Week 36

Cousin Karin says, "Here is another glad to make your heart glad. It is one of the prettier ones I have had, and notice the frilly edges.There are also two orangish-red ones in the center front."

The daily trips to Oncology for Leah's radiation treatments continue. We are grateful that the side effects have not been worse. Tiredness is the main one. 

I enjoy little visits with Kalani, especially when he smiles for me. And during our rides I get to hear about all the things he can do now.

Kayla keeps very busy at her part-time library job and loves it! Tuesday I stopped by there to donate The Library Book and take Rebecca for a walk. Another mother picks Rebecca up after school and brings her to the library.

Rebecca didn't want to walk the trail again, so we picked up her bike and went to the park. She rode around everywhere, taking breaks and asking me to join her on the playground equipment. I quickly realized that I am not as flexible as I used to be!

We watched some good films this week as part of our evening entertainment. I was very interested in the documentary about the life of Luis Palau, an Argentine evangelist. We also enjoyed God Where Are You? and Copying Beethoven.

While researching the 1941 Brethren Missionary archives, I came across several fascinating stories about the mission in Argentina. For example, several letters from Laura Wagner described what her life and ministry involved--the heavy load she carried, her zeal, her heart for people and the extent of her sacrifice. My admiration for this woman grew enormously. I only wish I had gotten to know her better when I had the opportunity. It happens that their second daughter (in dad´s arms) started a Christian school and I taught third grade there for about a year. By then, late 60's, doña Laura was a white'haired older woman who faithfully cooked for the school children. She could have taught me so much from her life of missionary experience. 

Interestingly, their son (in mom's arms) lived in the US several years, He remodeled a little house acquired from his relatives. worked in maintenance at Grace Village where my parents were and at Global Auto, my brother's shop. Alan and Victor were friends and ministered together in the Spanish-speaking church in Warsaw. Dory, his wife, was able to join him from Argentina. They were very dear to us and we've missed them since they went back to their homeland and their children and grandchildren,

It was fun to get together with my fellow-writers again after a summer hiatus, albeit virtually via Zoom.

Later in the day Michael and I went to an in-person event--Elijah's soccer game. Always a joy to share moments with family!

A small treat for Elijah after a long game.

Saturday was the start of a big weekend in Upland, starting with yard sales all over town. People come from everywhere causing traffic jams. Diane enjoys coming for the event. So I picked her up and we made the rounds of the library book sale, a couple yard sales, a visit to her good friends the Phillips, and we ended the day with a stop at Sophie's Ice Cream.

Diane enjoying a turtle sundae

Will end with another blossom to cheer y'all, my latest tutorial. 

Flowers, food, friends, and family

Another Sunday bouquet from cousin Karin in Tennessee--delicate muted colors this time.

On the home front, another surprise gladiolus!

 

Monday evenings, at Stephan and Karen's, I've enjoyed the fragrant welcome of these hostas.

When I gathered my photos for the weekly blog post, I was chagrined that there were so few and only of blooms and food. Of all the fellowship opportunities, not one photo to add to the sweet memories.

I will have to use word pictures instead.

We enjoyed John Tuggy's visit. He shared in church in the God is at Work segment, and also joined us at Monday Night Dinner. Stephan and John roomed together at one time when they were Taylor students. John met Nikki, a local girl during that time. They married, have three beautiful children, and now live in Uganda. Their oldest daughter, Eliana, is at Wheaton. When students were sent home in March, she was able to stay with a relative in Chicago. As a freshman, it's been difficult to be away from family, adjust to life in the US, try to make new friends, and then finish the semester online. The family was scheduled for a US visit, but only Dad was able to leave Uganda a couple months ago before the borders were locked down. And now must wait to get back to his family and church. Meanwhile, he helps daughter #1 (with drivers license, insurance, and emotional support), visits family, friends and supporters, and prepares a weekly online message for the church back in Uganda. 

That same day I met Georgia at The Bridge for a farewell breakfast before her move. Ever since we walked together one summer, the friendship has grown. We've gotten together many times to make art together, or sell it at local fairs. I will miss her, but am happy for her new surroundings. She is such a lover of nature, captures beautiful photos, and paints amazing miniatures.

The next day, Tuesday, I got together with my neighbor friend Petey. For several years now we have tried to meet for coffee every week. Family priorities and appointments interfere at times. We are so grateful for the sharing times we do have and the growing friendship.

Such beautiful times and no photos to share. However, these ladies prefer it that way.

