Sunday's Thoughts

I was in my garden this morning and the song "Heart of Worship" by Sonic Flood came to mind. "When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come. Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless your heart. I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself, is not what you have required. You search much deeper within, through the way things appear, you're looking into my heart. I'm coming back to the heart of worship, its all about you, its all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, when its all about you, its all about you, Jesus...."

I was struck by the truth of the words of this song, when did it become about anything else? When did going to church on Sunday morning become so much other than the hour or maybe more of time set aside to just WORSHIP? What is that worship too? What does it mean to worship? There are so many things that become the "factors" in that....the music, the offering, the rituals, the color of the floor, the color of the walls, the latest story about someone....is that what we are really there for? Does worship only happen within the walls of the church? There are so many thoughts and opinions on what it all means and many thoughts and opinions of what it does not mean.

I pray that I may be in a spirit of worship, not only on Sunday morning, but on Monday night too, and every other day and hour of the week.

Scrapbook Page

I finally did another page. Wow, it only took me forever, due to technical difficulties. I can't do complicated pages, I get too impatient and frustrated. I don't really know how to do any of those "fancy" things.......

But, it is done. Technology will be the death of me yet!!

More Family Reunion Thoughts

As I was looking through my pictures last week, it hit me that there were two people at the reunion who were so close to no longer being with us.

I am so thankful that God saw fit to allow us many more years with Geof and Theresa. Both were involved in near death car accidents when they were younger. I do not recall the details of Geof's accident because I was in Africa then, at a time when communication to and from was delayed and sometimes non-existent. I do know though that it was serious.

Theresa was involved in a car vs. snow plow accident and the driver was killed. She was within inches of her life.

In both of these cases, many prayers were offered for their lives and thankfully, God allowed us more time with both of these. It is situations such as this that make family reunions so important. One never knows the future, but we do know that we can share the time together and value the moments we have, and the best, the future that we know that in the next life, we will have a HUGE family reunion. I pray those who are living without salvation through Jesus find it before it becomes too late.

The pictures above include the two families that are richer than they could have been because of God's wonderful grace and mercy.

Cousins on the Couch

Sunday Morning!

We worked fast and hard to get these pictures taken before we had to leave for church........

The Weekend to Remember........Family Reunion

If you are visiting this for the first time, start with my previous posts as this is a continuation of the story....

People started having to leave the reunion. I was sad that time had started to move on and that this wonderful day had to end. Aunt Louise (my oldest living relative) came over to me at the ball game to say good-bye and she took my arms in her hands and said, "This is the best family reunion we have ever had. And, God willing, I will be at the next one too." Sorry, can't control the tears on this one either, that meant so much to me because I was feeling it was the best one too, but I thought that was just me. Others started leaving and it was sad reality that this wonderful time together as a family was going to soon end. I hated that part!!!

The night was topped off by a display of fireworks that Jim had gotten from our neighbor. These were the good kind that made hot ashes fall on those watching. We sat and enjoyed and then became patriotic and started singing patriotic songs. We clapped and cheered and had a great time. When it was over we packed up chairs and headed inside to bathe the kids and put them to bed. Once again, some of us sat up and chatted and one by one everyone was off to bed. Kathy and I were the last to give in but got to spend some great quiet moments together. It was special.

Prior to us all going off to bed, we discussed the traditional "Cousins on the Couch" picture. We decided that the little children were spent and this could be a recipe for disaster, so Michele and Tim agreed to come back in the morning before they left for home so that we could get the picture taken.

Continued....

Because I have no idea how to actually edit this, I decided rather than chance losing all I had written, I would post it and continue on in another story. Maybe some day when life settles down, I can actually teach myself how to use this blog the way I think it would work....or not.

So, on with the story....read below to begin.

After dinner and clean up, the Texas kids noticed there were fireflies in the yard. We dug out some jars so they could go out and catch the creatures. Their "Meme" helped them get them caught. It was great fun watching them discover and capture and set free the "bugs."

We started assigning sleeping arrangements. Dan had to give up his room and Ryan's room was open because he was at camp. I had already given up my "cave" to Mike and Leila. Matt and Dan slept in the pop up camper that friends of ours had loaned us so that we would have plenty of sleeping space. The smaller ones were off to bed and the
rest of us sat and chatted for awhile. It was just a nice time of visiting and enjoying each others' company. Tim and Michele were staying in a motel, and Mom had her own place to go. Mom, Tim, and Michele all left and the rest of us went to bed.

In the morning, the group got up and while I made breakfast, they all went for a run/walk. Leila and I were the only ones left at the house with the small kids. Dan had to go to school so he was up and out of the house. While the run was going on, Jim and Kathy came back and got the ranger and took the kids for a ride to find the runners. The runners returned before the ranger riders so then the runners went in the car to find the riders...it was kind of a game of tag.

We were then all ready to start the preparations for the rest of the family to arrive. Kathy and Mom went shopping. Leila put her head in the microwave (it seems like every picture I have of her she is getting something in or out of the microwave). Michele and LeAnn went out to get some things. Kathy was in charge of supper. Renee had arrived, so we were all together for the first time since Tim and Michele's wedding over two years ago.

