The Day after Thanksgiving

Kids on the porch, don't know why Hannah has a coat.

Me rocking Naomi

It was warm today and I have been feeling much better.  I still have the cough but not as bad as before.  My voice is not 100% but I think it will be okay for Sunday.  We spent Wednesday here in Henderson getting ready for Thanksgiving Day.  Thursday we spent at my mother-in-law's house and by the time Janie and I helped get everything cleaned up after all the company it was 10:00 at night.  We decided to have our daughter's and their families over to our house here in Henderson instead of Hillsboro.  After such a tiring day we dreaded the drive back to Hillsboro.  We were able to make room for everyone in the cottage and were comfortable enough.  Janie and I cooked the turkey which I had killed and cleaned.  We had all the trimmings including homemade rolls.  The turkey was a bit dry and I hate it when that happens.  It was good tasting and the pies and cake which Janie made were too good.  The pie is calling me even now so when I finish this blog I will answer its beckoning call.  We put the kids out on the porch to eat and the adults ate in side.  It was a good day.  The kids are all snug in their beds and Stacie and Scott have returned from their anniversary date.  Justin and Sarah are back in Palestine.  It is time to relax and enjoy a movie before heading for bed.  I am so looking forward to being back to in the pulpit Sunday for I am ready to preach the next text in the Song of Songs.  God bless you.

A Cold

Naomi's picture finally on the wall

A cold came my way and has settled in for what most likely will be a two week stay.  It caused me to run a fever the past two days and has threatened to take away my voice.  It has caused me to cough a lot and to keep a roll of toilet tissue by my side which has turned my nose into one similar to that of Santa's leading rein deer.  I would have enjoyed the grandkids more without this hindrance. 
Sunday my voice was rough but I made it through two sermons and choir practice.  I did not sing much and had no problem reaching the lowest notes.  Joshua led the singing for me at the nursing home and did an outstanding job.  The people could hear him just fine and he sings really well.
Monday found me in bed most of the day sick with a fever.  I did not sleep well at all.  I can not afford to be sick due to my work load.  With a thesis to write, sermons to prepare, clerk work to get done, I don't need a day off sick.  Even though I plan to take a few days off to relax I will be working at least some on my thesis.

Joshua led the singing for me at the nursing home on Sunday

I got up early this morning and took our truck to have its first oil change.  The man at the car dealer could not believe that I had put over 6000 miles on the truck in such short time.  I was able to type one page on my thesis with constant interruptions from the kids, the coughs, and the nose blowing. 
It will feel good when I feel good and I am looking forward to that.  God bless you.   

Turkey Day or Thanksgiving Day

Turkey Feet

A turkey sat on a barnyard fence singing a sad sad tune "Thanksgiving Day is coming gobble gobble gobble gobble and I know I'll be eaten soon."  These are the words to a song I learned in my childhood.  I use to watch my grandmother in Gary, Texas kill and dress chickens and then take them into the house and fry them for supper.  It was amazing to watch the process by which chickens became supper.  I killed and dressed the turkey, which we will have for Thanksgiving, yesterday.  My three oldest grandchildren watched the whole process and were not traumatized at all.  They did gag a time or two.  Joshua plucked some of the feathers from the bird but I did most of it.  Joshua began to play with the feet of the turkey which had been earlier extricated from the carcase.  He ended up planting them in a mound of dirt as if the rest of the turkey had been buried beneath.  It was tedious plucking the bird but gutting it was easy.  The job of killing and cleaning a live turkey is not as hard or difficult as I had imagined.  I would definitely consider doing this again next year. 

Joshua plucking the turkey

I think everyone should have to spend a week on a farm from the 1930's.  No electricity, hauling water, bathing in a number 3 wash tub, having to kill and clean your meat for supper, it would make one grateful for Wal-Mart and prosperity.  When I went hiking for the first time sleeping on the ground and eating cold food for supper in a drizzling rain made me truly thankful for the luxuries that I take for granted every day.  Ruffing it like they did in the 1930's turns "Turkey Day" into "Thanksgiving Day."

Nearly finished

We are enjoying the grandkids.  Next week is Thanksgiving and I have much for which to be thankful.  We are headed back to Hillsboro this afternoon.  I plan to preach from Daniel chapter six on Sunday. Tomorrow will be my ninth anniversary at Walnut Street Baptist Church. God bless you.

MBA of TEXAS Mother's B-Day

Janie and ladies of our church doing the skit Tuesday

The messengers of the churches of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas met at our church.  The meeting went real well though Janie and I are exhausted.  During the meeting with some 375 people at our church the sewer backed up and we had to call my favorite plumber and have a truck come and pump out the septic tank.   They had us fixed up in a couple of hours.  It has been a big job taking care of things at the church with all the people there.  The next time we host this meeting we will have some help. 

Ralph and the poster picture of mother

We will be keeping three of our grandchildren for the next several days and I plan to enjoy that to the fullest.  Afterward I am going to take a few days to do nothing but rest.
Today we celebrated my mother's 87th birthday.  My youngest brother and his wife did a real good job hosting the party.  Ralph printed a poster size picture of mother for her birthday.  Mother was very happy and seemed to enjoy the party. 
After we visited with her a while we drove over to Palestine to pick up the turkey.  Sarah had it caught and caged by the time we got there.  She is very good with farm animals.  She knew it would be best to catch and cage the turkey alone without an audience of strangers which would just stir up the turkeys.  We have him in the shed for the night and will dress him out tomorrow.  The kids seem to be looking forward to that process.  It is 38 degrees outside right now and I have heard that kind of temperature "hog killing weather."  In our case it will be a turkey. 

My mother and 2 of her siblings on her 87th B-day

We plan to return to Hillsboro with the grandkids in tow on Saturday.  I am going to preach a Thanksgiving sermon on Sunday.   Enjoy the pictures I have posted of our recent activities.  God bless you.

Mother, her sons and daughters-in-law

Mother with B-day cake and hat

Thanksgiving's main course begins his journey to the table

Janie holding Naomi while the Turkey is loaded up

Elijah makes a face for the camera at lunch time today

Update

Naomi trying her new chair

I have been way to busy to blog.  Mother is doing fine and I had a good visit with her on Friday.  I was sick all day Thursday and stayed in bed most of that day.  Things have been really hectic this week.  I am not going to preach from the Song of Songs in the morning due to lack of time and focus.  I have had my mind on the MBA of Texas meeting and all that it takes to get ready for it.  We spent a long day at the church today and had to make a quick trip to Waco to get some tables. We were in Waco for a surgery on Wednesday and went to Lorena for services there on Tuesday.  I am considering taking a weeks vacation after this next week is over because I think I may need the rest.  I am ready for things to slow down a bit.  Pray for us... God bless you.

Busy Days

Canned homemade soup 11/7/2011

I made some soup today and canned 8 pints of it.  I made this soup very mild in flavor just like Janie likes it.  We ate a bowl for lunch and I added some hot spices to mine and it was just right.  It will really hit the spot on a cold winters night.  I like to listen for the lids to pop.  And just now I heard the last one pop. 

Started a fire Friday without a match or a lighter

Today I have been real busy.  I went to the bank, the church, Business Supply, the hospital, the nursing home, and Wal-Mart.  I worked on the bulletin and the sermon for next Sunday.  We got a real good rain today and we need every drop of it. 
Yesterday was Sunday and I was able to get through the Song of Songs sermon unscathed.  It was an easy text as far as its level of sensitive content.  The sermon for next Sunday also lacks any cause for concern of embarrassment.  After preaching from the Song of Solomon in the morning service I preached from Psalm 7:11 and enjoyed that text a lot.  We had a good number of people attend both services. 

Giving our Junior Choir a ride to the top of our auditorium

Saturday Janie and I worked around the house getting ready for the company we had on Sunday.  The couple whose house we meet in down at Lorena on Tuesday nights came to our services Sunday and stayed to eat lunch with us.  We had a gluten free meal that was very good.  For the first time in almost 9 years I used the timer on the oven.  I had the oven to come on at 11 and go off at 12 while we were at church.  It worked like a charm. 
Tomorrow we have our ladies Bible study in the morning and services in Lorena tomorrow night which will make for another busy day.  God bless you.

Mother's happy day

Mother was visiting with a fellow patient when I arrived for my visit with her. She seemed so very happy to see me. I got to visit with her for an hour. She seems completely back to normal. She told me about her day and repeated the stories to me an average of three times. She laughs and smiles and says she is so glad she came to the hospital. She told me with great excitement in her voice that she was going to be released Friday. The truth is that she will be released on Monday. I plan to see her again on Friday then head back to Hillsboro Saturday. Thank you all for your prayers. God bless you.

Road Rode Mowed

Repairing Janie's Computer

Saturday last week we RODE from Henderson to Palestine to visit with Justin and Sarah.  We had lunch with them and enjoyed Naomi though she slept through most of our visit.  Saturday night I worked on Janie's old computer which had been taken out by a really bad virus.  I removed everything off the hard drive and loaded a new operating system called Ubuntu.  It works really well now and is much faster than before.  I am going to have to get a wireless transmitter for it so we can get on the internet.  I am going to put this computer at our cottage in Henderson.  This will give me a computer to work on while Janie is using my laptop to do her orders.  The Bible program on this computer is not as good as the one on my Mac but it will do. 

Ladies practicing their skit this Sunday afternoon

On Sunday we had a fellowship lunch after services.  The sermon on the Song of Songs went well though I did keep them over 10 minutes.  We had very few to stay for the fellowship which caused us concern.  We wondered why so few stayed and hoped there was not some sort of trouble brewing among our members.  I think most just had other plans or had forgotten about it and since they had not brought food thought it not right to stay and eat.  There was plenty of food for everyone and a lot of leftovers.  The food was really good.

Waiting for choir practice to begin

On Monday I went over to Sullivan Supply to help them with some computer problems.  I worked on the bulletin for Sunday and the sermon.  One of the ladies who comes to the ladies Bible study told us she heard that they would be working on the ROAD and that they might not be able to get to the parsonage.  We looked into it and sure enough the city had announced that they would be closing the ROAD which leads to our house.  We called off the Bible study.  I was able to get out and do some visitation so the ROAD was not a problem after all.  We went down to Lorena for a visit and had supper with the couple in whose house we usually have services.   We enjoyed a long visit with them.  They are planning to visit with us this next Sunday and we are looking forward to that. 

Naomi napping while we ate

Today I went over to the church for a while and then after lunch MOWED the yard.  There were a lot of grass clippings and leaves on the driveway after I finished mowing.  I went inside for a while and when I went back outside to blow the driveway off there was no need.  The Lord had sent a strong wind and the driveway was clean. 
Tonight we will have services at the church then its off to Henderson again.  I have been very concerned about my mother.  I called today and talked to her nurse. She said she was having a good day and had done good all week.  Some days she is more confused than others.  They are planning to return her to the nursing home on Tuesday next week.  I plan to go by and see her on Thursday and Friday.  God bless you.