Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week,  wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

It’s been quite the week — snow Sunday morning that was gone by the time we got out of church, my mother-in-law hospitalized for an infection and released just yesterday to a skilled nursing facility, special meetings at church this week that we’ve had to miss a couple of nights of so far. But there are always blessings scattered throughout, and here are a few:

1. Meetings with the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team. I’ve enjoyed their music for years and referred to them here often, but I had never seen them “in person” until last spring when they were at our church for one service, and this time they are here for a whole week. I had also never heard Steve preach until last spring, though I have heard good things about him. So it has been nice to hear him more, too. I appreciate his spirit and balance.

2. Ladies’ Steak Night. The last few times our church has had a week of special meetings, they’ve had a Ladies’ Steak Night on Mondays and a Men’s Steak Night on Tuesdays. They grill steaks (free for guests but asking for donations from church members), and the idea is to invite friends, neighbors, coworkers, especially those who might not care to come to a regular church service. It was a time of good food, music, and fellowship (I sat next to one of the Pettit team members who had been an English major, and we discussed books. Lovely!), and best of all, a few people came to know the Lord both nights.

3. Friends sharing books. Both an online friend and a friend at church shared books with me after discussing them and my comment that they sounded interesting. Very kind and thoughtful.

4. A good doctor and nurse. I mentioned my m-i-l being in the hospital. When the nurses thought she would be released, the doctor kept her a couple of days longer because her white blood cell count was still high. He told my husband that there are national averages for how long to keep patients for different ailments, but that wasn’t as important to him as making sure she was all right. I appreciate a doctor who thinks that way. He was also very thorough in explaining things to us. He is not her regular doctor – he was just over her case while in the hospital –  but I am glad he was. And though all the nurses were kind, there was one that was especially helpful. As we mentioned something about his mom needing to go from assisted living to skilled nursing, she offered to get us in touch with just the person we needed to talk to. We hadn’t even known who to ask for or whether there was someone at the hospital who helped with such things, so that was a blessing.

5. Being in the right place at the right time.  I love how God orchestrates these things. One day I had gotten up to see Jim’s mom later than I had planned, but the lady from the skilled nursing facility was there at that moment needing some papers to be signed to get the ball rolling, and the doctor came in and confirmed that she wouldn’t be released that day, though everyone else had thought she would. In the hospital, especially when it comes to release time, there is a lot of waiting around wondering what’s going to happen when, so it was especially nice to get official word at that moment so we would know how to arrange our day.

It will be a busy few days helping Jim’s mom get used to a new place and sorting and moving things from the old one. The new one is much smaller, so we’re having to strategize about what to keep and what to store and what to get rid of. We’re supposed to discuss her care plan today. We’re hoping and praying she adjusts well — it’s hard to make such drastic changes at that age.

Thank you for your kind comments concerning our family news yesterday. They are much appreciated!

Hope you have a great weekend!