Mt. Vernon resident Billie Bullard, who turned 101 on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, celebrates her (almost) birthday with friends and family at the John Day Senior Center on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022.

JOHN DAY — When the days are hot and you have no way to get cooled down, we have some help for you. Our center is now allowing you to come hang out to cool down on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The doors will be open so you can come in and have a seat and get a drink of cold water.

Bingo is played every Tuesday at 1 pm. There is room for more if you are interested.

Our building is used for meetings and birthdays and memorials. If you have need for a place to hold your gathering, please call the office at 541-620-5242 and leave a message if we do not answer. If you need immediate assistance, call Elsie at 541-792-0202.

The Grant County Jammers will be playing from 10 a.m. till noon on Mondays; everyone is welcome to come and enjoy their great music with singing, too.

The firefighters camp at Seneca has several groups signed on to assisted in meals for these hard-working people. When one group leaves and another comes on, they take the goods left over with them and the new group brings their own supplies with them.

Diana Higby of the Seneca food bank arranged for the group that was leaving to donate all their leftover supplies to our John Day Senior Center. Our chef was delighted to get so many individually packaged items for our delivery meals. This was a big help to Shay. Thank you, Diane, for thinking of our center. We do put out a lot of meals each week (more than 100) with deliveries to homebound folks.

Hope4Paws brings in pet food from time to time to enable our seniors to feed their pets easier. Chris Labhart has been the courier for this exchange, and our seniors appreciate all of it. Thanks, and thanks again.

Our librarian, Linda, has two VHS recorders in the library and they are free to anyone who needs them. Come on in to her lovely room and see what she has. There is a box of TV cables and such, too, so if you need some parts for your TV, feel free to look through that box and take what you need.

Last week didn’t work out for our news to reach this space, so I will try to fill that in as I go along for this week.

We had the LDS Church with George and Susan Sintay last week for servers, and this week we had the First Baptist Church with Peggy and Meloni; Pastor Jessie joined them as well as Michael, and then the First Baptist Church came again on Thursday and served all our seniors again.

Wow, you guys, you did double duty this week! Thank you so much. We love having you and appreciate all you do for our seniors. Corrine Stennett did step in to help one day when some servers were late getting there. Thanks, Corrine.

It seems we have been having the same people at the desk to greet incoming folks and I know they love being there and get to see everyone and have quick chats. If you would be interested in being a greeter, please let one of our board members know so we can get you on the list.

Last week we delivered 112 fresh meals and 31 frozen meals into our community, and this week we delivered 124 fresh meals and 40 frozen meals into the community. These deliveries were done by Peggy, Cindy, Mike, Pati, Ramey, Becky, Jeanette and Rick. These folks have a heart of gold. They love being able to help our seniors and meet them at their homes. Thank all of you for your service of love for other people.

The Len’s card was won by Bill K., and the Chester’s card was won by Laura Koffler and Landon James for the two weeks.

The free meals for two weeks were won by Karrol Green, Ed Newby and Sharon Wood. Congratulations to all of you.

Monday, Aug. 5, we will dine on biscuits with bacon gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit and a dessert of cook’s choice. On Thursday, Aug. 8, we will have hamburgers, french fries, Jell-O, fruit and root beer floats. Boy, do these meals sound good. I can just see all of us growing as we intake all of this delicious food. Yummy!

Ephesians 4:29-32 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for this day of redemption.

MONUMENT — I’m still feeling a bit out of sorts. We’ve not had our Monument senior/community lunch for three weeks now and that has thrown me off schedule. My days are all melded together and I just found out that we are now in the month of August! What?

With all the events that have happened in July with the fire and being told that this could go on now for another 60 to 90 days, I feel very discombobulated. The things that have been keeping me grounded and going is my King Jesus, His Word and promises to me, and the valuable lessons of this event in our lives. I pray that these words would help you, encourage, and strengthen you all as you go through life’s twists and turns, bumps, highs, and lows.

One of the lessons I learned during this time was that the devil really tries to mess with one’s mind when you are struggling. The devil tries to put thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety, doubt, and all sorts of negative feelings.

These were some of the thoughts that were going through my head while I was working outside, weed eating down tall, dry grass, moving burnable materials away from our home and doing chores. The thoughts were, fear of losing our house, our animals, all that we have worked for in the last 11 years we have been here.

I would catch myself having these thoughts and realizing I was “entertaining” them and then had to fight my flesh with the Word of God that I have learned to “hide” in my heart. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 it says that we are to cast down imaginations and bring into “captivity” every thought to the obedience of Christ. So, I would try and cast down those negative thoughts and think on the Word of God.

The perfect love of God casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). When I am talking about His perfect love, it means that believing and having faith that everything that God does and allows is good, all the time. His love for us is immeasurable. His love for us will indeed punish evil for He is a righteous and holy judge. He loves His creation and we, the people, are His masterpiece.

Even though that fire was raging through our mountain and both sides of our little town of Monument, I was trying to stand on the Lord’s perfect love for all of us. Was it easy? No, at times it was not because this flesh, this body and shell we live in fights the spirit.

I am a little embarrassed to disclose this, but if it helps someone to know that everyone struggles with fear sometimes, I’ll let you in on a secret. LOL. I had to take an Imodium pill every day before I went out to work outside preparing for the coming fire.

My stomach was in knots and it was a most uncomfortable feeling and I did not want to constantly run to the bathroom. The Words of the Lord helped my spirit and mind, and the Imodium helped my body. Ha ha ha.

