Busy Bees

 We have had very, very few social activities listed on our calendar over the past almost 5 1/2 months. Last week the kids and I didn't leave the house from the time we got home from Six Flags on Tuesday evening until Saturday afternoon when we went to the Schreck's house. Tab had organized a get together with several others families. We each had purchased different items to put together medical packs for the Voice of the Martyrs. Our family sponsored three packs and contributed nail clippers and bars of soap for all twelve packs that the group assembled yesterday. The kids each made a card with Bible verses on it for each pack, although we realize the packs might end up in countries where the individuals cannot read English. Tab had also invited a woman who has several beehives to give a presentation about bees and beekeeping. Oliver said his favorite part was tasting a spoonful of honey from one of their hives at the end. Bees are certainly very amazing creatures! We thought we'd be attending a bonfire at our church last night, but they postponed it to this Saturday because the weather forecast didn't look good. It turned out that it only rained in the morning. 

For three months we weren't able to attend church in person and then for the past almost three months we've just been attending one worship service each Sunday. Next Sunday they will be resuming almost everything that the church had been offering prior to the shut down in March. The one exception is they won't be restarting any choirs yet. They must be anticipating that far fewer children will attend because they used to offer five different classes for elementary children (Kindergarten, 1st/2nd grade girls, 1st/2nd grade boys, 3rd-5th grade girls, and 3rd-5th grade boys) and in September they are just offering one class for grades 1-5. They have had a tradition lately of giving out free Rita's Italian ice on promotion Sunday. The kids are looking forward to having Rita's two weeks in a row because they also were serving Rita's before the baptismal service today. Oliver chose mango, Nadia had cookie dough, I had pina colada, and Ian  chose root beer. Yum!! This morning we left the house around 8:35 and got home at 3:00pm. That was much longer than usual! We dropped Nadia off at First Baptist for a rehearsal and then the rest of us attended the 9:00 service at our church. It was a significant service in that our senior pastor announced he will be retiring in June after serving the church for forty years. He announced that they will be putting Pastor Branden's name for a vote to become the next senior pastor. Pastor Arlie will be turning 70 next year, and Pastor Branden was born in 1984 (same age as Maurice would have been). Branden first was the athletic director at the Christian School and then for several years was the youth pastor. He has been the pastor of another campus of our church for the past year. I have always thought that Branden was a fabulous preacher. After attending the 9:00 service at our church, we drove back to FBC to attend their 10:30 service. Nadia sang with their praise team because it was "youth Sunday" at that church. A high school boy preached the sermon. We returned to our church for an outdoor picnic at 12:15 - Rita's, chips, hotdogs, and fruit cups were served. Nadia was thrilled to see some of her friends in person for the first time since March. After the picnic we attended a two hour baptismal service in which 53 people were baptized outside. Oliver wanted to be baptized but was intimidated about giving his testimony, but some gave very brief testimonies. In hindsight, he could have participated. He told me today he definitely wants to be baptized the next time the church has a baptismal service. 

Nadia loves to be on the go. It was wonderful to see more people today and attend more than just one worship service, but I have to admit I'd rather just stay home this evening. She still wants to attend youth group this evening. Moments like this cause me to look forward to the day when Nadia has a driver's license even though the thought of our children behind a driving wheel is somewhat terrifying. The middle schoolers will resume meeting on Wednesday nights starting on September 9 which means Nadia will again have three chances to be with middle schoolers each week - Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights. We haven't heard if Bible Bowl will be resuming next month or not. We are grateful to be taking steps back toward normalcy!