Okay – first the BIG news. I am now allowed to tell you that…Brett has a new job!
He has been hired on and is currently in training at the GIANT Lowe’s Distribution Center in Rockford. He will be driving a fork-lift, working 10 hour days (that’s right, I said DAYS again), and working Monday – Thursday, with Fridays - Sundays off. He is very excited about the job and seems to like it a lot.
Me? Well, I’m just glad he’s happy. And really glad he’s home at night again.
Now, on to this past weekend…
Friday
Since Brett is off on Fridays now, he offered to accompany me to my second cousin Joyce’s memorial service. There were a lot of Rehfeldt family members there. Mom and Gary, Uncle Scott, Uncle Dave and Aunt Venita, Aunt Louise, and Uncle Bruce (Rehfeldt, not Berg).
I got two new juicy pieces of family gossip. Uncle Bruce is engaged! To “Yola,” - you may have met her if you were at the Rehfeldt family reunion out at Aunt Louise’s this past summer. And my cousin Jason and his wife Jennie are expecting! Wonderful news!
The memorial service was very nice. Uncle Scott was kind of the Master of Ceremonies. He led us all in a couple verses of Amazing Grace, shared a moving story about Cousin Joyce’s “hugs,” and opened the floor to others who wanted to share. There is always that awkward moment when you don’t know if anyone is going to come forward to say anything about the departed, but thankfully several people came forward and gave lovely tributes to Joyce.
That evening, Mom, Angie, and I went to a dinner/play at First Evangelical Free Church. Mom had read about it in the Community Calendar in the paper, and immediately thought of our shared passion for plays. The dinner was scrumptious, although we had a good laugh when Angie mistook the star shaped white chocolate candies for butter and tried to spread it on her rolls! It flipped off her knife into the air and slid across the carpet! We’re SO refined!
The menu was roast turkey, baby vegetables, the afore-mentioned rolls, new red potatoes, cranberry sauce, and chocolate éclairs. Delicious!
We sat with four ladies who were decked out in green ensembles and St. Patrick’s Day scarves. They were older and SO adorable. I hope I still have a passion for style and fashion when I’m in my seventies.
The play was The Last Convert, based on the true experiences of the Revered John Harper who was on the Titanic during its fateful journey. Revered Harper switched his family’s tickets from the Lusitania to the Titanic because he felt led by God.
After helping his young daughter and niece get on a lifeboat, Revered Harper went down with the ship. With his lifejacket on, he swam from group to group giving the gospel message, asking if people wanted to be saved.
He came upon a man, a history professor who had been particularly resistant to the gospel while on board ship, and asked if he wanted to be saved. Not understanding, the man said he could not be saved since he didn’t have a lifejacket. Revered Harper slipped off his lifejacket and gave it to the man.
He said, “Here, you need this more than I do. For I am not going down, I’m going up.” And with that, he slipped beneath the icy waters on his way to heaven. The man later accepted the Lord as his Savior and credited Revered Harper for saving his life – earthly AND eternal.
The story was very moving and excellently acted by the cast. There were some great performances from child and teenage actors. The actor who played John Harper also sang several songs in a deep bass voice that I especially enjoyed (since it reminded me of Dad).
It was nice to spend the evening enjoying Christian entertainment where I didn’t have to question everything like I often do in movies and television. I had no idea that First EV Free hosted this sort of thing. Mom and I were so impressed. We are definitely planning on going if they have a dinner/play again.
And this time, we’ll know the difference between the candy and the butter.
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