Moriah, now a senior, brought her friend Joselyn over to cook a meal together for the first time. The food was great!  (No photo  :-(  ) Why did they wait so long?

However, we enjoyed Moriah's bread making twice this week! Her coworkers at Chick-fil-A luv her bread! They sit together after closing and clean-up and devour an entire loaf.

I enjoy visits with Leah on the days when I take her to her radiation treatments. And Kalani's smiles when I arrive a bit early to pick her up. The days Destiny does not need the car, Leah likes to drive herself, go on country roads, notice the beauty of Indiana landscapes, and glimpse as many animals as possible.

We love it when Kayla stops by and visits for awhile. She had borrowed folding table and chairs for Rebecca's birthday parties and came to return them. She is loving her part time job at the Upland Library, and not so excited about teaching dance via Zoom.

Michael still rides his bike a couple mornings a week and then the long one with friends on Saturday.

Robotics' weekly team meetings are cancelled until October, so his time is taken up with the many tasks that require his attention around here--cracks and ruts in lane and driveway (hired it done); fix water tank and boiler leaks; stock pile wood for winter; and so much more. He is never idle.

Most of my in-between moments and hours are consumed with research rapture. After compiling several years-worth of BMH Gleanings about the Hoyt clan (Brethren Missionary Herald findings that mention my father's siblings), I have gone back to focus on the mission work in Argentina. I completed year 1940 summary this week.

Both of us listen to audio books almost constantly, borrowed from the library and accessed via cell phones. I favor historic fiction and memoirs. Recently I listened to all available by Ruta Sepetys and highly recommend her writing. She finds hidden stories of suffering and tragedy and weaves historic facts into compelling novels. I am convinced that she also suffers from research rapture!

When Michael and I drive together anywhere, I read out loud. This week we finished a short and powerful memoir, Finding Mom by Stephen C. Messer, 2015. Interestingly, he and his wife Betty were my colleagues when I taught at Taylor University, and she and I taught Spanish! It was published some ten years after I left TU and I did not hear of the book until recently.

Finally, on Saturday, I took advantage of photo opportunities. Elijah was playing soccer in the neighboring town, at Mississinewa High School in Gas City. It was so wonderful to have a time to catch up with son Sam's family. We haven't seen them in long time, it seems. Elijah played well. He is a strapping 6 foot-tall young man!

So, what were the highlights of your week? 

New Beginnings

Thanks again, Karin, for brightening the opening to this weekly photo-journal.

These blooms provide a cheery welcome to Monday Night Dinner.

Karen's cute new hairdo was a fun surprise as well. 

 

Tuesday, Moriah moved back in after five months. We enjoyed reconnecting with her but failed to get a photo.

I noticed another move that day. Michael's recumbent bike hangs where the tandem used to be. He is grateful for the good health he is experiencing which allows him to ride his regular road bike. His total for the week exceeded 200 miles this time!

Wednesday was Leah's first daily appointment at oncology. Actual radiation treatments began the next day.
I try to spend a few minutes with Kalani when I pick up Leah. We are intentional about him getting used to abuela. His other Nana was looking after him.

Thursday, some of my ladies' Bible study group got together out on our deck and enjoyed being able to socialize after five months, even if at a safe distance.

I resolved to get back to the Let's Make Art Watercolor lesson online that I had enjoyed so much last year. When Michael went to his robotics' team meeting, I joined the weekly tutorial. Initially I was not excited about the project, but was surprised at how much I like it in the end, especially the idea that God had fun designing a creature where black and white make a beautiful whole! 

While abuelo was out on his looooong Saturday ride, Rebecca and I had an adventure. It took two hours to walk the two-mile Upland trail. We were like the tortoise and the hare. She would run and stop, run and stop, while I plodded on steadily. However, the plan from the start was that each bench we came across was a photo-op and rest stop. We met a little green worm or caterpillar. Rebecca name it Harry and left a blade of grass and a little rock for him. 

At the half-way round about we enjoyed the wildflowers, and also crossed over the road and walked to Ivanhoe's. The line was too long and we'd left our masks in the car, so we changed our plan and ordered take-out from Greek's Pizzeria and purchased drinks at the grocery store next door. The kind lady gave her a balloon that she named Pinky which entertained us on the walk back. Sadly, Harry had moved on.

 

We are enjoying the wonderful weather.  What's new in your life? Any adventures this week? 