Around mid afternoon, in rolls Aunt Laura and Aunt Norma (Iowa and Idaho). They were staying in a motel and had gotten checked in early so they thought they would come and see if they could help get things ready. Mostly we all visited and had a great time reminiscing of the old days, etc. It was such precious time, even among all the chaos and busyness, the time together with my dad's sisters was just precious. All of the sudden, in walks my cousin Kevin and his wife and two kids from Minnesota. A little later, in rolls Uncle Richard and Aunt Charlotte from Missouri. Their son Geof was coming from Green Bay pulling another pop up camper that he was going to park on our yard. Kathy and LeAnn had made a Tex-Mex feast for us to enjoy. Kathy was worried that the food she had bought would not feed all the unexpected people, but like the loaves and fishes, we had plenty. Without really even knowing it was happening, we had nearly half of the people here the night before the reunion was scheduled. It was so COOL!!

I have a life long friend who I had been telling about the reunion. When she got married 27 years ago, LeAnn was her flower girl, I asked her to come and join us on Friday night so she could see LeAnn all grown up. So she and her new husband Tim (her first husband died in a car accident) came over for supper too. Angie helped us with the food by shredding the pork. She also brought over a cooler full of soda. That was such a blessing.

Because camp was nearly over and I wanted Ryan to be able to spend some time with his family before they had to leave, I drove up to Sky Lodge at 8:30pm to pick Ryan up early. Because it was the weekend of the Fourth, the traffic was horrible. It took us a bit longer to get up there than expected and Ryan was wanting to stay just a bit longer to do the after glow. So, Mike, Kathy and I went and found a friend of Mike's who was at camp. It was fun to surprise her at camp. We finally convinced Ryan to come home and left the camp around 11:00pm. By the time we arrived to the Edgerton exit, I was so totally exhausted and had been fighting a headache for hours, that I had to make Kathy drive the rest of the way home. Although I was miserable and feeling soooo nauseous, Kathy still made me laugh reminding me of another time I had been sick. Nothing like a review of illness to make a person feel better. When we got home, it was straight to bed.

Saturday morning we hit the floor running, knowing there were many more people to come. The preparation for the meal, etc. is such a blur. Once again, Leila helped a huge amount at getting things where they needed to be. Renee had prepared the brisket and Tom brought it up along with a lot of supplies for the reunion. We unloaded and got set up.

People started arriving and by noon, we were ready to eat lunch. We had family here from all over the US. Mom went to the nursing home with the help of Tom and Mike and picked up Dad and brought him to the reunion. It was touching, although Dad knew nothing of what was going on and was not able to speak, it went well having him here and once again, my dad's life just touched others. His eyes lightened up when LeAnn talked to him and introduced her children. My cousin Diane introduced her baby, Peyton to Dad, and he still loves babies. It was so touching, more than I was able to handle. I had to walk away and have a time of tears. I so miss my dad the way he was but yet, he was still a part of the family and it was so obvious how the family continues to love him despite his disease.

So, pictures, games, karaoke, food, talking, laughing, and on and on it went. The day was beautiful. I thought everyone was having a good time. People seemed relaxed and appeared to be enjoying their time together, but we had to do one more thing.... Late afternoon, I told Geof he was in charge of organizing the Siedsma Family Kickball Game. Off we went, those of us brave enough to chance life and limb in order to play a game. It was more than entertaining.

.......to be continued.

One of the Best Week(end)s in My Life

As I look back to last week, I think it really has to be one of the absolute best times of my life. On Monday we took Ryan to camp at Sky Lodge and dropped him off for his first away from home without his parents camping experience. I knew he would be fine, I grew up at church camp and trusted that all would be well. On Tuesday, while I was at work my oldest sister and her husband arrived to help us get ready for the family reunion.

My dad's family has gotten together for a reunion every two years for the last twenty or more years. Although I have missed a few, I will try to never miss another. (If we keep having them at my house, I won't have a choice.)

I spent a couple of hours with Mike and Leila before going to work again on Wednesday evening. The rest of my immediate family except for Renee were arriving on Thursday. So, Thursday we started the process of cooking and meal planning for the weekend. Leila had worked so hard at cleaning out my freezer and refrigerator. I could not ask for a better big sister, she is such a servant and I love her so much :) We waited excitedly for the arrival of the rest, Mike, Leila, Jim and I played Rook while we waited. I learned how to play as Mike's partner....like pay attention and those cards that have 11 on them are not 1's. (Sorry Mike).

Tim and Michele texted and said they were in traffic in Chicago....always traffic in Chicago. Matt had arrived driving Mike's Mustang so that Mike and Leila could have it in Michigan where they had just weeks before moved. Kathy and Bob, Niko, LeAnn, Josh, Jonathan and Madeline were on their way from Texas and almost here!!

Around 7:30 pm, the whole gang descended upon our place. The chaos has begun. A welcome change from the life of going to work, sleeping, going to work, sleeping, going to work....you get my drift.

We ate a meal of pork chops and added goodies once everyone got settled enough to eat.