Whoo, where to begin? Guess I will start with early in the morning, getting myself ready for church which was at 9:00 a.m. No Bible study, although supposedly it was offered, watching part of a Luther movie, with only one taker, as again we had an experimental service. The Sunday school children sang at the beginning and then stayed, this time, long enough for the 'children's sermon' portion of the service before being excused for their classes. Last time only two kids were left behind in the congregation to hear the children's sermon. The choir sang a couple anthems and a song, different from an anthem or hymn, accompanied at times by a bassoon, accoustic guitar, and piano. Because 'they' had so many things plugged in to the sound system, the MIDI did not work so we had to fake a few things where the MIDI would have played. Whatever.
The saving grace was closing the service by the congregation singing "In Christ Alone". We stood for the last stanza and I was nearly through that stanza before losing my grip: 'no power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand...' Suzanne patted my arm and offered me a tissue. Between that hymn and the readings from Revelation----ugh! End Times always puts me away and I am glad that next week, we will have a regular service and likely sing "Jerusalem, the Golden". My sister reported singing it today at First German. I left Good Shepherd immediately after that service to head to Victory, so I missed the regular service at GS where they were singing "For All The Saints"---rats!
I got to Victory almost in time for the service, coming in at the end of the first hymn. To avoid making a racket, I came in through the kitchen door and then had to walk up the side aisle to find a seat near Linda O., since I did not see Stephanie at first. We sang the hymn "Alleluia, Let Praises Ring" and closed with a new hymn called "Day by Day", not from Godspell, but perhaps the Supplement? Not sure about that, but I do hope so. Too lazy to go and pull it out to look.
The most fantastic thing that took place, as part of the service, was when Pastor invited the military folks, some wearing their uniforms, to the front of the church to be recognized for their service. They introduced themselves, their branch of service and where they served. And thanked their spouses for the support while they were away, many of them married 40+ years. One man evoked alot of emotion as he related his various branches of service, highly decorated, and with much to say. He is not much older than I am but looks far older, due to his medical problems from his service. When the congregation was asked to applaud them for their service, Mr. Block, slowly and deliberately raised his arm in salute, but it was too late, I was already a wreck! Stephanie, who was among those being recognized, tried not to look at me because she did not want to cry while standing up there. So she looked the other direction and saw another person crying. She had to stare straight ahead or blubber herself....sorry, Stephanie!
Immediately after worship, we recessed for Ed and Judy's anniversary celebration. The cooks quickly went outside to grille the meat as others got the pot luck dishes set out. What a feast to be enjoyed! Linda O. asked me to save a seat for her as did Stephanie so Rita and I did just that. Bonnie and Tim, formerly of Victory but now in Palm Coast, sat near us, too, so we all got caught up. Linda wants to get together again before ThanksLiving but I am not sure that will happen, the month is flying away from us. She is now teaching at Virginia College so her time is limited these days as well. This was just such a great great celebration, and I was privileged to be a part of it!
On the way home I listened to the Jaguar game, having been alerted by Justin that the score was tied up at 3 each nearing the end of the quarter. I got home just as halftime was starting so by the time I was situated, the game was back on, with the Jaguars ahead 17-3. That did not last, as the Texans started to score, back to back touchdowns, and such. In the very last seconds, yes, seconds, of the game, the Jaguars managed to score a touchdown even though the pass was deflected into the arms of an unsuspecting receiver. SCORE! The Jaguars once again pull one of out of the toilet, so to speak, and sent me to mine! (sorry for being indelicate....) I called Gretchen and we screamed together, but then I had to hang up because of watching the ChoralFest via wels.net streaming. I saw people I knew and even sang along from home. Did not spot Mom and Lynn in the congregation but the camera did not scan the entire gymnasium. Once more I was weeping, listening to the acknowledgements and such before their final number, "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty". Wow, it was grande! What a blessing our Lutheran schools and heritage are.
