This week, April 22-29

To my family,  I don't write very often.  but here is a summary of some of what has been happening.

Starting with a week ago, Saturday.  I had the lesson at the DAR, it went well and they were receptive.  I met Ann for lunch and we visited and drove over to the Holiday Mall, there was a craft show, we walked through all of it and then I left.  I drove home because Dad wasn't feeling good when I left.  He was experiencing a pain in his side, he still had it so we went to the emergency room at Devils Lake.  He had strained a muscle using the chain saw.  Afterwards he was hungry,  so we went to the Dairy Queen to get him a sandwich.  Someone was getting an ice cream cake, so I had the thought to drive out to Jerry's house to recognize Alayiah on her 13th birthday(which was on Sunday)  we got a hold of them, made the arrangements and brought pizza and ice cream cake.  By the time we got home we were tired....

Sunday after Sunday school and church, we came home and I drove over to Munich for a shower for a gal that teaches in our school, and stopped by to see Dorothy.

I don't remember what happened Monday but Tuesday I was Dorothy at Gabie's Senior Banquet.  I didn't know very many people there, but sat by Alden Pulst from Starkweather, they had a grandson who was a senior.  Jerry you were with their daughter, Peggy in school.

Wednesday we went to Crookston, I got a good report from stress test, it probably was caused by thyroid, but we have changed medicine and it is better and i feel that God has answered prayer for the situation.  We weren't there for long, I went to school concert that night. Thursday I drove over to see Dorothy after school and Friday I saw Blakes for a little while.  Saturday Dad and I drove to Velva for Lacy Cose's wedding, we took a different route home and saw some different sights.  They had a lot of rain out there, but not here it is just dark/cloudy outside.

One day when i came home from school, Dad was burning, so I helped him with that, another time I planted some potatoes out where he worked the field.  He was in the field and we ate later..

And today is another day....  Trust that all is well for all of you.   Mom

March 2012 Holiday in Bismarck

Here are two photos from our weekend in Bismarck.  We saw Gabie in the high school honor choir.  She is right behind and to the right of the conductor and the photo at the right is from the Symphony concert later the same day.  We were sitting in box seats in concert hall that has been redone and up dated, it also was a very enjoyable experience.

February 26, 2012

Again it has been a while since I have written.  I felt you would want to know we are safe at home.  when I awoke this morning, I felt like this just isn't a good day for us to get on the road, and they have called off our services.  It is the first time this winter that we have had a real winter storm.  I am thankful for a safe home and that Jack is here with me.  I am thinking of some who aren't used to this weather.  A family at Starkweather is living in a camper or travel trailer with two little propane tanks.  I know there are people that would help them.  Pastor has just said about a woman and two little children in Cando.

I share this devotion with you this morning:

Chicken Shelter


I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah --Psalm 61:4

My co-worker at Joni and Friends, Billy Burnett, was raised as one of eleven children
in a poor sharecropper's cabin on the corner of the Jimmy Lynch farm in east Texas.
When Billy's father scraped together enough money from cutting cotton, he moved
his family to Texarkana.

When Billy was a little boy, he'd watch his mother - Mama Teal - throw grain to
the chickens in the backyard. He would sit on his haunches and observe how the chicks
would flock around the mother hen. Whenever dark clouds of a storm gathered and
wind would blow, the hen would lift her wing a certain way and her chicks would
come running. Her arched wing was their signal that danger was near. She was indicating
they should scurry and find safety by her side.

Oh, that you and I were like one of those chicks. Oh, that we would run without
hesitation or question to find refuge in the shelter of God's wing. Even Jesus,
when He looked out over the Holy City, said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would
 I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not!" Matthew 23:37 (KJV).

Don't be one of the "would not's" today. When the dark clouds of trouble start brewing
on the horizon, run - don't walk - to find protection near the breast of God. When
the Lord gives you the signal, "Come quickly," take it as an indication from the
 Holy Spirit to find refuge under the shelter of God's wing. There you will be safe
from any stormy trial.

Under your wings I am safely abiding, though the night deepens and tempests are
wild. Still I can trust you; I know you will keep me. You have redeemed me and I
 am your child.

