But what an up it was!! Alayna, my niece, stayed the night with us so she could be at church for choir rehearsal this a.m. The choir was singing a "send off" song for their director who has taken a new position at the high school. He is not really leaving leaving, he is leaving his principalship for an administrative job at MLHS. The good news is that they are not moving away, the bad news is that he will not be involved with the same things he used to be. Anyway, Kari H. directed the choir which stood on the front steps by the altar, and were joined by many young people who are home from college or high school aged. I took pictures but have no way to transfer them from this computer.
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Being Trinity Sunday was simply the icing on the cake and we sang many lovely hymns as a congregation. Prior to worship, however, the orchestra was rehearsing "Abide with Me", organ and flute rendition, which immediately brought tears to Lynn and me. It is one of her favorite hymns and always moves me to tears when I hear it, particularly the part "Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes, shine through the gloom and point me to the stars..." "In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." We sang "From All That Dwell Below the Skies" and "Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices", plus, of course, "Holy, Holy, Holy". " 'Tis good, Lord, to be here!"
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Linda sat with us as Tommy was ushering, and yes, we were in church rather than at the park because of the nasty weather. It was barely 50 degrees outside so they were forced to Plan B for the picnic. The church picnic followed immediately and the food was delicious. The Hmong congregation also brought their version of picnic food so I enjoyed an egg roll with my natural casing hot dog and poppyseed torte. Bliss! Sheer bliss! There was a brief presentation for Kevin, the man changing positions in the congregation, as well as for the Hmong evangelist, Nau Lee, who recently graduated from the seminary as a pastor. It was moving to hear him speak about his Savior, considering not that many years ago these people did not know the Lord or His saving work for them. We were even invited to their home next weekend to share in the graduation party! Sadly, we will be out of town but I love it that his wife invited the congregation to her home!
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After I went in and stocked up on desserts in a lovely foil to-go cake pan, we decided to come back to Mom's for a bit. I picked out a piece of poppyseed torte to take to Sharon, my sis-in-law, because it is her absolute favorite treat. We rested awhile and got the chill from our bones before heading over to Wal*Mart for Lynn to get some plants for her porch. It was cold there, too, but warmer inside the store. I finally found the deck of Scrabble cards I have been looking for, so am looking forward to breaking them in hopefully soon. Jill came over to get her pieces of rhubarb torte I brought back in the foil pan, as she missed the fun by having to work all day.
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As I was driving over to deliver Sharon's torte, I decided to take her to supper while I was at it. Since I did not call first, there was a bit of preparation required including getting a wig on her head and selecting a jacket. The first one I chose was a pullover so we had to go back for a button front coat instead. She wanted to add a hooded sweat shirt too but I said no to that, promising I would keep her warm in the car. We went to The Covered Wagon, a diner style place my former spouse and I used to enjoy for lunch when we worked together building houses in Manty. Sharon wanted a brat and that is what she got, complete with the onions she was hungry for. I had (wait for it.....) a perch sandwich! And brought home a slice of raisin custard pie, to add to my foil to-go pan with other tasty treats. I am getting a good share of perch and rich desserts, that is for sure!
