Tribute to a terrific lady!!!

This is the wonderful Mrs. Shanks... my son Adam's 2nd grade teacher.


Mrs. Shanks

Here is a copy of his class picture two years ago.


Today we had a really neat thing happen. We knew the burial service was going to take place on the road directly across the street from our house. So, the kids in our building decided to make a GIANT sign (the one posted just before this post). We put it up, and waited. The funeral procession came by, and the children and parents from our building stood respectfully on the side of the road watching. Many of the family members waved to the children. I don't think any of them saw the sign, because it was back a bit from the road where we were standing. When it was over, we went inside. It got dark outside. Suddenly there was a knock on the front door of our building. It was Mrs. Shanks' sister and her husband. They were leaving the cemetary, and at the stop sign were facing directly toward our building. The outside light was on behind the sign, illuminating it like a spotlight. They were so moved. They stopped and asked us if they could HAVE the sign! They wanted to present it to the family at the gathering they were headed to. The children were surprised. They had never met Mrs. Shanks' sister. And here she was giving them hugs... it was like they were being hugged one last time by Mrs. Shanks herself! How neat! For ME, it brought closure and healing. Hopefully it did some of that for the children as well. Anyway, I just HAD to share that. I think I will sleep peacefully tonight. Thanks for reading my blog... it makes me feel like I am connecting with people. In this terribly DIS-connected society, that is just so vital! Feel free to leave me comments anytime! Good night! :)

Sad goodbye and happy celebration

Well, it's been a rough week, but the ability of people to pull together in times of crisis is nothing short of amazing. Just wanted you to see a picture of the great big sign the children in our building made today.


In more happy news, yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We didn't get to go out due to circumstances surrounding all that has transpired here in town this week, but we will go out sometime in the next week or two. I know he loves me! :)

Have a blessed week, all.

Unfair

God never said that life would be fair. It's not. It rains on the just and the unjust. But when innocent life is taken because of another person's uncontrollable rage and stupidity, it infuriates. My heart is hurting in an unimaginable way. I've never experienced this kind of emotion. It is scary. It is hurting many people around me. But through it all... through this storm, the still, small voice of God speaks to me and says,

"I'm here. I'm the God of all comfort. I'm the God who speaks peace, and the storm is quieted within you. Within you.... not around you. Look to me. When your burdens are more than you can handle, lay them at my feet. My burden is light. Cast your cares on Me, for I care for you. You are my child and I love you. You must forgive. If you do not forgive, then I will be unable to forgive you your trespasses. Do not let hate and anger take root and become bitterness in your heart. Forgive."

Casting crowns sings a song that I like, but it has never had more intensely personal meaning to me than now.

I'll praise You in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.

copyright 2005 Casting Crowns - Reunion Records

Sunday musings

Okay... no pictures today. Today has been a blessing. I played the piano at church this morning. Those who know me well know that I struggle in this area. It was never a struggle when I was the lead musician. But now, I have to kill the flesh and lay down the attitude at the foot of the cross every time I am asked to play on a Sunday. I don't get it. It is a constant spiritual battle for me. Anyway, I crucified the attitude and we had a very nice time of praise and worship this morning. Then I went down to sit in on my husband's lesson to the teen class. It was excellent! He started off by asking this question.... "When the battle is over, will you still be standing? Will you still be standing FIRM?" The lesson was on the armor of God, and he had the teens involved and laughing. They were really relating, and really getting the visual images Jason was trying to get across to them. Well done, honey!! If it ministered to no one else, it ministered to ME!

Then this afternoon I took my boys to a birthday party. It was a pool party. It was pouring rain... POURING!!!! But they didn't care! In the pool they went! LOL! I went home and typed up 16 pages of my music notebook. It is a seemingly endless task!

When I picked up my boys, I was going to whip up some quick box mac'n'cheese for them for dinner before church. But 30 seconds after I put the pan on the burner, the power went out. Power was out all over town! No one seems to know why. So much for mac'n'cheese. So the great Sandini offered to take us to McDs. Guess what? They had no power, also. Grrrr. So we stopped at Hannaford (they had no power, but were operating on generator power) and bought frozen dinners to throw in the microwave at church! Good thinking!

