Gabriel's Family Sings

My brother Gabriel's family has been here for a few days again, arriving last Saturday.We decided to go to church with them Sunday where they had been invited to share a time of music at a church that was without a pastor right now, and where two men involved with Caring for the Heart Ministry attend.

Here Gabriel's family (minus Aaron, the youngest who is back in the pew) is singing "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners!"

They also sang "Bless This House," and then the three oldest girls sang a beautiful song first in English, and then a verse in Welsh. 

It was so beautiful to me, having a Welsh grandfather on my mother's side. I didn't know before this that Gabriel's wife also has Welch ancestors. I really enjoyed the lovely decorations at the front of the sanctuary, in front of the baptistry, the white picket fence with roses entwined. 
Back at our place, our iris decided to celebrate Gabriel's family's arrival by blooming the day they arrived!

The day they arrived, the Lucas clan had planned a picnic to enjoy Jonathan's sister Barbara, who had come down from Idaho, and to celebrate Jonathan's parents' 55th wedding anniversary a bit late.
So we rushed around getting baked beans, fruit salad and another dish ready to take, and left Gabriel's family at home to get ready for Sunday.

All seven of the Lucas clan were together that evening, including Barbara who flew in from Idaho, and Dave and Ruth, who drove in from New Mexico.

We picnicked at Cheyenne Canyon.

Earlier that same day, Timmy needed someone to drive him to friends of ours to set up a bee hive 50 minutes away. So did I ever end up having a busy day!

Here is a blooming cactus near where Timmy set up the bee hive. I failed to get pics of that.

Earlier in the week, I also had to run up to the town of Elisabeth to pick Rose up from the Bible Missionary Youth Camp that she had been attending with her friend Julie Hunt. I had hoped to turn right around and head homewith her, but there were still several late evening activities to finish there at the youth camp.

The cook and helpers had made homemade doughnuts and pizza for a late evening snack.

I couldn't believe it when Bro. Stuart Hallam (district moderator of the Bible Missionary Church) asked ME to ask the grace.

That is what I get for rushing up to take a picture of all those delicious-looking doughnuts!

Actually it meant so much to me to be included and trusted, and it spoke volumes about Stuart Hallam. He and his wife have become friends to Jonathan and me over the last few years, and they reach out beyond the four walls of their denomination and include others in their friendships.

This is something that I find with alumni of Penn View. (Hallams are Penn View alumni.)

It seems to me that Penn View alumni as a rule are not as denominationally hampered as some others. They are willing to reach beyond denominational walls, and this is one reason Crystal chose Penn View and we supported her. We really didn't care to have our children being brainwashed that only a certain church or denomination was going to heaven, and that no one outside that denomination was worthy of being called to preach or pray or whatever.

Enough of those opinions. They are merely opinions. But it really does something for someone when others trust you and include you and act like they believe your prayers are heard. 

In the picture below, the winning team (Rose included) shares a song they wrote. (All three teams had to write their own song.)

The winning team received caps as a prize. Rose had frantically memorized about  29 Bible verses to help her team win.

Here is a link to a good article I received the other day.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/when-they-hurt-you-with-words

And another link:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/gods-unexpected-answer-to-our-prayers-for-revival