This and That from Here and There: October 2012

Saturday, October 27, 2012

A Faithful Servant

Today I, along with many others, attended the funeral service for Virginia Micheletti at the Brownstown, IL convention grounds. Virginia was 98 years old and a "nobody" as far as this world is concerned. However, she spent her life serving the Lord and giving herself to His work here on the earth; she is known to Him, and there is no greater thing that we could ever wish for. Her body will be laid to rest on Monday in a cemetery in Benton, IL, but her influence will linger with those for and with whom she labored in lifetime.

Virginia was in my home field the year after I graduated from high school, and I can still see her standing behind the microphone at Gospel Meeting, sharing the story that she loved so well. We knew before we got to meeting that she would speak from one of four or five different places in the Bible. We knew the stories she would tell. We knew what hymn she would choose. And yet, it was alive every time, and we just wanted to hear again.

After I was in the Work, Sharon Rostad and I went to visit Virginia in the nursing home in Effingham. When we got to her room, she was poring over her Bible, her nose nearly touching the magnifying glass that was pressed up against the page. She didn't even notice us come in. During our visit, she told us about Italy and the good years she had spent there, the work that had been accomplished. As we were leaving, we told her that we would come to see her again sometime. Her response was, "Well, call before you come. You never know when they'll give me a companion again, so I might not be here." She was content to be there, just ready to go again if she was needed. I love the picture I have in my mind's eye of her standing at the door waving to us as we walked to the car.

As we sang hymn #81 at her funeral today, I could just hear Virginia, see her pointing us to the precious footprints of our Savior. They were a treasure to her, and I deeply want to count them the same.

Friday, October 26, 2012

A great way to get your daily dose of pumpkin

Ardith tries to steal my bar while I'm involved with the camera.

King Cat

This kitty cat rules the roost, or at least the shelf.

My favorite flower

Found outside of Perkins restaurant in Decatur. Not exactly tropical, but we'll take it. :-)

Monday, October 22, 2012

Beginning another rug

This is one of the ones for Mom's classroom.

Oct. 20, 2012

Oct. 22, 2012

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Kendra's grave

Today I visited my friend, Kendra's grave. The flowers planted this spring are still thriving. It's a beautiful sight.

And I'll use one entry...

...to congratulate myself for getting caught up! I wasn't sure it would actually happen this time.

Guess what it is #11

Our first youth meeting

Here's what we sent to all our young friends:

1^st youth meeting – 7:30 pm on Fri, Oct. 19 @ Darren & Jenny Kesselring’s house

Bring a hymn that you’ve been thinking about.
Study: I Samuel 3
We’d love to hear something about your own personal testimony or the testimony of your family.
We’d love to answer any and all questions that you come up with. However, we need them ahead of time so we have time to give them some thought. If we don’t get questions from you, we’ll start asking you some of our questions! J
We’ll plan to have meetings on Nov. 2 & 16 as well. We’ll let you know where later.

Look forward to seeing you!!!

Ardith & Kamela

It was a success! We had eight young girls and two dads in our circle. We spent the first half of the meeting talking about I Sam. 3 and our testimonies and the second half discussing two of the questions that we had been given in advance. "What do you say when people ask you about the name of your religion?" and "How do you know that you are truly serving God?" There was great participation, and many helpful thoughts were shared. For our next meeting on Nov. 2, we will study Daniel and his three friends and share times in our personal experiences when we have taken a stand for the right even when it was difficult to be different. We'll try to answer a few more questions as well. I'm looking forward to it already!

A beautiful miniature bouquet

Ardith picked it for my bedside table. :-)

Warning...Many pictures to come

Ardith and I very much enjoyed spending a few days with the Klepzig family this week. My two little friends, Gwendolyn and Bennett, are so adorable that my camera takes nearly constant pictures, almost seemingly of its own accord!