Signs of Spring in NY.....at last

Wonderful warm weather, new growth sprouting and coffee in the sun today. Sighhhhhhh Spring is here today but will it stay?

Pastor Wally visits

What a blessing when Pastor Wally and his church administrator, Martha stopped for a visit on this beautiful spring Friday. They came bearing gifts - a picnic basket filled with homemade macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and fresh rolls. Yummy - can't wait for dinner. Turns out it is one of mom's favorites so she was blessed and I don't have to cook tonight so it's a blessing for me, too. We had a nice visit and a sweet prayer time. Thanks for the blessing!!

I got out of Mississippi just in time

I left Jackson, MS - Tuesday morning and then looked what happened!!!
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/03/26/mississippi.tornadoes/

In good news - no fatalities - Thank you Lord!! Also, folks I visited are all ok. E & S tell me we drove through one of the town hit by the tornadoes.

Ministry in Mississippi

Grace Fellowship Church - Gulfport, MS

The speakers for the Saturday sessions

Lady Jocelyn and her wonderful helpers

Pastor Felix and Jocelyn take me to the sea

After church on Sunday

What a wonderful time I had in Mississippi. I look forward to returning! I really enjoyed the wonderful southern hospitality and the sweet fellowship of friends - new and old. I ministered on Friday evening, did one session on Saturday and did the Sunday service. In between times, I was treated to special southern dishes - mostly fresh fish and got to sun myself in the summer like weather - sigh, it was wonderful. Pastor Felix & Jocelyn and I all hope to meet again in New Hampshire in October or Gulfport :-) The sea, the white sand, blue skies, sunshine are calling me

A reunion with Ed & Syble in Jackson

Pastor Felix and Jocelyn and Syble and Ed

Ed & Syble's house

Relaxing in the living room

Getting ready for company

Pastor Ed at his new desk

the "heart" of Ed & Syb's kitchen

Ahhhh.... Southern Cuisine

at Lil' Ray's - the favorite - boiled crawfish and Barq's rootbeer

at Jerry's Catfish House

Nothing this northener had ever seen - fried catfish, hush puppies, fried dill pickles with garlic sauce and cole slaw - YUMMY!!

Ahhh the beautiful south....

Azaelea

Wisteria

Dogwood

Dogwood tree

How refreshing it was after this long New York winter to spend 4 days in the sunny, warm south!

Appreciate your prayers...

I will be flying to Gulfport, Mississippi on Friday to minister for the weekend at Grace Fellowship with Pastor Felix and his wife Jocelyn. I am trying to get mom's schedule and house organized,too so thanks for praying. I am really excited abouth this ministry opportunity~

Traditional Irish fare

Corned beef and cabbage, new red potatoes and lamb stew from Partner's Irish Pub

The wearing of the Green

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Camera update

Yes, I found my camera!! It was in a safe place however not it's usual place :-). Thanks for asking!


and the weather - in the 50's, blue sky and sunshine - Yeah!!! Could it be that spring is really on the way?

Tata Update

I just love this image for a couple reasons :-) Tata knows.

$3000 was the amount raised!! Thank you one and all!!

Team Callery Fund Raiser

This is my sister is law Sue who is a breast cancer survivor (3 yrs). She heads up "Team Callery"

Donated baskets to be raffled

My sister Kathi and I with the 50-50 raffle tickets

I won a basket!!!!

and inside - Dunkin Donuts coffee with travel mug, biscotti and a crossword book

"Team Callery" had all 32 lanes filled, the 50-50 raised more than $700 and the baskets were a great success. We raised more than $2000 for the American Cancer Society. Our next event is the "Relay for Life" in June.

Debbie, Fund raising etc

Deb finally came home on Thursday. She did have to have the surgery and she is on a very strict diet (no fiber) for a week until she has her staples taken out and sees the doctor. She is on complete bed/couch time for now and for maybe 6 weeks. She can not pull or push or lift anything. Jack is doing chores he never had to do before :-). And you can imagine what help I am (not much!) even though I am a near neighbor. Jack and Debbie have a great circle of friends who are lavishing them with cards and flowers and food. Of course, the family is doing all we can.

Saturday my cousin and his wife come to stay with mom so I can help out at a bowlingfund raiser for "Team Callery". My sister in law is a "Survivor" of breast cancer and very active in raising awareness and money to research and overcome this disease.

Since I started to get a full night's sleep I am starting to feel better and should/maybe/with God's help be more responsive to incoming communique and out going blogs. Would like to have pictures of today's events but.....can't find my camera! I used it to download the River retreat pix so it is around here somewhere! I cleaned yesterday and didn't see it so it must be hiding somewhere! Off to seek - pray for divine appointments at the bowling alley! Thanks!

and at home....

I arrived home on Monday morning to find the whole family in a flap. Mom had not slept more than 1.5 hours at a stretch for the 3 nights I was away. Some of the family was wanting to push towards a 24/7 facility but some of us are not ready for that, especially me.



I got busy on the phone and followed up with some local agencies and found help.



A bonus was the woman I found to care for mom from 11pm to 7am was an old friend of mine, so we are getting reaquainted.

