This year we have Bible studies going on four out of the five weeknights. Monday – Ladies study at the Campbell’s home in Washburn Tuesday – College study off for the Summer Wednesday – Balancing Our Lives study at the church building Thursday – Informal Bible study at the Campbell’s home in Washburn is off for the Summer
Balancing Our Lives
For our Wednesday evening study we have switched gears in a small way. We are still discussing how to walk as Jesus walked but we are currently focusing on how to balance our lives with what we believe. It is my prayer that these classes help us all in making our faith more evident in our lives, to live the Bible instead of just knowing it. I am excited as this is giving me a chance to use PowerPoint in a limited fashion. I am not used to working with PowerPoint, as some of you know. Bible Classes
Our Sunday mornings are busy here. We currently have four classes going each Lord’s Day which is up from two just six months ago.
This week I read an article that I was sent through email. It was a book review from The Christian Science Monitor on Thieves in the Temple By G. Jeffrey MacDonald. The review comments on some very informative issues pointed out in the book. The comments made and today being Father’s Day made me think more about the duty I have as a father to my children.
Even though Larry is having confusion and balance problems, He was able to make it to Easter Sunday services with the aid of a wheelchair we were able to borrow. Even then, his confusion was such that he continued to try to get up and walk when nobody was watching and came close to falling.
This past week has had a marked increase in confusion and decline in balance. Three nights in a row, Larry tried to go to the bathroom without waking me up. I would wake to the sound of Larry stumbling in the bathroom or falling on top of me (since he sleeps on the bathroom side of the bed, this was quite a feat!) Last night he did fall into a laundry basket of clean clothes. We are in the process now of moving his bed downstairs. We hope this move will improve his safety since he has, on several occasions, made it down the stairs without anyone knowing and without his cane. Needless to say, I am no longer sleeping until this move happens.
On a nice note, Larry and Alyssia have arrived home from Texas to spend this time with their dad.
For some of you this is a repeat that you have already received in email from me. Larry Warren is the preacher from antrim NH. He has terminal brain cancer. You can read what has gone on at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/larrywarren/mystory Larry and I graduated from SIBI together in 2006 and he went back to Antrim NH to preach. This is where he is from. this family needs all the prayers we can give them right now.
This has been a long quarter for us. Flo has spent most of this quarter sick and has even had to drop one class and she is continuing the others from home with only needing to go to school to take tests. We are still trying to find out what is happening. Please keep her in your prayers. One good thing is that the problem with her carotid artery has appeared to have corrected itself. Our grandson Shawn continues to grow. He is a joy for us to be around. We are currently watching him while Lauren attends classes to become a CNA.
Cari August and September have just flown by. When I sent you the last newsletter Lauren had just delivered Shawn and just a week ago she was married. The wedding was a small gathering of family. She and her new husband are now living with his folks but we still watch Shawn two days a week while she attends classes at UMPI. Now we can exercise what my parents called “grandparent’s prerogative.” This meant to spoil the grandchild and send them home. We are spoiling him as much as we can right now. I am trying to get his first word to be either amen or grampy.
Have I mentioned before that God is awesome? We started the year with a congregational meeting to discuss our five year plan and budget for 2008. To say that the meeting went well would be an understatement. The plan was very well received. If I have not previously sent you a copy and you would like one please let me know. A few of the highlights from that meeting are: Have each member involved in an active prayer and study lifestyle; To grow by one-third a year; Involve more men in the preaching and teaching; Work towards becoming self-supporting; Get more active in the community as a group; Get more active on the college campus. We also set a budget of $324 a week. This budget would cover our expenses minus the preacher salary right now.
We had a doctor from Kansas visiting with us for the last of December to mid-January. Floyd was a great encouragement to us while he was here. He was working pro-locum at the local hospital. We hope he gets to come back for another visit.
