From the Patriot Post---So True!!

Morel Mushroom Season

This is one of my favorite times of the year!  Springtime in the woods is breathtakingly beautiful!  The redbuds are blooming, the dogwoods are almost open, wildflowers are blanketing the floor of the forest, bluebells are in full bloom.  It is glorious!  How I wish I could store this beauty in some way!  I'm sure, though, that if I could look at it everyday the rest of my life I would begin to take it for granted.  Isn't God amazing?  He knows how we think so He created seasons to wake us up again to beauty.

He also gave us morel mushrooms--but only for a couple of weeks in spring.  What a treat!  If you've never tasted one, I'm sorry.  For a week or two, we hunt them, and eat them as often as possible, and then begin to look forward to next year so we can have them again.

We love to tell the story of our greatest mushroom picking experience.  It was a very long time ago. We had only lived in Nebraska a couple of years and were missing our yearly mushroom feed. As we were telling a friend how much we loved morel mushrooms and that if we were in Illinois we would be hunting them right now, he said he knew a place where they used to go hiking when he was in college that sounded like a place they might grow.  We didn't even know at the time that they grew in Nebraska!  Our friend didn't know either and had never tasted one, but we decided to look anyway.  We each were carrying a bag just in case we found some.  When we got to the place Gary was taking us we found them growing everywhere!  We had never seen anything like it!  We filled our bags and then took off our sweatshirts and tied the arms together to make more containers for this unexpected windfall.  When we had filled everything we could find we had to stop picking.  Since I'm a 'numbers' person, I just had to count them.  There were over 800!  The next year we returned in anticipation of another great mushroom feed only to find someone had turned the area into a subdivision.  What a waste of a wonderful mushroom patch!

I took this picture with my phone of the old photo of us on that eventful day.   As I said, it was a LONG time ago, but still a fresh memory during morel season.

Brand New Day Tour Will Be Here In A Little Over 2 weeks!

I can't believe how fast the time is approaching, but 7eventh Time Down's Brand New Day Tour will kick-off Elevate Praise, our summer monthly nights of praise, on May 4--just 2 short weeks away!

My, there is much preparation in hosting one of these events!!  There are planning meetings to be held,  newspaper press releases to be sent, radio contacts to be made, posters & banners to be printed and hung, churches to be contacted, volunteers to be coordinated, band riders to comply with, Facebook pages and website to be updated--at least weekly, if not more often, food vendors to be contacted, prayer tents to be set up and volunteers to staff them to be found, tables to be moved in for selling band merchandise, food for the bands to be arranged, parking to be arranged and overseen, shuttles to the furthest parking lots to be found, and on and on...

Anyone who has ever coordinated a large event knows exactly what I'm talking about.  New things I hadn't thought about pop up almost daily.  Those who have never had the responsibility are surprised at the work involved.  But it will all be worth it to see hundreds, if not thousands, gathered together to worship the Lord.  I am excited!!

An Interesting and Informative Article about Bayer Pharmaceuticals

This interesting article was sent by the Dr. Rath Health Foundation.  I'm sure most of us did not know this about Bayer's involvement in the World Wars.  It pays to be informed, I think, so I'm posting it here.

Three Strikes And You’re Out: Time To Bring An End To Bayer Putting Profit Over Life

On Thursday 4 April 2019, our Foundation published an article describing how, due to the growing problems following Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto, the company’s situation could lead to desperate acts. We pointed out that Bayer has already lost two court cases in which glyphosate, the active chemical in its Roundup weed killer, was found to have caused cancer, and that a further 11,000 lawsuits have now been filed against the firm, thus endangering its future existence. But Bayer’s biggest nightmare is not glyphosate – it is the role this German pharmaceutical and chemical flagship played as the economic driving force behind two world wars. [Read Full Article]

Elevate Praise at the Martinsville Linn Park Amphitheater

     I posted earlier about the 7eventh Time Down's "Brand New Day" concert we are having as a kick-off for Elevate Praise on May 4, but thought I might post the vision for Elevate Praise, also.  This is going to be a monthly meeting during the summer with the sole purpose of worshiping Jesus.  Here is the info we are sending to churches within driving distance.

Elevate Praise

Elevate Praise, a monthly night of worship, will be meeting at 7:00 p.m. during the summer months beginning Saturday, May 4, and continuing Sunday, June 2, July 7, August 4, and September 8, at the Linn Park Amphitheater in Martinsville (IL).  This beautiful outdoor facility is an excellent place to gather for worship. (Bring your lawn chairs.)  But just in case, the Martinsville High School gym has been reserved for all events in case of rain.

The vision for Elevate Praise was birthed when some members of our county began to dream of inviting believers within driving distance to meet together with the express purpose of worshipping Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  John 4:24 (The Passion Translation) says,  “From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”  That is our desire.  We are coming together as His body to please Him!  How wonderful to be able to gift the Father by satisfying His longing for true worshipers!

Even though our only purpose is to please Him through our worship we know that He has promised in Matt. 18:20 that “When two or more are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst of them.”  And Ps. 22:3 says “He is enthroned upon the praises of His people,”  Worship ushers in the presence of God.  When we come together in one accord we believe the love we have for Him and for one another will cause a desire in unbelievers to want to know Him, also.

As the introduction to Elevate Praise, God has made it possible through circumstances for us to host 7eventh Time Down’s “Brand New Day Tour” with special guests, Jason Gray and Cloverton, on Saturday, May 4.  This first night will be in concert format, the rest will be on Sunday, and will be participatory worship.  We believe this concert is an excellent way to begin.  It will be a proclamation and a declaration of what is to come.  It is a “brand new day” where believers from all denominations come together as one Body to worship the One whom we all love!  And even more exciting is that 7eventh Time Down will be singing their hit song “God Is On The Move” over our community.  This is a new beginning!  

As the world becomes darker, it is imperative that we make a way for God’s Presence to invade the darkness.  Worship does just that!  Please come as we invite the Light of the world to illumine and overcome the darkness in our area.  Without you, part of the Body will be missing.

Cloverton - God Help Me to Be (Official Lyric Video)

Are you familiar with Cloverton?  I wasn't until I found out they will be coming to Martinsville with 7eventh Time Down's "Brand New Day Tour".  So I searched for them on YouTube and really like their music.  I am excited to see them in person. Don't miss this free concert if you live within driving distance!  It is going to be great!

We finally have a driveway!

After living in our house almost 17 years we finally have a driveway!  I am so excited!  No more trying to keep weeds from growing in the gravel or the landscape mulch mingling with gravel.  No more bump as I drive into the garage because the gravel was a little lower than the garage floor.  So many things to be thankful for!!

We like the color, even though it isn't what we thought it would look like.  It seems the color looks different from different angles but the photo below is as true as I could get.

Here is a photo of the colors we chose--smoke with a walnut release.  I have no idea where the red cast came from, but we have been told the sealer will change the color to some extent.



This is how the driveway looked before the new colored concrete:

And here is the finished driveway.  The sealer will be applied in about 2 weeks.  Supposedly, the sealer will deepen the color and add a sheen to the finish.  I will post the finished result, if I remember.



Quite a difference, isn't it?