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Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words.

Learn how to apply them. 

Ephesians 6:14-16 (The Message)

Make-a-Wish Trucker’s Convoy

The Weekend – Part IV

 We are grateful to the convoy organizers for giving us a great spot.  Notice the walkway to the left of the chapel.  Almost everyone who came to or left this lot walked behind the chapel.

Cerwin called an official to thank him for the spot.  He said the official count was 370 trucks.

 Curvin High and Cerwin High

Yes, they are related – some sort of distant cousins. 

 Then it was finally time to get in the truck.  We were in the third lot, which means we were close to the end of the parade.  

The girls climbed up to the top bunk to watch the trucks leaving the middle lot.  We couldn’t see the first lot from our rig.

And me – of course I took pictures while waiting for our turn to move.

This is the line of trucks that will leave ahead of us.

 The exit to Berle Industries was lined with people.

 A few miles into the parade, we looked for Inge (center), from TFC’s headquarters office, who told us where she would be watching the convoy.  We noticed that she was talking to the Amish man next to her, and pointing toward the chapel, so I expect she was telling him about the ministry.

 This is one of the photos she took.  If you look closely, you can see me waving to the Amish boys on the left.

 This was my view of the boys.

She quickly ran across the bridge and took this picture.

 I love getting to this area where there are lots of Amish families watching the parade.

 One of the fun things about being at the end of the parade is that we eventually meet the trucks that are at the head of the parade.

 I told you there were a lot of Amish in this area.

 The exit at Brownstown is a great place to take pictures of other trucks as they go under us.

 There were several fire trucks right behind us, and because of their constant sirens, it really felt like a celebration parade.

 I wonder how many bolts of material they needed to make these dresses.

 Brownstown, Akron, and Ephrata streets were lined with people.

 I concluded that we had the best ride of the day. 

While most trucks are normal working trucks, and many a lot more elaborate than the chapel, our rig represents the Lord and a ministry to truckers , which brings a variety of responses:  some men removed their hats and waved, we got lots of “thumbs up”, others clapped and cheered, and many who support the ministry or know us personally stood up in the middle of a crowd, yelling and waving, hoping to get our attention.

 The end of the parade.

The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water

so you won’t go off drinking from poisoned wells. 

Proverbs 14:27 (The Message) 

 Make-a-Wish Trucker’s Convoy

Weekend – Part III

Sunday morning was beautiful, sunny, and a bit cool. 

We stopped at Jeff and Chris’ house for granddaughters Diana and Gloria – whose turn it was to go with us on the Make-a-Wish Convoy.  Their small herd of animals looked so peaceful in the morning sun.

The spacious, free life is from God.

Psalm 37:39 (The Message)

Loving Words and Flowers For Mother’s Day

Weekend – Part 11

The way we were – 1975 – Diane, Jere, Deb, Me, Cerwin, Jeff

Being a mother to Jeff, Diane, Jere, and Deb has been one of the most exhilirating, challenging, and rewarding responsibilities of my life. 

Cerwin almost always brings me a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day.

I am so honored to be the mother of his children.

The next gift to arrive on Friday was a singing card.

Then a few hours later I received this box from UPS.

I had never received flowers like this, so I was anxious to see what was inside.

The roses were beautiful

Loving Words and Flowers For Mother’s Day

Weekend – Part II

The way we were – 1975 – Diane, Jere, Deb, Me, Cerwin, Jeff

Being a mother to Jeff, Diane, Jere, and Deb has been one of the most exhilarating, challenging, and rewarding responsibilities of my life. 

Cerwin almost always brings me a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day.

I am honored to be the mother of his children.

 Thank you – they are beautiful.

The next gift to arrive came with the mail on Friday – a singing card.

Then a few hours later I received this box from UPS.

I had never received flowers like this, so I was anxious to see what was inside and who sent them. 

The roses and card were from our youngest daughter, Deb.

Thanks Deb, they are beautiful.

 Saturday morning this hanging planter of Cherry Cream Impatiens was delivered by our youngest son, Jere.

 Thanks, Jere, I will plant them in the patio flower bed, right outside our kitchen window so I can see them all summer.  I’d love to keep it as a hanging flower, but I forget to water them and am away so much that it would die before many weeks.

 About an hour later this pretty Cupido Rose was given to me by our oldest son, Jeff.

 Thanks Jeff.  This rose will be planted in the patio flower garden as well so I can keep an eye on its pretty yellow flowers, along with the other miniature rose bushes you gave me the past several years.

 Diane, our oldest daughter, gave me the final gift (on Sunday evening) with a wonderful phone call from Maine.

 Thanks, Diane.  It is always a treasure to hear your voice and catch up on your life

I am a mother who is blessed indeed.

 This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.

John 13:35 (The Message) 

Our Weekend

We had an incredible weekend, which included…

Love Feast and Communion at Our Church

Lots of Loving Words and Flowers For Mother’s Day

Participating in the Make-a-Wish Trucker’s Convoy

~~~

Weekend – Part 1

Love Feast and Communion on Saturday Evening.

Because this is a service that is very special for our congregation, I thought that a few pictures would “speak” better than many words.

Love Feast begins in the kitchen of our church where the deacon’s wives prepare a large amount of roast beef, beef rice soup, and unleavened bread.  In the background Mary Kathryn is emptying a cooker, and in the foreground Martha is beginning to dip soup out of the second one.

We need a large amount of food, because our membership is just over 600.

This is the BEST rice soup in the world!

The soup is put into styrofoam bowls and covered with lids.

When we got there, the sanctuary tables had already been set. 

Notice each bench was built with a small fold-up “table” on the back.

I decided that I could get a better view of preparations from the balcony.  Notice the long line of men and boys?  They are passing soup bowls in assembly-line form from the kitchen to the tables.  The group of men in the right front – behind the assembly line – are ministers, probably discussing the evening service.

This is an amazing process to watch.  By this point they are almost finished.  You will notice the table in the front (center-right) is set with the unleavened bread and grape juice.

Tables are set for pairs to eat together.  Each person gets a cup of water, silverware, and a bowl of soup.  However the stack of bread and bowl of roast beef is shared between the two persons who sit next to each other.

Our love feast is simple and delicious:  soup, bread, butter, and roast beef.

The tubs are for the foot washing part of the service.

This is where the photos end, because it does not seem appropriate to take pictures after the evening begins.

~~~

It is amazing to participate in this service, which begins with foot washing.  Because of the intimacy of foot washing, and sharing a hug and kiss of charity, the men sit on one side of the church, and the women on the other. 

During the evening there is a lot of a capella singing, which is even better than usual because the men and women are on opposite sides of the church.  We almost raise the roof when singing certain congregational favorites.

~~~

Add to all that, we were blessed and challenged by thoughts from visiting ministers, Dennis Myer and Kevin Auker.

   The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. 

Proverbs 31:30 (The Message)