Isn't God good?

Happy Birthday, Jim. ... Isn't God good to keep giving us more time to serve Him? Our days at {your home church} are the "stand-out days" of serving the Lord - like "home." I'm sure you are serving the Lord as you have always done. God bless you, your family, and your continued service.

So read a message on Facebook at the time of Jim's birthday. 

I love his former pastor's wife's attitude, as she is in her 90s! Her mission on earth is to keep serving her Lord! 

And I love her confidence that that would be Jim's mission as well. 

May it be true of all of us!

Joys of biographies

One of the joys of reading biographies or listening to testimonies is learning how the Lord leads people through unique circumstances. 

One of my earliest blog posts mentioned an incident in J.I. Packer's life that providentially led to his going down the path of academia. 

Recently I listened to a 2-hour podcast interview with Wayne Grudem.  (I have linked the video below. I listened to the audio on Spotify. Find it on any podcast platform.)

As you can imagine, it's a fascinating interview, more like a conversation really. I was especially interested in the story of how he moved from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to Phoenix Seminary. 

His wife had lingering health issues from a car accident. The cold & humidity of Chicago made it worse, but when they visited Arizona she was fine. On their second visit, he told her that he would move anywhere for her health, but that he's not an electrician or plumber. He can't just find a job anywhere. He said, "I'm a theologian, and there's no seminary in Phoenix." A few days later, she showed him in the yellow pages that there was in fact a seminary, so they drove over and introduced themselves, and "the fledgling seminary found a place for me." 

How has God led you uniquely through circumstances?

The first one that comes to my mind in my life is the fact that a certain couple moved to our hometown and then were very involved in my childhood church for 3-4 years (?). That period of time "just so happened" to overlap with the time that his brother's family was headed to the mission field in Japan, and the time when they were looking for someone to come for a year to help homeschool their children, and the time when I graduated from high school, and could go.   How very different the path of my life could have been. 

My favorite "national holiday"

Every spring my sister-in-law and I usually go garage-saling in a certain small town about 15-20 minutes away. 68 garage sales in a town of 2300 people! My family has many useful items in our home which I have purchased over the years from those townwide garage sales. One year we ran into her friend who had taken a day off work, claiming it's a "national holiday!"

When you have babies and toddlers, garage sales are the best. And you buy things you didn't even know you "needed." Books, toys, puzzles, snow suits, and more, so much more!  Now, we're more in the purging era, and tweens and pre-tweens don't grow as quickly as newborns.

Now I try to have a list and I pray. In fact, the morning of the townwides, when Jim asked us each what our prayer request was, I said, "That I'll find things we need at the garage sale - shoes & jeans for BK, a bicycle for LM, and work clothes for Jim." When I picked LM up from school her first (& very enthusiastic) words were, "Did you find a bike for me?" Alas, no.

But I did (amazingly) find jeans for BK!!

Last year I only found one pair of jeans for him. American Eagle Outfitters. And they were marked $10. I hesitated, but they have been his only pair of jeans this past year.  He is definitely at the age where it's tough to find any clothes at garage sales.  But! But the Lord provided 3 or 4 pairs of the same style jeans (at $3 to $5/each!!).  

You can see all my finds below ...

• 2 pairs of shoes for BK
• 1 pair of shoes for LM
• jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and two long-sleeve shirts for BK (all good quality)
• 5 pair of work pants for Jim (Haggar $2/each; nice enough he could wear to church if he preferred)
• several nice shirts for BK & Jim
• new with tags Eddie Bauer wind jacket & fleece for LM to grow into
• a puzzle for Grandpa
• a Tervis cup
• a gluten-free cookbook (it may end up in the donate pile, but for $1 it's worth it)
• roll-up crayon pouch for LM's church bag
• a garden flag

• two clipboards for the van bag to replace ones that have broken on road trips
• Usborne telling time flashcards
• a desk organizer
• a fun sweatshirt for LM
• a nice fleece for BK

and some fun purchases for Mom: 

• some Rae Dunn items (mug, Christmas candle for my windowsill, and a "Blessed" pillow cover for fall)
• a Kate Spade purse (for $15) - that had been on my Christmas list last year, and I had suggested Jim look at Clothes Mentor, but when I looked, the prices were too high for me to swallow
• a Vera Bradley backpack-style purse  

Oh, and a half-empty can of Bar Keepers Friend. I have one in my Walmart cart, but they were giving half-empty cleaning products away at an estate sale. The Lord provides!

