Fresh Start Monday!

April 15, 2008

The beginning of another week! Time to start over again - fresh and ready to face the world, right? Whatever!

Saturday Elizabeth, Michael and I went to my uncle’s funeral. The funeral was tough, but I saw so many family members - some that I had not seen in years! The church, where my aunt and uncle attend had a luncheon, for the family, before the funeral. We got there about 11:00 and the funeral started at 2:00, so we had a lot of time to visit with family and that part was great!

My uncle was such a sweet, loving man who had given his life to God many years ago. He was a great example for others. He and his wife were married in 1944 and have four sons, their wives and nine grandchildren. He will definitely be missed.

Saturday evening, Elizabeth was hosting a baby shower for one of her daycare moms. She had already changed the time from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and then when my uncle died, it was changed to 5:00 pm. We didn’t go to the cemetery because we knew we would not be able to make it back in time to finish the errands we needed to finish and be ready for the shower at 5:00. Of course, you can never plan for delays.

We left the funeral, in Maysville, and got on the highway about 3:00. Two hours later we were arriving in Purcell - about 12 miles distance! The highway was backed up - at a standstill most of the time because of road work (which by the way we never did see any work happening!). So, of course, instead of getting home by 3:30, 3:45 as we had planned, we did not walk into the house until 5:20! All of the guests arrived before we did!

Luckily, Elizabeth has a great husband and she had him doing the things that she and I had planned to do when we got home. She also had the help of her friend/neighbor and even Addy’s Daddy. By the time we got home most things had been done, but I still had to fix the appetizer I had planned because there was no recipe which meant I was the only one who could do it. The friend/neighbor chopped all the veggies I needed to put in it, so that saved a lot of time. The shower was a success - even with all the issues! Thank you, Lord, for understanding friends!

Sunday, I went to a church I had not attended before. I really like the service and the mission of the church and am sure I will be going again. Sunday the sermon was on “giving”. Not always the best sermon for guests, but this time it was okay. They are working on funding a ministry for children and adults with disabilities and a building for handling those with special needs - classroooms, restrooms, etc. I thought it was a great idea and one that is needed today. They already have a program called “gifting and lifting”, which really touched my heart.

One of the women in the church came forward with her son, who is a special needs adult (not sure if it was an injury or illness), but he also spoke. He works every Sunday passing out the bulletin to members and guests as they come into the building. His mother asked him why he did this and he answered, “Because everyone needs to know how much God loves them.”

His mother spoke about having to have someone stay at home each worship service because she and her husband, physically, were not able to lift their son and his wheelchair into their truck to transport him to church. The man in charge of the new ministry called her one day and asked if it would be all right if he came by and lifted her son and his chair for them so they could attend church together . . . As a family! Since that time, they always have someone who comes by and makes sure Caleb gets lifted into the truck and is able to take his place as “greeter” when the doors open at the church building. How awesome is that! I can’t imagine a ministry worth more than that!

I meet with Julie tonight. Tomorrow night is my Stress Management group and I will be moving over the weekend. It’s going to be a busy week!

In His Love and Blessings
annb