Taking Care of Business

This is the cartoon I put in this Sunday's bulletin.

Today is the day after my father-in-law's funeral.  There is much work to be done and phone calls to be made.  We are going to have the graveside service on Saturday February 5, 2011 at 2:00pm.  We called to let all of his doctors know of his passing.  I am going to head next over to the electric company to pay the bill and to have it automatically drafted for my mother-in-law.  I need to run to town to get 2 new tires put on our car and to take care of some banking business.  I have the church bulletin finished and will spend this evening working on my thesis.  God bless you. 

Funeral Day, Burrrrr

The family visitation at Rader Funeral last night

I got up at 6:00 and had breakfast with my mother-in-law this morning.  The temperature started out at 60 but within an hour it was 34 degrees.  There was a huge crowd at the funeral home for the visitation. The crowd at the funeral was much smaller.  It was snowing when we pulled into the parking lot and the temperature was 26 degrees.  The wind was blowing at about 30 mph.  It was really cold for Texas.  Dr. Ray Brooks suggested to my mother-in-law that we not have the graveside service due to the cold weather.  She agreed and so we had the services and all went well except for one thing.  We had left out of the list of the surviving family members the name of Jim's brother Joe Taylor and his wife Virgina.  We called to have them reprint the obit in the paper but forgot to tell the pastor to add it to his list that he read at the funeral.  Janie came to the podium at the close of the service and mentioned him and apologized to his family.  The service lasted almost an hour and half.  We will be going to the cemetery on Friday to lay his body to rest in the ground.  We do not know a time yet but I expect it will in the afternoon when it warms up a little.  There were lots of flowers.  Below are some of the pictures I have taken in the past two days.  I have much to do this week besides my regular work load.  I will get the bulletin done tomorrow and the sermons for Sunday.  I plan to spend half a day working on my thesis. Thanks to all for prayers, things are going to be just fine.  God bless you.

Sarah and Justin holding Lara at the family visitation.

Some of the crowd at the visitation Monday night.

Janie's mother consoling her brother, Janie's uncle Trenton, at his home.

The flowers on the right were sent by Jason and Angie.

Visiting at the Taylor house after the visitation at the funeral home.

Sunday Travel

My mother-in-law by the casket during the family viewing time.

Janie and her sisters recording special music for the funeral.

We had good services this morning and Janie and I stayed to eat at the church.  We headed out for Henderson as soon as we got packed up.  We arrived just in time to meet the rest of the family at the funeral home in Henderson.  It was a difficult time for my mother-in-law to see her husband's body lying in the casket.  It is a beautiful wooden casket.  We remained there for a couple of hours and then went over to Calvary Baptist Church to record some special music for the funeral.  The first special will be my brother-in-law, Tom, playing the saw accompanied by his wife on the piano.  Then Tom's family sang a song and then Janie and I joined in on the next two songs.  We returned to the Taylor house where I burned these songs after some editing to a CD.  That is one of several things that needed to be done before the funeral on Tuesday.  Tomorrow there is a long list of things to get done and between Janie and her sisters and us son-in-laws it will all get done.  Janie is working on a revised obituary right now.  I will need to work on the sermon tomorrow and get that ready to go. The weather forecast is not looking good for Tuesday.  It is suppose to rain and be about 38 degrees (windchill 23 degrees) during the funeral.  The graveside service will be a challenge.  We will have to find a way to get my mother-in-law out to the grave in a wheelchair.   What is crazy about Texas weather is that today it was 80 degrees and by Wednesday it is suppose to be down in the teens. 

Some discussion after the recording session.

Thanks to our sound man at church we have a new camera in the sound booth.  It was his old digital video camera and he made it work with Skype and Jason was able to see the services up close.  This means that when we are on vacation if France we will be able to see the services in Hillsboro much better.  We are so excited about this new camera.  (Thanks Chris, you are such a blessing!)  God bless you. 

Jim Taylor

I do not remember the first time I saw my father.  I was much too young to remember that event.  I had no choice when it came to my father and the Lord gave me a really really good one.  I do remember the first time I met my father-in-law.  I did have a choice as to whom would be my father-in-law.  If I wanted his daughter I had to want him as well.  God not only gave me a wonderful wife but he also gave me a wonderful father-in-law.  I met Jim Taylor in his kitchen.  He came in from work and I was there.  He was very tall and thin.  He had on overalls that had holes all in the legs below the knees.  He was dirty from working and the bill of his cap was turned strait up.  I thought he looked goofy.  He set his things down and while talking to me he took a slice of bread out of the loaf and picked up the salt shaker and began to salt the bread.  He shook and shook that salt shaker for the longest time.  I can remember wondering what he was going to do with a salted slice of bread.  I thought it must be for putting on a sore spot or something.  I had never seen this done before so I was curious about it.  He folded that bread in two and began to eat it.  I thought he must surely be trying to run me off.  I have a thousand such memories.
Last night the angels came a got Jim and took him to heaven.  We did not get to bed until 3:00 this morning.  We are going to the funeral home to make the arrangements at 1:00 this afternoon.  It is a tough time for my mother-in-law.  I plan to return to Hillsboro for the services there and then come back to Henderson for the funeral.  God bless you.

Charles Tekell

Charles Tekell

Let me tell you bout Charles Tekell

His mother did raise him very well.

He has a good wife she's sweet you see,

He loves his beautiful, kind Becky.

Everyone knows of his love to farm.

Rebekah Hill has been his right arm.

