Praises – God is good all the time! Progress with our addition, visiting friends, new music friends, physical strength to keep working
Prayers – New color printer for CD’s and newsletter, motivation, roofer, RV repairs and air conditioning, safe travels
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV
Hello to our family, friends, and followers:
April brought some interesting weather; thunder storms, gusty winds, heavy rain, dark skies, tornado watches, and one tornado warning. Our rental family and us spent a couple of hours on the addition porch waiting and watching; the entry to the shelter was flooded and slick with mud. Getting that to drain properly is now on our list of repairs needed! Most of our nights were in the 60’s and days upper 70’s and some 80’s. We found attic heat was coming into the multi-purpose room (where the beam was added and closet supports removed) and spread a tarp over the attic floor to seal it up a bit. It will be a while before we get to rebuilding that area.
Salty Strings had a full month again with a few additions. April started with the SALT senior meeting. We were with the Booneville Dulcimer Club for two practice evenings and four programs; one of the care facilities added their Memory Ward this month where part of the group played for about 14 residents. Connie had several hours of practice with the organ for Easter songs, and there were many more hours together for all the church worship. We also participated in a twice-a-month jam session with lots of other musicians and music genres. We had fun, even though it was a ‘live’ event (everyone was on video) and they were set up for standing performers.
As we prepare for travel in May our focus shifted to some postponed RV needs. John checked the bedroom a/c unit and sealed around the bath fan early in the month. With a few heavy rains we found the leak continues; we’re still puzzled where the leak really is! Mid-month there were a series of problems – a vent cover on the roof is missing (patched up with a cool whip container), the slam latch to the water compartment broke, 2 days later a latch on the other side broke, the a/c won’t work at all on low, and the living room a/c started doing the same thing (not an emergency since they are working on high). Parts were ordered, the latches won’t work, and more latches were ordered, hopefully arriving in time to install before we leave.
Early in the month Connie had lots of work on our taxes, our first year to have to file in Mississippi as well as a full year as landlords. Once they were mailed off (on the 14th!) there was paperwork to file away and notes to be made for next year. She also finished up our newsletter, just a bit late, with a sickly printer and lots of help from John. There were four songs Connie arranged and worked out, three for the Booneville Dulcimer Club (Ashokan Farewell, Wild Mountain Thyme, and the chorus for Down In My Heart) and the theme song for the Campers On Mission gathering in May; she enjoyed the challenges and time spent on something ‘fun.’ She also did some ‘not so professional’ phone recordings with the keyboard in multiple speeds to help John with a mandolin song. There were a few cooking experiments, including chiclet noodles thinking it might be faster rather than rolling and cutting. The harp, long neglected, even came out of its corner for a few hours!
Most of our April ‘work’ was in the addition. Connie washed most of the old exterior siding wall and did a lot of painting – primer and finish paint (ceiling boards, trim boards, and walls), and put all the wall electric covers back on. John found two adjoining windows were a bit uneven and fixed the sill plates. He also did lots of cutting, fitting, and putting up various trim. Connie was brave, once, getting on top of the spa to help put up a long ceiling board. Our roof person has not been by to fix the roof leak yet, so we still have ceiling to install, but it is good to see real progress and that our planning is looking good!
There were several meals out early in the month with our visiting camper as he prepared to move on in his music ministry. We had an evening farewell so he could leave early the next morning. We continued Friday date nights, once with our Journey Church friends before attending a Passion Play in Corinth, MS. One date night we enjoyed pizza at one of the homes where we were able to sit on their deck as we ate and watched the cat and crows stand off for the pizza crusts tossed into the yard. We were treated to a great Sunday buffet in New Albany, MS after church with friends, just one of many blessings God continues to provide. We enjoyed eating at Jack’s for our Anniversary and tax completion celebration (on the 14th). The last day of the month we enjoyed a quiet evening out where we discussed our May travel plans and semi-planned for the rest of the year.
In addition to our swimming, we occasionally walked around the driveway or up the road a bit, once with a neighbor dog following; all dependent on how stiff we were by evening. We haven’t received our replacement floor mat but we are getting a bit better at staying in the center as we swim. We noticed that there was a leak when using the swim spa, the end with the heater and pumps, and John was able to tighten the connection a bit by hand. A week later it started leaking again, this time he used the screw driver to get the connection clamp tighter, and so far, no leaks. Swimming was not as consistent this month because of plywood sheets on top to work on the ceiling.
For more relaxing activities: walks in the woods, guitar playing (almost has his regrown thumb nail trained out of its curve), and picking up sticks around the yard so he can start mowing again. There were several trips to the woods making more paths and going along the boundary markers while keeping an eye on the tree cutters on our neighbor’s land. It has been quite the experience to hear trees sawed (a huge machine can catch 3-5 trees and saw them near the ground) and stacked for transport as well as looking through the trees to cleared land. They have remained off our property so far, but we will only have a few trees left to our south once they finish. John has been making the arrangements for our trip east for some music and a visit to see our newest granddaughter and family. We had one smokey fire in our fire pit and are waiting for a good time to have a hot dog roast with friends and our renters.
We discovered all eggs are not equal – we helped put candy in 5,000 plastic eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt. It was a great time of fellowship, goofing around, and we even figured out how to get Dum-Dums into the eggs! All four Sundays in April we were leading worship at Journey Community Church. We chose to use the church organ for all the songs Easter Sunday, meaning John stretched his voice limits many times! Palm Sunday evening was the feet washing, Wednesday evenings found us back in Revelation most nights, and there was an evening hymn sing with the church pianist and Connie.
We’ve had a few calls and fixes this month from our mobile home renters – mice and microwaves. John spent some time inside, outside, and under plugging holes (expanding foam with steel wool) and spraying rodent deterrent. We worked together getting the old microwave down, finding the wall studs and a hidden GFCI plug, stabilizing the electric range plug, and getting the new shelf unit fastened to the wall. In the meantime, the renters used our little blue microwave on their counter. John spent several days designing, finding wood, cutting, fitting, glueing, and adding several coats of spray finish. Holes were pre-drilled for easy assembly and a light was added after mounting – a beautiful job and a larger microwave!
John was sick (stuffy head, sinus, headaches, very tired) April 2-6. Then Connie caught whatever bug he had for a week. That slowed us both down and the after effects included another two weeks of feeling worn out. It seems when we finally get in a groove or schedule, something always comes around to knock us off course; we just don’t bounce back as quickly as when we were younger!
Devotional quotes for April:
- The best route to higher ground only comes by climbing up through the valleys.
- Corrie ten Boom once said, “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.”
- Don’t tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big God is.
- What is over your head is still under Jesus’ feet.
Jesus speaking: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17b-18 ESV) “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV)
Tune in again next month for our progress and ministry update!
John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, MS 38833
Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com
ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site
TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
** May 13-early June – Aiken, SC and Fredericksburg, VA for music and family
** August-September – Illinois/Wisconsin, volunteer work, music, family, and friends
