When death comes.....community happens.

Loretta and Tracy....my friends....

Food....more than we needed......

Marian, Win, Margaret, Mildred, Clara,
Birdie and Joan....more of my friends....

Dave and Phil in the sink....my friends and co-workers.....

I've spoken quite a bit about death lately. I suppose because when we are stinging from the effects of death, it is a ready source for discussion.

Today was another tribute to a friend and member of our church community - Vern Hunt. I always liked to think of Vern as a gentle giant. He was a man of compassion, of gentleness and laughter. He was a family man and was adored by his wife, children and grandchildren, as was evidenced today at his funeral. When a part of our community dies, we gather together, those who are left, to be hospitable and welcome the guests who come to our church by feeding them.

Nearly 400 people attended. All were fed and so much left over. Our community is good at helping, I think. And we enjoy being together to get the job done. It's not only a time of tears but it becomes a time to enjoy one another's company while doing that.

I am one of the most fortunate people on earth, because of the people I have to love and care for and who, in turn, love and care for me. Some of those folks are pictured above.

Note, we even get the men into action. But it wouldn't be a first for Dave and Phil to offer their help with kitchen duties. They look quite at home, don't you think? Other men, husband included, worked hard in the parking lot getting everyone parked properly, a most difficult job......and a most thankless one. It's kind of like leading sheep except sometimes these sheep have minds of their own.

So, when people die within our community, we get together as one. We do what needs to be done and we do it willingly.....because we love. Not regular pat-on-the-back kind of love. It's a God-love, a love that says we're here for you and we stand beside you. When you cry, we will cry with you. When you need food, we will provide for you. When you think you can't make it through the day, we will come and encourage you and remind you that there is so much more than this life here on earth.

Death came today.....and community happened. Praise be to God for his faithfulness.

Noah's Ark....

It all began as a normal church day. One thing that was different. I was scheduled to 'supervise' the play time downstairs.

The Vanderkids were there with me. Madeline, Luke and Olivia.

We began the hour by acting out the story of "The Three Little Pigs". Some played and acted, some didn't. That was fine.

Then we started the story of "Noah's Ark". I was one of Noah's kids and Madeline said that when you're a kid, you get bossed around. I was OK with that, as I knew when push came to shove, I was still the adult in the Ark.

The first attempt at an Ark was a little boat, chosen amongst the many toys. But how can you put two of everything in a little boat. We graduated to the large hamper but again when there are several animals of every description, they simply wouldn't all fit. Madeline decided that, hey, why can't the whole room be the Ark. Great idea. She's a thinker, that girl! So, all the animals were put to bed while Madeline, (Mrs. Noah), made everyone dinner. Quite good actually. And we had to save some for all the animals too, or they'd starve.

Well, it was a "rained for forty days and forty nights" story so obviously water had to enter the picture at some point. Water was poured for the dishes. Water was poured for the drinks. Water was poured to pour on the table. Water was poured......get the picture?

In steps Noah's child-turned-supervising-adult. NO MORE WATER ALREADY!!!

Mr. Noah got green and orange happy face sticker measles......and the child....(that's me) got them too.

The Ark got pretty active at one point and I was ready to flee the scene.....then I remembered I was the adult supervisor here. I perservered.

The cookies, which had been brought into the Ark before the rains began, with the assistance of one of the animals in the Ark, pushed the cookies off the freezer and down the back, at which time Mr. Noah looked carefully behind to see where they had gone. Much to his delight he not only found the Ark's food source, but also his new cars (brought to the play room a few weeks previously). It was quite a celebratory moment with much exclaiming and laughter..........until Mr. Noah realized the cars were so near and yet so far. He managed to get the cookies out though but alas, they were too covered in dust bunnies for consumption.......much to the Noah Family's disappointment.

The morning hour progressed from one moment to the next and the end was in sight.

Twelve noon! Class dismissed.

I remember why young people have children and not older ones. They take your energy and gobble it up like a dust-bunny-covered cookie.

Here's to Marc and Dixie. May God give them energy to live life with the beautiful "Noah" family!

Advent is coming......

Since I'm responsible for gathering together various people to share their gifts for next Sunday's Family Advent Service, I've been looking through the Covenant Hymnal. I'm looking for Advent hymns and readings to make the service come alive. Music is the key.

People will be practicing their numbers......songs, readings, instrumentals, etc. It's all quite exciting as we prepare for the big day next Sunday afternoon starting at 3:30 p.m.

