I don't think I've ever experienced quite a roller coaster whirlwind ride as I did in April. This posting is to document all those memories.......
The first of April, Jeff was very honored to be featured in an article in The Joplin Globe about his writing of the Church Planting Model. He did this huge task while he was employed for our BMMA Missions Dept. many years ago. God has used this writing to reach many for Jesus and to train others in discipleship and evangelism.
This picture was at church on April 15th - the morning that all the "craziness" began. I had the picture taken as we had all dressed in the same color (totally not planned!). I also wanted to post it as a Happy 89th Birthday to Mom on the 5th.
Jeff and I left immediately after the morning services for Jackson, MS where our association of churches would meet that week for our annual meeting.
Jeff served for the second year as First Vice President
Tuesday morning, we were awaken with the very sad news that one of our beloved church members, Charlie Sweet had passed away. Then at the meeting, we found out that one of our missionary families had lost their 18 year old son in a car accident and another missionary had lost his father. A little later, we got the news that a church member had lost her grandmother. I don't recall hearing of so many deaths in one day! Our hearts were so very heavy! 😢
Jennifer Shoemaker had made the trip to Jackson with Aaron and Jenae to help take care of baby Gabe. While our guys were in committee meetings, we enjoyed some time at a nearby park. Jennifer and Jenae's hearts were heavy with all the sad news plus knowing that Jennifer's brother-in-law was also at the point of death (he died 3 or 4 days later). 😢
Love these dear friends!
Jeff and I had packed "extra" in hopes of going from Mississippi to Tennessee for Saylor's birth. Induction had been set for the 19th but canceled when Michelle hadn't dialated. We still had hope Saylor would come as we were only 6 hours away (compared to 9 from Kansas). However, with the news of Charlie's death, we knew we had to go home, so Jeff could minister to the Sweet family. On Wednesday, we also found out that our daughter Rachel was in ER in tremendous pain. Since they now live in Ft. Smith and don't have any family or friends close by, Jonathan had to stay home with the 3 kids while she went alone. That sure made this Momma's heart sad. So it was decided we would leave the meeting after the afternoon session, so Jeff could drop me off at Rachel's and then go on to Galena to prepare a funeral sermon and minister to those who were grieving.
That afternoon, Jeff was elected President of the BMAA for the coming year. We thank all those who have given him this honor!
Former President Paul White handing over the Gavel to Jeff:
New Officers for 2018-2019
We hit the road around 4......arriving in Ft. Smith at 11:30 p.m. Jeff ended up spending the night as he was too tired to drive the 3 hours on home. He spent an hour with the grandbabies the next morning, then headed home.
Former President Paul White handing over the Gavel to Jeff:
Rachel was in so much pain so I was really glad I could be there to help her out (although I felt bad I wasn't able to attend Charlie's funeral or help with the funeral meal. So appreciate our FBC ladies for taking care of all of it in a wonderful way!).
Spending some time with Copeland and Eisley outside on a pretty Spring day:
A couple of nights later, I got to go watch this guy play T-Ball!
Too cute! He did hit it
and made it to first base!
Several bats later, he scored a run!! Whoo Hoo Copeland! 👍
He played catcher at one point....
Even though Momma didn't feel good, she went to the game.....only picture of baby Gideon I got on this visit.
I struggled with being sick while at Rachel's -- a bad cough and an upset stomach. But I was still able to get her laundry caught up, her house cleaned and watched the kids. Thankfully, some new church people brought in meals. A big help! I was looking forward to going to their new church with them on Sunday, but got the call at 5 a.m. from Jeff that it was baby day!!!
I wrote a posting below this one totally dedicated to Saylor's birth, so will just briefly mention it here.
Saylor Faye was born on April 22 at 9 a.m. in Nashville, TN
Beautiful baby girl - healthy and normal!! This is the collage Josh sent us shortly after birth!
We drove in some very stressful driving conditions (rain and traffic) both going down to Nashville and coming home. We arrived at the hospital around 4. Love this baby girl so much!!
She's a doll!! I wasn't able to cuddle or kiss on her for a few days due to the bad cold, but thankfully by the last day, I was feeling much better and got some of that lovin' in!! 😍😍
April is a major birthday month for our family!! Mom on the 5th; Saylor on the 22nd 💖
and Ellie Kate on the 23rd -- 6 years old!! We love you, Ellie!! 💖
And Laine Virginia on April 26th -- 8 years old! Laine was the first one to make us grandparents. Doesn't seem possible it's already been 8 years ago! We love you, Lainey Bug!! 💖
I posted this little collage of our birthday loves all in 5 days of each other
(including my sister, Kaye and Gideon)
We left Nashville early on the morning of the 26th so we could attend Ellie's kindergarten graduation in Rogers, AR!
Ellie is a precious gift to us (as all our grandchildren are)!!
Wanted to include this picture of our handsome Shepherd!
After graduation, DeDe treated everyone to some Brahms' ice cream
We spent the night with Andy's family and headed home on Friday. In total, we drove almost 3,000 miles in 13 days!! WHEW!!! It took this old woman a few days to recover! 😁
Friday, April 27th was this little guy's 1st birthday!! We will be celebrating him and Copeland's 5th birthday later in May. Such a happy boy. We love you, Gideon!! 💙
May is also a full birthday month beginning with Rachel Ann's birthday on May 1st. She turned 33! She still doesn't have any real answers to what is going on with her health. When another flair up happens, she will swallow a camera pill to hopefully find the problem. We appreciate your continued prayers for her! What a joy you are to us, dear daughter!! We love you!💖
Carman, Copeland and my sister Bev all have birthdays later this month!
Lastly, a picture taken today of Laine and Ellie's last day of Kindergarten and 2nd Grade. Growing up way too fast!! 💕💕
Looking forward to all our May activities in addition to the birthdays mentioned above: A Boore mothers event this Saturday; our FBC annual Mother's Day banquet the next weekend with Rachel's family visiting us; graduation and parties for several of our FBC youth and a Kansas visit from my sisters, Kaye and Bev at the end of the month. The month of June holds Galena Days, Vacation Bible School, Jeff's mission trip to the Dominican Republic and another grandbaby's birth!! Whew -- the days are full and time is flying! Thank you, Lord, for the opportunities and ability to enjoy it all!
So many blessings!!!
