The Cleansing

Good Friday, we know. And Easter most certainly. But what is Maundy Thursday? It is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. And most notably, that Last Supper was when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an extraordinary display of humility. He then commanded them to do the same for each other.

In fact, Merriam-Webster defines maundy as a ceremony of washing the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday.

I vividly recall on our church mission trip when Carter was a teen how we ended the week with a foot-washing ceremony on the final evening. As the adult leaders for our congregation, Pastor Josh and I washed the feet of each member of our mission team and prayed over them. Many tears were shed. A very moving experience.

It now makes sense to me that to help someone, if we can't walk in their shoes and understand where they're coming from or where they're going, we can at least wash their feet and offer comfort on their sometimes grueling journey – whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.

Jesus did this to teach His disciples to do it for each other. Never assume you are better than someone else. You're only as good as the extent to which you've helped them. If they refuse the let you wash their feet then they aren't ready for help. It's frustrating as heck, but all you can do is keep trying.

Eventually, they might just see the joy on people's faces after they were willing to let go and let God take care of all that dust that's settled on their boots.

It's cleansing for your feet – and your soul.

More Girl Power

It's been an amazing week for some of "my" girls!

Tonight I actually got to an Assumption softball game. Usually I am coming into town late after work and miss a bunch of it. Today, though, I worked from home after having the morning off for some meetings. That made it possible for me to get to Robinson Park and see the Royals host the Iola-Scandinavia team.

Their game was rained out last week and I was bummed since it would only have been a few blocks from my office. For some reason the rescheduled game was moved to our neck of the woods. I-S has an amazing team and record this year. They were very tough competition but Assumption managed to keep pace.

Thanks in part to my friend Brenda's daughter Macyn (Carter's classmate, friend and homecoming date last fall, ha). She hit two home runs tonight! How awesome! I hope the fact that we lost 13-10 doesn't bring her down too much. What a cool accomplishment.

My next-door neighbor's daughter Madison has been on a hot hitting streak all season. I still haven't seen her hit one out of the park so I will somehow have to get to a game. The season is done now and playoffs start next week. I'll have to see how we can squeeze that in our schedule! She's pretty amazing to watch.

Speaking of amazing... One of my "mission trip daughters" had an amazing performance at her track meet the other day. Grace normally runs the 200-meter dash and a relay. The other day she ran the 100-meter as well.

And not only finished first but set a conference record! Whoa.

I guess one of the few advantages of not having Carter in baseball this spring is that I can pay attention to some other athletes and watch the girls in action! They are not only great athletes but have big hearts, too.

Now that's the kind of Girl Power to have!

Saying Goodbye to 2013

I usually like to take time to reflect on the previous year in my last blog before taking the calendar off the wall. But I didn't spend much time on that.

I didn't need to.

Other than the sickness and eventual death of my father, it actually was a wonderful year. It went way too fast, but it was good.

Our health was good and I shed a little extra poundage. We both remained employed (and Carter, too). Hubby embarked on a new career venture that is proving quite positive, while I am expanding some "work" on my creative side. Teen boy is doing well in school and his extra curriculars.

I had some memorable times with old friends and met many new -- through a rewarding mission trip and involvement in some civic and church activities.

It was so much better than the multitude of challenges I had in 2012 that I can't believe I ever doubted God was going to bless me again. And again.

I don't know what 2014 holds in store, but if spending the last afternoon and evening of 2013 having a great time with friends I hold dear is any sign, I think I'm going to like it!

(I even stayed up until midnight in our time zone AND the next. That's gotta be a good sign!)

I hope you, too, found many 2013 blessings to count. May you have many more in 2014.

Happy New Year!

Sun-less Sunday

I think I have an inkling what it's like to live in Seattle or other places it reportedly rains every day. And I don't like it.

Just another dreary day that never really got light enough for me not to think it was almost time to go to bed! I wasn't tired, though. I got to sleep in since Carter and I went to 10:30 church today so we could attend a luncheon afterward.

High school kids (and their parents) interested in participating in another mission trip this next summer met to eat pizza and discuss options. This past summer we went through the YouthWorks program and it was just an amazing experience. It was just the right group of kids. The right staff at YouthWorks. And the right combination of mission work.

The challenge now is that several of my girls from last year are expecting this next year to be the same. I don't want to trample all over their enthusiasm, but the reality is that experiences like that can't be replicated. For one, it will be a different location -- likely on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. And secondly, it will be a different group. There's a new crop of high schoolers wanting to go and I think that's great.

We'll see what transpires. It's going to be heavily one-sided with Carter and maybe two other boys -- and many more girls. I would go again as a chaperone in a heartbeat. But I, too, would probably expect somewhat of a repeat from last summer. And, frankly, I really want to give another mom a chance to go. It's an experience she won't forget.

After the meeting, I was informed from my ice cream hotline, that it was our Dairy Queen's last day of business until February or so. Naturally, we had to stop. I mean Carter was driving so I was just along for the ride! Ha.

Came home and threw some potatoes in to a crock pot for a new recipe I am trying out for Thanksgiving. Since we are hosting Jim's family, I wanted to be sure these were good, they were enough and they were somewhat easy. Having most of the work done 4 hours ahead is pretty nice. And they were tasty so that's one less thing to worry about that day.

Now to practice pie making!

Didn't do much else today. Vikings weren't on TV here and once again, that's probably for the best. Ugh. Moved a few things from the basement up to my scrap room. Should probably go back down there and work on that some more.

