Happy 3rd Anniversary
   to Peter and Rachel

What a great couple the two of you are!  I enjoy the times we can be with you so very much and the phone conversations.  It is so delightful to see you enjoy each other with your playful banter which keeps you laughing and facing the challenges and joys of life together.  We are so proud of you and  believe God will keep anointing you and keeping you in His service.  May you dwell in unity with “oil dripping from your beards”!! (Dr. Klaus’ staff devotional for Network211)

To my Xangan friends….
Three years ago we witnessed their beautful wedding as they joined their lives together.  As I often do, I am listening to “How Beautiful”, one of the songs Rachel and Peter chose for their wedding.  That day the song glorified God and yes, Rachel was definitely a ‘radiant bride’.  There were lavender hydrangeas (like posted above) on the ends of the pews and on the floor alongside the bridal path down the aisle and up the steps.  Chances are I will view their DVD that captured their day!  The good news is that we will get to see them the end of the month when they come to Portland to help celebrate Glen’s 60th birthday.  (Glen is OK with that birthday # now.  He says, “It sure beats the alternative!)

If you would like to greet them, they are at techmissionary and moonspnr

Fun weekend

Some weekends have more special times weaved into them than others.

** This past weekend I started Saturday morning early.  My friend, Alma, who is a Red Cross volunteer invited me to be her guest at the Red Cross Volunteer Appreciation breakfast cruise on the Spirit of Portland.  I had not been on that cruise before though Glen and I have gone on the Sternwheeler Cruise in the Columbia Gorge leaving from Cascade Locks. It was fun to be part of the celebration.  LOTS of people!  I kept hearing RC volunteers say they had no idea there would be so many people.  It was a nice meal served to us at our tables.  At our table we agreed we had wondered how long we’d be standing in a buffet line.  Not having that was great!  It brightened up a bit so we went outside to enjoy the Willamette River and surroundings.  Some of the homes are incredible!  I had fun taking photos.

** In the afternoon I joined my friend, Debbie, at her home where she hosted a Creative Memories “Memoranza”.  It’s a special day long time of cropping and working to your heart’s content on your albums.  After some concentration I was able to have everyone celebrate with me as I really do, FINALLY, have our 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii album DONE!!!  How exciting!  I am a slow scrapbooker and even though I tried to do it simply, I still end of taking awhile.  I even won the grand prize drawing and now have a little photo booklet that I can put in some photos … from another Hawaii trip (probably 2005 highlights)… as the booklet is in a tropical paradise theme.  Our packet in the morning has those materials so I can weave those into the little 5 1/2×7″ album I am starting on with our 30th anniversary trip to the Big Island.  Fun!  I do scrapbook things besides trips to Hawaii.  Really, I do.  Right now I seem to be on a roll with Hawaii and Yellowstone trips.

** Sunday morning was a great time to come together for worship.  When the missionary who shared briefly prayed in Argentinean Spanish, there was such a powerful sense of what it will be like to be in heaven together.  All the languages will melt together into one heavenly language.  We will understand each other.  Now we can feel the presence of God together as he prayed.

** After choir finished singing in the second service Glen and I scooted away to Sweet Tomatoes and then over to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens in southeast Portland near Reed College.  It was a gorgeous, bright day…but only low 60s so we had a very pleasant walk through the gardens.  There are benches here and there where you can sit down and drink in all the beauty.  It reminded me so much of times we have gone with our family members visiting Portland.  That included Mom Dell; my sister, Marion, and her husband, Don; Glen’s sister and her husband on their 25th anniversary trip to OR, fellow Xangan 1Chron15:16 ; and our daughter-in-love, Rachel.  There were so many “rhoddies” in bloom and I am always amazed how many colors and species there are.  There are trees! of rhoddies and not just bushes like in neighborhoods.  Rhoddies greeted us as we moved from the Denver area to an apartment in Beaverton (northwest Portland metro area) almost 9 years ago in mid May.

** We slipped home for a quick nap and then went to our church youth choirs’ dinner and auction. This raises support for their missions tours this summer.  It is a festive time as we all congregate in the gym.  The silent auction items are all around the perimeter of the gym.  People checked those out as we all went through the line for our BBQ meal.  We enjoyed the time at our table.  We got acquainted with a couple we didn’t know and fun to be with two other couples we know some.  After we’d eaten the live auction began!  We stayed for part of it.  It’s fun to see what all has been donated and kind of a sense of who is bidding (too many people to see for sure!).  There were donated stays at the OR coast, Sun River in central OR and Kauai, Hawaii amidst landscaping, bark dust, gift certificates to restaurants, etc.  I love the sense of community and unity we experience when we are together like this! 

An all in all great weekend!!  Photos to follow!

