“The man who forms the habit of beginning without finishing has simply formed the habit of failure.”  Streams in the Desert    It has often been said that hardest step in completing anything is the first one.  But I am not so sure about that!  There are many edifices (Monsour Hospital in Jeannette) that began with great fervor.  But somewhere along the way, the “excitement” of the finished project is lost.  The “fun” in the work is no longer there.  This happens often on short-term missions trips.  Everyone is enthusiastic and motivated until the first case of “Montezuma’s revenge” hits.  Then the rest of the time is set “just enduring”. 

This journey called “life” is sometimes a struggle.   I am praying today that I will complete what God has set before me; that I will continue even when the excitement is not what it used to be!  Because the prize is in the finishing!

I never completed my college education.  I have less than one year to go…but I quit before I received the prize.  I have regrets about that.  But it has made me realize the need to finish what I begin.  I don’t want to be a quitter.  I want to be a finisher.  I want to finish well!  How about you?

Twenty-four years ago, God gave to Paul and me a precious gift, Natasha.  This past Thursday, she graduated from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.  She is the MOST determined young woman I have ever met.  She has taught me so much about perseverance.  She is incredible when she puts her mind to something! 

Graduation was more than I could have ever expected.  I knew that I would cry, and I did.  I knew I would be excited, and I was.  I knew that I pride would make me want to “burst a button”, and it did!  But also, I am finding myself anticipating the wonderful journey that God is taking Tasha.  He has great plans for her.  Not just plans for the future, but plans for right now.  Watch out world, HERE SHE COMES!  NOTHING will stop her! 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”    Romans 8:38, 39

Some things in life are simply what they appear to be.  (What a profound statement!) 

Last weekend, while we were entertaining a few young couples in our home, two people, who will remain nameless (Beckman and Malllory), snuck onto our driveway and outlined the body of a “dead” person.  They then wrapped yellow police tape around the driveway.  It appeared to be a crime scene!  When we came out of the house, around 10 pm, we found it to be really funny!  Of course, we knew exactly who had done it.  And of course, I had to “one up them”.  Sunday morning I wrote a name in the chalked off form of the body, and then put flowers around it as a “memorial”. 

One neighbor thought it was a crime scene.  Another thought we were making a statement about abortion.  But in reality, none of it had any significance.  It was simply a funny joke!  And I want to take my hat off to Beckman and Malllory.  That was a good one!  You got me! 

I recently lead a Leadership Retreat in Carlisle for the Coordinators and Sponsors of Girls Ministries.  It was a really good retreat!  I was amazed at how well everything came together!  I personally was overwhelmed by all of it.  There was SOO much to do to prepare, and no energy left in me with which to do it!  Because of some awesome people, everything came together!  There were no glitches!  (How did that happen???)  I saw the scripture come to life where Paul says that all of the parts of the body function together!  I have ten wonderful women who are willing to help me in everything!  They were wonderful!

I wanted to introduce you to a couple in whom I have a lot of faith and respect.  At my Retreat, Tim and Katie Bennett lead us into worship with inspired music.  I am so proud of them.  They are “young people” who have it all together!  If you would like to have them in your church, you can contact them by clicking on Tim’s blog to the right. 

I have heard of this happening to others, but I never dreamed that it would happen to me.  It couldn’t happen to me!  I’m not that kind of person!  But it did!  It happened to me!

Let me explain.  About three months ago, I began to smell an “odd” smell every time I turned on the heater in my car.  I was sure that the motor was burning up, or I broke a fan belt, or something “mechanical”.  I finally decided to take it to Frank, our handy-dandy car mechanic.  He is really good.  He knows everything about cars!  My husband, Paul, just got off the phone from talking to Frank.  He has found out the “mechanical” reason for the bad smell.  I have mice living in my heater!  Evidently they set up house a few months ago after dissing my garage.  So I am off to Walmart to get some D-Con!

Bye-bye little critters!  It’s just a good thing little Mickey didn’t decide to run up my leg while I was driving!  That would be a really interesting blog!

My grandmother, Lydia, had a sister named Maud.  Everyone should have an Aunt Maud.  Aunt Maud lived in this huge, old house on a hill.  Her driveway frequently was ruddy from the rain water washing it out.  The aroma of her house, I will never forget.  It was a distinct smell of freshly made bread.  She was quite a woman.  She could cook, bake, and sew.  We all had at least one pair of her infamous “one size fits all” pajamas!  I loved Aunt Maud.

