For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
I started writing this post a week ago...guess it's time to finish it. :)
I've already had 2 Thanksgivings, and have 2 to go!
Last weekend my Mom, oldest brother, his wife, and about half of his family came to our house for an early Stuart family Thanksgiving. They came Saturday in time for a big dinner with all the fixin's. We ate, watched football, played dominoes, and then everyone spent the night! We had people sleeping everywhere. It was so much fun. They all went to church with us the next day, filling up a pew, and I was so proud of them. One of my choir friends said my nephew Jason looks like me. :)
Tuesday night at BCM our church provided a turkey dinner for our college students, and then we had a share time, when students were invited to tell how God has been working in their lives as well as words of good-bye to the 2 graduating in December. I get teary-eyed every time, especially when the students leaving us are ones we've known since they were freshmen. Hard to believe we've been here that long!
Tomorrow night is our church Thanksgiving meal, another time I always enjoy. This year our missionary speaker is J.P. Manley, whom we worked with in Slovenia. He and the four girls who went with me came over tonight for brisket and catching up, and tomorrow night he'll speak and Mikayla and Rebecca will sing with the children's choir. And I'll take dill green beans and potato salad and be thankful.
Then of course this week is the official Thanksgiving Day. We are spending it in Texas with Mike's family, and all they asked of us was Mike's chicken and dumplings, so it'll be like a day off for me! I will miss 2 of my nieces who have grown up and moved away, but it will be good to see everyone else. What are your plans?
I've already had 2 Thanksgivings, and have 2 to go!
Last weekend my Mom, oldest brother, his wife, and about half of his family came to our house for an early Stuart family Thanksgiving. They came Saturday in time for a big dinner with all the fixin's. We ate, watched football, played dominoes, and then everyone spent the night! We had people sleeping everywhere. It was so much fun. They all went to church with us the next day, filling up a pew, and I was so proud of them. One of my choir friends said my nephew Jason looks like me. :)
 |
| What do you think? Is it the facial hair? |
 |
| the spread |
 |
| Kid table |
Tuesday night at BCM our church provided a turkey dinner for our college students, and then we had a share time, when students were invited to tell how God has been working in their lives as well as words of good-bye to the 2 graduating in December. I get teary-eyed every time, especially when the students leaving us are ones we've known since they were freshmen. Hard to believe we've been here that long!
Tomorrow night is our church Thanksgiving meal, another time I always enjoy. This year our missionary speaker is J.P. Manley, whom we worked with in Slovenia. He and the four girls who went with me came over tonight for brisket and catching up, and tomorrow night he'll speak and Mikayla and Rebecca will sing with the children's choir. And I'll take dill green beans and potato salad and be thankful.
Then of course this week is the official Thanksgiving Day. We are spending it in Texas with Mike's family, and all they asked of us was Mike's chicken and dumplings, so it'll be like a day off for me! I will miss 2 of my nieces who have grown up and moved away, but it will be good to see everyone else. What are your plans?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
10 on the 10th: Missions Ed. 101
For my Southern Baptist friends, this is the time of year we begin to focus on international missions and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. And my non-Southern Baptist friends, who don’t know Lottie Moon from Goodnight Moon, are thinking about Operation Christmas Child and Compassion International and other ways to give this Christmas season. So in that spirit, here are 10 things I learned on mission trips:
1. Not all missionaries live in grass huts. All the missionaries I have personally visited lived in homes very similar to mine OR in inner city missions.
2, Few other countries put ice in their drinks. And it’s really not that big a deal.
3. Kids are kids are kids. From Ecuador to Houston to Vail to Mozambique, kids like attention and love and playing and having their picture taken.
4. Missions involves hard work. But not always unpleasant, dirty work--sometimes it’s the most fun, most beautiful work you’ve ever done! (Hmm…and sometimes the unpleasant, dirty work could be the most beautiful work you’ve ever done…)
5. Toilets drain in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
6. People appreciate your attempts to speak their language, no matter how bad you are at it.
7. The missionary mealtime prayer ("Lord, I’ll swallow it down if you’ll keep it down") works. Sometimes you just can’t think too hard about what you’re eating or where you’re eating it.
8. Music reaches beyond language barriers.
9. If you feel sick on an airplane, don’t mention it to the flight attendants until after you are in the air. (More explanation of that one can be found here.)
10. Missionaries are real people. The only difference between them and the rest of the body of Christ is where God calls them to serve Him. More times than not, they consider where they live “home,” and it’s right where they most want to be. (They just wish it was easier to visit the US sometimes.) And they come in all shapes and sizes and job descriptions. Whatever skills and talents God has blessed you with can be used to serve Him and build His kingdom, wherever He places you! What a relief to know that He’s in control of all these things, and we can trust Him to work His will in our lives. So His yoke really is easy and His burden really is light!
I’m sure there are some readers out there with more mission experiences than I have, and who are deeper thinkers than I am…so what have you learned on mission trips?
1. Not all missionaries live in grass huts. All the missionaries I have personally visited lived in homes very similar to mine OR in inner city missions.
