The Last of the Firsts

One year ago today was the day my father, Rev. Arthur E Fritz went home to heaven and joined mama - who had been waiting for him for a mere 101 days. It has been a long and emotional year, needless to say. But, as my sister, Jodi, and I went and laid 6 roses on his grave today (1 rose for each sibling), I said to her, "Jodi, they have been together again for 1 year - today~~! He was SO lonely without her. She had been sick with Alzheimer's for a few years. He took such loving and tender care of her - with the help of us girls; but there is not doubt that HE did the greatest amount of "caring for". He was sick himself, having been diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was on oxygen 24/7. It was really, really hard for him to keep up - and the closer to their deaths they got, the more us girls were involved. But, Daddy was very stubborn and independent. He would NOT let any of us stay with them, insisting he could take care of her just fine.

Right after his death, we knew there would be a lot to be done to settle their Estate, etc. so my sister opened up a Post Office box in his name, so the mail would all come right into town; closer to her house. The last item of the Estate was handled this week and it was time to renew the Post Office box or return the keys. Jodi said she could not do it. (She and I were the two who had keys.) So, I was the appointed one. I walked into the local PO, and by now, my feet led me strait to the mailbox that I used to search for row by row. I put the key in one last time, took out the day's mail and then handed in the keys.
My first thought was, "Oh no, there is nothing left of him."

Then I began to think of his legacy and how he lived on in each of us children and in our children, and on down the line - even to every great-grandchild. He gave us a solid foundation and taught us what loving God and loving each other was all about. We were blessed to have him the 80 years we did; although to all of us, he only seemed about 65ish. His mind was so sharp and he was such a fun, goof-off at times (more on THAT in a post, soon to come... be watching for it~!)

Back to his legacy... He is still talked about all over the small town we live in. The new minister and his wife at dad's church told us they needed to cash a check and went into the local bank. Being from a BIG CITY, they didn't think it would be possible. They told the teller they would be moving up soon and were already pastoring the church that Rev. Arthur Fritz used to pastor. "Oh, Rev. Fritz's church?", they said, "we will cash any check you need cashed." (And they have cashed 2-3 now!) So, as they told me - his legacy continues...

In a post, just last week, I told how his local Campground named their Tabernacle after him: The Fritz Memorial Tabernacle. His legacy continues...

I know this is the end of the all the "firsts" us children will have to go through... but this is NOT the END of Dad's Life - he is just starting to live!!!! One year in Heaven is just a snap of a finger in our time.

Daddy, I love you and will ALWAYS miss you. But, I am SOOO glad you are in Heaven with Mama and most of all, Jesus. I'm glad you are healthy again and Mama knows who you are. Keep waiting for us - one day, by God's grace, WE WILL ALL BE THERE, TOO~~!!

Love, Gail Lynn

Essential Tools

Last week-end I attended my first two-day scrap booking session. Women of all ages and varied church backgrounds made their way to a local House of Worship located in Mt. Pleasant to take part in this phenomenon of creativity. I didn't quite understand, until I walked through the doors, how serious this undertaking was to each lady involved. In order to fully explain, let me liken it to a pregnancy. While some women just take the nine months in stride, having no distractions while "growing their baby", others agonize over every little hiccup the baby in her womb may have.

There are many, many decisions to make. The colors, the embellishments, the title, the journaling - those were the easy decisions. However, it was the equipment; the brands, the elaborateness, wheels or no wheels, drawers, pockets, slots - - just suffice it to say, "a place for everything and everything in its place", that really got my attention.

Knowing there are many varieties of storage bags and caddies for this particular craft, I decided to not worry about owning one until I had a chance to "observe" some in action. Thus, I walked into this activity with a couple of very humble-looking bags and baskets, all loaded with my own store of supplies. What I soon learned was that my bags and baskets, although filled to capacity, were NOTHING compared to some of the "loot" these ladies came armed with. Several of these ladies could have put up an "open for business" sign and probably never missed anything they would have sold. In other words, they brought the store with them~!

