Community Fish Fry--Everyone Welcome!

Whew! The month of May has been so busy!  Saturday we had our 2nd Annual Community Fish Fry. We all had such a good time, and as the name of the event suggests, the Community is invited.  We had 5 unusual guests who came just as the cooking was getting started:  five beautiful goats!  They were in the parking lot of the Church, and we were all very worried about them getting out into the busy road.  Brother Henry called the Sheriff's Department, which promptly responded.  The Deputy did tell Brother Henry that in his 30-year career, he had never been out on a "goat call."The goats were so pretty and gentle and they all had their Minnie Pearl tags on their ears. Happily, they were returned safely to their owner. 

The Fish Fry was marvelous. The food was great, the fellowship even better. Brother Doug and Mrs. Donna sang for us, and Michael gave a short presentation of the Gospel.  Food for the tummies and food for the souls!

Our Family

Five sets of glasses, five sets of tired feet and five happy hearts. Thank You, dearest Lord, for our family!

He's Always Been a Little Different . . .

Ima Virginia is great at catching her subject's personality when she takes pictures. This is a picture of John Thomas at his Recital reception last weekend.  He was trying to keep his tie out of the pizza, cake and ice cream. Leave it to him to find such an original way to do so and leave it to IV to capture the moment with her camera for us!

The Man of the Hour--John Thomas Bethel Justus

These pictures are from John Thomas' Senior Recital and Graduation service. He was the "Man of the Hour" for sure! Family, dear friends and even TMC faculty attended.  John Thomas played several of his favorite piano pieces as part of the recital, and then watched a wonderful taped message from TMC's President, Dr. Emir Caner. He was also  presented with a beautiful new Bible by Brother Travis Perry (his Sunday school teacher). Afterwards, we all  made our way to the fellowship hall for a trainload of pizza, cake and ice cream!  Mrs. Rosy Brown sent gallons of the world's best sweet tea. He loved that!  This was a wonderful day.

Rx for a Happy Heart

I think this picture says it all--Mamie, the wonder Dacshund.   She is a beautiful standard doxie from our local animal shelter. She was found wondering on a major road north of town and brought to the animal shelter. A week later, Virginia found her on the shelter's "pet finder" webpage. If we had not arrived when the shelter opened on Saturday, she would have been taken to an adoption fair where she would surely have found a new home.  As it is, she now a member in good standing of the Justus family. We think she had puppies not too long ago.  She is very sweet and loving. She is very long, and of course, when she rounds a corner, she "fishtails."

Heaven

This picture is actually a 1000-piece puzzle available from the Puzzle Warehouse. I have not purchased it, but I do find a lot of contentment just looking at this jigsaw family.   We have been so busy these last weeks--I am looking forward to things calming down a bit so that we can have a few evenings at home like this. Having said that, I really loved being at Church last night with Mrs. Debbie, the children and youth and Brother Matt.    After the children and youth had left, I went on it to the sanctuary. Everyone was standing around talking and laughing and crying--yes, crying. A dear couple has been visiting us these last few weeks. They love to sing (and we love to hear them sing). They  have a special needs son who brings joy to all of us. Last night, Mrs. Donna was sitting amongst the ladies crying--she so loved the time of Bible study and fellowship, she was overcome with it all. After a little while, Mrs. Donna's husband and Virginia started singing "I'll Meet You in the Morning . . . ."  He played Virginia's guitar and we were just about all crying by then. Their son loves music and he had a foot in heaven's door then, too.  I think that time together gave Michael a great booste. He loves Wednesday night Bible study--the adults sit together in the choir loft and sing and study Scripture--everybody using their own translations, learning from the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and each other. Doesn't that REALLY sound like heaven to you?

Happy May!

May is a beautiful month! Hope you are having a great morning.

I have some pictures I would like to post soon, but Blogger has just changed, and I will have to get some expert help (Virginia) to get them loaded. Pulling these images from the internet is much easier.

Yesterday, I spoke with another professor who will be taking over the teaching of a class I have been teaching for several years (I am so glad!). I printed out all of my course documents--syllabi, tests, study guides, etc.  I was so pleased with myself for getting all of this together for him. The first thing he said after a very gracioius, "Thank you," was "can you send me an electronic copy of  each of these?"

I knew the question was coming, and it is a fair request, and he is a very nice man.  But this is such a challenge for me! My school computer has its own mind, and I always have trouble sending attachments. I'm sure the problem is mostly "operator trouble" but the computer does seem to run best on kerosene.

In any case, I am more than happy to attempt to provide these electronic copies for my colleague, and I'm grateful he is patient!

The kids and I are here in the "Home, Sweet Tree" this morning. "Sping Fling" takes place this afternoon at the College.  At "Spring Fling" there are all kinds of games and activities--kind of like a carnival for the students. The faculty/staff families are invited, and this has been an important part of the year for each of our kids. This will be a great way to start the month of May.