Small Choirs

Since January, because of this little story, our family uses Small Choir as a Catch Phrase with two meanings.

First it is used to refer to the smell of fire or smoking, i.e. upon passing someone on the sidewalk with a cigarette, eleven year old David quietly notes, “Small choir.”

Secondly, yesterday we were talking about people that choose to believe medical information even after it has been proven incorrect. Susan’s doctor father said, “Some people believe that you get a cold from a draft.”

The conversation began to move on and then Susan spoke up from where she was working a few feet away in the kitchen, “from a giraffe?"

And that my friends is also a Small Choir.

My Many Moms Still Bless

This picture of my mother and sister Donna (on the right) and myself was taken in 1950. Mom loved us unconditionally and faithfully taught us how to live and love God. She was a great cook, and a student of the Bible all of her life. She was a good teacher, good at grammar, and a good seamstress. I often wish that I could still ask questions of her. I miss my mom.

Then came my mother-in-law--probably the best MIL ever. She is in the middle of the picture. It is always a delight to spend time with her. She is wonderful— kind, gracious, lovely, and godly! This photo is from 1971.

What a privilege and gift from God to become a mother and have two sons! This photo was taken on Mother's Day 1978. The boys--okay men--bless me regularly. I love them very much. I am so proud of the daddies that they have become.

In 1989, we got a new stepmom, Kay. She just went to be with Jesus on January 1 of this year. My Dad and Kay were married over 19 years. Kay was such a gracious, kind, loving woman. We all miss her. This picture was taken in 1991. Imagine taking on a family of this size when she was accustomed to a small family!

Today on Mother's Day, I miss my mom and stepmom. I thought often of my mother-in-law. I missed my sons, their wives, and my grandchildren — one family lives hundreds of miles east and one family lives even farther west. I did get to watch a very funny short video of grandaughter, Lilly that is worth checking out! Here is a picture of Brad and Nicole's kids that I also saw today for the first time. I took this from Nicole's facebook. It is too cute to keep to myself.

God is good! In June of 1996, I had the privilege of becoming a stepmom and stepgrandma! What a huge blessing today to spend the day with my wonderful stepfamily! I often wish that I could completely claim them as my own blood. I should have taken photos of all of the women but at least I got one picture of my delightful stepgrandchildren. My prayer for them is that they will all put their trust in God and follow Him all the days of their lives.

Wedding Shower Clipart Redos

This beautiful girl is getting married. It is my privilege to help with a bridal shower.

Since invitations are expensive we decided to save a bit of money and make our own. Missy loves flowers so I wanted to do something with a bride and flowers.

I found this clipart on Microsoft. com. It was on page 7 when I did a clipart search for "bride."

In Microsoft Word, I was able to ungroup and then change and recolor it a bit and group it again.

Here is the invitation printed on a 9 X 4 piece of cardstock. We could then mail the invitations in a
regular #10 envelope.

We are going to play a game--She Says . . . He Says. I redesigned another clipart for the game cards.

Let me know if anyone would like a copy of these two cliparts for designing a shower invite. I will be happy to send them to you.

The White Way of Delight

Anne was stunned into a reverent silence by the fragrant beauty of a huge grove of blooming, wide spreading apple-trees. . . Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant blooms. . . . She leaned back, . . .her face lifted rapturously to the white splendor above. . . Still with rapt face she gazed . . . She came our her reverie with a deep sigh and looked at him with the dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wandering afar, star-led . . .

“Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn’t seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don’t go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful—wonderful. It’s the first thing I ever saw that couldn’t be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfied me here” —she put one hand on her breast— “it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache. Did you ever have an ache like that Mr. Cuthbert?”

“I have it lots of times—whenever I see anything royally beautiful. But they shouldn’t call that lovely place the Avenue. There is no meaning in a name like that. They should call it—let me see—the White Way of Delight.”

Identifying with Anne of Green Gables for the past week—finally today, when I noticed the blooms in our neighborhood are beginning to fade and drop, I took a few inadequate pictures.

My times are in Thy hand

My first husband, Dale, died twenty-one years ago today. When I think about it, I can still get chills over the horror of that day.

I always wonder what to do with the anniversary of my first hubby’s death? I certainly don’t want to go to the cemetery and be by myself. I don’t feel like I need to cry or be sad. I have no need to relive the shock and fear and grief. Yet, I do want to remember Dale in some kind of quiet manner. One thing that seems good is simply to be with others that knew him and loved him. We don’t need to talk about Dale. We don’t need to look at pictures of him. It is good just to be with his family.

Today, I had a wonderful day. With encouragement from hubby Bob, I took a 2 ½ hour drive to go and spend time with Dale’s dear mother. I do so love her! We just chatted about life. That was all. That was enough—but there was more! Dale’s sister, Judy and friend, Duane and Dale’s Uncle Wayne and Aunt Lurelle met us for dinner and we sat and laughed and talked and just enjoyed each other — sweet fellowship and camaraderie!

