Meeting Patch the Pirate

The last few years, we've tried to take a little family trip in the spring. This year, we went to Iowa, where we visited a friend of Mom's from when she was in France on a missions trip, and we attended the Patch the Pirate Live in Ankey, Iowa.

I grew up listening to Patch the Pirate, and if it was only for that, I'd have still thought it was cool to meet him. (For those of you who know me well, you've probably heard me quote Patch the Pirate before.) But the opportunity to meet him wasn't just about his fame as Patch the Pirate. 

Our church has used the Majesty Hymnal for years, and there are several hymns in there written by Ron Hamilton. In some ways, he kind of feels like the Philip Bliss of our day. His most well-known one in our church is probably Rejoice in the Lord, but he's written many others.

As for Shelly Hamilton, well, she wrote the song that we used as the theme song at my graduation. (The Secret Place)  She's also put together a LOT of great materials for the church pianist.

So whether it was Patch the Pirate, or Ron Hamilton, I've been blessed by their ministry all my life, and I was THRILLED to get to meet them. Even if we did drive through a blizzard to get there.

It was also neat to meet some of the crew on board the Jolly Roger. Over all, we had a great trip, shopping, spending time with fellow believers, and being together as a family. I was reminded of how fragile life is. Take the time to cherish the moments with your family. Another of Ron Hamilton's songs is Cherish the Moments, and it is so true. We don't have this life forever, so be sure to love your family while you can.

Minnesotan, You Betcha!

Since Hosanna and I have birthdays so close, we decided to combine them this year and have the married kids and grandparents over between the two. I didn't think of it till the food was all made and set out, and then I realized something. We eat strange food. What's just a normal, northern Minnesotan thing to us, is really weird to the rest of the world. I just had to take pictures of these two platters to share with you. Two types of open faced sandwiches that you can find at any potluck.

Growing up, I never thought ANYTHING strange about the peanut-butter and pickle sandwich. I mean they're GREAT! Apparently, the rest of the country doesn't eat these. Do they eat them where you're from?

And my personal favorite, the cheese-wiz and olive sandwiches. Now these are great on normal bread, but to get the VERY BEST experience, you have to use the round cinnamon bread. That's what we did here. The round cinnamon bread, with cheese-wiz and olives will always be one of my favorite open face sandwiches. Have you ever had one?

Since it was just 'light snacks,' we didn't serve any hotdish or jello salad, but those are two other things that you ALWAYS find at a potluck. 

I've been told that we do other things weird too. For example, we eat our pears green. (All of us accept Mom.) I mean a crunchy green pear is WAY better than a messy and soft yellow one. And bananas, once they get the slightest bit of brown on them, then they'd better go into banana muffins or something because then it's not much good for fresh eating. Honestly, I like mine to still be green on the ridges. And cottage cheese, that should ALWAYS be eaten on buttered toast with salt and pepper.

So, now I'm curious. What kind of things do you eat that would be considered 'strange' outside of your area, or outside of your family?

Memorizing God's Word

   For me, there's never been any doubt that I ought to be memorizing and meditating on God's Word. Obviously, God commands us to hide His Word in our hearts, and mediate on it day and night, but that's WAY easier said, than done. I've been reading a book lately where the people don't have the Word of God in writing. They only have what they've memorized, and it really gets me thinking. If I was suddenly unable to read the written Word of God, how much of the Scripture would I have?

     When I'm completely on my own, trying to memorize, I find that I don't get much done. It seems that no matter how much I preach at myself, and want to do it, it just doesn't happen. But, like the rest of our Christian life, we don't have to do it alone. With the body of Christ to help, we can keep each other accountable.

  How does that look in my life? Well, before I was 19, I was in the Bible Bee. (www.biblebee.org) Some summers, I memorized up to 800 verses, and while I don't still know them all today, some of them have stuck. If you're 7-18, and wanting to memorize more, the Bible Bee is a GREAT tool to motivate you!

  Since I'm too old for the Bible Bee now, I've had a hard time staying consistent in memorizing. Here are a couple of things that have helped me.

Number one - the kitchen marker board. Miriam is very good at putting verses up, and making sure that we learn them. Often, she motivates us with treats like ice cream or something, and sometimes she goes so far as to say, "No supper till you've learned the verse!" It's very effective, and I've learned a LOT of verses this way. 

And number two - A church Bible memory program. Recently, our church has been doing the Scripture Memory Fellowship Bible memory books. We all get to pick our book, and we're assigned someone to quote verses to on Sunday.

When you know someone is going to check in on you EVERY Sunday, and you have to quote them to them, it helps motivate you to learn them!

If you can memorize on your own, without encouragement, go for it, but if you're like most of us, and you need extra encouragement, find something to keep you accountable, and stick to it. The Word of God is a treasure, and we're commanded to memorize, so find something that works for you, and get to it!

Random Pictures.

I was going through the pictures in my phone, and I found a few I thought I'd share. Enjoy! (Although my phone doesn't take great pictures so pardon the blurriness!)

We had a fun cousins game night with a few of the cousins around. We had some awesome games of four-on-a-couch, Dutch Blitz, and some kind of pictionary something or another. I'm not sure exactly what it's called. 

After some of the nieces and nephews had been away on trips, it was fun to get to babysit again!

This is from when Miriam, Hosanna, and I were in ND at the homeschool convention. We were just getting ready to check out of our hotel when the fire alarm went off. We're not sure exactly what happened, but there wasn't a fire. Anyways, when we got to our vehicle, I took a picture of the firetruck and texted it to . . .(name omitted) she didn't see the firetruck, and thought I was showing her where we were parked! I guess it's a good thing that I didn't alarm her!

This is outside of Chick-Fil-A. If you look close, you'll see the bunny rabbit in the snow. The reason for this picture goes back a few years ago to when my sisters and I were taking a walk through the woods. I heard a rustling, and this rabbit jumped up in front of us and took off. It REALLY startled me! As I let my heart rate get back to normal, I looked down, and saw that I was holding my sister's hand! They haven't let me live that down. Every time we see a rabbit, they joke about me being deathly afraid of rabbits, and needing to hold their hand. So, when we pulled up into the Chick-Fil-A drive through, I had to take a picture. Even in the city, the rabbits are after me! But seriously, I'm NOT afraid of rabbits contrary to popular belief. I simply get startled a little too easily. :) :) :) :)