Wishin' Wells & Pools

There's been a ton of brainstorming going on at Fellowship Church, lately! As a result, I've come up with few things, we're going to need to start saving. If you drink bottled water, please start saving your empty water bottles. We'll be using these to create "Rwanda Wishing Wells" for the kids to put their offerings for missions in. (Thanks Jill, for that cool idea!)

Also, Craig & Stan have come up with a really out-there publicity idea. To help with this project, we need children's plastic pools. It doesn't matter if it will hold water or not. So, if your kid is getting a new pool this summer and have an old one (not totally destroyed though), please let me know. This project is going to be too cool!! All of Baldwin is going to be freakin' out, wondering what on earth are we up to! The "BUZZ" is definitely gonna be on! In May, start watching across our community for "strange" things to start popping up! That's all I can say, so don't ask me any questions (it's a secret surprise), cause if I tell ya, I'll have to kill ya!!!!

Another project in the works is making an area of the kid's 5 & under a play area in the water park called "Wiggle Works". For this area, we need some of those cool kid summer sprinklers and some Little Tikes plastic slides. If, you have or know somebody, who has those little plastic slides, we would like to borrow them for our event.

If anybody would like to donate foam board, we could use some of that right a way. Other donations we could use: inflatable beach balls, swim rings, beach towels, blue tarps, fishing nets(not the ones on handles, the kind that spreads out), goggles, anything that could be used to decorate in a water park theme.

THIS IS GONNA BE THE MOST AWESOME THING BALDWIN HAS EVER SEEN!!!! I'M PSYCHED, HOPE YOU ARE TOO!

P.S. Don't forget our next work session is on Monday, March 5 at 6:30pm

Real Bummer!

Just the other day, I was talking with someone about having had the flu shot & the pneumonia shot this winter. They were saying they had been sick several times and was just getting over being sick right then. I hadn't been sick since September, when I had a bad case of bronchitis & a sinus infection. The doctor had told me the pneumonia shot was good about helping people, who were prone to have bronchitis, to not get it or if they did, it wasn't so severe. So as the conversation goes on, I'm feeling cocky and declare I haven't been sick all winter, thanks to having had the flu & pneumonia shot! I'm thinking....yeah, it's already near the end of February & I haven't had my usual case of yuck. I'm not gonna get sick this winter!! WRONG!!! As the day was winding down into late evening on Thursday, I began to feel a little tough. Throat was a bit sore, face and head was feeling stuffy & a general all over, not feeling good. I get up Friday morning, seem to feel a bit better. But, within one hour of being up, I was beginning to drag. My head and nose all stopped up, even my ears felt stopped up. I tell myself.........shake it off, you're ok, you don't feel as bad as you think you do. But in the back of my mind(you know that voice, that tells you the hard truth, you don't want to hear), I'm hearing my bed call my name! It's saying, Maria come lie down, you know you can't keep going, come on lay down, snuggle up and go to sleep! But it's so pretty outside, I want to do something outside, I don't want to be sick! Finally at 2:30pm, I give in and crawl into my bed. Oh, how good it felt. Next thing I know, it's 7:00pm. Oh no! I had baby back ribs thawed out to put on the smoker, it's too late to put them on now. Plus, I feel rotten!

It's Saturday now and this yuck is oozing it's way into my chest. I'm beginning to have a little bit of a cruddy cough. This isn't good! Guess I shouldn't have felt so cocky, a few days back. It's come to haunt me!!

I asked Ed the other night, if we could go to the movies this weekend. His reply was "maybe. I've been thinking on it, but I can't tell you, it's suppose to be a surprise." So, I'm thinking, he's planning a date for us this weekend. AND I"M SICK!! What a BUMMER! I really want to go on this date. If, you have been doing the couples devotions, you'll know that a few nights back, it suggested that we write down 3 romantic things, we would like for our spouse, to do for us. One of my 3 things, was for him to plan a date for us, where we were going, where we were eating, what we were doing, anything, just as long as I didn't have to do the planning. So you see, this date is very important to me and I'm afraid that he will call it off, because I'm sick. His Dr. Daddy instincts kick in when I get sick and he wants me to rest and not exert myself. That means, staying at home on the couch or in the bed, taking medicine around the clock. He always takes really good care of me, when I'm sick. He takes on all the household duties, cooking, cleaning up and petting me. So what more could I want.....I'll tell you what I want.......I want to go on that date & feel good, that's what I want!!

