A good friend commented to me that I need a new update, so I thought I would take a moment and tell everyone hi. I just celebrated a milestone birthday and had a wonderful time. My husband got us a most delicious deep-dish pizza, and he also got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Tonight I chased a bat out of our house (really!), and I'm still wondering how it got in. I have never had such a close encounter with a wild animal that I could just tell wanted to eat me alive (except for mosquitoes). I will have my husband look for any bat guano tomorrow. I learned that word when we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park many years ago.

I check my Pleo blog almost daily, and I hope you'll leave me a comment if you'd like to or need me to get back to you about something. I am looking forward to going out with Holly next week to a Corn Fest in DeKalb where they will also have many crafters.

Have a great rest of the summer!

There is rejoicing at Elgin! Debbie Parrent was baptized tonight.
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I received notice this past week that our local Bible bookstore is going out of business. I've spent dozens of hours in that store searching for just the right book or the right gift.

About 15 years ago, the elders at Elgin decided that we would write a three-year Bible curriculum for infants through adults, and a writer-leader was chosen for each class. I was chosen to head up the 4th-5th grade program, and at the time, I didn't have a clue as to where to start. Actually the first part was easy -- I spent time in prayer and in reading my Bible. Then, on a trip to Huntsville/Madison, AL, and the Houston, TX area, I was able to spend about a week with Jane Britnell, who had just finished writing a two-year Bible class curriculum for 4th-5th graders at the Gooch Lane congregation, and a day with Nancy Tomlinson from the Kleinwood congregation near Houston. She was one of the writers of Our Spiritual Heritage, which back then was being used for 4th-5th grade.

Secondly, I looked at materials that had already been written. The local Bible bookstore had loads of activity books for this age group, and there were lots of great activity books being written at that time. Not only that, but there was a really great teacher's store right next to the Bible bookstore so bulletin board ideas were easy to come up with. They even had a laminating machine and didn't charge very much.

When I neared the end of the three years of writing, the teacher's store went out of business. And 15 years later, I think I have accumulated enough study books, Bibles, attendance stickers, and boxes of Dayspring cards so that it is okay for New Life Bookstore to go out of business.

Though I do not plan to stop teaching anytime soon, I am content and will continue to enjoy the treasures I've collected from both of those stores. "For everything there is a season...." In hindsight, it is easy to see how God answered prayer and gave me what I needed at just the right time.

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For those ladies who receive Comfort & Sharing, I am still in catch-up mode and it will be that way for three more months. I can only email two issues a month or else I have to pay my email service provider more because of the number of issues sent. I am now current through January 31, 2009. If you aren't receiving your emails, let me know. If you'd like to sign up, there's a link on the left. Have a great week!

Blessed are the Mothers who love God, for their children shall
not be ignorant of their Creator and His plans concerning them.

Blessed are the Mothers who love the word of God, for their
children shall know of the way, the truth and the life.

Blessed are the Mothers who love the house of God, for their
children shall enter there and sit with them in the presence of God.

Blessed are the Mothers who love to pray, for their children
shall feel the power of prayer and many shall find salvation.

Blessed are the Mothers who love to give to the cause of Christ,
for their children shall become supporters of the Kingdom of God.

Blessed are the Mothers who love the family altar, for they
shall have their reward in this world and in the world to come.

Blessed are the Mothers who love to speak kind words to their
neighbor’s children, for thereby they shall win
other boys and girls besides their own to Jesus Christ.

Blessed are the Mothers who love to be companions to their
children, for they shall be called understanding Mothers.

Blessed are the Mothers who love to fight life’s battles
bravely with a strong and steadfast faith in God, for their
children shall know where to find strength in time of need.

Blessed are the Mothers who, when they are old and gray,
can look back upon memory’s wall with no regret and can say,
“I brought my children up in the fear of the Lord.”
Theirs are the mansions in glory.

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My computer is fixed, and my son has wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I'm looking forward to worshipping with the saints at Elgin tomorrow. All is well. I wish all the mothers here on Pleonast a very happy Mother's Day.

Imagine a world without computers. (((((THINK, THINK, THINK))))) I think it would stink. I found this out the past couple of days because my CPU died yesterday. I have actually had to call people to find out info...GASP! I miss Bible Gateway.com. I have become very dependent on my computer. Now I look forward to not using it through the weekend because I have a ton of stuff going on (as well as just to see if I can).

Tomorrow a friend and I are meeting with the lady at Fox Country Day School to work out contract details for using their site for our Ladies Day, which is Saturday, October 3. Friday I'm teaching our Ladies Class on Being Friends With Yourself. Saturday I have two things going -- I'm meeting friends in Wisconsin for brunch and my hubby and are hosting our congregation's Group 3 get together here Saturday for dinner and a rousing, buzzing game of Bible Bee. If you'd like to join us, please come.

It is a lovely spring. We've gotten lots of rain so the greens are greener and the blooms are "bloomier." There are also several new babies I can't wait to get some quality baby-hugging time with very soon, and there are more to be born in the next couple of months.

Our Ladies Bible class officially began meeting twice a month (a change from monthly) in April on Fridays. We are studying Jane McWhorter's "Friendship: Handle With Care," and the thought questions from these lessons are quite challenging. After class this past Friday, I had the honor of spending the afternoon and evening with Faye from Sycamore and Roberta, a good friend from our Elgin congregation. Faye and I have known each other since she was in high school. Right after our Bible class, Faye presented me with my Pleo gift from the first-five-to-sign-up-get-a-gift. It was a quilt square made by her mother that Faye made into a pillow.



For the five of you out there who will be getting a gift from me, don't hold your breath just yet. :)

I should have another issue of Comfort & Sharing out this week. Catching up is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I also hope to catch up on all your blogs this week. Actually I've read lots of them; I just haven't been commenting. Have a great week!

One last thing -- there has been a bird that sings the first four notes of "Here Comes the Bride"/"Faithful and True." I haven't seen the bird, but the singing is slow and beautiful. Any idea what kind of bird it is?