Nice Weekend

Well, I thought I would give a quick update on how things are going before getting completely lost in the election mania....

Each day the pain in my leg is getting less and less. Consequently it is getting far easier for me to get around the house (with a walker and my right foot off the ground). This also means leaving the house is getting easier so I made three trips to church this weekend.

Saturday morning I attended a memorial service for a member of our congregation who lost his battle with cancer at the age of 53. Rest In Peace - Ken West. I ask for prayers for Kenny and his parents Westy and Eleanor. It was a very nice service and the Presbyterian Women hosted a reception afterwards. Kenny was a fixture in our church community and he will be missed. This spring while fighting the good fight and receiving treatment he cared enough and took the time to carve a back scratcher for me so that I could scratch my foot and ankle and inside my brace. I was blown away.

Sunday I made it to services in the morning and to Youth Fellowship at night. In worship we celebrated All Saints Day and honored those from our congregation that have died this past year. As is often the case "Time with Children" provided comic relief from the somberness of the service. Choir Director, Marc Boensal was charged with the task of discussing the day's theme with the kids. When he asked - "Does anyone know what a saint is?" the reply "a football team" sent ripples of laughter through the sanctuary. Marc handled it well and quickly brought things back on message.

Youth Fellowship was well attended and we watched a movie called Beat the Drum about the AIDS epidemic as it related to a young boy's journey from his small village to Johannesburg after losing both his parents to the disease. I think Sara summed up how the kids felt about the movie before it even started with the question - "Is this a serious movie with a message? because I was planning on a hang out, Princess Bride kind of movie night." The movie was good, although a little hard to follow without English subtitles and 1/3 of the movie spoken in Zulu.

We ate pizza and cookies; talked about the election and spent some time just horsing around. Catherine, one of the middle school students had loads of fun pushing me around Fellowship Hall in my wheelchair while Sara, a senior high student, raced us in the church's wheelchair.

It was really nice to get out of the house again for something other than a doctor's appointment and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many friends and co-workers who I haven't seen in weeks (although I wish that the memorial service had not been necessary).

Today, I was visited by Betsy Stewart from church with a wonderful gift that I plan on wearing tomorrow. A lovely white t-shirt with the following logo on the front -