Sunday, December 23, 2012

“Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine…Praising my Savior all the day long!” Those are some of the words to a song that I believe, Fanny Crosby wrote long ago. The words are very fitting for how I feel today and for what God has done for me.

It was a very special day. The weather was about perfect for tonight’s Christmas program. The temperature was right at 0 degrees. A wind was blowing this morning making it seem colder, but tonight the wind was still.

We spent the morning getting ready for the dinner after church. I made baked salmon, and then I put it in the crockpot. I also made a coffeecake, which Roger said was fine…but… Okay, so when a recipe calls for fresh or frozen cranberries, dried ones do not work the same way. Just sayin’! J

When it was light outside, about 10am. we bundled up to go outside. We spent some time sledding and playing and then walked to Art and Damaris’s home. Since we do not have a phone, they graciously allowed us to use theirs so that we could make some phone calls. I was able to talk to my dad and my sister, Hannah. Roger was able to call his parents as well. It was good to catch up on other news, and to share some of ours with them.

After making our calls, we headed home, ate lunch, took a nap, and then got ready for the program. Obviously, life here in Manley is becoming familiar to our children. Garett and Chandler got themselves dressed first and went outside. By the time Roger and I had dressed the other two and ourselves in outerwear, the older two boys were gone! They walked to church by themselves…taking the sleds with them. This meant that Dad and Mom were left with the two youngest children, whom usually ride on the sleds, the crockpot, cake pan and Bibles! Oh yes, we were just tickled pink! Or NOT! Needless to say, Dad had a few words with his sons when we arrived at church. One…was leaving without telling us. And two was taking off with the sleds! Well, we resolved the issue and life moves forward! J

The program went really well. The younger kids had their parts memorized, for the most part. You couldn’t always understand what they were saying, but they were cute! The older kids read the Christmas story and we sang lots of Christmas Carols. I think Roger counted 48 people that came, so that was wonderful! I played the keyboard, Damaris played the violin, and another lady played the guitar. Two weeks ago, I sat on the floor to play the keyboard. This week, we set it on something else. It was too high, so I had to stand. I wonder what the proper piano technique would be for standing and playing! J I was praying that people would come, and the Lord truly answered our prayer! The potluck dinner was delicious, and most of the people stayed around to eat. We had salmon, ham, salmon salad, vegetables, and salmon with broccoli, jell-o, bread, and lots of other delicious delectables! J We stayed to help clean up and straighten up the church building, but made it home around 7:30pm. I’m thankful that the Lord blessed us with good weather and that people made the effort to come to the program. May God be praised!