anglea-lange homefront news: Communion Eucharisteo

What a time of thankfulness we had last night at communion. Life-filling gratitude for the Life-Giving Jesus! We have so much to be thankful for. We were trying to guess how long it had been since we experienced the "Grace Brethren" communion...at least 18 months if not longer. You see the "Grace Brethren" way of communion is 3-fold:
Supper

"got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself."

John 13:4

Foot Washing

"Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."

John 13:5

"If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet."

John 13:14

Bread & Cup

"and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes."

I Corinthians 11:24-26

Not only are we thankful that Tom could experience this, but that we could do this with our immediate family and our extended church family! I certainly wished I could have been a fly on the wall in the men's foot washing room as Tom washed Matt's feet...I'm still not sure how that happened! What a sweet experience for us all. I soaked in the sound (from the women's room) of the men's voices lifted in praise as they sang hymns and washed feet. I was honored to wash Sarah's feet and then have Julie Bradley wash mine. We ladies sang many hymns but the one that spoke to me was:

Verse 3:

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Before we left for communion, Tom looked in the mirror and said, "sometimes I see the 'old me' then other times I see the 'real me', the one who can't walk, swallow or breathe." He didn't use all those words but if you link them together that was what he said even though I'm not sure about the "swallow and breathe" part! He has the "swallow" part on his mind because Friday we were back at OSU Medical Center for a swallow test. He passed with flying colors, for which we are thankful, but he has had some bouts of aspirating saliva into his lungs which is why the test was ordered. We treasure every event...not knowing if it's the last one we'll share here on earth. We continue to praise the Lord for allowing us more and more events to treasure.

This week we had the pleasure of harvesting summer squash from our garden:

Our first squash,

...with more quickly to follow!

The garden has been so fun for me, but I'm realizing what encouragement it is to Tom too. Everyday he wants to go out to the garden and "check it out". We need rain desperately here, however since our ground is so dry it makes it easier to wheel Tom's chair to the garden. It makes for a bumpy ride but according to Tom it's worth it! Matthew likes to make the ride an adventure and giving Tom some wheelie's along the way...just for the thrill of it!

This past Friday evening we had the pleasure of going to dinner with Zac's parents, Rich and Elaine Hess, to celebrate a belated anniversary for Zac and Sarah. What special fellowship we enjoy together with them. In typical "Elaine style" she came bearing gifts. This beautiful "A" reminding us Who we serve. Thanks, Rich and Elaine for a wonderful evening together!

Meals this week: