Well, Brenda has returned to her home and ministry in The Netherlands after her six week breakaway.
She sent us a few pictures of her flight back.
And then some shots of her home in Zaandam just to prove she made it.
Oliver, her dog is very happy to have her back.
While she was with us, we had Sevy’s second birthday and Mom’s 87th birthday.
We took a trip to Tennessee to visit friends and to rest in the mountains.
She sang on worship team and visited with friends from the church and the area.
Now it is back to life as “normal” for both us and her. Brenda starts rehearsals for her Christmas shows this week. We have a worship conference and a Fall Festival in town this weekend. I guess I am not really sure what “normal” is. Brenda says her house is quiet compared to ours. maybe that its back to normal, but I know our house is quieter too without her voice in the room and her present in the table.
Maybe normal is us here and her there. Maybe it is us doing our jobs. But maybe normal is just what we are used to and abnormal is the things we have yet to get used to. Anyway whatever normal is I know we miss Brenda and she misses us.
We will celebrate, simply: A few bouquets, some slippers for winter, a new sweater, cake and ice cream.
Mom has lived an exciting adventure. 87 years is a lot of water under the bridge and a host of life events.
A third generation, Winchendonian, mom’s life has never wandered far afield. She lives in a house, only a mile and a half from where she grew up. The Vicarage is the house she and my father bought when I was in third grade. Still, 87 years in one place can give a person a wealth of experience and wisdom.
My mother grew up on a small farm. She remembers having an outhouse before her father installed indoor plumbing. She learned how to milk a cow and how to gather eggs from chickens. She remembers canning fruits and vegetables for the winter and recalls hand ringing clothes before they were hung to dry outside.
Mom’s father, my grandfather, was a carpenter and a machinist at several local factories. He built the house they lived in with the help of his father and brothers.
Mom’s mother, my grandmother, was the daughter of Finnish, and Swedish immigrants. She ran a tight ship at home, but then she had to. She had eight children and a farm to run.
Mom was daughter number three and child number six. The Family didn’t have much money. Mom put herself through nursing school in Boston.
Her life has spanned: The great depression, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, 9/11 and Desert storm. Her life has been touched by every president from Roosevelt on.
She raised two children, both of them pastors. She worked as a nurse in four different health care systems. She was married to a small businessman, my father, for 24 years and lived as a widow for thirty years.
Mom traveled the Unites States. She has seen Puerto Rico and Germany. She has visited Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon, DisneyLand and Disney World.
She has served in roles in GirlScouts and Soccer. She was President of Women’s Club and played Golf and Tennis on leagues at different times in her life.
Her world is smaller now. She doesn’t leave home and many of her memories have been stolen by this horrible disease, dementia. It’s a new part of her journey and there is more ahead because life doesn’t end with this life. We celebrate 87 years today, but we also celebrate the years ahead into eternity.
I am working from home this week! And all ministry is taking place off campus! We should be back in business by Sunday morning! At least that is the hope. This morning the company doing the lot found a large deposit of clay that needed to be filled in with stone to bring proper drainage.
“Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.[d]4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. “
As the Vicarage has filled up one of the things that has become clear is how differently the various Lillies all think and practice this thing called life. The differences show up in big and little ways. For instance my son and his wife have taken over washing the dishes. I never considered that the three pockets on the edge of our strainer are for presorting the silverware into spoons, forks and knives. When I do the dishes the silver just falls into whatever pocket I happen to chuck it. Joe and Kristine just seemed to understand that the pockets were there to help with the organization.
MIND BLOWN…
My sister and I are headed out for vacation on Saturday to a Missionary retreat called Eden Ridge.
The kids are taking care of things when I go. My daughter Amanda has the incredible thought processes of a lead administrator. She called the whole Lillie/Franklin team together for a planning session last Monday night so that schedules and duties are all marked out before my departure.
It is so powerful to see this multiplicity of minds working in my family. It is also beginning in the church….AS WE DISCOVER OUR GIFTS WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.
Our church at Cornerstone is organized into what we call DLT groups. Each group has five purposes.
