Alone Yet Not Alone- Our Recent Music Video

  Jonathan recently filmed Debora, Megan and I singing "Alone Yet Not Alone" written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel. I learned this song back in 2015 when I was asked to review a movie of the same name (you can find that review here) . I think the song has a great message about knowing that God is always with you (when you are following Him) and that He gives us strength. 

 It is my hope and prayer that through this time of quarantine that most all of us have recently been through (and maybe still are in) that you have been able to rest in your relationship with Jesus Christ. That you have looked to Him for strength. That your relationship has grown stronger. If you don't have that relationship with Him that gives your joy and strength and fills you with peace - I would love to visit with you about how you can have that. 

Nieces and Nephews are Pretty Special

    Last week was a pretty exciting week for our family - My older sister Anna's family had the adoption of their 3 year old daughter and 2 year old son finalized.  I had considered them my niece and nephew for a long time but having it truly finalized is wonderful! They have had each of them since they were around 1 week old.

 The sweet little dark haired ones in the picture above and below are the ones that are now officially part of our lovely big family. We are so glad to have them!

  Not very long ago these cute nephews of mine found out that they are having a baby sister to come join them in September.

 We helped my sister Martha and family move last Monday and these guys were great helpers too.  We kind of cheated a little on the shelter-in-place to help them move but I figured since moving is allowed and hiring movers is allowed that we were their movers (just volunteer ones). It was fun getting together with my two sisters and their families to work on that. And what was really cool is that my sister Martha and family moved from nearly 2 hours away to our town. So now I have more nieces and nephews living in our area! We love it.

 On Sunday mornings we have been doing "Outdoor Activities" while "social distancing" and having a small group meet for church in our yard. It started with just neighbors but then my brother Luke and family started joining us as well. It is so nice to get to see them! I am looking forward to actually holding sweet Beulah again soon but meanwhile we are enjoying laughs and smiles from a  distance. When I took this picture she was wearing a sweater that I had made for her and her hat was made by my niece, Heidi.
   
   I now have 15 nieces and nephews on my side of the family with one more on the way and we have 7 on Ken's side. We are so blessed!

What is Your Circumstance Like?

  So, yesterday we found out that our shelter-in-place got extended another two weeks (until May 18th). I will be perfectly honest, that was not easy for me to hear. We have been really trying to follow the shelter-in-place order because I try to follow Romans 13 (along with the rest of the Bible) and I believe that tells me to obey my leaders. Though when it goes against God's directions that is a different story. Also I do think that when we see government going against the Constitution (we are trying to better study our national constitution as well as our state one lately) we should voice that to our leaders.

  Anyway, I have been tempted (and have yielded a few times too) to complain. But honestly, I don't think that is a godly reaction.

  If we read the account of the Israelites leaving Egypt and wandering around in the desert, we see a lot of complaining. God did not like that. He had provided for them and He was going to continue to provide for them but they wanted things their way. 1 Corinthians 10 reminds us of this. The 6th verse says that they were given as examples for us so that we would not crave the evil things that they craved. Verses 9 & 10 say: "Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer." I really don't think that God likes complaining.

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." Philippians 2:14-16

I want to shine like a light for God, I hope you do as well. That is not best done by complaining and grumbling - we can do that instead by following God's word and being thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

That is my challenge to you today... how are you giving thanks within this circumstance of being quarintined?

There are tons of things that I could share that I am thankful for. My life truly is overflowing even though I can't have company the way that I would wish, attend church with everybody, love on my little nieces and nephews or sit around a table with all my extended family - the time will come when I can do that again and meanwhile I do have much to be thankful for! I thought I would share a few things today that I am super thankful for that have come about because of Shelter-in-place:

1. Ken working from home. I love it! It is so fun to have him here for lunch and then I can pop into his office throughout the day or see him when he comes downstairs for a moment.

2. Some extra time for sewing and other projects. Not going nearly so often and not having music students come either has given us more "play" time. Megan has really loved the not so busy life. We have both been sewing but here is a picture of her latest creation....

 A dress from material she got for her birthday.

 Another thing that I had struggled to always find the time for in past years was Maple Syruping. We were able to do that again this year and had a wonderful season and I am so thankful. You can read more about that here. The Mayflowers (Hepatica is the scientific name) in the picture below were found while collecting Maple Sap. I love them!

 3. Extra time with our exchange student, Debora. Because of the Shelter-in-place she has been learning from home rather than going to school. Though that was naturally not what she had anticipated for her Senior year of highschool she has had a great attitude about it and it has allowed for us to spend more time with her and get to know her better.

4. The wealth of Sermons, Music, Classes, Bible Studies and workshops that are available now more than ever before online. Also the time I have had to be able to participate in some of them.

5. The motivation to shop for groceries less and to really go through and use things up in my freezer and pantry.

6. Getting to use up a lot of different sewing/crafting supplies as we made masks to donate and made May Baskets for the nursing home and neighborhood. COVID19 prompted those activities and I loved that fact that I could make something good, help others and also declutter my crafting area.

7. The stirring up in my life that can happen with change that causes me to dig deeper into God's word and spend more time in prayer. 

Also related to COVID19 but not truly because of it I have been feeling more thankful for:

1. Our Health

2. Living in the country and having tons of space to move around outside.

3. Good neighbors that I don't fear going through crazy times with.

4. That I already had in place the plan of storing up for the future and so we didn't/don't have to be concerned about food or toilet paper shortages.

What are you thank-ful for? Is there anything good that you have seen to come out of this situation?