The Circle of..........Blessings

                                       Mark 1973

There's no doubt we are enjoying a "season of blessing" at RiverOaks Church. We are reminding ourselves that we need to step back and recognize what God is doing, and be encouraged by it. Since our celebration of the baptism of 17 last Sunday evening at our annual Bapti-Q, we have been remembering that Mark actually baptized very many of the parents of those children, among the 145 we have baptized within the eight years of RiverOaks' existence. God is showing us that there is a reward of harvest that comes from "staying the course" and following His clear direction. The road has not been easy (near impossible at times), and we have had our challenges, as does any church plant.


Following the special evening last Sunday, Mark wrote a new tune and arrangement for "How Great Thou Art" (see his blog, "Thoughts to Think Through," link on my sidebar, for the details on the "birth" of the song). It was my blessing to be in the band (keyboard) today as we played/sang his new song. It's an awesome song of praise to God, "How Great You Are," born out of a heart full of adoration for God.


Also today, with the mountaintop of the Bapti-Q fresh in our minds, we were blessed to have a parent-child dedication service for five babies in our church. For me personally, I thought about 40 years ago when Russell and I dedicated our firstborn to God, in our church in North Carolina. Now, our firstborn is a pastor and leading our young families to dedicate their homes and babies to God.


So, yes, I'm overwhelmed at this time, to think about, and praise God for, the Circle of Blessings. And I thank God, again, for the HUGE ways in which He shows me WHO HE IS, on a regular basis.

RiverOaks 8th Annual Bapti-Q

Our church launched 9/8/2002. Since that time, we have baptized 145 folks. But this year's event was special, because 13 of the baptism candidates were elementary school children who made individual decisions, meeting with Pastor Mark one-on-one, during or immediately after our Vacation Bible School. Since I have the blessing of directing our Kidz ROC program, and directing our VBS this year, this was especially meaningful to me. This annual event rather defines our church. The large crowd enjoyed wonderful BBQ and side dishes brought by everyone. What a blessing!!

Doo Dah Day--August 2010

Note: This one is not a slideshow, but rather a scrapbook format. After entering the scrapbook by clicking on the PLAY arrow, you can stay on the page as long as you like and then click on the arrow in the lower right corner of each page, to move forward. It's very short!! We enjoyed a special Doo Dah Day on the Saturday before Tory and Conner went back to school. I forgot my "real" camera, but the iPhone camera was better than nothing! Grandad and Conner explored the Golf store and then had lunch and took in a guy movie. Mamo and Tory shopped at Charming Charlie's and then had lunch at a new Tea Room. After planning our menu at Starbucks, we gals did the grocery shopping. All together back at home, we made dinner while the guys played Texas Hold 'Em (Conner won). The guys grilled the steaks, and the meal was delicious. Afterward, we all played Balderdash (Tory won).

"The Worrywart's Prayer Book"

Recently while on vacation, I picked up a book just for me: The Worrywart's Prayer Book: 40 "Help-Me-Get-A-Grip God" Meditations and Prayers by Allia Zobel Nolan. I have not read all the book yet, but I have found many helpful "thoughts for the day." Right away, on page 1, I underlined this quote by Earl Riney: "Blessed is the person who's too busy to worry in the daytime and too tired to worry at night." I like that. I marked it, "Good one!" Now, I do want to be "blessed," so it looks like I need to be a little more "busy" in the daytime and a little more "tired" at night. 

Oh dear...

Post-VBS Celebration Trip

First ROC VBS: Week in Review--Incredible Blessings