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!