How did I get so far behind in blogging?   There has been a major event that came and went with nary a word–and I confess that I was the cause..There was a major wedding November 20, 2010–the second major such event in the 4 months for our family.  That may have had something to do with the tardiness of this post.  It seems like the past couple of months have been full, and that there was always something more pressing.  Than when I got back from Nicaragua, and blogged about that, and still hadn’t done anything about the wedding, the pressure was on…So what does one say?

It was a special time, as I know anyone that has had a daughter married will attest.  The bridegroom is David Miller, the son of Nathan and Karen Miller of Irwin, Ohio.  Amber and he met at Rosedale Bible College, just as Dawn and I did…after 4 years of dating, and much schooling–they both graduated this year.  It has made me very happy as a father to see my children make wise choices with their marriage partners.  I have to think that their mother’s prayers and mine have been answered.  Using the Thanksgiving break for a honeymoon was one of the motivations for putting the wedding at that date.  Just as at Robert’s wedding, Sis-in law Ardis came to help with the many preparations that are involved with a wedding.  But this time, brother-in-law Lester came along as well, which added a lot to what we could do….Their help was much appreciated, and it was obvious that it  takes a large family to do a wedding…We did a big catfish grill and fry on Thursday night before the wedding when everyone was getting here…David’s family and friends that came on down.  It was good to have both Ardis and Lester helping with that big deal, as Lester helped with the grilling and frying, and Ardis handled the inside food!   It was a southern meal for our northern friends, but it was good to see them enjoy that type of food.  We certainly enjoyed it!

With not as much outside preparation or set up to do, it seemed like we didn’t have to work all that hard in getting ready.  The sunflower bouquets turned out well for the bridal party, arranged by a friend, Judi Stahly.  They were beautiful, and the fact that they had been raised by us and several other friends made them more special.  The wedding day dawned a beautiful day, with temps around 70 and sunny–just right.  The wedding was at Brooks Memorial Baptist Church.  It was large enough to hold the ceremony and the reception for around 250 people.  I was surprised that I was not more emotional during the ceremony.  Having done this once before this year helped.  I also owe daughter-in-law Michelle part of the credit for that.  Walking Amber down the aisle was special, as she was so radiantly beautiful, and when the pastor asked “Who gives this woman in marriage?”  I strongly replied, “I do”…  So far so good, but then I embraced her, and promptly started losing it, with tears welling up all over….When I went to find my place on the bench where I thought I would be alone, there was Michelle to give me a hug, and that seemed to make the difference.  For the rest of the ceremony, I was tearless, and truly joyful.  It seems that like most of the things that have happened to me, the 2nd time through is better…..The rest of the service was beautiful, and we enjoyed the reception and getting to see each person who had come down for the ceremony.  Weddings are a wonderful time for reunions, and I wanted to talk to each person that had made the time to come down for the celebration.  I think I made it most of the way around, but if I missed anyone, we might have some more weddings down this way…since we are getting practiced up….Hey, I might even try it myself…

Here are some photos:

Amber and Kristin checking out the dress and bouquet–only 3 hours to go!
   Beautiful bridal bouquet

Ardis was instrumental in helping out–here making turnip greens.

 
Lester helped out too, a lot, although this picture doesn’t show it?
 
David’s parents, Nathan and Karen Miller

 
Nephews David Yoder, and Andrew Miller

 
Cutting the cake

 
The Father of the bride

Some of the table arrangements…more sunflowers and other flowers

 
Grandparents Ethan and Shirley Good

 
Grandparents, Jesse and Gladys Yoder

 
Singers–Leslie, and Ronke–their singing was beautiful..

 
Working up the courage..

 
The wedding party–Rachel–David’s sister, Janelle Wengerd–Amber’s friend, Amber, Kristin, and Elizabeth–David’s other sister.
Back Row: Jonathan–David’s brother,  Stephen–sorry covered his face, David, Aaron–David’s brother, Robert

 
Robert and Michelle as the old married couple (4 months) around the house!

