We had a very interesting day at my in-laws house today, and it was all thanks to this little guy right here.......
Yep, this little acetylene torch caused quite a commotion today. :)
I went up to help my sweet mom-in-law sort through her hundreds of books in the basement, as they are selling the condo and have to be out in less than 3 weeks. So, she and I were sorting the books into several boxes, while Jack was packing up his instrument repair tools, also in the basement with us. Suddenly, the CO/FIRE detector over our heads begins to beep, saying "WARNING: CARBON MONOXIDE. WARNING: CARBON MONOXIDE." So.... Julie begins to fan the detector, hoping this would clear it out and make it stop, like when you fan the smoke out. No. It keeps going and going. I say, "Julie, we need to leave the basement." After much coaxing, she finally agrees. We call the fire dept. They send the fire truck (see below...)
They bring in the meter. The reading (which should be ZERO) begins to beep like crazy. The reading is in the 60s ppm... not so good! The fire chief tells us, "You can't be in here." So, we stand around in the pouring rain for a while... then decide we are actually really hungry, as we have not had lunch yet (3:00 pm). So we go out to Zachary's for lunch. YUM! While we did not get the basement cleared out like we had hoped, we did have some adventure, nonetheless. The torch is now looking for a new place to be stored... NOT in the basement! Julie, it was fun , and I look forward to coming up again next week! LOL! I love you!!!!
I have been thinking a lot about our youth group. It's small. It's VERY small. In fact, it consists of 4 girls. And of those 4 girls, only 1 is totally serious about living for God.... maybe 2. That is disturbing. Disturbing because my son is about to turn 12, and I was really wanting there to be a vibrant and active youth group for my son to move into. However, it appears that God has other plans. It appears that the "up and coming" youth (those who are currently 9-12) are going to have to be the ones to BECOME the vibrant and active youth group. And that is not bad. I am praying that God gets ahold of them and they surrender themselves to Him and allow Him to use them to reach their friends for God, and ignite a revival in our church that is so desperately needed! During camp meeting, we had a tremendous move of the Spirit one night through the children and youth... ages 4-18! Yes, 4! THEY were the first ones to the altar... during the FIRST song of the service! And the Holy Ghost exploded in that place, and the preacher lined these children/teens up on the platform, and had all the ADULT ministry pass in front of them as the youth laid hands on them. I WANT THE ANOINTING THESE YOUTH HAVE! I am not afraid to admit that the young people have something we adults don't have. And I WANT IT! God is moving in our young people. Apathy is a troubling sin of the 21st century church, and many adults I know are struggling with this in their lives. I pray that the Lord will use the younger generation to shake them up!! This is the last wave of revival, and we cannot afford to miss it! I had a discussion with a couple of young people in our church today. We talked about making a decision to be "sold out" to Jesus and choosing to live for Him and serve Him NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE ELSE AROUND US THINKS, SAYS, OR DOES. Our youth need to get the mindset that, even if NO ONE lives for God, I WILL! Because He is WORTH IT! And heaven is WORTH IT! And peer approval doesn't matter AT ALL! I have discovered this first hand. Since I was put back in the position of worship leader at my church (which, by the way, was NOT where I wanted to be!!!!), I have tried to play music I thought the congregation wanted to hear. I have tried to "please" the people. But they just sit there and stare, as if challenging me.... "entertain me.... make me want to get up and clap my hands and sing." I'm not afraid to tell you it was becoming a salvation issue for me. But when I finally surrendered that thinking to Jesus and said, "I am here to please YOU, not them... then suddenly, the worship just came so much easier! I don't even LOOK at the congregation when I lead service... it can become very discouraging for me. But they are not the main reason I am there behind the keyboard. Jesus is! If our youth could just grasp this concept........
What a long 2 weeks it has been in northern Vermont for so many people. Today, the jury was handed the case of Christopher Williams in the double murder /attempted murder trial resulting from the shooting rampage in Essex two years ago. With a blogger inside the courtroom, MANY people were glued to their computers, following every detail. We now wait. We pray for a swift verdict of guilty. We want justice served. We want closure for the families, for the school, and for the communities. He needs to go to prison. For life. Period. He killed my son's 2nd grade teacher, and nearly killed his 1st grade teacher, who survived by a miracle from God alone. He killed innocent people who were deeply loved by their families, friends, and co-workers (and students!)
Yet I am struggling. There are passages in the Word of God that are going to "spoil my party", so to speak. One is Prov. 24:17
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
What does a Christian do with that when wanting this justice to be served so desperately? He deeply wounded so many lives... when the guilty verdict comes back, how do I NOT rejoice? Another one is Matt. 5:44
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
I am commanded by Jesus himself to love him, bless him, and pray for him. Wow. My stomach churns every time I see his face. I have not forgiven him. THAT is the issue. Hard to love, bless, and pray for someone you have not forgiven. That is MY issue.
So, when the guilty verdict comes in, as I know it will... pray for me, ok? Thanks.
So... I keep logging on, staring at the blank white box where I am supposed to type text, and logging off. I am having a bit of trouble with my writer's block.
