…Oh my Soul.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

The clan…

My siblings.

My cousins on my dad’s side of the family.

Cousins on my mom’s side.

My mom’s nieces and nephews. My mom had one brother and a sister. Her sister did not survive her childhood. My mom is the only survivor of her immediate family and she keeps track of her brother’s kids and prays for them faithfully. At the party my cousins gave testimony about how much that has blessed them in this stage of their lives.

Here are the words to a song we always end up singing when we are together. My mom requested that we sing it again at their party. We also sang Great is Thy Faithfulness and another Russian favorite.

Bless thou the Lord oh my soul

Blessed art thou oh Lord

Bless thou the Lord oh my soul

Bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits

Bless thou the Lord oh my soul

and all that is within me bless His Holy name

He is full of compassion and mercy

Long suffering and great in goodness

He will not always be chiding

Nor keepeth He

His wrath his wrath forever his wrath forever

Bless thou the Lord oh my soul

And all that is within me bless his holy name

 Blessed art thou oh Lord

This link if it works will give you the tune although they use different text in a portion of the song.

My brother Steve had anyone who wanted to stand up and say whatever they wanted to my parents. It really was moving to hear how lives have been touched over the years by my parents. My mom and dad were a little overwhelmed and didn’t like all the attention. Some of the things said were…

“They just show up when you need them”

“They gave up all their comfort in the U.S.A. in their 70’s to go to Russia as missionaries.”

“They were never perfect but they keep open to growth in their lives.”

“They never gave up on us”

“They always had room at their table for one more.”

“My deda taught me a good work ethic”

“Thank you for praying for us and keeping track of us.”

They always tell us they love us.

They always talk about the Lord in every context of their lives.

They love the Word of God and you’ll see them reading their Bibles every morning.

My brother talked about walking past their bedroom and seeing them on their knees praying out loud together.

We have been blessed by good examples from my parents…not perfect but striving.

For the party we had street tacos with rice and beans and for dessert we had a delicious cake with whip cream frosting and fresh strawberry filling and topped with chocolate covered strawberries.

Even though this was a 90th birthday party celebration it morphed into a 70th wedding anniversary party also. One person started that rumor and it just didn’t quit so Happy 70th Anniversary Mom and Pop. (Their anniversary is September 13th)