All in all, I am very pleased with this year's "national holiday!" To be able to outfit my children and husband for such little money, and also to get some extras (that will add beauty to our life) for pennies on the dollar is such a generous gift from our loving Father.

Have you been garage-saling this spring? 

Cousins

How many cousins do you have? I have fourteen. (Interestingly Jim does, too.) 

Jim's family had very specific times each year when they saw their cousins. In addition he went to church with five or six of them. And even rode to church with two of them! 

I saw my cousins more organically, but it was always exciting to see them!

One winter during college, two of my adult cousins came to visit. One was traveling through with his wife and infant son. We ate at Burger King or Arby's and then walked around campus. Another was an alum, and coming back to visit with his fiancee. I had probably only seen him two or three times in my life. But he called and said they would like to take my roommate and me out to dinner at a locally famous place. 

Both visits were the best!! Around that time I read an article in Reader's Digest about cousins, and I realized that those two visits represented the first time I had interacted with those cousins as an adult and without my (or our) parents around. 

Of course, I have lived decades since that winter, and I have enjoyed countless occasions with my cousins (individually & in groups) in various places around the world! 

I thank God for my cousins!

Easters I have known

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

::Repost::

I remember jelly beans, dying eggs, and (real) egg hunts in the front yard.

I remember sunrise service (indoors) and mouthwatering breakfasts in the church basement.

I remember the same Easter baskets that appeared each year, along with visits from "Aunt" M.

I remember my gap year in Japan - the all-day celebration at church, including my first time eating raw fish.

I remember college - one year visiting friends in Maryland, one year being included in my roommate's invitation to a family from her church.

I remember Fiji - my first hot cross buns and the ladies fanning the flies away from the food on outdoor tables.

I remember early morning prayer every day of Holy Week in Japan.

I remember singing, "When I Survey" a capella in Japanese with just a few others on those early mornings.

I remember sitting in a park after early morning prayer, before catching the train, and a cherry blossom fluttered down and landed in my pocket Bible (where it stayed for many years).

I remember teaching English class in the "cry room" while morning Good Friday service was held in the sanctuary, explaining why we call it "good," and fighting back tears as I saw a friend who had just delivered (and buried) her dead baby sit in the back of the sanctuary.

I remember how very special the communion service was at those Good Friday services in my church in Japan.

I remember year upon year and decade upon decade of remembering the cross, my Savior's sacrifice, and His victory over sin and death.

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Counting Redbud

Even in my first month of blogging while staying in a small village on the northern island of Japan, I blogged about redbud! 

In my childhood I never would have considered counting redbud!

But I do so now on my way to & from school each morning & afternoon. I know where the three (count them) redbud trees are on my route through our village. 

And when I took LM to tutoring Wednesday afternoon, I noticed that a house on her tutor's street has three redbud at the corner of their driveway. And then I noted with some jealousy that there is a veritable grove of redbud in their backyard. And then I counted three more trees as I left that village. 

In my childhood, redbud (& dogwood) just dotted the woods on the hills across the road from our house and behind our church.  

Last week as we drove on the interstate through Kentucky, I kept exclaiming, "Redbud!" There were more than I could count (that's the way I like them) along the interstate.  I said to Jim, "You probably don't know what it does to my heart to see redbud." No, he doesn't. :) 

Have you seen redbud this spring?

 

Bus Line

At 3 PM on Mondays this semester, you can find LM & me at the university speech clinic.  The building is also the lab school. And the entrance to the speech clinic is also the entrance (& exit) to the preschool wing for kiddos with hearing &/or vision loss.  

The preschool serves over 30 school districts in 4+ counties.

As we arrive to enter the speech clinic parking lot, we have to pass the long line of moms in car line, as school is about to be dismissed.  I'm thankful for the little pink parking tag I have that gets me into a coveted parking spot on the university campus! 

We must have been a few minutes early one day, because the bus lane was full!  I saw four school districts represented on the buses that were there at that moment.  

My heart was full of emotion!! I remembered the day BK & I toured that preschool and realized it wouldn't meet his needs. I was overwhelmed (yet again) with thanksgiving that he was able to attend the private preschool for deaf & hard of hearing kiddos.  I prayed that the kiddos going there now will have their needs met.  I remembered sitting in car line at his preschool, and was filled with thankfulness again that my friend drove carpool most days. 

Side note: Whenever I get in our van, and push "Maps," the first option that comes up for me is the gas station 28 miles away where we met for carpool!!  And the second option that comes up is the school he attended 68 miles away starting at 3 1/2 years old!! All these years later, those are still my phone's top two default destinations!

Two years ago

I wrote this two years ago. Praise the Lord for answered prayer! It was indeed the very expensive & very scary med that my body needed and that the Lord mercifully used to bring relief and eventually to stop my disease from spreading.

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On our way home from Northwestern. 

Had tickets for Amtrak. They canceled trains. Jim drove. We celebrated my birthday with lunch together in a nice restaurant in the hospital lobby. :)

Kids were going to ride the bus after school to grandparents’. But school was closed due to dangerous windchill. Remote learning day. 

I did half of LM’s work with her yesterday afternoon. This morning they went to the farm and my sister-in-law helped with schoolwork. Then she took them to Grandma's for lunch and the afternoon. Now Grandma has them in another town for Upward. Cheer practice 4:30-5:30, McDonald’s, and then basketball practice 6:30-7:30. It takes a village!

Good appointment. Switching to a different med (5th one) - XELJANZ. (Causes shingles.) Doctor says my diseases are aggressive. Not the most aggressive she’s seen but the others have responded to treatment.

Praying the Lord causes this one to work… and not cause shingles. 

I have to stop all but prednisone for a week before starting the new one. 

Also I have a cough, and she’d like me to be better before starting Xeljanz. It of course is an immune suppressant. 

I have an appointment to see immunologist tomorrow about cough and lungs. 

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Praise God with us!

Her First Christmas

:: from the archives ::

She leads a full and active life. Her children are grown. Her husband is nearing retirement. But this year she celebrated her first Christmas ... her first Christmas as one who believes that the Babe in the manger is the Christ, the Savior --- her Savior!

After 16 years in Bible study, this year the light came on, her heart was softened and broken, and she began to worship Christ. At the candlelight service on Christmas Eve, eleven days after her baptism, she was glowing. She opened her Bible and read for me Jesus' words which were the ones that gave her peace in her heart.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

This is Christmas. Christ made himself nothing so that we can pass from death to life.

And this is life between the first coming and second coming. One by one, knees are bowing and tongues are confessing.

Testimonies like this keep us going, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

By prayer

I've said multiple times that the Lord gave many helpers and many pray-ers for the dissolution of my great-grandparents' farm & house. And that is true. 

On one day during one of my visits to Tennessee in 2024, I had multiple appointments around the dining room table at my parents' house. 

The first appointment went okay, but afterward I told my cousin (or Jim, depending on which week it was), "I'm going to start the next meeting in prayer." 

And I did! 

The auctioneer (former lieutenant governor) arrived, we sat down, and we had small talk about his memories of my parents through the years. Then as the conversation started to segue into the purpose of the visit, I interjected, "I just told so-and-so that I was going to start the next meeting in prayer. Do you mind?" Of course he didn't.

On the day of the auction, when we talked afterward, I said, "Many people have been praying," and he said, "Don't stop now." (He later said that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But, God!!)

For over a year, my interactions with him were mainly over the phone until about six months after the auction when we were back in Tennessee. He arranged to visit with Mom while I was there, and I was sure to let him know that the auction was bathed in prayer!  In addition to family, the local church also prayed for the auction from the pulpit for months (and no doubt members did so daily).