The Lord was gracious while we were working hard outside in the midst of thick and heavy smoke. We were not bothered by the smoke. We neither coughed nor had issues with our lungs and neither did the smoke sting our eyes! Yes, that was the grace of our wonderful and glorious Father!

When we were staying at our friends’ house, we could see the fire on Franklin Mountain. Their home is on the other side of Monument and they have full view of Monument and Franklin Mountain. One of the evenings, we were watching that fire creeping its way down, and seeing the trees bursting into flames was incredible to watch at the same time as horrifying. My friend and I were sitting together and praying for the Lord’s protection and mercy over the people’s homes, property, and the firefighters’ lives.

Another thing I struggled with during this fire event was anger. My anger was against whomever it was who reported us to the authorities and lying about our goats not having any water. I don’t understand why someone would do that?

Our kids’ safety was mine and my hubby’s highest priority, then to ensure that they had a roof over their heads, and then our animals. Our animals will not and should not come before our children. Nevertheless, we still did all that we could do to protect and care for our animals. So you could imagine the thoughts that were swirling around in my head.

Oh, man, that was a big struggle and I was able to overcome that temptation with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We must forgive those who trespass against us for if we do not, the Father will not forgive us our trespasses (Matthew 6:14).

When I was struggling with tiredness and weakness from lack of sleep, working in the heat, and the stress, the joy of the Lord gave me strength. I would remember the words to some of the worship songs that I learned over the years (based on Scripture) and the old hymns. Words truly are powerful. The Word of God says that life and death are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21). If one speaks love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and other such good things, that is what one will sow and reap.

My physical eyes could see that scary fire coming, and my mind could imagine all that it could do. Again, there was a struggle with my flesh and the spirit. All the Words of the Lord that were hidden in my heart like Psalms 23, 34, 37, and 91 came flooding back and that was my weapon against my enemy.

The devil is a liar. The Word of God is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The devil knows Scripture, but he does not believe in it. We must walk by faith and not by sight and believe in our hearts that God is who He says He is and He can do anything.

Prayer is also a powerful weapon against our adversary. The Lord gave us a good little rainfall and cool weather with no lightning or thunder in the midst of this fire event! The power of prayer in faith can allow God to do the impossible. He gets all the glory.

I thank all the local heroes and the firefighters who have come to aid and fight these fires on the behalf of all of us here in Monument. We thank the Lord for all of you putting your lives at risk to save our lives, homes, and property.

Our deepest condolences to the family of that firefighter who went down on that plane while fighting fires. We thank him for his dedication and bravery. He truly lived the Scripture where it says, “No greater love than this, that a man lays down his life for a friend.” (John 15:13) May the Lord bless that fallen hero’s family with peace knowing he is highly regarded!

I hope that in the following week, we will be having our Monument lunch and I can’t wait to get together with everyone. I am sure we will all have some big tales to tell. I pray that whoever reads this will be encouraged that you can get through life’s struggles and fears.

King Jesus knows your heart and He has given us His Word and promises. The Lord said in His Word that those who seek Him with all their hearts will find Him, and He wants all of us to truly know Him. He is our joy, strength, and our salvation. Amen and hallelujah!

PRAIRIE CITY — Oh, look! I can see Strawberry Mountain this morning! So nice to breathe non-smoky air. That must mean that the firefighters are making progress. At least, we hope so. And wasn’t that a nice rain that also helped clear the air? (We take our blessings wherever we can find them!)

Coast Guard veteran Denny led the flag salute for us today. I for one am glad that we don’t hurry through the pledge. We need to really hear what we are saying. And again, we were unable to give away the $10 gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market. Too bad, so sad. Pastor Bob asked the blessing.

Our volunteers included Mary, Sharon, Gwynne, Carla, Tom, and Pam at her desk. And it was nice and cool in the Hall thanks to the repairs to the swamp cooler. I watched the repairman do his job and was surprised to see how simple the machinery is. Learn something new every day, ya know.

And for our dinner, we had something else that I had never eaten before: corn dogs. Hey, they are good! Pam and Pam also made their famous round fries to go with them. They also made onion rings, a broccoli salad, a Jell-O salad, cottage cheese, and the birthday cake donated by Driskill Memorial Chapel for dessert. Good job, ladies. And thanks to Driskill’s for the cake every month!

We had some new faces at dinner today who were just passing through, so thanks for coming!

Pam decided that it was time to have the big vent over the grill cleaned last week, too. Then, after it was cleaned, she and a helper painted it white! Wow. That should help the light dissemination in there!

I had to eat my meal a little early so I could boogie off to Burns to see the Miracle Ear lady. I had been dreading the trip due to the fires, but all was well. Even encountered the fire information officer when we stopped at Silvies. He had just updated the information board there, so we got the latest scoop. He said we had picked a good day to travel. Ha! This date was picked four months ago!

And you know where the Grant County line meets the Harney County line in the middle of Bear Valley? There is a little turnout there, and sitting in that turnout was a little F.S. helicopter. So we can call that turnout a helipad now, right?

My cantaloupe experiment seems to be working. There are lots of little round fruits coming on. And the carnation has bloomed in my favorite color! Have to be sure and gather its seeds! Meanwhile, on the other side of the house that only gets sun until noon, the morning glory got about 6 inches high and decided that was tall enough and produced a gorgeous purple blossom. The volunteer sweet pea also was a pink one. Does that make up for the fact that the peas did not want to germinate? Well … gives me something else to think about.

Isaiah 55:8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD.