Spring Youth Camp

Our youth group always has their camps Memorial Day & Labor Day weekends. Sarah & David have gone, & so have Dan, Aaron & Andrew. Dave was in for the weekend & went down to camp Saturday & I decided to join him for the day Sunday. It was a gorgeous weekend & a beautiful drive down to Windy Ridge Camp.

When I got there Aaron comes running up to me & told me that I should have been there the night before, because the prayer meeting was awesome! He said that people got healed, that the power of the Holy Spirit was really moving. I was really excited. For my son to greet me with that as the 1st thing out of his mouth (then Andrew rushed up & said the same thing) means that God had really made an impression on him.

The speaker was a long time friend of mine, Jimmy Kotow (actually we are older members of this youth group). He has been holding meetings at Harriet's farm since the reunion camp last Memorial Day. God meets us each time (& it always amazes me that He moves in different ways too). That is something that I have learned in my walk with God, that He is unique in each & every prayer meeting I've ever been to. You are always wondering, what's He going to do next! Anyway, I was asked by several people to stay for the evening prayer meeting, so I stayed.

Let me back up a bit. Jim was teaching the kids about Who the Holy Spirit is. A lot of these kids hadn't heard these things before. So it was all exciting for them to learn about the 3rd Person of the Trinity. Earlier that day, I asked a friend, Casey, who brought her youth group to catch me up on the teachings. So she shared her notes with me.

That night the Lord really moved! First of all, worship was really good! Dave joined Tommy Whitfield who lead worship. He has such an anointing to for worship. Then Jim prayed for those who wanted a touch from the Holy Spirit, many went up. He prayed for each one. At some point he explained salvation & then asked who wanted to be saved. Four responded! Then it was group hug time! Jim then explain what it was to serve the Lord & be called to serve Him, giving Harriet & Brent as an example. I think just about everyone responded to that call! I was sooo surprised, because you usually get a few committed ones, but they all went up! Wow! We didn't head home until 11pm.

My younger sons have been talking about camp ever since they came home. (Dave went back to VA.) Besides all the wonderful spiritual things, they had a good time with each other. They played sports all through free time. And stayed up discussing spiritual stuff at night. And Harriet's cooking was good as usual! I'll post a few pictures, but check out Dan's blog & Aaron's as well.

Getting ready to leave, everyone gathered for prayer.Guy talk.

A friendly game of tag-football

Harriet fixing dinner

Taste testing

Helping in the kitchen

LaQuandra had services after dinner. She did a wonderful job!

Harriet tried to take pictures.
But then she asked David to do it!

A Praise Report!

Carissa's grandmother pulled through surgery just fine! In fact, what should have taken 6 1/2 hours to perform only took 2 1/2 hours! The doctors were amazed! They said that she could have died, but the Lord had more for her here! God is so good! Thank you all for your prayers!!!!

Update on Carissa's grandma

I talked to Carissa this evening & she said that her grandma will be going in for open heart surgery to fix an anyerism in her heart that is enlarging. She is in a place that specializes in this kind of surgery & hers is set for Thursday, so please continue to pray for her.

Prayer Request

Please pray for Carissa's grandma. She is having heart trouble. Her mom & all her aunts flew down to Texas to be with her.

New addition to the Prayer Room

Dan finished the drawing on the back wall of the Prayer Room.
I wanted to show you it.

The room is coming along. I still have stuff yet to accomplish.
But here is what it looks like so far.
I am hoping to get a permanent cross where the other was & put Jer. 33:3 above the woman.

It has been neat to watch as the Lord has been using this room dedicated to Him. We have had a week of prayer, an election prayer time, & had the room open for the National Day of Prayer. The testimonies are neat, mostly about how you can definitely feel the Presence of God there. And word is starting to get around that it's there & it's open for anyone who wants to come & pray. I will continue to update you on the room.

Carissa's Bridal Shower

We just came back from a marvelous weekend in Michigan for Carissa's bridal shower. Dave & Carissa came up last Thursday & we joined them for the rest of the trip on Friday. We are the halfway point.


When we arrived, we went straight to the school where Carissa's mother, Caryn, works as the elementary principal to help set up & decorate. It was so fun getting to know the ladies there & to watch the school cafeteria be transformed into a lovely place for Carissa's shower.






This table was "Shower Central" where all the crafting was taking place.










