Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this last weekend of March.  The day of waiting.....for Resurrection Sunday.  Last night when we drove home from Good Friday Services our resident duck couple were sitting in our yard.  We greeted Debbie and Donnie Duck as we went inside.  Okay, so I don't really know their names, but it's fun to guess.  They come back every year.  Reminds me of what we just learned about Cardinals.  They usually mate for life and stick together.  The male often brings the female her food and feeds her.  How sweet is that.  We are seeing a few deer come through again.  Weatherwise, the winds have been high but the rain we got this past week has helped lessen the drought levels.  Grateful.

Speaking of grateful, this past Wednesday was my 6 mo. check up with the Oncologist.  It was an "everything looks good" report which is something to be grateful for!  Joel and I were talking later and realized I have been going to our cancer center for the past 8 1/2 years...from every 2-3 weeks, to 2-3 months, then 4 months and now every 6 months.  My first cancer challenge was in 2010, but it has been a steady connection in my life since August 2015.  I expect our car could get their by itself!   All in all I'm grateful to still be here!

It is Easter weekend.  I can't help but reflect on years past.  Joel's first call was to a 3 point parish in Medicine Lake MT.  Every Sunday he had church services in three different towns.  Medicine Lake was where the parsonage was with the church right across the street.  He had an office in a seperate small building on the church property. I used to help him print off the newsletters and bulletins for awhile.  It was 1980 so it was, if I recall correctly,  a mimeograph machine we used.  Messy, smelly, time consuming and took some energy! iBut it worked~  Preaching three times a Sunday was tiring, but after having Lent too, Joel would crash after Easter Sunday and need a few days to restore himself.  We enjoyed our short three years in Medicine Lake.  The congregations were filled with great people.  Good people. Every congregation having it's own personality.   Once in a while I check out church at Medicine Lake which is live streamed weekly.  We also check in at Our Saviour's online or in person here in town where Joel served 10 yrs.  So many opportunities to connect, remember, worship.

Joel has been busy finishing his second book.  I just finished reading and re-editing with him and I am excited and proud of his work.  I really like it!  Looking forward to sharing it in the next couple of weeks.  Still needing to get a new laptop to start working on mine....which seems to be going in slow-mo......

Joel has not been able to ride much, but has been working in the office.  He also made himself a TV TrayTable out of scraps of wood and even  refurbished screws and bolts.  It looks fantastic!  When he doesn't have a project, he creates one to keep him active!  No sitting around for him!  Well, until after supper.  Then it is porch or TV time.  We have been watching a few episodes of Murdoch, Death in Paradise, American Idol, and Northern Exposure.   I need to retract my statement that the Northern Exposure show is highly recommended by me.  It has A LOT of weird stuff and way too much PG sexual content.  I keep saying to Joel....did our kids WATCH THIS??  Did we watch this???  How did it stay on the air in 1990?!  We like the quirky content...it does make us laugh.  Sometimes we shake our heads and ask, should we be watching this?  

Tomorrow we will worship at our Easter church service in person.  Expect tonight we will worship at the Church of Hope 5pm live stream service.  Grateful for both.  Gratful for our freedom to worship.  I expect we will tune in and "parent stalk" our kids who will be at their own services or participating in them.  That makes us feel closer to them. I often ponder how our parents felt when we were off living our lives...did they get lonely?  Did this miss family being close? Of course we were the ones that were off on many adventures and moves across the country and world.  Most family stayed within driving distance.  I'm rambling.....

Today as I close, I want to express my gratitude for your encouragement and prayers over the years you have walked with us through our lives ....my health journey with cancer and beyond.  So grateful.  Grateful for our years in Medicine Lake MT.  The friends we made.  The people we met and served.  Those all who supported us.  Grateful for the privilege to live and serve in that NE part of the state where the winds blew and wheat grew and people relied on each other in so many ways.  Grateful for Easter and Jesus resurrection.  Grateful for JESUS coming to save us from our sins...rising on the third day!  Fulfilling God's promises.  So grateful.  Grateful for my daily walks, energy to do more.  Grateful for a "all looks good" bill of health!  Grateful for Joel's book getting finished.  And his new table.  Grateful for texts, phone calls, emails, prophetic words spoken, worship services online and in person.  Grateful for all this and so much more.

Enjoy your Easter weekend!