Sunday Wrapup February 26, 2017

The parents of our daughter-in-law, Clarissa, came to Christian faith after they had several children.  Now Bob and Kathy have grandchildren the same age as their own children were when they became believers.  During all the intervening years, the family has prayed daily for salvation for Bob's parents, seemingly with nothing changing.  

Bob's father died of cancer several weeks ago. His body was promptly cremated, and no funeral service took place.  The family not having a chance to gather and grieve and remember seems sad to me, as does having had to part with a beloved family member.  Rejoicing is in order, however, since Bob's father made peace with God shortly before he died.  With that knowledge, a heavy burden is lifted.  To know that Grandpa is safe at home, pain-free, is cause for celebration.  

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Steven Brubaker from Pennsylvania will be speaking at Center at 7:15 every evening from Friday through Sunday this coming weekend.  He will also speak on Sunday morning.  The topic is "An Anabaptist Worldview."

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This morning in church we learned about the death of David Jesse Yoder.  I think I met him once when he was single, and traveling through Kansas with his parental family.  They knew members of our family from having served in El Salvador together.  He died of cancer in his early fifties.

My brother Lowell once drove to Central America with David Jesse as a passenger.  Even as young adults they were both big guys--over six feet tall.  They thought that might have helped them avoid becoming easy targets for thieves.  They had a safe trip.

Another death was Jenny Yoder, the mother of Stevie, who is married to the daughter of Mark and Rose from church.  She was in her early 50's as well and died during surgery (I think this is right) for bleeding on her brain from a stroke or an aneurysm.  Jenny was a native of Belize.  She had married an Indiana man and they raised their family there.

In each case, a large family remains.  

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On Friday evening the Liverwurst and Fried Mush Fundraiser for Mennonite Friendship Communities raised around $15,000 for the continuing care fund for residents who have outlived their resources.  I love this food, and apparently about 849 other people do too.

Lowell Peachey, who is the CEO of MFC is undergoing treatment for lymphoma and was unable to be present.  People who wished to do so could sign a giant card for him.  Our BD son used to serve on the MFC board, so supporting this effort is always done partly in his honor.  

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We had a few guests in church this morning who had come to the community for the Anabaptist Financial seminar yesterday.  We didn't attend, but I heard good reports about the meeting.  

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I recently subscribed to the Mennonite World Review, a newspaper that my parents read regularly.  I was surprised to see in the Mosaic section a short piece lifted from my brother Ronald's "Observations" column (which he inherited upon Dad's death) in Calvary Messenger.  Dad would have enjoyed reading this.  Some quotes:  "Giving priority to family activities or church services is a vote cast with presence and absence . . . He wonders what it communicates when vacations and outings are scheduled to minimize conflicts with work but not the Sabbath."

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Last week Linda gave me a booklet on wildflowers that had my name in it, along with Linda's and Carol's.  The names were written in my mother's neat handwriting, along with the family's address at the time:  Route 1, Box 51, Hutchinson, Kansas.  The book was published in 1960.  I remember when my mother gave it, along with a companion volume about birds.  I pored over both books for hours in my childhood.

I'm ever-so-grateful for how Mom encouraged us to learn about the natural world in this way, and I treasure this momento of her. 

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Last Saturday Hiromi and I bought a new clothes washer.  In 35 years of marriage, we have only had two different automatic washers--both of them Maytags.  The first one was actually still working when we stored it because Mom's was still in place and usable when we moved to the farm.  Shane made an executive decision and tossed our stored one when we moved back here to the Trail West house.  He informed us there was a dead coon or something in there.  I think it might have been a blanket that got wet and grew mold.  We moved Mom's old washer along to Trail West.  It worked till now--sort of.  

The week before, the washer had committed an unpardonable sin and splashed black grease over my light-colored going-away dresses.  It had happened once a number of years ago, but the misbehavior did not reoccur so the washer did not get replaced then.  Since then it accumulated several other strikes against it--water leaks, mostly, and finally Hiromi decided it was time to replace rather than fix it.  We got a top-loading Speed Queen, based on Clare's recommendation after she researched the matter when their washer had to be replaced.  It's old-fashioned in most ways, which is fine with me, and a benefit in Hiromi's eyes. 

When we first got married, I did the laundry in a wringer washer.  We didn't have an automatic till after Joel was at least a year old.  I still feel nostalgic about washing that way, but I do enjoy the convenience of an automatic washer.

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Yesterday I saw a cardinal in our yard.  This was notable because we have not seen cardinals at the bird feeder this year as we have in the past.  I don't know where this guy came from.  Either he was lurking here all along or he flew in from elsewhere recently.