We're thankful the Lord answered by granting favor. 

Amen!

Saints before the altar bending

This was one of the hymns we sang Sunday. 

The line "Saints, before the altar bending," left me in tears, as I thought of two dear saints who went to heaven last week, one on Friday night and one on Saturday night. 

Long imprisoned by their failing bodies, they have total mobility now and are "saints, before the altar bending."  

1. Angels from the realms of glory,
   Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
   Ye who sang creation’s story
   Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
   • Refrain:
     Come and worship, come and worship,
     Worship Christ, the newborn King.
2. Shepherds, in the field abiding,
   Watching o’er your flocks by night,
   God with us is now residing;
   Yonder shines the infant light:
3. Sages, leave your contemplations,
   Brighter visions beam afar;
   Seek the great Desire of nations;
   Ye have seen His natal star.
4. Saints, before the altar bending,
   Watching long in hope and fear;
   Suddenly the Lord, descending,
   In His temple shall appear.
5. Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
   Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
   Justice now revokes the sentence,
   Mercy calls you; break your chains.
6. Though an Infant now we view Him,
   He shall fill His Father’s throne,
   Gather all the nations to Him;
   Every knee shall then bow down:
7. All creation, join in praising
   God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
   Evermore your voices raising
   To th’eternal Three in One.

One year

It has been a year since the farm auction in Tennessee.  The auctioneer said, "From the survey to the title, nothing has been simple." Praise God it is all finished!

I'm still a jumble of mixed emotions. And to be honest, my emotions are more jumbled now, possibly because it's final, or possibly because I had to focus like a laser beam to do the work last year, and now I can finally process.  

Text conversation ~ 

Friend: "Seems longer than a year in some ways when you were working on that project."

Me: "It's definitely one of those situations where you look back and wonder how you ever did it and the only answer is the Lord's enabling and lots of prayer." 

Friend: "Totally agree."

I found this on my computer recently, and thought it was worth preserving in my memories...

{written in October 2024, after I had flown to Tennessee, leaving the children with their grandparents, while Jim harvested}

Dear friends, 

We ALL were upheld by prayer last week. Thank you for praying!

BK & LM had a great week!  BK was a great help at their 94 & 84 year old grandparents', and got up without complaining at 5 AM Saturday for his swim meet, where he swam fast!  (He kept track and told me he rode in 6 different vehicles getting to & from his activities last week.) LM seems so much more mature & independent.   

I haven’t seen their grandparents yet. I imagine they are beyond exhausted!

Jim had a safe week of harvest, and we are all glad to be back together again as a family.

My first flight on the way to TN was greatly delayed, and I almost missed my (rescheduled) later connecting flight. One asthma attack later, I was on board just before the door closed, and I landed in TN at midnight Monday.  I really wanted to wake up Tuesday in TN to start working!

My cousin and I really sensed the Lord going before us in all we needed to do during our 4 days of working. We weren’t sure we would finish, but we did!! (Spoiler alert - I boxed up the last three boxes of archives, put them in a closet, and will bring them home at Thanksgiving to go through later.)

Answers to prayer:

* we finished!!!

* in the last box in the last closet, we found the things my mom had asked for from the house! 

* the antique company decided to do the private invitation-only estate sale (we were not sure until Friday noon that they were going to do so)

* a family friend came for three days to clean the house (my mom hadn’t been upstairs in recent years)

* the three of us worked together really well & enjoyed fellowship over lunch

* other friends brought us meals, took items to the UPS store to ship to cousins, took used clothing to be donated, took durable medical goods to a group that lends them out, etc.! 

* the Lord directed my steps (though really interesting ways) to three new archivists, and boxes of papers and books were able to go to places where they will be appreciated

* my mom came to see the “staged” house, and seemed okay with it. (She just wanted to sit on the porch swing one last time, which we helped her do.)

* I got more sleep than the previous visits!

* despite my loss of range of motion in my ankles (and pain from Achilles tendonitis), I got almost my double average number of steps every day with NO pain, and as soon as we were finished I was in pain again. God did a miracle!

* we found more treasures, including a prayer written by my father’s mother’s father (about whose spiritual life I did not know anything).

Every muscle in my body aches, and I assume it will take weeks to recover, but I want to give thanks in the congregation that the Lord helped us tremendously last week.  Thank you for being part of that through your prayers!

Now we pray for success of the private estate sale, safety at Thanksgiving when we empty the attic & cellar contents into dumpsters, and the Lord’s will in the farm auction on December 14th (specifically that the new owners will be good neighbors to those in the community). 

We are the recipients of much prayer, and we are thankful.

Love,

J~

This Day in History

Our adult Sunday School class leader opens the class each week with a few items from "This Day in History."  Last week, on December 7th, you can imagine the first item on his list - Pearl Harbor. 

And yet!! Our God is the God of history. And He is the God of redemption! 

Mitsuo Fuchida led the air raid on Pearl Harbor.  And yet!!  We will spend eternity together worshiping Jesus! Moody Church website has a testimony he wrote one month after his salvation. (Here.) Google can also lead you to much more of his story. 

I recently re-read Sensei: The Life Story of Irene Webster Smith, and was amazed again at the power of God to salvation, as she visited the prison where Japanese war criminals were held, and one by one, shared the Gospel and saw them repent & believe. 

And of Louis Zamperini of Unbroken fame, it is written: 

Four years after his conversion, Zamperini returned to Japan and visited Sugamo Prison, where most of his torturers were incarcerated. Looking at the crowd of prisoners, he recognized these men. He ran to them and threw his arms around them, expressed his forgiveness, and shared with them the good news of Jesus.

...

Sadly, most of the guards withdrew from him because they couldn’t comprehend his forgiveness. But when he preached the gospel to them, all but one made a profession of faith in Jesus that day.

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now you know the rest of the story."

But, there's so much we still don't know. And I'd rather know the LORD of history than know the rest of the story. In heaven we will know, but even there, I believe we will care more about our Lord and giving Him all the praise and worship.  

Until then, let us pray fervently for His ongoing work of redemption, that we may meet at the Throne not only with Fuchida and so many of the war criminals, but with myriads more who do not yet know the Savior! 

Thankful!!!

Last week in prayer meeting, I gave thanks in the congregation for three big answers to prayer this past year - my disease (eosinophilic fasciitis) has stopped progressing, LM is learning to read, and the sale of my parents' farm went smoothly. Each! one! of! those! is! a! miracle! 

As recently as April, a friend came to clean out my fridge because bending has been the hardest thing these past 4+ years.  But last week, I got down on the floor on my hands and knees to clean some spots on the carpet! And when our pastor asked "those who are able" to kneel Sunday to pray, I was able!! {And I wasn't able the last time he had asked ... 4-6 months ago.} My mobility continues to improve day by day! 

I went back and found what I have blogged about my health. It's still hard to believe that it has stopped progressing! (We continue to pray that the symptoms resolve, and until then, I will be taking prednisone - daily for 4+ years now - in addition to two other meds which I don't even look up to see all the FDA warnings.)

In a FB group for the disease, someone recently said that she has had it 35 years, but it has only been active for about 5 of those years. Her most recent flare was triggered by stress.  I don't want to live the rest of my life holding my breath that it might flare again. For this we have Jesus ... to both live fully without constant worrying and also to cling to Him if it does flare. 

Give thanks to the Lord with us!! And if you have prayed, thank you!!

Health Update, October 2021 {includes links to 11 blog posts that reference the beginning of this particular health journey}

Thankful ~ a specialist, June 2022

June 5, 2023 blog post:

Good appointment with my rheumatologist.  She referred to the disease as being angry.  (I concur.) She wants me to have 12 weeks on my new shot (uninterrupted by taking a break due to being on antibiotics) before she re-evaluates or makes any changes.  It's comforting to know that she has a Plan C, D, E, F, and G.  It's more comforting to know that the Lord is in charge.  We are happy with her plan that I return quarterly for in-person visits.  

 Monday, April 15, 2024

Chicago

I have been seeing a specialist in Chicago for almost 2 years.  Six of my visits have been in-person.  Thankfully Jim has accompanied me to all of them, and we both really like her.  She is personable, and brilliant, and understands and explains the subtleties of my diseases well (to the extent that she has understands them ... there are few clinical trials, so it's one big guessing game, and we are ultimately dependent on prayer).  

Looking Back on 2024

Highlights: My doctor finding a treatment regimen (four scary meds) that is providing some relief for the first time since I got sick in 2021.

January 6, 2025

"good doctor's appointment (much improved in some areas, yet still severe & not in remission yet)"

Chicago Day Date, May 8, 2025

A good day!  Especially when the doctor said she thinks the disease is not progressing any more. Praise God!  She says it's still a long-term project to wean off the prednisone, though I may be stuck at 5 mg forever. :( And we need to pray that the scar tissue over much of my body softens up.  

Summer in Review, August 29, 2025

Thankfully I was more mobile than I have been in the past four summers!  Our summer was bookended by appointments with my rheumatologist in Chicago (May 6 and August 25). I am on a multi-year plan to wean from some of my scary drugs, so I was also a tad bit less medicated than I was last summer. 

 

Northern Lights

Northeast Tennessee, October 10, 2024

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights?  I love them! And never realized it might be possible to see them without visiting the Arctic.

Apparently the November 2025 NL were epic!  I usually go into the backyard to try to see them, but that night, LM and I got in the van and went chasing. :) She declared it, "Girls' Night Northern Lights!" We went to the old airstrip, and then to DG (not good), and then to a field entrance on the way to the golf course.  I think there were brighter ones after we went to bed, but we are happy!  

These were visible to the naked eye (though not as vibrant), there were pillars, and we saw them dancing! I took a video without using the special settings and they are still visible. I loved seeing time lapse videos from people's door videos the next day!

I have an indescribable excitement when I see the NL. Maybe because they’re so rare and unique and showcase the Lord’s creativity and power.  I imagine heaven will be full of such thrill at seeing not just our Lord, but realizing all the many ways He was working during our lives that we didn’t notice, plus seeing the amazing beauty of heaven. 

I love this quote from the book “Streams in the Desert”…

The colored sunsets and starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life” ~ Faber

Central Illinois, November 11, 2025

After our Girls' Night Northern Lights, LM interrupted her bedtime snack with, "Speaking of the northern lights," and went to the living room and brought back her book from the school library this week. :) 

(My photos are with an iPhone 13 and no tripod. I did change the filter on the Illinois photo to "vivid.")

Hairdresser

My hairdresser is such a blessing!!

When my hairdresser of a dozen years announced her retirement, I confess to panicking.  But, God!  He did above & beyond all I could ask or imagine. 

Three times I have sat in my new hairdresser's salon and heard salvation testimonies!  (Extensive, detailed, powerful, life-transforming & generations transforming!)

A recent time I was there, she and I both had tears in our eyes as she read her sermon notes from the previous Sunday, taken from Revelation. 

Most recently, when I took BK in, the customer ahead of us was paying and made conversation with him, asking how school is going.  He made some self-deprecating statement, and my hairdresser called him by name, and continued, "We are all bad. That's why we need Jesus to save us." 

I look forward to time in her salon praising God & fellowshiping!  She is not wasting her mission field of a salon chair!

Victory!

It's a good day when you get to sing this hymn twice in two different congregations (a funeral and prayer meeting) ...

... and you get to hear a brother in Christ from a different continent tell about his decades of ministry among unreached people groups ... and the victory that individuals have found in Jesus! ... and his vision for the next thrust of their ministry. 

Heaven

How many people do you know there? 

Another of the older generation in Jim's family is in heaven. 

