Hey Friends, looks kind of like we are going from winter into summer, ‘long johns’ to shorts; the weather all over the country seems confused. Remember all those folks, in your conversations with the Lord that have been hit with tornadoes and floods – and be thankful it wasn’t here.
Markland Baptist Church will host their monthly ‘pancake breakfast’ this Saturday (June 4th) at 9 a.m.; everyone is invited and it is all free so mark your calendar and make plans to come out and join us for breakfast and some good old-fashioned fellowship. The guys do the cooking and they do a good job.
Sunday, June 5th following the morning worship service, MBC will hold its bi-monthly business meeting. Of course, being Baptists (we like to eat), we will have a pitch-in fellowship dinner before the meeting. Personally, I believe that always puts us in a good mood for a congenial meeting, at least seems to work that way.
June 13th the girls (WMU) will be going to the State Hospital for their bi-monthly party they hold for the women patients. They will be going on a Monday evening instead of their usual Thursday due to scheduling conflicts. The girls will be taking treats and little presents for the patients. I know that both the patients and the girls will be blessed by this endeavor.
Grandson Josh Carr was on vacation last week and he and his mom, Cyndi, took me to the Cincinnati Zoo; we had a good time. It has been many, many years since I have been to the Zoo and I really enjoyed it. Coming home, Cyndi treated us to dinner at Frisch’s restaurant – and I enjoyed that too.
Our family is saddened at this time with the loss of my dear daughter-in-law’s, (Donna Sue Miller-Frank’s wife), mother, Wilma J. Tingle Romans (Mrs. Harold); Wilma went home to the Lord, Saturday (May 21st), just as she wanted, surrounded by Harold and her children, whom she dearly loved. Please remember this family in your prayers for strength and peace.
Remember also our dear friend, Barbara Bacon (Post Mistress of East Enterprise Post Office), who experienced a serious, and very scary, medical episode; her heart stopped. Fortunately, she was in the doctor’s office at the time and they were able to revive her. Barbara is back at work and told me she was still moving but kind of slow.
Ana Slover fell on concrete and broke her patella (knee cap) and is in a leg cast hoping it will heal together; she went to the doctor Thursday and he told her it is starting to heal and maybe she can avoid surgery. Ana will do ‘rehab’ and will be very careful not re-injure it – Bob is doing most of the cooking for the present and Ana said he is doing a good job.
Debbie Turner and I went out to Ana’a house last Thursday to play cards; Ana kept her leg propped up on a chair and we played ‘2500’ for three or four hours. Debbie brought a delicious entrée and I brought the dessert (Bob had coffee made for us) and we all had an enjoyable time.
We had many on our ‘Prayer Concern’ list this week: Peggy Eckerty, Ana Slover, Barbara Bacon, Romans family (and other families that have lost loved ones), Patty Miller, Pat Miller (yeah, I am having a few problems, too), Debbie Allen’s grandson (heart surgery), Tracie Harcrow (Mel’s mom having kidney transplant surgery), Roger Garvey, Joy Hazeldean, Charlotte and Phil Kroening, Revivals (all Christian revivals), unsaved family and friends, victims of weather catastrophes, and unspoken requests.
Wilma T. was over for a couple of hours to ‘yak’ and we caught up on all the family news; Wilma is doing pretty good but all the rain we have had has been a real trial for her arthritis problems, as I know many of you can relate to. Anyone that knows Wilma, knows she is usually ‘on the go’ and doesn’t like to let the ‘grass grow under her feet’, so to speak, but she told me that she has ‘gone’ less in the last six months than she has in the last 20 years. Wilma may be a little down but she is a long way from out!
Sam came home in time (between rains) to till the garden and you can’t imagine how happy it made me seeing the beautiful brown earth turn over with it’s promises of the harvest it will provide. I squished my bare toes in the soft earth and laughed (only on the very edge of the garden of course.) I just love to play in the dirt and see things grow – yeah, ok, eating them too!
I keep remembering (ok, sometimes I forget) to ‘ring the bells that can still ring’. God has given each of us gifts to use for the benefit of all His family. No matter how old, infirm, or what circumstances we find ourselves, there is still something we can do. Maybe we can only pray; perhaps we can listen to someone, give a helping hand to someone, bring a dish where needed, offer a kindness; you get the idea. Whatever gift, or opportunity, you have been given, use it; gifts not used will eventually disappear. In other words, use it or lose it!
This philosophy works in the physical world also; the human body (and every other kind of body too) needs to be exercised or the use of that body’s parts will die. One reason our YMCA is so important is that it provides the opportunity for us to do that. I can’t manage the machines and track upstairs but the pool is very forgiving to joints and muscles that have trouble functioning. The ‘Y’ also provides a place of socialization (also important for humans), a place to meet and talk with friends.
For three weeks at the ‘Y’, I was talking to Mary Sides, an old friend from the ‘shoe family’. and I was real happy to see her again; turns out, I was talking to Faye, her sister – the joke was on me. Those sisters really look and sound alike (all right, so I wasn’t wearing my glasses but they sounded just the same and I would have sworn I was talking to Mary); Faye just laughed and said it happens all the time.
There are water aerobics in the morning but you don’t have to join in those classes, you can just ‘do your own thing’ in the pool or upstairs. The important thing is to move, maybe a little or maybe a lot, but move.
Birthdays in June will be: Landon Martin (3rd), Julia Hazeldean (10th), Mary Martin (12th), and Nancy Ledbetter on the 30th. We wish the blessings of love and laughter (and good food too) for each of you; Happy Birthday! May the year that follows be filled with God’s sweet blessings of love and heart-peace.
Until we talk again, may the Lord bless you and keep safe from harm; may He lift up His countenance and give you heart-peace; amen.