My Bursting Heart

What a fabulous day! Everything went super-great today!

First: I went to church early to get things set up for the fully packed schedule. Met with my confirmation mentee during the education hour. It has been fun to watch her grow up over the last couple of years!

Church was a mission theme, run by lay people. Three different speakers (one team of two included me)… all were interesting and fun. Beth and I were a team of two and did well, if I do say so myself. It was fun! Charles was with me today in church, which I love. He ran the “clicker” on the Power Point thing and did a great job!


After church, a pancake breakfast. Yum! It was a fund raiser for our summer mission trip, so the trip participants helped serve and clean up (yep, that includes me). There was such a happy mood at church today. It was just alive with joy. I loved it. And the great news is, the fund raiser was a huge success. People gave very generously (way more than the cost of the pancakes). Thank you, wonderful and generous people!

below: yes, this is Yours Truly. No comment.

After that, there was still one more event: a congregational meeting. To tell the truth, I did not attend it. I peeked in and saw that it was going well, and decided to head back to the kitchen to continue helping with clean-up. There were a lot of dishes to do, and we ran out of hot water. But we put water through the coffee maker and made do. (And yes, we do have an automatic dishwasher, but ran out of hot water for the hand work.)

below: beautiful spring blossoms near our church

Whew! I had to clean up the stuff I had set up (photos and other stuff).. then went home and took a nap! That felt great, and then it was time to head off to the next big event: Steven’s LAST college choir concert. It was sooo beautiful! It was just GREAT. The first note got me started… it was heavenly, and beautiful, and my son’s last! Boo hoo! I felt pretty weepy. Steven said even the conductor got teary-eyed on their last piece (“Alleluia” by Randall Thompson). This choir is just so good, and the acoustics where they sing are fabulous. The soft sounds and gorgeous chords just melt around you, get into your bones, and oh, it is pure joy.

They got a standing ovation and did an encore piece, which was conducted by Melody, my future DIL! What fun that was! She was full of energy and verve… a delightful way to end the college choir career of my son and his bride-to-be.

below: 4 of 5 seniors who just sang in their

last choir concert, having some silly fun

At the reception afterwards I got to meet a couple of Steven’s professors. They were wonderful and obviously enjoyed knowing Steven, and I could have hugged the stuffing out of both of them. (I hugged only one of them and told her I loved her.)

Afterwards, one more fun event: we went out for dinner -- Charles, Steven, Melody, and Melody’s mom and sister, and me. Melody told us that she has been offered and has accepted a job! It will be a 12-month position with Americorps. Yippee!! Plus, we talked about a few plans for graduation and wedding. It feels good to get some things discussed and agreed upon.

With one small exception, this day could not have been any better. I’m so happy I could just burst! The only part that wasn’t perfect was that Marjorie had to work today and couldn’t attend the glorious concert and dinner afterwards. We missed her!

Today I am thankful for:
1) great and generous church friends
2) fantastic college professors
3) gorgeous music
4) son and daughter-in-law to be: wonderful people
5) experiencing so much joy in one amazing day!