So, if you are reading this and it's Saturday, PRAY HARD, that this yuck leaves my body by this evening!

Being sick is a BUMMER!

Morning Reflections

I woke up with the chickens this morning! I know, I know, you can't believe I'm up before 10AM. But, I am! I tried to go back to sleep, but it didn't work. So, I put me on a pot of coffee and decided to blog a little.

As I sit here sipping my coffee, there are birds chirping a sweet melody outside my window. I try to imagine what the lyrics to songs would be. Maybe they are singing of Spring is around the corner or could they be singing praises to the Creator. Scriptures say that if we don't praise him, then the rocks will cry out. I bet those birds are singing praises! All I know is, their singing, even though, I don't understand the words, brings me a peaceful feeling this morning. All is well with my soul.

Shout out's:

Mike Roberts- Man we miss you! Hopefully warm weather is on the way soon. Dr. Bognar says we should just move to the Carribiean, somewhere that is warm all the time! If only!!! Hope you feel better soon!

Nancy Shubert- YOU GO GIRL! Nancy has a gift for doing scheduling and has taken on the task of doing the rotation schedule for "Kid's Summer Fun Day"! It's awesome when people know their gifts and when they see a need in an area where they are gifted, they just jump on the task. I saw a church sign recently that said "A need seen is an assignment given." Thank you Nancy for seeing the need and taking on the assignment! Your excitement is contagious!

Amanda Anderson- Girl, excitement is oozing out of your every pore! It's gonna be awesome isn't it.

Jill Stephens- Thanks for taking on the job of making tons of phone calls gathering information for me! Your organizational skills help keep me on track. Jill is another, who has seen a need an taken it as an assignment. YOU GO GIRL!

I'm so grateful for the awesome people, God has put in my path. The Fellowship Church family has been to the "Table" to dine and now, they are serving! The SONshine is so bright, we gonna need shades!

Later!

Gosh, it's been awhile, since I've had a chance to blog! Sorry for being so long about updating.

It's been crazy around here! Sparkie, one of my kitties, had to have surgery, last Tuesday. He had an abcess that had grown to the size of a tumor on his backside (ouch). So, they took him to surgery and cut it out, sewed him up with a drain tube in the wound and sent him home to be a full fledged "house cat" for the next two weeks. (no, Ed's not happy!) Ed wasn't happy about having to pay the Vet bill either(wow, that was expensive), he said he could have solved Sparkie's problem with a 9 cent bullet! Ouch Ed, where's your compassion? Actually, I'm ready for him to be an outdoor cat again, too! Cat pee STINKS! I don't care what kind of fancy kitty litter you buy, none of it smells "good & odor free" like they claim! I've been on full alert, trying to keep an eye on that litter box and empty it, as soon as Sparkie gets through using it! I'm thinking on changing his name to "Pepe LaPew", cause the boy has some serious stink goin' on! If I had even a small desire for a house cat, before this..........I'm absolutely cured of that desire now! He's suppossed to get his stitches out on Friday and hopefully he will be well enough to be put back outside. Then I can get an upholstery cleaner in here to clean my couch. He has been laying on a sheet on the couch, but that particular cushion stinks. Don Capaforte was showing me his "ozoneator" the other day. He says if you turn it on for couple of hours, it will remove any kind of stink. So, after cleaning my couch, I may have to ask him to borrow his "ozoneator". Anybody got an upholstery cleaning machine, I can borrow?

Besides being a cat nurse for the past week, I've been working on income taxes and trying to teach Wendi how it works. Wendi has an Income Tax class this semester in college, but her professor isn't getting his job done. There's had to be some teaching going on at the kitchen table, "Mom University"! I don't even charge tuition!!

Then, there's the planning for "Kid's Summer Fun Day". I've been brainstorming, working on supply orders, trying to figure out a rotation schedule, putting up sign-up sheets, thinking through goals for publicity & trying to continue to think "BIG". As in all endeavors, we've had a bump in the road, already. But, that's to be expected. We're human and this is a huge undertaking. When we hit a bump, don't get tore up and discouraged. Stay positive and work together in love & patience, to find a solution for making the road smooth again, and by all means, keep in mind, it's not about "us" anyway, it's about "HIM". So long as we continue to seek His will, it's gonna be all good! I hope, your excitement and energy levels will continue to grow.......we're doing "Kingdom Work" folks! That in it's self, is enough to make you excited!

There is still a need for a couple more Team leaders. We need a "Lunch Leader", "security Leader", "Greeting Leader" and a "Recreation Leader". If you are interested in any of these positions, let me know.

Outrageously, Over-The-Top, Excited!!

We officially begin preparing for our children's summer program (formerly known as VBS) tonight at 6:30pm, at the church! Wow! I'm really excited about this years theme. It's based around a water park theme and the lessons Jesus taught using the element of water. I have for a month now, been contemplating all the cool things we could do with this theme. I actually thought I was thinking BIG, but after talking with Stan this morning, I realize, I haven't even begun to get in the GO BIG frame of mind! He proposed a question to me, that I hadn't even thought of. That being "At Fall Festival, we had approximately 600 people to attend. What if, we have 300 kids to show up? How are you going to handle that?" GOOD QUESTION!!! I'm not sure yet! But, I am now at least in the frame of mind, to begin thinking that way. It is POSSIBLE people! We already have plans in the works, to heavily publicize this event in a variety of mediums. Just think what could happen! We didn't even publicize that much for Fall Festival, and we had about 600 people. Our biggest outreach for Fall Festival was we, as a church family, were off the hook excited and into making it a super fun time. What if, we get outrageously, over-the-top excited and publicize heavily ? WE CAN REALLY ROCK OUR COMMUNITY WITH THE LOVE OF JESUS!!!! What if, we had a really cool water park environment outside for our community to enjoy and fellowship with us. Things like our huge slip-n-slide on the hill, watergun fights with colored water(like lazer tag), dunking booth, a wiggle-works area for kids 5 and under with sprinklers and plastic slides, a sandy beach area with beach chairs and carribean steel drum music, beachball volleyball, water balloons, popsicle stand, cotton candy and huge cookout! There are so many imaginative people at Fellowship Church, theres no telling what kind of outrageously fun ideas we can come up with. I know 300 kids, sounds scary.....but if we can't accomplish anything, but one thing....telling them Jesus LOVES them, then we have had a successful event! I NEED YOU, THE KIDS NEED YOU, FELLOWSHIP CHURCH FAMILY, TO START GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS EVENT & BEGIN PLANNING AND PUTTING PLANS INTO ACTION NOW! I'll leave you with this..........IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME!!! SEE YA TONIGHT AT 6:30pm at the church!

Just A Rockin'

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Oh, want you please, please be my neighbor! Two sunshiney days in a row, makes me feel as chipper as Mr. Rogers! It's wonderful to finally get outside and not freeze to death. Oh Lord, PLEASE, let Spring be on the way! I actually sat on the porch yesterday and read the newspaper. Thats something I have really missed, since cold weather set in. Theres nothing better than a cup of coffee, a newspaper and a rocking chair on the porch. When we bought this house, it wasn't quite what I had in mind. But, we had looked for level acreage to build on and it either wasn't for sale or it had a war pension price tag! We looked at houses all over this county (except those in a subdivision, that was the whole point of moving, to get out of a subdivision!), the land wasn't level or it was way out of our price range. Then we came upon this house, not exactly the kind of house I wanted, but the land was near PERFECT! The one thing the house did have was a wrap around porch and that was something that I had wanted for a long time. I remember, fondly, days of sitting on my grandpa Echols porch in a rocking chair, sometimes just shooting the breeze or reading or just watching the wildlife around. I can't quite explain it, but theres something about sitting in a rocking chair on a big porch, that just brings me a sense of well-being and peace. The only time that big porch made feel uncomfortable was when it was harvest time! My granny and grandpa would put us grandkids to work stringing green beans, shelling peas, silking corn or whatever it was that needed to be done, so that the harvest could be prepared for storage, whether it was canning it or freezing it. As I think back to those days, I remember hating to have to help with those chores. But now that I'm grown, I can also look back and recall, what fun we had too! At that time, I thought I was just free labor. Hardly did I realize, I was being taught life lessons, such as, responsibility, being self-sufficient, being dependable, taking pride in doing a job well done and being part of a family who loves each other and takes care of each other. Yes, a porch and a rocking chair are good for reading and daydreaming. But, it's also a place to teach life lessons! Maybe that's whats wrong with this younger generation, we quit building big porches on our houses! Theres actually somewhere to plant a garden here at this house, maybe Ed will plant us one this spring, and we can have harvest time on the front porch this summer. If any of you need time on the porch, just come on over!
Later!

