Senior Life Article

Back in October, Dad was approached by the local daily newspaper in town about doing a profile in the Senior Life section.  A few anecdotes and pictures later, we'd cooked up his life story!  We figured that the editors would cut out whatever they didn't want and cull through the pictures we sent along.  Imagine our surprise when the Moberly Monitor-Index printed the article in its entirety!

Click the picture above to download a PDF of the article.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a bit crazy around the Lodge for the past, um... well, it's always crazy around here and December's no exception.  I've been on the rest of the family to get some news posted about all their varied and fun happenings and I've received assurances that new material is forthcoming!  (I will throw up a quick shot from Christmas and the family and friends that made it in for dinner.)  In the meantime, know that we send our love and best wishes to you and yours! 

Have a happy New Year!

Bodies Exhibition with Dad

"Happy Birthday" usually doesn't include a trip to see dead people without, um, skin.  However, a few years ago we all decided there's not much we need, so birthdays became opportunities for experiences instead of presents. In October, Jaime and I gave Dad a few choices of events to check out together.  His choice?  Unequivocally, the Bodies Exhibition at the St. Louis Galleria.  Suzi and I had seen the a similar show in New York a few years ago.  It's an amazing process called plastination in which tissue, whether, human, animal or vegetable, is injected with a type of plastic, allowing the tissue to then be displayed indefinitely.  This process has given a whole new dimension to the study of the human body.

The exhibits are not for the faint of heart or queasy of tummy.  These are real bodies and organs.  But the displays are tasteful and there are plenty of "white coats" in the form of med school students hovering nearby to give you a laser-pointer tour of this tendon or that artery.  I particularly like the health aspect the presenters put forward... Smoking?  There's more than a few specimens with seriously blackened lungs.  Tend to overindulge?  Check out what all that "extra" looks like under the surface.  There's even stations to check your weight, blood pressure and BMI.  At the end of the tour, visitors are encouraged to contact their local MD for a checkup.

Bodies, The Exhibition will be in St. Louis until January 2, 2011 and ticket prices have recently dropped.

Sectional Minister's & Spouse Dinner

The Christmas Gatherings have begun!  Over 20 ministers and their spouses from around northeast Missouri descended on the Lodge for an annual event full of food and carols.  Friends as far as Canton made the drive and the rafters rang with harmonies and laughter.  Vernon's brisket and ham lead the entrees along with sweet potato casserole ("Christmas Surprise!") and smorgasbord of tasty sides and deserts.  Many thanks to Carmen & Patty for all their help!

Hinge Pin: An Anniversary

A handsome, strong, Paul Bunyan-type of a man, he owned logging trucks and hauled logs out of the deep Piney Woods of Texas to the sawmills to make a living for himself and the love of his life.  On the morning of November 30, 1949, he came by his son’s house where his daughter also had an apartment for a quick visit and a cup of coffee before he started his day.  She heard his voice and thought about going in and visiting, but the comfy bed held her tight.  That afternoon, the call came.  While he was up on the logs, adjusting the load, the cant hook broke, allowing him to fall to his death with a broken neck and his last words of, “Oh, my God!”
Life in the Elias Die family would never be the same for he was the hinge pin of stalwart faith and confidence in God upon which they all hung.  He was the one who set that daughter’s arm in a wooden match box when she broke it as a young girl. He prayed in Jesus’ Name and the arm healed perfectly.  He was the one who invited anyone who needed dinner home with his large family of seven children and would assure his wife, Mary, that there would be plenty of food, and the Lord always saw to it that there was.  And when she was distraught about some issue, he would just say, “Now, Mary, stay sweet in your soul.”  And he was the man who never said an unkind word nor sued the people who tore down his country home and moved it away even as his sons begged them not to, saying, “Papa is coming back to this house someday.”

Hinge Pin—the pin that holds a joint or device on which a door, gate, lid, etc. swings.  Anything on which matters turn or depend. 

I once received a tiny plant in a Styrofoam cup several years ago called an airplane plant.  I transplanted it and watched it grow.  It now has long stems and additional plants are now growing off of each of those stems.  They hinge on that stem, staying attached to the main plant, in order to receive food and water and thrive.  They will not survive if they become disconnected from their hinge pin. 

We are all a Hinge Pin for someone.  Who is depending upon you to hold them together, to be the pin that connects them to God or to anything that is even remotely Godly in their lives?  What will happen to the people around you if you should suddenly be removed or if you should remove yourself from them?  

As you pass through the many doors in your life, may you always look at the Hinge Pin and think about how important you are in people’s lives; you are the pin upon which matters turn or depend.

Glynnda

(Grand-daughter of Elias Die)

7 Months Old!

Missouri District Ladies Ministries Announces New Promotional Director

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jaime Morgans of Moberly, Missouri, as Promotional Director of Missouri District Ladies Ministries. Jaime has served as Coordinator of our EMERGE class for the past three years. Under her direction, this ministry to young girls ages 13-21 has flourished. She is very creative and has a heart for ministry. She has been an asset to Missouri District Ladies Ministries and their efforts through her willingness to be a "team player" . Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Jaime as she joins the Missouri District Ladies Ministries Committee.

Joann Thornton, President
Missouri District Ladies Ministries

Jaime Morgans has served the MO District Ladies Ministries since 2007 as the EMERGE coordinator. She also served the District from 2006-2008 as the MO Youth College and Career Director. She has a strong background in marketing and public relations (Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, currently Director of Marketing, Public Relations and Institutional Development for the seven campuses of Moberly Area Community College) and is a capable administrator (Masters of Business Administration from William Woods University, currently Moberly Area Council on the Arts Administrator and MACC Foundation Director). In addition to her professional competency, Jaime has served her local assembly, Apostolic Pentecostal Church Moberly, MO, as Youth Pastor for six years and as leader of its worship team for eight years. She has served as a writer for the teen and youth Word AFlame Sunday School literature for 10 years. Jaime loves all of the various and exciting hats she wears each day. The ones she loves to wear the most are wife to Johnathan, a substance abuse counselor and husband extraordinaire, and mommy to Princess Heidi, Diva-in-Training (8 months).