Our 60th Anniversary, What a Day!

Just sittin’ here thinkin’ about…
our 60th anniversary. What a Day!

Last week I asked a fellow worker at the station if he would trade/work my Wednesday for his Thursday. I didn’t hear from him until Monday evening when he said okay. But by this time I had changed my mind and he had made other arrangements for himself. So I felt obligated to do the switch.

Now I hadn’t planned anything to do for Wednesday—our actual anniversary day. I also did not remember Joy setting a time to go out with them for dinner—Thursday night. So things got messed up real good.

Bottom line—we drove to Columbus to see Lisa who was visiting Katie and David. Scott was there and they took us out to dinner at the House of Japan, a culinary delight. The chef is cooking your food while you are watching. His antics are enough that you forget about eating and suddenly he puts more food on your plate! Wow! I had enough for my lunch for Thursday night.

We were also honored by our friends, Dr. David and Kristen Conrad. They paid for a day on WEEC to announce our anniversary. Dr. Dave was my dentist while living in Plain City. I should say he did such a good job that I’ve never been to another! Thanks Dave and Kristy!

Then another co-worker at WEEC—Ruth Book—did an on-air interview with me that aired this past Wednesday afternoon. I have an mp3 of it but don’t know how to include it on this post. Mom mentioned it on the Grapevine, so I know some of you heard it. Ruth wanted to play our favorite song to close the interview, so Mom suggested “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.” I’ll bring the unedited version with me on Saturday in case someone would like to hear it. It's short, about 7 minutes.

Following that, I received an e-mail from Carol. I quote: “When I was a child and my dad was attending Tennessee Temple, Dr. [Charles] Weigle sang that song in the service. I think it was the first time he sang it publicly at Highland Park Baptist Church. It made such an impression that I have never forgotten him singing it. I don't know if it was because he was so old at the time, or because of the song, but it has since become one of my all time favorites. The words are amazing and the story behind the song is even more inspiring”.

So now I was interested in the story behind the song and this is what I found. It’s not all that long, but I’ll let you check it out at this link.

http://www.tanbible.com/tol_sng/nooneevercaredformelikejesus.htm

(1) I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus.
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how he changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.
CHORUS:
No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as he;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O’, how much He cared for me.

Lori, and some who were co-conspiritors, sent out requests to all of our friends asking that cards be sent to us for our anniversary. That was so nice. So far we have received over 70 cards. It is exciting to hear from all of them. Some were from friends we've not seen for a looong time.

So today, Friday, I think we’ll celebrate at Taco Bell. We’re looking forward to seeing some of you at Greg and Lori’s tomorrow.

Love you all,

Gpa G for both of us.

Glade Mennonite 100th Anniversary

Just sittin’ here thinkin’ about ...

the Glade Mennonite Church, near Bittinger, MD. They will celebrate their 100th anniversary this Sunday, August 24, 2008. Mom and I would love to be there. I sent them the following e-mail and followed up with a copy by snail mail. I may share more about this on a later blog.


Glade Mennonite Church
5011 Accident-Bittinger Road
Accident, Maryland 21520
301-245-4285
Admin Asst. Barb Opel
gladechurch@iceweb.net


August 22, 2008

Dear Barb and Friends at Glade,

How pleased we were to receive an invitation to your 100th anniversary celebration. It’s hard to believe it’s been over 50 years since our time together. We cherish the memories. Brother Isaac Metzler had recently retired and I became the part time pastor. How green I was! Still very young and not as serious as I should have been.

Brother and Sister Metzler were precious to us and we appreciated their help and direction for a young aspiring pastor and family.

We first learned of the Glade Mennonite Church while attending the Pinto church near where we were living. When our efforts to get a Grace Brethren church started in Cumberland came to naught, the Pinto Mennonite invited us to their church. Arlene had had a number of their children in her Good News Club. Brother Myron Livengood recommended us to fill the need at the Glade Church. Being Grace Brethren, I sat for a ministerial examination at the Grantsville Church. I don’t remember the names of the men involved.

