Left Behind

This has been a stressful week.  I can't even remember the days before Saturday.  We didn't get raptured that day ... not that any of us REALLY thought that was going to happen that day ... but every one of us gave it a thought or two.  You see, the guy who came up with the Judgment Day predictions was originally from Grand Rapids.

So Saturday, six o'clock came and went.  The Christians are still here, to struggle right along with the rest of humanity.

Sunday morning Mike and I went to church.  We have a new church since last August, and we like it very much, and never want to miss the chance to "hang with the saints."

We drove out I196 to Lake Michigan Drive and I took a glance to my left as we passed the downtown area, because I knew the Rob Bliss Grand Rapids LipDub was going on that morning.  You needed to gather by 9 AM to be part of the crowd.  We were at church already by 9 AM.  It was "Dispensationalism 101" Sunday.  We had a grill-out/potluck afterwards.  I brought my bff Kathy's recipe "Barbecue Beans" ... they were a big hit.  I wished the LipDub would have been not on a Sunday morning because I'd have loved to be downtown.  I really love Grand Rapids; I really love Rob Bliss's energetic community events; I really love how my little town has gotten so cultural in my adult lifetime.

Sunday afternoon there was a bad tornado in Minnesota; and we were under "watches" for tornadoes here.  There was a deadly tornado in G.R. when I was a little girl.  I've had bad dreams about tornadoes.  Before I went to bed Sunday night, I took a bunch of stuff down to the basement.  I always do that during tornado season.  I took my scrapbooks, my strong box, my jewelry box, my purse, my laptop ... this time I even took some canned goods down there, and a box of raisins, box of crackers, some silverware. There's bottled water down there left-over from my original fear-stash in the days after 9/11.

Woke up Monday morning to the images of the Missouri E-5 tornado.  And by tonight I have realized that tornadoes chew up everything and spit it on top of your head ... if you even survive ... so I brought the crackers and the raisins back upstairs.  The treasures are still in a plastic tub in the basement.  Tornado season doesn't really start in Michigan until June -- when the air here gets hotter.

Well, Tuesday night, I got a text from my almost-daughter-in-law, Amy.  (Josh and Amy are getting married on 6/25. That's my son Scott, who died 2 years ago on 6/18/09's birthday. Josh & Amy chose that date on purpose.  Amy's shower is 6/18/11.  Why? Just sayin' ... but not to them, of course.)

Anyway, the text from Amy was asking me to pray for her friend, David, whom I've never met. Amy's parents are church-building missionaries, so Amy grew up living all sorts of places, and she has friends all over the U.S.  David had been "swept away" in a river in Arkansas.  So I prayed.  And prayed.  And this 21-year-old has been in my heart and on my mind all week.

Over on Facebook, David's brother's future-mother-in-law had, by Wednesday night, created a special "page" for prayers for David and updates on the search effort.  So I've been praying, and visiting that page, multiple times each day.

Hundreds of people are praying for David.  Many of us, like myself, have never met him, but are friends or relatives of David's friends.

From Tuesday night until tonight ... constantly in our unanswered prayers, is a young man swept away in a river.  Sonar has determined, the Arkansas authorities claim, that there is no body in the river, so the family should not give up hope.  Cadaver dogs have also determined that there is no body in the river.  So last night they started searching the forest with volunteers and bloodhounds.  Everybody has been praying.  I am not used to prayers this heart-felt, humble, and fervent going unanswered!  How in the world can a person simply vanish when his whole community is searching for him day and night?

The bright spot in the week, for me, has been the YouTube release yesterday of our Grand Rapids LipDub video.  I really want to share that with everybody!

On YouTube the response has been very favorable. It was featured on several network newscasts tonight, to my surprise.  A very few YouTube comments were criticizing the "under-representation of minorities."  Well, in Grand Rapids, a LOT of people go to church on Sunday morning.  I had personally wished that the Bethel Pentecostal Choir would have been in the LipDub -- they are really cool, and mostly African-American.  Would have liked to see the Three Fires tribes in it, too. PaWaTing MeGedWin senior citizens meet twice a week at the church where I work (not the same church that I attend on Sundays).  The Three Fires Annual Pow Wow will be at Riverside Park in June ... The church I work at is quite multi-cultural; and the church I go to is, too. The happy, clean-cut faces of several races that you'll see in this video are mostly people who either don't go to church at all, or who played hooky for the Rob Bliss event.  Grand Rapids is a cool city.  I love living here.  I love going downtown. I hope you will enjoy the video I post in the comments (because I can't post it in the body of this blog).

Hey! I actually wrote a BLOG!

Wow!

I posted a video a little while ago.  And I was disappointed that I couldn't post it in the body of my blog.  So it's just a link.  Then I embedded it in the comments; but of course, one would need to have looked at the posted link in order to see the embedded comment.

 

 

So, then I was just reading blogs on my friends pages, with the TV running in the background.

And lo, "Inside Edition" just did a feature on the very video I had wanted to share with my friends!

So, what it is, is MY little town.  Newsweek magazine called us a dying city a few months ago.  The Grand Rapids Lip Dub video was filmed this past Sunday morning in response.  And I am going to post the embedded video as a comment.   Grand Rapids is a COOL city!