And if you're reading this and you're saying to yourself, "I have always wanted to sing at an Advent program, but no one has asked me!!!"..........well, consider yourself asked. Now all you have to do is tell me what you're going to sing and you'll be written into the bulletin. Don't be shy. Those gifts of yours need to be spread around a bit. A fellow even did his juggling act one year! It was his gift after all!

We're going to be having a "Finger Food Supper" following the program for only $7./person. Not bad at all. And Loan Wolf (that's Loan Shark's cousin:-) will be catering - so you had better pay up, or else. hee hee ha ha ha ha Oh, I guess that should be Lone Wolf. We need to advertise properly!

So, next Sunday, November 30, is the beginning of the Advent Season. The beginning of preparations within us, to meet the Christ of Christmas.

Let's not get hopelessly lost in the pine cones and ribbons and cards and presents and baking and decorating and parties and..........ya.................

A few wrinkles....

My hands certainly didn't look like that 41+ years ago when husband offered the engagement ring to me. They were soft, supple, no age spots and certainly no wrinkles.

The diamond looks the same though. It will never change....well, I suppose it could change over the next thousand years but that hand will be long gone back into ye old dust from whence it came, by then.

It's a sobering thought, don't you think?

A co-worker and I were talking "wrinkles" the other day. We were both complaining a bit about how we have changed since we were young and what each other was doing to try and keep age at bay. We talked about anti-wrinkle creams and how I could get rid of liver spots and how she could get rid of her eye creases and me, my laugh lines.

We figured we aught to be lying on our backs as we sleep so gravity could smoothe out those lines because when we lie on our sides our faces scrunch up and "presto"....face lines over night, deeper than the Little Red River after it overflows it's banks.

I thought too, maybe it would help if I didn't laugh and smile so much. Dang. Why am I such a happy person anyway. But then I came to the conclusion that I'd rather be a happy old lady with wrinkles than an old lady that is afraid to smile for fear she may start to "look" her age.

My thinkin' is that I shall be proud to wear my lines and wrinkles because afterall, God has given me a life to live, and live it I have, which includes the good the bad and the ugly, and at the end of this life, whenever that may be, I hopefully will be able to say I was a person that was able to maybe make a few other people smile too...........with some lines to prove it.

Wrinkles.............I may look like a prune...........but I'm a happy prune. Oh....ya......

Long live "L'Oreal Advanced RevitaLift"!!!!!

(This has been a non-paid, non-political announcement)

We'll save "the joys of gaining weight after pregnancy, during menopause & any time after 50" for another enjoyable night.

Don't forget to sleep on your backs..........if you haven't gained so much weight that you can't....like me.............sigh..............

I took time....

Yes, tonight I was actually home. I saw this program on PBS "Live from Lincoln Centre in New York - Gil Shaham, Violinist....."....and I watched and listened and was amazed at this man's ability and talent. Such a gift.

A little bit of a bio about this fellow, if you didn't know already:

"Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel where at the age of 7 he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music and granted annual scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he has worked with Ms. DeLay and Hyo Kang. He has also studied at Columbia University.
Gil Shaham was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony and their two children. "

Now that's what I call an evening of classic entertainment......and I could have been baking or cleaning or any number of really fun things. It's good to relax once in a while, to take time out and enjoy other people's gifts.:-)

Speaking of which, I'll have to get busy and start to buy some.............gifts that is...............34 days 'til Christmas.................:-)

I took a picture.....

One side of the glass wall, out in the shivering cold, covered in a blanket of fresh snow stood what once was a lovely green shrub just a few short months ago.

And lo and behold, on the other side of the glass wall stood a beautiful flowering Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon - in North America) looking lush and red, as if it were flaunting it's ability to languish in the warmth of the Forest Centre foyer. Can't you just see it tapping on the window to it's friend on the other side of the glass.....yooohooooo........too bad you can't be inside here with me, Sweetie.

Sometimes they just look much too lovely for their own good.

Money, honey.....

Yep, it's a dark day in the Kent home.

Got my biannual notice of where my pension stands....money wise.....and it's being swallowed up faster than the economic downturn can go south.

But who and what do I depend on? Nope, not my money, that's for sure. If I did, I'd be in more trouble than being chased up a tree by a rabid monkey.

I'll put my money on God..........not that I'm a betting person at all.....but I believe he provides me with whatever I need......not want........need.

So, I should be good to go.