Our "Annual Visit"

A  couple years ago I explained how our church family participates in our communion and feet washing. Some of you expressed appreciation for sharing this. I thought I would show you something else we do that I really appreciate.

It is simply called "The Annual Visit."

We have 15 deacons who are responsible to visit all the homes in our congregation once a year. Each deacon asks another man in our congregation to go with them and participate in the visit.  On the right is Kevin, one of our younger deacons. He brings vibrant life to our church family. This year he asked one of our single young men, Wes, to go with him.

This was a meaningful evening as Kevin does very well at steering the conversation toward our spiritual walk.

The goal is to have meaningful fellowship and hopefully have spiritual conversation. They may have two other homes to visit the same evening so they usually stay about 45 mins. to an hour - it varies.  This  part of the visit you see above they may do shortly after arriving or toward the end of their visit.  Each deacon has developed his way of doing it.

Each year they ask these three questions to us:

1.  Are you still in the faith of the Gospel as you declared in your baptism?

2.  Are you, as far as you know, in peace and union with the church?

3.  Will you still labor with the Brethren, for an increase of holiness both in yourself and others?

These are wonderful questions to help us keep a close and open communion with our Lord and with fellow brothers and sisters in the church family. If there are problems, this is a good time to share it with the deacon. We are also given an opportunity to bring something that we think would be an improvement for our church service, the building itself, etc. A couple months later we will have a council meeting and if any questions have been given to the deacons, we discuss this as a church family.

At this annual visit, one of the men will read scripture, ask the above questions, and the other man will pray. Tonight Wes read scripture in Psalms and also referred to several other scriptures and commented on them.   I was so impressed as he is only 23. He then asked us the above questions and then Kevin prayed. I hope you can feel, through my words, what a precious time this is as tonight Kevin brought us to our Heavenly Father. The deacon may choose to pray about any hard things we may have walked through, or praise the Lord in prayer for any joys we may have experienced recently. They lift us in prayer to our Heavenly Father.

If the deacons have widows or single ladies on their list, they often take their wives along for the visit as it makes it special for those ladies.

We have been doing this annual visit before I was born. It is a tradition but one I think that is very valuable.

Speaking of turning the conversation toward spiritual things.........

Two weeks ago on a Sunday morning before leaving for Sunday School Anna called and asked if we would come and help her eat leftovers!! Aren't last minute invitations so special!! She cooks with more spices then I do so it was a real treat to be served at her table. That is chili in the large bowl and behind that, Spanish rice. We were talking about life in general and then she said so sweetly, "Let's turn the talk to Jesus!" I never heard anyone say it quite like that. It was so meaningful!

She is taking harp lessons and played two songs for us before leaving. This was a fun Sunday afternoon. 

One more Sunday experience yet.......

Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they strength, and with all thy mind."

Our son-in-law is also a deacon and he and Barb invited Hiram and Lori to visit our members at one of our Retirement Villages (Jere had widows on his list so the wives went along.)  So Nevin and I brought our three grandsons along home after church to have lunch with us and play games in the afternoon until their parents had completed the visits.

As we drove home, I asked our newly-turned six year old what his Sunday School lesson was about that morning. He misunderstood me and started telling me his Bible memory verse instead. In that class they have two weeks to learn it......this was the first week.

(I should have this on video instead of trying to tell it...........)

Darin talking - "Thou shall love the Lord they God (pause...) with all thy heart, and with (pause again....) all thy soul, and with all thy (thinking....) brain, and with all they strength." Just adorable!  He was very serious as he was trying to recall that verse.

This is later in the day when he WASN'T serious!

~Have a good evening

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My Sunday School lesson was about Jacob.

Title: Jacob's History: Making Right Choices

I printed seventeen sentences, cut them, and then the girls needed to put Jacob's life in proper order as you see above. The lesson was from Jacob's birth to when he met his brother Esau on his way back to Canaan.

