The time has come for me to step down

Mary Lee Griffith, new Director of Children's Ministry, has arrived and is now in charge of this ministry. I am here for another week or so to help her understand how we function and where things are located.

I hope that you will all help her to feel welcome here and support her as the various opportunities arise for serving the Lord in this ministry. You all supported me very well and I do appreciate all of you for that.

Thank you to all of you for the gifts, gift certificates, cash, beautiful cards and wonderful letters that you gave to me for my retirement.

Sandy Howard

The vote was cast last week

and the answer is that the vote was "yes" to extend the offer of my position to Mary Lee. She accepted today so we are moving forward in the transition process.

You all know that I love my position here at Faith Church and love serving the Lord in the children's area. I really care about all of you, and many of you have become very good friends of mine. I am praying that you will be able to transfer your encouragement and support to Mary Lee as she comes on board. You have pitched in to get done whatever needed to be done and I pray you will do the same for Mary Lee.

I also know that God has released me from my position here and that I can retire in peace knowing that I have served the Lord to the best of my ability while I've been here. That doesn't mean I will never see you again because I plan on staying here at Faith Church. I will also continue praying for you as you raise your families and look forward to seeing how God works in your lives to accomplish His purposes for your family.

Time for voting is next Sunday

Mary Lee was here this past week as a candidate for my position, was introduced in all 3 services and met many people in the East Alcove. Next Sunday (9/25) all members will be able to vote before or after the services to vote yes or no to extend an offer to be the next Children's Ministry Director. You may also vote in the office this week if you won't be here Sunday. If the quorum vote is "yes" to extend an offer, then she will give her notice at work, pack up to move here and our transition process will begin.

Then will be my time to exit from this position, which I have loved for 17 years. So many of you have become good friends of mine over the years. I have laughed and/or cried with many of you and enjoyed your fellowship. I can already feel the void developing for when I retire and step down from this position.

I do plan to stay here at Faith Church, hopefully out of Mary Lee's way, and have committed to finishing out the year with my Thursday morning Bible study ladies. After that, I have no idea what God may be calling me to do. Pray for wisdom for me as I seek God's will for me for my "retirement years."

The time has come

The time has come for a candidate for my position to be here at Faith Church. She will be here the weekend of Sept. 15-18. There will be a dinner for our Sunday School staff on Saturday evening to meet her and she will be in all 3 services on Sunday. The following Sunday (9/25) we will vote on her. Absentee voting will be available in the office starting Monday, 9/19.

This year of my notice to retire has been a very long time. I have had lots of time to think about things - what has been accomplished in the last 17 years that I've been here and what I wish I could have been accomplished. This is what God called me to and I have loved my position here at Faith Church. I am very thankful to God for all of you parents and volunteers and how well you have treated me.

I know that I am going to miss all of you, miss being in the building all the time and talking with so many of you about any and everything. But, I also know that I am glad I will be home and be able to take my time doing some things, getting my house organized in a better way and having fun with my family (including all 16 grandchildren). The only commitment I have made so far is to finish out this year with my Bible study on Thursday mornings. Only the Lord knows what else He will give me to do later.

As you can see from my last few blogs, time has been an issue that's on my mind. I went to a family reunion in Buffalo a couple weeks ago because it has been a long time (8 yrs.) since all 5 of us (2 brothers, 2 sisters and myself) had been together in the same place at the same time. It was fun to see everyone and talk about lots of memories as we grew up in Buffalo, New York.

Another case of time just disappearing

I finally looked at my last blog today and am shocked to realize it was May 22nd when I posted the last blog. Where has the time gone? Summer is a very busy time for us in Children's Ministry and I know that's where the time went but it was still surprising to actually look at the last date and realize how much time has flown by.

Last week of May was our preschool Vacation Bible School, then our new summer Sunday School staff came on board, we moved up children to their new classes, early July was elementary Vacation Bible School (very intense), then I went to California for a family wedding, am back now and ready to go to Buffalo (where I grew up)next week. I'm looking forward to it because both my brothers and both my sisters will also be there and it's the first time all 5 of us have been together at the same time in 9 years.

In California, I stayed with my aunt and uncle. My aunt's sister-in-law sat next to me on the flight to San Francisco. I've known her since she was born (she's younger than I am) and had not seen her in many, many years. We started right in on catching each other up on our lives over the last 45 years and how God has taken care of us. Her husband died about 4 years ago.

