Mom's Skit

Thursday night, the ladies of our church had a goodbye party for my mom, thanking her for all that she has done for them. It was a lot of fun, she was surprised, and there were a few tears shed. :) I was able to help with this little skit, showing Mom's life from childhood up until the time they moved to Pennsylvania. Of course, there were some exaggerations taken in order to make the skit funnier, but if you know my Dad and his mannerisms... this is hilarious! Jackie made a good Pastor Hammett. :) LOL!

Wednesday, August 25th

~*~ Empty Shelves ~*~

~*~ Shy Morning Glories ~*~

~*~ The morning glories took over the post this year! ~*~

~*~ Molasses Cookies, to go with the cool Autumn-like weather we've been having ~*~

In other news, I miss my puppy. Very much. :(

Early this morning, a dear friend and servant of God passed from this life into the next. All day yesterday I was thinking about Heaven, and even posted a small excerpt from Spurgeon concerning what God has laid up for us in Heaven. We sang about Heaven in the evening service, and when I woke this morning, I found that someone closely associated with my family was already in Heaven, face-to-face with our Lord. I wonder what he is seeing right this instant?

But Bro. Purks will be sorely missed, especially by his dear wife, children, and grandchildren. His life has affected many, and I know that there are hundreds of people across the world that are saddened by the suddenness of it all. Yet we'll see him again very soon!

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 

(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

It is very saddening, especially for those who were his close friends and will miss him so. These verses give comfort - we don't have to sorrow as those who have no hope! We still sorrow, for he is leaving a gap which will be felt by many, yet we do have hope.... hope that we will see him again, and will be with him for eternity!

The Unsearchable Riches

From Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon:

The unsearchable riches of Christ.

--Ephesians 3:8

My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think Him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold.

My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of His pipe, when He is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at His feet. There is no love like His, neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him--oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined.

My Master does not treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a king; He gives them two heavens--a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him for ever. His unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, THERE, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.

On Bangs, Bedrooms, and Why I Feel 16 Again

{I apologize in advance to any male readers in the audience. I know when I talk hair with my sisters-in-law, my brothers' eyes start to roll back in their heads. Feel free to pass on if you don't want to know about the agony of hair decisions.}

Ah, the bangs. I haven't decided if a woman's troubles with hair styles and making decisions about them is a blessing or a curse. It could be a blessing - being able to drastically change your whole look. But it is more often than not a curse - constantly agonizing over choices, which in the end, just grow back out.

I've been thinking about trying bangs again for several months, since I saw a woman that had exceptionally beautiful bangs in a hair color and texture similar to mine. Problem was that every time I would go to cut them, I would chicken out. Since high school, I've had some form of sideswept bangs, but always long and usually pulled back so you couldn't even tell. I had finally grown those out past my chin, and was hesitant on cutting them to a length that I wouldn't be able to mask. Previously, when I wanted to go 'drastic' with my bangs, I would still cut them just long enough that I could pull them back should I change my mind.

At 2 AM this morning, I made a drastic decision, partly fueled by the cup of tea I had which was not decaffeinated (oops) and partly fueled by the desire to do something very different, but not wanting to chop off all my hair since it's taken me so long to get it to this length.

I chopped my bangs - shorter than I have had them since 10th grade, and thicker than I have had them since I thinned them out in 5th grade. Drastic indeed.

(And I realize that in this picture, compared to the pictures of me in my sidebar, it doesn't look like much of a difference. But TRUST me, there is a big difference to me. There is much more hair falling in my eyes... which is the part that annoys me the most!)

I still allowed myself a small cushion. I was thinking of cutting them right at my eyebrows so that I could wear them straight down, no side-sweeping involved. But I decided to go a bit longer at first, just below my eyebrows, and wear them side-swept for a couple days while thinking of trimming them up a bit more. Still playing it safe, even in the drasticness. 

In the end, they will grow out. Whether I will keep them or not, I haven't decided. I like bangs... I even like them on me. What I don't like is the extra work that bangs usually require. And being that I am moving to a very hot, hot climate, I'm not sure if I want hair on my forehead. On the other hand, it's nice having bangs to soften up the face while the rest of the hair is pulled back off my neck. 

Oh, the agonizing decisions of hair.

In other news, I have moved back to my old bedroom - the room that I grew up in this old house. The main reason being this: it was depressing in my room. I was packing up my things, cleaning out, selling stuff online, and giving things away. My attic, that I have worked so hard on and that I so dearly loved, was getting empty and void of its charm. In packing up books, pictures, and memorabilia from my trips, it just wasn't quite the same. This would have been okay, but for the second reason: it's stinkin' hot up there! It has been all summer, of course, but the nights have been so beautiful lately, and I love sleeping with a cracked window and a fan. Much more relaxing than a churning air conditioner. However, the attic is in a constant state of HOT, so sleeping without an air conditioner wasn't really an option. Plus, I only had one window in my bedroom, and I was tired of putting the air conditioner in and out, in and out (and it's probably a miracle that I didn't put it out for good and drop it crashing down three stories). 

So the attic is all cleared out, save for the last couple bookshelves, and I am back in my old room with flowered wallpaper and four big windows, with only the possessions that will be going with me to Africa and eight large suitcases stacked in the corner, waiting to be put to use. It puts my mind at rest knowing that I can pack in an hour or two and be ready to go. Nevermind the fact that I have 7 weeks until I have to do that. :)

Seriously?

How fun would this be?

Birthday Month

It's a yummy time of year. I've made two of these in the past two weeks. :) 

Here's the recipe, if you care to try it. I got it from my sister-in-law, and I don't remember where she found it. First, the recipe as I received it... my notes and changes to follow. :)

German Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

CRUST

1 package active dry yeast – ¼ oz

½ cup warm water

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

½ cup butter or margarine – softened

2 to 2 ½ cup flour

FILLING

19 ounces cream cheese – softened

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

TOPPING

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup evaporated milk

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup flaked coconut

½ cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, egg, butter, and 1 cup of flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Punch dough down. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 15x10x1” baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add cocoa and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool.

In a saucepan, combine the first four topping ingredients. Cook over low heat until thick, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, stir in vanilla, coconut, and nuts. Spread over cooled cake. Chill at least 1 hour. Store in refrigerator. 

*******************

My changes were fairly simple. First, I used a 13x9 pan. Second, I changed the crust. The one given here just didn't sound appetizing under a beautiful cheesecake. Instead I made a graham cracker-coconut crust (approx. 15 crushed graham crackers, 1/3 cup crushed coconut, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup melted butter well mixed and pressed into the pan) and baked it for about 15 minutes before adding the cheese filling. 

Happy baking!

Deuteronomy 17:19-20

The past couple years we have had a memory program at our church. We pick memorization partners at the beginning of the time period (I think we started last August or September?) and have one verse due every two weeks. It's a lot of fun, and just about everyone who started last year has followed through. Sunday, August 8th was the date the final verse had to be said, so it's been interesting to watch everyone huddle around after church and try to get their last few verses caught up.

My partner and I were no exception, as we had several verses to be caught up on that Sunday. When I was in Botswana from October to mid-January, it obviously messed up our schedule. So we would cram several verses into one week, then take several weeks off, then cram, etc. But I'm happy to report that we both finished all our verses before they took the charts down. :)

When I was in school, we were always memorizing Scripture. We had passages to learn each month, we had verses to learn in each section of each subject, and of course, we had verses to learn for Bible class. Young minds grasp so much more, so quickly! I'm thankful that my teachers made me memorize all that Scripture then, because I still remember much of it. Since being out of school, however, it has been hard to memorize Scripture, mostly because I'm not required to and don't have the opportunity of constant repetition. (You'd be amazed - just by reading the same chapter aloud every morning for an entire month, you would have it down without hardly even trying!) So I'm thankful for the opportunity and accountability provided to memorize Scripture at church.

The last verse that I said was a difficult one. It wasn't very familiar when I started learning it... in fact, I didn't say it when it was supposed to be said, but saved it until the very end. Here it is... quite a verse (actually two)!

"And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in the kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." Deuteronomy 17:19-20

(And yes, I typed it from memory... I just went back and adjusted the punctuation to match my Bible. :) Okay, so now it doesn't seem all that long. Considering I can still quote a good portion of the book of 1 Peter (memorized in 3rd grade), two verses don't seem like quite so much. BUT, all those little phrases and prepositions kept turning themselves over and tripping me up.

But what a promise! It just blessed me so much as I memorized and thought over this verse. What value the Word of God should hold in our lives - to read it (every day!), to know it, to keep it, to do it.

Plain rich with plain things...

That's what has been running through my mind all day. Cleaning out and packing up has reached a level where I no longer care and I toss more than I pack. 

How does one ever pack up such a house? 6 bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sprawling farmhouse with full basement and mud room, built-on enclosed patio – with 23 years to pack it all in.

There are the things of course. There are the toys from when we were kids, now finding their second life when the grandkids come to visit. There are the supplies – tools, gardening equipment, fabric and sewing notions. There are the books – gazillions of them from infant books to encyclopedias. There are the clothes and the furniture, the dishes and the gifts, the souvenirs and the photo albums, the knick-knacks and the exercise equipment.

