It was only three days!

I just have to post the first pic of our beautiful new granddaughter (and Isaac's sister) Sophia Elizabeth, born Monday, October 25, at 10:58 a.m. weighing 7 lb. 14 oz. and measuring 20 ½ inches long! 

“Children are a blessing from the Lord” and grandchildren are a double blessing!!  (I know, that second part is not Scripture – just totally experiential!!)

Next time,

Karol

PS:  It's 51 degrees today!  Can we make it three more days without turning on the heat??  Well, at least Sophia is here!  We'll see . . .

What a delight it was last week . . .

 to visit Timothy, Sarah, and Isaac in Omaha!  Sadly, ‘fun’ is probably not a daily word in my life, but, boy, was it fun to play with, read to, tuck in, and watch Grandson Isaac and to see him interact with Mallah the neighbor cat! 

Isaac is approaching three and is amazingly imaginative.  (I know . . . this is a grandmother speaking!!)  This isn’t particularly surprising since both his mom and dad are improvisational actors!  The refrigerator is a ‘robot’ which he sits atop when his dad puts him there!  Not only is this cute to see, but it is quite impressive that the back of his pants are not black with that greasy dust that would certainly be the case if he were to sit  atop MY robot-refrigerator!  Sometimes he is ‘Curious George’ and his dad is ‘the man with the lellow hat.’   He bowls with golf balls, mimes a mean fastball, dances as a penguin would, and loves playing ‘hide and seek’ especially as a ferocious unknown animal! 

By the end of the next 10 days a new little sister will be arriving at Isaac’s house!  While I am convinced that this will be an incredible blessing to our whole family, I am even more convinced that this will be a wonderful, life-changing, and developmental essential in Isaac’s life!

Next time,

Karol

My living room is littered with Scentsy orders!

 

 I must say that I love Scentsy warmers and scents.  When I get a box (or three) with all the things that I’ve ordered for customers, I get so excited to see what everyone likes!!  ‘Paws’ for pet-lovers, ‘Yukon’ for outdoorsy types, ‘Nature Haven’ for bird-lovers, ‘Angora’ for the elegant, ‘Tribeca’ for the contemporary, ‘Twinkle’ for babies . . . and it goes on and on!   

Anyway, I am obligated to open each warmer to make sure that the beloved UPS man didn’t get too rambunctious and break any of them!!  (I had that happen once, so now I check!)  And then there is the sniffing!  I have smelled all 80 plus scents over and over, but when the order comes, I still find myself sniffing!!  “Oh, ‘she’ ordered Mochadoodle!!  I remember her saying how much she likes flavored coffee!”  “Mmm . . . just like laundry dried in the sunshine!”  “Ooo, Christmas is coming!!”  It’s just amazing how scents can conjure up past memories!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Scentsy (Yes, even though I love them, I think it is a corny name!) the best description I’ve heard yet is, “The scent of a candle; the safety of a nightlight.”  It is a ceramic warmer with a low wattage light bulb that warms specially formulated wax at a low enough temperature that won’t burn.  No soot, no evaporation, no burns if one becomes careless.  And best of all, every time I enter my house, I smile.  It smells so good!

So . . . I’ve had friends ask, “Do you make any money selling Scentsy?”  My answer is, “I would, but I tend to give warmers and scents away . . . to my kids, to fellow pastors’ wives (its clergy appreciation month, you know, and I appreciate their wives!), to the church office, to my husband for his office, to my friends, for baby showers . . .”  So, on one hand, I don’t make much money, but on the other I earn enough to give in a way I couldn’t otherwise!  So, YES, I make a bundle!!  J 

Next time,

Karol

PS:  If you want to SEE what I’m talking about go to my website:  karolschoenfeld.scentsy.us

After just arriving home . . .

from two days at a District Conference Pastors’ and Wives’ Retreat in Osage Beach, MO, I will turn around and fly out tomorrow to Omaha to help out with Grandson Isaac and preparations for his soon-expected sister.  Saturday will find me ‘winging’ back to St. Louis to greet friends who will stay until Monday.  Someday when I am old and tottery and unable to travel or do much of anything for others (except pray!), I will think back fondly on this time of life which is bustling with delightful opportunities.  Lord, help me appreciate each moment as it comes.

Next week!

Karol

Here’s what happened with the Neighborhood Brunch.

I bet you thought I forgot to give you the update on that brunch I hosted for our neighborhood women to get to know each other better.  You will recall that I had littered the neighborhood with flyers inviting the women to come and that I was suspecting that no one would (although Anna had said that she would have . . .)

