Feb. 25, 2007 - Song for Lent & Happy News
Since lent began this past Ash Wednesday I thought I would share a song of the season.
O LORD WHO THROUGHOUT THESE FORTY DAYS
"Lord who throughout these forty days, for us did fast and pray,
teach us with you to mourn our sins, and close by you to stay.
As you with Satan did contend, and did the vict'ry win,
O give us strength in you to fight, in you to conquer sin.
As you did hunger bear and thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and always live, by your most holy word.
And through these days of penitence, and through your Passiontide,
Forevermore, in life and death, O Lord, with us abide.
Abide with us that when this life of suffering is past,
And Easter of unending joy we may attain at last."
THE POWER OF LENT
I have found the power of the lenten season is in obedience. As a Baptist, I barely ever fasted. Now that the Church, our mother, requires it, I have found a new ability and help in this command. Making sacrifice is what Christ's life on earth was all about and we are called to be like Him in this. Take up your cross, brothers and sisters, and in dying to self, may we find Life!
GOOD NEWS
My nephew Paul is back from Iraq! He returned a couple of weeks ago and is at his base in Texas. Thank God for his protection (and St. Michael for his prayers) while he was in (near) Bagdhad. Welcome home, Paul!
SCRAPBOOK HEAVEN
I spent nearly 13 uninterrupted hours of scrapbooking yesterday (Sat.) and the day flew by! I came home for lunch briefly. Samuel did great and I got 13 pages done in Geneva's baby book. There were about one thousand women in the hall all working on their albums.
SPRING IS NEAR
In four days it will be March. I can just smell the mud and in it, flowers waiting to spring forth! The kids are just aching to take their shoes off and go barefoot in the yard again. I suspect Leandra may have already done it and the snow is not even all melted yet.
Fare ye well.
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Feb. 19, 2007 - Happy President's Day - Having a meltdown
The news from Bethelbrook is in need of being updated! ICE POND Today is President’s Day and we finished our half day of school this morning so the kids could go out and enjoy the snow/ice before the big meltdown. Well, by way of walkie-talkie, I just heard that the kids and David arrived at the pond (on adjacent property – neighbors gave us permission to use it) and there is a big puddle of water out there on their ‘rink’. They have done a LOT of shoveling to make it fit for skating. We bought skates for all the kids that didn’t have any and they have had a blast skating this past week! It is Geneva’s first year to skate and with all her roller blading in the basement, she took to the ice skates beautifully. COLDEST AND LATEST DATE ON RECORD Last night after the kids were in bed, David and I went up and had a ‘Skate Date’. The stars were beautiful, Crosley came and ‘protected’ us from the coyotes (not) and David brought the lantern to illuminate the ice. We skated hand in hand in the frigid night and I have to say, it was rather romantic. We got back to the house and enjoyed adult conversation (without interruption!) over Brie, crusty French bread, paté, fruit and a bit of wine. SNOWTIME! The past couple of weeks have been beautiful with the snowfall. This week the landscape turned icy and the trees just glisten in the sunlight. This is my idea of winter and I am loving it! It is so bright and clean compared to the grey/brown drabs of winter without the snow. The kids have been great shoveling the driveway in teams and one day, when Victoria realized that she wouldn’t be able to shovel up the layer of ice, she put on her skates and went gliding around the driveway as if it were a skating rink! I got it on video. THAT’S SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY! Since our Blessed Margaret Valentine’s party had to be postponed because of snowy roads, and the original hostess, Kathryn, had a sick child the day she planned to have the alternate date (two days later), the Ulmers got to host the party here! The kids exchanged candy/cards, we made heart cut-out cookies (NOT something I do very often), Victoria made balloon animals for the kids and Leandra made original drawing coloring books for the little girls. Geneva, for one, was thrilled with hers. They came out so cute! Geneva had to win the prize this year for the "Most Valentine’s Produced" category. She just loves to express her affection with paper and markers and stickers! David took us all out to Der Dutchman for Valentine’s Day