas. 😊 And watched one of my favorite movies of all time: The Little Drummer Boy. The old stop-motion version that came out in the 1960s. Every time I see it I'm taken back to my seven year old self sitting cross-legged on the living room floor completely mesmerized. 

When Aaron admits to the king that he doesn't have anything worthy to give the Baby Jesus, I can't help but feel the same way, and the tears come. Then he humbly chooses to give the only thing he knows, he plays his drum. As small and insignificant as Aaron thinks it is, that little baby, the Lord Jesus accepts it, and accepts Aaron.  ♫"And then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum..." Brings me to tears even now. We're all His children. He still accepts us today, still wants us to come to Him, still smiles at us. He is such a good and Holy God. 

We have so much to be thankful for.

  

Assaulted - One of the Hazards of His Job

Chuck came home from work early on Tuesday because he had been assaulted while on the bus!

 

 2019

 

 

He drives for Metro here in Seattle and he had pulled up to a bus stop where a guy was waiting to get on. He didn't stop to pay the fare, just went to the back of the bus and sat down. Chuck wondered if he had just stolen all the unbagged food he had in his arms.

 

Thankfully there wasn't anyone else on the bus.

 

He drove off to the next stop but the guy got up and yelled at him to pull over. Chuck pointed to the next stop and told him he'd pull over up there.

 

The guy crawled under the barrier at the front of the bus and punched him just above his right eye! 

 

He was able to pull over and open the doors and the guy took off. Chuck called his supervisor and a few minutes later a fire truck and aid car pulled up. They checked him out but he felt fine and didn't want to go to the hospital. He gave his supervisor a description of the guy. Plus, those buses have cameras everywhere so they'll have videos of him.

 

He's had a few close calls with riders but had never been physically hurt. Until now. He went to the doctor the next day and nothing is broken. They did tests on his eye as well and everything is okay. He took the rest of this week off and will go back on Monday. Halloween. He's going to wear his Seattle Kracken jersey, they're our hockey team. 😄

 

You can see the progression over the last few days. The huge bump above the eye on the day it happened. Then the swelling went down pretty quickly and the bruise appeared.

 

 

Thankfully he hasn't had any pain, although the area above the eye is pretty tender. I'm so grateful nothing was broken!

Lifeguard Rescue

We had been at the beach for a little while and Chuck and I were up on our 'spot' in the sand and our girls, plus The Cousins, their spouses and kids were all playing in the sand or out in the water.

The weather was gorgeous: blue skies, temps around 80 and the water wasn't as cold as we expected. It really was as close to perfect as you could get.

 

 

 

All of the sudden we heard the sound of the lifeguard jet ski as it splashed through the waves heading out to get someone. It happened a couple times while were there and just about everyone on the beach stops what they're doing and watches.

 

As we see it go close to a couple people Chuck asks, "Is that Sharaya?"  I asked him why he thought it would be her and he said it was about the same area where she and Jess had been before. (Jess is my nieces husband.) I stood up to get a better look. 

The person grabbed onto the board on the back of the jet ski and they started bringing them back in. Chuck says, "That really looks like Sharaya!" By now I recognize the black bathing suit and I'm walking faster to the area where they're bringing her closer to shore. I realize at that moment that the rest of our family has left the water and they're coming over too.

The lifeguard stops in about 2 feet of water and Sharaya gets off the board. It IS her!! I could just feel my heart pounding, I knew she was okay but oh my word!! We all gathered around her and just bombarded her with questions: "What happened?! Are you okay?! Did you motion for the lifeguard?!" "Did they just see you?!"

Looking back now I could tell she was absolutely exhausted and we should have let her get back to the sand and sit down but I think we were all just so concerned and scared!

She said that her and Jess had been out far enough that they couldn't touch the bottom and they just were treading water for a while. But then she started to get really tired and as hard as she tried to swim in, she wasn't going anywhere. She thought about trying to swim again when the lifeguard showed up. She figured she could make it on her own, but decided to go with him instead.

And we're so thankful she did!

Of course her cousins couldn't let it go by without getting in a few jabs, "Yeah Sharaya, we know. You just wanted to meet the lifeguard!" "Did you get his number?!"

I will forever be grateful to the lifeguards at La Jolla Shores for seeing my daughter way out there in the water, noticing she was getting tired, and keeping their eyes on her as she tried so hard to swim in to shore.

And especially to Lifeguard Tower 31 for getting on the jet ski to go get her.

 That day could have ended much differently but they saved her life and I will be forever grateful.

FREEEEDOOOOOMMM!!!!!

Okay, so this isn't as dramatic as Mel Gibson yelling it as William Wallace in Braveheart, but it is. somewhat. exciting. I am on day three of a two week vacation! We're not going anywhere so there are no suitcases to pack, no airlines to catch, no shuttles to take. The only thing I plan to do in the next two weeks is sleep in, read books, watch movies, play on the computer.

But day three.... and I'm sick. Very stuffy nose, puffy eyes, headache, sneezing. Yuck.

I guess I should be grateful -

I don't have toddlers to chase
I'm not losing pay over this
I'm not leaving my co-workers stranded
My kids are old enough to care for themselves
We have nice weather this week

So... yay me!
Thank you for allowing me this pity party. :)