An Update...

Go here to read an update on my niece, Julia. (Note the terrific gifts her aunts gave her...)

She leaves Sunday to MOVE TO MEXICO! She is planning on teaching at an American school there for two years. I know she would appreciate your prayers for her. Please specifically pray for no infection in the, umm... what do you call it.... shark bite site, shark cut, shark chomp? Well, you know, where the shark bit her. I think there can be a risk of infection for quite some time.

25 Years

Dearest Peter,

Today we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. I thought I would tell you 25 reason why I love you. The best part? I get to keep adding to this list year after year after year.

1. I love you because you desire and pursue a relationship with God.
   
2. I love you because you are an amazing father and I look forward to being an in-law with you.
   
3. I love you because you are committed to me and our marriage.
   
4. I love you because treat me like a queen.
5. I love you because you desire for me to be happy and work hard to make me happy.
   
6. I love you because you encourage me to pursue my interests.
7. I love you because you like my cooking.
8. I love you because we have years of memories together.
9. I love you because you give me random kisses and hugs.
   
10. I love you because you tell me you love me over and over and over.
    
11. I love you because you are a terrific lover.
    
12. I love you because you have a fun sense of humor.
13. I love you because you get my sense of humor and laugh at my jokes.
    
14. I love you because I love to make you happy.
15. I love you because you are a man of character, integrity, and commitment.
16. I love you because you listen to me vent and still love me.
    
17. I love you because you are an excellent piano player.
18. I love you because you use your musical talents to serve our church.
    
19. I love you because you desire to learn how to be a godly leader.
    
20. I love you because you are a great provider for this family.
    
21. I love you because you are smart.
    
22. I love you because you are smart about how to handle our money.
    
23. I love you because you are my best friend.
24. I love you because you are MY man and God gave you to me to love.
    
25. I love you because you have never regretted asking me to marry you and I have never regretted saying, "Definitely!"

Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. Song of Solomon 8:7

Happy 25th Anniversary, Pete! I love you!

Always,

The Day After

See previous post about the shark attack on my niece.

My niece Julia got home from the hospital around 11pm on Wednesday. She received 42 (!) stitches on the lacerations on her left foot and ankle. The orthopedic surgeon looked at the wound and doesn't think any tendons were damaged. Julia has full movement and sensation in her foot. Praise the Lord! It looks like no surgery is needed. Now we are praying for no infection.

They think it was a sand shark somewhere around 6 feet long. No one saw the shark.

On Thursday my sister-in-law went to the store to find a newspaper to see if Julia was in it. She heard there that there were TV news people on the beach doing a story on the strong rip-tide and looking for the shark bite victim. We looked out the window and saw two people with a video camera.
Pretty soon my sister-in-law, Fran, went out on the beach to talk with them.
Here she comes back to the house with the media. You never saw so many women still in their pjs scramble so fast to get dressed! :)
My son the journalist said that what Fran did is every journalist's dream. The male reporter was very new on the job, so I bet he was quite excited!

Here they are in the house setting up their equipment.
They just asked Julia a few questions about what happened. She did a great job talking on camera. Go here for the video that was on the local TV news that night. The big red house in the background when the man with the beard is talking is my sister and brother-in-law's beach house.

After the excitement of the media in the house, Megan and I went with Fran and a couple of others to a souvenir shop. Fran and I just couldn't help ourselves and had to buy Julia a couple of gifts:
There is a little glass jar with a shark's tooth in it and a postcard with different types of shark's teeth. I found the t-shirt. :) Julia was a good sport and laughed at our gifts.

Now for those who are curious.... I have a few pictures of the wounded foot.

Be warned...

Enter at your own risk....



Praise God for the first responders on the beach that helped to get the bleeding stopped.

You can go here to Julia's blog and read her account of the attack.

Whew! What a trip to the beach.

Just Another Day at the Beach...

Megan and I flew to North Carolina yesterday to join my nieces and sisters and mom for some girl time at the beach.

It was kind of a crazy flight(s) here. More on that later.

We lazily got up this morning and I finally got around to putting on my suit and went to hang out at the pool. It's warm here.

Megan and I went out to the ocean and I actually had fun riding the waves with her. I hadn't done that in years! After lunch I agreed to stay in the house and listen for my two year old great-niece, who was napping. I was trying to get on the Internet and pretty soon I hear someone come tearing in the house. It was Megan looking for a towel and some water. She said that Julia (a niece) had gotten bit really bad. At the time I didn't really know what had happened, but when I went to look out at the beach, I saw people all huddled around Julia and no one was in the ocean. Hmmm... didn't look good. Pretty soon I heard sirens. My sister, Beth, (Julia's mom) came running into the house and had the most scared look on her face. I asked her what it was that bit Julia and she said, "A shark."

Oh my.

They have been at the hospital for 6 hours now. Julia is getting stitches. She will probably need surgery on a damaged tendon. They have to wait for the inflammation to go down. She will fly back home tomorrow and pursue the surgery there.

Whew. What a day at the beach.

Please pray for Julia.

Finally the Voice I Have Followed For Life Has a Glorious Face That is Lit Up With Light!

Friday we drove to central Iowa to say good-bye to my Uncle Mervyn.