Tonight, my sister-in-law Stacy was in church for the first time since her emergency appendectomy. It was so great to see her! I took her 3 year old son Michael to sit with me so she could relax and focus on the message. I'm sure it was a good message..... I forgot how you totally miss everything when you have a small child in the pew with you! LOL! I love that kid, though. This just goes to show me that I should not take the good behavior of my older children for granted! After church, everyone hung around for a long time, just wanting to fellowship and be together. No one really wanted to leave. Sandy came to our house and we listened to Pastor's message from this morning. It was EXCELLENT! I hope it gets put up on the church website in the audio library! It was about the Word being fruitful or unfruitful in your life due to the condition of the soil you give it to grow in. Wow. Deep stuff.

And now? It is very late. Time for bed. Tomorrow is my last day of summer vacation! I go back to work on Tuesday. YEEE HAAA! Income! I love my job. I am ready to go back.

Countdown? 35 days till 40! *sigh*

Thunderbirds and cell phone money making schemes

Today was TONS of fun! We went to the waterfront in Burlington to watch the USAF Thunderbirds perform in an airshow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the VT Air National Guard. They were phenomenal! My husband took a couple of short video clips of them doing their formation flybys using his cell phone camera. I was GOING to post them here. HOWEVER, I have discovered one of the evil schemes that cell phone companies employ to get your money. The file format is something called .3g2 . A-hem. NO ONE recognizes that format, thank you very much. You have to buy the cell phone company's special software (to the tune of about $200) to convert the file over to something recognizable, like .mp3 or .avi. or .wav . SO.... since I can't post the video footage, I will post a couple of pics borrowed from the internet so that you can at least imagine the awesomeness of what we experienced today!








We'll be going again tomorrow with the cub scouts, but it won't be nearly as great as today. The weather today could not have been better! Tomorrow is supposed to be very cloudy with thunderstorms in the afternoon (show is at 4pm.... hmmmmm). Oh well. We capped off our day with another swim at the pond we went to yesterday (see pics in previous post). What a nice day! The Lord is so good to us. The United States truly is the greatest nation on earth. America, America, God shed His grace on Thee!

Fun family day hike

Today was an awesome day! The weather was PERFECT.... I mean PERFECT! Mid 70's, very light breeze, lots of sun, a few puffy white clouds... it doesn't get any better for a hike with the family! We packed a picnic lunch and headed out to a wonderful little spot in our community that I had never been to before in 15 years of living here! After going today, I can't IMAGINE why I've never been here! It's awesome! Take a look at some of the pictures of our day....



Nick at the pond


Adam ready to hike


Mom at the pond


Dad by the pond


peaceful and serene setting


Adam and Nick on a rock


watching a crayfish eat a dead fish


stop for lunch at a campsite


Hydrate hydrate hydrate!


cap off the hike with a dip in the water!

Now get this.... neither of the boys wanted to go on this hike... esp. Nick. He threw one of his classic temper tantrums and we practically had to carry him to the truck. But once we got there... here's just some of what we saw...

• a great blue heron
• bullfrogs and toad galore
• fish
• crayfish
• cute yellow fuzzy catepillar
• a garter snake (a first for Nick)
• a monarch catepillar

They also used their newly acquired skills from cub scout camp to identify poison ivy along the trail, hemlock, and various species of ferns. It was cool. They even want to go back tomorrow (for just the swimming, I suspect). What a nice way to wind down the summer! God is good. How wonderful that He gave us this beautiful creation to enjoy. Thank you!

40 day countdown

And so it begins.... the final countdown. Forty days until I turn

God, please help me to have a positive attitude about this. It's JUST A NUMBER!

Cub scout camp pictures

Well, as promised, here are some pictures. They are fun!













This is Adam carrying the flag during opening ceremony.
















This is Nick and Teddy doing clean-up duty in the dining hall.














Singing and making noise at meal time. It doesn't have to be good, IT JUST HAS TO BE LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!















Nick the viking...ARGH!
















Adam thoroughly enjoying the blueberry pancake breakfast! Mmmm!














Nature class




















Adam in archery class















Adam and Nick shooting BB guns















Nick's first time shooting a bow and arrow.



Adam and Nick aboard "The Mighty Phyllis"... viking ship extraordinaire!