Wednesday Note to Self

Re: Email from Marcia at ACCESS -- remember to watch WGVU tonight at 8 p.m.

Marcia wrote:

"Thanksgiving wishes to all of you.  Despite the media focus on how difficult things are, I am hoping each of you has something you can think of to be thankful for.  There is so much positive we can focus on that will help direct our energy in a more optimistic fashion. 

 

"Despite the increased numbers of individuals visiting the food pantries, we are still receiving calls and emails from families wanting to provide a holiday food basket.  Our pantry volunteers and directors are stepping up to the increased need but if you get a chance to visit any of the pantries, please let them know how much we appreciate their willingness to give of themselves.

 

"Every day, our mail brings us surprised and welcomed donations that will help ACCESS continue to provide the services for the community and it's congregations.  We continue to hear God stories of those who offer to help and are surprised when they find themselves receiving as much satisfaction as the individual they are working with.  God continues to work through the people of our community and it is for that we are very thankful.

 

"I saw the premier of a locally produced film called, The Gift of All: A Community of Givers.  It will be shown on WGVU this Wednesday, Nov 26 @ 8pm.  In 2004, the Chronicle of Philanthropy recognized Grand Rapids, Michigan as the nation's second most generous city, per capita, next to Salt Lake City, Utah, with Grand Rapids residents giving 10 percent of their income to a variety of charitable causes. The Gift of All was a researched, written and produced by a group of local citizens to learn from and honor a generation of givers as well as to inspire everybody by showing the history and potential of giving and voluntarism in our community.

 

"We have so much to be thankful for..... May God continue to bless you and your family with grateful hearts."

Wait a Minute!

If you don't like the weather in Michigan -- Wait A Minute!

Melting all that snow and ice today.  Rain tonight.

Then we get another cold front on Tuesday. 

http://www.wzzm13.com/weather/forecast/weather.asp

Quote from the above link (because I think the link is generic, not date-specific):

Monday was a milder day across West Michigan as temperatures soared into the 40s after starting the day in the teens. Some morning sunshine gave way to cloudy skies and eventually some afternoon rain showers.

Monday night look for rain showers through the night, amounting to around 0.25" inland and up to 0.50" along the lakeshore north of I-96. Temperatures will slip into the mid 30s inland and upper 30s along the lakeshore. Winds will be breezy from the south at 10-20 mph inland and 12-22 mph along the lakeshore.

Tuesday will feature scattered rain showers, especially during the afternoon, and mild temperatures once again climbing into the 40s. A very strong cold front will slice across Lower Michigan after sunset touching off a few isolated thunderstorms. Winds will be south at 8-16 mph inland and 10-18 mph along the lakeshore.

Tuesday night will feature an abrupt change once the cold front moves through: temperatures will rapidly drop from the upper 30s and low 40s into the low 20s before midnight. Rain will rapidly change to snow and accumulate 1-3" inland and 3-6" along the lakeshore by midday Wednesday. Winds will turn to the west and increase to 20-30 mph inland and 25-35 mph along the lakeshore. Road conditions will become treacherous during the evening.

Wednesday will feature much colder conditions with morning snowfall followed by mostly cloudy skies during the afternoon. Temperatures will remain in the mid teens to near 20°. Winds will be west at 15-25 mph inland and 20-30 mph along the lakeshore. Wind chills will drop to around 5-10 above.

Temperatures moderate quickly into the upper 20s Thursday with partly cloudy skies.

A developing storm system in the Lower Mississippi Valley will bring moderate to heavy snow to the area starting late Thursday night through much of Friday. Heaviest snow will fall over central and eastern Lower Michigan but West Michigan is likely to significant amounts as well. Temperatures will reach the upper 20s.

Saturday and Sunday will be partly cloudy with temperatures in the low to mid 30s.

The 6-10 Day Outlook for Sunday, February 3 through Thursday, February 7 calls for above average temperatures and above average precipitation. Average highs are around 30-31° with average precipitation of .26" and average snowfall of 2.2".

The 8-14 Day Outlook for Tuesday, February 5 through Monday, February 11 calls for above average temperatures and above average precipitation. Average highs are around 30-31° with average precipitation of .35" and average snowfall of 3.1".

Have a terrific Tuesday!

For the complete 13 On Target Weather Forecast watch WZZM 13 News at 5:30, 6:00 and 11:00 PM.

The Grand River is Frozen!

It is SO COLD here!  I wore 2 coats just now to take my dog out.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=86759

Picture Perfect -- Around the World

The idea of this week's theme is that you look around you and snap a photo of something that is Unique to your part of the world. Look at your world through the eyes of those of us in other lands.

Every part of the world is unique, whether you live in an isolated village in Africa or big city suburbia in America. What you think is common may well be very peculiar to someone on the other end of the globe - or even in the next town, so have fun with this!

The theme this week is:

'Around the world'

This photo was taken last spring with my Canon Powershot A520.

Around the World -- This is Michigan

Cool City

  Grand Rapids, Michigan