So we came up the mountain to Glade every Sunday morning. We had four children at the time and usually stayed for dinner with one of the families—usually with the Opels or Brennemans. Often we had venison, but not always. At Opels, we had to eat in shifts—not every one could get to the table at one time.

For a brief time while working at WKYR radio station in Keyser, I was in charge of a satellite station in Oakland. I played music for an hour or two and had to sell spots to local merchants to pay for my keep. It was during this time that I stayed in Oakland with Jim and [? Opel] ____. I forget their last name. [Note: Jim and Erma (Opel) Stephens].

I have posted some old pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/royglasspc/GladeMennonite1955
I hope you can help or correct me with some of the names.

Anyway, as I recall, we had the nicest brick outhouse for miles around. It even had lights. There was a ‘pot-bellied’ stove to heat the church. And some of the guys did strip mining and furnished the coal. That included some of the Brennemans and Herman Opel too. They had to squirm into that tiny space to dig out the coal. What a miserable job! I think Park had a turkey farm.

When we first started coming to Glade, I didn’t realize that an offering was received only once a month and that it was usually given to Brother Metzler. So in my ignorance I passed the offering plates every Sunday. After a while Miriam Brenneman, who was the treasurer at the time, came and asked me what to do with all the money she had. I said she should do with it as she usually did. I was given a monthly offering. My memory may not be correct, but I think this resulted in the installation of a real furnace. Much nicer than the old stove.

We had wonderful times with you there at the Glade church that will never be forgotten. Of course we were much younger at the time and the years have gone by quickly. Many of the older ones are now with the Lord and the little ones are in their 50s and 60s. Arlene and I will celebrate our 60th anniversary on August 27. The Lord blessed us with 7 children, 23 grandchildren, and 27 great grandchildren and another on the way.

I wish we could be with you for this special time. We could get some of these names and faces back together. The stories you could tell would be exciting to hear.

On a serious note, we must remember that the Christian fellowship we enjoy here cannot be compared with that which is to come. The sound of the trumpet [I Thess. 4:13-18] cannot be far away, when we will be caught up to be with the Lord in the place [Jn.14:1-6] He has gone to prepare for those of us who have accepted Him as Savior. When that happens, we can spend the first thousand years praising God. After that we may have time to spend with the wonderful people who made our sojourn here a pleasant experience.

With Christian Love to All,


Roy and Arlene Glass

Have a Pepsi

Just sittin’ here at the computer and thinkin'....

It’s 9:30 and I’m waiting for Alonzo [Adair]. He called earlier and said he was bringing us another load of top soil for our back yard grove & flower bed. When they built these houses they stripped the topsoil and replaced it with sod. So we’re trying to get some good soil back where we need it most. He brought a load the other day and even spread it for us. This time we will have to do it ourselves. So while I was waiting for him I decided to check Drudge for the news.



It’s very disheartening to see how our country is going. Now Coca Cola is going to put the moon and star symbol on their pop cans for Ramadan. Just a few weeks ago Tyson replaced the Labor Day holiday with Ramadan. We were at Sam’s and decided not to get a bag of chicken since the only brand was Tyson. Just a few days later Tyson changed their stand and put Labor Day back in their list of holidays. We are simply being overwhelmed with Islam. We keep buying oil from them and giving them more and more money. Then they use our gasoline money to buy up property in U.S. and we become subservient to them. Wow! It’s a vicious cycle and we are the losers.

I am quite convinced that we are very, very close to the sound of the trumpet and the coming of the Lord. I am a literalist regarding Biblical interpretation. The sound of the trumpet will be the call for all Christians, both dead and alive, to be snatched up with the Lord and join Him in Heaven [I Thes 4:13-18]. Those who remain will suffer the events as described in Revelation 6 through 18.

