Yesterday as I walked up to Chili's for our after worship lunch, I told the man holding the door how glad I was to not have worn a dress. Man, it was so windy! He laughed and said he was glad he wasn't wearing a dress either...Good thing he was not wearing a toupee or it would have gone flying. Whee!
This is what the parking lot looked like again today
Today it is just as windy, up to 30 mile an hour gusts, but fortunately, at this writing, the rains have ended. All the cars had to park on one side of the parking lot for Bible study as the lot was again flooded from all night's rain. Ethel picked up Gretchen which was nice as Gretchen doesn't care to drive in the rain. It was so very windy as well, which would have added even more excitement for coming across the bridge.
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Yesterday's worship was so emotional again, as we recognize Good Shepherd Sunday. I knew the hymns were coming, and we had rehearsed some of them in choir, but yet, they caught me. The reading from Revelation 7 has been known to put me away and then we sang a canticle with the choir based on this Scripture. I told Robbie I had to sing it without reading the words in order to get through it! Those pictures of heaven blow me away..."how my heart yearns within me".
In chatting later with Linda, and with Lisa, I was not alone with the waterworks. Linda remarked that their sermon was so good and the hymns were especially moving for her. The friend she was sitting with wondered if she was alright and Linda assured Joanie she was fine, just fine. Linda told me she couldn't wait to tell Pastor today how much she got from the sermon.
My niece, Lisa, wrote about sitting in church where her sons go to school, as Manny had to sing with his class that day. There was a guest musician and right off the bat sang, "I'm But A Stranger Here". This put Lisa away as she recalled hearing our friend, Pastor Prange, sing this hymn acapella at Timmy's burial.
A few years after Timmy's death Lisa presented me with a counted cross-stitched piece showing Timmy in Jesus' arms. On the back she had attached the text for the hymn mentioned above. When I had it reframed a year or so ago, Dee made sure to attach the hymn to the back of the new framing. Yes, Good Shepherd Sunday was a day for mourning, and for rejoicing in what awaits us in heaven.