How is one supposed to go through all of this and decide? What will go (extremely limited room)? What will be kept in storage (perhaps a bit more room, but is it necessary)? And what must be gotten rid of? And then if something is to go, you must ask – how? Is it to be sold online, given to a friend, left at a charity shop, sold at an auction? And though this may seem a bit perplexing but still quite doable for a handful of items, when it is multiplied by the contents of an entire house…then what?

But it isn’t just the things, of course. 23 years in the same house means it isn’t full of just things. There are the memories. Good and bad, they are packed between nearly ever floorboard, stacked in the corners, hidden behind curtains and floating in the air. We recite the memories to each other while we try to sort and pack and clean. Somehow, it relieves the pressure to relive the memory. It makes the packing and sorting easier to do when you know you’ll always have that memory.

My nephew’s eyes shone like bright stars as he showed me his ‘new’ truck. I’d seen it before, but watching him demonstrate all the features to me gave it a new life. This was a truck of my brother’s when he was small – a little white truck and trailer, with childish handwriting in red permanent marker down the side, “Beaver’s Trucking, Inc.” It was my oldest brother’s first, but we all played with this truck at some point. I distinctly remember using it in the sandbox when we first moved to this house. It had been buried at the bottom of the toybox for several years, but found new love in my nephew, who I think even sleeps with it at night. 

"A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth" is good advice straight from our Master's lips... advice which rings true as we relieve ourselves of all our possessions and keep the memories for later perusal. 

Each thing has a story; each corner holds a memory. And today I know that I am plain rich - not because of my possessions or my abudance - but plain rich in plain, good things. 

August 12th...

...is tomorrow. With our tickets booked for October 12th, this means that we are exactly two months from departure.

Did you just hear a scream? I'm sorry...that was me. Okay, *deep breath.*

Please know that I am NOT exaggerating when I say that I have a to-do list that is as long as my arm. I have at least half a steno pad full of lists, reminders, and to-dos.

9 Saturdays between now and blast-off, with all but two of them already booked up.

A house to finish cleaning out, a container to pack up and ready for shipment, suitcases to prepare, duties to hand off and replacements to train, paperwork to finish, last visits and final goodbyes... my head is spinning with everything that needs to be done, and yet...

There is a new baby in the family. He is scrumptious. I know it is a weird thing to say, but I can't think of any other way to describe him - sweet and cute just doesn't cut it.

There are also birthdays (6 in my immediate family + 2 anniversaries) from mid-July to mid-August. That means we've been making lots of dessert.

So all the sweetness around here takes the edge off the to-do list, although it doesn't really help shorten it any. I can't wait until October 12th!!!!

With my little namesake...

Look who was visiting today! And I was in nursery, so I got to spend all morning with her. :o)

The Beauty of Summer

I love how just a bit of effort on a salad can produce such dramatic results - beautiful, delicious, and good for you too!

A Trip to the Midwest

Boy, is it good to be home. We really weren't gone that long, but considering we traveled 3,500 miles in 11 days and saw a lot of people that we know, it was quite the trip.

Some pics for posterity's sake...and because you aren't all on facebook. :)

{Sam did most of the driving.}

{I was designated snack and beverage dispenser.}

{Convenient doughnut warmer... what you can't see in this pic is the thermometer reading over 100 degrees.}

{We visited Silver Dollar City.}

{Sam and my cousin Jon rode all the rides.}

{My cousin Brooke and I held the stuff and didn't ride the rides... at least not the ones that would make me sick. We opted for the water rides instead...they don't go upside down. It was such a hot day that the water rides, though smelly, were a welcome relief!}

{Silver Dollar City is built over a cave - Marvel Cave. They said there were 600 steps, but Sam counted 590.}

{It started to rain and they shut all the rides down, so we went into Branson to walk along The Landing.}

{There is a water, fire, and lights show every evening... pretty cool.}

{The Landing as seen from the dock}

{The road to my grandparents' farm in Missouri}

{My grandparents' driveway}

{Katie - and her beautiful blue eyes}

{My grandpa's barn}

{A neighbor's dilapidated old barn}

{We met up with the Wilhites in Missouri, long-time friends now fellow African missionaries. Thanks for 'letting' me steal the pic, Dy!}

{Dy and I}

{Windmills in Kansas on the way to my other grandparents' house. We passed a huge field of windmills... there were at least 60 lined up, probably more.}

{After three days in Kansas, Sam and I spent the night in St. Louis and met another cousin for a 5 AM breakfast. This is as we were leaving town and heading for PA - 15 hours later, we were safely home!}