The Great Banquet and Weight Loss

My sweet bride, Phyllis, was involved with the team that held a weekend with Jesus Christ as host at Connection Pointe Christian Church here in Brownsburg. If you don't know what the Great Banquet is and are interested in hearing about it, let me know and I will explain it to you. It is a weekend that completely changed my life for the better. I helped out on Friday and Saturday serving meals, setting up beds and other events that took place last weekend. I am so excited about this ministry because it brings people to Jesus Christ who otherwise might not have done that. I went through it 13 years ago and Phyllis went through it 16 years ago.

The weather seems to be leaning toward more habitable temperatures, although the rain may float our yard away before official Spring arrives. I guess it is going to be time soon to get back out in the yard and see if we can make it look like something again. I am needing that kind of exercise because the winter has damaged the "hull of my ship" almost beyond repair. The size of the ship has increased to almost gargantuan proportions. I really don't understand it; if I feel this crummy by being 30-40 pounds too heavy, how in the world can some of these people survive who weigh 500 or 600 pounds? What keeps their heart going? Oh well, it is me I need to worry about, not them.

I will close for now and try to make an entry more often as we all get out more when the weather improves.

Bible Study Group

Well, Phyllis and I have joined a weekly Bible Study "small group". Our church where we attend now, Connection Pointe Christian Church of Brownsburg, is made up of small groups, hence the "Connection Pointe". They have their service on Sunday, but they strongly recommend that all of us join what they call a "small group" in order to further study the Bible and the lessons therein. We have found it quite helpful inasmuch as we are learning more about the Word of God as well as having fellowship with a very caring and warm group of good Christian people. When there is a concern that one of us or our family is having, we all add it to our prayer list for the week and then discuss where we are at the following week's meeting. I feel like it has helped us in many ways. It is nice to know there are people who care that deeply about you and your life and it makes one feel useful knowing that we can help someone else whenever possible. It really has felt like our life is more complete since we began going to church on a regular basis and began studying the Bible on a more regular basis.

My Positive Force

Here's another day in the life of a retired person. The next picture I want to show you is my life partner, Phyllis. She has become a saint in her own lifetime by staying with me for over 38 years now and hasn't killed me yet. This is the reason I refer to her as St. Phyllis from time to time. She and I have been through a multitude of experiences together, both good and bad. She is the positive force in my life. When things aren't going well, she keeps me picked up through it all with her constant positive attitude, a necessity in my case.

In my opinion, Phyllis is still a babe after all these years dealing with a man who just ain't right. She has the patience of Job, but that may have come from raising 3 boys and a husband. She is a devout Christian and is a great influence on everyone who knows her. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth, just like Lou Gerig. I guess I have gushed enough now about Phyllis, so I'll move on to something else.

This is a picture of my three sons & mom on Christmas Day, 2006. The one in the back row on the left is Kevin, who is 33 years old and works at Ito and Koby Dental Laboratory where he is in the Model Room where they make the plaster casts of your mouth on which they make dentures, partials, flippers and such. He is very maticulous in his work and you know that when he did the work, it is done right. In the middle is the duchess. On the right in the back is our oldest son, Brian who is 36 years old, the father of the little Colts cheerleader above and lives in Lago Vista, TX, which is about 45 miles outside of Austin. He works for a big company that deals with computers. He is now handling a global account and doing very well for himself. Sitting down in front, is our youngest son, David who is 29 years old. He is a mechanic at Big O Tires her in Brownsburg, IN and also works in a liquor store just around the corner 3 days a week. He is the father of little Layla in her Christmas jammies above.

This is Karis, my brother's daughter/my niece. She refers to me as her favorite uncle, but, what would you expect?. Karis completed her college education at Houghton College in Houghton, New York and is now teaching high school in Unalakleet, Alaska. Don't ask me why. This would not be one of my choices for a place to live. I really prefer warm weather. On the rare occasions she visits at our house, it is pretty much a hoot. She is not only a wonderful writer, but a clown at heart. She can be a smart aleck if she wants to be, but I can't imagine where she got that other than maybe it's a Koett thing?

The Genesis

Well, here we are in my new blog. As uninteresting as my life is at this point, I don't know why I am starting a blog except that I was just looking for something to do. I will be updating this site from time to time when something interesting or different happens in my life.

This is our first blessing from God, Taylor Marie Koett (click on photo to enlarge) who lives in Lago Vista, TX, near Austin. Since our son & daughter-in-law Brian and Tracy live in Texas, we don't see Taylor nearly often enough which means she is not being sufficiently spoiled as a little girl should be. I am confident that her parents are doing a good job of spoiling her, but she really needs to have a grandfather's touch on spoiling. There is no substitute.

Taylor is a Colts fan and she and her father wear Colts "Manning" jerseys when there is a Colts game which usually brings them much needed good luck defeating the Patriots, which is a priority here in Indy. If there is a game on TV where the New England Patriots are playing we here in Indianapolis root for whomever is playing the Patriots. The Patriots added more reason for loving them when the head coach left the field before the end of the game at the Super Bowl. Oh well, enough about them.

This is Layla Skye Koett, our second blessing from God. She had kind of a rough start, but she is strong, healthy and a constant sweetie to our family and into everything that is a no-no.

Layla is, by and large, a complete blessing and joy to have around, but being a little female, she has the ability to be other than a blessing at times. In the mean time, there is no other hug as sweet as a little girl and the innocence is as precious as life itself.

We get to care for her on the weekends while Dave works and take her to church with us each Sunday. Then we might go out to eat, just Layla grandma and me. It's fun and we look forward to the weekends.

I guess I will close for now and add some more family pictures on my next entry. May God bless you until then.