Category Archives: Events

Events

Tragedy Hits Our Small Group

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Today we began a new study in our Sunday School class. We looked at chapter one of II Corinthians. We discussed these verses for a long time:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

We talked about what it means to suffer, how it is that God comforts us, how God uses our suffering to comfort others, and what it looks like to bring God’s compassion to those who are suffering around us.

It was an excellent class with lots of thought-provoking conversation. Who knew it would be such an appropriate passage? I guess the Lord knew, as He was the one who very obviously led us to this passage this morning.

I was working on a marriage questionnaire, this afternoon, for our Love and Respect Small Group when we got a phone call. It was one of the members of our group. I immediately began to fret because I really wanted everyone to be there tonight. Tim and I had planned a special time of discussion for the couples and I didn’t want anyone to miss it.

I never expected it would be something far worse than a sick child. I looked at Tim’s face during the call and knew it was something serious.

“Jason is dead,” he said while holding the phone.

WHAT???? We have two Jason’s in our group. They are both active duty military. One is serving in Afghanistan, the other in Iraq. NOOOOOOO!!!

It was Jason H. in Iraq.

“Are they sure? Maybe they made a mistake,” I immediately insisted. Tim shook his head and gestured for me to wait. Finally he got off the phone. There had been a car bomb in Iraq and 6 soldiers had been killed, one of whom was a young man from our Small Group. He and his wife, Emily, had only been married a few weeks when they came to our church. They visited our Sunday School class and were instantly adopted by our Small Group. Five months after they had been married, Jason was deployed. He came home in September for a few weeks of leave and returned to Iraq. Recently we learned that his tour of duty there was extended until November.

Emily was in my cabin at the Women’s Retreat. In the middle of the retreat Jason called and told her they could use his extended bonus pay to go for a honeymoon. She spent a good part of the retreat dreaming about places they could go to celebrate their marriage.

Now she is left with shattered dreams.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Tim and I prayed for Emily as soon as we hung up the phone. Or rather, Tim prayed as I couldn’t even find words to pray. I let Tim pray for me and cried out in my spirit for Emily and her pain and suffering. An hour and a half after the time we heard the news, all the women in our Small Group had gathered in Emily’s apartment and were there crying and (somewhat strangely) laughing with her. We passed around tissue boxes, hugged Emily, talked about Jason, looked over wedding pictures, and finally, when the pastor and his wife came, prayed over Emily.

My heart breaks for Emily. There are no words I can give her that will ease her pain. We spent much of the time sitting with her in silence, tears running down our cheeks.

Dear Lord,

Please uphold this dear sister. Wrap your arms around her. Let her feel Your presence so keenly and firmly that she knows her tears are wiped away by Your loving hand.

Thank You for the people who love Emily, who rush to be by her side and who know true comfort comes from You. Let Emily rest in You, walk with You, and know You will catch her when she falls.

Give those of us who are called to be beside Emily during this tragedy wisdom and grace and compassion. Fill our mouths with words of comfort. Lord, when we don’t know what to say, intercede for us. May your Spirit speak for us and comfort Emily. Thank you, Father.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 117 (Homeschooling Co-Op Ends)

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Well, last week was the homeschool co-op play and this week we ended the year of co-op with Friends and Family Night. There were 11 tables set up along the hallways, displaying work the students had completed throughout the semester.

display tables

david's class

We had our first ever graduation ceremony for two seniors, finishing their high school studies. The kids hugged friends, making plans to visit during the summer.

rachel's friends

Rachel made some great friends this year!

The moms/teachers high-fived each other, cheering the end of another successful semester. The drill team performed their award winning routine. The 1st-3rd grade puppet class gave us an amazing show to the Veggie Tales song, Where is my Hairbrush (a huge favorite in this household). Finally it was time to take everything down and say goodbye.

david helps

good bye civil war

posters be gone

David helped me take down the posters and papers from my Civil War class.

