It's been awhile...

Things have been quite busy around here since my last post. When I last posted we had taken in a new member, attended Couple's Retreat and were preparing to wish Brother Rob "bon voyage" as he deployed. Since then, we have indeed sent Brother Rob off and already miss him terribly. When you have a small congregation, you feel the absence of each of your members strongly.

The beginning of April, my father-in-law had a stroke which accelerated the Parkinson's disease that he had been battling for the past 4 years. My husband and his sister faced the heartbreaking decision of putting him into a nursing home since my mother-in-law was not physically able to care for him, nor was any of the rest of us. The day we took him to the home, he wanted to go down the hall to visit his aunt, but told us that "he wouldn't be staying long". At that moment, we figured he was talking about the length of his visit with his aunt, but now realize that he meant that he wouldn't be staying long in the home. Exactly one week after being admitted, my father-in-law entered into his rest and finally stood before the throne of God to meet his Savior. It was truly a bittersweet moment. We were thrilled that he was no longer in pain or having difficulty remembering...but at the same time knew that we were going to miss him terribly. God has been our strength and the grace of God truly is sufficient. God sent His Comforter and has been beside us as we have grieved our loss knowing that it was heaven's gain. God also sent extra special comfort for all of us in the form of our first grandchild, Lilli...she and her parents arrived two days after Papa's passing and she brightened everyone's heart.

The end of April found us in Washington state to perform a baby dedication. It was an honor to be asked to come back to the church we had formerly pastored and a privilege to dedicate the newest arrival, Mr. Noah Sweeney. You truly do not realize how much you miss someone until you've been separated by miles and time, then see one another...we miss the people in the northwest region terribly and especially those at The Church of God in Sedro Woolley! They each hold a piece of our hearts. While in Washington, we also got to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife. They are expecting their first child around the middle of November and this will be our second grandchild. We are looking forward to his/her arrival.

You may have noticed that our location and service times have changed. The building that we were renting, was lost to the parent organization of the group we were renting from, during a law suit. The new congregation that moved into the building decided that they didn't want to share their building any longer, so we are now meeting in our home until we are able to find a more suitable place for service. While most don't like to visit a church that is in a home, we are not down about this turn of events, as God's presence has blessed us in every service since we switched locations. We are thankful for the time that we had to use that particular place, but know that God has something better for us in the long run, so we will patiently wait upon Him and continue doing what we know that we are to do.

I want to take this moment to wish each mom a very Happy Mother's Day! May God grant you strength and wisdom as you raise your children and for those that have grown children, may He grant you the strength and wisdom to know how to help them when they need it and know when to keep silent. ;-)

God bless and keep you!