Blessed Sunday to you all.

We are home at last. Bruce and I left on Friday evening to spend the weekend with Mom and Dad. Bruce and Travis built a deck for Mom and Dad on Saturday. Yes, they built a wonderful deck in one day! Sort of reminded me of an old storybook titles “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.” Any of you who are old enough to remember Captain Kangaroo should remember this wonderful story. Mom and I played “sidewalk superintendents” when the deck was about ¾ done. We parked out lawn chairs on the completed portion of the deck and enjoyed the cool night air until the mosquitoes drove us back into the house. I christened the deck today by having the grill moved out onto it and I grilled pork loin roasts. I think Mom and Dad are really going to enjoy it.

Another purpose for going to Mom and Dad’s this weekend was for the granddaughters to divide mother’s doll collection among themselves. Mom has collected china dolls for years and had around 200 beautiful dolls of all sizes, eras in history, brides and characters. It was really fascinating to watch the girls select their dolls. I watched as the eldest granddaughter chose the character dolls, such as Charlie Chaplin, clowns and others, while another chose dolls with blonde hair to match her own and Geni chose the more exotic dolls. I was to receive one of the dolls. My mamo had a china doll (the only doll she ever owned) when she was a young girl and through a sibling squabble the china face was broken. After I was grown I came across a baby doll with a china face and hands and presented it to her. It remained on her bed until she passed away nearly 20 years ago. The doll has been safely kept in Mom’s doll cabinet for all of these years. It was hard for Mom to part with all of them, but in thinking at age 76 of downsizing, she decided to begin with her precious collection.

We sang in worship today for the FUMC in Howe. The last time we sang there Casey was with us. I remember the pain he was in and how he almost had to sit during our singing. I missed him a lot today. I still get emotional when we sing, but if we ever stop singing as a family I am sure Casey would find a way to return if only to kick our butts and tell us to get out there and sing!

We were totally surprised that two sets of aunts and uncles came to worship to hear us sing. I had not seen them in quite a while and it was great to see them as well as the friends from Howe who have known me for so long. I then sang “It is Well with My Soul.” Due to technical difficulties, the pre-recorded accompaniment track would not play on the church’s equipment, so I shared a brief message and sang the piece A Capella.

Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Psalm 71:7 “I am as a wonder unto many; but Thou art my strong refuge.”

King David knew that to his kingdom he was an amazing king, but David knew that God, the Father, the Lord of Hosts, was his refuge. David knew that God was his stronghold just as the wall around Jerusalem was the stronghold of the people.

Today I sang “It is Well with My soul” without musical accompaniment. I ordered the accompaniment CD and requested overnight shipping only to find out it would not be shipped until later in the month. It is out of stock. When I read that notice I asked Bruce if there was a way to just download the CD from an online store and record it ourselves. He found just such a store that had the music I needed and downloaded the music to a CD. We began to try the CD in different players and all we got was static. So then a second download occurred last night and the music was placed on a flash drive. The flash drive was placed in a computer this morning prior to worship and the computer did not recognize it at all. A final attempt was made and the computer finally recognized the driver and a music picture came up on the screen with no sound. By this time worshipers are entering the sanctuary and I have not practiced with musical accompaniment. There was but one solution to the problem.

We gathered outside the church on the sidewalk just prior to worship and prayed for God to bless our efforts in our singing to glorify His name whether there was musical accompaniment or not and that the congregation would receive a blessing in His name. We placed ourselves in the everlasting God’s strong arms and surrendered ourselves to Him.

God in His kindness and tender mercies lifted us out of our vulnerable place and stood in our midst and allowed us to sing with His voice and His message. God made a way for me to sing the piece A Capella through the message I shared and the forgiving spirits of the “home” congregation. We leaned on the everlasting arms of Christ and sang.

The everlasting arms of God are untiring, ever safe, long enough and strong enough to hold us when we are uncertain, feel unsafe, vulnerable, heartbroken, full of sorrow and grief and when we need to cry. Lean on Jesus, friends, and allow Him to embrace you, make you feel safe and give you refuge from the storm. We are glad to be home!

Take joy in the journey. Missed writing to you. Love you all and have a safe and great Labor Day. Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.