His love of the Lord is clear to all.

He is a deacon and serves in the hall.

His children number from one to five.

At Christmas his house, a bee hive.

Sandra and Kenneth and Tim and Scott,

I left out Kathi, I forgot.

The Lord has been so good to him.

He rises early when it's dim.

He plows and plants and grows sweet corn.

The tractor he drives is well worn.

Amount of friends show wealth so well.

There's none as rich as Charles Tekell.

Charles Tekell came through his surgery just fine.  I wrote this poem on a scrap piece of paper while waiting for his surgery to finish.  He is a really good man and has been a good friend to me. 

We are heading for Henderson and it looks like Janie's dad will be in the nursing home for the weekend and then will return to the hospital for more tests.  It seems he may have a problem with his throat that is keeping him from wanting to eat.  God bless you.

Janie presiding over the District Ladies Aux. meeting.

Janie's father is not doing well by last account.  I am given to understand that the doctor mentioned Hospice to him relative to his not eating.  I am not sure how this is all going to work out exactly but for now Janie is preparing to stay for a week or so in Henderson if she is needed.  If they bring her dad back home instead of back to the nursing home then she will need to stay and help out with that.  I would return to Hillsboro for my duties here. Tomorrow morning early I will go to the hospital here in Hillsboro.  One of our church members is having surgery.  We will head over to Henderson afterward and I will return home on Saturday.

Janie, Hannah, Joshua, Scott, and Janie's mother at the nursing home.

I have an exciting Sunday Night service lined out for our church.  I wish everyone would attend.  The subject matter is very important and pertinent.  I will be showing several short video clips stopping to comment on them and shine the light of God's Word upon them.  It is going to be some really good stuff.  Those of you who are members of Walnut Street spread the word and tell everybody to be sure to attend Sunday night.
Sarah called this morning and said she was sick.  She was very dizzy and nauseated.  I don't think she kept anything down all day.  I feel bad for her and hope she is doing better.
Our phone line was giving us some trouble yesterday and our internet went down for a while.  The repairman called this morning and said he would check it out.  He called later to report he had found the problem and gotten it fixed. 

Janie sitting in the tent she helped me make a couple of years ago

I took a few  minutes to work on the new tent I am designing.  It looks like it is going to work real good and be really light.  It only takes two tent stakes and two hiking poles to erect it.  It is 10 ft long and 4 ft wide in the center.  It tapers on both ends to a point. I had Janie to help me visualize it.  She held my hiking poles in the proper positions while I sat beneath them. I tried to envision the size and shape to see if it would be big enough and I believe it will be.  I have a simple drafting software called Delta-Cad.  I just bought the latest version of it and I really like it.  I am getting close to being ready to make the prototype.  I will be photographing the whole process and the pictures will be posted under the hiking tab on this blog. 
The smell of my homemade raisin bread is making my stomach growl.  Its just about ready.  God bless you.

Birthday Party

Ladies Bible Study

Birthday cake is good especially with a dip of ice cream.  The party went well and the discussion was great.  We did not have services at Lorena tonight. It has been a quiet day and we have stayed in and worked.

The Birthday girl

Janie's dad was taken back to the hospital in Henderson again.  He has been admitted and has pneumonia, anemia, dehydration, and low blood pressure.  We plan to go over to Henderson Thursday evening. 
My daughter Sarah has been reading my poem page on this blog and wants me to write a poem about chickens.  She specified that it should be about live chickens not cooked ones. It is an interesting challenge and one I plan to take up so stay tuned.  God bless you.
 

Sing and Preach

The grandkids by a water fall at the nursing home in Henderson

We went to the nursing home this morning and there was a huge crowd gathered for the services. I think it was the largest I have ever seen there before.  I led the singing and preached a sermon from the book of Proverbs.  It was a really good service.  I had a lot to get done today.  I went to the Post Office twice and to a couple of different stores. I got our local association minute books packaged and mailed off.  I went to the office at the church and did a little work there.  I still need to get the oil changed in our car and it also needs a couple of new tires. I will attempt to get this done this week.  We are going to have a mini birthday party at the ladies Bible study in the morning for one of the ladies whose birthday is this week. She does not have internet access at home so those of you who read this and know her please do not tell.
I have been seeing on the news that Massachusetts has been having a tough winter.  I am very thankful to be living in Texas where our winter has been very mild so far.  God bless you.  

Attendance Up

My mother-in-law and the grandkids at the nursing home.

We had a good crowd at church today. The services were good and a couple for whom I have been praying were able to be back in services again and that brought great joy to me.  Janie cooked us some chicken fried steak for lunch and it was very good.  I am on a no salt diet and loving it.  You don't need salt to enjoy the taste of food.
I had told my oldest daughter that I would put one of my sermons on the internet so she could listen to it sometime.  I was able to get that done this evening.  Janie and I sang the special before the sermon and I left that on the audio file as well.  You can check it out by clicking here. I worked all afternoon on the lesson for Sunday night.  It was a lesson about abortion.  The attendance tonight was not as good as it has been but is still up from what we used to run.  Tomorrow I preach at the nursing home and then I will be doing some visitation.  The afternoon and evening will find me finishing up the bulletin for next Sunday and then doing a little work for Sullivan Supply. Their new website is up and running thanks mostly to Janie.  She has worked long and hard on that project.
Janie's dad is doing well, all things considered.  I am not sure how much longer he will be in the nursing home but at the most I would guess two weeks.  It's off to bed now. God bless you.