The boys had a GREAT time! It was Nick's first time away from Mom for any length of time, which was hard for him. But by the third day he was handling it pretty well. Adam just had a ball with friends, and shooting, and shooting, and shooting, and swimming, and shooting....

I'm a viking!!!!

Okay, okay... I couldn't resist the urge to post this AWESOME picture of our pack! They were a hoarde of vikings... argh! The sea worthy vessel behind them (that you can't see very well) is "The Mighty Phyllis". What a crew! (Click on picture to enlarge)

Ben's blog and cub scout camp

TAKE TWO!!!! AAAHHHHH! Somehow, I hit enter, and totally wiped out my whole long post, and I am NOT happy about it. I'll try to remember all of what I wrote, but I am not sure I'm in the mood to retype all that stuff!

Anyway, you must go over and check out my brother-in-law Ben's blog at www.benjammin.livedigital.com . His new post is about getting out of the boat. It is excellent! Whatever I wrote about it before, I don't remember, so just go read it for yourself, and let him know what you think.

I thoroughly enjoyed my week without the boys! My friend Sandy and I hung out together the whole week... it was cool. That girl makes AWESOME smoothies! Today, I went down to cub scout camp to hang for the day and bring the boys home. It was really fun! So neat to see them doing things they don't normally get to do (archery, shooting BB guns, sailing on the ship "The Mighty Phyllis" *long story* which was a raft constructed out of 320 2-liter bottles, etc). There was a hint of testosterone in the air! Definitely a "guy" thing. There were very few moms doing the camp thing... only the brave and tomboyish! LOL! Not my thing. Tonight, they are thrilled to be sleeping in their OWN beds. I will be up half the night washing/drying/repacking all their stinky, nasty clothes, so we can head off to Maine in the morning. I am looking forward to surprising my aunt and uncle at their 40th anniversary party. I am looking forward to seeing my grandparents again, and my sister. I am looking forward to worshipping God with the saints at the Portsmouth, NH church. I am NOT looking forward to the 3 1/2 hour drive, because I am sure to hear them all singing camp songs the whole way there! AHHHH! There is one cool one, though. It's about a bird called an agga-flagga fleega-flagga ishka-nishka nogga nogga bir-r-r-r-r-r-die! That one is fun.

Okay, time to post before I lose this second entry attempt! I'll post cub scout camp pictures next week once I'm home from Maine. Have a nice weekend!

Tout fini!

This is just a quick post... it's late, I've got to be up EARLY to go to cub scout camp and watch my boys in the raft race! What a wonderfully relaxing week this has been for me. My house is C-L-E-A-N!!!!! My awesome friend Sandy (the great Sandini) was here every single night this week, helping me clean and just keeping me company. I sure appreciated ALL of it! Tonight was the crowning achievement! We (Ben) put up two shelves in the boys room, threw out a bunch of stuff, reorganized the closet, the shelves over the dresser, the dresser top, etc. etc. etc. NO SMALL TASK! But it looks so fabulous! We celebrated by having some of Sandy's famous smoothies (mmmmmmm!). Strawberry/Blueberry... made with apple juice. Tasty! TIME FOR BED! Can't wait to see ALL my guys tomorrow!

Rebecca's Journey

I have a dear friend named Rebecca. She and I met when she moved to VT from MD with the Lyon family to help them start a home missions church in Burlington, VT. She is so much fun, and so kind... and I want to share something very exciting with you! She has been on a weight loss journey since March 1st of this year, and I just want to document her astonishing progress so far! I am extremely proud of her!!!! You rock, girl!


Before the journey... Rebecca and Sis. Lyon


The beginning of the journey... March 1, 2006.



Rebecca and her doctor at her 3 month check-up/weigh-in.


Rebecca and her doctor at her 6 month checkup/weigh-in.



Rebecca and Champ last week (Aug.4th).



This is a powerful visual... she is holding 100 pounds of food at the grocery store... equivalent to the weight she has lost. This is how much extra weight she used to carry around on her all the time. WOW!!!!

She's not done yet... she still has about 100 pounds more to go. God has given her amazing grace!!! Phil. 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

Warren

This post is a tribute to my friend and classmate, Warren Seward, who left this life last week. I found a couple pictures of him from our 20th class reunion in 2004, and I wanted to share them with you all. He was 42.