It was harder than I thought. I had a pit in my stomach when we walked in the church and saw the casket. It really didn't look like my uncle. Truth be told, he wasn't there. He is in heaven. That was just his earthly shell.

The service was pretty good. My dad shared some memories that several of us family members had told him. My dad did a great job of putting every one's memories together. He choked up when he said that my brother had said that Uncle Mervyn was his hero. Uncle Mervyn was a hard working Swedish farmer who had a passion for making sure that everyone he came in contact with knew whether or not they were going to heaven. There are probably thousands of tracts floating around that he gave people to make sure they knew what they needed to do to ensure eternity in heaven. It made me think about what I am doing with my life along those lines. I doubt I will hand out tracts, but am I being diligent with sharing my faith?

On a lighter note, Dad shared my favorite story about Uncle Mervyn and Aunt Johnnye. (My aunt passed away 2 1/2 years ago.) Well, one particular Christmas when I was 6 or 7 I was missing my two front teeth, Uncle Mervyn and Aunt Johnnye took the song All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth to heart. Waiting for me under the tree was a little box. Inside that box were two teeth. They were long, skinny, ugly teeth. I soon found out they were PIG'S TEETH! If you want to see what they looked like, click here. I can't bear to post the picture here. I remember they looked like the ones on the bottom front. Uncle Mervyn and Aunt Johnnye thought it was the funniest thing ever. I was so disgusted as a 6 or 7 year old that I conveniently lost the teeth and never brought them home with me. Uncle Mervyn loved to bring the story up over the years and had many a good chuckle. It was probably 30 years later that Uncle Mervyn told me that he recalled that the dogs had been chewing on the pig's head he got the teeth out of. When I was even more disgusted, Aunt Johnnye piped up and said, "but I boiled them!" Like that makes it better.

It's a fun family memory.

On the way to the funeral we were listening to Charlie Hall CD. The following video is of the last track on the CD. (I'm not a huge fan of this video, but just listen to the music and watch the words I copied below it.) These words really struck me:

Finally the voice I have followed for life
has a glorious face that is lit up with light
And you’ll come for me, no more pain, peace,
No more fear, release
just lost and consumed with my glorious King

I am rejoicing that my uncle is experiencing this right now.

And I can't wait to join him someday.

Jesus come take me away, I long to see Your face
This world is broken yet beautifully made,
Jesus come take me away
Jesus I’ll patiently wait, till like a vapor I’ll fade
Help me fulfill all your dreams for these days,
Jesus I’ll patiently wait

You’ll come again with a shout,
like a thief in the night you’ll come riding on clouds
Finally the voice I have followed for life
has a glorious face that is lit up with light
And you’ll come for me, no more pain, peace,
No more fear, release
just lost and consumed with my glorious King,

(last chorus only)
And you’ll come for me

Jesus today I am tired, I need your music to come and inspire
I give myself to be refined in this fire,
but Jesus today I’m so tired

Come for me

I Am Worn Out

I haven't been writing on here. Stating the obvious, I know.

I have been so darn tired since we got back from the wedding. I'm not sick or anything. Just worn out. I can't really think through a deep, thoughtful subject, so I'll just report what I've been doing.

I've been pretty busy. We got back from the wedding a week ago Tuesday. Wednesday Megan and I popped over to the Mall of America to meet someone I have met through the bloggy world. I first saw a comment Susan had written on another blog I read. (Don't remember which one that was.) My interest was peaked because she talked about being an expatriate living in a country I have visited. And I have been an expatriate. As I read her blog posts and read the comments left on her blog I realized we had some mutual friends. So we have been reading each other's blogs and commenting and emailing some. She was close to me last week, so we got to meet IRL. (In Real Life.) That was fun. She's a sweetie. I got to meet her family too. I actually walked past her husband before I got to our meeting place and recognized him from her pictures.

The next couple of days were quiet. Just what I needed.

Saturday we visited with some friends who are home from China for a few weeks. They are young enough to be our kids but we consider them to be close friends. I just wish we had a large chunk of time to sit down and talk. They stopped by our Small Group tonight and it was a bit hard to say good-bye. We've known them since they were 15 or 16 years old.

Sunday Peter and I hit the road again. We drove down to KC to watch Caleb and Amanda open their wedding presents. They arrived back from their honeymoon just 10 minutes before we knocked on their door. It was great fun to be a part of The Great Present Opening. :) Don't they look tanned and happy?They received some nice things to help them with setting up their new home. We helped with a few things around their apartment and headed back home Monday after lunch. That was a lot of driving in a short amount of time!


On the way home on Monday I got news that my uncle had passed away. I cried. Pete said it for me when he said, "Uncle Mervyn was a good uncle." He was a godly man and was diligent about making sure those he came in contact with knew whether or not they were going to heaven. Uncle Mervyn was the only person who called me Judith and got away with it. (It's not my name.) We hit the road again Friday to go to his funeral.

I'm worn out.

I feel like sometimes I battle the same things over and over again. Feeling unrest. Unsettled. I came across this quote today that sums that up pretty good.

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." ~CS Lewis

Oh now I went and got kinda deep. Hmph.

1 John 3:1

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!