Every morning we started eating breakfast about 8:30-9:00 a.m. We sat there and talked and laughed so hard until 12:30-1:00 p.m. every day. I thought about people, streets, events, etc. that had never entered my mind for the last 50-60 years. When I was ready to come home last week, I realized that this was like "soul food" for me and how much I needed that family contact and love that I had enjoyed as a child in Buffalo where we all grew up, went to the same church, celebrated birthdays for each child with the whole extended family.

Reminds me of the verse where Paul talks about "to stir you up by way of reminder..." in II Peter 1:13. Paul was talking about his imminent death, but the stirring up of many memories for me was a really neat experience. I learned some new things, had to rearrange some of my old memories, and enjoyed listening to some other perspectives than my own about what it was like growing up in the "old days".

Does time just disappear?

The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by or just plain disappear. When I think I have plenty of time to get something done, I also find that it's time to hustle to get it done because my lead time disappeared.

Everything we do is in terms of time. I have often wondered why God put us in a frame work of time when He exists outside of any time constraints. Is it to help us understand that things have a beginning time and an ending time? Knowing that we are going through a tough time and knowing that it too shall pass, does that help me to bear up under whatever I am experiencing? If my tough time was never going to end, would I be able to bear up?

The Lord does tell us to use our time wisely so that we won't just waste it and wonder where all our time went when we get to the end of our life. So, it has been my particular thing to find out what God wants me to do and then to do it. I don't want to come to the end of my life and feel like I have wasted my time.

Easter - time of new beginnings each year

I love it when Easter comes each year because it signals spring, fresh green grass, flowers starting to bloom, and things just look fresh and clean.

i have also pondered why the Lord chose spring as the time for passover, Jesus' death and resurrection. That also seems to me a time of new beginnings each year. God's infinite love for us seems to cleanse and refresh us again after a dull blah winter. Also, it's a time we can reflect on the blooms or fruit in our lives and what Christ is doing to change us into the new creation we are becoming according to II Corinthians 5:17.

Since Texas

We returned from Texas on April 4th and I left April 6th to go to my aunt's funeral in Pittsburgh, PA. I could easily have skipped this funeral but decided I wanted to go. This was the last of 12 people who died on my dad's side, my dad being the first to die when I was 29 yrs. old. I did see these cousins at their dad's (my uncle's) funeral in Pittsburgh 3 yrs ago. Before that, I hadn't seen these particular cousins in about 49 years. Where does the time go? My decision to go was based on that I may never see these cousins again here on earth because we are so widely scattered.

As I have aged, family has become more and more important. These are cousins that we had a lot of fun with while we were growing up. But, as adults, we all went different ways with our jobs and are so widely scattered now. Katelyn, my granddaughter, got to go on the trip with me and we found that her family would probably have a lot in common with my cousin's son and family who live in Montana.

Thoughts about a family reunion have begun to creep into my mind. I am once again in touch with the oldest child in each family, so that is a possibility to pursue in my thinking. I used to think about it occasionally when all our children were growing up but had to push the thoughts out because there were too many obstacles. Now, maybe it's a possibility....

My trip to Texas April 4-11

Tomorrow my husband (Jim) and I leave for a trip to Texas. Most of it will be good but there will be one difficult part. We fly to Dallas and see our son Jimmy and his wife Tabitha. Then, we drive 4 hrs. away to see Jim's dad and uncle. His dad is 92 yrs. old and still lives in his own home. His Uncle Bob is also 92 but he's in a nursing home and hospice has been called in. We have no idea what to expect while we are there. The bad part may be his death but even then the good thing is that he is a believer and knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.

A few weeks ago we have 6 families directly affected in our Children's Ministry who had family members die. This coming week may hit closer to home for me if Jim's uncle dies. I am reminded of a couple verses that I was given when my dad died way back when I was 29 yrs. old. Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (KJ) and I Thessalonians 4:13 "We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep [have died[, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." It was so comforting to me to know that my dad had gone to heaven because he was a believer and we grieved, but we have hope of seeing him again someday in heaven.

Tough week for Sunday School staff

This has been a tough week for Sunday School staff - a parent of 4 current Sunday School staff (Nathan Bauman's mom, Ron Healey's dad, Margie Nesteroff's mom, and Joe Franckewitz' mom), a parent and parent-in-law of our previous AWANA commander and Nursery Coordinator(Nancy Jeffries' mom and Carol Yockey's mother-in-law), and the husband of one of our previous Preschool Coordinators (Margie Simon's husband Rahn) have all died this week. It is a stark reminder of the brevity of life and that we do not know when we will be called home by the Lord.