Thank you, board members, teachers, assistants and other hard-working members of the co-op, we appreciate all your devotion and service!! Until next year…

empty hallway

An empty hallway.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 106 (Yo-Yo’s from Norway)

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The relentless pace of this Project 365 drives me to take pictures (at least ONE) daily. My children and other fans keep me blogging practically daily. The look Joshua gives me in the morning when he discovers I haven’t blogged (which has only happened ONCE or TWICE since I started) is heart breaking. Okay, it’s amusing and gratifying (keep ‘em hungry I always say) at the same time but serves to keep me on the straight and narrow path of blogging.

samuel and daniel

Cousin Samuel and Daniel May 2006

I’m not very good at approaching thing in a balanced manner. The idea that I could take a picture (and therefore still fulfill the basic requirement of the Project 365) and NOT blog on it, is very difficult for me to grasp. Tim tells me I can take a day off from blogging now and then but all I hear is “Wah, wah, wah” like he’s Charlie Brown’s teacher. Of course, I know what’s really going on. He just wants to get me off the blog so HE can do some writing. Some people are so devious they’ll use anything in their power to steal a blog.

samuel and daniel

Samuel and Daniel as Indians in the Nisqually Historic Re-enactment, April 2006.

All of this (way too long) is to say I just can’t let Day 106 fall into obscurity. I simply HAVE to blog on it. I took the pictures. I have things to say (I heard that :snort: Tim). Heaven forbid I let there be a lapse in the blogging days.

Whew, it feels good to just get that off my chest. Now I can go on to post a very short blog on Day 106.

Daniel got a package from Norway. Yay! The Cousins live in Norway.

group of missionaries

A bunch of Nisqually Missionaries.

The Cousins were here for all the birthdays last year. Samuel and Daniel spent many hours playing together and plotting sleep overs. Only good things come from Norway (in our very limited experience).

As soon as Joshua saw the package he announced, “It’s a yo-yo.”

daniel's package

What could it be?

Okay, I have very strict rules in my house about presents. You are not allowed to give away secrets. You are not allowed to feel packages and guess what they are. You are, under no circumstances, allowed to tell the birthday person what someone else got them. This is a line that we DO NOT CROSS. The fact that Joshua would tell Daniel that there was a yo-yo in his Norway package was a serious offense!

what is it?

This looks suspicious!

I immediately took Joshua aside for a lecture and possibly some push-ups. Birthdays are sacred events and infringing on gift secrecy is a big deal. From the push-up position Joshua maintained his innocence. “I just guessed. I don’t KNOW what’s in there.” Since Joshua is generally considered a trust-worthy and honest young man, we decided to take him on his word (and let him out of the push-up position).

Imagine our shock when, indeed, Daniel’s package from Norway contained a YO-YO!!!!

It IS a yo-yo!

All eyes flew from the yo-yo to Joshua, who immediately burst into laughter. “I didn’t know! I didn’t know!” He protested (between guffaws). “It was just a guess. Really, you have to believe me.”

laughingmore laughing

Thankfully Daniel is a kind-hearted boy and doesn’t hold grudges. He forgave Joshua’s indiscretion, whether it was real or accidental, and went straight-away to try out his new yo-yo. The rest of us, however, are still a bit miffed. I shudder to think what The Cousins are going to do once they read this blog. It’s a good thing Joshua’s birthday isn’t until October, he has plenty of time to redeem himself. I can just imagine what kind of package Joshua COULD receive (those Vikings were some intense warriors).

Kathy

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Events, Kathy

Thinking Blogger Award

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I’ve been Tagged!

My kids play Freeze Tag, Bible Tag, and one (new to me) called Candle Tag where you freeze in place and then slowly melt to the ground. Tag is a great game – it can be played in small or large spaces, it lets kids run off some of their never ending energy, and even has a built in rest time where you can catch your breath (my kind of game). Of course, the game can be rather discouraging for those who are not fast runners (that would be me). Depending on the mercy of the group playing, you could potentially be stuck “It” for the entire game, never catching any one, until you finally run home crying (hypothetically speaking).

This tag, however, is of a different sort!

