The middle of January is here and the weather has rebounded back to warmer temperatures. Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda have been in for a visit on their way back home from New Jersey and are now back in Florida. While they were here we wound up our holiday festivities and, well, just read on...
IS THIS ALL THERE IS? I failed to mention this last week. It was late when I got to the newsletter then and with our vacation being over it was sort of hard to focus on what needed to be written. Lori’s little sister, Holly, got married on New Year’s Eve. It was a really pretty wedding. Since I do sound at church I have the opportunity to see several weddings. They were one of the few couples brave enough to face the audience as they said their vows (Bro. Bill stood on the floor in front of the first pew). It’s such a nice touch for the friends and family.
We were running a slide show on the screens during the pre-wedding music. After sitting there for about 10 or 15 minutes Ben asked Vicki, “Mommy, is this all we’re going to do... just look at pictures?”
UPWARD BASKETBALL. Jenna had her first Upward basketball game on Saturday and I must say I am really impressed with this program. It is very organized. The game started with all the players being named over the PA system. Then the refs, coaches and players got in a circle and had an opening prayer. The games are played in six, six minute periods without stopping the clock for fouls and no score is kept. Jenna made three goals. After one attempt the ref stopped and gave her a quick piece of friendly advice. This experience is much better than when she played two years ago. I’m hoping there is an Upward soccer league in our area as well.
THE FEAST. Saturday evening we went to Ashland City for our Christmas dinner with the Bradleys and Dees. We had a great visit but the food dominates my memory of the occasion. It was to be a coordinated, covered dish affair. We needed to feed 14 but we had enough to feed 41. We literally had a problem finding enough space to set up the buffet line. The menu included, but was not limited to, honey baked ham, smoked ribs, chicken, hash brown casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, carrots, lima beans, green peas, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, stuffed mushrooms, squash dressing, congealed salad, rolls, slaw, broccoli cornbread, corn, tomatoes, pickles, olives, pecan pie, carrot cake, brownies, cherry cobbler, peach cobbler, Rolo turtles, pound cake, boiled custard and ice cream. I am not making this up. We really should have started inviting people in off the street to eat with us.
Judy cooked the majority of it and I think her intention was to make sure Mom and Aunt Mar went home with plenty of leftovers. I’m figuring that was the case as she brought a stack of those disposable plastic containers. We brought three BIG bags of leftovers home as well as three pans of meat. The pots still appeared to overflow after all this. It reminded me of the story of Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath (see 1 Kings 17).
SICK BOYS. Nate has had a cold he just can’t shake. He missed “the dinner” on Saturday (Pauline kept him) and it has been up and down with him all week. Ben has also shown signs of not feeling well. Vicki took the both to the doctor today. Hopefully they’ll be well in a few days.
Vicki was holding Nate one evening when he wasn’t feeling good and she was singing the old hymn “Softly and Tenderly” to him. At one point the lyrics go, “come home, come home, ye who are weary come home.” This caught Nate’s attention. He raised up and forcefully said, “Momma, you are home! Momma, you are home! You’re home!”
BEN’S PRAYER. Vicki and I enjoyed the prayer Ben prayed tonight before going to bed so I will close with a quotation of it.
Dear God,
Thank you so much for my Mom and Dad. I love them very, very much because... I don’t know why. And sometimes they’re a little mean, but that’s okay... I guess.
Amen.
