July 31 - August 1 Brendan's sleepover

Friday:  I looked ahead at the weather forecast for this weekend and found that we had a 30% chance of rain today, but a strong 70% chance of rain Saturday. As a result, I took Brendan over to Deer Tracks this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. I had such a great time interacting with and enjoying Brendan's joy with the animals.

The BUDGIES are always one of our very favorites--aren't they SO beautiful?

Brendan spent quite a long time exploring the tunnels and rope ladders in this playground--it seems to be everyone's favorite place.

We said a brief "HI" to the camera, who were VERY hungry for the carrots we fed to them--well, at least the two white camels ate them, but the brown camel never opened his mouth fast enough to get any.

I think camels have very cute faces!

The bunny place had a few "young" bunnies, but no actual babies. Brendan was able to finally hold one--they are pretty strict about how long each young one can be out of its cage due to overstimulation and anxiety. We had to come back 45 minutes later in order to be allowed to hold one. So we did!

I love these pictures so much of Brendan and this bunny, who I think should be named "Butterscotch".

I did not know that female rabbits are "DOES" and males are called "BUCKS" and their babies are "KITS"!

The EMU are always fun. These are the EMU youngsters--they have grown a LOT in the last two weeks.

Brendan was not at all timid about feeding them up close. I find them very GRABBY and aggressive, but not exactly scary.

EMU are the second largest bird in the world. Only the OSTRICH is larger. AND they cannot fly even though they have really huge wings. I think they weigh too much to leave gravity!

We fed the KuneKune pigs for awhile ... they were super hungry too.

THEN, we moved on to the LLAMAs.

It's been many years now that Brendan and I have visited Deer Tracks together. Such fun memories!

Brendan crawled around in this area for awhile too--tunnels and ladders everywhere inside!

Both Brendan and I were getting hungry at about 5:30, so we looked at a few more animals (mostly the goats, to which we fed our remaining carrots), and then left to go get some yummy food for US.

We decided to watch "Zootopia2" as our movie for the night. We enjoyed some ice cream in our waffle cone bowls prior to the movie and ate popcorn while we were watching it. Zootopia had a lot of funny parts! I went to bed after the movie--at about 11pm; but Brendan stayed up and was working on a few sketches, and he also folded a nice paper airplane.

SATURDAY:  I slept in until 8am this morning, and Brendan slept in until almost 10:00! That was okay, though, because I didn't have much pre-planned for our time today. I just figured we would play a few games and hang out.

We played a few games of Bananagrams. Brendan is very good at words--me too! I'm not at all competitive with games that I play, especially with the kiddos. I just enjoy playing the game for the sake of playing it.

After a few games, I got out the sock puppet container and Brendan worked for awhile on creating a new sock puppet. While he was working on that, I used all 144 letters of Bananagrams to create this:

Brendan discovered that he miscalculated the size of the finger hole he needed in his sock (for the purpose of hanging one of his fingers out of it to be an ARM), but he did a lot of cutting out and gluing anyway.

I made us chicken noodle Parmesan for lunch, knowing Brendan likes it. He ate two very large helpings, which is always a happy thing for a grandma to see!

It was a very relaxing time with Brendan this weekend. I think we had a good connection, although sometimes it is difficult to tell with a child this age. He seemed happy enough! We had a lot of good conversation, and we laughed a lot too. What else could I possibly ask for? I am very thankful for the time we had together.

July 31 Generational Godliness

 Friday:  This morning I attended the funeral of my friend's dad. He went home to be with Christ on July 7--so three full weeks ago. Prior to his death (about 5 weeks before), Tom requested that he have a pre-death memorial service in Calvary's chapel. This request was granted to the family. Jen's dad had been given only a few weeks more of life here on earth. 