Actually, there are only a few things to report on. First and foremost, my hubby preached away again last night in Rutland, and did a fantastic job. His message? I am not ashamed of who I am in Jesus! Was very encouraging and uplifting. :)
Second, we had a terrific time on Saturday at my mom's and Ray's camp. My sister and her family were up from Maine, and my brother and his family came up as well. It was fun to have the whole family together for a day. The kids all had fun playing, swimming, fishing, etc. The grown-ups had fun getting caught up on life in general. Family is so important. It is the building block of society. Families need to stay healthy. Without them, society falls apart.
Third, last week and this week is the trial of the man who shot and killed my son's second grade teacher two years ago. Here is a link to the live blog that is occurring from inside the courtroom. The guy is an amazing reporter. I do believe justice will be served. I have followed the trial very very closely this past week.
Finally, I got a new (new to me anyway) car!
No more Volvo... no more one-car family. We got an amazing deal...it is a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus with only 39,800 miles on it. Runs beautiful! Marty's prices are very reasonable... .here is his website if you want to check it out.
So, that is all for now. Time to take Adam to Moo Gong Do class. Sorry this post is not so exciting or spiritual or anything else like that.... I'll get back to you on these matters. Have a nice week everyone!
OK... as promised, here are some pictures of the incredible fun we had at camp, working with the precampers, ages 4-8. Here's a picture of the entire construction crew...We had a tight schedule for 2 1/2 hours. We began with a fun greeting, then spent time singing and praising God! We also had a fun skit about the theme of the day, and then a lesson, followed by a time of prayer and worship. Then they went here to the building center, where they could build using colorful cardboard building bricks, legos, lincoln logs, magnetix, and play tools and scrap wood. This was their favorite place!
Here's a picture of some very proud crew workers who used incredible teamwork to build amazing things!
Of course, "breaktime" was a favorite too.... SNACKS AND DRINKS!
Here they are... singing a song in front of the entire congregation on the last night of church camp... in full attire. They sang "He's Still Working on Me" and did a fantastic job!!!!
These are my amazing soloists, who sang the verse on their own. YAY!!
Check out the little dude in the middle... he's only 3 years old, but he is a ball of fire! He looks like the job foreman, doesn't he??? LOL!
We get the privilege of handing out trophies to the boy and girl precamper who really went the extra mile in their worship and their kindness toward others. Handing out the trophies is fun, but what you get back is priceless!
We were so proud of them!
The district took a minute to recognize us for our work with the children, but I'm telling you... we do it because we love the children! Sometimes it seems that "big people" don't really want to be bothered with the little ones, as if somehow they have nothing to contribute to the Kingdom of God. But our little precampers were THE FIRST ONES TO THE ALTAR EVERY NIGHT OF CHURCH CAMP!!! And those kiddos can pray and touch God better than a lot of adults! They are a powerhouse, and Jason and I love to teach them that they truly matter in the Kingdom! It's nice that we have our way paid to camp, but we don't do it for that as much as for the reward you get in your spirit when children surrender their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ in your class! Praise God! You can't put a price on that!!!
There's so much more I could say, but I will leave it at that for now. I will save the messages from the evening services for another post. God is AMAZING! And He's COMING... SOON!!! I intend to be ready!! And I intend to make sure those precampers are ready too!
Greetings! I bet you were expecting to see me come back on this blog after church camp and post amazing pictures and wonderful testimonies about the amazing move of God... well, God is sovereign and so very good, in both the good times and in the storms. This week at camp, we encountered a bit of a trial. Take a look at this picture of Nick's right ankle....
This is a very bad case of cellulitis, which landed him in the ER up in church camp territory Tues. evening, and then promptly admitted to the hospital here at home Thursday evening. Poor kid... he couldn't even walk, and just cried and cried.
Here is a picture of Nick on the 4th of July being such a good sport about missing the parade and the fireworks. Dad bought him this big flag balloon. Nick is watching cartoons.... you know... the kind that lower your IQ just by nature of watching them....
The worst part of the hospital stay was Nick's wretched veins. He had 3 of the best IV nurses in the hospital trying to establish an IV for his antibiotics, but it took them EIGHT sticks to get one, and they got it in the worst location possible for a clyndamycin drip...that stuff burns terrible going in, and the location of his successful IV was on the part of his wrist where you feel for your pulse. OUCH. Needless to say, my little drama king who is terrified of needles did a lot of screaming and crying. At one point, his face was PURPLE as he screamed, "Don't touch me! Get away from me! I am running away! This is the worst place on the face of the earth! Blah blah blah......." SO, we decided to put this shirt on him for the benefit of the nurses....
Of course, he ultimately was NOT in charge, but it made him feel better, anyway.
The Great Sandini, aka Big Sister, was a tremendous blessing!!!!!! She came over and brought him a dart game, and ended up playing PlayStation 2 video games with Nick for a couple of hours. Sandy did SO much for us during his stay. And even before we got home, she so sweetly offered to sit with Nick at camp for 2 hours while Jason and I packed all the precamper stuff and all our luggage back in the truck and trailer. Also, Jason's mom was a tremendous blessing...not only did she bring the boys home in her vehicle and take Adam for the night, but she did a bunch of our laundry! WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!! We're not worthy! Thank you so so so so much, Julie! We love you to pieces!
So... we are now home from the hospital, and the "unpacking" from camp begins. I will post some pictures and testimonies from camp later tonight. We really did have a magnificent time in the presence of Almighty God! Talk to you soon!
