Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day!
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:16
February
13-14
Happy Valentine's Day! Remember to give thanks for all your loved ones. Pray
for their health and safety.
Please continue to pray for Kris Handy, Danny Pritchett, and Larry Moyer. Larry
Warren's cousin, Richard Thompson, needs our prayers.
Pray for the family of Evelyn Birkby. She passed away at the age of 101. Evelyn
shared recipes and stories of her life and family for seven decades on KMA and
in The Valley News Today (formerly The Shenandoah Evening Sentinel). On a
personal note, Jan and I enjoyed square dancing with Evelyn and Robert when we
were first married.
Happy Birthday to Mike Shipley on February 17th!
The videos this week tell us of God's love for all of us!
Oh How He Loves You and Me
Jesus Loves Me
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
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Memories of Evelyn Birkby by Jerry Birkby
Jo Ann and I just got back from Evelyn Birkby's funeral. A
funeral in this time of the pandemic is rather unreal. There were only
about a dozen of us there. Jo Ann and I were there with our son Mark and
his wife Diane and only one of Evelyn's sons, Craig, with his wife Sharon and a
few close friends of the family. The other two boys weren't able to come
because of travel restrictions. There will be a larger gathering later
this spring if the pandemic eases somewhat.
Evelyn was the daughter of a Methodist minister and held her
beliefs throughout her life. She was a member of the United Faith Church
in Sidney but wouldn't sign the Charter because she thought it would dilute her
Methodist faith. The minister laughed about this; evidently it was
a private joke between her and Evelyn.
She was a "Radio Homemaker" on KMA for many years.
She wrote a newspaper column for seventy years and she was the author of ten
published books. She always laughed that her first editor told her
to always put a recipe in her columns. He said whatever she wrote women
would always read her columns to get the recipe.
The Birkbys, in this part of the country at least, are descended
from a John Birkby who was raised in Pontefract, Yorkshire, England, and came
to this country with his wife and his year old son, Thos., in 1838. Thos.
moved to Fremont County, Iowa and bought the farm where I live in 1864.
Evelyn researched all this some years ago, made several trips to Pontefract and
wrote a comprehensive family history.
She and Bob
and their family would come out to Grandview Cemetery on Memorial
Day. We always used to have a picnic and then the kids would play games
and finally Bob (Robert) would take them for a nature walk thru the surrounding
timber. My Grandfather was one of the guys that started Grandview
Cemetery and Bob and Evelyn always took an interest in it.
Our
family will miss her. Evidently she always started the day by saying, "Today is a good
day. I'm going to help make it a good day."
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In keeping with Evelyn's tradition of always
including a recipe, here is one from her book, "Through a Country Town
Cookbook". Mary and Jan made it last night with some of their homegrown
popcorn, and said it is delicious! You might want to just make half a batch.
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If you would like to read more about Evelyn Birkby, here is a link that KMA shared. Click HERE.
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Today, Valentine's Day, kicks off "Random Acts of Kindness Week."
February 14 - 20, 2021
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
"Three things in human life are important:
The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind.
And the third is to be kind.
~ Henry James
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." ~ Jane Goodall
"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again." ~ William Penn
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Looking through past photos of church
and church gatherings, I thought it might be nice to share one or two
every Sunday, calling it, "Captured Moments from the Past."
Here's today's captured moments...
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Percy's Tidbit today is in memory of Evelyn.
"Today is a good
day. I'm going to help make it a good day." ~Evelyn Birkby**************************************************************************
This "Random Acts of Kindness Week" focus on ways to spread the kindness. One small act of kindness can truly make a difference.
May we continually strive to be a light filled with love, kindness and compassion.
Wanted to share one last pretty song that echos the thought... that in the end, only kindness matters. Click on the following link.
Hands by Jewel
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Stay safe and warm and have a good week.