Jen told me that the chapel was packed for three straight hours as friends and family came to say goodby and share memories with her father. He was in a pretty weakened state, due to two years of intense cancer treatment, but was alert and welcoming to all who came. Tom's main objective was to share the good news of salvation through Christ to anyone who came through the line to greet him. Jen said he had many listening ears. After all, who wouldn't listen to a dying friend's words? He told them that very soon he was going to stand in the presence of Jesus, the One who gave everything to redeem him and give him new life, totally forgiven for his rebellion against God, and adopted as a true son into the family of God for all of eternity. Isn't it wonderful that Tom took this beautiful opportunity to share the truth of Christ with people he loved?

The opening line of his obit reads: "Someday, you will read or hear that Tom ____ is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God." 

I get chills reading that because IT IS SO TRUE of believers! This promise is given to us over and over again in Scripture. At his actual funeral Friday morning, we were given a brochure with many photos of Tom as a child, Tom as a young adult, as a newly wed, as a dad, as a youth leader, a businessman, etc. When I read through Tom's history, I was really impacted by the happiness he lived. Not only did he follow Christ from about middle school, but his parents were also faithful believers AND both sets of grandparents were solid believers too. And as I have known Jen now for several years, I have rarely known a more godly young woman (still single, quite beautiful, and in her mid-40's). 

Generational godliness would be quite a treasure. I didn't grow up with a godly heritage (although many people incorrectly think I did). I am sad that I did not live a more godly life to model for my sons--I give zero excuses for this. I have been more Christ-centered in my life since my grandchildren have been born, so I don't have as many regrets about what I have modeled for them. 

AND regrets really do not produce many positives unless actual CHANGE has taken place. Looking backward can sometimes be really unhealthy. But the Lord does ask us to repent of our sins, turn away from living for ourselves, and seek to align our hearts with His. I trust Him to complete His work in me, hopefully more and more each day.

C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying: "You can't change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." I would add or interject "only by God's grace" to that statement. It's never too late to turn our hearts and lives over to the Lord and allow His Spirit to take over our lives.

This is the flower arrangement (above) our Monday Night Bible study small group purchased for the funeral. Jen is part of our small group. She also owns the flower shop that did all of the funeral arrangements.

Just for the record: I have no idea when the Lord will call me home (HOME is where HE IS), and the funeral for me will be quite small and hopefully as inexpensive as possible (except DO NOT CREMATE ME). I do want inscribed on my grave stone just five words: "Swallowed up by eternal life" 2 Corinthians 5.4 because that will be exactly what happens to me as I take my final breath here on earth. I will be more alive than I have ever been here. Forever with Christ, who loves me and gave His life for me.

Also, if any of my descendants read this blog and come across this entry--please do not use the sins of your parents and/or grandparents as an "excuse" to live however you want to live. YOU can be the beginning of generational godliness for your family and all those who follow you! But this will only happen if you surrender your heart and your will to the Lord of heaven and earth. Please do it!

"I keep working toward that day when I will finally be ALL that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be." (Philippians 3.12b NLT)

July 28 with the kiddos

Tuesday: There was nothing terribly remarkable about our time together today ... we didn't get lost anywhere, we didn't hit any "downed" trees in the road, we didn't go to any playgrounds ... we just hung around my house for a few hours and had a nice time together. I have zero complaints. All of these guys really enjoy coming over to my house--sometimes I still can't believe they like it over here--but they really do!

I readily admit I have a LOT of good stuff to play with over at my house, and I'm really thankful for all of the games, puppets, LEGOs, puzzles, art material, books that we have readily available here.

I bought this game, "Battle Box" about two years ago at the toy store in Grand Haven. I was a little bit disappointment in it when I brought it home and actually played a game (it seemed more fun in the store), but these kids all LOVE it! 

This magnetic stone game is one of Cal's favorites. He cracks me up when we play it.

Gregory Callaghan is one very cute, very intense, completely interesting six year old. And he still allows me to snuggle with him and even kiss his face every now and then!

Summer is 2/3 over already--it has really gone fast this year. It's good to be a grandma and get to enjoy these young ones!

