UhOh

UhOh ... I can't remember my last post! I'm sure it was before Christmas and I'm afraid I may have been whining :-( I was not feeling well for a while, but antibiotics have brought me around and I'm good to go! Good thing, too!

We had a very nice Christmas, with no baking done on my part (I rested a lot) but the tree got trimmed and the presents (bought through Amazon, mostly, 'cause I couldn't shop) were wrapped on time!

Christmas Eve found us at church with Bill and I along with two teens doing a comedic skit on travelers stranded on Christmas Eve (that told the Christmas story in a wonderfully funny way) and then singing in the choir's cantata. I'm so glad I was well enough to participate in all of it! We also had the Children's choir sing with us on a few numbers and they performed a couple of songs with hand bells. The brass ensemble started us off and the praise team finished us up with silent night, everyone holding a candle in the darkness. Praise be to God for His unspeakable gift!

Two days after Christmas, Bill and I headed for Lancaster Co with our 10 year old granddaughter to take in two presentations at Sight and Sound Theatre ... what a super time! She was quite taken by the performances and loved seeing the horses trot right up the aisle. I heard her actually exclaim "OH!" out loud when the first angel showed up in the air overhead during "Miracle of Christmas." ... She loved the music and prefered the CD of that show over "Voices of Christmas" which were familiar carols. She surprised me!

We ate a lot ... too much... at Millers and Hershey Farms but our favorite place was the Bird-in- Hand Bakery; too scrumptious to talk about here as I would drool on the keyboard!

Something new: Found many Amish riding on large wheeled scooters ... very intersting things that can move almost as fast as a bicycle since the wheels are larger than traditional scooters.

Stayed at the Sleep Inn in Ronks that borders on farmland ... perfect for this country girl!

Time for bed ...way too tired for typing and afraid my spelling may have suffered. I already checked to make sure my "wrapped presents" were indeed, wrapped and not warpped. Good night all ... have a safe New Year's Eve.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This AM Mom Pitcher called to see if I would like to have lunch with her, Dad and Aunt Doris ... oh, yeah! What a great day! We met at Michael's, a very nice restaurant around the corner from The Red Lion Inn and enjoyed eating, talking, talking and talking! Amazing how fast the time went by ... but it did and we had to say our goodbyes. Aunt Doris will be leaving this week to spend the winter in California .. a much nice climate for her to spend the winter in. Her family lives there and she is sure to have a great time! God speed, Aunt Doris, and we'll see you in the spring!

A crisp, cold night here in NY and we spent some time in a live Nativity for the village of Northville :-) It's one of the few towns left that encourage this type of participation .. of course, it helps to have a Christian on the board for the Association! It's more of a "tableau" where we are "frozen in time" at the stable and not really acting. But it's fun to listen to parents as they explain to their children who all the characters are. Not quite in keeping with the Biblical account, we also have 3 wise men at the stable, though they really appeared later, after they saw the star and traveled "to the house" where the young child was. But nevertheless, I was a shepherd, Bill was a wiseguy and we managed to stifle our shivering for 30 minutes!

We were able to warm up by the bonfire afterwards with some hot cocoa and cookies but didn't stick around long enough to watch them turn the lights on the Christmas tree. The best pizza in town was calling me ... we enjoyed eating and then wandered back to where we parked our car at our church. A delightful evening.

Thankfulness (cont'd)

There are so many things to be thankful for: My church family, who being far from perfect, is quick to pray and help out on a moment's notice; not because they have to, or it's expected but because they genuinely care for one another. There are some who come to church to "get something out of the sermon" but many come simply to worship with others of like faith.

We have a senior pastor that is so in tune with the things of God, desiring to serve, he can barely pull himself away from work, even if he is sick! I love his dedication. He is such an example for the rest of the flock. These same things can be said of our Associate Pastor, too! He is such a man of character. The two of them work well together.

The deacons and trustees are a trustworthy group of men, ready to act and quick to fix things that are troubling. We have deaconesses who serve the Lord so willingly and many have no clue what they even do! It was assumed I was a deaconess one day, and I was quick to say no (I'm not) but I was very flattered. It would be an honor but it should never be taken lightly. I would have to pray about it because there are duties that need to be done and a right heart with the right time needs to be present... not left over time given grudgingly after a busy day.

If you have church family like this, be sure to thank your leaders! If you DON'T have a church family like this ... maybe YOU are the one God's been waiting for! So, start something :-)