"Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious."
Psalm 66:2
My great grandma has a heart aneurysm. About 2 weeks ago she wasn't doing very well at all...she ended up in the hospital but was released 3-4 days later. The next week she had another pain attack on a Sunday morning. After church we went by to visit her. I really thought she was going to die that day. When we came in the room, we gently gave her a hug (she was in bed), and then she started crying. She reassured us that she didn't have any pain, but that the tears were tears of joy at seeing the ones she loved. Of course, it made me cry! :) We left after about an hour or two visiting with her.
That whole week she had relapses of pain and so she was moved into a higher level of care at Covenant Woods (her retirement home). We visited her about every day and my Aunt Stacey and her daughter, Kaitlyn, drove 3-4 hours to be with her. We didn't know if this was going to be the week that Jesus would call G.G. home.
But, G.G. still had lots of life left in her and she's now back in her regular room. She's already attended one of the families birthday parties and is her usual (even thought she gets tired quicker) self! :)
To give you a little background, G.G. loves to hear us all sing and play instruments. When we would have her over for dinner that was about all she'd ask...that we'd sing and play the piano, guitar, etc. She had tried to get us to have a little concert at Covenant Woods before, but we'd never finalized anything. So, anyways, we were talking to G.G. and then decided to go for a walk to see some finches they had in a cage down the hall. (My Aunt Megan and her children, Na-naw - G.G.'s daughter, Aunt Stacey and Kaitlyn, plus a few other visitors, were all at Covenant Woods that day. Cadence, Justus, and Lydia loved the birds!) G.G. decided to come along and, once by the finches cage, G.G. sat down in a chair and asked if we could sing for everybody. So we sang a hymn or two and then we went a little further down the hall. There G.G. asked us to sing again, and so we obliged. (It was like a little travelling circus! ;)
As we were singing to a few older men and ladies the activity director for Covenant Woods showed up. When we had finished another few hymns, she asked if we would be available to sing that next week in their multipurpose room! :) It was very unexpected, but Mama said yes!
So, you would think that we would spend hours practicing, but, with the chicken processing and everything coming up (yes, this post is out of order!) we kept putting practices off. The next week we were busy boiling, canning, and making soup with 6 or so of our chickens (and with other things), so we didn't practice at all until...2 hours before we left. :-/ Phew...I'm glad I got that out! :-D
Poor Mama typed over 10 hymns for around 2 hours before we practiced, and when the songsheets were finally ready, they started printing out wrong. So that was frustrating but she soon printed the correct papers! After *very quickly* skimming through the songs (especially the ones we barely knew ;), we rushed out the door and into the van.
When we arrived at Covenant Woods we went back with my Grandma and Great-Grandma to the Multi-Purpose room where we would be singing. After some quick trips to the bathroom, we practiced a little bit. Then people walked or were wheeled into the room. We had around 15-25 people show up. When the activity director gave the "all clear" Daddy introduced all of us and then we started singing.
Hannah and Lexi played the piano as people were coming in (and when they left).
Singing.
As you can see, we all tried to dress in black and white. Josiah was the only one who didn't really match.
Singing again!
(Thank you, Na-naw for taking the pictures!)
Some of the hymns we sung were: Amazing Grace, It is Well, In the Garden, Blessed Assurance, Sweet Hour of Prayer, and more! After singing for about 30 minutes, Mama asked if anyone else had a song they wanted us to sing. No one answered and then Miss Lindsay (activities director) came up, told us thank you, "that was beautiful", and then everyone was dismissed. While people were leaving we went and talked to some of them. I had two people tell me that they were the only ones of their family left. It was pretty sad. :( After everyone was gone we went back to G.G's room and visited for a little while before leaving to get pizza. After pizza we went back home to drop Mama, Josiah and sick, little Lydia off and then we went to church (after a little relaxation time!).
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We, as a family, had never sung before anyone other than family. It was a new experience for us, and I think we all enjoyed it (except for little, sick Lydia)! There's nothing quite as special as seeing your Mama playing the piano, as you sing with your sisters, brothers, and Daddy for the glory of God.
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On another note, my lovely 18-70mm camera lens decided to stop working properly. This is the second time this has happened and I'm starting to get frustrated with it. For some reason it won't zoom correctly. It gets stuck and doesn't go full range. I mean it moves, but then it gets stuck half-way and I feel like I'm going to break it if I keep twisting it so hard. Ahh!!! The first time it malfunctioned, we sent the lens back to Nikon and they "fixed" it but now it is doing it again. This lens is also the one I use constantly, so that is another frustrating aspect. And then I don't know when baby will decide to come, and my main lens isn't working! I don't know what to do...send it back, pray it'll fix on its' own? Sending the lens is a forever-long process that I really don't care to go through again. So, I'm very bemuddled!
Thank you for reading long enough to listen to my complaint. (I just had to tell someone! ;) Any prayers for my sanity would be greatly appreciated! :-D
Okay, I'm just joking. I'm not that frustrated. Really. :-/
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On one more note, I'm contemplating buying a macro (a.k.a. micro) lens. A macro lens is just a lens that can magnify a small object. I want one so I can capture the preciousness of new life (babies!) in a better way. My other lenses only let me get so close to things before they turn blurry, so I can't accurately portray some of the smallest and most precious things in life. I love how tiny newborns' feet and hands are, and only macro lenses can capture them the way I'd want to.
So, all that to say, if any of you have advice on macro lenses, please share it with me! (Or, if you know of someone who is looking to sell their macro lens, let me know!!!) The macro lens I'm looking at (105mm) is around $900 from Nikon but on Ebay you can find some for around $400. I don't have a whole stash of money sitting around, so I don't want to spend rashly and, if this isn't something the Lord wants me to do, I don't want to buy it. Any of your prayers would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Kimber :)
