Belinda's Hello from Camp Comeca!

Greetings from Camp Comeca, just south of Cozad, Nebraska. I am enjoying a 24-hour retreat here.
The Covenant Group West meets here periodically to retreat.

It's such a joy to be here! Folks who have attended an Upper Room-sponsored Five-Day Academy are invited to participate in regional mini-retreats throughout the year following their attendance.

Unfortunately, Charles is not able to attend this one. Tomorrow morning, he is officiating at a funeral of one of our church members back at our home church in Sidney, Nebraska, some three hours west of here.

Grace and peace to all of you who surf at this internet site!

+ Belinda

It's Fall, Y'all!

Happy fall, y'all...
from the folks in the parsonage of the First United Methodist Church here in Sidney, Nebraska!

Blessings,
Pastor Charles and Belinda

Parsonage Back Yard Visitor Today

Wow! Belinda looked out the back deck, facing the parsonage's back yard, and look at what she saw... filling the back yard!

The men said that they are checking our gas lines.

NOW... I understand why the fence in the back yard has the two big gates, so huge trucks can have access when needed.

Pastor Charles, Radio DJ

This afternoon, Pastor Charles recorded "Faith Talk" at our local KSID radio station. It will be aired this coming Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Doesn't he look like a natural?!

New Addition to Parsonage Living Room

It's a simple thing, but a wonderful thing too. Praise God for ALL the blessings of each and every day!!!

Yesterday Pastor Charles and I visited the rummage sale at the Christ Episcopal Church here in Sidney. I spotted two lovely blue Broyhill chairs in spotless condition for $20 each.

Thanks to a dear parishioner's willingness to loan us her truck, Pastor Charles was able to bring them home to the parsonage this morning.

Don't they look great?!

God is SO good!

A Great Retreat!

We attended the first meeting of the 2008-09 Covenant Group West on Thursday and Friday at Camp Comeca, just south of Cozad.

The Covenant Group West is comprised of persons who have attended a Five-day Academy for Spiritual Formation and want to continue the growth in spiritual discipline with like-minded persons.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship and learning, and we look forward to our next gathering!

Pastor Charles' Visitor

Here is Kipper Holmead, who visited Pastor Charles at the church this last week!

Aren't they both so cute?!

Day three in Denver

We said goodbye to Denver this morning and returned home to Sidney with fond memories of our brief time in the Mile-high City.

On the way back home, we stopped in Loveland, CO (about 45 minutes north of Denver) to visit with Charles' Aunt Joyce. We had a lovely visit and then enjoyed a lunch together at the wonderful restaurant, The Black-eyed Pea.

Then it was on the road and back to life in Sidney. Belinda got right to work and mowed the back yard in the cool of the day. Its good to be home!

Denver Excursion, Day 2

Day two of the Denver excursion began with a terrific breakfast at the Inn.

Belinda struck out on her own while Charles rested his heel during the morning. She walked all over downtown Denver and saw a lot of cool places on a very warm Colorado day.

In the evening, we saw a terrific baseball game at Coors Field between the Colorado Rockies and the Washington Nationals which the Nats won, 9-5.

Denver Excursion, Day 1

After a great morning at worship in Sidney, we headed south to Denver and a quick get-away in the big city.

We checked into our B&B downtown and then headed out to our first adventure, a football (soccer) match between the Colorado Rapids (of Major League Soccer) and Everton FC (of the English Premier League). It was a close game, with Everton pulling out a 2-1 win in the 88th minute of play.

In the picture of us at the game: If you look closely (i.e., double-click on the picture and it will enlarge)... you can see the bright orange ear plugs in Belinda's ears. There is a custom of folks blowing really loud horns throughout the game experience, and it was all a bit too much for Belinda's sensibilities, so they were good enough to give her some ear plugs AND change our seats, so we sat behind the horn blowers (instead of right in front of them). Whew! Regardless, we enjoyed the game very much!

Tomorrow is another day, so come back for more.

