Pray for Henry and Becca

Henry is a new-born baby boy whose mommy is Becca. Becca is my niece. Both Becca and Henry had a rough time during labor and delivery. Please pray that they will both be feeling GREAT in a very short time. We certainly can't leave out the daddy, Brent! Probably Grandpa and Grandma (Rich and Priscilla) could use your prayers too. I am sure Hollie and Kelly are holding their own, or at least, holding on to the dogs! Hollie and Kelly are Henry's aunties. The dogs are...well, you figure it out! They belong to Becca and Hollie. I can't remember if Grandma and Grandpa have a dog now. I don't think so, unless Becca and Hollie come. Then the dogs might be there too!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HENRY ON MAY 31, 2007!!!

We are praying for all of you!

Spring...We Think!

This is the view right across the street from our house. Pretty nice, eh?

This is what we see from our living room window in the spring. We don't want to sound smug, but we really do have the best view on the lake! I walk around this lake pretty much every day. Some day I will have to talk the camera with me for a different perspective.



Oh yes! I did title this "Spring...We Think!" We may have frost tonight, so I covered the pansies which I planted yesterday. Can't be too careful! This is New Brunswick, you know!

I WAS There!

Marilyn, Craig, Alyss, Lanette, Me, Paul, Paulette, Glen and Ardis

Somehow this pic didn't make it on to the slide show and I wanted to show that I actually was at the singspiration! I did not attend many all those years ago. We determined that I would be the consistent parent at home with Paul's extremely hectic schedule. It was a full time job keeping things moving for him and parenting Andy and Sara. (Paul did his fair share of parenting too! We were thankful that we were together for family meals every day except during youth trips and camps.) We don't regret that we made sure the kids were cared for and in bed on time. They were not sleep deprived and we did not excuse bad behavior because they were "tired." That ministry was a sacrifice for all of us, but well worth it because of the eternal results! Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to spend our lives serving You!

When we left Minneapolis in 1984

They look like happy kids and they were! The move was awfully hard on Andy though. He was going into 7th grade.

Minnesota Trip

Last weekend we traveled to Minneapolis so that Paul could lead a singspiration as he had done every Sunday night for 16 years while we were at Fourth Baptist Church. This event was held at Berean Baptist Church where our friend, Cary Flinck is the pastor. We were very excited about this opportunity! It was a good old fashioned singspiration and a reunion as well! We saw many "old" friends. (We arrived home on Tuesday evening, but have been busy and tired! I am just now getting caught up so that Cheryl can get in on it tomorrow morning when she does her Timbit run...well, it would be Timbits if she lived in New Brunswick!)

Here we are having lunch with our good friends, Roy and Jan.

Here are Cary and Nancy who were extra kind hosts!

This is the group that gathered after church on Sunday PM (Paul preached Sunday also). From left to right: Michelle and Steve, Me, Nancy and Cary, and Al and Brenda. The two couples in red print grew up in our youth group. Cary and Nancy were in seminary while we were at 4th.
I am holding a bag of "Fairmont Chips" which Nancy made. The story is, that while they were pastoring in Fairmont, these chips would be taken when they went in boats along a chain of lakes. (Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, in case you didn't know.) I am including the recipe, because they are yummy! I have a feeling the syrup would be good on pretzels too. I am a pretzel lover!

1 - 14 oz. bag of large frito chips (corn chips to Canadians)
1 C. corn syrup
1 C. granulated sugar
1 C. peanut butter

Bring corn syrup and sugar to a medium boil. Add peanut butter. Pour over chips on a greased foil cookie sheet. When cool, place in a tupperware container to keep fresh (if they last that long!)

New Shoes and God's Provision

That blue thing must me my toe, but I can't for the life of me think of what I was wearing!

Before we left for Minnesota, I prayed that God would help me find some new shoes! I have needed some desperately and couldn't find any here. My feet have been giving me some problems lately, so I need shoes that at least feel good when I first put them on. We stopped at our favorite store, Marden's, where we get terrific deals. At times I don't find even one pair of shoes to try on there. This time I had a whole arm load to try and was able to buy the black and tan pairs! And they feel good!!! When we returned to Bangor, I found the sneakers...all at very good prices!

On Sunday we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in the morning service. I was stuck by the fact of "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided" included my new shoes. But then when you think of what else the song says God provides, the shoes seem insignificant. What a wonderful song! What a wonderful God!

"Great is Thy Faithfulness!"

1.

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

As Thou hast been Thou forever with be.

2.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

3.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Chorus:

"Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!"