Whirlwind of a weekend!

It's been a whirlwind weekend! Fellowship's public service project at Ingle's and then Worship service Sunday morning, then the BIG Super Bowl party that night. I couldn't care less about the football game, but I was anxiously awaiting to see the commercials! I was especially interested in seeing the new Chevy ad, that was done by a female college student. It was suppossed to be more geared to how a woman feels about the car. GIVE ME A BREAK! that was the lamest commercial, I've ever seen! A bunch of guys washing the cars and lovingly caressing them......(seems to me, that's more geared toward men, as always), just as well, to have had a playboy bunny laid up against the car. What a disappointment! In fact, I didn't see one commercial, that was all that good. But, none the less, we had a super great time fellowshipping and eatting with one another. Everybody seemed to be having a good time, there was lots of laughter and cutting up going on. We may be different at Fellowship Church, but we definitely know how to have a good time!
Speaking of being different...........Fellowship members were unleashed on an unsuspecting public, at Ingle's in Cornelia, Saturday & Sunday. Ed and I went on Saturday to help bag groceries and take them out for the customers. Peoples reactions to us was a bit funny! We got questions like, "what are you raising money for?"(nobody even mentioned money!!!), " why are you doing this, what do you want?" People seemed to be absolutely shocked, that we didn't want anything in return and we certainly didn't want their money. I even encountered some, who were so suspicious of us, that wouldn't even look at me as I spoke to them. As a society, we have become so conditioned to believe that nobody does anything for free, and certainly not just to be kind. That's a really sad state of being, but what's even sadder is that, alot of those people we encountered, were professed Christians and they just didn't get the concept! In fact the majority of the people, who asked me what project the church was raising money for, were people who informed me they went to so & so or such & such church. As I search my heart and soul, I realize, I too, am conditioned to be suspicious of others motives, to self- sufficient to allow anyone to serve me, for no other reason, than just to be practicing what Jesus taught. The conviction is mighty and I ask my God, to forgive me. I pray, I'll be more mindful of when it's time to serve or be served. If you missed the opportunity to serve Saturday, you missed a lesson, that you will never learn, from sitting in pew being preached to!
Later!

This is my baby Charlie!

It snowed, believe it or not, the weatherman got it right, for once! But, the cats aren't taking it to well. Charlie, especially is afraid. He refused to come out of his house, this morning. Not even for milk! Sparkie seemed to think it was just grand, but he wanted in, where it was warm. We try not to let them in much, because Ed is way against them being in the house! But, Ed had to take his mom to dialysis this morning. So, I let them in to get warm and have some milk. Usually, Charlie would have come streaking in like lightning. But, Wendi had to pry him out of his house and bring him in this morning. I don't know if he's afraid of the snow or if he is getting sick. Once inside, he did help himself to some milk, then off to Wendi's room for a nap. Sparkie has long ago wanted out and out he went. But Charlie is still snoozing away in Wendi's room.

Chris and Wendi have gone out joy riding in the snow. Against her mother's better judgement! I guess she inherited that overwhelming desire to get out on the road in the snow, from her dad. There is nothing Ed loves better, than to load up in his truck and hit the roads in snow and ice. It's like the ultimate thrill for him and now, Wendi too! I hope Chris is more conservative, than Ed was at his age. Ed's favorite thing was to spin his truck around and around in circles in snow covered parking lots, with me in the truck with him! I can just imagine what my parents would have had to say about that(it would not have been good I assure you)! Hopefully, if they are as foolish as Ed & I were in years gone by, the good Lord will stand guard over them too! As for me and grandmama, we're the only 2 bright ones around here, we are snuggled up around the fireplace, sipping coffee.

Heres a shout out to Jess!!!! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Another shout out to Mike.............Hope your back soon feels better, stay out of the snow and ice!

Later!