My first order of business, after securing a place to sit for the week-end, was to go around and check out each gal's equipment; having her explain the "perks" of her bag to me. I think, after spending hours and hours with these Goddesses of Creativity, I now know what "will and will not" work for me. I have the confidence to shop for the bag and storage container(s) that will become home-base for me as I pare my large tote of photographs down to a selection of photo albums.

One of the things I have learned in life, is that in order to do a job well, one must have the proper tools to do the job. That goes for scrap booking as well as building a house. I did add one small tool to my toolbox during this week-end. What amazes me is that a tool so small and in-expensive can do so many things to help move or re-move pictures, stickers, letters, etc. from where they were to where they need to be! I cannot imagine how I did without it before. I don't even know the proper name of this new tool, but it is sold by Creative Memories for $6.50. It has the look of a Mail Opener on one end and has a "point" at the opposite end. It can move anything that is glued or stuck down in an amazing way.

Now that I am so much more enlightened in the area of scrap booking tools, I am even more excited to make "order out of chaos" with my photos. Let the games begin~~!!

A Call to Serve....

It was officially announced today. First Church of Christ in Mt. Pleasant has a new pastor. Greg Stauffer (and family) originally from the Grand Rapids area, but currently pastoring in Toledo, will be coming to FCOC September 1, 2008.

Mom/Debra, and the children will come a little earlier so that Klay, their only son, can start practicing with the "tennis team" in the middle of August.

Welcome to First Church, Greg and Deb and family~~!! I know, I, for one, am looking forward to having someone permanent in our pulpit again!

Fritz Memorial Tabernacle

Last week, Rev. Nathan Shockley and Leland Shattuck/and wife, Maryln, called several of us siblings and asked if we could come to the a.m. service on Sunday at Remus Camp. They said they planned to do something special in honor of our father. We could not, in our wildest imaginings, think of what they might do. Perhaps a certificate of some sort, etc. When they called Jodi and I to come up front and then told us that in memory of all the time, effort, money, prayer and work our father had put into that campground, they were going to name the tabernacle after him - I just about passed out. Never, never had anything near to that crossed my mind. What a wonderful legacy to those he left behind.

Two Brides

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of attending the weddings of two friends. Because I was literally running from one event to the other, I really didn't have time to take many pictures. However, I did get one picture of each of the brides. Seeing the contrast of the two, made me think of many things this week about being the Bride of Christ.

Each bride was radiant and beautiful. I caught them for a photo at different times during their wedding. One has her bouquet, the other was coming in from outside the hall and her bouquet was in on the bridal table. One has the appearance of being "plainer" than the other, but that is just because of the "angle" I took the picture at. If you had seen the back of that bride, her veil was adorned with beautiful pearls, her dress had rhinestones going all the way down the center seam of the back - which went into a self-train.

All of these thoughts made me think of how UNIQUE each of us are as the Bride of Christ, and yet there is something that makes us all alike... we are all brides~! One of the brides had a big, flowing two-toned bouquet; pinks and whites. She could "do" the big, flowing bouquet, as she is very tall. The other had a stem-wrapped style of very brightly-colored flowers - as was the entire setting for her whole wedding.

Some of us shine more brightly and publicly, while others are more in the background, doing things for the Kingdom that everyone doesn't necessarily "see". We must be who we are and not try to be someone else.

One more thing I found to be interesting, was the fact that both of these brides had a little different version of the same common name. Does that not remind you of the Church of Jesus Christ? (I am referring to Bible-teaching churches of different denominational names.)

We are all preparing to become the bride mentioned in Revelation 21:2 (NLT).

"And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

Date Night With "Wall E"

I had the distinct pleasure of a "date" on Friday night. My three grandsons, Owen, Gideon and Silas all went "out" with me~~! We started by having supper at Bob Evans.



As soon as we ate supper, we went to see the movie Wall E. It was such a wonderful movie; one of those that tug on your heartstrings. I was sitting between Silas (age 5) and Gideon (almost 7). Silas was enamoured with Wall E immediately. He kept making precious little comments like, "Oh, Nonnie, I think that's his little house" - or "Oh, Nonnie, he's so cute". When the movie was over, I had told the boys we would go get ice cream and then when we got home, it would be time for them to go right to bed.
So, we headed out of the movie, intent on going to "Doozie's" for ice cream.

As we got near the foyer of the theater, I noticed we were walking right past the large cardboard display of Wall E. He was sitting on top of a large black box so that he was up high enough for everyone to see. I said, "Oh boys, let me take your picture with Wall E. Looking at the size of the box Wall E was on I knew Silas could not just stand by it because he is too small and if I got him in the picture, we would never see Wall E. So I felt the box to see how sturdy it was. Yup, it would hold his 34 pounds. The girl working right there, who took every one's tickets, said to me, "Do whatever you need to do. Wall E is going into the trash tonight, anyway." I said, "NO, you cannot put him in the trash~! How much do you want for him?" She said she would get a manager, so while that was going on, I took a couple of pictures. As you will note, in order to get the boys in it - I didn't get Wall E's head... The manager came and said, "If you take him TONIGHT and pay $20 cash, he is yours." By this time, little Si-guy was jumping up and down and clapping his hands. He was so excited he couldn't contain himself. I had the family van with 3 car seats in it and Wall E was very big. But thanks to a very kind General Manager and his Assistant Manager, they helped me take most of Wall E apart and we folded down some of the van seats and got Wall E in! During this endeavor, I heard Gideon say, "Hey, Owen, we can shoot our dart guns at him!" Silas didn't like that suggestion one bit!

Because Owen was not in his car seat and had only a seat belt on (don't worry - I called his mama and got permission), I had to take the back roads to their house and drive slowly. So, now, "Doozie's" was out! I even had to pray before we started for home because poor Owen was so nervous about being out of his "safety zone" (the car seat) and being a first-born, he is all about following the rules (usually)~! So I prayed for protection on the way home and for Owen to feel peace. It worked! He calmed down and we had a safe trip home. The boys helped get Wall E into their house and we got right back into the van - now with seats opened back up and all car seats in the correct spots.

We drove to downtown Shepherd, stopping at our local icecream shop. We sat outside on benches and ate our ice cream. Silas was not able to eat ALL of his little scoop of ice cream; at least he chose not to. I said, "Are you going to throw this away?" "No", he said, "I'm saving it for Wall E." So I took it to the van with us and put it in the freezer as soon as we got back to the house.

I told the boys to all go get into their p.js. and brush their teeth. Silas could hardly keep on task; he wanted Wall E put back together. I told him I would work on it but didn't know if it would get done b4 they were in bed or not. The next thing I knew, he was in the living room with me, clad in his p.js. and with freshly brushed teeth. He had gotten a flashlight from somewhere and was looking through the openings in Wall E's sides and telling me how far I needed to shove the cardboard pieces that held Wall E's wheels on. About that time, in walked Jeremy and Nichole. They were laughing and Nichole looked at me and said, "Where do you think the boys are going to keep him, mom?" I told her that he could go right out under the pine trees, and they would help shelter him from the weather, etc.

Jeremy began to help me and in just a little bit of time, Wall E was sitting in the middle of the living room and taking up a large part of the "space". Silas, especially, was having a hard time wanting to go to bed because of Wall E being there. Finally, Nichole picked him up and told him it was bedtime and to give Wall E a hug goodnight. He hugged and hugged him and I think even gave him a kiss. Of course, Wall E was so big, Silas stretched his arms as far as they would stretch and they didn't quite make it across the front of Wall E.

Three little boys hugged and kissed me and told me how much fun they had that night (several times) and finally went to bed. As for Wall E, when Silas woke up the next morning, to his delight, daddy had put Wall E in his bedroom! Do you know of any other children who have seen the movie this summer that can say they actually took Wall E home with them???? Happy, happy boys - that is all I can say~~! As for Nonnie, she went home, not just happy, but very excited that she had a GREAT night with three little boys who love her so much and she loves them back even more!