Warren, you will be missed tremendously by your classmates!


This is Warren hangin' with the girls!

(Cheryl, Laurie, Sam, Patty, and Warren)


This picture was taken at the reunion.

Dead ants, dead ants, dead ants....

See this gross picture? This is a pic from the internet, however, this is what my kitchen looked like today. We are under attack! I killed probably 700 or more ants on my kitchen counter alone. After that, I tried to find their entry point. I lifted the carpet by my back door, and found about 400-500 MORE ants scurrying for cover. Ahhhh! So... I went to the store and bought myself a small arsenal... borax, ant traps, hot shot ant killer spray that is supposed to work for 12 weeks (therefore, you do NOT spray countertops, tables, etc.). The Great Sandini (my adopted daughter... hee hee) was here to help me. She is the one who stopped me from spraying my counter with the 12 week killer spray (good thing someone read the label!!!) She also saved my fish Toby because I forgot to close the bedroom door, and the label says, "Cover aquariums before spraying". Duh. My boys would never forgive me if they came home from cub scout camp to find that mom had killed Toby with ant spray. Anyway, I will keep you abreast of the war against ants. I have the creeps so bad. Every time the smallest thing brushes up against my arm, I think it is an ant crawling on me!

Today was a pretty laid back day. I did get the dishes done, but that is about it. It felt so good to know that I didn't HAVE to do anything if I didn't want to! But have no fear... I will have to do it eventually, so tomorrow sounds like a pretty good bet that I'll be cleaning out! *sigh*

Here is the official countdown...

23 days until school starts

48 days until I turn forty.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, time to go get into the Word. He is the answer to all my troubles... even ants. He grants me patience and builds character when I have to deal with things like that. And he laughs, I'm sure! In the words of Ken Davis...

ANGELS! C'MERE! HURRY!

LOOK AT THIS IDIOT!

Sandy and I watched one of his DVDs tonight and had a great laugh! God is the author of joy. He wrote in His word (Prov 17:22) "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." I may be getting old, but I refuse to let my bones dry up for lack of joy! God must weep when we wake up worrying about how to handle the stresses of the day, when all the time, His Word sits there beside our bed, holding all the answers, and we don't even take the time to read it and draw our strength from it. I'm guilty as charged many, many days. So I will sign off for now, and go spend time with my Friend!

Dumb

OK... it is 3:30 am and I am just getting home from Ben and Stacy's house. Perhaps this new found freedom from children isn't all it's cracked up to be? PSYCHE! Just kidding. Not about the time... it's really 3:30, but the girl talk and fellowship was TOTALLY worth it! At first I had a horrible time because of a phone call... we won't discuss that here. I cried until about 11pm. Then I just sat and listenend to conversation for a while, and finally was able to smile and laugh with everyone. After the multitudes left (about 20 or so of them) and Ben and the kids went to bed, there was just Stacy, Me, Sandy, Seana, Rebecca, and Crystal left... we sat in the living room talking about EVERYTHING you can imagine women talking about until 2:45... and we would have been there ALL NIGHT if I hadn't decided to GET UP and say, "It's time to go!!!!" So, I'm going to hit the sack, and I am going to sleep until about 11am or so. Good night! :)

C.U.F.F. Cancer

There is a local camp called Camp Ta-Kum-Ta here in Vermont. It is a camp where children with cancer can go and be normal kids for a week. It's an awesome place. For the past nine years, the law enforcement folks of VT have held a fund raiser called Cops United For Fighting Cancer (C.U.F.F. Cancer). They get sponsors and then get their heads shaved down to the skin (to look like the children when they lose their hair) down on Church Street in Burlington. It is awesome. This year they had 26 participants, and they raised over $16,000! Here are some pictures of Jason's shaving experience.


Banner


The "before" shot... with full head of hair.


Champ doing the honors.


Interview with WVMT... is this your first time? Nope!


Letting a professional finish the job... phase one.


Phase two... the shave!


Smooth as a baby's......

It was for a great cause, and ya know what? It'll grow back! So he can do it again next year! Thanks to all who supported him in this worthy cause! To learn more about Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, click here.

I had a dream...

I had a dream last night.

