Higher Ground Calendar

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I LOVE MY SCRAPBOOKS . . .

I finally had a chance to sit down and take my time going through

these scrapbooks!! What fun~you guys did a great job!

And put it together so quickly!

How time has flown by!

These are AWESOME!

I will always cherish these books.

What a wonderful gift - THANK YOU SO MUCH!

You ALL did a beautiful job on the pages.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

OK, Here's the Last Few Hints . . .

Can you guess what Pastor gave to me for my birthday??

These are the final hints - if you look on earlier posts, there are more hints.

Happy Guessing - someone should get it now, these are easy ones! : )

HIGHER GROUND LADIES RETREAT - 2010

GREEN VALLEY LODGE

Please be praying for this retreat, we want God to move in a MIGHTY way!

August 27, 28 & 29

Mark Your Calendar . . .

YOUTH ALIVE - THURSDAY & FRIDAY

SEPTEMBER 9 & 10, 2010

AND . . .

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2010

at KNOTTS BERRY FARM

Bizarro!

Monday, August 2, 2010

AWESOME PARTY!!

The party for Pastor was AWESOME!!

A GIANT THANK YOU to all who helped make the party happen

and to all who attended.

YOU are a blessing in our lives - we love you.

(I will post pictures this week. - Also, some pictures from

the GREAT services we had yesterday.)

Snake on the Street (Life on the Bench, Part 1)

Life on the Bench, Part 1

We have seen plenty of snakes this year - too many!!

(I think this is a gopher snake.)

While driving home from church Tuesday night, we came

around the corner near the peach orchard and slowed so we could hopefully

see a bear.

We had the car headlights on high as we searched the bushes

along the road. Before we could even react, out of the dark, running

as hard as he could, came a bear - straight for us! He ran smack dab into the Prius!

He hit Pastor David's door with a great thump!

Scared us all - including the bear.

That was a little too close for comfort!

(The bear was ok, and so was the Prius.)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A STRANGER . . .

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town.

From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited

him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche.

My parents were complementary instructors: Mum taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me

to obey. But the stranger... he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end

with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science,
he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even
seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first
major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry.
The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mum would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen

to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet.

(I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger
never felt obligated to honour them. Profanity, for example, was
not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or any visitors.
Our long time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that
burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us

to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars
manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!)
about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive,
and generally embarrassing..

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced
strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents,

yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our
family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as
he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today,

you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone
to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?....

We just call him 'TV.'

(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)

He has a wife now....we call her 'Computer.'

Their first child is "Cell Phone".

Second child "I Pod "