July 25 GIR Picnic

Saturday:  I picked Beverly up this afternoon and we drove over to the Oosterhouse's for the GIR picnic. I am very thankful for this group of "old" folk that meet together every 2nd and 4th/5th Sunday during first service over at Calvary. They also have regular outings and get-togethers throughout the year. This was one of those special times.

The Oosterhouse's live on Lake Bella Vista. They bought their house about 30 years ago. The house needed some work, and they renovated and decorated, and have lived there since--all their married life. They are super hospitable people, very welcoming, and really fun to be with. Bruce is a retired coach, who coached at Kenowa Hills for his entire career. I can't remember Mary's occupation before she retired. 

They have a pontoon boat that seats 10, so Bruce started our time together with a tour all around Lake Bella Vista. I had no idea it was as large as it is! There are very beautiful homes all around the lake--mostly owned by physicians, lawyers, and financial people; but Bruce said many of the smaller homes are owned by teachers, etc. Most people live here year-round--these are not considered "cottages."

Evidently this area used to be known as "Grass Lake" because it was mainly swamp. Developers bought the land and spend many years cleaning it up and making it into what is called a "man-made lake." I think turned about very nicely. Much better than a swamp.

This is the back of Bruce and Mary's house, which looks out on the lake. It has a nice flat yard with which to entertain older people like us who really don't do hills and uneven ground very well any more.

I've been in the GIR class now for over a year and have gotten better acquainted now with a lot of the people. 

My friend, Cheryl, is the one who urged me to join the class. See her? She is a 2nd grade teacher over in the Kentwood School District. She is so interesting to listen as she describes her highly diverse classroom of kids--many different languages and ethnicities. My friend, Beverly, is sitting kind of next to Cheryl. Bruce (coach) is in the blue shirt. Bruce teaches our class and is a very capable teacher too. His wife, Mary, almost always has an introduction to the lesson. They work very well together.

There's Beverly waving at me--can you see her? She has been a gift from God to me this year. I just love her so much.

We enjoyed a very nice four hours of fellowship and food (the two always seem to go together). Something "funny" happened on our way home to my house, though. Mary was giving away leftover pizza and dessert, packing it up for us in disposable containers. Beverly took a piece of pizza and 2-3 different desserts (they were yummy). I took a piece of pizza too. We had a lot of stuff in our hands to carry back to my car, and Beverly can't carry very much and walk carefully at the same time. So my hands were full. As I approached my car, I put Bev's container on the roof, opened the back door, loaded it with my chair, purse, jacket, container, etc. and then made sure we were all seat belted and safe to go. When I dropped Beverly off at her apartment, I opened the rear door to fetch Bev's leftovers ... and to my dismay, they were NOT there. I had left them ON TOP OF MY CAR. Bev saw the horrified look on my face and immediately started cracking up as I tried to tell her what had happened to them. She said it was the Lord's way of letting her know she really didn't need all of those desserts. !!! I was so sad this happened, but very relieved at Bev's ready sense of humor.

July 23 22-a-Day

Thursday:  Jesse is helping bring awareness of veteran suicide by assisting in the "22-a-Day" observance again this year in Kent County. For 30 straight days, 22 crosses are erected on property next to the 131 in Northwest Grand Rapids.  Each cross represents a service member who has ended his own life. Jesse told me that about 70% are elderly Vietnam Vets; but there are many younger service people represented as well. He also told me that 22 is just an estimate, taken from documented cases; he believes the number is closer to 50 per day. This is so, so sad.

People come to erect these crosses either because it represents a friend or family member who committed suicide. Some folk write the name of the fallen on the cross, along with other information.

I stole a few photos from Jesse's FB posts to show you what it looks like at night:

Good job on these pictures, Jesse. It's so tragic that these men and women didn't have anyone to rescue them from ending their lives. Surely, it must grieve the heart of the Lord as well.