Busy day

What a great and busy day we had today! Rachel is here with us this week, and we spent the day in Grand Rapids. We left about 9am for an appointment that Rachel had, then had lunch at a park, stopped at the Best Western to see Daniel for a few minutes (and bring a great snack to him that Rachel had made!), went to Grandville Mall shopping, then met Daniel at his home at 3pm. What a LOT of work he has done on the home. It doesn't even look like the same place! It will be so fun to see it totally finished.




Daniel's roommateTim had a birthday today, so we invited him to go out to dinner with us.

'till we meet again

Saying "good bye" to my family is always hard for me - but a part of our lives now that our kids have grown up.
After a wonderful week at Gull Lake, Friday morning came, and with it lots of saying "good bye" to Ben and Rebekah, Matt, Daniel, and earlier in the week, to Jason and Elizabeth and Candice. Rachel came home with us for a week, but on Monday, Aug. 7th , we'll be saying "good bye" to her as she flies back to Tawian.
We are so thankful that all of our children "walk in the truth" and are serving the Lord around the world! We wouldn't want them any other place but in the center of God's will, and where He has them located. (It does make great vacations for Dad and me!)
I do admit I shed some tears when they leave, but I get excited looking forward to the next time I'll get to see them!
We already have some great times to look forward to...
*****Monday, we're going to Grand Rapids with Rachel while she is here and see Daniel and his home he is working on, and of course go out for supper!
*****The end of September we'll travel to South Carolina to see Ben, Rebekah and our new grandbaby
*****We get to see Jason and Elizabeth as they are less than 3 hours away every once in awhile
*****We're thinking of meeting Rachel and Matt for a few days in Hawaii on our way to Taiwan (maybe sometime in February)
So let's not say "good bye"...instead lets say "'till we meet again!"

Family Reunion

What a fantastic week we had at Gull Lake with our family!
We are all together (including Daniel's girlfriend, Candice).

Our birthday girls......

July 19th was Rachel's birthday and July 22nd is Elizabeth's birthday. They are just one year and 3 days apart. Growing up, they had big combined birthday parties with all of their friends. What fun!!! Now, we have been celebrating their birthdays at Gull Lake each year, since we are usually there during their birthday week!

Happy, Happy Birthday to each of you!! You are such special and wonderful girls, and we love you so much! We'll see you Sunday and have a great party!!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT....

***I CAN'T WAIT to see Rachel and Matt on Saturday! They have just flown in from Taiwan, and are in Pennsylvania visiting Matt's side of the family. It's been a LONG year since we have seen them - what a reunion it will be!!!

***I CAN'T WAIT to get to Gull Lake on Saturday! Every year for the past 22 years, we've had a family vacation week at Gull Lake Conference. This year, ALL of us will be together for several days. We'll celebrate Rachel and Elizabeth's birthdays, and enjoy just being together! I look forward to this special week all year long!

***I CAN'T WAIT to hear the news of our new grandbaby being born! Ben and Rebekah are expecting the end of September, and as soon as we hear the news, we'll be on our way to greet the newest member of our family!

***I CAN'T WAIT to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, September 18th! We have had a beautiful marriage, and four wonderful children, for which we thank the Lord. We even have 3 perfect son-in-laws for our girls. Our family is growing! We pray that we will have many more years together to celebrate!

When I think of the exciting things that come into our lives, and the "I CAN'T WAIT" for things coming up...it reminds me I need that kind of a heart attitude toward my spiritual life as well. Each morning I need to wake up and "CAN'T WAIT" for my quiet time with the Lord - it's the "gas and oil" I need to get me going in the morning! I also need the "I CAN'T WAIT" desire for the Lord's return. Someday we will see Him face to face...."I CAN'T WAIT!!!"

True Friends are a treasure

What fun I had today as my favorite friends got together and celebrated my birthday. (My birthday was in June, but we couldn't get together to celebrate until today....I love stretching out parties!) Our friendship started out many years ago as a group of 5 from our church - but the Lord called one our our group, Mickey, home to heaven after a long struggle with breast cancer. She was only 34 years old! But the 4 of us have kept up our friendship through the years even though we are not all living in the same location anymore. Debbie (and husband) had moved to Kansas for many years, and now has moved back to Cedar Springs, MI (about 1 hour away). Sharon(and husband) moved to Grand Rapids. I'm so thankful that Beckie (and husband) are still here in Manton with us at church! Since we are all living in the great state of Michigan again, we try to get together every other month for lunch...and today we all met in Grand Rapids at Arnies! What fun, laughter, talking and eating we do when we are together. We went back to Sharon's home for cake...her famous angel food/cherry cake...YUMMY! And they all gave me such beautiful gifts! We have had a solid friendship for many years, and how I thank the Lord for each one of these ladies. They truly are a blessing and encouragement to me. Next month, we thought we'd invite our husbands to a great cook-out in August at Debbie's home - they have a great time with one another too!
Thank you again, my wonderful friends for a great day! You're the best!

The Touch of the Green Thumb....

Sometimes blessings just drop down unexpectedly and what an encouragement they are!
We have a new family attending our church (they have been coming for about a year now), and about a month ago, Peggy asked me if I would ever like help with my "flower gardens" in the front of our house, and around the church. We have been at Rollins Church for 22 years now, and our flower gardens are in pretty pathetic shape. God never gave me the gift of a "green thumb"- but I do LOVE the beauty of flowers, I just can't make things grow and look beautiful.
My resounding "YES" could have probably been heard for miles around!! Peggy and her husband have taken on our home and church as a "ministry project"... and already we have seen some beautiful landscaping taking shape. What a blessing not only to our family, but to our entire church family as well. It may take this summer/fall and next spring to get it where they want it, but with their handiwork, what a testimony to God's beauty in nature it will be to those that drive by, or come to the church.

BBQ Ribs and Corn on the Cob....m-m-m-m!

Last night we had our monthly cookout with our small group. There are 15 of us that meet together once a month in the summer for a cookout, and every Tuesday evening during the rest of the year for our small group Bible Study. This month we went to Don and Brenda Wilson's home. What a great time we had! The food was sooooooooo good!
We feasted on BBQ ribs on the grill, corn on the cob, twice baked potatoes, potato salad, coleslaw, tossed salad, snicker salad, strawberry salad, and great desserts - eclairs and my rich and gooey chocolate/caramel/pecan pie. We watch a video on "Walk where Jesus walked" - giving us shortened tour of the Holy Land. By the end of the night, our small group decided to look into going on a Holy Land trip - possibly in 2008. They would like Bob to be the leader as he has already been there - wouldn't that be great? Guess we'll have to start saving our pennies now! :)

Drive-In Church Starts Tonight :)

Blue skies, white clouds and warm temps all make for a gorgeous night for our first Drive-In Church service tonight. By 5:30pm, cars will start coming to our beautiful ballfield in the back of our church, and line up in 4 rows around a grandstand. Some of our church families will stay in their cars, others will sit on chairs, some on blankets...and others on top of their cars! During the month of July, we have a different musical group come and put on an out-door concert each Sunday night. People come from the beach, their homes, and others just driving by slow down or drive in - but what a fun evening it is! Instead of clapping with our appreciation after each number, horns toot, or lights flash on the cars! Our love offerning for the groups that come are taken by our ushers going "car to car" with ice cream buckets! Our church family looks forward to these great concert nights in the summer - come join us sometime to experience it for yourself!

Hallelujah Party in Heaven!!!

The Bible says that "all Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents"...and yesterday Heaven had a Hallelujah Party!!
One of our young men (mid-twenties) who has come to church for about 6 months with his girlfriend, came over to talk to Bob. Before the hour was up, he had
asked the Lord to be his Savior! Praise the Lord! There is nothing more thrilling than leading someone to the Lord. This young man had never been to church before he came to our church, and had never heard the Gospel! Now we just need to encourage him in his walk with the Lord and pray much for him!

4th of July Celebration at Daniel's

What a beautiful day we had to celebrate the birthday of our Nation. Bob and I drove from Manton, ELizabeth and Jason came from Lapeer, and we all met at Daniel's home in Grand Rapids. What a cookout we had! BBQ Chicken, hamburgers, baked beans, fresh green beans, chips, corn on the cob, and the best dessert....strawberry shortcake with ice cream, brownies that Elizabeth made and melted in your mouth, and watermelon. How thankful we are for the freedoms we have in our wonderful country. How we need to fervantly pray for our nation, and our president! Happy 4th from the North!!!

Ladies Victorian Hat Luncheon in Louisville, KY!

What a wonderful few days we had in Louisville, KY. We were there for the IFCA Convention, and had so much fun renewing friendships with other pastors and wives. I had the privilege of speaking at the Ladies Luncheon on Wednesday. We had a "Victorian" luncheon - complete with all of us wearing hats, pearls, and gloves. Some of the hats were so funny! We had a "hat fashion parade" and then I spoke on "Hats Pastor's Wives Wear." Sometimes it seems all we do is change "hats" all day long, but the Lord gives Pastor's Wives extra strength and grace to wear our hats and do it with a joyful heart!