Too much bright light for Kristin…

   Miguel was nothing but a blind beggar by the side of the road, on a busy street in Rivas, Nicaragua.  When he was 4 years old, he was involved in a fire and explosion that took the life of his brother, and left him sightless, with a deformed face, highlighted by the sunken sockets where his eyes used to be.  For the last 4 years, he has lived on a city street, as he was unable to tolerate the confines of a group home that kept him imprisoned in both body and mind in Managua.  Life is not easy on the streets, as he often had trouble keeping his meager possessions with him.  Wind and rain were his constant companions during the rainy season, and the dust of the streets was as much a part of his clothes as the sidewalks around him.  As he slept, people would rob him of his blankets, his few Cordobas, or anything else that they could take from him, things that were contributed by the few compassionate ones around him.  It all contributed to the general hopelessness of his position, and gradually he lost any sense of dignity that a human should have, doing things like urinating in the streets in full view of everyone around him.
     And then the eye team from the United States came, to help with many of the sightless in Nicaragua, that could not afford help otherwise.  They noticed the blind man sleeping and often begging on the streets of Rivas.  At first they passed by, with just a bare twinge of guilt, as they realized that there were many beggars on the streets, and they had a mission to help the sightless in Rivas, and they were very busy, plus a schedule that said be at the clinic by 8 am,  and .. and…besides, what could one do in helping just one person? Excuses, but good ones at that.  But after a couple of days, some of the team decided that they could help this man too, even though it was obvious that his vision was probably beyond ayuda, or help.  So they started bringing him some leftover food from our sumptuous meals.  But he was just still the beggar, unkempt on the street, and still nameless to the team.
    Then one of the team, Orville Miller, got convicted of the meager offerings of our team, and wondered what else we could do to help him.  Someone suggested new clothes for him, and maybe a shower and a haircut….So a plan was put into action, and so he was brought to the clinic on the last day of our time down there, to get his first shower or bath in months.  He was brought to the shower, and Steve Schrock assisted in the process of removing his dirty tattered clothing, and giving him soap and shampoo.  He started with the shampoo, and squeezed about 1/3 of the bottle out on his matted, unruly hair.  What a lather.  He flopped his head back and forth in delight as the lukewarm water coursed over a body that had long only seen such during a rainstorm.   He spent so long washing his hair, that Steve had to tell him to move on to the other parts of his body as well….The soap and water from his sloshing scattered all over his dirty clothes lying outside the shower….so much so that when Steve took them gingerly outside with the help of his homemade blind man cane, the clothes would not even burn….but finally he was done.  Toweling off assisted by Steve, and then some new underwear, a new shirt, pants, and a large pair of sunglasses to camouflage the unsightliness surrounding his eye sockets.  Then attention was turned to his matted, twisted hair, and most of the tangles disappeared with determined effort.  Then he was taken down to the barber shop, where he was not able to get the close haircut that was needed, as they were worried that he might have a disease, but they did trim up the unsightliness.  The people in the market were amazed at this fellow who was the beggar, and wondered at the transformation that had taken place, this person who now had a name, Miguel, and who had increased his self worth tremendously.
    What will happen to Miguel?  Did it make any difference?  I cannot help think of the scripture, “for I was hungry and you took me in; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was sick and you visited me…” Matt 24:25.  Whether or not tonight he is dirty again, and lying on the streets of Rivas, and perhaps with his body once again taking on the dust, I know that he knows, in his inner man, and believes that at least someone has treated him like he is the precious human that all of us are, made in the image of God, and created for good works. 
Joanne Yon, Miguel, and Steve Schrock admiring Miguel’s transformation

Dawn, we miss you! Last week, one of the online suppliers that she had used wrote that headline in a letter, wondering why she hadn’t ordered anything lately. And I wanted to yell out, and say to anyone around me–we all surely do miss her! Although we have put up a brave front at times, and in some senses continue with life as pre-July 6th, there are those other times where it seems like a brick hits you in the face and yells out–You’re alone, without her. It hit me on Sunday. We were in worship in song at church, when I realized the background for the song was a picture taken out our front lawn, during a lightning storm–with a couple of streaks of lightning going from sky to ground. And I realized that a similar event had taken the life of the one that we all loved so much. And I had to stop for just a minute in the middle of the song. We do miss her, terribly, terribly, and it just isn’t nearly the same, even though life goes on. We miss her this week of all weeks, when our daughter Amber gets married. How Dawn would be so involved in all the details of planning of the wedding, and would be using her magic in cooking for all the crowd coming down this way…Busily making people feel at home away from home, and being the rock that we all leaned on. How do we function without her? Now, this week, sometimes it feels like we don’t. And what do I say when I bring Amber down the aisle? Who gives this woman in marriage? Her mother would, and I do! I could go on and on.

We miss her calmness in the midst of everything, her organization that would have had everything under control for weeks now, and her great sense of humor that would have lightened the tension that sometimes can develop in times of stress.  We miss her touch that made a home homey, we miss the support that a daughter needs from her mother, the things that a father can’t provide.  Although others have stepped in, there is a big gaping chasm that she would have filled.  But we do appreciate the ones who have done what they can….

God has his purpose and plan, and we continue to seek that..

Psalm 62:1-2   ¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
                                    my salvation comes from him.
                                           ² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
                                   he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

     I am chagrined that I have not done more blogging here.   This was to take the place of my journal, and I haven’t done either one lately.  But on a beautiful Saturday in November, I may try to change that.  I have been out for my morning run, and enjoyed the crisp cool air, and the sun coming up over the horizon as I made my way back home.  Now with a cup of coffee in my hand, and while looking out over the white-crowned sparrows and white-throated sparrows feeding on the seeds on the patio, I am set to write. 
    God is faithful in all the seasons of life, and my season right now is getting children married.  Yes, we have another one next weekend; Amber, getting married to David Miller from Plain City, Ohio.  He is teaching school here at Atmore Christian School in Atmore, so has been here since August.  They are in the process of getting their apartment fixed up and plan to move some stuff over there today.  So there is work to do later on, once everyone rouses and stirs about.  But so far, it is nice and quiet, without a lot of things happening.
     Amber is our bright sunny child, so it is only appropriate that she picked sunflowers for her wedding flower.  And to save money, Dad was supposed to plant them.  However, I did not research the blooming times for them, so I planted a batch, and then forgot to plant some more, until too late..  So when the first ones started blooming nicely over a month ago, I did not think they would last until the wedding.  I took a scissors and cut off as many of the buds as I could find.  Whether that had anything to do with it or not, we are still blessed with some beautiful sunflowers, and it looks like we will have plenty for the wedding.  I would like to show a few pictures, but I can’t seem to upload pictures this morning.  Probably that happens so that I can get on to work and not waste time…So, hopefully there will be wedding reports by next week, at least…

Well, this past week was not one for the sentimental.  We got rid of my Mazda pickup–the one that has been in the family for 24 years.  In fact, my oldest son does not remember life without it, and he is 27 years old…So when we were given the word by mechanic that it was kaput, broke, past fixing, yes, even done in by a broken head gasket..we had the option of fixing it of course, but it wasn’t worth putting any money in it.  This poor truck was brand new when I bought it for 7000 dollars in 1986.  In fact, I still had the original receipt.  A 5 speed stick shift, it was really the ‘trainer’ for all of our children learning stick shift.  When Stephen was a baby, someone ran into our back end while we were parked at a stop sign.  The next day, an insurance adjuster was out at the house, having done the math, and figured out that a new bumper would cost a couple of hundred, and he would give us 300 for good measure.  So I signed on the dotted line, not knowing that the whole frame was bent.  So when the handle on the bed broke off because the tail gate didn’t fit well anymore, I realized that it had been more serious.  The drainage holes for the bed also were clogged up, but that may not have been related, but anyway the bed started rusting out…Then in the space of a couple of years, it was involved in two major wrecks.  Both wrecks were identical in that people turned left in front of the vehicle–once when Robert was driving and once when Dawn was driving.  Both times the left front of the vehicle was pretty much done in, and required major renovations…And both times–no one was assigned any fault, so that we bore the cost of fixing it.  One time, we got the prisoners out at Fountain prison to work on it.  They will do the work for the cost of the materials, as they are learning the trade.  They did a really good job, but they took about 5 months to do the work.  One thing about prisoners–they have a lot of time…but anyway it served us well for the 24 years…         
Here I am checking behind the seat for hidden treasure–not!

 
Saying goodbye–I don’t look too distraught!

Final appearance

I have only been a member of Xanga for the past 7 months or so, and not a very regular contributor during that time.  One of the things that has slowed me down is the advertisements that are posted along side of this blog.  I don’t quite know how to handle them, other than going premium….and I know that is just what they want me to do. I don’t want people to be reading reverent thoughts, or anything, and have those pop up along side!   However, recently, the ads have at times been risque, and I don’t appreciate it.  I notice that most people whose Xanga site I read must have paid, since they don’t have advertisements…So I know it isn’t much, but it’s the principle of the thing.  (I have heard that when people say “It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing”, that it is always the money!  But in this case, it is the principle..
   Anyway, this last weekend, I went to Delaware to the wedding of my nephew Jared to Amber Swartzentruber  –there in Dover.  Had a really good time in visiting with everybody, and even got to play golf with my cousins Mark and Clinton, along with brother Paul.  So it was especially good.  Here are some of the pictures from that getaway.  It was a good wedding, very meaningful. 

Here are Jared and Amber walking into the outdoor reception area

Ellie looking at the photographer–no you don’t!

Wedding tent

Doesn’t this remind you of the wedding supper of the Lamb?

Katie and Delores–two of the servers.  Katie is cousin Lois (Yoder) Ulrich’s daughter, and Delories is married to my nephew Conrad

Cedar archway

Greeting everybody after the wedding

Kim making one of her phone calls

                
Sister Shirley and her husband Maynard, and them my sister Naomi right behind her..

Here is my brother Paul doing a balancing act with his granddaughter Makenzie.

As probably most of you know, I am a bird lover and a bird-watcher.  We have always had hummingbirds at a feeder put out right by our picture window, but usually only 1 or 2 at a time.  In the recent bird watchers magazine, they suggested “clustering” hummingbird feeders to attract even more hummingbirds.  So I bought another one down at our local garden store, and then found one that we had in storage, and put them out as well by the picture window….Voila!  We have many hummingbirds–6-8 at times, always fighting and trying to stock up fast before they get chased away.. It is amusing to watch them doing their thing as they get ready for their long trip across the Gulf of Mexico…

    For about 2 months, our office staff was planning an outing to Mobile to watch the Mobile Bay Bears. (a minor league baseball team.) With all the office staff and families, it was about 45 people going down, and so it was a big deal.  I have 5 full-time, and 1 part-time nurse, as well as 6 employees up front, plus my office manager, and 2 physician assistants.  So to do something special, we were taking the big bus from our church down there. (I was driving since I have my commercial bus driving license now) and we were going to have an enclosed suite down at the park.  Although it rained some during the day up here, it wasn’t bad, and although it sprinkled some on the way down, we checked the web site and the game was going on as usual.  Well, when we got all the way down there, we saw that cars were turning around…..and here they had canceled the game.  Trust me, there was not much rain anywhere!  I don’t quite understand their reasoning, since it wasn’t raining at the time, but I think they were expecting some more showers to move in. Well, what to do?   Here we were down in Mobile with 45 people, all of whom were starving (did I say they were going to give us supper as part of our suite deal?)  We couldn’t just turn around and go back.  Someone had seen a Steak and Shake restaurant up the way, so we called to see if we could come there.  And they said yes, so we took the whole crew out to eat, and then headed on back to Atmore.  A bit anti-climactic, and less than ideal I would say….and we still have to do it again.  The problem, there are no more home games this year which would allow us to go there, so I don’t know what we would do…We will have to see….So a bit frustrating, particularly since it followed a week in which we had not been having the afternoon thundershowers typical of this area in August…

Does that sound like complaining?  I want to be a positive person, so at least we had a good bus ride, and it went the whole way with no problems–that’s good isn’t it?  

     Today’s SS lesson was from Philippians 4:1-14. I teach the men’s class at church, and we really had some good discussion today.  I really appreciated the emphasis on not only peace and joy that comes from God alone, but the fact that we can be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.  Paul knew a lot about that and he was able to find joy in whatever came his way.  What an example for us to follow, as he clearly valued the things of God above human comforts.  I wonder how many of us would be as content if we faced some of the hardships that the apostle Paul was faced with on so many occasions.

     We had a great meal today for lunch–Kristin was working as she often does on Sunday, so Amber (practicing for her upcoming wedding and marriage) made a delicious lunch.  We had tender roast beef, broccoli, potatoes and carrots with gravy, and corn, as well as 2 kinds of ice cream for dessert.  And then coffee, ground fresh this weekend which I waited on Joel (our local eccentric roaster) to roast Thursday–a coffee from Sumatra!  Delicious! And then a quick nap, then to church to celebrate 40 years of marriage for one of the couples at our church, and then on the Nursing Home for singing….So it has been a busy day.  Just now getting a chance to unwind.  It is always busy here in the south, that is for sure.  (Still more laid back than the north, that is for certain.)

     What I am saying in a round about way is that there is still a lot of joy, a lot of love, a lot of laughter in my life, and most of all peace, and I want that to continue.  It is a journey of life, and I intend to live it to the full.  Whatever God wants for me, I want to find that…..so pardon my musings as I think of my life…and God..and peace that the world knows nothing about…