50th Anniversary Banner

appl

This weekend is the 50th anniversary of my church, Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship.  It will be a celebration weekend to look forward to.

I had the honor, with help from my friend Diane, of making the anniversary banner.  Between eye surgeries, it took longer than I'd planned, and yet, here we are.

The weekend's theme is "Our Life Goes On."  I wanted lots of faces, plus a recognition of some of the things we do and have done.  A list of the pastors, including interim pastors.  (One served in both an interim and full time role in different years.)  

The applique toward the bottom right is the mural recently painted on our building.  One of my favorite transferred photos is the Zoom screen during the pandemic, when we shared our service with another church.

My dream from the start was to have little fairy lights beside the river, but I'm satisfied with the sparkly rhinestones instead.

Of course you can enlarge it for a better look.

Found

 

I found this old wall hanging this morning when I was looking for Halloween decorations.  I don't even remember making it. but it's definitely my work.

Good news from my North Carolina family.  Yesterday a clean-up crew from Virginia arrived in their neighborhood.  And then - a utility crew from Kansas City came and is working on replacing wires and broken utility poles. 

There is hope of getting power soon.  And with power, the ability to pump water from their well.  For them, there is hope, but they realize they are some of the lucky ones.

Family Is Safe

Just a peek.  All will be revealed in a few days.

My Asheville family is accounted for, and they seem to be in good spirits.  No power, water, cell service or internet, and maybe not for a while, but they are safe

It was hard to wait for word.  Finally, a two-word text from a borrowed cell phone. "I'm ok."   Then the next day, a  text from a neighbor saying "Sarah and Winnie are ok."  When they could get out, there was a broken call from a parking lot.

And then, something called "disaster roaming" was instituted.  Basically, it  allows any cell phone to access any available network, regardless of provider.  Since that time there has been communication, and that has been good for this mama's heart.

Their house has minor damage but the dam on the small lake where they live didn't fare as well.  Traffic is one lane, and they are hoping the road holds up. 

Neighbors have been helping neighbors, and I hope that spirit continues.  Sarah and her chain saw have been busy.