Rejoice in the Lord Always...

YuJueng, Shannon, and I went to the tiny mall in Sioux Center, just fifteen minutes away.  Christianity is very prevalent up here.  Music in the gas stations and department stores declare the goodness of God and scriptures are found in various places.  It is not the norm for sure in a world that tries to dethrone Jesus Christ and replace Him with self.  I am not saying that sinners do not abound in this part of the country, for all men's hearts are desperately wicked.  It's just that here His word is proclaimed boldly and His praises sung openly, and that is not the norm elsewhere.
In the Christian bookstore I found a praise CD and as I was checking out, I spied these cute little 99 cent magnets with scriptures on them..."Rejoice in the Lord always." Philippians 4:4.
I had forgotten my glasses that day and had to wear some reading glasses that were for sale in the stores we had gone in and then put them back when I was done looking and shopping.
We stopped for a soft drink and some cheese balls made at the Dutch restaurant.
Before we left, I walked back over to buy a few more magnets.  Grabbing two, I paid for them and we hurried to leave as the guys were babysitting for us.  In the car, I handed YuJueng a magnet and said "This is for you."  She answered, "Oh, thank you.  What does it say?"  I looked at her funny and Shannon burst out laughing.  It was in Spanish.  Spanish.
Then they began to fight over them.  I refused to give them the Spanish magnets as a reminder that their mother-in-law frequently loses her glasses.  So I say to you in closing...
"ALEGRENSE SIEMPRE EN EL SENOR." Fil. 4:4

The Tree

Luke has a tall pine in his front yard.  It is in the shape of a Christmas Tree.  You cannot really tell how big it is from a photo, so I put Emma under it for perspective.  She has been my shadow and my pest.  I love her.  When Luke first moved into this house, he wanted the tree gone.  I am so glad it has stayed.  It is my landmark for finding his house each time we visit.

A maple gives shade to the backyard and the leaves are amazing in the Fall....which is just within my reach, by the way.  These green beauties will shine golden in a couple of months.  (And I will not be here to see it firsthand.  Boo Hoo.)

Actually I will be in New York, hopefully, to see and hear my son Luke's music played in Carnegie Hall.  He and a group of musicians have put together a traveling ensemble to perform the music of new composers.  They have raised enough money to perform in the Hall.  I am so looking forward to this, and while that is the goal of the trip, I am sure New York will have a golden leaf or two for me to see.  Smile.

Butterflies?

I have tried and tried to catch one...armed with a big jar and a 3 inch net.  So, what is the problem? Hmm.
There are white butterflies that love the flowers on the seeded radish plants.  Their flight is jagged and erratic and I look like a crazy sixty year old women with my jar and my tiny net, turning in circles - all in vain because they elude me every time.  A pitiful picture I am sure.
Perhaps it is the music I hear in the other room right now...but I am feeling such praise for the Lord. His goodness is all around me.  It is around you, too.  Stop and read.

This is my Father's world
The birds their carols raise
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world,
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

As I look out Luke's back window I see my daughter-in-law picking veggies from the garden.  I see Tommy reading. Always reading.  And I see the fenceless backyard that says welcome...to people and butterflies alike.

Somewhere in Northwest Iowa

    

 I am still roaming around an abundance of corn fields, observing the sweeping dives of the crop duster. and scarecrows with crows on them.  I've seen pigs on...well everything you could put one on from postcards to rooftops, and experienced the unmistakable smell of the ever pungent pig farm.  Ah - Iowa! 

You might think, "What is there to do?"  Well, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 to 5:00 you can venture into the park and purchase all of the baked goods, jellies, jams, and vegetables you could ever want, while your children play near the windmills and giant wooden shoe.  Top that, if you can.

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You can go walking at the track, as Shannon did, and see bunny rabbits running to and fro, or you can sit in a lawn chair, as I did, while my oldest son chipped plastic golf balls at me with his golf club.  Nary a dull moment. Grampy has taken three grandchildren to Wal-Mart, just a few corn fields away. They will return with no doubt more than they need, as all who go into a Wal-Mart do.
Tonight we will watch the movie, "The Blue Train" as we have been reading and discussing the book.  Lee, (who didn't read the book) says the butler did it.  Shannon (same story) says the husband is always the guilty one.  We shall see.
I wish I could bottle the relaxed atmosphere so prevalent here.  I have not learned the secret of capturing time with loved ones.  It does not stand still...yet.  Until it does, when we are all together with Christ, Tommy and I will continue to make trips to Timbuktu and beyond in order to see our children and grandchildren...even if we need to travel to places like Orange City, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois.

She ate with us at Pizza Ranch last night.

Iowa 2013

Tommy and I are in Iowa visiting our son Luke, daughter in law YuJueng (otherwise affectionately known as Aunt YuYu), and Mae.  Lee and family are with us.  We made it in one day with everyone in tact, though a bit disheveled.  Twenty one hours. T w e n t y  o n e  h o u r s.  I was actually impressed with attitudes along the way.  We stopped once in Oklahoma for a picnic lunch and a hundred other places for breaks of a personal nature. ;)

The tree house in Luke's backyard is the main attraction.  It is about twelve feet above the ground in stages.  There is a landing and then a step up to the first story and you enter the second story by way of a ladder through a hole in the ceiling.  It is that hole that holds my attention the most when I am out there.  I keep a steady watch should a foot or - dare I say it - head come through with rapid speed.  So far, they have managed to avoid any mishaps.

 Whoever built it years ago, had the ingenious idea of installing a pulley.  Luke had an extra clothesline and YuYu contributed a colander and poof!  They were in business.  Everything imaginable has been lifted up in that contraption...with the exception of Mae and Ivy.  Luke says no one has been up there except for a visiting grandchild of the neighbors next door.  He said for all he knows there may be a body up there.
We are reading an Agatha Christie novel together.  We have never done this before, but have enjoyed theorizing about the suspects each night.  We have an old movie version it and we will watch it on Thursday night.
As I sit at Luke's desk, I can see the backyard where Lee is playing baseball with Luke and Emma and Tommy is in the lawn chair....reading, of course.  The guys all got up and played a round of golf early this morning, so they are walking around right now with one eye open.

We spend most of our days outdoors because the weather is amazing.  Highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's.  Cooler than we expected, but we don't mind grabbing a sweater or long sleeved shirt.  Raspberry picking and firefly hunting are favorite past times and Emma tried in vain to keep a firefly as a nightlight.  She did manage to capture a jar of them for a sweet, though short lived glow.
Bella is DEATHLY afraid of bugs and so she comes out for small intervals of time.  In fact, I began to set the timer on my phone to see how long she would last with each appearance.  Her best time was 4 minutes.

Can you see Emma's face through the jar?

We went to church on Sunday - Cornerstone Baptist Church.  The building is beautiful and its tower is undergoing renovation, being the oldest church building in the city. The people were warm and friendly and tonight we will go to Pizza Ranch, where the tips and 10% of the purchases will go to the visiting missionaries from China.  What a great idea!
Mae is getting used to us and our overwhelming intrusion into her quiet world.  She and Ivy are a constant source of entertainment.  I think Mae is teaching Ivy to speak Korean.  All of the kids are learning Korean songs and you can hear them singing throughout the day.

It is always so wonderful to see where my children live and spend time with them in their worlds,  if only for a week.  As long as I have my trusty camera, memories can last a lifetime.

Shoes on the landing.

Two Lukes

My Sunday School Class

This is my Sunday School class...

and this is my Sunday School class.

Most of the time they resemble the children in the latter picture...really.

I love them all in spite of everything they torment me with.  They make me laugh and I must say that I have shed some tears over them as well.  At this time each year, my heart grows a little sad at the thought of upcoming promotion.  I will lose some to the 4th through 6th grade class....and I will gain some from the preschool class.  The cycle of life occurs everywhere.