2, Few other countries put ice in their drinks. And it’s really not that big a deal.
3. Kids are kids are kids. From Ecuador to Houston to Vail to Mozambique, kids like attention and love and playing and having their picture taken.
4. Missions involves hard work. But not always unpleasant, dirty work--sometimes it’s the most fun, most beautiful work you’ve ever done! (Hmm…and sometimes the unpleasant, dirty work could be the most beautiful work you’ve ever done…)
5. Toilets drain in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
6. People appreciate your attempts to speak their language, no matter how bad you are at it.
7. The missionary mealtime prayer ("Lord, I’ll swallow it down if you’ll keep it down") works. Sometimes you just can’t think too hard about what you’re eating or where you’re eating it.
8. Music reaches beyond language barriers.
9. If you feel sick on an airplane, don’t mention it to the flight attendants until after you are in the air. (More explanation of that one can be found here.)
10. Missionaries are real people. The only difference between them and the rest of the body of Christ is where God calls them to serve Him. More times than not, they consider where they live “home,” and it’s right where they most want to be. (They just wish it was easier to visit the US sometimes.) And they come in all shapes and sizes and job descriptions. Whatever skills and talents God has blessed you with can be used to serve Him and build His kingdom, wherever He places you! What a relief to know that He’s in control of all these things, and we can trust Him to work His will in our lives. So His yoke really is easy and His burden really is light!
I’m sure there are some readers out there with more mission experiences than I have, and who are deeper thinkers than I am…so what have you learned on mission trips?
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Jesus loves me!
When I went outside this morning to get the newspaper, I saw this as soon as I stepped out from under the carport:
Then Mike took the girls and me up to Crater of Diamonds State Park where we dug for diamonds but ended up with jasper, calcite, agate, and quartz. Along with brisk sunshine and togetherness.
After having our rocks identified, we took a short hike to the Little Missouri River where (among other things) I saw this:
Psalm 96:13
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Grasping the wind and other thoughts
*We're all busy, and all our kids are growing up in the blink of an eye. I know that. But lately I have felt almost desperate about how time is flying by because of our busy-ness. I want to grab hold of time and make it slow down--make Jessica fit in my lap again, and Mikayla have chubby cheeks and not say her r's, and Rebecca...well, okay, she's still pretty little. :) But instead of slowing down, life just seems to speed up. Jessica will be in high school next year, and Mikayla will be in youth group. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. The only day that doesn't seem to sneak up on me is pay day. So I'm trying to savor moments of peace, like our time in Conway a few weekends ago. I sat on the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch as the sun was beginning to set and just breathed. Looked at my beautiful daughters and nieces and the fall colors around me. I hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time.
*I have always loved this time of year. Halloween may not be my favorite holiday, and sometimes I'm even ready for it to be over, but watching Mikayla and Rebecca trick-or-treat the other night, and seeing my neighborhood filled with families roaming door to door just made me happy--gave me a sense of community. (But that didn't keep me from being scornful of the candy beggars who didn't even dress up or say trick-or-treat. If you wanna play, follow the rules.)
*Jessica's Algebra is making both of us pull out our hair. Maybe Mike should take over this subject...
*Tomorrow it will be 10 years since my Dad went to heaven. Sometimes his voice still echoes in my head. And the funniest things make me think of him. For instance, Wednesday night at "prayer meeting" we sang "Softly and Tenderly." Now, my dad was not a music minister but he was the "song leader" at our church in Virginia when I was a kid. And I grinned at the chorus when I heard "O ssssssssssssinner, come home." That always bugged him! He was so much fun. I miss him.
*One of the bad things about being such a sporadic blogger is that I think of things to write when I can't get to the computer, then when I get to the computer I can't think of the things I thought of. So I'll stop now and help Jessica made a pumpkin pie cake. And enjoy the moment.
*I have always loved this time of year. Halloween may not be my favorite holiday, and sometimes I'm even ready for it to be over, but watching Mikayla and Rebecca trick-or-treat the other night, and seeing my neighborhood filled with families roaming door to door just made me happy--gave me a sense of community. (But that didn't keep me from being scornful of the candy beggars who didn't even dress up or say trick-or-treat. If you wanna play, follow the rules.)
*Jessica's Algebra is making both of us pull out our hair. Maybe Mike should take over this subject...
*Tomorrow it will be 10 years since my Dad went to heaven. Sometimes his voice still echoes in my head. And the funniest things make me think of him. For instance, Wednesday night at "prayer meeting" we sang "Softly and Tenderly." Now, my dad was not a music minister but he was the "song leader" at our church in Virginia when I was a kid. And I grinned at the chorus when I heard "O ssssssssssssinner, come home." That always bugged him! He was so much fun. I miss him.
*One of the bad things about being such a sporadic blogger is that I think of things to write when I can't get to the computer, then when I get to the computer I can't think of the things I thought of. So I'll stop now and help Jessica made a pumpkin pie cake. And enjoy the moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)