Happy Birthday Luke!

Happy Birthday today to our nephew, Luke!  Luke is a senior at Providence Bible College in Elgin, Illinois.  He was recently married to his sweetheart, Jessica.  We know they are enjoying their new married life together and we pray that the Lord will bless Luke's day in an extra special way.  We love you Luke!  We trust the Lord to lead and guide you as you study, work and now be the husband God has called you to be!
Not a lot of news here.  We certainly are enjoying having Lisa's parents here.  We think they may be ready to get back to Florida so they can rest!  It's so nice to have them help with some projects around the house.
Saturday morning Tom woke up feeling the best he has in a long time...yeah!  However when he begins moving around and doing things, he quickly tires out.  Tomorrow we will go get his blood work done to see if his levels are coming back to the normal range.  His shingles are clear from his face, however when he touches his face they still hurt.  He's not ready to try to shave his goatee yet!  I have to say I'm more than ready for it to go.
Matt came home Saturday after his morning basketball conditioning at MVNU.  He was able to dig a large hole in the back yard so we could plant a new tree/bush my parents got us.  It is a Serviceberry that is to be gorgeous in the fall with brilliant leaf color and have beautiful blossoms in the Spring along with edible berries that the birds love.  We look forward to watching it grow and bloom along with Tom's health.
Two things stand out to me from this weekend:  1)  Friday night while playing cards with my parents we fixed a pot of decaf coffee.  Tom and I both decided we would have a half of cup (minus the cream and sugar we used to enjoy in our coffee).  You must remember neither of us have had coffee since March.  What a treat to hear Tom's sighs of delight as he sipped in the flavor...he treasured every sip!  2)  Sunday after church we grilled real beef (Hess) hamburgers.  Once again I was reminded of Sarah when she was a baby/toddler when she would eat something she enjoyed she would hum in delight...and thus was Tom as he enjoyed the flavorful burgers he craves!  I told him it's a slippery slope when we start indulging our appetites with foods that aren't "what the doctor ordered"!!
We look forward to celebrating the wedding of our niece, Emily, this Saturday (9/24).  Please be in prayer for Tom as the wedding is at 2:30, right at his nap time.  It will be a busy weekend with Zac and Sarah coming in on Thursday night and Matt and Katelyn coming in for the wedding after basketball conditioning on Saturday morning.  What a fun weekend it will be.  We know we need to be extra watchful for Tom to get his proper rest, especially with all the extra people and activities.