Back in February of this year Ilker Yoldas created a new sort of tag. It’s a blog tag (of course) and comes with an award. Very cool!

Dorothy has tagged me for this lovely award. Dorothy lives in England and lets me come on field trips with her (via her blog). She writes in such a real voice that I often find myself laughing and nodding at the same time as I read her posts.

When you are “tagged” with the Thinking Blog Award, you pick five blogs that make you think and “tag” them. They then go on to pick five, and they pick five friends, and so on. I love the idea of sharing favorite blogs and connecting people. I am honored that Dorothy and Yvonne both tagged me. Yvonne (another one of Dorothy’s five picks) has an amazing blog full of challenge, insight and spiritual depth.

Here a list of rules to share with the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.

The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post (the original post on the award) so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

It’s hard to choose five blogs (just five??) that make me think but here they are:

1. Amy from In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 is a blog I’ve recently discovered. She wrote a post about decluttering the house that was powerful and convicting. The deciding factor on whether to keep or toss things — scripture! Amy has a wonderful testimony. Read and enjoy.

2. Edited to change – the blog I had chosen has since been closed. The blogger is a homeschooling mom of five awesome kiddos, and good friend. She is working on developing a new blog but I’m unsure of whether she wishes me to share the link.

3. One of my college roommates began blogging last March. The delight I took in reading Rachel’s blog was one of the thing that encouraged me to pick up the blogging baton on our Duckabush Blog. I loved hearing about her life and thoughts on parenting, God and housecleaning (not necessarily in that order). She recently wrote a post on how to survive those crazy days with a new baby in the house and it brought back such a rush of memories I almost needed a nap right then and there. :)

4. Emily in FL, a SHS e-mail loop friend, has a wonderful family blog. She is working on a very lengthy series on friendship that is both challenging and practical. Emily definitely captures “Life” on her blog, “Life in Pictures.”

5. Tina, a dear friend serving with New Tribes Mission in Thailand, has a brand new blog. I love reading anything Tina writes because she is truly a woman after God’s own heart and I knew her “when.” When she was an ordinary person (not a lofty missionary :) ), when she lived down the road from us, and when she was a mom just like the rest of us. Watching their family be called into the ministry and follow God’s leading (over years of labor and faithfulness) has been a huge blessing in my life.

Whew. It took me all evening (it seemed) to come up with this list. I hope you grab a cup of coffee, maybe some chocolate, and find some new treasures.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 115 (Middle School)

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Joshua’s Middle School Small Group came to our house this evening. It was quite an honor to be chosen as the host for the night. The standards were high. The e-mail from one of the leaders said,

All we ask from our hosts is:

1) A godly example of a Christian home
2) A place to meet
3) A snack

I imagine #1 was important to the leaders but not something the 7th graders particularly care about (or even notice). #2 was high on the list for both leaders and the students. #3, however, was the real killer. Gotta have a snack (or more than one if possible).

We’re talking about teenagers. Boy teenagers. The kind that come through, eat all the snacks in the pantry and then wonder how soon dinner will be served.

I bought a large bag of chips. There was a half cup of crumbs left by the end. Joshua made a delicious looking pan of brownies. The younger children were so excited. They just knew there would be extras left over and they could all have a snack before bed.

Ha! What silly thoughts! As if nine 7th graders and two youth workers would walk away from the house while there were still brownies left in the pan. I think it’s pretty much part of the contract they sign going in to middle school.

“I, Joshua, do solemnly promise to eat all the food that is placed before me as well as the food placed in front of my neighbor (if he is so foolish to close his eyes during prayer time).”

The boys were loud and boisterous although Joshua says they were surprisingly subdued this evening (ah, a matter of perspective perhaps). I put on headphones and drowned out the noisy sound of chip crunching and brownie slurping.

I did manage to get a picture or two before the horde departed.

middle school

It’s wonderful to have a church family and a group of adult Christians who care about your children and wish to see them grow in their walk with the Lord. The snacks are just a perk!

Kathy

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