You won’t believe what we bought while on vacation last month!!! Not a t-shirt, though Ginny did buy one; not souvenirs, though she did add to her coffee mug collection; not clothing, though Tim did buy a Detroit Tigers baseball cap. What we bought were two CEMETERY plots!!! We meant to make this purchase last summer, but after Ginny’s fall we didn’t want any more reminders of our mortality just then!

 We have decided that while we await the resurrection we want our bodies to rest in the north woods of Michigan. Our plots are in a cemetery about 20 minutes from our cabin.

  It was quite a strange activity to walk around this small cemetery, looking for just the “right” place for our graves. Tim was wondering about the noise, since I-75 goes right by the cemetery, but we decided that we didn’t need to worry about hearing it! We wanted to be near the trees and off to the side of the cemetery and for our neighbors to be acceptable, so we settled on grave sites near the McClintock family. We chose them because Tim likes the John Wayne movie of that name. As you can see this was a VERY scientific and well thought out process!

  The process of marking off our grave sites on the township map and paying for same was quite the moment of facing mortality for us. It became real in a new way that we won’t live forever, that these human bodies will wear out sooner or later, maybe sooner. Now we know that they will rest in a beautiful place in a part of the world we love so much.

  Maybe preaching about the life after this one at all the funerals we’ve had since we came here 4 years ago brought this on, but it’s good that it happened. Denial of one’s own death is a painful emotion to cast off, but it helps one to face life today—the life you or I have ONLY for today. And I, Ginny, am much more grateful to the Lord for the gift of my life, for the gift of this day, and for the gift of my faith that there is life awaiting me after my body lays down in Otsego Lake Township Cemetery in Michigan.

Something New!

The Friend congregation will “kick” off the fall with an All Church Picnic

on Wednesday, September 2^nd at 6:30pm. Please bring a covered dish to share as we gather for a good time and get the fall season off to a great start.

The Friend Women’s Fellowship will be holding their annual Guest Night on Tuesday, September 15^th at 7:00. Paul Ramp will present a musical program. Dessert and fellowship will follow.

The Exeter Women’s Fellowship will hold their first meeting of the fall on September 2^nd at 7:00.

Confirmation will be held at both churches on Sunday, October 4^th.  Confirmands will receive their first communion as part of our celebration of World Communion Sunday. This is an important Sunday for them and our congregations. Please be a part of it!

The united Sunday School in Friend resumes on September 13^th.  During the fall classes will meet at the United Methodist Church. We’ll move to the UCC church after the first of the year. The UCC church needs to provide one or two teachers. We hope for at least two teachers who can alternate months and substitute for one another as needed. If you are interested in teaching speak to Ginny or Tim or to Gwen Cogswell or Alyson Dickinson.

The united Sunday School in Exeter resumes on September 13^th.  This is the 40^th year for this shared ministry. A celebration is in order!

The organizational meeting for the new Confirmation class will be held soon.       

New students should be entering the 7^th grade (or older!). If you know of a young person who might be interested in the new class please let us know. Confirmation for the new class will be on October 3^rd, 2010.

Choir rehearsal will resume on Wednesday, September 9^th at 8:00 (note the new time!). Our new choir director, Glady Weber, is bringing a lot of excitement and new ideas to choir this year. This is a great time for new members to join and for long time members to renew their enthusiasm for this great ministry. The first Sunday for choir is September 13^th.

Members of the Exeter congregation are invited to celebrate the marriage of Cassie and Lonnie Tucker and the arrival of Layla Grace at a reception at the church on Saturday, September 5^th, from 4-8 pm.

Friend Manor                                        Exeter Care Center

June Krebs                                              Alberta Weber

Mabel Kohout                                         Altha Ramp

Ruth Bode                                               Vivian Johnson

Irma Havel                                              Bob Vlcek

                                                               Carol Yound

Mahoney House, York                        The Legacy, Lincoln

Alvina Zieg                                              Doris Yokel

Richard Milton, Vicky Johansen’s son, died unexpectedly on August 19^th.

He was also related to the Milton family and was a friend of many in our community. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.

Jarod and Allison (Filipi) Vossler welcomed a new baby, Cooper Gene, on August 14^th. Congratulations!

Tom Schiefelbein, son of Myron and Maxine, died following a traffic accident on July 30^th. His services were at the Exeter church on August 4^th. Please keep Myron, Maxine, and all their family in your prayers. The umbrella plant in the church foyer was given in Tom’s memory by his family.

Pat Schoenhals is recovering from surgery to implant a heart pacemaker.

Please keep little Brooklynne, Steve and Cindy Carrigan’s granddaughter, in your prayers. Also, Cindy’s brother,”Hoot” Tesar has had a recurrence of cancer.

Claudia Bowers’ brother, Jerry Rumbeck has been transferred to Kearney, where he continues to undergo therapy.

Bev Stewart is recovering from a recent outpatient surgery.

Also Keep In Your Prayers—

Annie Mueller, Mary Willms, Lenna Weber, Karen Pelz, Beverly Swanson, Don Pieper, and all our troops and their families.

This came to us from the American Cancer Society:

“Cancer patients from your community need your help to get to their medical treatments and appointments. Road to Recovery, an American Cancer Society program, needs kind people to volunteer their time and use their own cars to drive patients to and from appointments. Schedules are flexible. For more information call 308-237-1631.”

Ginny has been called to serve on the Prairie Association Ministry Team for Church Relations. She attended the first meeting of this committee recently. Our new Prairie Association has split the old Church and Ministry Committee into two groups. The Team for Church Relations is responsible for working with the 35 congregations in our association to celebrate their ministries, encourage them, and assist with difficulties that are common to small congregations in rural areas.

--The first meeting of the Prairie Association will be held on October 17^th, 2009 in Ogallala at 10:00am mountain time. Please consider attending this meeting as we have much to learn and much to teach the other churches in our new association.