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   II Corinthians 12:9

Health update (from Saturday, April 14 post) 

This year so far has been a very quiet time for me.  I have been low key, rested alot, and focused on the healing process involved with the regiment prescribed by my naturopath.  I am happy to say some of that has really been paying off for me.  The intestinal and gallbladder problems I had last summer/fall/winter have responded to the supplements, etc.  However, the process of taking allergy drops to desensitize my system has been a different story.  My system is so sensitive it has been a slow process to build up the number of drops I can tolerate.  I would have to pull back on how much I take when I would get quite agitated and panicky feeling.  I am glad it dawned on me pretty quickly…”Oh, right.  That is how I used to feel when I had allergy shots.”  Starting with a snowstorm here in January I began having phone consultations (instead of driving 35 minutes one way) with my naturopath every 3 weeks or so.  This past week I went to his office and was retested with the allergy drops so I could get a new batch.  Yeah!!  I have made good progress.  Some of the items I have started “becoming friends with”. (That means their system shows I don’t respond as much to that item and I can now tolerate a higher solution to become friends with.)  Some items were more persistent and I made only 1 dilution difference.  Those items were like house dust, dust mites, gluten, etc.  The good deal is that with this progress some of the items I was TS (too sensitive) to take when I started last fall I can now start.  (Becoming friends with some lowers the sensitivity of the others.  Baseline is changed.) The new ones include 3 additional pollen groups, hydrocarbons, petrochemicals and formic acid.  After I adjust to the new dilution of my current items, I will start these.  Then I will have the joy of putting 30 allergy drop items into a 3-4 ounces of peppermint tea.  (Peppermint tea helps detoxify the system.)  Fortunately I can make up 6 doses at a time which covers 3 days.  There are several items that are still TS.  It is interesting that several of those are mold.  I was just starting to get allergic to mold before we left Denver.  After almost 9 years in Oregon, I guess my system has decided to not like mold!!  This may have contributed to my low energy winter.

One of the things about having allergies (summertime and grass pollen) and this process of dealing with allergies is that I kind of stick to home.  As a ‘retired’ person, fortunately, I can do that.  I try to get to 24 hr Fitness for a water workout 2 times a week.  (My muscles need to heal the days between.)  I have my appointments for my hair and health, brunch/lunch with my friends, and the basic shopping I need to do.  Otherwise, I stay put.  This year so far I have found it hard to go to church.  In the last few years I have become sensitive to perfumes.  (I think I could keep you entertained with some of the antics I go through in finding the right place to sit at church!!  I feel like Goldilocks!  One Sunday I had to move 2 times before I found the right bed, I mean place to sit.  Ah, the baby bear bed will do.)  For several years I have not been able to go to the ladies Bible study on Tuesday mornings because of all the perfumes.  Whew!  A room full of ladies at 9:30 in the morning is quite the ‘smell’!  (I am aware there are some Bible studies in the area that require attendees to not wear perfume or body/bath lotions.  I am thinking about looking into that for next year.)  My response is that my bronchials start to spasm.  I don’t have asthma, but it is not a pleasant experience.  I go home to crash as I can do sometimes after exposure to my other allergens.  At times I feel like a recluse.  However, there is a plus side!!  As noted in the previous blog, I have been finishing some projects and reviving old interests.  Savoring life!!

Note: I’m updating this post to say I had really prayed about the perfume smells regarding attending the Stormie seminar on Saturday.  Praise the Lord!!  I was in the right spot at the right times.  I was OK with that many women early in the morning… over 600 ladies.  The music/worship and sessions were great!  I will give a separate report on that soon.  Thanks, wondering04, for requesting.

Let the weak say “I am strong.”  Joel 3:10

I’m attending the Stormie Omartian “The Prayer that Changes Everything” seminar today… 8:30-3:30.  There will be over 500 ladies there from our church and others.  Looking forward to all that God has for us!!   

 An overdue update

It’s been a long while since I have posted on a personal note.  At the moment I am using my laptop as I watch the Travel channel.  (Glen is busy making practice CDs for the youth choir.)  Wow!!  Tonight the Travel channel has a set of programs on National Parks.  Over the years as a family we have enjoyed checking out as many national parks as possible.  I just watched part of the one on the Grand Canyon (we went in 1991) and now my very favorite is the feature…. Yellowstone Park!!  Since I have the DVR recording I can easily stop and go back to watch a portion if need be… so don’t worry, I’m not ‘missing’ the program.  What’s really fun about this program is that I have currently been working on scrapbooks of our trips to Yellowstone over the years.  Having lived in Colorado 1971-1998 we have visited Yellowstone in 1973 (Glen and I as relative newlyweds), in 1983 when our boys were in elementary school, in 1993 when they were in high school and then we caught on we should keep up the 10 year pattern.  OK, let’s plan to go to Yellowstone in 2003.  We did!!  Peter went to Denver from Springfield, MO, so that he and Andy could drive to Yellowstone to meet us.  We had a great time!!  In between (at a 5 year interval) Glen and I slipped in a few days in 1998.  Glen and I had moved to Oregon in May 1998 and left our boys in Denver.  By the 4th of July weekend I knew that waiting until Christmas to see them again was just TOOOO long!  If you are familiar with me at all, you know I call that time of separating from the boys as Abrupt Empty Nest syndrome.  It was tough!  We had all been living together in our home in the Denver area (in Aurora) and the boys had been going to college there while staying at home.