I was at church. We had a huge name evangelist at our church from down south. Nobody came. Our baptistry was not in the back, but it was in the front foyer, against the wall just to the right of the door into the sanctuary. I was so distraught that no one was there. I climbed into the tank (why? I have no clue). I sat there for a minute, then threw myself back in the water, and came up yelling, "HOW CAN WE REACH THEM? HOW CAN WE REACH THEM? There are BILLIONS of people LOST in this world, and you are on the verge of returning for your church. They won't even come to these services! How can we reach them?" Then the room started to spin, and I blacked out. Then I woke up. Crying. I prayed. Lord, I can't even reach my family and friends. How can we reach the whole world before you get back? It will have to be a divine move of the Lord to reach this many people.

At our life group leader's meeting Wednesday night, we spoke about boldness. One thing we all agreed to do was to invite a friend to come to church with us this Sunday. It is Saturday. Have I done it? NO! I need an infusion of Holy Ghost boldness like I've never had before! I need the courage to just DO IT!! Tell them! Invite them! My husband borrowed a line from Bro. Jeff Arnold, and put it on his screen saver on his laptop. It says:

The greatest ignorance is to reject that which you know nothing about.

People want nothing to do with God and church and religion, but if they really knew....

I have this incredible fear. It is the fear of standing with the Lord on judgement day. Standing there all safe behind his throne, knowing I am entering heaven for all eternity. And all the lost are coming before the throne one at a time... and my family and friends and co-workers, and neighbors, and acquaintances all see me standing there, and scream at me, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???????" I can reply one of two ways... 1. "I tried, but you wouldn't listen. You rejected my message of hope and truth and called me a religious freak." 2. "I'm sorry. I allowed fear of rejection to stop me from telling you."

God, please please give me a boldness that does not recognize fear. The scripture says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind." It also says that perfect love casts out fear. So many people call themselves Christians, but have not experienced the process of being born again that the Bible says is REQUIRED to enter in to the kingdom of heaven. It says that they will have a "form" of godliness but DENY the power thereof. Most Christian denominations will tell you that all you have to do is believe on the Lord and confess with your mouth, and you are saved. That is baloney! Because the Bible says that even the demons believe and tremble, and it also says that the demons, when Jesus walked the earth, said, "We know who you are... you are the Son of God." And Jesus told them to shut up and come out of the person they were tormenting. So just believing and confessing means that even the demons can be saved, which we know is not true. If this is tugging at your heart, and you recognize that this is your condition, please do not continue to reject that which you do not know. FIND OUT what this power is that will get you into heaven. It is called the power of the Holy Ghost. You will never ever regret experiencing this great truth for yourself! I know I am not perfect, and I have things about my life that still need changing (surrendering). But I know where I stand with God. My salvation experience lines up with the Word of God, and that is what we will be judged by on the day of judgement. Does your relationship with God line up with John 3: 3-5 and Acts 2: 38? Does it line up with the whole Word? Seek Him while He may be found! His return is very very close. Jesus said to his disciples... the one sign to look for regarding his return would be when the fig tree puts forth it's leaves. Jesus always was referring to the nation of Israel when he talked of fig trees. He was pointing to the day when Israel became a nation. May 15, 1948. He said when that happens know that I am very near... even at the door. It's been almost 60 years. He said "This generation shall not pass until all has been fulfilled." A generation . What is that? 60? 70 years? He is AT THE DOOR... waiting to take His bride, the church, home to the place he has been preparing for us for 2,000 years. COME LORD JESUS!

Relaxing day

This has been a most relaxing week. It is the first week all summer we've had NO PLANS at all. And I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It has been so hot, and we have pretty much lived in the lakes and the a/c. We went to my mom's camp on Tues, and spent yesterday and today in Lake Champlain keeping cool. Today at the lake, I saw several students from the school I work at. They were so funny! "Mrs. Ziter! What are you doing here??" as if I am not supposed to exist outside the walls of the school! LOL! Sunday, my 3 boys are headed off to cub scout camp, and I will be here ALONE in peace and tranquility for six glorious days! I can do what I want, when I want. Cooking? P-shaw! No such thing! No cooking, no dishes. Hee hee hee! Well, I will check in with you all later. Got to tend to my sons. And the Great Sandini is on the phone. Bye.