JOHN DAY — Yum. My husband’s favorite dish will be served Monday the 24th. Hamburger, gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and pear salad. If you are more of a seafood person, try out the lunch Thursday the 27th: linguini with clam sauce, mixed veggies, fruit and Creamsicle cake

Veleda assisted Shay in the kitchen last week, while Tammy was out of town for family needs. Living Word Christian Center delivered meals to housebound seniors and served and cleaned up in the main dining area of the center. Patti Hall delivered the meals normally delivered by the Hospital Auxiliary.

I would like to say that we have had so many people call offering to volunteer to help with something that we have had to turn folks away. Unfortunately, that is not the scenario. In fact, NO ONE has stepped up to the door of volunteerism, knocking to check out what our needs are. If you are reading this article, then you have internet. We could use time from anyone familiar with looking up things on the internet. We also have need of a brainstormer to help us plan our newest venture in the JDSC that will be a real treat for all folks over 50.

OK, here we go with the fifth word of our puzzle challenge: trust. Trust is something that is hard because you must let go and rely on someone or something other than yourself. Oftentimes trust must be built, and that takes time.

We often trust things because they are a part of our life and, in many cases, they have never let us down. Like a car kept in top condition, the home heat source, the hours a business lists as being open.

Different scenario when it comes to trusting people. Someone we trusted may have let us down, and it impacts our view of them and perhaps others who weren’t even in the picture in the future and makes it hard to trust them in the future. It can also cloud our thinking when it comes to trusting others.

I have learned over the years to put my trust in the Lord God Almighty. He has never let me down. Something may not go as I thought it would, but, in the end, it was plain to see His way was better than what I had planned.

There are many changes and new things going on at the John Day Senior Center. I would like to tell you about them now, but sometimes our plans aren’t His, so I am going to wait until they are finalized and maybe even the changes are in place. I can tell you the changes and additions will enhance the experience of folks attending Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as additional days, when it’s all said and done.

Here is a new thing. Longtime board member Darlene Nodine has resigned from the board to have more time at home. We are grateful for the service she gave to the center and look forward to seeing her when her schedule allows. On another new note, we welcomed Heather Swank to fill Darlene’s position. She was welcomed unanimously. We look forward to what Heather will bring to the table.

We are grateful for the folks from the Methodist Church who handled the meals Thursday.

March is nearly upon us as we stay the course for the winter. I have family in Kentucky, New Mexico, Florida, Alaska, Colorado, Tennessee and Missouri. When I see the weather where they are, it makes my heart happy that I live in Grant County, Oregon.

Blessings to all.

MONUMENT — Our greeters at the table were Sue Cavender and Linda Abraham. They checked in all the guests, collected and counted up the money. Ellie Lucas led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

Our cooks, Terry Cade and Christy Howell, made us cowboy beans with cornbread, a fresh green salad, and yellow cake with chocolate frosting for our dessert. Everyone was satisfied with the yummy food. We thank our cooks for all their hard work in feeding us hungry folk.

Myrna Bruce, a former resident of Monument, passed away and the family had a service for her on Friday, Feb. 21. The service was held at the Monument Cemetery and they had a potluck lunch at the Monument Senior/Community Center afterwards. We send our condolences to the Bruce family.

Ellie announced that the insurance issue that the Monument Food Pantry had has now been resolved and the services will resume as usual.

Mark your calendars for Friday, Feb. 28. Everyone is welcome to come for an hour of singing by the Long Creek Mennonite Church group. The event will be at the Monument Senior/Community Center at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served afterwards. Bringing a friend is also encouraged!

The next sewing get-together will be Wednesday, March 12. We start around 9 a.m. and finish around 2 p.m. We share a potluck lunch at noon. We hope you come and join us. We like to visit and share our projects with everyone and there are some who crochet, knit, or do other projects. We have several machines available if anyone does not have a machine to work on.

We still have snow on the ground over here in Monument. It is now melting and making it rather difficult to trudge through the squishy, grabby mud. I almost lost a boot while walking in very squishy mud. LOL. There were also times where I almost fell in the mud because it was super-slippery! That would have been a disaster and very gross. Thank goodness that did not happen.

Yes, I would have to say the squishy and very wet ground is not my favorite time of year. I don’t like tracking mud into the house. That makes for a dirty foyer. We don’t wear shoes in our house, so thank goodness no mud tracking in the house.

Praise the Lord that we have a lot of snow on the ground! Hopefully it will saturate the ground and we will have nice grass and new trees growing in the springtime. I am counting our blessings, one by one.

I am going to try and plant corn again this year for my garden. I just need to find a variety that does not need a longer time to mature. I would like to can the corn and be able to maybe make my own cornmeal. I saw a video on YouTube about grinding your own cornmeal and making cornbread. It looked delicious! I will have to try that for sure!

Psalms 33:4 For the Word of the LORD is right. And all His works are done in truth.

PRAIRIE CITY — Ah, spring is only one month way. The new seed packets are out in the stores. People are getting cabin fever. How are the New Year Resolutions coming along? I only have one this year: to read through a daily devotional book that was given to me 10 years ago by a dear friend. So far, so good!

The calendar this month is full of special birthdays and such. Tom did Valentines for two weeks, and then today he wore his Abraham Lincoln suit to celebrate Presidents Day. He had a quote from Honest Abe that I bet you never heard before: “My father taught me to work but not to love it. I never did like to work, and I don’t deny it. I’d rather read, tell stories, talk, crack jokes, laugh … anything but work.” Remember, you learn something new every day … and that was certainly something new I learned! President Lincoln gave his famous speech at Gettysburg 162 years ago (Nov. 19, 1863). That’s when the famous orators of the day learned that you could say a lot with a few words.

On to today: Delores led the flag salute, Fran Bunch was the winner of the free meal, and Ginger asked the blessing. Our volunteers included Mary, Sharon, Tom, Teresa, Natalie, and Carla. Thanks to you all for your service. Ginger announced that the trailer that we placed downtown to receive returnable cans and bottles was filled. We thank all who donated. The bingo “party” was also a huge success, so it is planned to do it again at the Oxbow Restaurant on Thursday, Feb. 27. Many thanks to all those who came to play and donate to our cause. We sincerely appreciate you all!

Our meal was a good, old-fashioned American dinner: hamburgers with all the fixin’s, potato salad, Halo oranges, and peach cobbler for dessert. A meal to help us look forward to summer! And it was delicious!! Good job, Pam and Pam!!

A long time ago, the center started a library. Shelves were placed on the wall and a former librarian arranged the books. Then it was moved into a separate room so people could browse in solitude. Well, the space is not being utilized as much as it could be, and we need some more storage space, so the number of books is going to be greatly reduced. We have had some amazing donations of excellent books through the years. Now is your opportunity to have some of those books for your own library. We are asking that you come and take what you want for the next month. Then we will see how much space that frees up and decide what to do then.

John 21:24-25 This is the disciple … who wrote them down … his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things. … If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.