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.

Twins and Twine

The twins

Janie and I went down to Gatesville, Texas today for the District Ladies Auxiliary meeting.  The Ladies of the host church put on an excellent skit with a sewing theme.  Janie and I got to hold a set of twin girls who are seven months old.  They were sweet little babies.  They belong to a very special and extraordinary family whom we have always admired.  We came home by way of the scenic route and it was a beautiful drive.  We made a visit to the hospital to see one of our church members.  We got home and made some phone calls then Janie took a short nap.

Me and Leah

I watched a DVD this evening of a debate about the existence of God and it was a good debate though both sides, in my estimation, were flawed in their arguments.  It is difficult to watch it with an open mind but I did the best I could.  I really believe both of the combatants in the debate broke the natural laws of logic thus no sound case was made on either side.  The apologist won in my estimation for he put forth the better case.  I plan to share portions of this debate to my congregation one Sunday night. 
I am preaching from the 99th Psalm tomorrow morning.  I need to review that and the Sunday School lesson but thought I would blog a bit first.  I talked with Jason today and he is doing well and got a good report from the doctor and the test.  Angie is still coughing a lot and we are praying for her.  My father-in-law seems to be on a hunger strike again now that he is back in the nursing home.  He wants to go home and I can certainly understand that.  God bless you.

The way it is suppose to be

Our grandson, Jonathan, at the nursing home.

Every year for the past eight I have created a folder with the year as its title.  These folders reside inside a folder called "Funerals."  Funerals are inevitable and unavoidable.  I stood at the head of the coffin looking over the crowd of about sixty people waiting for others to arrive and the time to start.  It was 40 degrees and sunny.  Janie looks really cold in her pretty but not practical coat.  She is standing next to a couple who have been married as long as I am old.  They have become our very dear friends.  After the service was over I stood next to him in sunshine when his wife emerged from the tent having greeted the family.  She stood with her back to us scanning the crowd and I could hear her say "Where is he?"  She was looking for her husband and he did not speak but just watched her.  He reminds me of me for he dearly loves his wife and he enjoyed just watching her.  I know that feeling oh so well.  Finally, like a search light making a sweeping motion her eyes fell upon us standing together.  She knew he knew that she was looking for him and wondered why he did not speak up.  I know why and he knows why. His eyes were drinking in and savoring the moment.  The man whose wife had died had been married to her for 69 years.  World, that is the way marriage is suppose to be. 

My in-laws and a hamburger

Janie's dad is back at the nursing home.  He is doing better. Her mother is staying with him as long as she can to keep him company.  I got a little tickled with her at the hospital.  She asked the nurse if she would put his hamburger together for him.  She knew they were bringing him a hamburger for supper and she thought she needed to stay long enough to put the lid on his hamburger for him.  I asked him if he could handle that job and he said he could.  When the hamburger came she stood up out of her chair to put the lid on it.  That is when she asked the nurse for help.  I think the nurse thought it a strange request.  I stepped up and reached out and assembled the burger for him for her.  They have been married 64 years. World, that is the way marriage is suppose to be.

That's Janie, if I sat this way I would  break my leg.

I have not gotten much sleep lately and I had a headache today.  I went to bed at 8:00 and am now up at midnight blogging.  Janie woke me up coming to bed.  I was a bit hungry so have eaten a small bowl of cereal while blogging.  We have to rise at 7:00 to get ready for the district ladies auxiliary this morning so I had better get back in that bed and get some sleep.  I hear Janie stirring and she is now seated next to me eating a bowl of cereal.  I love her so! World, that is the way marriage is suppose to be.   God bless you.

Drill, Drill

My in-laws napping together yesterday

Wednesday I spent the day with my mother and Father-in-law at the hospital.  We stayed there from noon until 6:00.  It seems he has a contagious disease called C. Dif. He is in a good humor but his mind is still confused.  Tuesday night he had gotten out of the hospital bed on his own trying to sit in a chair.  He tore the I.V. out of his arm and that place on his arm looks real bad.  He had a good day Wednesday and as far as I have heard today went well for him. They moved him to a private room because he is contagious.  He ate well yesterday.  He does not like chicken salad sandwiches but he ate one.  He did not ask nor was he told what it was.  I salted it real good for him and he ate the whole thing. They expect that he will get out of the hospital tomorrow or the next day.  He seems to love being in the hospital.  He does not have to get out of bed at all.  When he goes back to the nursing home they will get him up at 7:30 and make him sit in a chair for hours.  He does not like that at all.  

Janie and her mother checking out at Wal-mart last night

Janie and I went to the dentist office today.  We were there from 9:00 to noon. At one point the dentist was telling me a story and it made me laugh which was a hard thing to do with a mouth full of cotton and dental instruments. Janie had two small fillings and they did not have to deaden her mouth.  For her sake I am glad that the experience was not that bad.
Janie only got 2 hours sleep last night so she is taking a nap right now.  She stayed up working on the new website for Sullivan Supply which went live this morning.  There are some bugs as we expected and they are being dealt with one by one. I am about to head up to the hospital to pick up my mother-in-law.  She wanted to stay there as long as she could.  Connie, Janie's sister, has something going tonight and could not stay as long as her mother needed her to.  After we get back I will work on the van and try to repair the back door and then we will head for Hillsboro.  It is suppose to be 24 degrees tonight in Hillsboro.  It is in the 30's here in Henderson right now.

Me in the dentist chair waiting my turn.

We talked to Jason this afternoon and his doctor's appointment went well.  He is going to have a test done to determine what the problem may be so keep him in your prayers.  Angie is coughing really badly.  Well its off to Tyler.  God bless you.

Networking

My in-laws last night at the hospital in Tyler

We have journeyed to Henderson to help with Janie's dad and mother.  He is in the hospital in Tyler still and may return to the nursing home in a few days.  Janie said he was really confused today and she has been with him for the past seven hours. 
I went to Palestine to see our daughter and her husband and to help them with a networking problem.  They are setting up a daycare center in their church and he is doing a lot of carpentry work and Sarah is going to take care of the books and the computer part of the daycare.  She was having problems networking their two computers and so I went to help get that going.  A bad CAT5 cable was the main problem.  We got the network up and going and both computers on the internet. 

Janie and her boss at Sullivan Supply South

I left them and returned to Henderson and have been working on the sermon for Sunday.  It is an exciting text and I can't wait to expound its contents to the congregation. 
Janie and I will stay in Henderson through Friday.  I have gotten someone to take my class Wednesday night and we will return to Hillsboro on Friday.  We have a dentist appointment Thursday morning.  Well Janie and her mother are here so I must go and see how their day went.  God bless you.

Worship, Worship, Worship

Janie practicing with the Jr. choir this afternoon

Janie displays these in the guest bathroom every year and I like them.

Today was about worship.  It started before 6:00 with a phone call from the nursing home saying that they were taking Janie's dad to the emergency room.  This drove us to prayer which is an act of worship.  We had outstanding services this morning well attended and several visitors.  I taught the Sunday School lesson to a smaller than normal group.  The rain kept some from coming to church.  We had a guest speaker who preached about the prodigal son during the worship service.  This afternoon we went to a nursing home for services and when we arrived there was no one in the chapel area.  Janie began to play the piano and before you know it we had a congregation of nine.  They really sang out with a lot of joy and that fired me up for the preaching time.  I preached them a Gospel message and then visited with them a bit before heading over to the church house.  I got things set up for the evening services and then we went home and talked with Jason over in France.  They are doing well.  We are all the more anxious to see them.  We had to say good bye to them to head back to church.  The evening services were also well attended and the business meeting after the worship service went smoothly.  Janie and watched a video of our grandkids while we ate supper.  All in all it has been a really good day.  God bless you.

Bro. Paul's Phone here...

Carlos Hunt, the man who photographed our wedding 37 years ago.

I am Bro. Paul's cell phone.  He takes me everywhere he goes.  He often takes me out of the pocket where I ride around all day and shows me things that are happening in his life.  He asks me to take and keep snapshots of these moments and I do so without complaint.  Though I have been made by man and know not my maker, I have seen Bro. Paul's maker working in his life and can only conclude that He is gracious, merciful, and patient.

My brother-in-law Steve and his 90 year old mother.

Take today for example.  I saw him fall on the parking lot flat on his back when his feet, on the wet pavement, went out from under him.  I was in his shirt pocket so I was glad he did not fall forward.  He rose unscathed and unhurt. I got to see him driving extra carefully in the rain as he took his mother-in-law and Janie to a 90th birthday party.  He had me to snapshot that event several times.  He had me to take a picture of a man who was taking pictures at this event.  This man was the man who photographed his and Janie's wedding 37 years ago.  The lady who had turned 90 is a very good poet and belongs to a poetry society.  As Bro. Paul came in from the rain he was met at the door by this lady and two men who were members of the poetry society.  They, seeing him come in wet with rain, stated the obvious "It must still be raining."  Bro.Paul responded to them by saying "This kind of weather calls for a duck poem don't you think?"  He quoted them Ogden Nash's poem "The Duck" which goes like this:

Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is specially fond
Of a puddle or pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottoms ups.

My in-law's at the nursing home waiting for his supper.

The poetry people were very impressed.  They said he should write that poem down.  To which Bro. Paul admitted that it was a poem he had learned in High School.  
After the party Bro. Paul took his mother-in-law to the nursing home so they could visit with his father-in-law.  He took me out of his pocket again and had me to snapshot that moment as well.  It seems his father-in-law does not want to eat and does not want to get out of bed.  They made him do both though he only ate three or four bites of food.  He wants to go home really badly.  He just does not have the strength to do so and should he go home in his current condition he would lay in bed all the time and grow weaker.  Bro Paul is deeply concerned for him and prays for him a lot. 

Janie and her mother at the birthday party, her sister is to the right.

I delivered Bro. Paul a message at 4:00 this morning from his son in France.  The message said the box had arrived.  This was a box of Christmas presents and it was very late getting there.  He turned around and used me to talk to his son and I detected a sense of joy and gladness in his voice as he talked with his son.  He loves his son and is proud of him.  I road on the dash of the car all the way back to Hillsboro except when he took me into a Mexican food place where he and Janie ate some supper.  According to my built in GPS we were in Jacksonville, Texas.  He returned me to my perch on the dash and we made it home just fine.  I was glad he drove 55 most of the way due the rain.  I felt a lot safer.  I have noticed that Bro. Paul takes an awful lot of pictures of Janie.  He keeps 24 pictures of her synced on me and frequently views them, mostly when he is away from her for any length of time. He loves her a lot.  
Bro. Paul usually leaves me home on Sunday's but I think he plans to take some pictures at church tomorrow so I bet I will get to hear some joyful worship of Bro. Paul's maker.  I am looking forward to that.  I am going to close this blog with the same prayer for you that Bro. Paul uses.  God bless you.  

3 Homes

Four of Jim Taylor's great-grandchildren visiting him in the nursing home

We visited in two homes today.  The first was a nursing home the second was a funeral home.  Neither place is associated with joy though they can be.  My father-in-law wants to go home and they are working on that.  Stacie, Scott and the kids came to see my mother and the Taylors.  Sarah and Justin came over also and visited at the nursing home and came out to the house to see my mother-in-law.  We are going to go back to the funeral home in the morning for a funeral service.  After the funeral we will go to a 90th birthday party and then head back to our home in Hillsboro.  We are going to be having a visiting preacher in our services Sunday Morning.  I will teach the Sunday School lesson and Sunday afternoon I will be preaching at the nursing home.  Monday morning will find us at the nursing home again for our regular visit.  Well its off to bed.  God bless you.

A Little Sleep, A Little Slumber...

Janie taking a nap in the car

Janie did not get much sleep last night.  She came to bed about 3:00 and then got up at 4:00 to get ready to go with me to Arlington.  The surgery there went well and we made it back home.  We packed our bags and headed for Henderson.  Janie slept for about an hour in the car and then woke up to get back to work on her job.  We went strait to the nursing home and arrived to the news that they needed to take Janie's dad to the emergency room to see the doctor. 

My in-laws back at the nursing home.

I carried my brother-in-law back home and then went to the emergency room to relieve Janie so she could get to the house and get some rest.  I took my mother-in-law out to eat and then returned to the Hospital.  I went into the ER area and talked with my father-in-law and then returned to the waiting area to sit with my mother-in-law.  While we waited their pastor arrived and we visited for a while.  I thought that I had better check on things so I went back to the ER area to find out that a half hour earlier they had sent my father-in-law back to the nursing home and had not told us.  We went back to the nursing home and he was doing okay.  I had to stop by the auto parts place and get some parts for my in-law's van.  They did not have what I needed in stock so they ordered it and next week I will fix the back door of their van so it won't hit people in the head anymore. 
Maybe tonight we will get a little more sleep.  God bless you.

August

Janie and her mother

I made a trip down to Waco today for a surgery. That trip went well and returning home I ate a bowl of homemade chili.  It was really good on this cold day.  I got some work done and then went to church.  The service was not well attended but those present had a good time of singing and reflection with the scriptures. I wish that all of our church members would and could attend all of our services but I know that such a thing is just not possible.

Janie trying on a new dress

We booked our tickets today for our trip to France.  We are due to leave on August 1st and return on the 18th.  We are going to fly from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to London's Heathrow airport then to Toulouse, France which is a city just an hours drive from Jason's house in Magrie.  Sometime during our stay we plan to make a trip by rented van to Normandy and to tour the D-day invasion sites.  I am looking forward to that and spending time with the grandkids who will be out of school the whole time we are there.  It should be, Lord willing, a really good vacation.  
We are due to see our state side grandchildren on Friday and that will be good.  Janie's father is in the nursing home for rehabilitation and we will be spending some time there cheering and encouraging him, or he us. We will return to Hillsboro on Saturday after attending a 90th birthday party.  Janie and I have to leave the house at 5:00 in the morning to attend a surgery in Arlington so I had better head for bed.  God bless you.

$1,100.00 What a blessing

Way more than $100.00 richer

When Sarah and Justin arrived at our house on Monday they came in bringing a gift that they said was a late Christmas gift.  Sarah handed it to Janie and she opened it revealing an 8x10 picture frame.  Janie and I were puzzled by this strange gift until Sarah held it up to the wall next to her and Justin's wedding picture.  This spot is of course reserved for their first child as was the case with each of our other children.  Hugs and congratulations followed of course and we are very excited and happy for them.  When we got back home from Garland on Monday we took them out to eat and then to a teller machine to withdraw $100.00 cash.  As those of you who know me and have been reading this blog know, I give $100.00 to my children upon the announcement of their expectancy of a child.  So far I have been out $1,100.00.  What a blessing!  If she should have twins I will be out another $100.00.  It may be noted that we have not adjusted this amount for inflation; it was $100 12 years ago and its still $100.  Jason and Angie where shorted with Arianna for their $100.00 converted to Euros came out be only about $65.00.  I don't adjust for exchange rates either.

In the back seat Janie and I enjoyed being chauffeured to Garland

The ladies Bible study was really good this morning.  We have started the critique of a sermon by David Jeremiah on the timing of the rapture.  We spent 15 minutes on his use of the phrase "the rapture of the church" which occurred within the first minute and 28 seconds of his sermon.  It is a misnomer of that event called the rapture.  It is the rapture of the saints or of the redeemed not of the church. This prompted some good discussion.  I really enjoy the Ladies Bible Study.
The services at Lorena were outstanding.  We sing several songs and then I preach without a time limit.  We have a short time of visiting afterward and part ways having truly worshiped the Lord.
I may have to go to Waco for a surgery tomorrow but will not know until in the morning.  I have much study to do and so I better get to it.  God bless you.

Let It Snow

Our church parking lot as Janie and I were leaving Sunday

It snowed here on Sunday.  We had a much larger attendance on Sunday morning and Sunday night than I had expected.  It was very cold and raining when we went to church and by the time services were over it was snowing hard and beginning to stick to the ground.  The afternoon saw the snowing stop and the melt down begin. Most of the snow was gone by the time we left for church Sunday night.  Sunday morning I had preached from the book of Amos on the subject of "The Fourth Sin."  Sunday night I showed some videos of Atheists putting down people who believe in God.  The deacons meeting was very short.

The court house in Hillsboro taken Saturday from the Post office

The roads were in bad shape in the Dallas area so the meeting I was to attend was called off.  About 10:30 I got a call that the meeting was on again and we would meet for lunch and then take care of business.  Justin and Sarah drove up just as we were about to leave.  They are going to spend the night with us.  They went with us to Garland and Justin did the driving.  My blog book arrived also as we were about to leave.  I spent most of the driving time looking a the blog book for 2010.  I counted 117 pictures of Janie in the book.  You would gather from this statistic that I like her and you would be right.  I have not counted but I suspect that pictures of grandkids would come in second.  I enjoyed looking through the book because many of the things in it I had forgotten.  It is amazing how soon we forget the years of our lives.  I wish I had been able to blog for the past 37 years.  Well its off to bed now.  I will be making a major announcement tomorrow so stay tuned.  God bless you.

Precious Memories

Janie's sister feeding her dad

I was at the Post Office this afternoon all by myself when a man came in whistling the song "Precious Memories."  I spoke to him and he to me then he resumed the song.  As he began to leave I said "Precious Memories."  He replied "That's right."  He made for me a precious memory.  I like living in a small town.  The vast majority of the people of Hillsboro that I encounter are friendly and courteous.  I went to the grocery store today to pick up a few things and while I was there one of the men who works there was singing at the top of his voice the song that was playing on the store's sound system.  He was off key and lagging behind in tempo but there was a joy in his voice.  It made me start to sing hoping that I was a little more on key and in sync with the song.  It is so nice to be around happy people.

My mother-in-law, son-in-law and daughter Friday evening

I am about to type up my sermon for Sunday.  It is suppose to be bad weather tomorrow so our attendance may be low.  I studied the Sunday School Lesson this afternoon and reviewed the lesson for Sunday night.  It is suppose to be below freezing and snowing here Sunday night so again our attendance may not be very large.
Sarah and Justin came over to Henderson to see my father-in-law in the hospital.  They brought my 16 foot flat bed trailer back to Henderson.  He had put all new lights on it and a new RV type connector plug.  It looked and worked really good. I am going to be very careful about loaning it out from now on.  I do not have a truck right now but plan to get one in another year or so.  Then I will have a way of hauling a trailer.  Justin does really good work. You may remember that he is the one who made the cabinets you see in the picture.  Well its off to type a sermon entitled "The Fourth Sin."  God bless you.

The First Walk of the Year

Janie and I on our 2nd walk of the year

Janie and I took our first and second walks of the year today.  The first was early this afternoon and the second was just as the sun was going down.  My father-in-law is doing well.  We just returned from the last visiting time for the day.  He was sleeping soundly so we did not wake him.  He was very talkative at 6:00 but sleeping at 8:00. 
Janie's sister and her husband are on their way here from Mississippi.  They should arrive about midnight.  It will be good to have them here. One of the daughters can spend time with their dad while the other spends time with their mom.  We will most likely head home Friday evening depending on how things go with my father-in-law tomorrow.  I plan to work on my thesis in the morning. I read 14 chapters in the Bible today and worked on the sermon for Sunday. 

Janie on our afternoon walk

Between ICU visitation times this evening Janie and I went to the store to get some things that my mother-in-law needed.  Janie wanted to shop for some clothes and while at the store I found what I considered to be an ugly dress. I showed it to Janie and she agreed.  I asked her to try it on and let me see what it would looked like.  To my surprise she consented.  She came to the door of the dressing area to show me the dress and I took her picture.  I will not display it here on this blog (37 years of marriage has taught me better).  It was fun and I will keep the picture in my cell phone as a sweet memory.  I did show the picture to my mother-in-law and she thought it looked good.  It will be in my 2011 blog book if I remember to add it in.  God bless you.

Hospital

Huge hollow limb with a bee hive inside

Tuesday night, after the services at Lorena were over, we went outside in the back yard where the services had been held to see an amazing sight.  There was a hollow tree limb laying on the ground and it was full of bees.  You could hear them humming away inside the limb.   The lady whose house we were at keeps bees and this limb was a gift to her.  The man was cutting firewood and had cut this limb out of a tree.  He brought it to her on a trailer and the bees stayed right with it all the way.
Wednesday was a busy day and the services Wednesday night were good.  I led the singing and that is amazing because Sunday I coughed so bad I could barely get through my Sunday school lesson and sermon never mind sing.  The cough is much better now.

In the emergency room this morning

Janie called her mother to see how they were doing and her dad is not well.  He has pneumonia and is even now in ICU at the Henderson Hospital.  We got to the Hospital this morning about 1:00 and stayed until almost 4:00.  After only a few hours of sleep Janie got up and headed back to the hospital to be there for the 10:00 visiting hour.  She plans to have him transferred to Tyler where his doctor is located.  His fever was 103 and he was completely unresponsive.  When we left the hospital this morning he did say a couple of words so was making improvement.  Keep him in your prayers.  I have stayed behind to keep my mother-in-law from being at home alone.  As Janie and I were standing by her dad's bedside in the ER a nurse came in to start the I.V. medication and she asked Janie "Are you his wife?" referring to her dad. Don't you know that made Janie's day.  Janie called just now and said her dad is back to his right mind.  He smiling and talking and feel better.  He does not remember yesterday or how he got to the hospital.  Janie sounded relieved that her dad was doing good.  God bless you.

Swear

The Swearing in ceremony: the tallest one is our music director.

I went to the court house today for the swearing in of our local officials. Our music director was in the group being sworn in as one of the county commissioners.  It was a really good ceremony. I had to leave rather abruptly after the ceremony was over to get down to Waco for a surgery.  I had lunch with the family while the surgery was being preformed.  The surgeon said that all went well and so I left to head back to Hillsboro.  I had just left the parking lot when I got a call that there had been complications in recovery and it was serious so I turned around and went back to check on things.  I waited with the family for another hour or so until we got word that everything was going to be okay. 
Janie was taking a nap when I got home, she was not feeling well. She got up and got Jason's report ready to print and part way through that process the printer ran out of ink.  We dropped what we were doing and headed down to Waco to pick up some ink for the printer and while we were there we went to a movie.  It was a good time.  We got back home in time for me to get a little work done and to blog before heading for bed. God bless you.

Elephant's Hind Leg

Me working on my French lesson.  Made a 47% on the unit 1 final exam.

I found this quote from Abraham Lincoln.  "When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run." That is pithy, is it not? Sometimes I have an elephant by the hind leg and don't realize it.  Some things you just can't stop and if you try you will end up in bad way.  When a thing is too big for you to handle the first problem you must face is to recognize that the thing is too big to handle.  Once you get that figured out turning loose is the easy part.  Prayer mixed with faith, that's how you turn loose of that elephant's hind leg.  God can take care of that elephant so turn loose.

We had good services today.  Our Sunday night service was very well attended.  I am very encouraged by this trend because our attendance was dropping and there seemed to be no stopping it.  When you let go of that elephant God will take over.

My Father back in the 60's at the church he pastored in Ayer, Mass.

After services tonight we were invited to a couples house for a time of fellowship.  We enjoyed it very much. I sat at the table with the new pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hillsboro.  I gave him the 20 questions work over and he fared well.  He is an amillennialist, and a non-gapper.  Like me, he is working on his doctor's degree.  He is a really nice guy and the three times I have heard him preach he has done very well.  He seems to have the fire so I like him.
I will be going to the court house in the morning to watch a swearing in ceremony and then its off to Waco for surgery there.  Stay away from those elephant hind legs and God bless you.

New Years Day

Janie's 37th Wedding Anniversary gift

Janie and I slept late this morning arising at about 10 o'clock.  We went to Wal-mart to pick up a few things we needed.  I had ordered a gift for Janie for our anniversary and it had come in. I got started next on my New Year goals.  I have done my Bible readings and studies.  After I get through blogging I plan to do my French lesson. 
The new bread making machine is longing to make its first loaf.  Its mouth will open in a bit and it will swallow up the bread ingredients.  In three hours it will bring forth its first loaf just in time to go with that homemade vegetable soup. (Il fait du pain. meaning "It makes bread." I think.... guess I better get on that French lesson.) God bless you.