Pastor Pat's mother has been in and out of the hospital. We didn't think she would live to see her 77th birthday last week but she did. Yesterday morning Pastor Pat got a call that his mom was back in the hospital. Today he got the call that they wanted to take her off of the antibiotics that they were pumping into her to help fight the pneumonia. This was by the doctors suggestion. The reason is that for the past several months she has been declining more and more and if pneumonia didn't take her now it would soon. The antibiotics were just prolonging the inevitable.

They did take her off of them. This evening Pastor Pat had a Board meeting at the new building and Kelly was at Women's Bible study at the old building. Paula, Pastor Pat's sister, got the call that this was it. She got to the hospital and called Pastor Pat. She said, "I'm going to crawl in bed with mom and I want you to pray with her" so he did and he sang "soon and very soon, you are going to see the King, soon and very soon you are going to see the King. No more crying there, no more dying there" Then Paula said, "there is no more dying here, she is with her King."

I cannot explain how much this means. We prayed for mercy for her not to linger long and she went so very quickly. We prayed that God would give her a glorious exit, as He has done with so many of His saints, and He did. Pastor Pat really wanted her to see the new building but he got the next best thing, he was in it when she slipped away. He really wanted to be there for his mom and his sister when it happened, and he was able to.

Kelly was able to share with the women and we prayed for her and the family after and had a glorious time of sharing and encouragement. It was absolutely precious.

On my way home my friend Alicia called. She had a horrible day. CPS had been called on her. You really need to read her blog (Click Here) for her side of the story but I started thinking, God can take anything and use it for His glory right? So somehow, just maybe, this can be turned. We have already seen God's hand in it that she hasn't been able to start foster care just yet. I know that probably wouldn't have helped in this case to have more children. I know she is a good mom, I know she will be a great foster mom, but God's timing is perfect.

I don't know how, I don't know why, but God has a plan and a purpose for all the things He allows into our lives. Some things are harder that others. But I pray that I can learn to trust God to the point of never questioning whether something good will come of it but learn to see Him all through it.

God is so amazing and sweet. I cannot tell you how much in love with Him that I am! And, O! I am!!!

Easter Sunday, what a day. I had such a wonderful Easter this year!!! We went over to a friend's house that had invited over quite a few families. So it was fun watching all the kids hunt for Easter eggs. We haven't had that since I was little enough to hunt for them!!! I even got named honorary Zia for the Antonucci fam (Zia is Aunt in Italian). YAY! Then we played games and ate and ate and ate. I must say, my strawberry and lemon cake things that I brought were deeeelish!

The kids were fun fun fun. For all of you with little kids around, be blessed and enjoy this time, and invite over those without kids. Sometimes we need that!

We have asphalt. Its beautiful!!! I have saint on my hands!!! Yay!!!

You have to go to the church website and see the progress!!! We have a parking lot now! AND the walls are ready to be painted!!!

All next week I will be at the new building painting. I am SO excited as I have not had a whole lot of involvement in the new building and this will allow me to do so! That and it will be great exercise to be on my feet doing physical labor all day. YIPPEE!!!

I will try to update as I go!

These are my favorite pajamas :(

My shoes died today. Sad sad.

We had aliens in our spanish class this week!

Actually we were learning body parts. Our adorable and clever teacher had us draw aliens on a sheet of paper and then describe our alien (in spanish of course) to another classmate who drew it on the board. The one you see with my name by it is the one I drew on my paper. The one to our right of that alien is the one I drew that another classmate described to me.

At the end of class my teacher took pictures and told me that when I call her now an alien is going to come up on her phone. HA!

This is a pet peeve of mine but I do not know how to fix it. Perhaps setting this out into the world of blogging will find me some answers...

Quite often I will be stapling several pieces of paper together that are a mix of portrait and landscape documents. I never know where to put the staple.

Generally speaking, if I have a landscape document on the front I will staple it on the upper left hand corner. However, my portrait documents are then stapled at the bottom of the page. I could turn them but all the rest of my documents in my files face the other way.

Similarly if I have a portrait document on top I will still staple in the upper left hand corner. However, then my landscape documents are stapled on the right hand corner.

Are there any proper procedures for stapling? I don't mind living with it if I can be consistent and I may as well be properly consistent!

This picture is a hidden treasure in our new building. It is drawn on the back of the electrical panels that are in the offices. When everything is finished you won't be able to see this anymore. It will be covered.

It will be interesting years from now when an electrician comes to work on something and sees this.

Something about being part of a building project, you get to see all the hidden treasures that no one will know are there. Its fun!

Please go to the following link to keep homeschooling legal in California:

https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/Default.aspx

Thank you!

Social butterfly is a medical condition that must be treated with socialization. I am afflicted with this disease (once again proving that homeschoolers truly ARE socialized). What happens to someone with this disease if they do not get socialization? They sink into a depression.

This is what happened to me on Wednesday. Pastor Pat had unexpected meetings for the building that kept him out of the office until it was time for him to go home and study. Chris and I don't really work together since I'm more Pastor Pat's secretary and Chris is helping Al, Kim and the youth leaders.

It was these two factors that began the depression. By the time I got off work I was getting pretty low and feeling very sorry for myself. I was headed to a store to just mosey through and pray (that is often my solution to depression) when God reminded me of what I always tell everyone else. The best way to get rid of depression is to stop thinking of yourself and to do something for someone else.

But what can I do? It's 4:45 p.m. on a Wednesday, I only have an hour and a half until I have to be at worship practice, what can I possibly do? Then I remembered the Antonucci family. Three kids between the ages of 1 and 6, a husband that has to work until later in the day, getting ready for a Wednesday...do I need to wonder if Sylvia will need help with the kids before church?



Sylvia opened her door and let me in smiling and talking. As I came in I discovered God's sense of humor. Even though it was only 5 p.m. and Sylvia didn't plan on leaving for church until 6:30, she had already gotten the kids ready for church (even down to their shoes), had dinner on the table and was simply waiting for her husband to get home to start eating! Yikes!

So I discovered another solution for depression...a free meal and wonderful company!

My mom recently started a new blog regarding her blessings. I wanted to write a post that everyone who comments on it must say one thing they are blessed by.

Here are two of my blessings for the day. These are kind of odd as they are memories but Kate's blog reminded me of both of these:

The first is a trip the zoo in Stead, which is north of Reno. My cousins and I went out and it was...well...doubtful it was really a zoo. It smelled SO bad, and we nearly didn't bother to go in. We were walking around this tiny zoo looking at the tiny lions (we found the bigger ones later) wondering if they were even alive. They were laying out in the sun in chain link fence cages with a small walkway and another chain link fence between us. That was it.

Then it was feeding time.

This consisted of the workers removing a very small bar over a hole in the fence and shoving raw hamburger meat through it. Boy did the lions wake up then! The workers started taunting them to put on a show for us and we truly wondered how much longer they would live.

Blessing number 2:
The memory of Alicia and my mom and I walking through the mall. We walk by a video store and the Great Mouse Detective is playing on the screen in the window. Alicia puts her hand out and starts cooing over the tv. I have never seen anything like it. Nor will she ever live it down. Don't you even try to deny it Alicia, I have a witness!!!