Anyway, I

·        baked two kinds of muffins                    check

·        made apples and dip                                check

·        brewed coffee                                        check

·        had two ‘exotic’ kinds of fruit juice        check

·        got out the ‘good’ dishes                          check  (you guessed it – we don’t have china!)

And, of course, it takes these kinds of endeavors to force me to

·        clean my house                                        check!

The day arrived . . . the appointed hour (10:00 a.m.) came . . . and no one rang the doorbell!  You know, I wasn’t even disappointed!  I had said, “God, I think I need to do this, but YOU will have to bring the women!  And if You don’t, then OK, at least I tried.” 

I must confess to the world (or to the three people who might read this J) that I felt a stab of relief when no one came!  But . . . at 10:20, I was sitting in the living room watching and waiting and I saw Mary Ann, a neighbor in her eighties who lives across the street and down one house, gingerly walk across the street and ring our doorbell.  As I opened the door, she handed me a Lubeley’s Bakery Box which contained St. Louis’ famed Gooey Butter Cake and said, “Am I too late for the party?”  I said, “Not at all!  You ARE the party!!”

I think she felt a little sorry for me that she was the only one there, but I assured her that I would love to visit with her, as we really didn’t know each other.  She is a widow – we met her husband, Dan, just months before he died two years ago – and we talked about Dan and her daughters and her autistic granddaughter and about how the neighborhood used to be.  Then it was time for her to go.   

Was it a waste of time?  I don’t think so!  Now, I know Mary Ann.

Next time,

Karol 

Football Is In The Air!

I know that we are a little behind those of you farther north, so you’re probably thinking, “Duh!”  But this is the first week that the weather has made me think, “We need to go to a football game!!”  Yes, I look back fondly on those years of watching our own sons play football!  Even if they didn’t win, there was a wonderful camaraderie among parents and friends in the stands.  The band played, the team roared onto the field, the smells of popcorn filled the air, and a large portion of the community turned out for the entertainment of the week!!

So, that being said, we are going to our first high school football game since our move ‘south!’  We will watch Daniel and Thomas – two seniors from our church who play for the Kirkwood Pioneers – as they challenge . . . oh . . . some other team!!  We have the luxury of choosing to go on a beautiful fall evening to watch as they play their second game in their newly renovated stadium.  (And we have the luxury of not even caring who they play!)

Please understand that I have not forgotten all those icy-cold nights of sitting in sleeping bags to keep our toes from becoming frost-bitten or those torrential downpours when we sat in ponchos under tarps!  But, happily, we are not required to choose to go on those nights anymore.  (Even though, those very experiences helped cement that earlier mentioned camaraderie!!)  No, this Friday we go because it is beautiful football weather!!  Go, Daniel!  Go, Thomas!!  Go, Pioneers!!

Next time,
Karol

Liliana came to the U.S. . . .

from Romania three years ago this November to live with her sister and brother-in-law.  Soon after, these family members decided that she was not doing what they wanted her to do for them so they decided she would have to go back.  Although devastated by their abandonment, she determined that she would not go back!!  Left with little money and speaking little English, she determined to enroll in the local community college while continuing to work the part-time job allotted by her visa.  Her dream: to become a nurse.

Liliana came to our church with neighbors of her family members, our Russian (AND Romanian) speaking pastor and his wife!  Soon after moving in with a co-worker and her adult son, she discovered they were drug users.  Suddenly, the opportunity came for her to move into a church member’s home.  During those first months at church, she listened and learned and finally surrendered her view that there was no God!  She was seeing God work in her circumstances, through other people, and she finally came to the realization that He WAS real and that He had died for her sins and He truly DID care for her! 

God blessed her with additional hours at her community college job, gave her strength to endure a painful back injury and the opportunity to receive medical treatment.  For two years she often walked two miles to catch a bus to take her across town to her college – summer and winter!  She has since moved to another home nearer her college and worked hard to get her driver’s license.  She has faithfully paid back every dime of a loan she needed to purchase a car.  Liliana has continued taking pre-requisites for nursing – things like this semester’s Biomedical Ethics and Biology of Health & Disease.  (I can’t imagine taking them even in my first language!!)

And now, we rejoice with Liliana as she has recently been accepted and will begin Nursing School in the spring!!  Liliana, you are my hero!  Your perseverance is breathtaking!  We rejoice with you in what God has given you the strength to accomplish!!  (Have I mentioned that Liliana is in her forties with a 20 year old son back in Romania??)  Keep on keeping on, Girl!!

Next time,

Karol