Our grandson Jonathan was here for a week a few weeks ago. While he was here he dug two new flowerbeds for Margaret—one along each side of our paved parking spot in front our house. After he returned to Virginia the rains came…and came…and came…
This is the bed on the north side of the parking area
Here is the new bed on the south side of the parking area.
I don’t know if these are for fish or flowers?
Margaret fixed the goose today.
Here Margaret is removing the apple stuffing from the goose
The carved goose, ready for serving. It tasted delicious. We had been told that it would be greasy but that was not the case. The flavor was quite mild.
The table is set and we're ready for dinner
Margaret invited Jim Tracy (center) to sample the bird he had helped to prepare. On the left is Jim's friend, Teresa. On the right is our daughter Sheri, and her son Patrick Sean
Margaret in the center
(Jim got the goose feathers. He want's to make something with them.)
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Canada Geese are a very common sight where we live. Margaret has never eaten one and asked a friend if he knew a hunter who would be willing to give her one to cook. It wasn't many days before she got a phone call that there was a goose waiting for us in a cooler on our front porch.
The bird was almost as long as Margaret is tall! It weighed 11 lbs 8 oz at this point.
I'm a city boy. My meat comes wrapped on styrofoam trays from the grocery store. When Margaret said she had to dress the goose, I expected her to get her sewing machine out. Instead, our friend Jim Tracy volunteered to help her get the bird ready.
This is what we ended up with. It should be good eatin' this weekend!
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
This past weekend was a particularly busy one. It began Friday night when we attended the monthly Movie Night at our local church in Smyrna, DE. Saturday morning I assisted our Pastor in a memorial service for a 97 year-old saint in our church, Thelma Shriver.
That afternoon we drove to Spring Grove, PA to attend the TFC York Chapter's 24th Annual Banquet. We stayed in York, PA Saturday night and then Sunday morning we visited Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Red Lion, PA. We have been associated with Lighthouse for many years. From there we drove back to Smyrna, DE to attend evening service at our home church.
Monday morning our Pastor and I drove to Linwood, PA for the interment service for Thelma Shriver followed by lunch with the immediate family.
Monday night Margaret insisted that I sleep with a young lady named Susan. [Did he just say what I thought he said?!] Susan is a sleep technician with Delaware Sleep Disorder Centers here in Smyrna. I spent the night with Susan for a polysomnogram (a sleep test) to confirm that I have Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). My OSA was discovered while I was in recovery following knee surgery back on May 28.
The test involved a video recording of me sleeping with 28 sensors stuck to me. After confirming my OSA, Susan woke me up and hooked me to a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. The test concluded when she awakened me at 5:00 A.M. I will be given the test results and recommended treatment after the data has been reviewed by a pulmonologist.
OSA could be a factor in my migraine induced vertigo. OSA is known to cause headaches. It can also affect short-term memory—mine is sometimes measured in nanoseconds! Most importantly to Margaret is the potential to eliminate my snoring!
I forgot a very important part of the celebration at home. After everyone else had left, Patrick Sean said he had something special for Meme.
Patrick Sean had picked out a special birthday cake for Margaret.
While Sheri was giving Margaret the cake, we all sang Happy Birthday with Patrick Sean playing the song for us.
He had learned the tune for the occasion. That was his special gift to Meme.
The weather was mild Saturday morning so I opened most of the windows at home to air out our house. Early in the afternoon, Margaret motioned me to quietly come to the doorway of our spare room. When there, she pointed to the open window. In the sand berry bush, just outside the window, was a mother robin sitting on her nest.
I had seen the nest when I opened the window that morning but there was no bird sitting in it then. The bush is still bare and it didn't occur to me that the nest could be in use.
The flowers in the lower right are part of an arrangement of artificial flowers in a basket inside the window.
We probably wont be able to see the nest once the bush blooms.
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Margaret's birthday is April 14. Back in February of this year she told me that she had never had a surprise birthday party. I decided that her 60th birthday would be an ideal time for her first surprise party!
The first challenge was how to organize this without her realizing what was going on. After all, we not only live together, we also work together. Normally that's one of the blessings of our being in the same ministry. It's a major problem though for something like this. I needed someone who was sneaky and devious to help plan and coordinate this project without Margaret finding out.
My first choice for the job was Sharon Orshaw, our Pastor's wife. She was not sure if my asking her was a compliment or not. She did like the idea, though, and agreed to take on the job. She in turn enlisted two more gals from church to help her — Sharon Daniels and Sharon Cahall. These three did a great job of organizing all of the details for the surprise party. We kept in touch with email and IM (instant messaging). We chose 3:00 PM, Saturday, April 12, in the church fellowship hall, to have the party.
I began inviting folks to attend via a Windows Live Event website (setup so Margaret could not access it) plus a church emailing sent out by our church secretary, Marnie. Folks without email were invited by phone or in person. Obviously, we could not put this in the church bulletin!
It worked! The party was this Saturday and Margaret had no clue what was coming. I had told her not to make any plans for that afternoon because we were going out for her birthday. She jumped to the conclusion that we were going out to eat. After we got into the car, I told her we needed to first stop at the church because the Pastor had something to give us. (Thanks Marnie for coming up with that idea!)
The fellowship hall at the church is downstairs. I parked in front of the church, so she couldn't see the church parking lot, and went in the front door. (I found out later that a number of folks had parked elsewhere so she wouldn't see their cars in the lot.) She finally got suspicious when we got to the top of the stairway to the fellowship hall. She could hear the voices of a lot of folks downstairs. She looked at me and said, "You didn't?!".