One recipe that Aunt Maud passed down to my mother and on to me was oatmeal cake.  Now, you may think that sounds kind of boring, unexciting, dull.  But it was full of flavor!  It is not hard to make, and it is OOOHHH, so GOOD!  The topping has three ingredients:  brown sugar, nuts, and butter.  That’s it.  The topping makes the cake!  But you MUST use real butter.  To substitute margarine is an insult to the cake and Aunt Maud.  The butter with its smooth, slightly salty taste enhances the flavors of the entire cake.  To use margarine would be a crime.  It serves the same purpose, BUT IT IS NOT THE SAME!

In Deuteronomy 13, God speaks to us to keep true to Him.  Even if someone speaks something that sounds good, that looks good; if it is not true to God and His Word, get away from it!  In Old Testament times, they were actually instructed to stone the false prophet!  Why?  Because God knew the dangers of allowing just a little bit of false teaching in a person’s life.  Adding margarine instead of butter ruins the entire oatmeal cake.  God, help me to stay true to You and Your Word today.

Now, I think I’ll go bake an oatmeal cake.  For some reason, I’m hungry for it today!

This past weekend my nephew Todd was married in Lancaster, PA.  It was a beautiful wedding!  And it was a BLAST to be with my sisters and their families. 

We all rented a “tourist home” in Willow Street.   This home was huge and meticulously clean.  But it was also a through back to the 70’s.  Evidentially the owner had been raised in this home.  Her parents continued to live there after she left home.  Her father, Snavely, passed away suddenly in the home in November of 1998.  Her mother continued to live there until 2005.  How do I know all of this?  The walls were filled with memorabilia.  Pictures, notes (lots of those) and even Snavely’s obituary were hung for all to see and honor.  We had so much fun reading all of this.  It felt like the home had been a wonderful place to be raised; that many good (and probably some difficult) momentous occasions were being remembered in every room.  But the owner (and the wall paper) never moved on from there.  

 “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”  (Deuteronomy 1:6)  God spoke these words to Moses and the children of Israel after they had spent time at Horeb (Mt. Sinai).  Do you remember the events that occurred at Mt. Sinai?  God gave Moses the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.  Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai in fellowship with God.  The children of Israel remained at the bottom waiting for Moses to return.  The children of Israel had once again lost sight of God and His leading!  When Moses returned, he destroyed the original stone that contained the Ten Commandments!    Moses went back up to the mountain and again carved the commandments into stone.  There were wonderful lessons learned at the mountain.  There were difficult lessons learned.  Lots of good memories!  A tremendous foundation was laid (the commandments).  But God doesn’t want us to get stuck at one place in our lives.  The children of Israel had stayed long enough.  It was time to move on!  Had they not left the mountain, they never would have entered the Promised Land!   

I think I get stuck at the mountain every once in a while.  It is time to move towards the Promised Land!  Remember the difficult and the wonderful lessons of the mountain.  But carry them with you to the Promised Land! 

My baby, Natasha, turned 24 today!  Because she is in her final semester of college, we can’t be with her today.  So, sweety, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today we are leaving for Lancaster, PA for the wedding of my nephew, Todd, and his fiancée, Alisha.  I know it will be a lot of fun and a bit bittersweet, especially for my sister, Kathie.  Todd is Kathie’s “baby”.  He is the last one to “fly the coup”.  I think she is going through the “empty nest” (even though she still has my mother, 87, and aunt, 91, to care for!)   

For the past few days I have been thinking about this “moving on process”.  When my kids and my nieces and nephews were little, I loved it.  They were all so much fun!  And getting together was a blast!  You never knew what would happen.  We just knew that SOMETHING was going to happen.  Often I have felt like I would like to go back to that time.  It was GOOD.  But the other day I realized, I love being a mother and aunt to 20-somethings!  I look forward to getting together with them – and having adult conversations!  They have grown into wonderful, responsible adults.  Didn’t I do a good job at “aunting”? 

BTW – Congratulations Todd and Alisha!

I love Easter!  Everything about Easter speaks hope into our lives!  The very reason we celebrate Easter is because of the supreme sacrifice that Christ gave for our sins, for our lives!   This morning, my husband preached an awesome Easter message!  It really ministered to me and many others!  You could feel God’s presence in all that we did!   

                                          This afternoon, I had the privilege of having three pastors (all single and 26) at our home for dinner.  Our son, Nick, a pastor that he works with, Andy Lehmann, and our Youth Pastor, Brian Algeo all had Easter dinner with us.  They were so much fun!  And afterwards, I had an Easter egg hunt for them in the backyard!  It was so funny watching 3 “adults” looking for eggs!  They searched for about 15 minutes, trying to think the way I do.  They were trying to figure out where I would hide the eggs!  (I know there is a sermon in there somewhere!)  Anyway, in the end, Andy found the most – and he won the prize, a gift card to Eat ‘N Park!    

(BTW, how many of you “clicked” on the names above?  I haven’t quite figured out how to link other blogs to mine.  I just thought it would be fun to make it look like I did!)