First Sunday of September!

We left for church extra early today, because they were having racing games on the road in front of the school we rent, and we had to get to church before they blocked everything off. I had to pull myself out of bed. Ugh! I hate that! Don’t you just love it when you’re trying to pray and you keep nodding off to sleep? I’m glad the Lord is merciful and sees our lame efforts to please Him and winks because He knows our frailty.

We had a visitor today. She seemed really sweet, and Dad concluded that she’s “one of us” after he finished talking with her after the service. I hope she will be back. The lady who got saved last week didn’t come. I sorta expected that. It seems like we have so many people come to church, they get saved, and then we never see them. If we had a list of names I bet it would be long. Makes you wonder what happened…

The usually boring announcements held quite a shock…sorta. A couple in our church was expecting their 3rd baby. The ultrasound showed that something was wrong. We pretty much knew that the baby wouldn’t live unless God did a miracle. During the announcements Dad gave us the latest news. The baby died on Thursday and was born yesterday, I believe. I can’t even imagine! This family has been through so much lately. Please remember to pray for Denny and Odia Peneux.

Dad preached a message entitled “The Preparations of the Heart.” 2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” The 4 points he preached on were about how to prepare your heart to seek the Lord through…

• The preaching of God’s Word
• Wisdom
• The Commandments
• Salvation

After the service ended some people migrated to the great outdoors to watch the car race. What a racket! I had been holding Nathan, but as an extra-loud racing car passed, I could feel his little body stiffening and knew he was afraid. Poor little thing! I went back inside and we watched from the window. Nathan loved it then. He kept trying to talk as he pointed at the bright-colored cars flashing past. I love that kid! Maybe his parents will get tired of him someday and let me keep him! Hmm…it’s doubtful.

Then a little later Geertje came over to talk, carrying Elona with her. The baby has two teeth now! Elona loved it when I played peek-a-boo with her. What an adorable baby! She’s another one I’d like to take home with me. Maybe one day--when I’m an old maid, which is what some people already consider me because, heaven forbid, I don’t have a guy yet, and maybe never will--I’ll start an orphanage and all the babies will be mine!!!

The next couple weeks at our church--I love saying that. Our church. We have a church, praise God! Sometimes I feel discouraged that we don’t have more people. But then I stop myself and think how dumb that is. We have a church of 30-40 people, who are generally very faithful (in the last year things have really changed in the area!), right in the middle of a spiritual graveyard. I don’t think that’s too bad!!! Praise the Lord!

Okay, as I was saying, the next couple weeks at our church (grin) are going to be BUSY. So, I asked Mom if she wanted to help me clean and organize the closets where we keep our church’s stuff. We’re going to go grocery shopping this week for a bunch of stuff we’ll need for the lunch before the baptismal service next Sunday, and then the Sunday after that we’re having the Friend Day when we’ll be serving food as well. It’s so much easier to store things when things are organized. Man, what a difference after we got done in there! I got to throw a bunch of junk out--I love throwing junk away! Now everything looks orderly as it should be in every church, because we have a testimony to keep up!

There were a few people who missed last week’s Bible study, so Dad did it again this afternoon. While they were busy, we watched the kids. Nyssa sat on my lap in front of the window so she could watch the race, and I played with her hair. This little girl is usually spastic (she reminds me of myself at her age) but she really calmed down as I put her hair in what I call a “twist.” It’s a really pretty hairstyle I saw our former pastor’s daughter do once and began to try on myself and others. Nyssa looked like a little angel when I got done with her, and my, was she proud of herself. Ha! She wanted to show her hair to her mom immediately, but I said she had to wait till they were finished. It’s so funny how vain even little girls are. I guess it’s something we’re all born with, but you don’t think of kids as having pride.

The drive home was another quiet one. This gray, rainy weather sure is conducive to sleep! It is unusually cold for the beginning of September. I froze in church today.

When Dad was preaching about the 10 commandments this morning he was saying how we should do other things on Sunday and wear other clothes than we usually do. We should be wearing extra special clothing on Sunday. Dad said when he was a boy he wasn’t allowed to wear his casual Levi jeans on Sundays, which I never knew. As for me, I love dressing up on Sundays. It sure makes the day seem different from the rest. As for right now though…I must confess. We got home on this extra-chilly September afternoon, and I was done with my airy polyester skirt and blouse. Talk about freezing! Right now I’m sitting here in my purple sweat skirt and gray, cherry-scattered hoody (the cherries are purple like my skirt). Through the window beside to me I can hear the rain and wind pounding against the house, but I’m toasty warm! (contented sigh)

Well, I think that’s all… I hope you will have or have had a nice Sunday.

P.S. Yesterday afternoon I listened to Bro. Bill Allison preach on God’s will (Trusted with the Will of God), and I was shocked when he brought up the subject of….just guess. Sacrifice! You think God is trying to tell me something?

Later: We did something highly unusual for a Sunday afternoon. After eating a yummy dinner of savory beef casserole, we dropped in on the Kamps!!! We had a pleasant visit. They were just starting the fire, which we absolutely love, when we came by! All the ladies and girls (we outnumber the guys) sat in the kitchen and drank tea and talked, and I put the girls’ hair in a twist, and then we played a game of Round Dominoes. That’s a fun game to play if you want to interact, but don’t want to have to think too much. The rain outside made it cozy as we sat in Mrs. Kamps’ very homey kitchen. The Kamps’ place feels like a second home to me. I love visiting them! We--Lydia, Alisah, Grace, and I--shooed the boys off the computer, suggesting they play Legos, and we looked at each others’ blogs. Then Mrs. Kamps and Mom came up to measure some things in the bedroom, because we’re having company next month, and we’re trying to see if we can borrow an extra mattress and a table. Long story. It wasn’t until we said good-bye and drove off that we realized we were at the Kamps’ house for 3 hours!!! They say time flies when you’re having fun. Time speeds by when we visit the Kamps! We’re never there for a “short while,” like we plan. Ha, ha! Well, that’s a good thing. We love each other!