jonah's group singing

Jonah had such fun also; already looking forward to next year's vbs!

benjamin singing w/ vbs friends

all grins, happy boy!

VBS Power Lab

Amberly had the priveledge of being a song leader for our VBS this year! She had so much fun and was thankful that she got to be involved. She had so much enthusiasm and excitement, it was contageous!

Photos of Cali and VBS

pictures from our trip to Southern California. These are at Laguna Beach in Crescent Bay.
Next, there are pictures from our week at VBS, Amberly was a songleader!

Life

Death
You have not conquered
You have no power
Over God's holy ones.

Life
Is more than we see,
More than lungs breathing
And hearts beating.
It is the soul, the spirit,
The inner man, the heart.
That is what life is.

Though the heart aches
and the eyes weep
The spirit is not crushed;
For our hope is in Jesus
The conqueror of death: Life's King!

As our Father takes his children home,
His loved ones one by one,
we leave this corrupted, sinful world
and enter into his glorious majesty.
What life is this on earth to live? But for the life to come?

For home is where the heart is.
O Jesus draw us home.
Forever, we will worship in peace, joy and love.
Now this is life.

As the spirit separates from the body,
sadness overwhelms the ones who love.
But those who love in truth smile joyfully knowing...
Death is the birth of life,
Complete in the presence of Christ!
Live on, O holy ones,
Who've left this land.
Live on and on and on in the Savior's blood-stained hand.

Jodi Meiter
written on the day of Grandpa Judson Briegel's death, published again today in honor of the celebration of Rachel Briegel's life

Speak your praises!

Tonight my grandma Briegel passed away; safe into the loving hands of God, as they say. She was 92; a long life lived mostly on God's path. She is now at peace and rest and I am sure to her great joy, reunited with her husband of 60 years. To her credit, I never heard her say a bad thing about the guy. She loved him. She always said, "He was so good to me." I fumbled upon a fitting Bible verse today,

Pr. 22:1 "A good name is more desirable than great riches, to be
esteemed is better than silver or gold."

By honoring her late husband she blessed him. And she gave herself a good name in my book; a woman who spoke praises of the one she loved. Over the past several years, she has lived nearby with my Aunt and Uncle. And what did I hear about them? "They are so good to me."
Maybe the biggest lesson she learned in her long life was to appreciate the good in people and to be thankful for what they do for you. Not bad, for 92 years. I hope we younger folk can take that advice and run with it too!
I want to be a glass half-full not half-empty sort-of gal. I want to be the one that sees the flowers after the rain, instead of dwelling on the rain ruining my picnic. I want to be one that enjoys the sufferings of life along with the happy moments, knowing that they will all be bound together in God's special tapestry of my life and will paint the picture that He so chooses. Beauty. It is reflected. Who or what are we reflecting?
I hope I can take the good old-age wisdom from my "Nena" as I called her, and pass it on to my kids and grandkids: Speak blessings on people and tell them how much you appreciate them. Speak well of them to others.........and you will be blessed. With long life, yes..........but also with a trail of spiritual fruit! I am sure she would admit she was not perfect, but she did leave a trail of people behind her in her life that love Jesus with all they've got. Now that's something to be grateful for! I have to believe she prayed for her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know and love Jesus. Maybe she did not do "great things" for God in her lifetime, but maybe, just maybe, she passed the torch of love for God, despite her shortcomings, and left a legacy of thanksgiving. I hope we can all continue the good habit she started by speaking her praises to God and to others!

the bob.......