Things to Contemplate...just for fun~!

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered ASSASSINATED instead of MURDERED?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in"...but it's only "a penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up, like, every two hours?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that BURNS the toast?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They are both dogs~!

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Did you ever notice when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you, but if you take him for a ride in a car, he sticks his head out the window?

Do the Alphabet Song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above????

Now that you have CONTEMPLATED all of these situations, please let me know if you have "answers" to any of them~!!! Have a GREAT day!

Playing Wii

The Saturday of the 4th of July week-end found several of our family gathered at my sister, Jodi's house. Sara and Tony (baby sis from IN) and their 3 girls were there, along with 2 nieces and their families. My brthr-in-law, Dan, grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers and we had a nice spread on the table, as per usual, whenever the Fritz's are together, eating.

The best entertainment of the day was when the adults, and teens sat back and watched/helped the little group of 5 children ranging in ages from 4 to 11 years of age "bowl" with the Wii. We cheered them on, especially when they got a strike or picked up a spare, and they were all pretty pleased! However, there were 2 children who did not participate due to their ages. Lincoln is only 9 months old and Kevin is only 3. He was not quite old enough to explain the game to nor to care; so we thought. He did see his two older brothers playing, though, and he spotted my sister's cordless phone lying on the counter. He brought it to her and she thanked him, not knowing what he was wanting. So, he took it from her lap and proceeded to stand in front of the TV screen and push buttons on it and then go through the motions he had observed the others doing. It didn't take us long to realize that he "thought" he was bowling!

We laughed and laughed and in between, we would tell him, "good job, Kevin." He bowled for about 10-15 minutes straight, never having any idea that is wasn't his actions on the cordless phone that was making the pins fall on the screen. How smart of him to find what he thought looked like a control, and imitate the actions of those around him~~!

I was reminded of when Paul, talking to the Church at Thessalonica said to them in I Thessalonians 1:6 NIV "You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message, with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."

My prayer, today, is that I become more and more an "imitator" of Jesus Christ.

And, just for the fun of it, here is a picture of baby Lincoln w/his mama, Lindsey.

My Mother's "Philosophy"

I can so clearly remember from the time I was a young girl; probably 10-11 years old, hearing my Mother say the same thing at every Baby Shower she attended. The mother-to-be would be opening her gifts and someone would always have the latest "thing" for babyies as their gift. Then my mother would ALWAYS say, "You have to have a new baby every year in order to keep up with all the new things!"

This week-end, while sitting and talking to my niece, Lindsey, who was holding her 9-month-old baby, Lincoln, the subject of feeding table food to babies came up. I was telling her that my daughter, Heather, who has 7-month-old Regan, bought this "little thing" that she can put pieces of fruit in and Regan can suck and chew on it... and Lindsey interjected, "the net thing?" "Yes", I said. My sister, Jodi, who has only a 2-year-old granddaughter, Esther, said, "What is it?"

So Lindsey and I explained it to her. We told her it could be put in the freezer for teething or just used for food - and the net keeps the baby from choking, because they cannot get pieces big enough of any food out of it to choke on. Then I looked at Jodi and said, "Like mom always said, you must have a new baby every year to keep up with all the new things~!"

We laughed - partly because we were starting to sound like our mother! That circle has a way of coming around, doesn't it???

My "Other" Purse

My baby sister (Sara) and her family came to visit from Indiana today; July 5. We all met at one of my other sister's house; Jodi, in Shepherd. When I walked in, I was carrying my first load of food, etc. and Sara said, "that is Gail's purse" - referring to my well-worn basket - to which I replied, "it IS my "other" purse;it seems to go everywhere I go~!

