Weekly Update

I have been diligently working on my study of I Peter this week. I have 8 pages of notes for I Peter 1:3-12. Now I need to condense them into a nice one page blog study for my other blog site on I Peter.

We finished putting out our Christmas lights yesterday. Now it's beginning to look a little like Christmas! I'm into baking cookies every week of December as a gift to our maintenance crew here on the campgrounds. Did I mention I love chocolate chip cookie dough? Therefore I don't make cookies as often as I did when our sons were home.

We traveled for church today...went to Jackson, MI. It was very contemporary, and I have to say that just doesn't work for me. My age is showing. Last night as I was studying I Peter, the old song "What A Day That Will Be!" came back to me, and I had tears in my eyes as that song touched my heart. How long has it been since I've heard that one? No....I belong to a different era. I have no desire to move into this age where church is more of a performance than a heart touching experience. It works for some, but not for me.

From my devotional readings this week:

Joseph had two coats...the coat of many colors (a coat of favor) and the coat of integrity. Just as he was tested, so will we be. In our testing our character will be revealed. If we pass the test of integrity, then we are able to be used of God.

We joined a group of people from our campground at the Essenhaus Restaurant in Middlebury, IN on Friday night. It was to celebrate the ministry leader of our Grandma's Cupboard program, which has been in existence for 12 years under her leadership. GC is a food pantry ministry, and has been a huge blessing to many people in this area. If you are going to celebrate with a good meal, then you can't beat the Amish food of the Essenhaus (especially their pies!).

Today we are getting some lake effect snow...it may actually accumulate over the next 24 hours. I love snow in December!! It's January and February where I am so very ready for spring and flowers and buds on the tree branches.

I used to live in Cleveland, TN. Lately I have been thinking about the good times back then while we were raising our family. There are times I wish I could turn back the clock, but I am so grateful to say it is the GOOD memories that stay with me. I am ready for another visit down there. It has changed so much since we lived there. Usually just visiting for a couple of days takes care of the nostalgia. Anyway, I've been told by our granddaughter that we HAVE to live on the campground where we are now. There's far too many neat things for the girls to do when they visit us in the summers. It is a neat place to live...I just love to move and house shop. Are those days behind me??? Certainly house shopping is not the best thing to do in this time of weak economy. So may I learn to be content, and praise God for all the blessings we do have....and I am and do!

Weary of Winter White

Maybe you're thinking I haven't been thinking much lately. Well...I just really don't have much to blog about. We are in Michigan. It is winter. The color we are wearing is white, and I'm weary of winter white. The newscaster said yesterday that in the last month we have only had 1% of our hours over the freezing point of 32 degrees...about six hours out of 556 hours. That tells you it's just been dog-gone cold up here. I haven't been walking the dogs or going out much at all. My car has got some engine problems, so hubby and I share his truck. We tend to make 1-2 trips off the campground per week. All of that to say, I'm tired of winter.

I've started reading a new stack of books...listed in the side bar. I also started playing games on the computer as an outlet. I'm enjoying Internet backgammon and spider solitaire, along with hearts and pinball. Does that give you a clue how desperate I am for social life? Grin. I've been trying to plan our next family trip for next fall or winter...gives me a get-away to dream about.

So now I've posted why I am not doing much blogging...just not much going on. We have had a game night on the campgrounds the last two Friday nights. That gets us out of the house and together with other people stuck here in the winter. A large percentage of our residents are snowbirds and are fortunate enough to be down south in the winter...either Florida or Arizona. Our front desk clerk in the office has gone back to Florida for six weeks, so I will be filling in for her. That will fill in some of my hours, so I am grateful. Our trip to Florida occurs in June. My husband is a delegate to the Church of the Nazarene General Assembly in Orlando. Not my favorite time of the year to go to Florida, but I do enjoy having breaks from the campground!

We have special friends from Canada coming to visit us next weekend. That will be a treat for us! It's nice to have friends you have known across the years. We met them in Cleveland, TN, while I was attending seminary. Their boys and our sons are about the same age and we just enjoyed each other's company. They have been so good to visit us about every two years, when they are down in the states. We keep moving, so they try to keep up with us. However, we have now been here for five years. That's a long time for us! I keep thinking it's time to move back south, but my husband hasn't felt that nudge from God yet. And, hey, I definitely don't want to get ahead of God!! When I do that, I just tend to mess things up.

In all of my reading lately, I really haven't had anything special jump out at me to post. I will say that The Shack was a tremendous book. I didn't want it to end. I gave it to one of our sons, and now he is finished with it and sending it to our other son. The message that comes through loud in clear is that God loves us and believes in us no matter what we do with him. We tend to box God in and think we have him figured out, but we don't have the slightest understanding of how big he is...how far reaching he is...how full of grace he is. He's amazing. His love is amazing. His grace is amazing. I hope anyone who reads this has had or will have a personal encounter with him...he's life changing. He may not change where I am living right now, but that only tells me there are things for me to do right here.

We have some sad situations here on this campground with our 100 plus residents. Last year Don's only child died and left behind three grandsons, and within two months Don's wife died. Ouch. But Don has been devoting his time to helping others. In the summer he mowed. Last fall he picked up leaves. In this winter season he is out clearing out driveways with his snow blower. We now have Bob who just found out in this last month that he has leukemia and is expected to pass away very shortly. His 22 year old granddaughter died of lupus this week. His wife has lost a grandchild and is about to lose a husband. Tough situation. But in both of these situations, we all know God is in control, and God will be there for the hours we need him most. This campground community is like a family, and we are surrounded by brothers and sisters who care, who pray, who assist in any way they can. How blessed we are to live in such a setting! (lest I sounded like I was grumbling earlier...I just don't like long winters...that's why we moved south when Paul graduated from college in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan).

Well, that's my rambling for now. Sounds like hubby and I are going to make one of those rare trips off the campground. It's 14 degrees out, with a wind-chill factor of 4 degrees. Another frigid weekend! Wherever you are, stay warm!