God is in CONTROL

Friday, July 31, 2009

SUPER KIDS Earned Their Name!




I've just spent a great month with 8-12 "SuperKids" each Thursday. I wanted the kids in my primary department to have something to look forward to every week in July. Our theme was Our Great Big God -- we had lessons focusing on a different name for God each week and then followed up with food and something fun -- a splash down pool party, trip to a kids' museum, trip the zoo and yesterday did a service project for Operation School Bell which outfits over 1800 school kids with new clothes to start the school year.


I believe that kids today are looking for more. They really do want to help someone else. They watch the news with their parents. They see poverty on TV and in their school -- but they are at a loss for what to do about it. Studies show that young people who are involved in serving others have less problems with low self-esteem and depression. By helping someone with needs greater than their own, young people appreciate what they have and learn to give back to help others.

A good friend of mine has worked with Operation School Bell for many years and is passionate about it. Several weeks ago I approached her with the possibility of our SuperKids lending a hand. My objective for yesterday was for our kids to learn HE is the Lord and we are His servants, along with "to whom much is given, much is required" and that we can all grow when we learn to give back.

I have to say that when they learned how young our kids are, some of the sponsors had doubts as to how well our Life Park SuperKids could perform. I was so proud of them when they all showed up in their red and blue shirts they'd painted the first week. (we added a few teens and Moms and even a precious 7 month-old baby brother) and were able to fill over 1200 hygiene bags to be given away to each student who has the opportunity to "shop" at the OSB store. The ladies in charge of this effort kept remarking at what great workers they were, how well-behaved and what an awesome job they did!

I reminded the kids that though they were tired -- it was a good kind of tired and they could know that they had done something significant. At their young age they had been able to help a student, maybe even one from their school have something that we all can take for granted -- new clothes.

SUPERKIDS --YOU'RE THE BEST!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

DENVER GET AWAY

We had a wonderful trip to Denver last weekend to visit Marshall in his newly acquired condo and enjoyed the time to kick back and get into his world for a couple of days. He gave us his only bed, made a pallet for himself in his spare bedroom and went out of his way to give us a great time.


Marshall planned that on Sunday we would go up Estes Park to enjoy the mountains and have a leisurely lunch. We chose a little rooftop restaurant that specialized in the best tappas in town and had a great view of the valley and it's surrounding peaks. At his suggestion, we all three decided to ride the tram up the mountain to get a better view of the area.

Once on top Marshall bought peanuts in a shell and we found ourselves totally engrossed in throwing peanuts to the chipmunks and watching how rapidly they would crack the shell, chomp on the "goobers" and race for more from the next passerby who happened to toss them a treasure.




We found a critter who attached himself to us, named him after a favorite friend of ours who equally enjoys his food and then decided to see how much this little guy would cram into his chubby cheeks. He was so tame he would eat out of our hands. He continued to keep packing it in. For this short time we lost ourselves in this game of "stuffing the rodent".

Our ride down was just as breathtaking as the trip up. We found ourselves asking our young porter questions like, "How many times a day do you ride this trip?" "Where do YOU go for vacation - the flatlands?" "How do you handle it when people have panic attacks on the ride?" 'Funny the things you think of when you start relaxing and just start observing life.


We noticed that in the party of 10 waiting to board when we disembarked, there were 4 little Hispanic boys chatting excitedly in Spanish about their awaiting trip. The delight in their eyes showed they expected much from this ride -- Humorously, we thought of all kinds of things we could say like, "Watch out for the black bears up there." (none of us knew the spanish word for 'bears' -- and we thought better to let that one pass.)

We packed a lot into those 3 short days. . . what fun . . just enough to wish for more!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Stinkin' Happy


Out on my walk this morning I remembered it's July 13th and realized that it has been 6 years today since Mom went Home. For what I know of the way time is measured in Eternity -- it's only been a short "breath" . . . however, it's been much longer down here and those 13 months we got to have her in our home left a lasting legacy for us all.


Our kids have remarked at what a special time this was for our family having grandma with us. You see, she taught us a great deal about living life to the fullest and about making this very important transition. Her grandkids found her full of wit and ready to laugh at their antics and stories even though her body was debilitated by Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS). I would see pure delight in her eyes whenever any of them came to hang out in her room. There was so much she could complain about -- but she looked for the positive and stayed interested in other people. Bethany came home with a situation of some of her students needing school clothes and Mom was eager to help provide the funds. About this time, she picked up the phrase "Stinkin' Happy" from a little four yr. old who would visit her.

