Our Bee Encounter

We have had quite an encounter with bees in the past few years. They seem to love our house! Denny would tell you the moral of the story is "Get bees the minute you see them." We saw bees hovering again around our roof near the front door just before we left for our trip to Kentucky. Denny had sprayed them a couple of times, and was hoping he had deterred them.  We came home to many bees buzzing around. Again, we tried all the home remedies to no avail. We finally called a bee removal company. Actually, we called several. We had a guy come out who seemed to know his business. Two days and $700 later we have had a hive removed that was over 2 foot by 2 foot...

Here is Your License Plate, Garrett

We have been following the story of Garrett Harper on Caring Bridge. Recently in his Caring Bridge Journal, his parents shared this information:
Hi everyone!  We have enjoyed our week at home although it has been an up and down one.  Garrett has fought mouth sores, especially in his throat, making life miserable and eating difficult.  He has been working to make the barn into a shop/manboy cave.  He spent lots of hours in the heat, but has things set up now.  He even fixed the mower for us.  "Gary's Garage" is his latest obsession.  He wants to decorate it with license plates from various sates and vintage signs but is struggling to find them.  We were discussing the friends we have in different states and were thinking about getting ahold of them to ask for old plates.   It dawned on us that we have friends from all over on Caring Bridge!   So, keep your eyes open.  If any of you have unwanted license plates laying around Garrett could put them to good use.  Just let us know. 
Tomorrow we head back up to the hospital for a methotrexate week.  We want to get it done, but this whole thing is getting so hard.  We will be in touch.
Love,
Beth and Garrett 
Well, Garrett, here comes your license plate from Arizona. When I ordered my speciality plate many years ago, they sent me two: one for the front of my car. Arizona does not require a front license plate and so it has been hanging on the wall in my garage. I would love Garrett to have it.

Hernan Visit

It was wonderful to meet Shari and Bob's family and friends. What a great visit we had. You can click below to see the rest of the pictures.
We weren't sure if we were going to be able to visit the Hernans on our trip home, so we waited until the day before to let them know we would be there on Sunday in the afternoon. They said that was great, so we parked for the night and went to bed. I began thinking about them, and could not sleep. I remember hearing about Garret Harper, the son of a long time friend who is suffering from cancer. Their church came to their home, quietly surrounded the house and prayed for the family and for Garrett. I wondered if we could pull that off for the Hernans. I could not sleep. I finally decided I needed to get up and figure out a way to let people know. I would have liked for it to be a surprise, but I had no idea who of Shari's Facebook friends lived nearby. I finally asked Shari if she could post it on Caring Bridge. She responded immediately. I think it was close to midnight on Saturday night. We did not know until the next day that they were having a very difficult night with Matthew. They didn't even get to bed that night until 3 in the morning. So, not knowing if anyone would show up, we headed to the Hernans. When we arrived, we found out5 that several people had responded, and were going to join us in prayer. Among them was Theresa, Nathan Akins mom, whom we had known in Tucson. She drove 2 1/2 hours to join us. About 20 people showed up and we decided to "surround" Matthew in his room and pray. Matthew lay there peacefully as we led in prayer. It was a great time.

Guthrie on Sad People, Safe Churches

Guthrie on Sad People, Safe Churches

It seems like I am constantly hearing about people who are sad, suffering and dealing with a severe trial of some sort. Just today, I jotted a short message on Facebook to a young man I have known since he was three years old. He just lost his mother tragically. I found myself writing words that probably have little meaning, but what else to say or do? Right now I am traveling across the country and unable to attend the memorial. I am thankful for memorial services because they give us the opportunity to look in the eyes of those who have lost and share from our heart. I think each of us wants to be comforting, helpful, encouraging to those we know who are sad or otherwise grieving. We feel compassion but sometimes cannot find the right words. We repeat what others have said. I remember sitting in a church service years ago when a young woman began to weep. Immediately, the ladies in the church surrounded her and asked her how they could help. She expressed her sorrow in losing her child three years before that. One of them said to her, "Well, you just need to trust God". I thought then how often our words are inadequate to express our compassion for someone such as this young mother. Perhaps these words from Nancy Guthrie will encourage each of us to better encourage those in our lives who are suffering just now.