Journal - Yard Work, Possessions, and Music

Let’s see, where was I? Oh yes, last Friday Joni and I traveled to Grand Island for Distric Music Contest at Grand Island’s Central Catholic High School. Adam, who joined the choir this year, was performing with a group, and Kylie was performing as well. We left at about 9am and made the trip to GI, which is just under one hour away from here. We had obtained the physical address of the school and so with our trust TomTom GPS unit, we had no problem finding the place.

As it turned out, Adam’s group and Kylie’s group were performing in the same room, one right after the other so that made it pretty easy to see both. Adam had also been in a group earlier that morning, and Kylie had another group later that afternoon, so we were glad of the opportunity to see both kids perform.

Adam’s group of about seven boys sang an old Billy Joel classic, “For The Longest Time.” Some of the boys in the group had trouble with the tempo and the pitch, but I have to admit that Adam did a good job. I could actually hear him singing, which surprised me. He’s kind of reserved in public sometimes and I didn’t think he would sing out that well. Also, when he sings at home he has a lot of trouble finding the pitch, but with the piano and the other boys he sounded right on tune. Next up was Kylie’s quartet. They sang “Ave Maria”, not the version you traditionally hear around Christmastime, but a different one. It was a really beautiful song and the four girls sang it really well.

And that was all we stayed for. On the way in, I had noticed that we passed a Home Depot store and I asked Joni if we could stop on the way out to look for a fuel line for the weed eater. So we stopped in and found one without too much trouble. After that we headed on home.

Saturday was kind of a cool day, but it was sunny and not too windy so I went on out to see if I could get that fuel line in. This is when I discovered that it wasn’t actually the fuel line I was replacing, but the line that runs from the primer. There are two separate lines running into the fuel tank. Not too worry, the package I had picked up at Home Depot had both lines in it. So after fighting with the trimmer for a little while we finally managed to get the primer line installed. Unfortunately it still wouldn’t start. I pulled and pulled at it but it never even tried to catch. The only other thing I can think of is to try some fresh fuel. The trimmer uses 2-cycle fuel, gas and oil mixture, and what we had on hand has been sitting around for about three years, which is the last time we were able to use the trimmer. So I decided to try some fresh fuel in it as soon as I could get some.

Also on Saturday I kind of piddled around the yard a bit. I didn’t have anything specific that I wanted to work on so I just kind of messed around here and there. I watered the various flower-beds and such.

Sunday we made it to church. I was glad we did since we hadn’t made it the week before. Two weeks in between church services leaves me feeling a bit frazzled more often than not. Pastor Mike’s sermon was about possessions and riches. It was something I really needed to hear as I have struggled with that. Not with riches, I don’t struggle with riches at all since I have none, but I do struggle with possessions. I have many possessions that are very important to me, even though I know I shouldn’t place so much importance on them: things that I’ve had for a long time, or things that once belonged to now-deceased grandparents and such. I would be devastated to lose those things and I know that’s not healthy. Anyway, it was a good sermon that left me feeling kind of thoughtful the rest of the day.

I can’t remember if it was on Saturday or Sunday that we discovered the pumpkins. I was looking for sprouts on the potatoes that I had planted, and thought I found some. I was wrong. The little green sprouts were coming up in the middle of a pile of pumpkin seeds. The seeds came from two pumpkins that Mom had placed on our front steps as a surprise for our return from Omaha after my surgery in October. The pumpkins lasted a good long time, but when they finally got soft and mushy we picked them up with a shovel and tossed them into the garden area. Well, some of them are coming up. In case you ever need to identify pumpkins sprouts, they have thick rubbery leaves, and they all grow with two leaves on each sprout. We had actually picked up some pumpkin seeds at Walmart, but I guess we won’t need them because there are quite a few coming up. As for my potatoes, I dug up a couple to see if anything was happening and they’re not sprouting at all. So that experiment failed. Pumpkins will be fun though.

Then on Monday the choir had their concert at the school in Gibbon where many of the groups that performed at Districts get to show off for the home crowd. We got to see Adam’s group again as well as the other group he was in that we had missed on Friday. We also got to see Kylie again which was nice since she’s a Senior and it was her last choir performance before she graduates. Mom and Bobbi were there too and there were a few tears afterward. This also marked my first visit to the new school in Gibbon since my surgery. It worked out well: we had to drop off Adam early so we had plenty of time to look around before the concert began. My favorite thing was the class pictures. The old school had the senior pictures for each class in large frames going up and down the hallway. The new school has gone digital, with all the class photos displayed on a large touch screen mounted to the wall in the common area. You can choose a class to view and it brings up the pictures for the whole class. If you want to see a larger photo you can touch the student and it brings up a larger image. It was pretty cool.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ESV

Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ESV

Journal - May Events

It occurred to me the other day that the last week or so has been rather eventful for my family.
On Saturday the 14th, we had a graduation. Elliott is the youngest son of my sister’s husband, and it was his high school graduation. Joni, Adam, and I didn’t go to the graduation ceremony at the school, but went over to Bobbi an Mike’s house later in the afternoon for the reception. Mike had cooked up some pork on his new smoker and it was delicious. There was also lots of salads and plenty of cake. Aunt LeeDel came down from Sioux Falls and it was nice to visit with her a little. Uncle Butch was planning to come as well, but he broke his ankle last week and couldn’t make it.
Monday the 16th was the 25th wedding anniversary of my brother and his wife. That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment. Hard to believe I was just a freshman in high school when they got married. The 16th also marks an anniversary for Joni and I, as that was the day we met, eight years ago.
May 20th was my sister’s birthday. I’m not sure but I think she’s 39 this year, it’s so hard to keep track. Also on that day, the state track meet began in Omaha, in which my niece Kylie competed. Mom and Bobbi drove there to watch her, and from what I heard, they all got rained on.
It seems like there was something else I was going to mention, but I can’t remember now. Memorial weekend usually marks the time when Mom’s three siblings all come to visit for a few days. This year, they decided to put it off to a later time when Uncle Butch will be more mobile. I’ll be looking forward to that.

Psalms 145:3-4 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

Colossians 3:14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Journal - Busy Week

Whew! It’s been quite a week, so I thought I would take a few minutes to describe it. This probably won’t be very interesting to read, this is mostly for me. Someday, I will enjoy reading back over these posts to see what was happening in my life when I was blind. So here’s a recap:

Saturday, November 21: Joni, Adam, and I rode to Kearney, (pronounced car-nee), with Mom to watch Brenna play volleyball. Her grade doesn’t play against other schools yet, it’s really more of a practice with a short scrimmage at the end. I’m discovering that my daughter is kind of shy. That will present a challenge because I’m not very talkative either. I got to talking to Mom about how I’m finding it hard to get any exercise and found out she had an exercise bike in her basement that she wasn’t using. So when we got back, Joni and I loaded it up and took it home. I found out how much out of shape I am because the next day I was sore just from carrying that darn thing.

Sunday, November 22: Went to church today as usual. Pastor Mike gave a really good sermon about being thankful. It’s so easy to get caught up with all the things we want or the things we wish we could do, that we forget to be thankful for what we have. It’s always good to get that reminder. Also, Kylie, (my sister Bobbi’s daughter), turned 15 on Saturday so today was her “family party.” We went over for a little while and had cake and ice cream.

Monday, November 23: We didn’t have anywhere to go today, so Joni spent the morning and early afternoon cleaning. We aren’t expecting any company, but she always gives the house a thorough cleaning for the holidays. I’m not much help with that so I played the saxophone for her while she worked. I got in the mood early this year so I’ve been working on some Christmas music. Later on, I took a short spin on the bike. It's one of those that you can work with your legs or your arms so it will be a good workout.

Tuesday, November 24: Back to Mom’s today. Aunt LeeDel came down from Sioux Falls on Monday, and Uncle Butch drove over from Crete just for the day. We always enjoy their visits, and today was our only day to see them since Butch only came for the day and LeeDel drove back home Wednesday morning. Also, Kevin and family arrived from Arizona at around 6pm. We all had supper together then went over to the school to watch Kylie’s play. It was a one-act of Alice in Wonderland and Kylie played three different parts. She’s so talented!

Wednesday, November 25: Went to Mom’s yet again! Today was our big gathering with all four of us kids, spouses, and all the grandchildren. The house was so crowded! It was a little intimidating because I knew I couldn’t move around through the house without tripping over everybody, so I mostly stayed in one chair all day. I had fun though and Brenna was there so I got to talk to her a little bit. After supper we went over to the church to take family pictures. There just wasn’t room in the house to do that. Mom got her picture of us four kids, the first one in 22 years. It was such a special day but I was totally exhausted when we got home at around 8pm. It’s kind of hard work to listen to so many people all at once!

Thanksgiving Day: Today we stayed home and had our traditional holiday with just the three of us. Joni’s turkey was delicious as always and everything else was great too. We had so many things to be thankful for this year that we hardly knew where to begin. God has been very good to us, fulfilling all of our needs just as He promised He would, and then some! After the kitchen was cleaned up we all just lazed around the house and watched a little football. It was really a nice, relaxing day.

Friday, November 27: Well, another Thanksgiving come and gone. Things are returning to normal, which means it was a pretty quiet day. Had turkey sandwiches for lunch, (one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving), then I took a spin on the bike. I’m up to 30 minute workouts already and no sore muscles. After that, it was time for the Nebraska vs. Colorado game. It was on TV today, but I still prefer the radio because they’re better at explaining what’s going on. And Nebraska won! Go Huskers!

So that was our big holiday week! It sure was great spending some time with the family, but I’m glad the holidays only come around once a year! Seriously though, I am so thankful for all that God has given me. I hope that you are too, and I hope you'll take some time this holiday season to remember those who don't have families, or homes, or turkey dinners. You may not be in a position to help them financially, but we can always pray for them.

Look out Christmas, here we come!

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.