Thanks for the big response! Reading it, I’m realizing that maybe babysitting wouldn’t be as big a deal as when we stopped. Our old group had 17 kids all under age 8, with lots of little ones, so we definitely needed babysitters, and we just had an incredibly hard time finding anyone who wanted to do it consistently. What teenager doesn’t want to watch 17 kids?! But now that Abby’s almost 10, it might be easier (she’s great with Andy), and we’d join a different group, so maybe the mix would be easier, too. And we could certainly host. We’ll let you know how things progress.

“Daddy says there’s not much time - You see she’s been sick for quite a while - And I know these shoes will make her smile - And I want it to look beautiful - If Momma meets Jesus tonight”

Definitely a tear jerker!

I’m thankful for the amazing example Nana set for me in putting marriage and my husband first. She and Grandaddy truly gave me a wonderful godly heritage for which Tim and I (and our children) are so blessed.

Love you!

I cried to read of Tim’s sitting right down and praying with you RIGHT when you needed prayer. I’m wondering if you know how VERY proud your Nana would be of you, your marriage and family.

I love you.AK

We’ve done all sorts of things regarding child care. At the very beginning of the group we were an official church group and had to follow their child care policy — two babysitters who have been through the Risk Prevention class at the church — even though we met in our home. That was pricy but it worked out okay. After that session ended we moved to handling our own child care (ie the kids played in the other parts of the house by themselves). For the most part this has worked out. We have some older kids who can help with the younger ones.

Recently, however, it has become a bit of an issue. Mainly because we are trying to watch a DVD series (and need to concentrate and listen to the speaker) and the children (20 if everyone attends) are a bit disruptive. We moved our group to the church (where we can have the children in one of the big nursery/preschool rooms) but that requires we hire two babysitters. Since several families have older children, it seems a bit silly to hire sitters, but to be “approved” caregivers they have to go through the church’s training class. Anyway, this is really long. Sorry. I LOVE it that our group is open to families and have big groups of children at our meetings. We’re going to try having the children back at our house with the older kids as sitters and firm instructions that they not disturb during the DVD and discussion time. We’ll see how it goes. Ha!

I would definitely recommend getting into a group. Surely it’s worth the time and sacrifice ($$) to be in a fellowship group. I think getting a babysitter and letting the kids all be together in another room can work great. Don’t you have a nice big house?? We don’t have a basement but we have a big garage that is converted into a play room of sorts and a big master bedroom that the little girls can use for dolls and such. I’ll let you know how it works. Kathy

What a shame some of us feel so exhausted at the thought of a Sunday’s worth of actvity. Most of mine are like that too. I’m sure it’s not supposed to be like that!

Dorothy

After we finished cheering up Sarah, Kathy looked up the actress in the movie who played Savannah and discovered that she died at the age of 22 of a drug overdose … not a very happy ending at all. I thought about how God must feel to see one of His creations lose their life in that way, and it made me sad all over again.

I was proud of Daniel and his work in the toddler room at church — when I came in to collect Kathy after church, he was organizing some sort of game with a bunch of little girls, holding hands in a circle. He is a sweet and kindly boy, well-appreciated by many of the moms we know.