Bickel Bulletin

Did I mention this?


Titus left our house Friday afternoon & my dad arrived Friday night (we found out he'd be @ our house early through reading his blog the day before. haha. Thanks for the heads up, Dad! But we are thrilled because now he can teach 4 20 minute sectionals to the kids of St. Johns at their annual walk-a-thon this Friday, May 1st! ;)

We miss Titus & won't see him until August because he will be in Africa hunting off wild animals. Well, really he'll be in Africa but hopefully not being threatened by lions & elephants.


So, since my dad arrived we've been discussing ways to organize the ENORMOUS amount of stuff here. It's not just stuff to me though...or other family members. It's ALL the contents of my parents' house in MI. It has been stored here for about a year because we have lots of storage space in the old Parsonage we live in. So now is the time where we organize & sort & figure out who gets what or who actually wants what. But also we'll be remembering lots of things. Things we made, things Mom picked out at an antique store, books we read, etc. While we definitely need to work hard to get things organized, it'll be hard to not relive some memories. It will happen a lot the weekend of Memorial Day because all my siblings & spouses and my Aunt FiFi, Uncle Bob & cousin Alusha will be here! So my Dad & I (& Luke too w/ his good insights & box/container carrying skills) will be getting things straightened out so that it will be ready for them to 'browse' through. People will be keeping, deciding what can be thrown out, & the rest will be sold @ a garage sale(& Craigslist of course) our house the first weekend in June. Lots to do! But it's already been fun this weekend looking through things & putting boxes to the side that we've already organized! Hope this pace keeps up. Any suggestions on organizing & going through literally a whole house full please let us know!

PS. Prayers are always good too =)



PPS. Luke's sister is having her 3rd girl in September!!!

PPPS. Speaking of babies, Chris & Sarah are pregnant again & are due in November!

PPPPS. This weekend it was 80 degrees for 3 straight days in OH! It's awesome! Snow next week?!

Cody, Ash, Me, Theresa, Jonathan, Lukas squatting

Lukas

Back: Jonathan, Lukas, Cody, Titus
Front: Theresa, Me, Ashley

Lukas took a trip down the waterfall.

Today is my Mother's birthday. She was an amazing woman & mother. We all love you so much Mom & miss you. Here is the devotion (& emails from family) I received today that fits perfectly with how we all feel sometimes:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! WE LOVE YOU THE BEST!!! TIM AND CATHY

Well said! I love all of you as well. -Chris

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!!!! SHE IS LOOKING DOWN AND SO PROUD OF YOU ALL!!! Phyllis

Oh, maaaammmmaaaaa we miss you so! -Joy

Please read. What a PERFECT devotion for today, Mama's birthday. ~Shari LYN
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour MinistriesBy Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour®


"It Is Well With Your Soul"
April 24, 2009
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our International Ministry Centers to write our Friday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,Kenneth R. KlausSpeaker of The Lutheran Hour

When I first heard the story of the famous song, "When Peace Like a River," I asked myself why is it that God allows His people to go through such sufferings and calamities. What will our friends and relatives say about God when things go bad for us?
The songwriter of the well-known song had a similar experience, and this is what influenced him to write the song. He was a lawyer who had amassed wealth through his labor but lost all his properties through a fire. Surprisingly, his trust in God was not affected a bit. As if that was not enough, while crossing the Atlantic, all four of his daughters died in a collision with another ship. His wife survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone."
What a tragedy! What a calamity in the life of a Christian. When he received the message, he was never worried about his trust in His God but wrote the wonderful song which said, "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul."
Amazing as it may seem, God has truly taught us to say, "it is well" when we encounter unfortunate circumstances. He promises us in His Word that He told us these things, so that we may have peace. In this world we will have trouble; however, we should take heart because Christ has overcome the world through His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. What a comforting and refreshing message for all of us as we are going through troubles.
We need the Word of God to strengthen us each day of our lives so as not to lean on our own strength but to put all our trust in the Lord who will guide our paths. In this regard, when calamity befalls us, we are sure God will empower us and we can also say, "It is, indeed, well with my soul."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, strengthen us each day by Your Word and help us to put our trust in You always. Amen.
Biography of Author:Isaac Adaam is programs coordinator for Lutheran Media Ministry - Ghana. Through Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), Equipping the Saints (ETS), and The Harps - a music ministry team -- LHM-Ghana reaches people with the Gospel in this West African nation of 22 million people.

It IS perfect – thanks for sharing it! -Chris

Okay, so I am now crying for the second time today…
I can hear mom singing this song in church…loud and proud. Great devotion – -Joy

Thank you for sending that devotion, I loved it! How appropriate! It made me cry and I printed it out because it is so important to remember. -Cathy

Thank you all for sharing. Linda was So Beautiful inside and out. Will always Love Her and Miss Her.
Love, Uncle Joe

We love you the best, Mom! -All of us.

From Good Friday until Friday the 17th Dad & Mom Bickel have been visiting us. They got to spend their whole Spring Break right here in Marysville, OH! Titus arrived on Monday, the 13th & is here until this Friday. I know how much they appreciated being w/ their two youngest sons. I'm sure it's been a long time since they'd spent that much time w/ Ti & Luke at the same time. It's harder as you get older & if anyone would love that time spent w/ family it would be Dad & Mom B. While they were here we did a lot of things.
Let's see...we went to Good Friday Service & early Easter Service (& they have great voices, which get complimented on after each service!)
We got raccoons out of the chimney, made a huge ham dinner & had 2 leftover meals w/ the ham. yum. they also put MORE ham in the freezer w/ a frozen bone for soup! double yum. They went grocery shopping for us while we were at work, always kept milk stocked up, helped w/ every meal (ok did 95% of the meal preparation!) & took our car in for an oil change. Mom Bickel came & watched me (&others) play volleyball @ our open gym night. Dad Bickel watched L & T play basketball the same night. We had our own little superfans! Dad B & Lukas played golf on one of our few gorgeous weather days. That same night Mom B & I took a nice sunshine-y bike ride.

Much has happened since last Tuesday, but just a quick little note to say that Lukas & Titus played @ an Open Mic night in @ CBR's in Columbus last Wednesday & sounded awesome!
If anyone knows how to put video from a camera to the computer please tell me, then you could hear them (& see the baby racoons!). It was really cool to see L & T playing together. Lukas played the acoustic guitar, bass guitar, & a 12-string guitar. Titus played the electric violin & acoustic guitar. They both sang of course too. They pulled this 45 min. of playing together in 2 short days! Very impressive & very jealous of their musical gifts. At least I get to enjoy them!

Few songs they played:
Intro Song (sorryLB..i forget the original name)-Northbound (their high school band)
Long Black Veil-Johnny Cash
#41-Dave Matthews Band
Grey Street-Dave Matthews Band
(Forget the Name of It too...)-Death Cab For Cutie
The Color Rose-Titus Bickel
You Don't Know How It Feels-Tom Petty

I know I'm forgetting some but hey, that's pretty good for me to remember that much!
We thought up the name T-Rex (Titus & Lukas Rex together)...but I'm thinking it's not gonna stick.

2 Things that are totally unrelated to each other: