We started with a great message at church on Friday night. A few weeks ago our church elders set this weekend aside for some extra church, a work day to help with the new church building project and then a full day of feet washing, communion and worship to our Lord and Savior!!! The service on Friday night was about God's grace. About how God sheds His grace on us humans that seem to mess up a lot. Nothing is too much for God's grace to cover and give us a new refreshing start when we need it!!!
Honey Brook Community Church is in the first stages of building a church that was dreamt about for many years!!! We've been having the church men come and help build the new church. Lots has been done already but a day was set aside and stressed that we need everyone help on Saturday to help build, clean up around the project, mow, clean the Lydia house, clean bathrooms and kitchen and mulch, etc.! So much was happening!!! The day began with a prayer breakfast at 6 AM. Mike was out of the house early and was one of the men in charge of the day. He is doing such a great job and even though he came home that night so tired and with a sore leg because of a heavy board falling on him, the day went so well!!! Lot's and lots of people came out to help serve!!!
I started my day with going to some local yard sales right here in town. Hadassah went with me and she drove her car as we made one yard sale stop after another. It's so fun to see her excited about her car!!! When we got back, she went to help Lena clean and I dropped the little ones off at Mom Lapps. Then Matthew and I went to help at church. Donuts and coffee were served for a snack and then lunch at noon. So many people were helping! Thank you everyone for making this such a great day!!!
I was able to leave around lunch and go to the Gospel Express Sale for a few hours. I was excited to see that the large cheese board that I wished for for awhile was bought for me!!! I now have this very beautiful cheese board that I know we will use lots of times when hosting this summer!!! Ashlyn had a birthday party to go to later that afternoon. Rain showers showed up in the evening and when Mike and Matthew came home from the work project, they were tired and in need of hot showers!!! I put together some easy snacks and we all relaxed on the couch watching some Fixer Upper! Hadassah went to Jess's house to sleep because they had a volleyball tournament to go to on Sunday.
Here's my new cheese board!!!
I also grabbed some delicious bread at the sale this weekend. This is so beautiful and almost too pretty to eat but Mike and I love it dipped in olive oil and cracked pepper!!!
Sunday morning we woke up to sunshine but cold!!! It just feels like warmer weather is never going to come and stay!!! We are super excited about the upcoming forecast though and seeing 80's will feel amazing to our very warm weather thirsty souls!!! :))) Hadassah and Jess left early to be at their all day volleyball tournament. They got to the semi finals again but then lost. She came home last night exhausted and so tired!!! Meanwhile, the rest of us went to church for some great worship! We split into our Small Groups and had feet washing. We read how Jesus did this to his disciples long ago and how it showed his servants heart. Today, even though we still wash each others feet, it is the servant heart that I want to show!!! Back then, their feet were dirty and needed to be washed. They wore sandals with walking on the dusty roads and it was the servants job to wash the feet of the guests. Jesus bent down and washed the disciples feet for them! What is it today for me to stoop down and do something humbling for others? To serve others with a grateful heart? We all gathered for more worship songs before the service ended. It was so, so touching to have Damien help sing some songs! We are good friends with John and Suz Smucker and four years ago their son Damien was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. It was life threatening and after two back to back brain surgeries, many rounds of treatments, a hard fight for good health ... Damien was doing much better. The surgeries did do permanent damage to his speech, motor skills and life in general. John and Suz do not complain but I'm sure it takes a lot of patience and questions as to why this all has to happen to their dear family!!! John and Damien have been to Germany TWICE to get treatments and other nurturing benefits for Damien. Two weeks ago, Damien was scheduled to have another annual MRI done. We always praise Jesus when the results come back good but this time it was once again not a good report. Damien has a spot on the right side of his brain now. Is it cancer? Is it scar tissue? Whenever there are new spots and questions, the doctors take a good look at the scans and then report to Johns. The tears just spilled out of my eyes last week when they texted us asking us to pray, pray, pray for them once again as they have upcoming decisions to make. This fight for life and against cancer is so sad!!! We just went through it all with Dad Lapp about a year ago and we know a little on how rough it is on a family and watching someone fight, fight, fight to live is just SO DIFFICULT!!! Please, please join our family as we pray for the Smucker family once more!!! The past four years they have done so much to fight cancer! They have cried buckets of tears and really need God's peace, healing and leading!!! At the end of the church service yesterday, the worship team asked Damien to come help sing some closing songs. Damien is limited with his speech and it's hard for him to express his feelings ever since brain surgery a few years ago. But singing and quoting scripture is something he can still do from memory!!! It's so amazing!!! I cried as he sang! We love you Damien!!!
I will never turn down tulips and Anna blessed me yesterday with a bouquet to bring along home from church!!!
We ate lunch and took naps before heading for church again. We had a great communion service last evening and read the scriptures of how Jesus was put on trial and then crucified for our sins!!! Jesus died to take away the sins of the world!!! To give us faulty humans another chance to live forever in eternity if we just believe in Him!!! We sang songs of His death and victory over sin!!! The evening finished with a fellowship meal and the fellowship with believers is something Mike and I both enjoy!!! We had dropped the little ones off at Matt and Lena's before going to church and it was so wonderful to be able to sit, without distractions, and drink in the message and songs!!! Thank you Jesus for saving my soul!!! For dying for me!!! Again, we all came home tired but refreshed!!! It didn't take long for the children to fall asleep and after Matthew and Hadassah finished up some last minute homework, we all slept so good!!!
Our refreshing weekend was one we needed as a church body!!! We've been though, and still walking though, some tough bumps at church but with many people coming together and work on the church project and then sit together in multiple services was uplifting!!!
This is the last day of April even though on the way to school this morning I was telling the children it was May 1! Oops!!! I thought it was until I sat down with my calendar and write down my weekly supper menu. I then saw that today really is April 30! May is just around the corner and it's one of my favorite months of the year!!! We are excited to have lots of fun events in May coming up!!!
Cheer's to a better weather forecast for this week!!! It's going to be lots of time outside and more dirty hands and feet!!! We've got a big mulch pile waiting on us! I'm going to hopefully make another trip to greenhouses and fill up the flower beds with some color!!!
Have a great week everyone!