I purchased this basket at our local WalMart store about 14 years ago. I paid...(are you ready???)... $5.00 for it~~! It has been everywhere and back with me. I take it to every function to which I take food, gifts, decorating supplies, flowers, or any other miscellaneous array of things. It has also helped me to "gather flowers", carry home left-over party food, supplies, decorations, or any number of other things.

I call it "old faithful". There is a small section that keeps separating from the rest, but I keep fish line on hand and it works wonderful to mend such things as a separated spot in a basket.

I will have to say it is probably the BEST $5 I ever spent; and that $5 has lasted the longest and given me the most use of any other money that I have spent.

The "Small" Ones...

My youngest grandson, Silas, just turned 5 this week. It is so hard to believe that he is 5 and ready to start school in the fall. A couple of weeks ago, I was helping him clean up his bedroom. Toys were strewn all over his bedroom floor and his Mama has a container for almost every "category" of toy in his room. I came to some stuffed animals, however, and wasn't sure where to put them. As I handed one to him I said, "Silas, where does this go?" He told me it went on his bed and he began to place them all in a straight line, down the bed and up against the wall, as I handed them to him one by one. Now, I knew that awhile back, his Mama had started limiting the amount of stuffed animals the boys could have because Owen, the oldest, has terrible Allergies, and Silas suffers with Asthma. So, I was quite surprised to find the amount of stuffed "critters" he now had. I picked up one of the last ones; a LARGE bumblebee. I asked him if he sat that one on the bed, too. "No, Nonnie", he said, grabbing it from my hands and throwing it against the wall, "remember? Asthma; dust." (I wanted to laugh so bad, but I was choking from all the dust billowing around because of the "THUMP" against the wall~!)

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This picture was captured at a Graduation Open-House last week. It is my two granddaughters; Regan Rene' (7 months) on the left and Zoe Violet (13 months) on the right. I think Regan was saying, "We are cousins and "best friends"~! The picture is TOO precious, isn't it!

Mark 10:14b NLT: ..."Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children."

Siblings

I have been thinking a lot about my siblings, lately, and would like to introduce them to you. This picture of all of us was taken the day of our Mother's funeral. In the very back row, left to right is, first of all:

My oldest brother Art. He is my "Irish Twin". In case you do not know what Irish Twins are, they are siblings born w/i a 12-month period. We, however, were not only born w/i a 12-month period, we were born in the SAME CALENDAR YEAR~! (Busy parents~!) Art was born in February and I came along at the end of December. I would often tell people we were 10-months apart; Mama would always say, "Please don't forget the 12 days!" So, we are 10 months, 12 days apart. That makes us the same age for about 6 weeks. Art has the IQ of a genius. He plays one of the best guitars you will ever hear. I have always credited him for much of my ability to play the piano. (More about that in future post.) He lives in Grand Rapids Michigan. He has been married to Sarah Louise for 32 years. They have 3 children and an adorable foster baby from Sudan, whom, at the current time, they have temporary guardianship of. His children are: Tabitha, David and Jonathon and little Goy. His wife, Sarah, has been almost a lifetime friend of the family. Art performs "audits" for companies applying for a 'line of credit'.

The other brother in the back row is my youngest brother, Earl. Earl just married Debra Jo this past December. Earl also has 3 children: Lindsey, Kristina and Earl James (EJ), and 4 grandsons. Lindsey has little Lincoln and Kristina has Karter, Karson and Kevin. Earl is definitely a "cleanie". He is always shampooing a carpet, his car upholstery, cleaning a garage, mowing a lawn - you get my point. He is the "quiet" one of the family. Many, many times in our growing up years people were "SHOCKED" to find that he was part of the family. They got to pretty much know all of us children, but Earl was so quiet and in the background, they didn't even know he existed. Earl can play a good electric bass guitar. He works for a company that manufactures Seed and Grain Cleaning Equipment. He is the supervisor of the elevator/conveyor department. His house is full of Red Wing memorabilia, the Red Wings being Michigan's state Hockey Team. You see, he also married a girl who's house had a lot of the same thing, so when they combined houses, they both doubled their collection. He and Deb live in Vestaburg Michigan.

The row of girls include my 3 sisters, and myself.

On the left, is Barbara June. She is next to the baby and came along 5 years after Earl was born, so she was kinda' a 2nd family for Mom and Dad, since the first 4 of us were born in 5 years. Barbara has been married to Tony for 21 years and lives in Atlanta, Missouri. They have 4 children: Nikita, Caleb, and twins, Devon and Danika. Barbara is extremely artistic. One year, while Mom and us older girls got Thanksgiving dinner ready, Barbara sat and molded a beautiful turkey out of a pound of butter. She then colored parts of it w/food coloring. It was a beautiful sight to behold until someone took the first bit to butter their roll. It was all downhill from there! Barb is a great cook and bakes almost everything from "scratch". I would eat at her table any meal of the day. Barbara has home-schooled her 4 children for most of their lives. She now has all teens, except, Nikita - who is 20.

The next sister in that row is Sara. She is the baby of the family. Sara was born when I was 17 and Jodi (next sister) was 15...she was kind of "our baby". Sara married Tony (Anthony) 14 years ago. Tony is of Mexican descent, therefore, they have BEAUTIFUL little girls. (We like to call them our 'taco babies', but they aren't really babies anymore.) Their girls are Britnee, Janae and Kerrigan. Tony and Sara have been Ministers of Music at different times in their married life. The three girls sing often with them; they also sing harmony...it runs in the family for young children to sing "parts". Sara is a stay-at-home Mama, however, she is always involved in every program her Church does and that her girl's Christan Day School does. That is because she is a b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l pianist. She has played since she was very young; 5 years of age. Sara can also put on the best programs ever. She is capable of pulling things out of children like no one I've ever known. She gets them to sing w/enthusiasm and say parts with such expression that you would think they were all "child actors". Sara loves to bake but doesn't like to cook. Good thing Tony is "into" cooking! She always says she has a kitchen because it "came with her house"! She and her family live in Kirklin, Indiana.

The 3rd girl to from the left is Wendy Jo, better known as "Jodi". She is my 'other twin'. We are only 27 months apart; I being the oldest, and we have been very close our entire lives. We were almost the same size once we were both in school, so everyone always insisted we were twins. Mom made most of our dresses in those days, and she always made us matching clothes. However, Jodi HATED to always dress like me. I, on the other hand, always wanted us to wear the same dresses together. I have always said Jodi was my "Aaron" (my mouthpiece). I depended on her so much when we were growing up. She was the strong one and I was the 'fraidy cat, and the one always upset and/or nervous. Jodi is been married to Dan for 31 years. They have 4 children; Eric John, Julee, Matt, and Luke, and one granddaughter, Esther, who belongs to Eric John. Jodi was very opposite me when it came to the span of years between each of her children. Hers are ALL 4 years apart; not by choice, that is just how it happened. Mine, however, were all born in 4 years. Jodi and I married brothers*. Talk of "keeping it in the family"... She has always been a 2nd mother to my 3 children, because I worked most of the time when my children were young and Jodi was the babysitter. She is also an awesome cook. My children LOVE to go to Aunt Jodi's to eat! Jodi has the Spiritual Gift of Nurturing. She has worked since her children grew up, doing "home care". She said she is just about feeling ready to go back to that position...it has taken her awhile after helping care for 2 sick parents prior to their deaths, last year, for her to even want to consider it again. She and Dan live in Shepherd, Michigan.

Obviously, the last girl on the right is me. Then, down front is dear 'ole Dad, who is now in Heaven; 101 days after Mama died, he went "Home" too.

So, there you have it - my Siblings. Since I went by the order in the picture, I will give you our birth-order.

Arthur Allen
Gail Lynn (me)
Wendy Jo "Jodi"
Earl Ernest
Barbara June
Sara Emeline

It was great to introduce all of them to you.

*I am no longer married to Dan's brother. We have been divorced for 20 years.