We tried to make sure she had no worries and that her care was superb. She had nurse's aides while I was at school and Terry would get up every two hours of the night to check on her and move her from side-to-side to keep the soreness away. His household rule was "What ever grandma wants, grandma gets." Every night he'd make her favorite sundae - icecream with crunchy peanut butter and chocolate sauce.

Many of Mom's friends and family came to visit from her home in Illinois during those last months and I would hear her give them words of blessing and depth. I watched her life's work being affirmed by them during these visits and enjoyed listening to the encouragement she gave them.

One of our favorite memories with her is pictured above when we got her to go with us to look at Christmas lights. That was our yearly tradition and our grown kids still wanted to keep this ritual and wanted grandma to do it with us. We asked her and she begged, "please, don't make me." However, we persisted and she relented. Bethany got her all "dolled up" in winter garb and Terry held her up as we drove a short trek through the neighborhood. When I put her to bed that night she thanked me over and over for her Christmas outing.

About dying she would say, "God will do it in HIS time, no point doing a lot of talking about it." Before Hospice was engaged to care for her -- she quipped "all they do is talk about dying and if you don't, they're disappointed!" (She did love her Hospice caregivers and greatly appreciated the service they rendered.)

Hospice worked early on at preparing us for what was to come. They explained that sometimes when it was time to pass, people would see bright lights or dearly departed loved ones. As her speech failed, we often misunderstood what she was trying to communicate. Bethany was sitting with her grandma one evening while we were out and she was saying something with the word "light" in it. Bethany asked everything she could think of "Do you see the bright light?" --- "Do you see Grandpa?". At this Mom strongly responded, "NO, TURN OUT THE LIGHT!"

After her 83rd birthday party and making a video interview with her six grandkids, my sister-in-law, Sandy, put her to bed; she looked up at her and said -- "They think this will be my last -- but they're going to have to do this again next year!" When I turned out her lights that night after having all her favorite people with her Mom said, "Jan, I'm Stinkin Happy"

Thursday, July 9, 2009

When Did I Get Old?

Play dates for our kids didn't seem this difficult when our kids were young.
But since I'm a little out of practice, I felt I needed to plan in greater detail to minimize chaos, so I shopped post VBS sales at Hobby Lobby and $Tree, sprayed "S" on lots of shirts until the fumes nearly made me loopy.

I wanted this to be a time when our Life Park kids would grow in God while they had fun, I planned the theme several weeks ago and wanting it to flow consistently through these four Thursdays in July. I worked on my lesson for a couple of hours, knowing it could take any course as their discussion unfolded.


Wednesday's rain, I thought was a sign that Thursday would dawn clear, warm and sunny, but we woke up to dark skies, rain and lightning. I kept praying, "Lord, let it stop" -- What could I do with that many kids indoors for 3 hours? (I remembered two years ago that 3 of the 4 Thursdays it rained and kept us out of the pool.)Whatever the weather -- I knew their Moms needed a break and I was bound and determined it would be fun! When it didn't look like the rain would let up, at 10:00 I decided we were going to need a Plan B. We'd have Foods lab 101: Cookie Decorating (I kicked in to Home Ec Teacher mode) -- I talked our house guest, Omar, through the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and he made some dough just in case we needed it.

Oh me of little faith, my prayers were answered and just before the kids arrived so did the sun! I had fun -- the lesson progressed as planned -- the mothers came back from their R & R just at the right time.

The house still echos with the noise of the 8 of them. I loved listening to their chatter and clatter as they ate lunch and painted their "superkid" shirts.
One said "I may not look like it -- but I'm a pretty creative guy." And when it came time to ice their superkid cookies he remarked, "My second talent is cooking."
They always give insightful answers from their precious little hearts during our Bible lesson time. Since our lesson was GOD reveals himself as THE WORD they wrote their favorite words with these neat glass markers on our patio windows. -- "God" "Jesus" "Love" "DAD" "Ice cream" and "Candy" Since I haven't had kid art on our walls in a long time, I decided we needed to leave them up.

I learned several things --
1. Try out every craft before you teach them to the kids. (Not all craft supplies work as the label says.)
2. Bags of decorator icing in the sun make a huge mess on the patio --
3. Pick up the markers as soon as they are done with them. . . they don't blend well with the couch upolstery.
4. The shirt next to your's will probably smear it sometime during painting.
5. 60 yr.-old men with cameras are targets for 8 kids in the pool. . .we rescued the camera -- and soaked the man!



