Flash Mob! When Joy Surprises Us

It is Sunday night and I got dropped off again at home by the family and friends who were Christmas caroling. I was able to go a while but after a long day in Denver, I wanted to come home and be quiet! I am finally getting around to posting about this delightful surprise back at the Thanksgiving family reunion, when the young cousins were playing music together down at the chapel on the grounds.
The rest of us were getting ready for supper and decided to go ahead and get our plates filled before the teenagers came up and there would be a long line.
Just after serving our plates, Carrie came in the door with her violin, followed by Samuel with my dad's bass fiddle. They started playing, "Church in the Wildwood."
"That's nice!" I thought. "Dinner music!"

Well, suddenly a third cousin came in the door, playing his or her instrument, and then I realized that someone was coming behind me at the table--in fact, a whole row of young people with strings, coming in the other door and heading up with the others.

It was a flash mob!

Andrea's idea!

How we loved it!

They finished "Church in the Wildwood" and began "Power in the Blood."

It was absolutely delightful.

Sunday morning I captured these scenes of the first Christmas music of the season at the church Mom and Dad attend in Missouri.

Our daughter Crystal was part of Ringspiration this year, and this Sunday she had to learn Candace's part to sing in a lullaby the girls sing together, because Candace's voice had gone!

Several cousins did another strings piece together.

My sister Joella and her family also played a bell song.

My parents enjoying the music immensely.

Another string piece, including Carrie on the violin, Rose with her mandolin, and Timmy (whom you can hardly see, behind Rose sitting down, with his guitar).

Closer view of Charity, Samuel on bass fiddle, Carrie on violin, Candace with guitar, Timmy with guitar, and Rose.

Elon's and Fain's families and Crystal singing--"Who is He in Yonder Stall?"

Timmy and Ezra putting the pulpit back in place after the service.

The older girl cousins quickly getting a picture together outside the church.

Then back home to three weeks more of school before Christmas break!

Proud of Sam!

Sam has been working as a volunteer fireman for over a year and a half, and the last three months he also took EMT training.

He spent many evenings and weekends taking classes and doing clinicals.

Finally two weeks ago he finished the class with eleven other classmates--and passed both the written test and the practicals.

We were so proud of his diligence and hard work!

Good job, Sam! 

There was a Christmas Dinner at the fire station on Dec. 8th, and Rose decided to ride her horse there with her jingle bells where she'd

meet up with us to Christmas carol to the firemen and families.

Hannah and I helped sew on missing bells. 

 I finished putting a festive touch on deviled eggs, since we'd been asked to bring an appetizer.

I also made this cranberry jello salad for the occasion.

Then I was the one to ride about 5 miles an hour in our van behind Rose while she road the horse, Liberty, the 3 or 4 miles across country to the fire station, bells jingling.

It was a quiet, fun ride. I spent it praying a lot for my children.
After we caroled at the door of the fire station, Rose dried the horse off  and gave her hay to eat, and Sam got a bucket of water for her.
The firemen's kids enjoyed getting to meet the horse.

It was a fun evening. Each of the firemen received a special gift, and congratulations were given to those who had finished the EMT training.

A plaque of thanks was given to a man who had done a new sign for the fire station.

Thanks were also given to the firemen for their service, and to the families who let them serve at any and all times of day and night.

 During one of the days of clinicals, Sam was the one to administer the life-saving dose of activated charcoal to a young teenager who had overdosed on Tylenol, trying to end her life.

Within weeks, he was taking turns pumping the chest of a heart attack victim, who was gone before they even got there, but the protocol is to try to save the life. The very next day there was another call for a heart attack victim. Our family sometimes stops to pray for the people as Sam jumps into his uniform and runs to his truck to drive to the fire station.

He flew home again early from PA after finding out that a needed class for Wildlands Fire Training was happening this week. He plans to be on call at any time for deployment of up to 25 days at a time to help fight wild fires, as soon as Peyton gets their paperwork finalized and fire truck certified, etc.

He turned 21 three weeks ago.

Sam wanted pumpkin roll for his birthday meal.

 

I also found this candy bouquet 75% off the day we celebrated his birthday--and it was perfect table centerpiece for him!

There he goes right now for his shift tonight at the fire station.

Is Someone Carrying a Heavy Load This Christmas?

A few weeks ago at Elephant Rocks in Missouri, a plaque asked us to guess the weight of this rock.

I might have guessed 1000 pounds. 

In fact, it weighed over 8,000 pounds--over 4 tons!

We might never guess the weight of the rocks around us, and the weight of the loads those around us are carrying.

We may only see one load they are carrying, and in fact, there are seven other equally heavy burdens they bear. 
Who are we to think we know the measure of another's burden?
Jesus fell beneath the weight of His cross.
Must we scorn the ones, less perfect than He, who fall beneath their loads?
Ought we not to seek some way to help lift their load?
How quickly and joyously a man or woman, boy or girl, may go on their way with a little help from someone who simply cared to give a helping hand!

Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
We can bring our 8,000-pound burden to the Lord, and He will carry it for us!
It is light to His strong arms.

Christmas Pears Ripen in a Dark Place

A few days ago, Jonathan brought home some pears he'd gotten on sale at the grocery store, along with this Christmas bouquet that had been marked down but was still looking lovely.

The pears looked beautiful on the outside, but they were hard and green.
Carrie remembered hearing that some fruit will ripen sooner if you put them into a brown paper bag.
Soo--this is what she came up with on top of the refrigerator.
"DO NOT DISTURB. RIPENING PEARS IN PROGRESS."

That reminded me of the quote I copied down recently.

"When you're in a dark place, you sometimes tend to think you've been buried...

Perhaps you've been planted.

Bloom."

Perhaps there is an area of hardness in us that God wants to soften, 

so He puts us into a dark and difficult situation,

 not to forget about us, .

but to soften us. 

Pears are one of a few fruits that you must pick first before they will ripen. I read that left on the tree, they will rot.

And sometimes God has to pick us off of a tree we were growing on and comfortable with,

and put us out of our comfort zone before we become soft and pliable in His hands.

I googled and found out that the reason pears will ripen sooner in a paper bag is that as they ripen, a hormone called ethylene is emitted and when trapped inside the bag, this hormone contributes to faster ripening. 

If you are in a dark place right now, 

don't feel God has forgotten you, or even that you have necessarily "blown it," or that there is no hope.

Just wait and trust that there is a purpose for what God is allowing in your life right now, and that in His perfect timing, and as you lean on Him and wait and trust, He will bring you out into the light again--

and you will be One Delicious Pear!

Hike to Elephant Rocks in Missouri--and How Heavy is The Rock You are Carrying?

These pictures are pretty old by now, but the Saturday that we were in Missouri, I went outside to help Joella hang laundry. 

I just love hanging laundry outside, especially with a sweet sister like Joella, who happened to have laryngitis that week and could only whisper!

 

Rose showing Grandma her glove she is knitting!

Several of us got together to help at my parents--stacking firewood, repotting plants, cleaning the garage, trimming the old mums, cleaning out the flower beds, raking, burning trash, putting up a bird feeder...

laying linoleum at my parents' place.

Jonathan, Craig, Ethan and Sam helped with that.

Carrie wanted to make fruit pizza turkeys! Candace helped her.

That afternoon, some of our families took a hike together at a state park called Elephant Rock State Park.

You can see why they were called Elephant Rocks!

There used to be a granite quarry here.

There were probably hundreds of people there. 

I loved watching the little children who might have been scared to crawl through this tunnel, but they scampered eagerly through because--

because their daddies had gone through first!

The precious security in knowing that Daddy went first and so it's safe!

Kezia's husband taking good watch care over his little children while letting them have a marvelous adventure.

It would have been nice to have more time, but it was fun to see what was there even though we hiked through rather quickly.

Here was an old engine repair stop building.

There were a number of rocks where holes had been drilled to put in sticks of dynamite.

Here's another scene of the rocks with dynamite holes drilled in it.

And yet another, with apparently a drill bit still stuck in it.

This spot was called Fat Man's Squeeze!

No need to squeeze!

Look out for David!

There he jumps over Fat Man's Squeeze!

My beautiful sister Kezia and husband and dear little Josiah.

The lake at the old quarry, 40 feet deep I understand.

An item of interest.