Also, found someone to help days when I am away. The family is so busy with their lives: upcoming fundraisers for cancer research, planning a city wide summer event, county meetings with various county officials and sometimes the governor plus their full time jobs.
We all really need the extra help......and prayers.

So, when I am not communicating, e-mailing, blogging or facebooking, I am trying to keep my head above water here so thanks for praying.

The River Retreat Report (at last!)

The "hostess with the mostest" Tonya Dunham

Tonya in the room she renovated for the event

One of Tonya's great assistants my wonderful daughter-in-law Raelene

Tina and her new little flock and the tweeters were in great tune!

One of the lovely makeovers

What a wonderful retreat! The River ladies envisioned by Tonya incredibly transformed a meeting room, put on a fashion show that was very economy minded and did 2 makeovers! We had a wonderful time of fellowship and worship and God really anointed my message on "What not to Wear". Our key scripture was from Roman 13.11-14. A very "now" word.

I was further blessed on Sunday when meeting with the River Church in their borrowed facility at local Reformed Church. You might remember their church burnt down in October.

Worship was wonderful and the Holy Spirit really moved and ministered to us all. Marlow then called me forward and had the elders and wives and prophetic people and church to pray for me especially in the current assignment. That whole act was prophetic! and the Word - be a peace maker was critical. Stay tuned!

The River Church Ladies Retreat

This afternoon I will be heading out to "The Taconic Conference and Retreat Center" in Red Hook, New York to meet with the ladies of the "River Church" www.betherriver.com . This church is the the result of a church plant from Alaska. My son and I were on that team and he is now the Associate Pastor. The Pastor is my good friend and apostolic team member, Marlow Dunham. Marlow's wife Tonya and I are very good friends and she invited me to speak to the River ladies on their retreat this weekend.

Tonya and company have been very busy planning a funfilled weekend complete with a fashion show and make overs. I am speaking on "Putting Off and Putting On" with the key scripture from Romans 13.11-14. I have always wanted to speak on the "wardrobe" of God and I may call this message "What not to Wear" :-).

I have been a bit distracted in preparing so I would very much appreciate your prayers. Thank you.

Please pray for Debbie

Debbie is my brother Jack's wife. They live only 2 doors from us. Jack is famous for being "No rules for kids" Uncle Jack.

Jack just called to say Deb will be operated on about noon Friday EST.

She has been in the hospital since Wednesday with a bowel obstruction.

12 years ago she was operated on for the same thing. Now they have a new procedure where the put a tube down her nose into her intestines and suction out the obstruction. Sadly, this has not worked. Please pray for my wonderful sister in law! Thank you.

What an adventure, first trip in ambulance

Yesterday morning I awoke thanking God for a good nights sleep and went downstairs only to find mom crumpled up on the floor next to her bed. She was very resourceful and had pulled all her pillows and blankets off the bed to make her more comfortable. She was wide awake and alert - although told a number of different stories as to what had happened. It took 3 siblings standing around wondering how to get her up and one grandson who just said "Grammy, give me a hug" -and she did and he swept her into his arms and like that she was upright. She was fine for a couple of hours but then complained of her head hurting and her ribs aching. We decided to call the ambulance service and head out to the emergency room. What a nice crew! They made mom comfortable, hooked up an IV, drew blood and took her vitals and gave her oxygen. She was very dehydrated (which can cause dizzyness, confusion etc). We took her to the hospital where she worked for many years. It was a little like going home and the staff there was wonderful. The good news is after a cat scan of her head and xrays of her ribs and pelvis - she was declared well and we drove her home. Whew!! Now you can pray for me as I head out for another ministry weekend in downstate New York. Thanks

Coming June 9th in Budapest

NH Ladies Conference

What a blessing the weekend was!!! It turns out the Hillsborough Community Church is 10 years old but this was its first ladies conference! How honored I was that the Lord spoke to Denise that I should be the main speaker. Of course, they often had meetings with their ladies but for this conference they invited a number of other churches and advertised. It was a 2 day event and more than 70 ladies came from about 9 or 10 different churches. Unity was on the Lord's heart and this event was a beautiful example of the Body of Christ coming together. The message of "The Heart of Deborah" was well received and God gave much revelation as we looked at the life of Deborah, Jael and Barak, the process they were in and the victory the Lord brought. There were tearful moments and moments of laughter, a number of wonderful testimonies and really good teachings from others. The Holy Spirit orchestrated everything so well that there was a harmonious flow between speakers. The host ladies treated us to a wonderful breakfast, lunch and delicious snacks. There was no cost to the days but a basket was out for donations for the food and the exact amount of money spent on food came in!! My sister and my mom were really gracious in giving me time to prepare for the assignment and I was built up, encouraged and refreshed preparing for the weekend. I was also more encouraged by the wonderful women I met in New Hampshire who have already gone through what I am just beginning to experience with mom. Many were moved to hold me up in prayer and to continue to pray. I am so grateful. I also enjoyed wonderful fellowship with Denise and Will and a great Sunday service with Will's amazing teaching - rich, rich, rich!! I am blessed!