Thoughts and Notions

I (Denise) lived in Reading, PA from about 1990 to 1995. My family has been back a few times to visit but I have never gone. So, since we were just 40 min. drive away in Lancaster, we decided to drive over to Reading before we returned home.

The first place we visited was where my parents rented for several years before they finally bought a house on the other side of the city (the second picture). It was strange to see it all, and remember riding my bike up and down the block. The houses looked so different and more rundown than I remembered them.

A few other places we visited were the William Penn Fire Tower and the Pagoda on top of Mount Penn. From there we could see the whole city. It was a beautiful day to go site seeing and we had a great time.

This last weekend we took a vacation and drove to Lancaster, PA for Buddy’s wedding. Karl was honored to be Buddy’s best man. They were room-mates at Bible School and I met him on our missions trip in Papua New Guinea. (That’s the same missions trip where Karl and I first met.) We had a great time getting to know Lindsay and catching up with Buddy. We love you guys!

Around this time of the year I find myself replaying the story in this book called The Lamb.

In Old Testament times the Israelites had to bring a lamb to an altar to die in order to pay for their sin. But this was not a long term solution. They continually had to bring another lamb every time they sinned. But Jesus was the final lamb. No longer do we have to bring a lamb every time we sin. Jesus paid for all our sin. Jesus is the Lamb, our Lamb!

(For any of you who have never heard of this book, it is really great.)

I have posted a good article regarding what the State of Michigan’s Attorney General thinks about cutting Blue Cross some more slack.

And here are the links to the bills as passed by the State House of Representatives in Michigan (doesn’t looks like they have been signed into Law yet): House Bill 5282 (2007), House Bill 5283 (2007), House Bill 5284 (2007), House Bill 5285 (2007).

Yesterday we had Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and Dad Haynes. I made home made pumpkin and apple pie as well as Green Bean Salad and Marinated Butternut Squash. The green beans and squash were new recipes so it was fun to venture out and try something. I think we all agreed that the Green Bean Salad was good and the Marinated Butternut Squash some of us liked more than others. We all had a good time and dinner was great!