February 18,2012

It has been a while since I have blogged.  This was a busy week.  We went to family service for Marvin Martinson, it was a full house, they have a lot of relatives.  Wednesday a Friendship Banquet sponsored by our church at the Durum house, good food and good time.  Friday, was the annual Volley Ball Tourney at school.  I left early and spent some time visiting at Cando.  Students had been telling me I should come and see them play so I went to their game  It was with Vally Hoople, Drayton.  Dean Braathen's daughters played, he is a sister to the teacher at Reynolds that Mariah had some years back.  The girls looked like other family members.  It was parents night.  DJ had three girls sing the national anthem, and they did a really good job.  Here are some thoughts from Joni for us to ponder today.  Mom/Grandma

Insults


That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults... For when
I am weak, then I am strong.  --II Corinthians 12:10

I was at the airport, waiting to board our flight. The gate agent had transferred
me onto a narrow chair so I could be wheeled down the aisle of the plane. My two
 friends had already gone ahead to place their carry-on luggage under their seats.
While I was waiting, I mentioned my seat number to the gate agent - he just grunted.
When it was okay for me to board, I told him my seat number again. He still refused
to take me on board. When I explained that I knew my seat assignment, he said he
 wanted to double-check with my friends. I knew why he didn't believe me. People
 see my paralyzed body and assume that my brain must be paralyzed, too. I felt insulted.

I also felt indignant. But later on, I thought of Philippians 2:5-7, "Your attitude
should be the same as that of Christ Jesus... Who, being in very nature God, did
 not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing..."
Other translations say "made himself of no reputation." As I thought about the many
insults Jesus endured, I realized that I, too, could delight in insults. The reproach
I experienced was only minor compared to what Jesus suffered, but it gave me a wonderful
sense of identification with him. I was able to delight in the insult because I
had a far deeper security, a greater confidence, and a sense of eternal worth -
all for the sake of Christ.

First Peter 2:23-24 says, "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate;
when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges
justly." If someone misreads or misrepresents you today, don't retaliate. Rest your
confidence in Christ. Who knows? You may find yourself taking pleasure in the reproach.

Oh God, I humble myself before you... I consider myself as 'nothing'... I make myself
of no reputation. Help me not to retaliate when others hurt me.

January 28, 2012

This has been a difficult week.  Having Mike Hermanson missing and then found dead.  Yet life must go on and when I read this I thought we might be encouraged by what Joni has written:

Inspiring Examples
For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. --Romans
14:7

No man is an island. We are all connected. Our lives are always influencing others,
whether for good or for bad. When people who face lesser conflicts - like a bruised
ankle, or sow bugs in the shower - observe someone gracefully handle greater conflicts,
it speaks volumes. Liz Hupp knew a godly saint like that in her church. And Liz
wrote:

I saw the woman in the chair; she was in church again today.

Someone said they've sold their house; they're going to move away.

No! I cried, they cannot go; they cannot move away.

I didn't get to know her; there's something I need to say:

Please tell me your secret; I want to sit at your feet,

I need to know how you handle the pain that is your daily meat.

How do you keep on smiling when each day your health grows worse?

How do you keep depending on God when you're living with a curse?

Every time I see her; her smile comes from deep within.

I know her fellowship with God isn't scarred by the chair she's in.

She admits her health is failing; she knows she's fading away.

How can she remain so calm when I'd be running away?

My friend, can you tell me how you can trust the Lord

How can you stay so gentle and sweet when He seems to wield a sword?

You are to me a promise that even in the midst of pain

God is near and faithful if I will turn to Him again.

Who are your role models of inspiration? Who are the godly examples of perseverance?
Who do you think of when you need an example of the sufficiency of Christ in hardship?
Pray for that person - or persons - whom the Lord has placed around you. These Christian
men and women struggle with doubts and discouragement, too.

Lord Jesus, I pray for __________________ today. Give grace and encouragement, divine
help, comfort and the inspiration of your precious Holy Spirit in the life of this
dear saint.

