Bonnie's Blog 'n Blessings

Bonnie is back

2009-10-05T22:35:00.002-06:00

Oh dear.

Where, oh where to begin? The trials and tribulations of the last two years have kept me from my blogging ministry, but my focus was in other places where, as you will see, it needed to be.

I last wrote in October, 2007. Things seemed to be going so well. I was just a happily married gal, being a dedicated mother and wife, and occasionally dabbling in the scrapbooking. Well - let she who stands take heed lest she fall.

Enter our new church music minister. (I will not use his name, but if, after reading this, you think you would like to pray for him, just email me and I will send it to you.) He was a lovely man, with such talent. And he was using it for the service of the LORD when I am quite sure he could have had a career in rock music. Well, "Charlie" (fictional name - email me for the real one so that you can pray) asked for some volunteers from the choir to help organize a sing-a-thon. Of course, my hand went right up. The LORD has blessed me with the gift of event organization, and I am not one to bury my talents, you know. So, I quickly became very involved in the planning of this event. Planning that included late night prayer meetings. LADIES BEWARE. If the church music minister asks you to stay late and pray with him after you have had one to many glasses of the Dutch Sangria, DO NOT DO IT. And I am not one to tell a lady of the LORD not to pray, but my friends, my dear ones, in this situation, it's really best NOT to pray.

I will not go into the sensitive details of what happened next, mostly out of respect for my husband Tom. Tom was not crazy about the idea of my writing this in my Blog ' Blessings, but when I told him that I thought there were other ladies who might be blessed by this part of my testimony, he said for me to go ahead with it.

Well, the church janitor, Ted, who happens to be in my Tom's accountability group, showed up at the church that same night to clean after the VanSipkema funeral. There was a huge mess in the basement from the crumb cake that Lois DeJonge had baked, brought to the funeral and promptly dropped on the floor when one of the high heels she was wearing got caught on the extension cord that was hooked up to the electric punch bowl that Brother Westra had designed and is now trying to market. Crumb cake and red fruit punch make quite the mess. So anyways, Ted the Janitor -- well - he saw some things. Some things that I really wish he hadn't. Some things that make it very difficult for me to see him in church, especially when I am wearing my denim jumper with the fall leaves on it. It has side slits. And I was wearing it on that fateful night. For a while.

Now fast forward almost 2 years. Tom and I have been in counseling for quite some time, have been to three Marriage Encounter weekends and are doing amazingly well, considering. And I am ready to move on from this. I no longer sing in our church choir, though. I felt it was best for me to step down and not serve in such an "up front" position in our church. My blogging ministry, however, will continue for as long as God wills it.

On a side note, I do not believe that a funeral is an appropriate place for an electric punch bowl. Pray with me ladies, as I consider how to confront Brother Westra on this matter. I do believe that these things are best done face to face.

Blessings to you from a fallen sister who has risen up again!

Praise Him!
Bonnie

My thoughts on Paris, Britney and Lindsay

2007-10-13T12:19:00.000-06:00

Oh dear friends, my life has just been a whirlwind of activity these last few weeks. Blogging has unfortunately dropped to the bottom of my priority list, but I had some time to myself this morning since Tom is away in Hudsonville for a men's leadership retreat. The kids had went to Livonia for a Third Day concert last night and stayed overnight at Tom's sister's home. Kind of reminds me of the weekend Tom took me to a Sandy Patty concert and proposed at Denny's afterwards!

But enough reminiscing. What is really on my heart this morning is three young ladies that seem to show up in the news quite a bit these days: Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. My heart just goes out to these young gals every time I see one of their faces on the cover of another one of those Hollywood magazines or as I am flipping through the channels. E! is a channel that I do not watch (if you come to my home sometime you'll see that our family has chosen to put a small plaque on top of our television set that says "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.") However, this morning I was changing channels from Hallmark to FOX and then over to the Family Channel, there didn't seem to be anything on, so I ended up watching some news thing on that E! channel. They were going on and on about Britney and her children and the custody battle, and then they went on to talk about Lindsay getting out of rehab and something else about Paris Hilton and I thought, oh, if I could just have those girls come and stay with me here in West Michigan for a few weeks, what a life-changing experience
it would be for them! And I got to dreaming about what it would be like ... to take them to church for the first time. A REAL church, mind you. Not one of those liberal social club type churches that only open the Bible once a year. And to take them shopping for some decent clothes that don't leave you thinking that they ought to be involved in some sort of immoral activity down on Division street. And oh, how I would love to introduce those young ladies to some good food! I'm not a betting gal, but I have to say I'd be willing to bet that none of these gals have ever tasted a tater tot casserole. I don't think you can even buy cream of mushroom soup at the stores in California. Oh, if I could sit down with Britney and some photos of those precious little ones of hers, we could make the most darling scrapbook that she'd be able to look at on those days when K Fed has them. I'm sure her mom never taught her how to scrapbook. And when I think of all the money that Lindsay's family must be paying for her to be in some fancy rehab center in Utah I think to myself - give me $1,000 and a month with that girl and I'll put 10 lbs. on her, have her singing hymns and quoting Tim LaHaye. Oh, put Bonnie Tuinstra in charge of any of those girls for a few weeks and Hollywood might never be the same. The more I talk about it the more my heart is just burdened for young people today. But I suppose I need to keep my focus on my dear Tom Jr., Lisa and Laurie. I have my work cut out for me with my own brood, that's for sure! Three great kids - yes. But they aren't perfect, you know. I found a Maroon 5 cd in Lisa's backpack yesterday. Oh dear. Time to go shopping at the Family Christian Stores again.

Well - that's all for today. I am going to Donna VanKlomenberg's home today for a tea. She just bought a butt load of Pampered Chef things and wants to show off her cooking skills. It's a bit exhausting, really. But we are having a prayer time today for Denver, Colorado. A number of us have friends who live there who are extremely concerned about the sin and darkness that will be moving into that city as the Democratic National Convention will be there in less than a year. So sad. It's such a lovely place.

Blessings!
Bonnie

Happy Labor Day!

2007-09-03T08:03:00.000-06:00

Oh friends, it has been so long since I blogged anything. Life has just been a whirlwind of activity! I'll try to give you a run-down of my goings on over the last few weeks.

I organized a trip to Shipshewana, Indiana (we gals like to call it "Shipsy") back in late July and oh, was it ever a good time! There's a wonderful flea market there where I was able to pick up a number of Christmas presents for those difficult-to-buy-for friends and relatives as well as some lovely home decor items for myself. I'm trying to phase out the Home Interiors products that I went overboard buying back in the late 80s ... time to turn over a new leaf I say! If anyone is in need of some antique brass leaf wall hangings or sconces, I have about 7 sets.

Next on the list was a trip to Birch Run with the kids to buy school clothes. Tom's single sister, Tina went with us for this one. She's such a dear gal and was a great help on this trip. She's a pretty conservative dresser, so while Tom Jr. and I shopped, I sent her to shop with the girls without having to worry about them coming back with any mini skirts or bare midriff tops! Luckily they found everything they needed in one store. Praise the Lord for Dress Barn!

Next came an unexpected trip to San Francisco, California. I have a dear friend in Denver (we went to the same church in college for a while) who asked for my help in moving her brother to from California to Colorado. She thought it would be nice for me to get out of the midwest for a few days. She's one of these more open-minded, modern single gals that I just wonder about sometimes, but boy was this a fun trip! California is not nearly as flat as Michigan. Those hills in San Francisco really gave me a workout! I told Tom I would have buns of steel by the time I got back to Grandville. He really likes it when I say things like that. My girlfriend's brother is a real treat too. He has made friends with a lot of the gays out there in SF ... such nice people. There really aren't too many of them around West Michigan, at least not that I have met. I would really like to find some of the gays back here in Michigan and become friends with them. I'll admit I have an ulterior motive, though ... I bet they are really great at scrapbooking and I'm looking for some new ideas.

So we drove from SF to Denver together and I got to operate the i-pod. It was loads of fun -- and I think I'm asking Tom to buy me one for Christmas! I would appreciate your prayers for my friend, though. I noticed that almost all of the music on her pod was secular. I remember when she used to listen to 4Him and Michael W. Smith. It's heartbreaking, really. On the upside, though - I found that I really enjoy listening to Earth, Wind and Fire! I was not familiar with their music until this road trip. It's quite catchy!

Now I am back at home in Grandville and it's time to drop the pears into my jello salad, so I must say farewell for now. I hope that you all have a blessed Labor Day with those near and dear to you.

Blessings,
Bonnie

A Mother's Pride

2007-07-19T20:55:00.000-06:00

Friends, it's amazing how the tragedy of the loss of my Bible cover has so quickly dissipated. What has caused my sadness to flee, you ask? Well, it is the overwhelming pride that has filled my heart over the quick thinking and acting of my son, Tom Jr.

You see, we were at a church ice cream social last night to welcome back our Pastor who has been on sabbatical in the Netherlands for some much needed time away with his family there. The junior choir had just sung for us and Brother Van Oosterhert was making his way up to the front to share a message in music. He came late and had apparently just eaten an olive burger, so had popped a Wilhelmina peppermint into his mouth. Well, wouldn't you know - that peppermint lodged in his throat and he began to choke. But oh friends, thanks to my son, Brother Van Oosterhert is still with us today. My Tom Jr. wasted no time in running to the front of the sanctuary and performing the Heimlich maneuver on this dear man who by this time had turned a horrid purplish color. His poor wife, Jeanne was just beside herself at the organ, but as soon as the peppermint came flying out of Roy's mouth, Jeanne wasted no time in breaking into an impromptu performance of the Hallelujah Chorus. (She really has quite a way with the Hammond.) The peppermint unfortunately hit our youth pastor in the back of the head, but no injury there, praise the Lord.

I am just so tickled with my boy! The Ottawa Advance has already contacted us about doing a feature story! I may have to run to Meijer and pick up a nice new sportshirt for him ... I'm quite sure they will want to take pictures.

Anyone else have a bragging story on their children? I would love to hear them!

Blessings,
Bonnie

What is this world coming to?

2007-07-08T18:51:00.000-06:00

Oh friends,

I am so sorry that I have not blogged in a such a long time. I have been really quite distraught over my missing Bible cover. I know it seems like a small thing, but I am a Thomas Kincade collector and this was a special lighthouse edition that they no longer manufacture.

And - shock of all shocks - my dear friend told me that she thought she saw it hanging from Calvin's Crossing (for you out-of-towners, this is the walkway over the East Beltline that connects that fancy new conference center to the rest of the college.) So my husband Tom and our son Tom Jr. took a drive over there late last night and sure enough, there it was. Dangling over the Beltline. I am sorry to report that it was very badly damaged from exposure to the sun and rain. So much so that I was not able to repair it. I could not bear to throw it into the trash, though, so I have decided to salvage what I can from it and craft a pillow cover for the recliner in my bedroom.

Friends, what kind of young person would perform such a cruel joke? I have been inconsolable since my Toms arrived home with the bad news last night, and - I'm sorry to admit - I have been hitting the Dutch Sangria pretty hard. Tom is just letting me be. I think he knows that is best for the whole family right now. (Thankfully there were still a few frozen meals left over from my once-a-month-cooking kick in the Spring.) I even stayed home from church today, and I haven't missed church since I threw my back out planting hostas when we moved into Summerset 7 years ago.

I think I am feeling a bit better this afternoon, though. Better enough to blog. But it will be a long time before I am able to drive down the Beltline again. And I sure as hell won't be walking Calvin's Crossing for a few years.

Please feel free to put me on your local church's prayer list.

Blessings,
Bonnie

Have you seen my Bible cover?

2007-06-28T13:34:00.001-06:00

Dear Friends,

I really need your help. Last night I was at the Calvin College Library studying the assignment from Lois DeJonge VanAllsburg's interfaith Bible Study and a terrible thing happened. I took my Bible out of it's cover (a beautiful Thomas Kincade model given to me by my "secret sister" -- see the photo.) Apparently I got so distracted that I forgot to put my Bible back inside. Before I left, without thinking, I put my Bible directly into my tote bag from the 1998 Scrapper's Delight convention. And I left my damn Bible cover at the Calvin Library. Pardon my language, but I am really upset.

I am pretty sure that just about everyone who reads this blog either goes to Calvin, works at Calvin or has a family member who attends Calvin. Please, please, PLEASE put the word out about my Bible cover. I am concerned that it may have already been stolen by a Calvin student. I hear the ones who stick around in the summer are a lot of trouble. And Tom told me that we just don't have the funds to replace it right now, so unless it turns up I will have to carry my Bible with no cover. And I don't like a naked Bible.

Thank you in advance for your help. Lord willing it will be found soon.

Blessings,
Bonnie

Recipe alert!

2007-06-26T15:28:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, friends!

I was at church today for a ladies luncheon and had the most scrumptious jello salad! It's been around for quite some time ... a classic recipe, really, but I thought I would pass it along to you today. I used to make this for Tom back in our newlywed days ... oh, precious memories!

Lime Jello Salad

I hope that you all enjoy this oldie but goodie ... I think I may make it for dinner tomorrow. The kids have a youth group trip to Cedar Point and will be gone overnight ... I'll say no more!

Blessings,
Bonnie

My new fashion "secret"

2007-06-22T16:41:00.000-06:00

Greetings, friends!

I mentioned yesterday that I had found a new place to shop for clothes. I found this unexpected treasure of a fashion store on my way home from Minnesota this week. Take a look to the right to see the darling piece I added to my wardrobe! When I saw it hanging there, complete with cute little flip flops all over it, it was screaming Bonnie! I had to have it. There were a number of other items there that I would love to have taken home with me, but I had to stick to my budget (Thanks, Larry Burkett.)

So, you are probably wondering where you can find something THIS cute for yourself. Well, you'll be surprised to hear that I bought it at CRACKER BARREL!!! It's true! And here all this time I thought they were just a place to go for good southern cooking and unique gifts.! Lo and behold, I have found my new favorite clothing store. Praise the Lord, there is one right here in Grandville!

Blessings,
Bonnie

Back in Grandville!

2007-06-21T12:50:00.000-06:00

Praise the Lord, I have returned!

My trip to Minnesota was truly a blessing. The time with my girlfriends from Bible College was just wonderful. We shopped out little tootsies right off too, let me tell you. I was able to find some wonderful bargains on school clothes for the kids as well as some nice sport shirts for Tom. As for me, well, I had my eye on a lovely dress from Chico's, but just couldn't bring myself to spend the $60 they wanted for it (it was even on SALE!) I was glad I held out, though, because I uncovered a wonderful secret shopping destination on my drive home! I'll blog about that later.

We toured the Creative Memories Headquarters with Nancy on Wednesday and all I can say is, I'm speechless. I have never in my life seen so many scrapbooking materials in one place at the same time! Not even at my pastor's wife's all-night crop! They have a whole room filled with damaged items and so I stocked up on scrapbooking stickers. I was running low on those little bubbles with the funny sayings that you put on pages to make it look like the people in the pictures are talking, you know? I just love those! I have the funniest picture of Tom with a surprised look on his face and I put one of those little bubbles coming out of his mouth saying, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (It's from that TV show, Different Strokes - the one with the cute little African American fella.) I just laugh so hard every time I look at it!

Anyways, last night we wrapped up our time together with a lovely dinner at Sbarro's. I have always wanted to go there! We looked so cute too ... all in our denim jumpers and each of us wearing a different color shirt underneath. We used to do that in college. Unfortunately I spilled some tomato sauce on mine and I'm not sure that the stain will come out, so please let me know if you have any ideas. I'm really quite disappointed. It's a new jumper with the most darling little beach umbrellas trimming the hemn and I was so looking forward to wearing it this summer.

Well gals (and you fellas who might be reading this too), I really need to go and do some laundry and prepare dinner. I think we'll go simple tonight ... ham buns, fritos and Red Pop it is. Mom's pooped!

Blessings,
Bonnie

Off to Minnesota!

2007-06-18T09:14:00.000-06:00

Good morning, friends!

I am writing to let you know that I will not be blogging for a few days. I am taking a trip to the Mall of America in Minnesota. I go there every summer with some gals I befriended at Bible College. We will also be going to the Creative Memories Corporate Headquarters for an exclusive tour! (One of the gals has a sister who is really high up in the company.)

Hopefully I will come back with some great cropping ideas!

Blessings,
Bonnie

Dutch Sangria, anyone?

2007-06-16T07:36:00.000-06:00

Oh gals -

The Tater Tot Casserole was once again a big hit! Tom, the kids & I had a wonderful evening of fellowshipping together as a family last night. We finished off the whole 2 liter of Root Beer! Oh dear! Sadly, our VCR ate our tape of "Turner and Hooch", but we watched "Free Willy" instead, which is just about as good.

But here's a thought for tonight: Later this afternoon the kids will be going with their youth group to do some ministry to the people of Burnips. Then they'll be staying over night at one of the leader's homes and going to church together in the morning. Tom's ball team is playing tonight and having a men's fellowship afterwards. And you know, youth group + men's fellowship = 1 HAPPY BONNIE with a night to herself! So I'm planning to make a pot of Dutch Sangria. It's the greatest thing ever. See, Tom took me to a fancy Spanish restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids once and this lovely young fella who waited on us suggested that we try some Sangria. Well, let me tell you. It was wonderful! But it wasn't until I went to make it at home later that I realized how expensive it is! So I came up with my own recipe: Mix a can of Juicy Juice, a bottle of Boone's farm and a can of fruit cocktail. Serve over ice and voyla! You've got yourself quite a treat! (Now I know why those Spanish gals seem to be so happy all of the time.)

Care to join me, ladies? I'd love to see you. And Tom would really rather not leave me at home all alone with a whole pot of my "magic juice." That's what he likes to call it.

ok! Off to Meijer!

Blessings,
Bonnie

ps - Marcia, do you have another date with Horace tonight? I'll pray for the Lord to guide and direct you in this relationship. But I really think you need to spend some time with the gals. Hope to see you soon!

A fun Friday night idea

2007-06-14T21:17:00.000-06:00

My family LOVES Tater Tot Casserole. I could make it for them every Friday night from here 'til kingdom come and they would rise up and call me blessed.

Try it for yourself! The Tuinstra's are going to have a Friday night Tater Tot Casserole and Root Beer feast while watching "Turner and Hooch" ... a darling film!

Blessings,
Bonnie

I'm new to this blogging

2007-06-14T20:12:00.000-06:00

Well, folks, I don't know about this whole blogging thing. My kids have blogs, and they have been telling me, "Mom, you really should have a blog. You could put your casserole recipes on there and talk about your life." And so I says to myself I says, "Bonnie, what's stopping you?"

I used to write a newsletter for the gals at my church. I shared recipes and tips for making a happy home. A lot of the gals were really blessed by it. Some of them even asked me to xerox extra copies for them so that they could mail it to their friends and family members. It was all fine until I wrote a recipe for Dutch Sangria. Seems that the pastor's wife is a recovering alcoholic. I don't really see what the big deal is ... a little Juicy Juice and a little Boone's Farm never hurt anyone. Oh hell. So anyways, I thought this might be a good place to carry on with my musings and maybe include a recipe or 2 that wouldn't meet the approval of the elder board.

So stay tuned ... I got a lot to say about life and I think you might just want to hear it.

Blessings,
Bonnie