Missions Conference and a treat for me

This week is our Mission Conference at church and last night was seminar night. We had 15 different speakers who talked about their 'missions' or opportunities for us to serve. It was very interesting. The sessions are divided into 5 categories (3 each) such as Global Missions, Local Missions, Evangelism, (don't know what all 5 were). Then they are set up in 5 rooms and 3 time slots. Each person can choose which session they want to attend in each time slot - attending 3 sessions in the evening.

Going into the evening I was only interested in the College Ministry session - mostly because I have daughters that fall into that category and can see there is a need for something to help them stay connected to the church family. Our church is also located within 3 miles of a state university. The church in the past has tried several different ministries reaching out to the students there but nothing has lasted long term. Usually the leaders moved on to somewhere else and the ministry fell to the wayside. The session is wanting to come up with something that the church can sustain. It was a good session and there were several recent college grads who had a lot to input into the discussion. DD19 and her boyfriend attended with me and they had some input - mostly "FOOD" - if you offer home cooked meals you will get them to come :-)

Since DD17 was working in the nursery, I had to stay for the whole evening so I chose the Bethany Christian Services for my second session. It was good - but she should have handed out tissues at the door as we came in. She showed a short video (Everything to Me) to a song written by a man to his birth mother thanking her for making the sacrifice to give him a better life. The video showed a young lady who was pregnant, went into labor, delivered and gave her baby up for adoption. The man's story followed in a second video (Story behind Everything to Me) One of the young ladies in our church within the last month had delivered a beautiful baby that she dearly loved and wanted to keep - but knowing she could not do so financially (unemployed and a student) she gave it to a family through Bethany. So the video really hit home to many of us in the room who have struggled with this young lady in her decision.
The speaker was very interesting, telling about domestic, global and embryo adoptions. They will not consider a couple for adoption unless they are actively involved in a church so that is a comfort to the birth mothers who use their service. Most adoptions today are open adoptions with the birth mother choosing the parents and allowed to see the child at least once a year. The young lady in our church chose a family who will allow her to see the baby 4 times a year and live about 3 hours away.
This morning I found the lyrics to Everything to Me. I love the song!


The third and final session is where I was given a 'treat'. I planned to go to the session on the Chippewa mission trip that the church is planning for this summer. For many years the church has gone to the Lummi Reservation in Washington. The past couple years entire families have gone and it is quite expensive to fly a family of four - so the church has been looking for something within a reasonable driving distance and with a more flexible time frame. So I was just curious about the new location and people. But when I got to that room it was already packed with pre-teens - so I went to my second choice - The Gideons.

One of the men in our church is a member of The Gideons. They are an international group of men who promote God's Word in many ways. He showed slides and videos of a trip he made with the Gideons to Thailand. Very interesting and a beautiful country. They handed out Bibles in the Thai language to students, hospital patients and even to the Buddhist monks who are everywhere on the streets. He told many stories of God's providence and protection while they were in Thailand. And in case you are curious - the Gideons pay all their own travel expenses. Any money donated to The Gideons goes 100% to buying Bibles and New Testatments.

As he closed the program he passed out greeting cards that individuals can use to purchase Bibles for The Gideons to distribute (they are responsible for the Bibles in hotel rooms in the US). He wanted to show us how easy it was to honor someone by donating a Bible in their name. Glancing at me, he pulled out a little well-worn notebook and started flipping through the pages. He said he makes notes of things to do and some time ago he had made a note and had never followed up on it but was going to take care of that right now. He stood next to where I was seated and leaned down so I could see the pages as he was flipping - he had many items crossed off and finally came to a page that wasn't - there is said "Thank You to Mary C and Pastor - Marriage Retreat"

So he took a "Thinking of You" card and filled in the form on the inside saying 5 bibles were being donated in honor or Mary C. He added a line saying, "Thank you for your service". Then on the other side of the card he wrote something like "Thank you for all the work on the marriage retreat." Placing the card in the envelope, he handed it to me. Then he took the smaller envelope that was in the card and filled out that he was paying for 5 Bibles ($25) and that a card had already been sent to the honoree. It was that easy - and it made me feel very honored and appreciated. To think that someone who works hard for his money was willing to give up $25 because he appreciated what I had done. It did not matter that I did not receive the money - I felt blessed to be the 'reason' he was making the donation. I felt like I have received a special unexpected gift. It certainly make me want to do the same when I want to show someone I appreciate them. So I took a box of 10 cards to have on hand for just such an occassion :-)

I can see how God uses everyday things like a man's lack of follow up on his note made the end of January, and a room full of pre-teens to glorify Him. Isn't He wonderful!?!?!?!?

Still here

Well, I am still here even though haven't posted lately. I've been busy on the planning committee for a marriage retreat through our church. It was a big success but I put in a lot of time getting things lined up.

I've also been busy cross-stitching, knitting and planning a scrapbook. I need to get busy on DD17's scrapbook which will be part of her graduation gift. I made one for DD19 last year and got an extra copy of some of her photos that included her sister. Hoping that will save me a little time. Of course, I will have to come up with some different pages for DD17 so her book is not the exact same thing as DD19's.

Last week I also organized a dinner to encourage a young lady at our church who is in the middle of a messy divorce. Her wedding anniversary was last Thursday and she would have been sitting alone. We all met at a local smokehouse and had a great time. We'll have to find some other excuses to have a girls' night out.

DD19 comes home this weekend because it is her BF's birthday and he has to come home to celebrate with his family. It will be good to see her. She called today and she is doing very well in her classes and getting used to the couple instructors. The campus was closed for several days last week due to ice so I imagine the instructors are going to be rushing the students to stay on schedule.

Christmas is officially past- plans for January

Christmas is officially past - the tree is down and packed away. All the other Christmas decorations are packed up - a few gifts still need to find homes - but all signs are gone. I still need to dig out the usual pictures and knick knacks that sit on the shelves and end tables. The snow village and all my snowman decorations are still out. They will stay out until close to Easter.

It feels so good to have the open space in the living room. The tree takes up one whole corner and becomes the focal point. Now we are much more comfy.

DD19 is heading to Chicago to visit my sister on Monday and will not return until Thursday, so it will even seem like she is back at college for a few days.

DD17 of course will be back at high school and taking the semester final that had to be re-scheduled due to a snow day in December. She will be happy to be done with that too. Of course, it is the class she dislikes the most (she dislikes all of her classes at times) and the one she struggles with. Thank God it is only one semester so she is done with it after tomorrow.

We have some big plans for January. My sister is planning to come visit and we are going to make Freezer Meals from Saving Dinner
We did that in 2007 when she was preparing to undergo treatment for breast cancer so she would have some easy meals in her freezer in case she needed them. (Fortunately she did not need many of them as her church family kept her in meals and one friend in particular brought her something every couple days). But they are really convenient and we are going to do some again.

And also in January is a marriage retreat that we are attending. I am on the committee and will be in charge of the registration so we will both take off a day for that so I can be there earlier to get things set up. This is the first marriage retreat led by our church so we are trying to "talk it up" with the other couples. So many are afraid that they will be forced to talk about things they don't want to or that by going it tells everyone they have marital problems. They don't realize that everyone has marital problems of some sort. The retreat is meant to encourage the couples and focus on what God has said about marriage and our roles and responsibilities in a marriage.
DH and I attended a Weekend to Remember a couple years ago and it was great for our marriage - of course, we still have problems and we don't do everything we planned to do for ourselves at that retreat, but at least it made us realize that we have the same goals and need to work together not pull apart.

Well, back to knitting until it is time to leave for church. I am about 2/3 done with the baby blanket. Will post a picture when it is completed.