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided--

"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Recently someone told Paul that he does not like hymns. There is something wrong there!

Right now we have a very big need which we have no way of providing ourselves. Can God provide shoes, and not for this need? I don't believe that for a minute! Please pray with us! Thank you! "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

In the next post, I have a slide show from the singspiration. This is my first SS attempt and I lost some pics in the process. I may show more later!

Singspiration

Down Memory Lane

We went on a little tour of the old neighborhood in Minneapolis. Things have not improved in the last 25 years! The first two pics are of our "honeymoon home" on 25th Ave N. It doesn't look the same to me at all. It really was a nice place for $105 a month, utilities included. It had two bed rooms, both up and down, bathroom, living room, kitchen and dining room. We started out upstairs and moved down later.

I guess we should have taken a pic of Dave and Maggie's house next door. The fence was not there at the time and the first shoveling that was done, went from our house to theirs. Their house was pink in those days, now it is maroon.


This is the last house we lived in before moving to NB. We were there for 10 years. It had beautiful light oak floors, wide maple woodwork, a double parlor (we used one as a dining room) and four &1/2 bedrooms. The last we knew, the assistant pastor from Family Baptist Church lived there. When Fourth Baptist moved to the suburbs, Family Baptist was left in north Minneapolis. It is a wonderful ministry working with inner city people. Our previous house was torn down for the "new" auditorium in 1972.

You will notice there are trees along the side of the street. We had beautiful elm trees which where about 85 years old before Dutch Elm Disease hit. They cut down all our beautiful trees. That was one sad day! I am glad to see trees again!
Our back yard right off the church parking lot


The Girard Ave side of Fourth Baptist Church. That was a "bad neighborhood", according to Andy. Actually it was on the other side of the parking lot.


Fourth Baptist Church from West Broadway

Cheryl and Dwight's house on 21st Street. They lived on the right side of the duplex. Mari fell off the porch and messed up her little face. The shrubs had been cut down for painting the house. Hard sticks were left sticking up. Poor Mari! She didn't suffer any permanent damage though!

The old Fourth Baptist Church to the right and the new building to the left. Our previous house was where the new building stands.

Spring Clean Up

Every spring the city picks up whatever junk people wish to put by the side of the street. It is a great time to survey everyone else's junk to see if there is anything of value. Some people don't know an antique if they see one!

The above rug is this year's acquisition. Pretty nice, eh? Oh yes, we also found wheels for our vacuum cleaner. One of ours was broken. We took two off of a vacuum cleaner tonight to make sure they would be the same size. They are painted red! They match the red duct tape on our hose! :-)

We found this braided rug about three years ago.
Thank you, Lord!

The Ladies Tea

Each spring our ladies host a Spring Tea.

This year for decorating we used "vintage laundry" items. We did have an old time

kitchen table complete with baking items, but I missed taking a pic of that.

Some of the ladies

As you can see, we used red & white checked table cloths and I guess I should show

the neat old looking dishes we have at the church. I have loved them since I first saw them many years before we were part of this church.

The old method of washing clothes.

I just ran downstairs and threw clothes in the dryer and another load into the

washer. Boy, am I glad that we have modern washers and dryers!

Albert, Scott and Joe

Our helpful servers

We couldn't have done it without them!!!

This year we served a salad plate. These men dished up the plates, served them, washed dishes and put the church back together again.

A BIG THANK YOU TO THEM!!!

Ancient ironing




The backyard clothes line. Notice the vintage clothing!
Those are my geraniums which I have kept in the church windows all winter.



Our speaker, Melodie (left), all the way from Saskatchewan and her mother-in-law, Lucy. We always want our visitors to hear the message of salvation. This is the purpose of the tea!

My Mother

June 2004

On November 13, 2004 my mother entered into the presence of her Lord at the age of 92.

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed;" Proverbs 31:28a

My mother, Evelyne Mae Leir, was born on October 28, 1912 in Chicago, Illinois to Knut and Natalia Leir who both came from Norway. My grandpa was a very talented finish carpenter and my gramma was a wonderful Scandinavian cook and hostess. My gramma was also a "hoot!" When my dad, George Carlson, started to date my mom, Gramma would wind the clock and sing "Home, Sweet Home" when she thought it was time for him to leave. We grew up hearing Norwegian spoken at my grandparents' home, but sadly never learned much ourselves.

My mom did not come from a Christian home but accepted the Lord as her Savior as a teenager. She and her only sister, Margaret (Auntie Midge, to us), became strongly convicted Christians. They both married preachers. Aunt Midge married Stuart Gunzel and went off to Mongolia as a missionary. My mom married George Carlson and became a pastor's wife. There were four of us kids: Gerry, Gail, Cheryl and Priscilla. We had a happy home, always living in a church parsonage. Our wonderful family place was our cabin on Lake Nebagamon in Wisconsin. My dad built it and loved to work on it.

On October 7, 1957 life changed drastically for our family. That day, in his early forties, my dad entered into heaven as the result of a plane crash. He and a deacon from our church in Chicago were on a hunting trip in Ontario, Canada when their light plane disappeared. They and the pilot were killed.

My mom was left to raise the four of us. Gerry was 16, I was almost 14, Cheryl was 11, and Cilla was 4. We did not own a home. She had never worked away from home since Gerry was born. But she was not alone! Her life became a real partnership with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Never did I hear my mom feel sorry for herself or question why the Lord would allow this to happen to her. She took up the job that she and my dad had started to accomplish together, that of raising four children to honor and glorify God with all of their beings. She did a good job! The good that came of it was because of Mother and the Lord. The bad was our fault! We all graduated from Bible college and we all married believers. We all have good stable homes with our original partners.

It is evident that my mom had some real starch to her and that made for some interesting times as she became older! Near the end of her life she had certain people who gained authority status in certain areas with her. One time when we were visiting her at Scandia Shores, the lovely seniors' apartment building where she lived, the toilet began leaking. We went downstairs to make out the appropriate form requesting the handyman to visit her. In the meantime, Paul came and fixed the leaky toilet for her. When Rod, the handyman, showed up at the door I informed him that Paul had fixed the toilet. But Mother wasn't so sure about this... maybe Rod should have a look at it...after all he was her authority figure in his area. Rod was more than happy to know that someone else was able to fix a leaky toilet because he had many more Evelynes to cater to. Fortunately, Gerry, my big brother, was the ultimate authority if decisions had to be made.

I just finished talking with Cheryl and we reminisced a bit about our mother. We miss her but would never wish her back from the glories she is experiencing now.

Basking in the Sun

If you wonder where Judy has been lately, this card says it all. She is, as she says on this card, "eating, shopping or on the beach!" I never envisioned Myrtle Beach like this. I thought of it as more "beachy" and not so "high risey." That shows what I know. We in NB are seeing the sun ourselves! And for that we are thankful!

The Sussex Murals

Sussex is the town closest to THE FARM,

so it is where we shop when we are in the country. It is a nice little dairy town in a beautiful farming area. Last year Sussex held a competition among artists world wide for the privilege of painting murals all over town on building walls. I have six different murals shown here. I can think of at least four more and there are more to come.

This mural and the next one (parts shown in two pics) face

each other on each side of a city street.

The next two pics are the same mural on the tea room building. When we were eating at the tea room last year (A GOOD PLACE TO EAT!) the muralist was eating there too. As part of its contribution to the mural project, the tea room gave the artist lunch everyday. So we were able to talk with him and learn about his work. I believe that he was paid $8000 for this mural.

The work is astounding when you realize how difficult it would be to have everything in perspective. We enjoy the murals every time we pass through Sussex and are anxious to see what comes next!

The next two pics are from one of our favorites. The very sad thing about this mural is that it is on the side of a building separated from the next building by a driveway. It is really beautiful, but pretty much hidden except to those who are really looking!

#3 Grandchild

Here she is! Our darling grand daughter!Isn't she adorable?!!!
I couldn't resist taking her from Sara's blog!

I just found out that Wes was the photographer!!! Just like Uncle Andy!!

Busy, busy week!

I am well aware of the fact that I have not been heard from recently. Things get crazy around here in the spring! Last night we finished five days of meetings with Evangelist Glen Weeks. The weeks before the meetings, we were out inviting people to come to the meetings. We were so blessed by the meetings, the people who came and the response to the Word of God! There were those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, as well as other decisions. Glen has been coming to the Maritimes for 27 years (we've known him for close to 25 years, I guess). He said this was the best meeting he has ever had in this area! We thank God for blessing us in such a wonderful way!
Next week is our Ladies Tea. It is always a good time with many ladies attending. We have fun decorating and serving a nice lunch. I will have to post some pics after all the rush is over. Pray for this special time of out reach for ladies! Melodie Duguay is our speaker all the way from Saskatchewan where they moved last fall to pastor the Prairie Baptist Church in Swift Current. It will be special to see Mike, Melodie, Emilie, Naomi and Kevin for a short time.