Valentine's Day from Marcia

What a beautiful 25* day on the lake we had today!  After church today, Roy and I spent our quality Valentine's Day time walking on Upper Nashotah Lake and having alittle fun in the snow.  As you can see me making snow angels.  It was amazine walking where we once saw boats sail through.  Yesterday was a great day of fundraising for the WoNH (women of Nashotah).   We served about 130 people a delicious pancake breakfast and bake sale to raise money for the upcoming women's Lenten retreat in March.  It was not only a time of fundraising, but a time of fellowship.  This time of year it takes an extra effort to visit with the neighbors and friends that are hibernating from the cold.  Roy and I have joined The Order of St. Lukes healing ministry, and are in the process of classes to be installed in April.  As a nurse, I have a special connection with the healing ministry and look forward to each teaching of Jesus' healing.  During Lent we will be a part of the healing team at Zion on Wednesday nights, teaching parents how to lay hands on their children and pray for special needs at home.  It is a wonderful opportunity of outreach that many of us did not experience when we were children.  We are also blessed for the wonderful healing that is taking place directly with one of our special friends and fellow seminarians, Meredyth.  Meredyth went through a critical time post a gastric surgery, that was suppose to be a simple procedure that would put her back on her feet after the Christmas break.  The surgery did not go as planned and put Meredyth on a ventilator and in a medical induced coma for almost 30 days.  Now 45 days after admission to the hospital, she is awake, off the vent and progressing in rehab to relearn the many things we take for granted like walking, writing your name and being independent.  We hope to have her back on campus in about 3-6 weeks.  Keep up the good work Meredyth!  We love you!  During this time, we were given the opportunity to witness to hospital staff and get to know her sister Carrie.  Carrie and her 2 children have now become a vital part of our community as well.  Another blessing for our family, is the anticipation of the arrival of Stephanie in 19 days!  Our eldest daughter will be coming for a visit and we are so excited.    Well all.  I wish you a very Happy Valentines day and leave you with a reminder to read 1 Corinthians 13 for a blessing of love.

Transitions

Wow, seems like Christmas was just yesterday and now Lent is 2 weeks away.  We had a bit of a "warm snap" last week I guess it was. The weeks seem to be slipping away from me now.  It was in the 30's and even topped a high of 40 on one crazy day.  Enough that we had grass peeking through the snow.  Crazy happening for end of January.  It was weird that I almost had a bit of anxiety when seeing the grass.  Funny, I wasn't ready for the snow to be gone yet.  However,  need I not worry, we had more cold temps and snow this week and everything is crystally white again.  As my office has now been moved upstairs to the main floor, I've taken over the "spare room / computer room".  It is a nice change from the dungeon effect I had in the basement.  I get to see the beautiful outside and witness the birds out the window behind my desk.  I have even had deer walk right by the window in the early morning!  That was exciting!  Our schedules are back on track, now that classes have resumed.  Choir practice resumed tonight, our spouse group is complete again with everyone back from their holiday travels, and Heather's PTA at Silverlake is keeping me busy with fundraising planning events too.  The big event I am involved in currently is the annual WoNH Nashotah House Pancake Breakfast.  As the middler class representative, I am assisting the coordination of this event.  It will be an all you can eat breakfast on February 13th that is an outreach to the surrounding community as well as the campus families.  The proceeds will benefit the women of Nashotah's Lenten retreat March 19th.  I do like being involved and getting to know other spouses and being instrumental in campus living activities.  Another big weekend we have planned is our eldest daughter Stephanie is coming for 4 days March 5-9th.  I am so excited about that.  We will be discussing pre-planning for her wedding, no date set yet - though tentative summer of 2011.  Girl time and playing in the snow is at the top of our list of things to do.  This week has been a big week for Heather as well.  She had to go over the >100 curriculum courses offered at OHS for next year and begin building her schedule.  That was intense!  It isn't like when I was in HS and they just "gave you the core classes required and you got to choose maybe 1-2 electives".   Anyway, that was fun.  Well, not much else to write about at the moment.  I am tired, but wanted to keep you all up to date.  OH, yeah, how can I forget!!! The next post will be telling you about our summer plans for Mission Honduras!!  Yes, we are going back this summer and I am excited!!  I love the Agalta Valley.  Adios!