Thursday: This is the day that we took Susan off to college. Susan's plan is to study in the two-year office administrator program at Faith Baptist Bible College. We arrived about noon and spent the better part of the afternoon registering her for classes, registering her car, computer and getting her room assignment. After unloading all of her gear into her room it was time for Lynn to help getting everything organized and stowed away! We had supper in the dining hall and attended a meeting for students and parents. following the meeting Lynn and I drove over to her Mom's and spent the night.
Friday: Friday was Iowa State Fair day! I love the State Fair!! We arrived about 9 AM and got started at the 4H building looking at the painting by Kaylee Good, a young lady from our church. Her painting received a Blue Ribbon.
Following a trip through the Varied Industries building and the Agricultural building we met up with the Kamberger's. The Kamberger's were at the fair first and foremost for the swearing in of their 14 year old son, Gideon, as a US citizen.
After a lunch of a pork chop on a stick, an ear of corn and a cool drink we made our way to the ceremony area. There were 50 individuals from 21 country's seeking to become citizens of the United States. This was a very moving and special event. I'll dedicate a post on this subject alone in the near future.
The rest of the day was filled with taking the Kamberger kids around the fair, through the barns and just lots of walking. One highlight was Mary Kamberger getting to check off an item on her "bucket list". Mary got to milk a cow! What a riot to watch and listen to the hilarious comments coming from Gideon! A 14 year old boy is a 14 year old boy no matter what their country of origin! What a fun day!
Saturday: A busy day filled with office work, house work and a bit of yard work. But the real highlight was the annual cook-out and trap-shoot at the Nichol's Ranch. People begin arriving around 3:30 PM and the smell of spent gun powder quickly began to fill the air!
The meal consisted of smoked pork chops and tons of great food brought by everyone. This was a mostly church folks gathering but we did get some visitors as well. What a great time of food, fellowship and fun with friends and family. The shin-dig broke up around 9:30 and I think everyone went home full of good food and plenty tired!
Sunday: A regular slate of services was on the agenda for the Church Family. Our adult Sunday School was in the Book of James, the morning service found us concluding our study of 2 John and finally, in our evening service we walked through Biblical Hope as a foundational building block of Christian character. I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to open the Bible with our folks and walk through the Word as we strive together in the process of progressive sanctification! It is an incredible blessing to watch people growing and changing.
To put a wrap on the past few days ... we ended Sunday with a SNAC time at our home after the evening service. SNAC means Sunday Night After Church, it is a time of just plain fun! We had some pizza and left overs from our Saturday fellowship. Everyone had fun and we were all tired by the time the party broke up at about 10 PM.
That ought to give a brief look in to what we've been up to lately, trust your week and weekend were filled with joy and laughter as well!
I Remain,
Pastor Steve