January 22, 2012

Here it is Sunday morning.  I just read these thoughts by Joni, and I don't know what is happening in your life.  But I know that Jesus can put a song in your heart.  I reflect on this past week.  It was a busy one.  Monday was teacher in-service where I learned more about annuals and cameras.  I always need to be refreshed in those areas,  there have been plenty of activity all week and yesterday was a DAR meeting in Devils Lake.  I visited with Edna for a while in the afternoon before going home to fix supper.  I am doing a sewing project, finishing some baby quilts for First Choice clinic. I think of the people who have walked in and out of my week and the things they have said.  I am encouraged to meet people out there who have a 'heart for God'  

Divine Singing

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. --Matthew 26:30

Whether I'm wheeling through the office, driving down the freeway, or puttering
in the backyard, I love to sing. My heart wants to sing whenever I'm enjoying the
routines of life. But have you ever wondered if Jesus sang? It's easy to picture
 him humming a melody as he walked up the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. We know
they sang in the synagogues. During the holy feast days, Jesus' family probably
sang. There must have been many times that Jesus' heart filled with joy and he let
loose with a song. So... where in the Bible does it say that he sang?

The only place it records such a time is in Matthew 26:30.The scene for the song
 is not on a sunny hillside... it's not as he sailed with his disciples in the boat...
and it's not as he walked along the beach with his friends. It was in the Upper
Room the night that Jesus was betrayed. After he broke the bread and offered wine,
they sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives. Of all the times and
places, the Lord Jesus chose to have us remember him singing as he was led off to
his death.

This speaks to me in my wheelchair. It shows me how to follow the Lord in song when
my heart is heavy, when I'm facing disappointment, or when my back aches. As we
follow his steps up to the Mount of Olives, into the Garden of Gethsemane, and down
the road to Calvary, we take up our cross and sing.

Our natural inclination is not to sing when we are sad or hurting. Yet think of
the apostle Paul who sang, despite his chains in jail (Acts 16:25). No matter if
 your emotions are up or down, follow the Lord's lead today and ask God to put a
 song in your heart

In my heart there rings a melody of love, dear Jesus. You are my song today and
every day. Please keep tuning my heart to sing your praises.

January 14, 2012

i just read the devotion below, it was so good that I decided I must write a few lines about the week.  It has been a good week, there are challenges, but I desire to focus on the positive.  a girl hurt her hand this week, so I am her hand to write atleast some of her work, she is a good girl, and I appreciate the opportunity to help her.  I think of other contact at school.  conversations with the new science teacher, i can see why the school was willing to wait for him to come at second semester,I see a teacher which will bring to our students a quality experience.  Last night we ate supper with Matt and Mavis.  Don and Ann came from Williston and we met at their house.  I said I would bring supper.  I went to the church and put the magazines in the mail boxes.  When I did I had the thought.  I wonder of Paige had any soup left over in her 'coffee shop'  I went there and asked her if she had any soup left.  She smiled and said   "I was waiting to give it to someone".  It was hot and ready to go.  so I bought some cookies, she gave me the soup and a stop at the store for a few other things and off to their house.  The soup was really good and the time together, too.  Don and Ann stayed with us and they have left to go to Lori's

I was really struck by this devotion.  I think I would like to make a drawing of it:

The Bible-Trunk


But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. --Psalm 1:2-3

The Ten Commandments have been hand-carried out of courtrooms and in some places,
school children cannot pledge allegiance to one nation under God. Even Christian
 pastors cannot pray in the name of Jesus at public events. I know this breaks your
heart as it does mine. Especially when we consider the Bible is the source of western
culture.

Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, of L'Abri Fellowship, describes how the Bible is like a trunk
on a large tree. Its branch of truth has given rise to liberty, education, and science.
The Bible's branch of law has sprouted smaller branches of justice, democracy, rights
and equality. Grace has brought forth the blessings of family, community, righteousness
and forgiveness. Wisdom has sprouted health, peace, technology and prosperity. Finally,
the branch of faith from the Bible has resulted in character, morality, sacrifice
and heroism. These characteristics of western civilization all find their root in
the Word of God. To debunk the Bible in western culture is to push the self-destruct
button![1]

For almost a century the American church has reacted to the secular agenda without
significant advancements. Rather than knee-jerk responses to secularism, we must
 now mount a positive effort that re-introduces the Bible into western culture.
Pray for Dr. Mangalwadi of The Millennium Project - as well as Dr. Ravi Zacharias,
his fellow journeyman, as they labor in the media, the corporate world, and in universities
to cast the vision of the unique importance and unmatched value of the Bible to
all culture.

Lord God, I pray for great Christian philosophers who are working hard to show the
world the power of God's Word to shape nations and cultures. May the nations of
the world cleave to the Bible as the source for truth, law, grace, wisdom, and faith.