The ones entering will barely know how to read, if at all, and they will try to impress me with corny jokes and rabbit trails that divert us from the lesson, but sometime during mid-winter, maturity kicks in and the light bulbs begin to glow over their sweet little heads.

Through the years there have been a variety of themes that make their way into the cards we create for the nursing home, or Mother's Day, or Father's Day...according to the popular trends of the day. This year the boys have been obsessed with guns and arrows, castles and dragons, and the ever favorite dinosaur.  Girls usually stick to the prettier things in life...butterflies, hearts, and flowers.  I do not know what the elderly think when given a valentine with a machine gun spraying bullets into a red or pink heart.  It probably does not matter at all when it comes from a smiling child.

There are five sets of siblings in this picture.  If you have nothing else to do today, see if you can match them up.  While you are at it, pray for each adorable face.

A Moment of Senility - One Of Many To Come, I Fear

This morning when Tommy was leaving for work, he threw an envelope at me and said, "We have new church credit cards.  Don't forget to activate yours and tear up your old one."
I know it is just a little inconvenience, but I do not like doing things like this.  Red tape makes me nuts.  (I remember when we took in my niece Jana and nephew Denny after their father died. Because we received Social Security as their legal guardians, Tommy said I had to save EVERY receipt in order to prove that we are not spending their money wrongly should we ever be audited.  These were the days when everything was done checkbook style and a check registry was not good enough.  I completely rebelled at that and said I would not do it....as I attached a ziploc bag to the refrigerator to drop the receipts in for the next nine years. BTW - Jana and Denny are our children, daughter and son to us.)
Anyway....back to my story.  I opened the envelope and called the number to activate the new card. Everything is automated and done by pushing buttons on the phone...you probably knew that, and that was what I was anticipating.  When the computer voice asked me to enter the last four digits of my social security card, I went blank.  The numbers were there swimming around in my head, but they came out wrong.  I am sure that somewhere on the other end of that phone, a red light went off and perhaps an alarm - something akin to the sound a submarine makes when diving to avoid collision.  Haven't you ever seen Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea? Immediately I was talking to a real person.
A sweet young lady was on the line.
She: How can I help you?
Me: I am trying to activate a card.
She: Let's see, can you tell me that last 4 digits of your SS card?
Me: Yes. ____.  (getting it right this time) I am sixty years old and I just forgot it.
She: That happens to me, too. Okay. What is the name on the card?
Me: (Yes, I do know who I am and I got this one right.)
She: Who is the primary card owner?
Me: Providence Baptist Church.  Robert Thomas Dahn - He is my husband and the pastor.  He goes by Tommy.  I go by June.  We both go by our middle names...I don't know why, we just do. (Hint: when I get nervous, I tend to talk a lot.  I am easily intimidated by those in authority, even if they sound like a high schooler, which she did.)
She: Hmmm.  All of the answers you are giving me are wrong. So, I am sorry, I cannot activate your card.
Me: (Well, his name IS Tommy and my name IS June and he is the pastor, and....I am thinking, it is like a puzzle and I need the right code word...suddenly I remember who is in charge of this.)
Oh, I forgot...it is ____________ ______________.
She: Okay.  I still need to verify.
Me: He is an elder in our church and he is an astronaut.
She:  Okay.  And what are the last 4 digits of his SS card?
Me: (Really?)  I do not know.  Why would I know that?  He is in Russia right now.
She: We take international calls.  Can you have him call us or find someone who has this information?
Me: (Oh, sure.  I will call him and tell him to call you and give you this information while he is training in Russia to go to the international space station. You bet.)  No.  Never mind.  I just won't do any shopping for the church.
She: Well, I am really sorry I can't help you.
Me: Do not worry about it.  It is my fault.
The moral of this story is...well, actually there is no moral.  There is just me...left without access to the church's vast amount of cash flow.  Since Vacation Bible School is over, I don't really care.  The End.