I could get carried away here. Ezekiel 38 fits in here and it’s interesting to note that all of the countries mentioned here are surrounding Israel today. This could be a battle that would usher in the antichrist and the beginning of the seven years of tribulation. Iran’s threats should be taken seriously, especially with the encouragement they are getting from Russia. How we need to be sure our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren learn these Biblical truths. Deut. 6:4-9. May they all come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior at an early age.

Jan Markel wrote this morning regarding the Deception of the church, calling it the Devil’s Delight. She referred to Oprah Winfrey and her “me-centered gospel” and how it has changed our culture.

She continued to say: “Biblical truth will continue to be scorned by those who consider themselves to be intellectual (I Cor. 1:20), and it will likely be rejected by those who seek the praise of man over the praise of God (John 12:42,43). But the Spirit of God is always at work in the hearts of men, giving life to human spirits by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19).

It’s amazing what a couple cans of pop can do to your thinking! And I never got around to telling you about the interview I had with my boss the other night. He told me how great a job I was doing and praised my work so that I was even embarrassed. So I should have asked for a raise!

Well, we’re still waiting for Alonzo and the load of dirt. I mean top soil. So if you’re not too busy, stop by and you can help spread it around.

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention McDonald’s. We’ve stopped going there and we really miss their apple pies and ice cream.

Love you all,

Gpa G

My "Do List" is getting shorter

This may come as a shock, but I was

Just sittin’ here thinkin’ about…

I guess the older you get the more prone you are to think about the past and other things that you can't do anything about. The reason for that may be that you are no longer able to convert your thoughts to action.

Like I used to have a legal pad and I’d make a list of things I needed to do for the day. Of course it often spilled over into the next day and I’d try to prioritize the stuff. Try to do the undesirable stuff first. Get that off your mind and the rest of the day was easy. The computer made keeping your “Do it now” list easier to update.

I don’t keep lists like that anymore. As a matter of fact, if I can accomplish one biggie a day I feel good! Often I will mentally decide to do this or that tomorrow, but manana never seems to come.

In spite of all that there are many thing I would still like to accomplish. I don’t understand anyone to claims to be bored with life. There is sooo much to do.

So here goes a few things that come to mind just sittin’ here thinking about it.

I’d like to make an oak breakfast table just like the one we gave Ardith a few years ago. We now have it here in our kitchen. I guess we were ‘Indian givers’ since we asked her to let us use it for a while until I could make a duplicate of it. I even have all the metal brackets to make the seats fit up under the table. The table was special to me because it was the table we had while we were growing up and still living in Juniata. Dick and I would sit there every morning with our feet propped on the board underneath that supports the sides. The table has been painted numerous times. When you get it down to the wood, it is just poplar with no pretty grain. I just might get that done—sometime.

I also promised Jessica that I’d make her a crib like I made for some of the rest of you. I’ve been putting that off too. Just fearful that some day we’ll get a call that it needs to be done in the next 8 or 9 months. Then I’ll really have to get movin’.

I did make a number of picture frames for G grampa’s horse picture. I’m not sure, but I think I have finished all of those promises. If not, I’m sure I’ll hear about it.

I’d like to spend more time on our genealogy stuff. When I took a course at Dayton Univ. last year, the instructor told us the first thing we needed to do, was learn how to spell it! Obviously it is frequently misspelled. I’m afraid that you will not be able to connect all of the dots after I’m gone. I received an e-mail yesterday from a lady who was searching the Hoover family. She wanted any info that I might have. As a matter of fact, the one she is searching for is John Adam Hoover, my GGGgrandfather on the Brumbaugh side. The Hoover name has also been spelled in a variety of ways from which comes the name for the local community of Huber [Hoover] Heights. Interesting, huh?
Well, I need to take some time to explain all of that to her.

And since I’m just sittin here thinking, I like e-mail except you never know where these people live. They could be across the street or the other side of the country. I did have a lady in Washington state send we a picture of a Glass relative from the early 1900s. We subscribe to the Blair County Genealogy Society newsletter and get occasional queries through it.

Well it looks like I have more things on this list than I can handle, so I’ll go back to the recliner and see what comes to mind.

Love Gpa G