We did it together, taking one sentence at a time. I think Abby found #12. I love my class of 16 girls. They are at a precious age (6th and 7th grade)....attentive and wanting to grow spiritually. It was a fun, relaxing activity.

If you remember Jacob's life, he made some very unwise choices. After our Bible lesson, I enjoy applying the lesson to today. The following story I share with you I taught several years ago. That year I told the story first - then we had our chocolate chips cookies. This time I wondered if it would have more of an impact if I tell the story WHILE they are eating their chocolate chip cookies....you'll soon see why. 

In case you have your eye on Lauren, I told them to help themselves to seconds!  

As I study, I pray for my Heavenly Father to guide me. We first talked about some of the choices Jacob made that we remembered. Then to help them apply it to today, I felt to zero in at this point on just one area in our lives - entertainment.

They were very attentive as I told this story:

 "A father of three teens set a rule that their family could watch only certain videos and DVDs.

This created a problem when a popular movie came out in local theatres. All three teens were wanting to see this film even though it was R rated.

So the teens interviewed friends and even members of their church getting a list of pros and cons about the movie. They hoped the list would convince their Dad they should be allowed to attend. On their list the cons were that it

~only used a few swear words that misused God's name

~only one act of violence was in the movie

~and only one sex scene...and only implied - nothing seen.

The teens did not want to feel left out when their friends discussed this movie. It was advertised well and made them more anxious to see it.  Some of their Christian friends at church had already seen it and said it wasn't  'that bad.'

Since they had gathered more points for it then against it, the teens asked their Dad to reconsider his rule - just this once! The father looked at the list and asked if he could have a day to think about it before making this decision. The teens were thrilled! This looked promising!

The next evening the father called his three children into the living room. They were puzzled to see a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the coffee table. The father said he had decided that if they would eat a cookie, then he would let them go to the movie.

But just like the movie, the cookie had pros and cons!

The pros were.....

~They had been made with fresh walnuts.

~They were made with the finest chocolate.

~The recipe he used won first place in a baking contest.

~Best of all, they had been made with care by the hand of the teens own father!

The cookies had only had one point against them!

~They had just a LITTLE bit of dog poop in them!!!!!

BUT the dough had been mixed very well!  The teens would probably not even be able to taste it. AND - their father had baked the cookies at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs had probably been destroyed!"

At this point, (most of them have finished their cookies by now) I very seriously said, "What would you say if my cookies have just a little dog poop in them??

You met Abby in one of the above pictures - her face was soo funny as she said, "I'm afraid to ask!" I immediately smiled and assured the girls that I had NOT done that!

Then I finished the story - "Dad continued - Therefore if any of his children could stand to eat a cookie that included just a little bit of poop, then they also would be permitted to see the movie with just a little bit of smut!

The teens turned down the cookies - not one of them could eat them!! And - best of all, they understood!"

                      My prayer is this story would have an impact on these dear girls. We agreed  our choices are very, very important.

~Living our Christian life takes careful thought!

I hope you also were blessed by the story. I heard Ranae Dobson tell this over her Dad's radio program.

~Have a good week!

We're having a

"February 5, 1967 first asked me out date" date today!

I turned my calendar page to the 5th this morning and was so blessed to see my daughter remembered this special day!! She gave out calendar dates to others and kept several for herself to do for us. It was so meaningful to me to have this memory included.  

Yes, Barb, I DO love hanging out with your Daddy...............................

Nevin and I learned to know each other in high school. We were in the same homeroom throughout those years. We had fun together at those times - almost a brother and sister relationship.

When he knocked at our farmhouse porch door on February 5th, I was shocked!! I had NO idea that he considered a dating relationship. He asked me to go to church with him that evening. I remember it like it was yesterday....I was quiet and shy! All of a sudden he didn't feel like a brother anymore!!

I love remembering this special day; thank you Barb for keeping this memory recorded in the perpetual calendar!

Thank You Nevin for living out this scripture to me! Because of you, heaven is part of my every day.  I love you.

Thank You, Donna, (our daughter-in-law) for doing a most fitting and lovely page for February 14!