December 20. Praise the Lord for a good day!
After breakfast and quiet time, I started working on a Pidgin booklet on marriage. That seems to be one of the biggest present needs since there are so many Christian young people of marriageable age. Installed the type stylist into this computer to use for booklet titles.
Christy and Connie came around 9:30, and we went together to church. Mrs. Surrett taught a lesson her husband had written showing some prophecies about the Messiah and the fulfillments of those prophesies.
Pastor Ogle spoke on the sight, the shepherds, and the sign in Luke 2:7--18. It was a very interesting and well-thought out study, showing from history, culture, and tradition, and especially from the Scripture, the meaning of the birth of a sacrificial lamb, being wrapped in swaddling clothes, being laid in a manger, being without spot or blemish because it was born to die. How did the shepherds know where to find the Saviour? This was predicted in Micah 4:8 -- “the tower of the flock” -- the place where the Passover lambs were born, swaddled, laid in a manger, and prepared for sacrifice so that they would be without blemish and without spot.
We had brought lunch so we could eat there at the church and be there for Mrs. Heppeard’s memorial service at 2:00. But it was still fairly early, and it looked like we would have plenty of time to go back home and eat, which we did. Even had time for about 15 minutes shut-eye before going back. I was very thankful for that.
I felt quite emotional during the memorial service. I felt sad that we never got to spend time with Mrs. Heppeard again before her promotion to Glory, even though I know that a day is coming when we will see her again. One of her granddaughters shared some very special times they had had together with their grandmother and the legacy she had left them, not of material things, but of more lasting things. And one of her daughters shared a letter Mrs. Heppeard had written to her family before her death, letting them know that her greatest desire was for each of them to know Christ as their Saviour.
One of the congregational songs was “Beyond the Sunset” which I couldn’t sing because it brought back so many memories of Mom. That was her favorite going home song.
Pastor Ogle gave a good salvation message from John 11:25,26, and gave an invitation. No one responded, but they did hear the message.
December 21. First day of winter. Cloudy today and quite chilly.
Around 9:30 this morning, Daddy and I went out to the DMV so I could get an ID card. The parking lot was full so we knew the waiting room would also be full. Therefore we decided not to try to find a parking place and not to go inside. Needless to say, I did not get an ID card today.
From there we went over to Burke’s Outlet. Wanted to find some warm shirts and a black skirt. Only found one shirt, a pretty blue sweater shirt with a wide collar. We also bought a pack of washcloths so we’ll have some extra ones when we need them.
Went next door to Dollar Tree and got some more of those fudge coated shortbread cookies (yum!), bag clips, bread, plastic bowl covers, and a bottle of iced tea (for Lewis).
Brought things back to the house and then went to Kings Mountain to look around for housing. Stopped at the Neighborhood WalMart and got a few groceries before coming home. It was going on 1:00 before we had lunch, and 2:00 before we had nap. But there wasn’t any hurry.
After nap, I busied myself fixing supper - turkey soup tonight. First step was putting the carcass into the pot, covering it with water, and setting it on to boil. Peeled and chopped up taters; washed and chopped up carrots; cut up the rest of the celery; put all that in a smaller pot, added water to the pot and put all that on to cook. Last of all I peeled and diced up garlic and onion and set it aside to cook separately later. When the turkey was al dente, I took the carcass out of the pot to cool, and added the cooked veggies to the big pot as well as some dried herbs for flavoring. Left a little bit of veggie broth in the small pot and cooked the onion and garlic in it.
Enjoyed our bowl of soup for supper with some onion and garlic thrown in and some seaweed cut up into it as well.
Spent some time on the Love, Mercy, and Grace project before doing dishes and having evening snack.
Daddy has been trying to make flight bookings for our trip to Texas, and finally was able to get some confirmed flights today and get those paid for. Our trip is scheduled for the second week of January.*
“But if any man love God, the same is known of him.” I Corinthians 8:3
December 22. A cool, foggy, drizzly day. We didn’t go anywhere today.
This morning, I washed clothes, wrote a number of e-mails, worked on the Pidgin marriage booklet. This afternoon, I wrote another e-mail and worked on the Love, Mercy, and Grace booklet.
*Dad and Mom are in Texas now. Please pray that they will have a profitable trip and a safe journey back home and that they will have wisdom in decision they need to make. Thanks.