I remember when my dad died. I was 29 years old and our oldest child was only a year old. We had gone to Buffalo, New York, for a family Christmas dinner on Sunday and returned to Cincinnati on Tuesday evening. My brother called on Wednesday morning to say that my dad had died of a heart attack during the night. What a shock because he seemed just fine on Sunday.

The comforting thing to me was that my dad knew the Lord and so we had peace knowing that he was in heaven. A couple verses were given to me that have stuck with me to this day. Psalm 116:15 (King James) "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." and I Timothy 4:13 "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep (have died), so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." We do grieve even if our loved ones have gone to heaven but our grieving is not the same as those who have no hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.

Please pray with us for our Sunday School staff and their families who have had these deaths in their families this week for comfort and for peace in their grieving.

Jim's world has been turned upside down also

I mentioned how my world was turned upside down in my last blog. Today I am mentioning that Jim's world has also been turned upside down. When he first learned from the doctor on the phone back in December that the biopsies were positive for cancer, his first response was that he knows God is in control.

He added to that first comment in his prayer last week by saying to God again that He knew God was in control but added that we know this is what you have given us for now and he accepts that. That has allowed peace to remain in our house even while we are going through this time of the dreaded "C" word. It brings to mind the verse in Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." We are trusting God to accomplish what He wants to in us and through us because we are trusting in Him.

My world has been turned upside down

In December, I went with my husband to a medical center for a biopsy because there was some question about his prostate and how well it was functioning. While he was in recovery, the doctor came to tell me the results of the tests and mentioned that Jim's prostate was very enlarged. When I asked what causes that, he said, "cancer or high testerone". Because Jim had just had another test showing low testosterone, I focused on the dreaded word in our culture, the big "C" or cancer. As I allowed that word to enter my brain, it was like everything began to move in slow motion. As I explained to Jim on the way home what the doctor had told me while he was in recovery, we both realized that this was probably cancer. Sure enough, when the doctor called us with the results of the biopsy several days later, the results were positive for cancer. As Jim hung up the phone after hearing the results, his first words were "I know God is in control." That was very comforting to me that he was understanding this was no surprise to God and that we are in His hands.

Weeks later, many tests and dr. visits later, we are just about to a decision on the treatment for Jim's cancer, what seems to be best for him in his situation. The whole idea of peace when my world was turned upside down seems preposterous but that is what I have. Jim's further words this week were that besides reiterating that he knows God is in control, he accepts the fact that this is where God has him at this point in time.

The Scripture verse that came to my mind was Romans 8:28 "We know that ALL things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Whatever God is doing through this cancer, He will work it out for good for us because we love Him and are called according to His purpose.

I guess my bottom line is that God has give me peace in spite of my world being turned upside down. The great thing is that He offers you the same thing when your world is turned upside down.

Paper overload from Sunday School

I started adding up how much paper we are sending home with a family who has 3 children in the elementary area and 1 in the preschool. It made me feel bad that I am contributing to paper overload for this family, so am wondering how to best go about changing that.

Three children in our elementary area in both 9:15 and 11:00 hours of Sunday School means that we are sending home 3 copies of a 9:15 monthly newsletter and 3 copies of an 11:00 monthly newsletter and 3 weekly copies of the Bible lesson for parents to read with their children before the lesson is taught on Sunday. The preschool child brings home a paper each week. That is 24 pieces of paper per month! This family really only needs (1) 9:15 monthly newsletter and (1) 11:00 monthly newsletter and 4 weekly papers that give the Bible lesson to read with their elementary children before Sunday and 4 weekly preschool papers. That is still 10 pieces of paper per month - but it's much more manageable than 24.

This all sounded so good last summer but it's not working out as well as we had hoped. We want to encourage all our parents to read the Sunday School Bible lesson with their children at home before the lesson on Sunday. This gives parents a chance to have first crack at discussing the lesson with their children BEFORE the Sunday School teacher teaches the lesson to the children. It is one way to give parents an opportunity to spiritually impact their children at home by reading and talking about the Bible lessons together.

Kari, Connie and I have been talking about this paper overload and wondering if this is working for you parents. If not, we are open to any suggestions. One thought was to put 1 set of these monthly papers in your mailbox at church or you can go online and print them out for yourself. Or, we can just leave them on the counter in the LIFE Center Lobby and at the Welcome Center by Sandy's office for parents only to pick up these papers and not pass them out in class. What would work best for your family? I would love to hear from you. Have these papers been useful to you at all? Do you read them? Or are we just contributing to your paper overload?