Challenges

A colorful bouquet from Tennessee-cousin Karin to cheer us these days.

Picking up from after the wedding last Sunday. . . We were already in Anderson, and it was the last opportunity to pick up the plastic sheets needed for making the deadline--to finish the 100 table dividers by Monday, the day before students' first day of school.
Team Roboto in Anderson was given a thousand-pound roll of heavy plastic, which they use to make face shields, and they also share with PhyXTGears for their projects. A few team members joined us that evening at their place to help cut the 100 segments needed.

I understood that it would be a serious challenge to meet the deadline, so after breakfast I asked if there was any way I could help. The immediate response was "Yes!" Surprisingly. there was work I was able to do! It was a long day on our feet. I marked and cut corners of all plastic sheets, then used the folding machine to put a crease in the middle of each. Julia's teenage son Isaiah, worked long hours placing the prepared sheet into the frames. Michael riveted them in place. My final task was to place rivets in the holes Michael drilled. Julia followed behind me with the pop rivet gun. Shawn, team president, place PhyXTGears stickers on each one. By 6:00 PM delivery time, we were short 20 table dividers to be installed the next day.
What an exhausting day! Now I better understand how Michael feels after being on his feet for hours.

The next three days Michael was busy completing and delivering order to three area Eastbrook schools, smaller quantities than the first one. It was fun to see these photos of how the table dividers fit into the different settings.

With all that, Michael continues to ride 20 to 30 miles two or three days a week, in addition to the long (circa 100 miles) one on the weekend. He also makes bread and several meals. 

Michael's latest experiment: pretzels

Due to the heavy work week, I spent more time in the kitchen preparing meals in addition to all the clean up, especially making use of some of the more unusual items in the Misfits box. 

This week we sold the tandem that has carried us on many enjoyable miles, near and far. "Goodbye, friend!"

Looking back over the years, I realize that I have tended to hang on to life stages and things. It was difficult to let go of jobs and move on. Can you believe, it is hard sometimes to allow Michael complete control of shopping and cooking, even though it is his choice, and my least favorite! Somehow after so many years, the role reversal is a challenge. I often feel guilty instead of gratefully using the time to work on the writing projects that are on my heart.

This little girl started school this week and also had a birthday, her sixth, August 14!

And this little guy, now five months, smiled sweetly for me several times, but it's so hard to capture the best ones.

I completed a phase of research--ten years of Brethren Missionary Heralds (the weekly denominational magazine) 1940-1950, learning about the ten Hoyt siblings participation in the Grace Brethren Church. It was a fascinating project and a significant accomplishment. I realize that the double "negatives," the shutdown plus the fractured ankle, forced me to learn to focus and enjoy it!

Now I will go back over the same archives and focus on the mission in Argentina. My first discovery this week was the history of one of the oldest congregations. Surprisingly, it all began in 1915 with a Sunday School taught by a Swiss French widow in her native tongue, not in Spanish! Other Swiss Protestants noticed her efforts and joined with regular meetings in Spanish. A Brethren missionary learned of this group and arranged to hold monthly preaching services in different homes. Eventually, a pastor was sent, a church followed. A couple years ago there was a 100-year celebration.

I've been there, and my parents ministered there on occasion, but I never knew these interesting facts. 

Pauses and Birthdays

From cousin Karin's inexhaustible flower garden: a dahlia front center; vanilla-strawberry and lavender-purple hydrangeas; and zinnias. She wanted me to notice the floral design on the crystal vase.

In our more wild Indiana context, I was delightfully surprised by the appearance of this yellow lily. The bulbs were a wedding favor some years ago. This lone lily got mixed in with the iris transplants to an area by the mailbox.

Theme of the week: the looming deadline for delivery of 100 table dividers to a local school. Michael has been working on the project steadily all week with occasional help.

We were invited to join "old" friends (emphasis on the more than 50 years of friendship) vacationing with their daughter and family in Northern Indiana--an idyllic setting by a chain of lakes. We were so grateful for the getaway. The peaceful boat ride delighting in the beauty of God's creation and the fellowship were so refreshing, like a mini-vacation.

Wednesday, August 5, was our lovely daughter-in-law Karen's 45th birthday. There was no major celebration. I think she prefers it that way. I chose these Front and Back representative photos from her FB page. (Yes, she is an English teacher. How did you guess?)

Another delightful reprieve from daily routines and pressures, was a long walk with my dear friend to see the progress on their new home.

We've also enjoyed Moriah's occasional visits during her lunch break. Friday, August 7, we celebrated her 22nd birthday. (Interestingly, I realized that morning that my mother-in-law would have been 104. She's been gone 16 years.)

Moriah has been working this summer with engineering profs on a project that sometimes involves using machines in the shop adjacent to the robotics shop. (Don't let the Ball State t-shirt confuse you, she is definitely a Taylor University senior!)

Another birthday celebration was great granddaughter Rebecca's. She actually had two parties, to accommodate both sides of the family, and supposedly maintain social distancing. Shows you how many family fans Rebecca has! 

Matt and Kayla are amazing hosts. They prepared a feast both times. And even had two theme birthday cakes!

I attended on the wrong day, Matt's side of the family on Saturday, because we had other plans Sunday. And I only stayed for an hour. Then I drove to Winona Lake Park for Global Auto's summer picnic. 

I was so grateful for the invitation because I hadn't seen my brother since Mother's funeral.

Raquel, Alan's wife, did an excellent job of organizing this first annual picnic to honor and celebrate the Global Auto team. They've come through a very difficult season due to the multiple decisions and changes required by the pandemic. (Sorry that the photo does not include one of the main team members. He had already left with his family.)

Michael was not there. Saturdays are sacred to him. He cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy long rides with a group of bicycling fanatics. This time it was 98 miles and through some Amish areas.

He learned this week that all his exercising is paying off. The lung doctor, at his annual checkup for Sarcoidosis, said that his numbers are above average for his age! 

The Monday deadline for the table dividers loomed impossible! So, Michael was up at dawn and put in four hours of work at the shop before church.

Then in the afternoon we were privileged to attend a beautiful wedding. The whole experience was another refreshing pause that lifted our spirits.

We have interesting connections with the young couple's families. The father of the bride (front row next to big hat) grew up in a missionary family in the same denomination as my parents! The mother of the bride (blue dress bottom photos) was the college roommate of our dear OM coworkers!

The groom was born in the Dominican Republic when his parents were missionaries there. We share the Spanish language. Both families are part of our church community!

If you've read this far, thank you! One added reflection from this week: I received an old photo of my maternal grandmother's family. I realized that I knew nothing of my great grandmother, either because I had forgotten or never heard anything about her. She died 11 months after my mother's birth which means my mother did not really know her either. As a great grandmother myself now, I suddenly became very interested. I will have to write more about these ancestors sometime. For now here is the photo from the early 1900s.

Bottom left: my grandmother Esther Z Sprunger, next to my great grandmother Caroline

Setbacks

Another colorful bouquet from Dayton, TN. I wonder how long cousin Karin's flowers bloom? We will certainly miss them in winter.

I posed a question last week about the big boxes our strong grandsons were unloading for us. Did you guess the contents correctly (pull-out sofa bed from IKEA)?
Anybody want to build play houses with the boxes? They're still available.

Michael attempted one last Neowise comet sighting, this time with friend Bob Craton on his property on the other side of Upland. I went along and had a delightful visit with his wife Linda on their idyllic back deck.

For 23 years, July 29 we remembered two birthdays in our family. Mother would have been 99 this time. I love this picture which brings back favorite memories of when I'd stay overnight. After breakfast, we'd read the Bible together. When she lost her voice about two years ago, her expressive reading was over. She is no longer limited in any way!

Mother now with the Author!                                        Skye, now a Dad!

Thursday afternoon, my lovely landscape crew (the Blakely three) met me at Jim Slater's (local lily-grower) for a tour of his garden. We learned a lot and delighted in the remaining beauties though it is late in the season.

Michael (and anyone from the PhyXTGears who will help) landed a big order for table dividers for a nearby school. Lot of work ahead. For starters this week--measurements, algebraic calculations, and shopping for all the materials.

He also cut a large order of ear savers, which I helped clean, punch out and package.

Saturday I set about to use up all the frozen bananas accumulating in the freezer. Believe it or not, most of these breads are given or gone by now. 

Sunday I delivered the GF muffins and ear savers to Kristie, Made my day just to see them and chat for a bit, though they were careful about social distancing, just in case, due to a fever Jude developed on the first day of school. 

Friends in Argentina wrote that they are on Phase 1 shutdown again. Some here are feeling uncertainty about further setbacks. Those going back to school are wondering how things will play out. So here is my prayer for us from the Apostle Paul:

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.      [emphasis added]                                                                       Romans 15:13 NLT