Devastation to Delight in one day

Driving Through Devastation

The Manage It Monday (Victorious In Christ) post was unable to be posted on Monday, because I was driving my father-in-law back to his home in Wadena, MN, the location of a devastating tornado which touched down and demolished 39 homes and caused major damage to 75 others, and minor damage to 75 more.  Some of the debris had been cleaned up or cleared away in just a few days, but it was still a sobering sight to drive into Wadena on Highway 10, seeing piles of rubble where buildings had stood only days before.  Then driving down side streets, per my father-in-law's request, we saw in front of every third house or so, trees laying on the boulevard, stacked as neatly as a huge broken tree can be:  trunks cut up, huge branches and leaves piled on top, the trees having been pulled up from the ground by the tornado as though they were weeds being pulled out of a garden and thrown in a pile.  None of our relatives living in the area were injured or suffered loss in any way, and none of the area's residents were killed, miraculously.

Video in aftermath of Tornado in Wadena, MN

I returned home later yesterday, having driven about 300 miles, only to get back in the car a few hours later to drive another 70 miles, round trip, to attend a bridal shower!  I am thankful for the safety God provided.

Bridal Shower

The bridal shower was a delightful event! One of the games "played" was to "make a bridal veil" in 10 minutes, with all the guests being divided into 8 small groups (yes, it was a very large shower!), and then each group had to appoint a spokesperson to tell why theirs was the best and should win the prize!  I videotaped the presentations, which resulted in howls of laughter, as some pretty "creative" explanations matched or outdid the creativity of making the veil!

 Stephanie, the Bride-to-be on the right, and her sister, Jenny

 

Kerry, Breezy and Jeanie did a lot of work to make

the shower such a success! Thank you, ladies!

Contestants in the Wedding Veil Design Contest

And finally, today was another adventure, as I had the privilege to help Kelsey for a couple of hours, by watching the boys she takes care of once a week.  They are 5, 3 and 1-1/2.  The first thing the two older ones had to do was teach me how out of practice I am with watching little people! While I was distracted, the three-year-old got a Tupperware glass and went into the bathroom and practiced "aiming".  Having just been potty-trained, his aim wasn't too good!!  After cleaning up the mess on the bathroom floor, and changing his clothes, which had just been changed, I went into the kitchen to find the 5-year-old had filled about 5 small containers full of water on the kitchen counter, and was just getting ready to play in them!  Fortunately, that's as far as he'd gotten, and no mess had been made. The littlest one was napping, so after this little bit of "education", the older two and I listened to Patch the Pirate and read an old Richard Scarry book, and a book about farm life, together.  This was pure joy for me.  I can hardly think of anything I'd rather do!  There was much cuddling on the couch, hugging, reading, questions and answers and talking about life...and explaining some everyday things from times past that are not around anymore, like phonograph records, jacks, marbles, and Tinker Toys.  And so, I think at least for now, you are somewhat caught up! Oh, and my Timely Tip on Tuesday is:  Don't turn your back on a 3-year-old! (At least not for very long:) Which you knew already!