The Power of God

"Wilt thou be made whole?" Jesus asked a man who had been ill for 38 years.  The man was at the pool of Bethesda...a very special pool.  An angel came to "trouble the waters" every so often, and the first one into the water afterward was cured.  The man replied, "Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool."

This man believed in miracles.  He had tried to get into the pool on his own, but someone else always beat him to it.  Jesus told him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."  He was immediately healed.

Tea Cup Exchange

After reading posts over the past couple years from many bloggers who have participated in Stephanie's tea cup exchange, I finally decided to give it a try.  

After all, why should I spend my life wondering what it would be like to join in, never do it, and then as a wrinkled old lady have to tell the youth of that era that the greatest regret of my life was never joining in a tea cup exchange?

Iowa Class Championships 2016

The Iowa Class Championships were held on April 2nd at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny.  This tournament was held in conjunction with the state championship event, the Iowa Closed.

Originally, only my brother Daniel and I had planned to attend, but the 5K race the rest of my family was going to was cancelled/rescheduled due to forecasted high winds.  So, my sisters and Papa joined us.

Eden Theological Seminary: Press Building

St. Louis Trip, Day 4, Monday, July 27, 2015

Across from the SPICE building is Eden Theological Seminary.  Papa and I walked over to see the seminary's Press Building while my sisters finished their chess games.  This ecumenical seminary was established in 1850.

In 1924, the seminary moved to its current location in Webster Groves, MO.  The Press Building is named after Dr. Samuel Press.  The tower is 106 feet tall, and was originally used as a water tower!  Water was pumped up into it to provide water pressure for the campus.  It is now used as a bell tower.

SPGI 2016: Bughouse & Blitz Championships

St. Louis Trip, Days 3 & 4, July 26-27, 2015

One part of the SPGI 2016 that I was most looking forward to was the bughouse championship.  Susan Polgar had arranged so that I could play in all the side events, the family & friends section, and as a house player for the main tournament.  I have over 10,000 bughouse games in on FICS, so I was hoping to do well.

Charity and I had planned on partnering for this event, but Charity didn't feel well, and ended up having to stay at our dorm.  My youngest sister kindly consented to be my partner instead, since I really didn't want to be partnered with someone whose skills/style I would have no idea about. 

The Gateway Arch

St. Louis Trip, Day 4, Monday, July 27, 2015

From the Old Courthouse, we walked over to the most famous landmark in St. Louis, the Gateway Arch.

After standing in line outside, we went through security.  Inside there were benches for people to wait for their turn up, and screens with the schedule.  A loudspeaker announced as each group had its turn to go up.  We toured one of the gift shops, and my sisters had a couple pennies pressed into souvenirs.

Cedar Rapids Leatherjackets 2016 - Part 2

Last year we spent the night at Best Western, but we wanted a hotel a little closer to the tournament location; so we booked a couple rooms at the DoubleTree by Hilton.  The price was about the same, but without the amenities of free parking and breakfast (which would have cost extra). 

Our rooms were on the tenth floor, and we had a beautiful view of the city.  Before we went to sleep, we took the elevator up to the restaurant on the 16th floor to look out the windows and satisfy our altophilia.