I tell our own kids that I want to have "Camp Grandma" one week every summer when they have children -- hmmmm! How long is a week?

Monday, July 6, 2009

SO WHAT is a SUPER KID?




When I have “kid times” in the summer at our house – my purpose is always to provide an outlet for the children in our primary classes at Life Park to have a day out and their moms have a bit of a break. I remember what it was like to keep a super summer going with enough activities and food to reduce the squabbles to a minimum. There are only so many VBS that a kid can go to before they know all the routine. There are only so many trips to Wal-Mart you can make and who wants to be out in the heat, anyway? By July everybody is getting a little restless and the excitement of summer is beginning to wane.

I believe this time is best served if it is built around a Biblical theme with time in the Word, in the pool, with games to play, a chance to do some serving, and even a little cooking lab time.

We have a lot more boys this year – I previously have done this for girls and taught them to sew, cook and do crafts. This year I have a greater number of boys – so it promises to be a little rowdier.

Ladies and teens quickly signed up to help and at present it looks like we can expect 8-10 Primary SUPERKIDS! This year I want them to become aware of all the different names of God we see in the Word and learn how HE reveals himself in each of those ways.

I’ve been praying about this and I ask you to pray for us --- It’s sure to be exciting, a little messy and hopefully some great spiritual fun!!!

The Room Upstairs


I have been touched by the unnamed Shunammite woman in 2 Kings for many years. I identified with her early in my marriage because she, too, was a woman who was infertile. As the story unfolds, the prophet Elisha, in repsonse to her generous hospitality of building a room on the top of the house for him, prayed for her and her elderly husband to have a child.

I like it when our extra room upstairs becomes an "Elisha" room.. . . for the folks God sends our way. I enjoy stocking it with goodies. (Terry and I have a rule of checking the other’s schedules first before we fill up the house.) We are housing such a man of God right now who is preparing himself for the ministry. It is thrilling to anticipate the ways God is going to use him.

From time –to-time God has sent some extraordinary guests. . . ones in whom I couldn’t necessarily see a God-shaped plan – and I find I wrestle more with it because it isn’t always the smoothest of times. The rewards of that time are often seen much later and I have to keep praying to continue that spirit of hospitality. God reminded me recently of our friend Chad, who has this generous heart that gives and gives unconditionally. You see, he believes that if he has it and you need it or want it– it is your’s.

Bethany's wise words echoed that, “Mom you don’t know what God wants this person to see and know from living at your home. “ Scripture confirms – do not forget to entertain strangers because in so doing you may be housing and hosting angels. I don't want to miss out on that possibility.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Pappa's Hands


We found ourselves going through "family withdrawal" as we began to pack up our bags and head back home. It was difficult to leave my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and for that reason, I have added this final installment to my blogs about Pappa Bell.

It was something that just came about accidentally. Bethany, our family photographer, carries her camera everywhere she goes and began taking pictures of Pappa's hands as he lay sleeping on last Friday afternoon. They were swollen from so many ports and IV tubes -- but still they were same hands that had worked tirelessly during his lifetime.

Pappa was a fisherman, hunter, gardener and builder. He could build anything he set his mind to and loved even more doing it from used items as he was very frugal. After the Tornado struck Wichita Falls in 1979, he collected all sorts of discarded doors, plumbing and two by fours and built a shed in the backyard. He planted pecan trees everywhere he could and spent the fall and winter harvesting the pecans and shelling them out for all the rest of us. He cared for Meemee with those strong hands and even made some of the best pies and soups. We all received our share from Pappa's hardworking hands.

One thing we all noticed was that even to the very end Pop's hands still had a firm grip. I found that out whenever we had to do a procedure he didn't want to endure.
Early on they wanted to restrain him with velco wrist straps, but we found that when we held his hand his restlessness would subside and his breathing become more peaceful and he would relax.

Bethany and her cousin Delaney decided to capture photos of Pappa's hands with his children, grandchildren and great granddaughter and combine these with other pictures of him during his lifetime and back it with the song "Daddy's Hands" to create a memorial powerpoint. It became the theme of his service on yesterday.

About my father-in-law, Artie Bell, I would say, The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. HE has watched over your journey. Deut. 2:7

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