Until 2018, all six siblings and their spouses were a part of our lives on earth.  As I stood by Jim in the receiving line at the first visitation, one of Jim's 18 cousins said to me, "We're just going to be flip-flopping in these positions the next several years." True. 

Each one of the five who have preceded us to heaven has been in their 80s or 90s at the time of their death, but each one is still missed.  The Lord gave them all such a firm faith, living testimony, and (even for the quietest among them) a joyful spoken confidence in His goodness & the believers' hope of heaven.

And, while we are sad and miss these five and their presence and influence, heaven has grown "real-er." When I was around BK's age, at one of our frequent evenings at the funeral home in my hometown, my dad's cousin Sara said, "My husband remarked the other day that we know more people in heaven than on earth." 

And that's not a bad thing! 

Of course, the most joyous aspect of heaven is our Savior's presence!

Standing on their shoulders

My friend from church prayed in a Moms in Prayer group for her children's elementary school, middle school, and high school.  When her youngest graduated, she was teaching high school, and missed Moms in Prayer so much that she started a Teachers in Prayer group! 

Another friend started a Moms in Prayer group when her oldest was in 1st grade.  Her youngest just graduated from high school this year.  

For a few years, these friends were in the same group that prayed for our district's middle and high schools.  

And we! We are reaping the fruit of their labor!  

Our middle school principal was a youth pastor before he became principal. 

And at baccalaureate this past spring, for the first time one of the local ministers did not give the message.  Our high school principal did!  And he gave testimony to saving faith in Jesus Christ!

Cue the Doxology!

We are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us ... and prayed ... and prayed for years!  And now our Moms in Prayer groups for our school district pray weekly for the Lord to bring the person of His choosing to be our next superintendent (effective mid-2028).  

God can do anything! And it's a joy to be part of what He's doing in our little school district. 

If you have a child in public school, check out Moms in Prayer to see if there is a group for your school.  If not, it's really easy to start one! 

If you have a university student, there may be a Moms in Prayer group on Zoom for your student's university! 

If you're a grandma, what better legacy to give your grandchildren than starting a Grandmas' Prayer Group?!

Our church in Wisconsin has a church-based Moms in Prayer group.

If you are a teacher, why not start a Teachers in Prayer group for your school?

The Moms in Prayer website even has their materials translated into several other languages!

Summer Vacation ~ Day 56

Thursday, July 17

My nurse was here before 7.30 and the plasma was flowing into my veins by 7.45.  There was an initial flurry of activity as the children got up, and had some semblance of being fed & clothed, before Jim took them to swim team practice at 8. 

I napped some. Jim & BK returned at 11. My infusion was over shortly after 12.  A friend asked me if I feel better after my infusion, and the reality is it usually keeps me healthier and infection-free over the next 3-4 weeks, but the first 24 hours after my infusion are usually hard. It wipes me out.  

But there was no time to rest today ...

At 12.45 I took BK to his dental appointment. 

At 2 we were home and I air-fried more chicken tenders for his lunch / snack. 

At 3.15 we left for his hair appointment along with everything needed for the swim meet (suits, goggles, towels, sharpie, water bottles, and snacks!).

Hair appointment. Picked LM up from daycare. Swim meet (4.45 - 8.30). I worked ribbons for the first time. 

("Worked ribbons" means a seat under the tent with the announcer and the people running the computer.  It also means from 6.30-8.30 [or later], you peel off address label type stickers and adhere them to the back of 1st, 2nd, etc. place ribbons, and then divide them into teams.  When I had down time, I filed our team's ribbons into the file folder for each family.  But I only got 1/3 of our team's ribbons filed.  With 80 events of 3-10 swimmers in each events, that is a LOT of (100s of) stickers, although thankfully the teenagers don't get ribbons.)

Jim arrived at the meet just as my shift was starting. The children were thrilled because Daddy said "yes," when asked if they could have a sno-cone from the food truck. :) This was Jim's second swim meet, and he had one word for it: "Chaos." Yep; that about sums it up. ;) 

A quick visit with the grandparents. 

Home too late!!

Oh, and Happy 15th to us! ♥️♥️♥️