My housemate came through as I was doing that and she had Rusty with her. It seems that he began barking during the night and wouldn't quit, so she had to get up and bring him in and put him in her bathroom. She returned him to the patio. I asked what time her daughter left and she said about 11:00 PM. I was asleep when that happened.
She confirmed that my sense that they wanted some "mother-daughter" time was correct and thanked me for going on to bed without either of them having to ask me to do that. She asked me what time we needed to leave to head to FBCJ this morning since we were only having a single service at 10:30 AM with no Sunday School. I said I figured 9:45 AM - in order to give us time to park and then find a decent seat in the Sanctuary.
She went on to go start getting ready; I finished up and cleaned up behind myself. Then I went to start getting ready. I wanted to wear "red, white and blue" today. I looked in my closet and got a blue and white blouse; I found I had a red t-shirt that would go under the blouse and I knew I had blue pants.
I found the red t-shirt; it was wrinkled, so I put it in the dryer with a wet washcloth - a trick I've used before that got the wrinkles out. When I got out of the shower, I got dressed, then put on a bathrobe and went to retrieve the t-shirt, but it was still a bit wrinkled. I had to resort to ironing it in order to get the wrinkles out.
After doing that, I took it back to the bathroom and put it on. Then I finished getting dressed. I didn't have any blue dress shoes, so I was going to wear a pair of blue and white tennis shoes. I was dressed and ready to go when my housemate emerged and was about ready to leave. When she discovered that I had on tennis shoes, she "scolded" me and insisted that I go put on a pair of dress shoes - so I went and got a pair of Clark's sandals - black. I returned and we gathered our stuff and headed out.
We made our way to FBCJ and on inside. She stopped in the Atrium to speak with someone; I went on into the Sanctuary to find a seat and while it was starting to fill, I was able to get my usual pew and saved a seat for her. She came along a few minutes later - I was watching for her and she was looking for me. We got seated and then I was taking some test shots of the huge U.S. flag hanging over the baptistry. I had promised her that I would put the camera in "no flash" mode for taking pictures. I had to figure out what mode it was that I had it set up like that - it turned out to be manual. The test pictures were a bit dark, but I realized that they would have spotlights on during the service and that would help my picture taking.
We settled down and waited for the service to begin. Some other people joined us; we were watching for one of our friends but never saw her come in.
The service started and when we reached the point where the Pledge of Allegiance was to be recited, Gen. William L. Waller, Jr., BG(R) MSARNG, was to lead it. He is also the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. Well, my housemate had noted in the obituaries this morning that his father-in-law had passed away. So, at that time, someone else led the Pledge. A few minutes later he was to pray; Stan covered that.
Later on there was the Salute to Our Patriots, where the theme song from each branch of the military was played and they asked that those who were either currently serving or had served in the military to stand as their branch's theme song was played. As each theme song was performed there were several people in the congregation who stood. And, uniformed members of that branch came out and stood at attention. Taps was also performed.
Eventually Stan took the pulpit and delivered a very strong message. He gave us several points on what the Founding Fathers of the USA believed:
- There is a God.
- God played an important role in the birth of our nation.
- Our government cannot flourish apart from morality.
- Morality cannot exist apart from religion.
He went on share with us several points on what we, as Christians, should do:
- Vote for godly candidates.
- Vote for principle over party.
- Pray daily for our nation.
During the Offertory, the Providence Quartet sang More Than a Name on a Wall, which, as I recall, is an old Statler Brothers [country music group] song.
Finally there was the dismissal and there was a sea of people. My housemate and I made our way out. We met 2 of our friends en route out of the building, and visited momentarily, then went on.
We got to her car and headed out and stopped at an area store and found that their deli was in operation; we got lunches to go, plus got a few other items, then made our way home, changed clothes and ate lunch.
This afternoon we learned that our friends met at the usual location for lunch; one of them called me back to say that they had decided that instead of meeting at the local park on Monday, since it would be too hot at that time of day, we would meet at her house and she gave me the time. She said for me to let my housemate know and for us to call and let her know if we would be coming so she could account for us if we are.
A little later I happened to look out the kitchen window and saw a horse and buggy coming down our side street! I raced back to my bedroom and got my camera and got outside and was able to get a couple of pictures of it - from the back end. I was speechless when my housemate asked what had me so excited and couldn't say anything. She got up to check out what it was for herself. Neither of us knew where any horses are kept in this area.
I got in bed and fell asleep watching the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Brazil. Uruguay and Ghana was on when I woke up; I realized that my housemate had left - she had said she was going to the hospital to visit a relative. I watched the remainder of the match and was pleased to see Uruguay prevail. I wanted them to eliminate Ghana since Ghana eliminated the USA. Now the match between Argentina and Germany is on, it's at the half.
My housemate has returned from the hospital. We're talking about going to Liberty Park tonight for the fireworks show, but haven't decided for certain yet.
I did take pictures during the service this morning. I wasn't the only one. And, I did take them in manual mode - with no flash - and the spotlights being on did help me to get bright shots. Shooting with no flash allowed me to not be disruptive. I did stay in my seat, of course, except for when we were standing.
I guess that this is all I've got for now....
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