Seeing and being with loving friends at All Saints this morning was certainly a blessed moment I won't forget.  It didn't sink in that we are "moving on" until I saw the look on Wendy's face as we stood there listening to the many "honks" and watching the flashing headlights usher us on to our next adventure in life.  Many kind comments, cards, and gifts are very much appreciated and will be always treasured.  This is but a new beginning for us that we will anxiously look forward to sharing with ya'll the next time we pass through Mt Pleasant.  22 years ago Wendy started working at All Saints.  22 Years ago I was Baptized at All Saints.  All Saints is our home and will always be, our home.  We will miss seeing you every Sunday but you will always be close to our hearts.  May God bless you and keep you.  Love you all,  Wendy and John :)

The wind just doesn't seem to quit here at the lake.  I had to put up our "other" shelter so she could do a little more paperwork!

Social distancing observed at Wen's farewell luncheon.  Weather was perfect, company was perfect, and we are very thankful she was able to work with so many wonderful people over the past 22 years.  It's difficult to imagine where the years went, but here we are, ready for the next step :) We hope to be back in the late fall and catch up with everyone. 

On the way home I went by our old home again and met with the buyer.  Mark showed me around and I went inside for a look see.  The brick is painted a very light gray with darker gray trim, as are the sheds and gate.  The flooring inside looked great and felt very solid underfoot.  I think he's doing a good job.  I took a bunch of pictures, or so I thought, with my flip phone, but without my eyeglasses I could not tell I wasn't pressing the "take" button.  Needless to say I have no pictures to show today!

I intended to boast about all the different flavors of Cheez-it crackers we have tried since our lock down.  I then Googled Cheez-it crackers!  I will now squash that idea and humbly mention we were only able to consume a few of the many different flavors.  The idea of my being able to brag has vanished into thin air.  I am surprised "thin air" is not a flavor.  Queso Fundido,  Buffalo Wing, Duoz Bacon and Cheddar, and Extra Toasty, must be newbies since they are not even listed by Google (circa 2018).  But with those and the likes of Extra Cheesy, Extra Big, White Cheddar, Reduced Fat White Cheddar, Cheese Pizza, Asiago, Baby Swiss, Cheddar Jack, Mozzarella, Hot and Spicy, Four Cheese, Colby, Provolone, Whole Grain, Original, Original Reduced Fat, Duoz Jalapeno and Cheddar Jack, Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan, Caramel Popcorn and Cheddar, Cheddar Jack and Sharp Cheddar Pretzel, along with several different flavors of grooved, yes grooved, Cheez-its, I boldly make the statement I will not be trying them all!  I cannot bring myself to spend money on Whole Grain!  Don't get me wrong, I like my grains.....JUST NOT IN MY CHEEZ-ITS  :(

Here ends my rant as I leave you with "Extra Toasty rules!"

The weather here at the lake (seems like it's all there is to talk about) is so much different than back in Awendaw, in a good way.  Here are some more pictures of the "angry seas" as we hope for the days of travel ahead. 

I looked and looked but could not find where this puzzle piece fit.  I zoomed in and I zoomed out. I had Wendy look and it just didn't seem to fit.  The subject came up this morning and I remember the context, and it struck me as memorable.  I ultimately figured it really doesn't matter that I can't see where it fits.  What matters, to me, is that when faced with an important part that seems to be missing from the big picture, so to speak, what do I do.  Carolyn made up a piece, drew in the details, and patched it into the missing hole and completed the task at hand.  What i liked, when I heard Carolyn talk, was what she did when she was confronted by the challenge.  She put together her imagination with a little artistic creativity and came up with a solution that completed the big picture.  I probably would have given up, looked for a few hours in places where I knew it wouldn't be, muttered something, and given up hope of finishing and put it back into the box to be thrown away.   So finally I come to my point.  Without Carolyn's point of view I would probably have gone in a totally different, and certainly worse, direction.  I pray, daily, for help to make right choices.  I need to seek help from these kinds of friends to help me in those situations where I might need help.  I love that I am surrounded by God's children in times I need to fill in the pieces of my life, knowing that I can't figure out a lot of this stuff on my own.  I sure am thankful for His love and all of ya'll.  I'm lucky ya like me!  So WOW again with my attempts to put my mind into a blog :)

I surely forgot to post about our Easter worship service this past Sunday.  Our past several services have been "drive up".  But this past Easter Sunday seemed extra special.  It was a beautiful morning. Still air, cool, birds singing.  My first ever sunrise service!  We had to set the alarm to 3:45 AM.  Argggg!  Look out for deer along the trip to All Saints.  As we all sat in our vehicles listening to Pastor Kris a wonderful feeling came over me.  I realized the setting around me.  We weren't inside, sitting together in the indoor setting of a building following familiar rituals I'm used to.  We were gathered around Pastor Kris listening in the setting of God's great creation.  It wasn't a "sermon on the mount" setting exactly, but I did have some sense of what it might have been like for people to receive God's word through Jesus back in the day, gathered around Him.  Well, just wanting to put my feelings on paper to jog my recollection later.  We are both doing fine, as are the rest of our families.  These times we're going through are sure different and hopefully we'll be through them soon.  My hope is, before we're through it, we will have united as God's creation in a way that, through His help, we will have a stronger bond with Him and each other.  So WOW, I didn't mean to get preachy, just wanted to get my thoughts down!  And now for a couple more (lol) pictures of last night's show.  I just can't get enough of these sunsets :)

Not much in the way of a descriptive photo, but this is where we huddled up when a tornado moved through.  We're in a campground bath house with 3 other families.  Gary saw a funnel that hit down a couple miles from here in Moncks Corner.  Thankful to God for His protection!  We're all ok here.

On a good note, it's starting to subside as it dips down into the low 40's for tonight.

Surf's up !                           

I thought hard about whether or not to post this page but it's a part of us, so here goes.  Some before and after pictures of our home.

Here are a couple more from the marsh and from close to the road looking up to the house

Just a couple more.

This is the one I had a hard time with, my dear Wendy peering in to see what was left of our home of 33 years.

Well, that's all behind us now and the pictures make us sad as we look at them.  But we are very excited to be starting out on a new adventure with much hope and many prayers for the next steps in our lives.

For our Thursday morning companions, Linda, Carolyn, Jim and Paul :)

Be Well :)