P.S. If you want to see where we are staying, check out this website for Kay's Room at the Gregory Inn, downtown Denver: http://www.gregoryinn.com/tour/room_kay.html. Pictures above include Belinda in the B&B's parlor and Charles in the dining room, looking through their way-cool telescope. It's a wonderful place to stay!

Visitors to the Parsonage!

It has been so nice to have Belinda's brother Rob and his son Kyle visiting us in the parsonage this weekend!

They had a great time visiting Mount Rushmore today. They were very impressed with the Crazy Horse monument as well! Folks have been working on it since June 3, 1948.

If you want to see how the work is progressing, look at this cool website:
http://www.crazyhorse.org/carving/face/index.shtml .

A Busy Saturday in Sidney, Nebraska

First of all, it rained last night. Whew! It was a great soaking rain, the kind we have needed for oh so long! Praise be to God!!!

AND Belinda's brother Rob and his son Kyle arrived last night. They are situating themselves here in Sidney this weekend, so they can take a day-trip up to Mount Rushmore today. It is to be a father-son bonding trip.

AND Pastor Charles was at the church at 6:45 a.m. today -- to see off the church's youth group who are going on a mission trip to St. Louis, Illinois for a week.

AND Belinda was in downtown Sidney at 7:15 a.m. to help with the Ladies Chamber bake sale. Believe it or not, folks were out and about at that time! The downtown businesses opened at 8:00 a.m., and they are having a big sales celebration today, which includes "Thanks with Franks." Folks were treated to free hot dogs and watermelon at lunchtime!

AND our flagship Cabela's store is having their BIG annual summer sale. Folks from around the country flock to this sale each year!

AND today is the first of a series of Saturday Farmers Markets in the front parking lot of our courthouse -- they run throughout the summer months.

SO... we who live here in Sidney, Nebraska, are grateful to the good Lord above for all the blessings of this day and this weekend! Praise be to God!!!

The Cross the UMYF Created

Wow: What a wonderful cross is the one that the youth group made to take on their mission trip!!!

They leave this coming Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. All are invited to come and see them off!

Pastor Charles at the Parsonage

Just thought you would like to see Pastor Charles as he left the parsonage this morning.

He is sporting his new clergy shirt which Barb Winter in Gordon, Nebraska, just finished sewing for him. He selected the fabric himself. What a fun look!

What a week it was!

We made it back to Sidney after our week at Camp Norwesca and what a week it was!!!

Check out the full report of what we took part in at www.sidneyfirstumc.blogspot.com.

Now that we're home in Sidney, we're resting up on this Sunday afternoon, ready for the amazing week that God has in store for us!

Howdy from the Pine Ridge Riders Camp in Nebraska!

Howdy, partners!

Glad you could stop by for a spell and look at some of our pictures for today!

If you want to check on how things are progressin' this week, please go to this blog: http://www.sidneyfirstumc.blogspot.com/ .

God bless ya real good now, ye hear?!

Pastor Charles and Belinda

The Alkula's at Camp Norwesca

This week Charles & Belinda are helping at a church camp! Come back each day to see the latest from Camp Norwesca's "Pine Ridge Riders" Camp!!!

Today, we got a glimpse at the nearby state park where we could see Wyoming and South Dakota. We had dinner at a local diner in Chadron with Hannah, the Camp Norwesca's program director and Mollie, the Camp Norwesca Director.

We also got re-aquainted with Mollie's two adorable cats, Karl (Jung) and Dietrich (Bonhoeffer). They have the best view of the comings and goings of camp life and are such good companions for Mollie.

It should be a most interesting week, to be certain!!!

Oh, yes, the news is that Belinda has volunteered to be the laundry lady and do the washing and drying in the air-conditioned building. Can't you tell that she is happy?!

July 4th in Sidney

We enjoyed a great holiday here in Sidney! We enjoyed a root beer float supplied by the Third Grade class from North Elementary before the town fireworks. The class was raising funds in support of an injured classmate and they did a wonderful job!

Afterwards the fireworks lit the sky above Sidney and then we joined church members for a neighborhood fireworks display.

On the Fourth, we enjoyed a quiet day at home and then enjoyed more local fireworks being set off around the town.

What a great weekend!