Everyone there shouted "SURPRISE!" when we opened the door to the hall. What followed was one emotional high after another as Margaret recognized unexpected out-of-town friends and family one at a time. She was so excited and surprised she actually walked right past our daughter and two grandsons the first time without even noticing them. It was great. A number of folks remarked that it was the first time they had ever known Margaret to be at a loss for words. 
Margaret finally realized daughter Sheri, and grandsons Jonathan and Patrick Sean were here from Virginia
left to right: Chaplain Tom Kramer; Chaplain Don Jaggers; and his wife Carol
Charlotte , Margaret, and Kenzel
Pastor Kevin Wall from Chesapeake City, MD, back left, and Sharon Orshaw way back in the kitchen
(that's the ribbon on a balloon in front of Margaret's face)
Lorraine, Thelma, Janice, and Tootsie - ladies from our church
very dear friends, Gordon and Edwina, who came all the way from western PA
Jessica with baby Danny, Pastor Kevin Wall and wife Dawn
front, left to right: Chaplain David Weaver, Linda Kramer, and husband Chaplain Tom Kramer
daughter Sheri is standing behind Margaret
(Chaplain Ron Jones was also there but didn't make it into any of my pictures)
Margaret with the three Sharons, left to right: Sharon Orshaw, Sharon Daniels, and Sharon Cahall
They are showing Margaret the birthday cake made by Sharon Cahall
The Pooh cake. Half of the cake is lemon, for Margaret, the other half is chocolate, for the rest of us
Pastor Dan Orshaw, and his wife Sharon, and their granddaughter, Emelyn
Margaret posing for pictures with her cake
Of course the kids were first in line for cake and ice cream!
A Pooh piñata filled with candy.
You don't hit this one with a bat to break it open. Instead you pull the ribbons on the bottom, one at a time.
Only one of the ribbons opens the bottom to let the candy spill out.
Margaret and the kids took turns pulling out a ribbon until the right one was pulled
That's our grandson, Patrick Sean, on the left
The last activity at the church was Margaret opening presents. I think the kids were as excited as she was.
Notice the country girl without shoes — can't take her anywhere!
Some of the folks had time to come to our house and visit after the party.
(including Charlotte, on the left, and Patty, on the right)
Patty worked with Margaret and me years ago in ministry in Virginia. She now lives in NJ.
Sheri and her two sons spent the night at our house.
We had breakfast together at a local restaurant, the Wagon Wheel, Sunday morning and
then they had to get back to VA for Sheri's father-in-law's birthday party.
(Patrick Sean is hiding)
The last birthday weekend activity was lunch at the TA in Elkton, MD. with Chaplain David Weaver, Chaplain Tom and Linda Kramer, Gordon and Edwina, and driver Greg. Margaret and I drove to the TA after attending church in Smyrna to meet up with the others. We had a great time of fellowship there. No pictures though...I didn't have the camera with me.
You can watch a Flickr slide show of all of the pictures here.
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Last month our church had to work though the tragedy of the loss of an infant member of a church family. As Margaret and I sat at the funeral service, looking at the earthly remains of that tiny, precious infant girl, listening to the grieving mother weep uncontrollably...tears filled our own eyes. In my mind were the age-old questions: "God, why do we have to suffer such grief? It's not fair. Please, return quickly and make things right again!"
Instantly in my spirit God reminded me of two Scriptures. The first was 2 Peter 3:9:
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (NKJV)
Death was not part of God's original design. He is "not willing that any should perish".
The second Scripture was Matthew 24:14:
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
And with this Scripture I sensed God's gentle question to me, "What have you been doing to hasten my return?"
Have I been doing my very best to spread the gospel? Have I been witnessing to all whom God has brought into my path for that purpose? Have I done my part so that "the end will come"? Is my slackness delaying His return?
I have to confess that I have not been doing my very best. Lord, I'm sorry. Holy Spirit, refresh my spiritual boldness (Acts 4:31) as I stir up the gifts you have given me (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
How about you? Have you been doing your part to hasten His return? The Pocket Testament League will send you free pocket editions of the Gospel of John that you can give away. Their website is also loaded with great resources to help you effectively use those booklets to hasten His return.
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Our daughter-in-law, Liane, and granddaughter, Anna, came to visit yesterday. They were spending the week with friends in North East, MD and came to visit with us for a few hours.
Before they came inside Margaret showed Liane around the yard. In this picture they are checking out the herb garden. That's Anna in the background waiting to go inside.
Margaret keeps an assortment of toys on hand for visiting kids. Anna got the building blocks out to build a castle
No one had eaten lunch yet so we went to a local restaurant, the Wagon Wheel, to eat.
While we were waiting to be served Anna colored and the Margaret and Liane visited.
Our server saw me taking pictures and offered to get one of us together
Anna was fascinated by the restaurant's big aquarium
We went back home after lunch but I didn't get any more pictures before they left...I had a nap attack.
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Here are some more pictures of some of the beautiful flowers in Margaret's garden:
Celosia
She has a number of different kinds of Day Lily plants
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
Today is a Saturday that we don't have any ministry activities scheduled. It was nice not having to wake to an alarm clock this morning and to wake in our own bed. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took some pictures of a few of Margaret's flowers that are in our front yard.
Bergamot - as in Earl Gray Tea
Stella d'Oro - One of my personal favorites
Petunias on the left and Angel Face Blue on the right
More Angel Face Blue
Columbine
Tiger Lily - another favorite of mine
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:28b-29) NKJV
In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins
