Back to our trip. . . One memory that sticks out was a phone call with my mother-in-law. We had told her we'd be coming to their home on Sunday, but secretly hoped to surprise her and Robert by showing up Saturday night. So when I called her on Saturday night, after 9pm, I knew she was already anxious to see her granddaughter. She said there was no pressure to come at any certain time on Sunday. I told her we'd be there around eleven. She paused and said, "Oh, 11pm or 11am??" I said, "How about 11pm?" Then I paused for a second and said, "Tonight." I'm not exactly sure what she said next, but she screamed something in my ear. Yes!! She was surprised! She had been waiting almost eight months to see her granddaughter. Showing up a day early was a treat!!
After church we came home to do what people do on a farm - pull ticks off their dogs! It was a first for Emma to see and I actually was pretty impressed with Kevin's tick-pulling skills. He got it off on the first try, little legs and all!!
Our first day in Moundridge was busy. We slept in, let Emma play with her grandparents, and then drove to Wichita to go to church with Kevin's brother Jon. He didn't know we were coming early either, so it was fun to see the look on his face when he recognized us! We haven't been to church much in the last two years. I was excited to go and left with mixed feelings. There were so many great things about being there that Sunday morning. Emma went to Sunday School with Grandma while the rest of us went into the service (after the men picked up their coffee). We had to walk upstairs and ushers were standing outside closed doors looking for open seats for us. We finally found 4 open seats together. I felt like we were at a concert. I didn't know any of the songs, but that's really OK by me. I closed my eyes and enjoyed hearing people sing. ("Worship" as it's called now, or the music and singing during the church service, isn't good or bad based on what I think of the music. Worship isn't about making me feel good; it's about giving thanks and praise to the God who created me, about focusing on Him and not me. I often hear people say "worship was so good" or "awesome", meaning they really liked the music and it flowed well and they knew the songs and it made them all emotional and blah blah blah. Sometimes we Christians forget what worship is really about and we easily use the term interchangeably with "music".) Anyway, I worshipped alone in my seat. Sometime during the music, I heard some rustling, like six hundred people decided to chew gum at the same time and they were all opening their gum wrappers at once. (Pretty sure I was forbidden to make noise in church as a kid, so I'm always aware of noises around me. One time, in Ottumwa, a kid was clipping his fingernails during the sermon. Yep, for real. I still know the kid's name and I'm going to tell him about it someday.) Anyway, I'm not really that sensitive, but the rustling was loud! I was listening to a man speaking, with music playing in the background, and rustling all around, when suddenly the man says, "So if you're a believer, take, eat in remembrance of Jesus, and take, drink in remembrance of him." Done. That was communion. Oh, and the rustling noises? Apparently everyone else in the place knew to pick up their disposable communion cups of juice and bread before the service!. I was disappointed. Has communion in the church really been reduced to a 45-second blip during the exactly-60-minute service?? Whatever happened to taking a minute (at least) to actually consider what Christ did on the cross for us? It took me a few minutes to realize what had happened and then I was kind of bummed that I totally missed out on communion. This church was huge, probably the first mega-church I've been to in years. In their defense, I'm sure it would take an hour to pass the traditional communion plates around. Large churches probably need to figure out ways to accommodate so many people and still keep what they feel is important. I got over it - there are more important places to expend energy. It was Passover Sunday and the Pastor spoke in detail about the death of Jesus, what he experienced before and on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and live eternally with him in Heaven. His sermon was Part 4 of 5, so I felt like I was missing something (namely, the Resurrection), but it was really good to hear a man speak so truthfully. At the end of the service, the worship leader prayed and dismissed people as he started to play a song. In less than a minute, several hundred people had exited and the place was almost empty. I sat in my seat and listened to the band sing, "Jesus Paid it All", an old hymn I had memorized as a child. I stayed until the end, worshipping the One who died for me.
We left and had lunch with Jon at Chili's and then went home for the afternoon. In the evening, we drove to Buhler to watch Kevin's dad and uncle sing in the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus. The chorus is made up of volunteer men from all over Kansas and a few other states. Money raised during the concerts is donated to relief work around the world. Awesome. The music was really good and I'm so glad we were able to make it. (If you can't tell by the guests, we were about the youngest ones there.)
One day Kevin, Emma and I made a trip to Wichita. Before our trip, I made a list of things we needed that I couldn't get in our little town or that were too expensive to get here. We hit as many stores as we could during our day there and had quite a bit of success! Kevin even got a haircut while Emma played with the Easter bunny. Two years ago she was screaming because I had her sit with the giant bunny. This year she wouldn't leave him and his massive Peep alone!!
Emma made lots of crafts with Grandma. Marcy really is the most amazing grandma! Just ask Emma.
While I made my first WalMart run, Emma went with her daddy and grandpa to the John Deere store. We're big fans of the green machines:) Emma was happy to eat their free popcorn!
Nothing like riding a 4-wheeler on the farm! LOVE IT!!!
