A new facelift.....Day 1

We are giving a complete "facelift" to our Busy Bee's room at church. Today several men came out to replace the ceiling, put drywall on the east wall, and get it ready to paint! New flooring will be put down and cabinets put in...... what a great room this will be for our little 1-2 year olds! Stay tuned for more pictures and updates as the "workbee" goes on.

24 years

Twenty-four years ago today our family arrived in Manton to begin our ministry at Rollins Church. Rachel was in 1st grade, Elizabeth was in Kindergarten, Rebekah was 3 ½ and Daniel 2 years old. What an exciting day it was for us when we arrived at our little white house on 16 ½ road next to the church. So many church people were there helping to unload all of our belongings (the van that several of our men drove from Iowa came earlier than we did!) and warmly welcomed us. Little did we know at that time that God would still have us here 24 years later!

What a blessing our church family has been to us over these 24 years. They have loved us, taken care of us, supported us and have been such an encouragement to us. We have seen several going into full-time ministry, and many salvation decisions – not only in AWANA but adults as well. We’ve seen the tiny babies when we first came now married and having families of their own and serving the Lord . We’ve had many building projects –an addition to our home, a beautiful huge gym and an outdoor play area for the kids, a new parsonage for our assistant/youth pastor’s family (they arrived 5 years ago – and what a blessing they have been!) and many “face-lifts” to the present buildings.

We are so thankful for the 24 years we have been here at Rollins – for the beautiful sweet spirit and unity we have had all of these years. We love all of our church family dearly, and are so thankful for all the encouragement and love they have shown us and our family for these 24 years.

“We thank our God upon every remembrance of you” Philippians 1:3

Happy 1st Anniversary, Daniel & Candice

What a wonderful day it was one year ago when Candice became a part of our Lanning family. Candice is just the perfect wife for Daniel! We just praise the Lord for such a great year for Daniel and Candice. Have a happy, happy anniversary! We love you both so much

Easter Sunrise Breakfast....

What a great Easter breakfast we had at church today. There were around 200 enjoying a delicious meal and lots of wonderful felllowship. Rich Edwards and Bob Stauffer are the main cooks, with many others helping out. There were several kinds of eggs, sausage, pancakes, french toast, gravy and biscuits, juice and coffee!

Our Sunday Morning Service was just overflowing, and what a day to rejoice that we serve a RISEN Savior! Our band played, the choir sang, and the message was on the "Resurreection Appearances of Christ in the book of Acts." "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord!" Psalm 122:1

Easter Sunrise Breakfast....

PRAISE THE LORD FOR GOOD FRIDAY!

Good Friday.

Have you ever thought about the irony of that name? We call it, “Good” Friday, even though it commemorates the darkest day in history. In fact, the Bible records that when Jesus died, “darkness came over the whole land”. (Luke 23:44)

Jesus hung on that Cross for you and me because as Paul said, “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them”. (2 Corinthians 5:19) God’s redemptive plan was at work that day. Jesus offered His righteousness to us in exchange for our sins.

There are a lot of lessons taught in the Good Friday account, but it has only one message: Jesus died on the Cross to save us from ALL sin. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).
That’s why we call it Good Friday!

Brock is 18 months old today!

These past 18 months have gone by so quickly...and how big Brock has grown! Here are some of the newest pictures

Just a few more......

Here are just a few more pictures

from our time in South Carolina!

It's Happy Birthday Time again!!!

Today Beckie, Deb, Sharon and I all met at Applebees in Big Rapids for our monthly luncheon celebrating the March birthdays of Beckie and Sharon. It's always so good to get together and just "talk, laugh, and share" with one another for awhile. Deb and Sharon live in the Grand Rapids area, and Beckie and I live in Manton....so Big Rapids is just about half way for all of us. How blessed I am to have these 3 wonderful friends! Happy birthday, Beckie and Sharon.

SPRING CLEANING

Spring is coming.....at least that is what the calendar says! We still have a lot of snow on the ground, and it was -4 this morning, but we know that spring will get here one of these days.....and that usually means spring cleaning time!Here is a great "spring cleaning" devotional I read this morning...

SPRING CLEANING FOR THE HEART AND SOUL by Julia Bettencourt

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; andrenew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10As spring approaches we develop that urge to make everything in our house clean and in order. The winter months have been long and we begin itching to revive our houses and acquire that freshness that we want to invade us as the first signs of spring arrive. Everything outside is singing with new life. The buds are coming out on the trees, birds are chirping, and the daffodils are beginning to bloom. We long to bring that newness into our homes so we begin, most of us by turning our homes upside down as we clean out closets, take things apart, clean and scour. We reach into every dark corner of our homes in order to make itpresentable, fresh, and new.

Sometimes we need to do the same thing with our spiritual houses. We need to take stock and clean up and give them a good strong scrubbing. All of us grow stale sometimes and need a spiritual freshening up. Things always get tucked back in the recesses of our spiritual closets that aren't needed. We accumulategrime and dirt on our spiritual floors and walls. From time to time we need to turn our spiritual homes upside down and clean them inside and out.

                                Get rid of junk.
Are there things in your life that are just junk and cluttering up your life? Are there things getting in your way of serving Christ to your greatest potential? Are things like worry, anger, gossip, and bad habits cluttering up your life?  Then…..

                              Gather cleaning tools.
When you clean your house you gather together your cleaning tools, such as scrub brushes, mops, and brooms. All you need to clean your spiritual house is one thing - the Word of God. It is your all-purpose cleaning tool and contains everything you'll need.
  
                           Determine to keep it clean.
Usually when we finish cleaning our own homes, we look around and say that we'll never let the clutter pile up that high again and we determine not to let it. We should do the same for our spiritual house. Determine not to let it get dirty again. The only way to accomplish this is to keep it up daily by feasting on God's Word and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

Are you caught up on your spring cleaning?

Ambassadors and a great turkey dinner

At noon today, our Ambassadors (those 50+) at church had their monthly luncheon. What a great time of fellowship with one another, food that was so delicious, and devotions that David Browne shared with us. Here are just a few pictures of our group. We have a wonderful number of active Ambassadors at church - and EXCELLENT cooks! Joann Harrison is the coordinator of our group and does a great job!

Happy 1st Birthday, Micah!!!

March 6th is Micah's first birthday! What a joy he has added to our family..and how we love him! Happy, happy birthday! Papa and Nanny love you soooooo much!