This wonderful lady is Carissa's grandma.

Dave is setting the tables.

I love it when a plan comes together! Ta da! The finish product...

After we were done for the evening, we went back to Carissa's parents house where we were staying. I felt like we were staying at the finest Bed'n'Breakfast in town! Caryn & George spoiled us.

THE DAY of the SHOWER:

The morning of the shower arrived & we were ready to go. The guys stayed to help. We arrived early to for the final touches.

Carissa was beautiful! Then the ladies began to arrive. The tables were covered in beautifully wrapped gifts. The 1st thing, Carissa answered questions about their relationship.

Caryn's assistant, Beth, spoke to us while we ate about marriage weaving in cute little stories, & ending it with a great poem of a wife's devotion to the Lord.

Dave & Carissa with the cake.


Caryn explains how the bingo game works before Carissa starts opening gifts.


Then came the opening of the gifts.

This is Carissa's maid of honor, Amy.
She wrote down the gifts.













And this is her bridesmaid, Lindsay.
She handed her the gifts.

These little darlings are her flower girls.

Dave was called in to help speed up the process.

Thank you Grandma Kregenow for the towel sets.

Thank you Sally for the book & frame.

Beautifully handmade quilt!

Dave & Carissa were so greatful for everyone who made this shower a success!

A picture with the moms.

It was a wonderful whirlwind weekend! We so enjoyed staying with the Huntsmans & getting to know them a little better. David picked a pretty special girl to have as his bride. Now on to the wedding!

Quote

I lay my "whys?"
before Your cross
in worship kneeling,
my mind beyond all hope,
my heart beyond all feeling;
and worshipping,
realize that I
in knowing You,
don't need a "why?"
- Ruth Bell Graham

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding.
- Proverbs 3:5

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my family & friends who are mothers!

Rosalie

A very dear friend of ours went on to be with the Lord tonight. It has been hard saying good bye! Rosalie's ministry affect each & every person in my family. She was Scott & my youth leader & mentor, she was our choir director in days gone by. More recently she was my kids' (every one of them) piano teacher, & our church pianist. After every lesson we would get into discussions about the Lord. She has helped me through very difficult times, sorting out my thoughts, listening while I cried. She struggled for years with a rare disease (that I can't even pronounce) which attacked her vital organs. She survived many near death experiences. But when she had the heart attack & the surgery that followed, it was one more thing her body couldn't handle. She spent 55 days in the hospital struggling for life in the cardiovascular unit. I know she is now completely healed & is gazing upon the face of our Lord, but she has left a hole & will be greatly missed!

Beryle

Another dear friend of ours died a little over a week ago. He suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years. Beryle & Dorothy Sweet lived next door to us in Pleasant Hills. They helped us move into that house & we became fast friends. Sarah & David loved going over to their house. They would greet him when he came home from work. I would visit Dorothy to yak, sometimes we sit on their porch. Scott & Beryle would help each other with house projects. Shortly after we moved to our present house, they moved to Florida. We missed them terribly when they did, but we kept in contact with each other. Dorothy's daughter called a couple of weeks ago to tell me that Beryle had gone to the hospital & they didn't expect him to live. Immediately I called & kept up with what was going on. It wasn't a week later & Nancy called me again at the passing of her Dad. Thank you Beryle for being such a good friend! You will be greatly missed!

This Week with Alyssa & Kia

We had a wonderful visit with Alyssa & Kia who stayed at our house while their parents traveled. It was good to have girls in the house again & we so enjoyed our time with them! I took many pictures but I will show only a few.

Each morning Kia would get on webkinz.com to feed her dogs.
She knows what she's doing.Kia joined us in our Bible study.
Afterwards, she would cover Dan in pillows & sit on him.
Kia says, "Time for group hugs!"
Watching Andrew practicing, then joining him.













She helped me cook & clean.
Then she loved to play in the bubbles.
I was weeding the asparagus bed &
Kia was rescuing some of the casualities - the wild violets.
She found some dandelions.
We picked flowers for mom & Dad.
Kia is watching Andrew play with her gameboy.
While they were with us Alysssa had her 16th birthday.
Many people blessed her with gift, cards, & cakes.
Sally Campbell made this one & boy was it good!Here she is taking pictures of the spring flowers.
She's a good photographer!
Happy Sweet 16th Birthday, Alyssa!