WAY Choir's Natalie

Tonight I sleep in MY bed!!! Although I am glad to be home, I love travelling with the WAY Choir and working with all the young people. I will probably post about the tour the next few days, but I will start by sharing "Natalie." If you have read my blog for a long time, you might remember the story I shared about my childhood Sunday School teacher and how she so impressed a young foster boy. When the boy became a man, he started a foundation to give poor children birthday parties. Now, this very successful man has children of his own and is also a foster parent. His daughter Natalie was part of WAY Choir singing alto and had a violin solo on the song, "If Not for Grace." This was her first year and she is one of the youngest members at 15 years old. She is a tiny, petite, doll and is as sweet as she is cute. The violin solo was absolutely beautiful and I was so very proud of her.

Lyrics to the song by Israel Houghton:

Where would I be

If not for your grace

Carrying me

Through every season

Where would I be

If not for Your grace

Came to my rescue

And I want to thank You

For Your grace

Grace that restores

Grace that redeems

Grace that releases

Me to worship

Grace that repairs

Visions and dreams

Grace that releases

Miracles

WAY Tour Update

WAY Choir sang at Christian Life Center in Stockton, California, Wednesday night. Pictured above, is Michael B. This is his first year to sing with WAY Choir and I have been thrilled to work with him because he is like a sponge soaking in everything he can possibly learn. The first concert of the tour, he stood like a rigid soldier. I pulled him aside and gave him a short lesson about stage presence. The next night, he worked the entire stage from side to side and sang with such an anointing the entire crowd was mightily affected. This is part of the reason I love working with these kids. When they take the challenge to become better, I can't help but smile.

More later. We have two more venues to go.

WAY Choir Time

Just a quick note to let you know we are currently in Stockton, California at the WAY Choir rehearsals. This is a great group of young people and we feel privileged to work with them. Tonight is their first concert. I'll try to get some pics and post them soon.

WAY Choir Update

If you are interested - The WAY Choir blog, www.waychoir.blogspot.com, has been updated with several testimonies, a short bio about the director, and a schedule. You may have to go to the bottom of the page and hit older posts to find the schedule.

Pictures On Display In New York Times Square

From Shirley's blog, I followed the link that led to the page where you can share a smile with everyone in Times Square, New York. The above pictures were approved to be displayed. Top to bottom: My three kids, my mother, Bryn, Blake, and Bryce. I copied the pictures from the website that show how they appear on the giant, digital billboard. Blake is ready to go to New York and see it in "real life." You can visit Shirley's original post and see the picture she submitted of her granddaughter, Ella. http://writenow.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/close-to-mommy/

Wanna Travel?

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.- Glenn Clark

New Family Member

Please visit Blake's blog for pics and story. www.blakeallard.blogspot.com

This Will Preach

People are made to be loved and things are made to be used.
There is so much confusion in this world because

people are being used and things are being loved.

Prayer Request

Just a quick note to ask for your prayers and let you know why I haven't posted. My potassium is "outta whack" again and I have had a couple of rough days. Today I did a "stat" blood draw and consequently, the doctor has doubled my dose of potassium. Even with daily supplemental potassium, it has dropped even lower. My heart has been doing weird things, my hands are tingling, I have heavy fatigue, am emotionally despondent, feel somewhat confused, and a few other symptoms. When you pray, ask God to regulate my potassium levels. Thank you.

P.S. I actually feel guilty asking for prayer when others conditions are greater than mine. Please continue to pray for Janiver Brown and Bethany Roam. Their blog links are at the top right of my blog.

Daddy/Daughter Date

Getting ready to leave

At the restaurant

The Kids Meal dessert

The corsage

The T-shirt and kisses from Daddy

Several months ago, Bryn informed her dad he needed to take her on a date. He promised her a date in the future and she has repeatedly reminded him about it. In the meantime, she received an award at school and was given a certificate for a free meal at Elephant Bar. Today, her dad finally came through on his promise saying he needed to advantage of her free meal certificate. He was dressed in jeans and a button up shirt and asked Bryn if he looked good enough for the date. She quickly looked up and said, "I think you need to go put on a suit." He changed into a suit, went to the florist to get her a wrist corsage of mini roses with Baby's Breath, and returned to pick her up. She was so excited. They went to Elephant Bar and then she requested to go to the mall. She came home with a new T-shirt saying, "My heart belongs to Daddy." When she selected the shirt, she looked up at her dad and said, "This one because my heart really does belong to you, Daddy." I'm sure his heart melted with those words.

Post Requested By Bryn

Before talent show, her tooth was loose. I told her not to wriggle it until after talent show so she would sing more clearly. Because of this, Bryn was afraid to lose the tooth thinking "she would sound funny." The tooth was so loose it was protruding forward and she nicknamed herself, "Nanny McPhee." Everytime we would check to see how loose the tooth was, she would get scared thinking it was going to hurt and she would "sound funny." Finally, before bed last night, her daddy checked it and out came the tooth. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry as she bounced into the kitchen to get some water to rinse her mouth. During the night, the tooth fairy made a visit and left Bryn five dollars!

Warning: Get Kleenex Before Reading

Having struggled with infertility and the loss of a baby, I read the letter at the below link and got a huge lump in my throat. This mother's letter to her daughter is heart-wrenching.
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/04/letter-to-my-daughter.html

Wanna Have Some Fun?

Click on this link and help Linda finish her story. http://www.ljoyetree.blogspot.com/

Shout Out To Jamie

To my surprise, on my previous post, a long time friend who I haven't heard from in years stopped by and left a comment. She is a pastor's wife in Humble, Texas and is also a great photographer and blogger. If you have a chance, visit her website at: http://www.jamiephotos.com/. Her very entertaining blog can be found at: http://www.thephotographer-jamie.blogspot.com/.

Bakersfield Not Worried About Drought

According to the Bakersfield Californian, Florn Core, water resources manager for the city of Bakersfield, said the city has several programs to blunt the effects of a drought. A large ground water basin and several water banks, which are operated by various water agencies, should keep the faucets flowing.
“Speaking for Bakersfield, the emergency really will not affect us too much,” he said. “We have not had to impose rationing through two droughts. At the same time, we are asking people to conserve.” Entire article at below link.
http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/463164.html
The above article is what caused me to be surprised when our town decided to ration water. Our town is much like Bakersfield and has gone through droughts without rationing.

Rationing Water and Rice

EDIT: (Thurs. 10:42 AM) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide. Our city has now stated the rationing will be in effect until October.
We just received word from our city that we are in a drought and can no longer wash our cars at our houses, can only water the grass on Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and cannot wash off our sidewalks, houses, driveways, or windows. Are any of you fellow Californians living in communities where the water is rationed? Guess we are going to have brown yards because this heat requires more than three times a week watering to keep the grass green. We already have meters on our water and must pay additional fees for using more than the basic amount of water. I hope this doesn't last long. I don't like looking at brown grass. Since the price of gas has risen so high, so have all the groceries brought by trucks to the stores. Many people have started their own gardens to save money and now rationing water will affect their gardens, too.

A member of our congregation went to buy 25 pounds of rice and there were not any 25 pound bags. So, this person got three 10 pound bags and took to the register. It took an act of God and congress to get the store to sell them the three bags of rice. The manager finally gave in and allowed the purchase but said there is a shortage of rice and they are rationing it.

What is going on???

What Would You Do?

Below I have included excerpts from an Associated Press article and the link to read it in its entirety. What are your feelings? Would you want to attend service with someone so disruptive or should the church allow any disruptive behavior to attend service? I would hate to be involved in this situation from either side.

Minn. mom fights church ban on her autistic son
Jun 1, 4:01 PM (ET)By DAVE KOLPACK
BERTHA, Minn. (AP) - Carol Race thinks it's important for her 13-year-old son to be in church on Sundays for Catholic Mass. Leaders of the Church of St. Joseph once felt the same way, but not anymore. They say Race's autistic son Adam is disruptive and his erratic behavior threatens the safety of other parishioners. The northern Minnesota church has obtained a restraining order to keep Adam away, an action that has been deeply hurtful to the Race family and has brought them support from parents of other autistic children. "My son is not dangerous," Carol Race said. The church's action is "about a certain community's fears of him. Fears of danger versus actual danger," she said.
In court papers, church leaders say the danger is real. The Rev. Daniel Walz wrote in his petition for the restraining order that Adam - who already is more than 6 feet tall and weighs more than 225 pounds - has hit a child, has nearly knocked over elderly parishioners while bolting from his pew, has spit at people and has urinated in the church. "His behavior at Mass is extremely disruptive and dangerous," wrote Walz. "Adam is 13 and growing, so his behaviors grow increasingly difficult for his parents to manage."
Carol Race was cited for attending church May 11 in violation of the restraining order, and faces a hearing Monday. Walz did not return calls seeking comment, but Jane Marrin, who works for the Diocese of St. Cloud and is acting as a spokeswoman for the parish, said the church board tried working with the Races to find "reasonable accommodations." That included offering a video feed of Mass that could be watched in the church basement. The family refused all suggestions, she said. "It's a difficult issue," Marrin said. "There are no easy answers."
Adam is prone to anxiety attacks. Carol said some of those outbursts force members of the family to sit on him to calm him down, or restrain his hands and feet with a strip of felt. In his court petition, Walz said that after one service Adam got into another family's car, started it and revved up the engine while there were people in front of the vehicle. "Adam's continued presence on parish grounds not only endangers the parishioners, it is disruptive to the devout celebration of the Eucharist," Walz wrote. "I have repeatedly asked John and Carol to keep Adam from church; they have refused to do so. "In fact, Carol told our parish council that she would have to be dragged from church in handcuffs if I tried to keep Adam from attending Mass," he wrote.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080601/D911G1G81.html

Only For Iowa Folk

Recently, someone from Des Moines, Iowa has been visiting my blog. I don't know if you came across my blog by chance or if perhaps you could be related to me. My father, Paul Wilson, was born and raised in Des Moines and, to the best of my knowledge, still has family in Iowa. I don't have names of all my relatives and certainly do not know how to make contact, but if you believe you are related to me, feel free to e-mail me. Go to "view my complete profile" on the lower right side of this page. Click to view and there will be a contact link where you can e-mail me privately. I do remember having a cousin that owned a pet shop in Ames, Iowa. Her name was Sharon but I don't know her last name. I would love to know more about my dad's family.

Jump-A-Thon

Some of the children in our church participate in an annual fundraiser and yesterday they had a Jump-A-Thon. For several years they had a Mega-March, but decided to try something new this year. They all loved jumping. There were many jump ropes and two bounce houses. Following the Jump-A-Thon, there was a barbecue, water gun war, water balloons, the gigantic water slide and more. It was wild and crazy! LOL Part of their fundraiser sponsors Save Our Children which gives aide to orphanage and children's ministries. Each year they purchase something for our local children. This year, part of their funds are purchasing a sound system for their own KIDZ Church. This month, they will have a kids praise team and band complete with a new sound system. It will be quite exciting for all involved.