Despite the absence of Mr. Sun all day, I do still have a few more hours left before bedtime. Could potentially even catch another Hallmark movie while sorting through stuff. Now there's a plan!

I should have started earlier...

On the Wild Side

One might think our pit stop at Six Flags in St. Louis was wild. But that didn't compare to some of the sights further south.

First of all, I need to protest the disclaimer that everything in Texas is big. I'm here to tell you that everything in Arkansas is pretty big, too!

I actually didn't mind the neon-green grasshoppers because they were smaller than my hand. Plus I love lime green!

This big fella, though, had us all screaming like girls. 'Cuz, well, we ARE girls! And he was big. Not as big as my hand, but much too close! ((shivers running down my spine))

Then there was the skull we found in Ms. Betty's backyard...

Don't be scared. It's not human. I'm guessing it's a dead Arkansas Razorback or something. We chose not to keep it. Wisely, I think.

You know you're a hick when... Hey, I couldn't make this up. I felt too overdressed to go inside and trust me, there is no rule about "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service."

When I was in a different convenience store -- for non-hicks -- I was quite surprised to see a big guy walk in without his shirt on. No one batted and eye but I sure turned my head. The other way, that is! Uff da.

Our wild time probably prepared me perfectly for the car show this week! Oh yes, it's the time again where you will see the weird, wild and wonderful through my eyes. It doesn't start until Thursday, though, so you'll have to suffer through one more blog -- probably about my "normal" life outside of mission work -- before I hit you with the good stuff.

Stay tuned. And keep walking on the wild side!

Tourist Attractions

Part of the fun of the mission trip was seeing new people, places and things. As a trained picture-taking scrapbooker, I did not let the fact that I was driving prohibit me from capturing these. (Don't worry, parents, I've learned to do this with both hands on the wheel!)

More from our trip...

For charging us $1.90 to drive on their roads, I found driving through Illinois was not worth that. Pretty boring so I had plenty of time to concentrate on keeping track of our pace car -- Pastor Josh's van with the personalized TX FITE plates. Yup, he's from Texas originally. He was in his glory with those 3 churches from Texas!

My first time in Missouri. Ever! Couldn't wait to see what the state had to Show Me!

St. Louis was our halfway point so it was always good to get there -- safely.

This is the church where we stayed in St. Louis. It had a wing off to the left side that included a gymnasium and a youth room (where we slept).

Actually, if you look on the map, it is technically in the suburb of Florissent. Unfortunately, that is not close to where my aunt and uncle live. If it had been 15 minutes away instead of 45-60, I would have tried to connect. As it was, I just saw them at my dad's funeral so it was different than if it had been a few years.

Downtown St. Louis coming right up!

As I previously mentioned, we did not go up in the arch. Just looked at from the outside and it was cool. I was OK with that decision!

Downtown is very cool with lots of neat architecture. Unfortunately, I only had time to take pictures out the car window as we had things to do!

We spent several hours that first night (my birthday) at the City Museum. It's hard to describe. Just a lot of really unique metal sculptures and ladders to climb and crawl on, plus caves on the inside and a museum with some St. Louis artifacts. I only had my camera phone on me but here are a few pictures so you get the idea.

Another new "adventure" was trying out new Southern traditions -- in the form of food. I already mentioned the always-present Sweet Tea yesterday. What I was most excited about was eating at my first Sonic!

Look at that selection!! Decisions... Decisions...

Yes, that is Peanut Butter & Bacon you see! On this particular pit stop, no one in our group tried it. Later on, during one of our evening stops at the one in Booneville, though, Carter and Pastor Josh both tried one! They said was OK. Not anything too weird. I tried Cheesecake and a Coconut Cream Pie one. Thumbs up to both!

This was also my first time in the state of Arkansas, too! Guess I never really had a reason to go! It does have its beauty in the Ozark region, that's for sure!

Cool road through the cut rock!

"Mountains" in the distance.

 

Our evening field trip up Mount Magazine. Beautiful view of the Ozarks. It was a bit hazy, though, so my pictures left something to be desired.

 

Our church group.

Our church group being silly.

My one hug allowed that week. Ha.

 

After the lookout, we continued on that evening to Cove Lake in the state park, where the kids swam and I schooled two pastors on the mini-golf course. Three holes in one, baby! I had the putt-putt angels on my side!

Some of our group swimming -- with Carter far right.

Oh how the girls picked on Carter some days. You know he loved every minute of it!!

One night we had a field trip to a farm... something new for all us Wisconsinites! The kids played Frisbee and football and other games before we had a devotional time.

Saw this Texas longhorn across the field! I wish he would have come closer since I did not have my good camera with the zoom with me!

Also saw a Texas unicorn!

Our treat that night was s'mores!

Yummy tasting in any area of the country!

On Wednesday night, we attended a service at a Pentecostal church. Remember, we were in the Bible Belt with a big cowboy belt buckle. Didn't see a Lutheran or Catholic church anywhere! On Thursday night, we had a community picnic. Here is some of our group enjoying their dessert.

After the picnic, we enjoyed Fourth of July fireworks at the Booneville park.

Friday morning it was back to St. Louis, where we enjoyed pizza and ice cream. Then Saturday, it was up through Illinois again. Their wind farms are kind of cool. Notice I am still following the blue van!

A truly WELCOME sign on Saturday afternoon!!

And just 2,215.9 miles later and we are home safe and sound, with much to be grateful for and many memories to cherish!