An Aamzing Week!

This past week has been one of those weeks where there was something happening every day. It was definitely a busy week, but a very good week. It actually stated last week when I traveled to south east Wisconsin to be a part of 2 different mission conferences and make a couple of visits. The first conference was Wednesday night in the small town of Fulton, Wisconsin. It is a small town, but Fulton Church is a good size church with a very active membership. On Thursday I traveled to Union Grove to stay at Shepherd's Home, where they minister to Cognitive Impaired adults. They not only provide housing and work, but a great source of spiritual leadership. I came away with a great appreciation for how they work with C.I. adults and respond to their needs. Friday I was involved in a 3 day mission's conference in William's Bay at Calvary Community Church. It was amazing to see missionaries from all over the world and here in the USA.

That was last week. This week involved 3 adult Bible Studies (Linda has a Ladies Bible Study on Monday, I have one at an assisted living facility in Hayward on Wednesday and we both took part of the Bible Study at Hanson's Group Home in Barron.) We also had a Bible Study tonight with our adult group in Shell Lake.

Thursday after school, we hold a Bible Club in Haugen Elementary School. This was our first week of club for the year and we had no idea how many kids would be coming. In the past we were able to send notes home to all the kids at that school. But this year we had to send out personal notes to the kids that attended last year. Praise the Lord, we had 11 kids come and had a great time with them. God really answered prayer!

Friday night was the night of our Teen Youth Night in Barron at the Barron Area Community Center. Instead of going all night, like we have done in the past, we went from 7 - midnight, which was a lot easier for us "old people" to handle. There were 29 teens and 11 adults. Paul Frey handled the games and devotional for the night. One of the games he played was "Chariot Race", where each team had a blanket for a chariot which they placed someone on and pulled them around the gym and raced chariot style. The kids had a blast!

Today was our annual "Praise Celebration" at the Barron Church. The music group "Reachin' Out" sand and played several songs and we celebrated God's bleesing during the year. Our attendance was nearly doubled with 41 people attending and enjoying the potluck dinner after church.

This past Saturday we had a work day at the church in Barron. Dave and Randy came up from Portage, Wisconsin with their wives to help us install 5 new windows. Wayne Nutt also help with the windows. I went over the day before and removed the brick molding and inside trim and they basically did the rest. I am glad that they installed the windows and not myself. It took most of the day to get the job done, but it really looks nice now and a whole lot quieter. It should be more economic this winter for our renter. I played "gofer" and ran after parts as we needed them and Linda fixed dinner for the crew.

Aunt Ruth

The other day my brother Bob called to tell me that our Aunt Ruth had passed away in her house. My dad and all his brothers and sisters are now gone. My Aunt Lil lives in Moose Lake, Mn. She was married to my dad's brother, Clayton, who passed away a few years ago. Ruth was always the quiet one with a very dry sense of humor. I still remember when she and my Aunt Blanch came to our wedding in Jackson, Michigan back in 1971. They stayed with Linda's folks for a couple of days. Linda's dad was trying to get them to crack a smile, which they did after a while. I don't have a lot of memories of Aunt Ruth, except going with my dad to visit her and her husband Arnie at their house in Rochester.
The picture is that of Dad's family. Grandma Distad is the one in the middle and Ruth is on the right with Blanch on the left side. Left to right in the back is Clayton, Dad and George. We miss them all.

Last week we held a VBS at Haugen Elementary School in Haugen, Wisconsin. Last year there were only about 4 or 5 kids total, because of Summer School and swimming lessons. This year we changed the dates to later in the summer, when Summer school, Swim lessons and the county fair were over and left the results with the Lord. We averaged 11 kids with 14 enrolled. That may not sound like a lot of kids, but it was a great week. One of the things we have been trying to do is to get to know the parents better and this year we were able to get better acquainted with many of them. A couple of them stayed and helped with the VBS program. The kids seemed excited about VBS and the lessons on Sunday School Charlie. One of the highlights for the kids was to play "Poop Deck" each day. Molly, our summer missionary, led in that game.

VBS in the Dark!

This week we are holding VBS at Lake Park Alliance in Shell Lake. It has been a good week with about 25 kids coming. Today was a little different, and yet a very good day. Sometime last night we had a storm and the lights went out. We woke about 3:00 am to a dark room. In the morning the pastor called and let us know that the electricity was out at the church and would not be on until at least 10:00 am. We wondered if that would affect kids coming to VBS - It didn't! The kids came and it turned out to be a VBS the kids will probably not forget for quite a while. We couldn't use the tape player to play back ground music to the songs they sang and the puppets were a little harder to see, but that was all right. Instead of going down stairs for class, the classes were held in the auditorium where there was more light. After hearing about the tornado that struck the boy scout camp in Iowa and where 3 of them were killed, we praise God for our little inconvenience. God is in control!!!

On June 6th, our grandson, Connor, graduated from Kindergarten. We really enjoyed watching them march in with their cap and cape. One of the highlights was when they sang a song about brushing their teeth. They also had a slide show of the kids during the year. They sure keep them busy. The great thing about the school he and Gabe goes to is that it is a Christian school where they are not afraid to share Christ with the kids. Where else can you begin and end a program with glorifying the Lord!
After graduation we went to a restaurant called Snuffies, where they serve old fashion 50's style hamburgers and milkshakes. I just wish the prices were the same as in the 50's. The only reason Connor likes this restaurant is that they have a candy machine that lets you keep playing until you win some candy. He likes his candy!!!!!
Yesterday we started our first week of Vacation Bible School in Shell Lake, Wisconsin with 17 kids attending. Today there were a few more. I have been teaching another Sunday School Charlie episode where Charlie and Red go to camp and encounter a bully named Muscle Mike. The theme is "Fishers of Men". Today the youth pastor had a long, long cane fishing pole with a lizard on the end of it that he dangled above the kids. (The lizard was in a plastic bag attached to the end of the pole.) Some also brought a turtle for the kids to see. maybe we should have counted the animals in our attendance?

Grand Parents Day

This past Friday was Grand Parents Day at our grand sons Christian school in Blaine, Minnesota. During the first hour we were in the school auditorium and each grade sang a Christian song. It was fun watching both our grandsons sing and do the motions to the songs. Connor is quite the ham, so when he came out on stage with the rest of the kids, he was waddling like a duck and just enjoying himself. Then we spent time in both Connor's kindergarten class and Gabe's First Grade class room. In Connor's classroom, each child introduced their grand parents (or special friend) and tried to tell a little about them and why they were special. In Gabe's class, Gabe showed us his room and read to us out of his library book. He does pretty good at reading. Later I went with Connor to the library where he picked out a couple of books to "look at". He just likes looking at the pictures.
We are very proud of our grand sons (and grand daughters). It is amazing to see them grow up and change every time we see them.