After nearly everyone else had left the restaurant, and we were preparing to leave, my son Brad called on my cell phone. Since there really was no one else in our section, I put the phone on speaker and we all enjoyed Brad. He told us a story or two about his kids. At the end of his conversation, he spoke directly to Grandma Rowell, thanking her for raising such a good man and father. He said, “We were sad that he was with us for such a short time but we are so glad that we had him for awhile.” It was quiet for a moment as I noticed tears on each face around the table. I said, “We are still here, Brad, it is just that we all have something caught in our throats.” We all chuckled and said our sweet good bys.

But there was more good to come. Just as we were arriving back at Mom/Grandma Rowell’s home, the phone rang again and this time it was son, Andy. We talked briefly about Dad and then moved on to some other topics. Grandma and Andy and I had such a fun, informative, enjoyable, happy conversation.

And that is what it is all about. Just a few moments to be with those you love is all that is necessary for a special remembrance.

And tonight as I go to bed, I thank God for Perfect Timing. The phone calls came at such good times today. But that isn’t really all that I am thinking of. I am reminding myself as I look back that I can trust God for the future. Though I never really understand, I will trust in God.

Yes, my times are in Thy hand. Psalm 31:15

I also was reminded of these
favorite verses from Isaiah 55:8-11.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Getting the Newbie New Bee Yards

We were thrilled to find not one but two new sites for bee yards! That is not easy to do in our urban area. Our motivation for finding new places was . . .

• Our bees did better over the winter and we ordered more packages than we needed.
  
  
• We cannot keep hives at my dad’s farm anymore because it will be sold at auction soon.
  
  
• Our current bee yards have as many hives as they can support.
  
  
• We need to do some splits to prevent swarming.
  
  
• When we began keeping hives, we were too generous in our agreements for honey rent. Sometimes our renters receive more honey than we do although we bear all of the expense and do all of the work. We are thankful for those locations and cannot go back on our agreements but with new locations we can be more realistic in setting honey rent. Perhaps our hobby will come closer to breaking even. We never expect to make a profit. As hubby says, “This is a hobby. Hobbies cost.”
  
  
• Bob might retire sometime and it will be nice to have a few more hives because what if he gets under foot? I just think it is prudent to help him plan for retirement.
  
  

When we pulled in to set up our new bee yard, we were greeted by children. Little Anna declared that she does not like bees! I am sure many adults would agree.

The excitement of wearing a real beekeeper suit soon lured Anna into further investigation.

We understand the initial thrill for young beekeepers to put on a bee suit. We had to scrounge for enough bee gear but eventually got the kids suited up. BTW that thrill is usually shortlived.


At first everyone kept a safe distance from the hives.

Beekeeper Bob gave Lesson 1 in this new bee yard to his promising newbie apprentice. Daniel passed with flying colors showing a healthy respect for the bees but no fear.



Bees are fascinating and Beekeeper Bob soon drew the others in for a tentative look.


Not wanting to be left out, even the adults gathered closer.



It is intriguing to watch the bees. Here is one bee gathering pollen from a dandelion.


This fuzzy picture is of the bees carrying the pollen into the hive. You may have to use your imagination.


Our bee yards are charming. That is not the best word. I need help on my vocabulary. There is something peaceful, industrious, balanced, natural, right, delightful . . . about the bee yards. I understand if you do not get this! I did not get it for a long time.

I have heard of athletes who run to relax and some that even have difficulty quitting before they drop because of the high that they get from running. I don’t get it. For me running or even a slow jog, every single time, requires a “grit your teeth and bear it” and “am I there yet?” mentality. I am baffled by real runners, although I do admire them greatly and hope that in heaven I can be just like them. This whole paragraph is just to show that we can’t all “get” what others are “getting”. If you don’t “get” what in the world I am talking about, I am okay with you not “getting” it.

Without apology, here are some photos of our new, delightful and charming bee yards. This is the Better Smelling than Horses DeJoJo Bee Yard—from which all of the above pictures were taken.


And here is the Road Less Traveled McWAC Bee Yard.



Do you get it at all?

Even a child is known by her/his doings . . .

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Part of the text for our Sunday sermon was the verse above from 1 Peter 2:12. We left church excited about CareFest 2009. It is a one-day missions trip to DuPage County. The goal is to build bridges of light into our community.

On this first beautiful Saturday in several weeks, families had lots of yard work to do at their own homes. However it was CareFest so participants gathered instead for a Kick Off rally at Wheaton Bible Church and to pick up shirts and assignments. Work began at 9:00 a.m.

What a joy to work together with some of our family at the same site! We helped take down a rotting tree house and tool shed.

We planted or helped plant five rather large trees.

After we left others planted two more trees, worked on some landscaping, put up a new toolshed and did some repairs on the home. Tomorrow morning, it will be fun to hear what others accomplished at many other sites across the county. This year six churches participated.

Here are a few more challenging verses . . .

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV)

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

At about lunch time, Don teasingly said, “It’s about time that we prisoners ought to get a lunch break.”

Jessica momentarily looked shocked and then said, “We are not prisoners! We signed up for this! Don’t you know, this is Carefest? We sign up to help people do things all over everywhere.”

She's got that right!

And may God get the glory.