and we enjoyed the beautiful drive and yummy meal. However, I must say, every time we go out to eat, we always say "Why do we even go anywhere other than Golden Corral?". The selection and price and quality of food is just way beyond anywhere we ever try. Actually, that’s usually the only place we go and Der Dutchman was not enough to tempt us to try them again. David took the opportunity to remind everyone that it was a "Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!" this year. Valentine and Patrick made it to the American calendar but there is a saint to celebrate every day of the church year! We read the story (there are several versions) of Valentinus at our Blessed Margaret party and it always strengthens our faith to read of the men and women who valued Christ more than their own lives! OTHER LITTLE NEWS Our first 4-H meeting is Tuesday and Sylvia and Victoria are cranking out handouts for the meeting – Recycle Contest, Fundraiser, Estimated Expenses. Sylvia did well on her report card and survived her semester. Victoria is having a great time corresponding with a very faithful new pen pal, Ellyn. The K4J (Kids for Jesus) virtue of the month is "Be a Hero" (is that a virtue?) and the kids go around catching people doing good and putting a sticker on their back that says "you've been graced!". I figured out how to make pay-online "click-n-ship" package labels (will she ever go to the Post Office again?) and was rather proud of myself. Our dinner plans with the Rineharts fell through (bummer), we finished our fourth NFP class series of our teaching career, and we are plodding along with our school. John is now increasingly interested in letters and storytelling. He even wrote out a story with an illustration! He used all I’s, O’s, and H’s to write his story but he read it to me and it was very interesting! Little stick man illustration 4 year-old style (head- with face- and legs only). Sam is following us all around with the big pleading eyes holding a book and saying "Read?" He is also saying "C’est chaud" (It’s hot in French), ‘Bad’, ‘help’, nigh-night (or the French version ‘Do-Do’) and so many other things that I can’t remember them! I can’t think of anything else except news even littler than the above and I won’t bore you with that! Thanks for reading. May God Bless you for your fortitude.
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Feb. 4, 2007 - Two weeks minus two days since my last post
Bethelbrook Update:
After a very fine afternoon nap (the kids watched Jungle Book 2) with little Sammy snuggled by me on the couch, I am ready to continue the pleasantness of the day by writing an update. Thank you Victoria for watching Sam!
Victoria enters the working world
Victoria started her job as Mother's helper to a church family with three young children (3, 2 and newborn). Sylvia was doing this but her school work has taken up so much time and Victoria seems to have more free time. Victoria's response after getting her first paycheck was, "I think I should be helping them for free". I guess she helps HER mom for free all week and wonders why helping another mom should be any different. Just an example of her servant's heart!
A weekend of dining with friends
The last weekend in January was full of good fellowship. Friday night we gathered at the Farrs for our monthly family dinner with Blessed Margaret. Lasagne (got to get that really good meatless recipe!), salad, bread. MMM. The kids all have a blast in the big basement and all the adults enjoy good conversation. It's been so good to have Christi back to Blessed Margaret and seeing her at Mass, too, has done my heart good!
Saturday we attended Mass with the Gallivans at their church in Dayton (Ascension) before going to their home for our monthly pancake dinner. It has been several months since our last time to get together since Cub Scouts started (Sept.). It's always good to compare NFP notes, encourage one another in our apostolate/ministry and see the kids enjoy one another's company so much. Samuel enjoyed getting his Christmas gift from his godparents and didn't even mind that it was past Christmas!
Sunday after church, the Piovesans came for a Raclette dinner. Naomi (11), since celebrating Leandra's birthday one year with this specialty cheese dinner, has mentioned it often and it was a real pleasure to share the last of our half wheel of cheese with someone who loves it so much! We lingered all afternoon talking and had a wonderful visit with each other. David says that lingering is a big part about what he is going to love about heaven and I agree!
