4th of July Happenings

July 4th was 88 degrees and sunny in southeastern Michigan.  We arrived at our church property a little early to get our chairs set-up in what will be our new sanctuary when it's completed sometime this fall. The shingles will go on the roof this week.  It is so exciting!

Our pastor preached his first sermon in the unfinished building, and then we all wrote our favorite Scripture verse on the floor, or door and window frames.  I was torn between two verses: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  Psalm 103:12 and "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27a  The Lord gave me that verse 43 years ago when I was going through a troubling circumstance, so that's the verse that won out.   But there are SO MANY wonderful verses in the Bible, it's difficult to pick one or two.  I also like the verses that are on my blog sidebar.  The little chorus I used to sing as a child sums it up well:  "Every promise in The Book is mine, every chapter, every verse, every line.  All are blessings of His love divine..."  Below is a pic of me writing my verse.

Here's my hubby with his special verse.

Pastor Steve wrote his passage from II Timothy 4:1-5 where the pulpit will be placed.  It's Paul's admonition to young Timothy which says in part:  "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction..."

We had a great attendance considering it was a holiday and a lot of people are still leery about venturing out with COVID-19 still lurking.  There was a cookout afterwards, but we didn't stay for that since we had an 8th birthday party to attend for our youngest granddaughter, Ellie.

Here's the birthday girl with her Daddy.

Ellie has maternal twin cousins who were born two days after her, so they always celebrate their birthdays together.  Ellie's in the middle in the picture below, and CeCe and Carmayla are on each side.  The twin's mother [Samantha's sister] took this picture and posted it on Facebook.

There were so many presents it looked like Christmas!

Below, Ellie is opening her present from us surrounded by some of her cousins. 

Ellie wanted a bunk bed for her American Girl dolls so that's what we got her.  Jerry would have made one, but he was busy working on a "donut board" for granddaughter Brooke's upcoming graduation party, and by the time we got Ellie's "wish list" there wasn't time.  She was happy with a store bought bed.

Then it was cake and cookie time!

The kids [young and old] had fun in the swimming pool.  Ellie has 16 maternal first-cousins [ranging in age from 1 to 16] so they have great fun when they all get together.

~ Jeremy, Samantha, Izzy, Landon and Ellie ~

~ Ellie with Papa and Nana ~

As the sun started going down, a fire was built in the pit for S'mores.  Then there were sparklers, and lots of fireworks.

It was a great day from start to finish.  We went home around 10:00 o'clock to the sounds of 4th of July snap, crackle, and pop!

About 19 miles northwest of our birthday/4th of July party, Steve was back at the church property taking the picture below of the full moon illuminating the night sky and our new sanctuary.  God is Good!

How did you spend your 4th of July?

As a side note, I sent my second Shutterfly album off today to be printed.  Now onto album number three!