To study the Bible together
To pray together
To break bread together
To build Authentic Transparent Vulnerable relationship together
To use these methods to outreach our community
I have just started a new DLT group. It is composed mostly of octogenarians in the church. We call ourselves “The Saints of Fire and Valor.” Our outreach is to the Senior Center in our town. We are joining in with another group, “The Warriors of Fire”.
Here are some photos from our first outreach as a group.
I WISH I COULD READ THE MINDS BEHIND THESE EXPRESSIONS.
This summer has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was enjoying the lilacs. Today we are enjoying the late summer and autumn flowers which are in full bloom.
It seems like everything is about two weeks ahead. The blackbirds are flocking in large numbers to my feeders. They are nervous things this year and getting pictures has not been easy.
But twice a day about 100 grackles and starlings and cowbirds swoop into my feeders eating us out of house and home.
Last year I remember commenting on the fact that there wasn’t any flocking at all in the area. So I certainly won’t complain. But it does seem early to me.
I love my little town in the North Central part of Massachusetts. These people are my tribe! We are greatly varied in the way we view the world, but we hold our region in common and the land ties us together in deeper ways than most of us realize.
TRINITY THE TIE-DYE ARTIST
The first line of our church’s mission statement is ‘WHILE DOING LIFE TOGETHER”.
DOING LIFE TOGETHER is how we are beginning to see the world. We are in this TOGETHER. We are better TOGETHER. It is WHILE DOING LIFE TOGETHER that we now share the LOVE OF CHRIST.
AMANDA AND PAM, TIE-DYE ARTISTS
I am proud of our little town. Over the last few years I have sensed a growing spirit of cooperation. Oh, we still have our divisions, but I see a growing number of people willing to reach across the chasms of thought to join together in making our region a stronger community. I see it in the work of the HEAL COLLABORATIVE. I see it in the dedication of the Winchendon Community Park. I see it in the Taste of Winchendon Fairs and the Parks and Rec events throughout this summer. I see it in the library’s One Book One Community conversations.
TRINITY STARTS MY SHIRT
AND I saw it today in the town’s first ever WINCHENSTOCK. A tip of the town’s hat to the 1970’s and a fundraiser for our local COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE. My daughter, Amanda, and her team ran the tie-dye booth. I was afraid to tie-dye my own shirt, so Trinity did the art work for me. I can’t wait to wear this in the pulpit in honor of what is building in our little community!
MY SHIRT WILL NEED TO SET FOR NINE HOURS AT LEAST AND THEN BE RINSED OUT THOUROUGHLY AND DRIED
This weekend we had a family reunion on my mother’s side. I was originally going to hold it at the church, but we all know we are in a season of lasts with Mom. This may be her last opportunity to see her family all together in one place, so I opted to hold it at The Vicarage.
Sevy and Kristine got to meet Uncle Tom, and my cousin Nada and her husband Ray
My cousin Matthew and his wife Brittney came with their children Justice and Aria.
My cousins Todd and Dan andMike and Barbara also came. Later my daughter Melanie came with her children.
The biggest hit of the day with the adults was the catching up with each others’ lives.
The biggest hit of the day with the kids was the solar bird bath and the pile of stones in the driveway.
The Vicarage is hosting a family reunion of the Tenny cousins this Saturday.
Melanie, James and Joe helped me set up the three party tents as part of the yard work we have done. Amanda mowed part of the lawn and I mowed part. I did some hedge cutting yesterday and some weed whacking.
Now we just need to pick up some extra chairs and we should be all set.
It was a week of celebrations in a season of celebrations at the Vicarage.
Of course the Lillie VI family came home. HUGE CELEBRATION AT THAT EVENT!
Not only that though, this week marked my oldest granddaughter’s fifth birthday. That I have a five year old granddaughter is beyond astounding to me. That I have all my children and grandchildren within five minutes of where I live makes me unbelievably blessed. I will revel in it for however long I have the privilege of it.
Daniella decided she wanted a Princess Peach birthday party. She of course got to be Princess Peach.
Her sister got to be “Mickey Hero”…. I do not know who that is, but Abigail seems to have taken on the role with serious gusto.
We had a great party with all the royal attendants in attendance.
And I even got to play a role in the weekend….By royal edict of Princess Daniella Peach and Mickey Hero Abigail I was dubbed Sir Bowser The Monster Villain!
Notes From the Vicarage 