A visit to the nursing home
Thirty residents at the local Wilmington nursing home were waiting for our Blessed Margaret group when we arrived. Though I planned for this event late (called Monday to see if we could come Wednesday!) it worked out so nicely. Some of the presentations included: reciting Psalm 1(Elizabeth), Psalm 2 (Patrick) and Psalm 100 (the Forsyth kids), singing Jesus loves me, reciting a poem (Geneva), playing the bells (Ulmer kids), singing Twinkle, Twinkle, little star (and then the alphabet song which of course has the same tune), piano music from Elizabeth, Patrick, Victoria, Riley (his debut solo was Joyful, Joyful we adore thee) and Leandra who accompanied the juggling trio (Patrick, Victoria and Riley) with The Entertainer. I probably forgot something, but as you see it was a good effort by the kids. I only wish I could have found a karaoke machine or some kind of sound system to amplify the kids' voices. Ah, next year I'll start looking for one a little sooner!
After all the presentations, we made Valentine's hearts together and this really helped everyone to mingle and get to know one another. Some played cards, told jokes and just hung out. I felt really blessed after this afternoon. "Refresh others and you yourself will be refreshed", Solomon wrote. Have to agree with that!
My Mom & Dad know about refreshing the elderly and infirmed because they go often to the nursing home to minister with their pastor. My Dad's cousin is in this nursing home and my Dad has been so faithful to take care of him. I'm really proud of them for their hearts to serve. Mom does a lot of the work for the church finances, making care packages for the college students, entertaining at home and so many other things to encourage and help in the body of Christ!
Hatfields leaving?!
Sad to think of it, but our good friends, the Hatfields are in the final stages of selling their house. Matt has been traveling over an hour to work each way and though they would like for him to get a different job, it may end up being out of state, and they are probably going to rent a place closer to his work. Cindy and the kids came Friday for dinner and then their oldest girls, Meredith and Morgan, stayed overnight. They watched 'Time Changer', played 'scrolls of nonsense', Mennonite Madness, Catch Phrase and had treats and snacks till long after Mom went to bed. The family will probably move sometime in April. Their adorable baby Grant (2 months) smiled and cooed like a 4 month old and Cindy said he has been doing it for a while. Sad to think we'll miss seeing him grow up (though they BETTER come visit!)
This weekend & Sunday School
This weekend has been marvelously uneventful. I didn't even write the 'Thank You' note or make the apple dessert that I was planning to. Sunday School (PSR) was interesting this morning. We are talking about the Beatitudes and when we got to "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven", we started talking about the martyrs. Some were shocked to find out that the Romans fed the Christians to the lions for entertainment and that all the disciples were eventually martyred for their faith. One kid said that if he were asked to profess Christ or die he would lie and cross his fingers behind his back. I remember being a grade school kid and wondering if I could die for my faith. Our reluctance to die for the Lord surely shows how far we have to go before we value Jesus above our very lives.
What else?
Sylvia's report card should arrive in the mail this week. It will be a testament to all the hard work she has done adjusting to the heavy load in high school!...Victoria got her portrait done this week...David starts his new schedule this week (3 twelve-hour nights on Monday, Tuesday and Friday)...the kids have really been impressing me with their cleaning up lately...4-H meetings will start soon (no chickens again?)...Valentine's are being created...my big scrapbook day (13 hours!) is coming up at the end of the month and I'm wanting to get all those photos ready - will I finish Geneva's baby book?...we're planning to meet with the Rineharts next Saturday for dinner...I'm thinking of doing a daily family Latin lesson during the season of Lent (how's that for sacrifice :*)- I got the beginner Latina Christiana which Riley did (five meetings worth, anyway) during co-op last semester...David's brother, Jeff and their family are dealing with a teacher who is assigning books for literature that are promoting the homosexual lifestyle (pray for them)...Samuel is doing high fives and saying 'Dude'! (Victoria taught him) and it is hilarious.
Can't think of anything else for now. I appreciate you coming to my blog to catch up on the news! Talk to you in a couple of weeks.
Linda