Taken at Yellowstone in 2003
 
Well, now you know I have been busy working on scrapbooks.  Actually, I have been working on photos and negatives in general with some actual scrapbooking.  What a job!!  But what a sense of accomplishment!  In January 2005 I blogged about hosting a Creative Memories workshop on the Power Sort system.  Shortly after that my Great Aunt Mildred passed and my friend’s sister a day later and my cousin Donna 3 weeks later.  I got involved working on making collages of Aunt Mildred and scanning select photos of my girlfriend’s sister and making a CD of them.  Needless to say, I just kind of forgot about Power Sorting photos.  The last month I have been taking photos out of unsafe albums that I hadn’t yet.  They were mostly from 1985-1987 and a Grand Canyon-CA trip in 1991.  The work on negatives has been something else.  Whew!!  Interesting stuff!  My brother, Carl, has been scanning his slides and I guess it got me inspired to check out my regular negatives.  Thank goodness I had identified and organized alot of the negatives when I first started scrapbooking in Denver 1995-1997.  Now I have been learning to scan some of them.  I have focused most on our first Christmases.  In fact, one of my Power Sort boxes is all the Christmas photos from over the years as one of my SB projects is Christmas albums.

Even though I have not felt inspired to blog (low creativity/energy level besides I see other bloggers seem to go through a down time in January)…. I have been creating anyway!!  I think I have a new name.  Have you seen that advertisement about the dad who says “My kids call me The Finisher!”?  Yep!  That’s what/who I have become.  In January/February I finished crocheting several afghans and worked on other projects while I enjoyed watching the Walton DVDs I got for Christmas.  I found that the repetition of crocheting could do a number on some of the places muscles attach to my ribs. Strange joys of fibromyalgia!  OK, pace…..

Another thing I have realized.  SAVOR LIFE!!!!!  I have found great enjoyment in bringing out old interests: crocheting, playing piano and sewing.  (It is interesting to me how many young gals are interested in doing these.)  I am amazed to track a daughter and mother team, yardenxanthe and strawberry14, to observe all the creativity that oozes from their beings.  It has inspired me.  Earlier in the year I had researched the possibility of getting a new sewing machine as my old Singer from my single days appeared to bite the dust.  Andy and Glen had checked on it Christmas 2005 and got a part over Ebay.  Well, Glen finally tried to install the new part and found there isn’t any way he could get that part in. This week I became the new owner of a Brother EX660.  I got a reconditioned one through overstock.com.  I didn’t have to pay so much and yet it has all I might like to use now and in the future.  It is computerized, has 60 stitches plus and the ability to quilt with it, etc.  If I have the privilege to be a grandmother some day, will I ever have fun.  Right now my interest is to FINISH some items that need repair, a different curtain for in the guest room, and maybe make up some lingerie material I have had for many years.  I have checked.  It appears you can still use old lingerie material, but the elastic might not be OK.  See if you can stretch it a certain amount and if it bounces back it may be fine.

Hope you have enjoyed my update.  (See health update separately after this post.) In the near future I hope to be blogging a series called “Musings of a missionary’s mom”.   See our son, Peter, and his wife, Rachel, at techmissionary or www.internetmissionary.org   The “newbies” that we are has made it an interesting journey.  I am thankful for all the insights I have learned from XA missionaries like balticblond, strawberry14, basementdweller, heartwomb, chialphacurt and new missionary, friend from our church, henkelberry.  Then there are my friends at Missionary Renewal Asia Pacific who work with missionaries from that area and other places as well.  Eaglewind has shared a window on his work there.  Thank you, friends! 

Fellow Xangan’s devotions online… 

strawberry14 has written the devotions at Network211.com this week, April 8-14.  Here’s a link to today’s.  If you want to read the rest of her week, go here and see the archives’ link on the left side: List Previous Devotions.

Way to go, Kathy!!

A different kind of spring break

As I was preparing an update for the Crisis Information Center at Network211.com I found this article on the spring break activity of some college students.  It sounds like their caring, listening ear is valuable in addition to their strong backs and enthusiasm.

Partying out, helping in over spring break 

Edit:
In rechecking my links I just saw that the headline for this article was changed to “Spring break a time to help”.

Today is my brother Bud’s birthday.
Our family was able to get together last spring for our niece’s wedding.  Always fun to get together the older we get.  Weddings are the best!!

Smokey

This German Shepherd was a favorite of my family while we lived on the farm in North Dakota.  If I remember correctly Smokey was the only dog we had that was allowed in the house.  She was a special friend to my mom.  Here she is in the kitchen.  When my boys were little I told them about two of our dogs, Sarge and Smokey.   A while later I heard them as they played, “I’m Sarge.  And I’m Smokey.”  (I now have this photo because my brother, Carl, has been getting his slides into .jpg files.)

A kind of interesting photo I took in Norway this summer.