We could not decide how best to handle the Peace light. Blowing it out seemed, well, rude. So, we allowed fate or the candle maker to decide.
Our light remained lit all through Christmas Eve, Christmas day and the Blizzard of 2012. It was a joy to have the light during the bad weather.
Sometime in the wee hours of this morning our candle simply ran out of wax... and the light was snuffed out. Now the light is gone, but peace remains with us.
And peace will certainly go before us into 2013! So the candle may be out of wax, but we're not out of peace.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Christmas is HERE!
This photo says it all!
Santa arrived in time! And at 6:30am our daughter got us up to see what he had brought!
Next two hours were a shredding of paper and excited squeals!
Love it!
She got to tired and tuckered out from opening that we paused mid-unwrapping
for a snack (breakfast) break! :)
Hope your holiday and holy day were as special as ours!
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas Eve after 11pm
It is Christmas! It is Christmas!!!!
We celebrated with 1061 folks tonight the birth of our Lord and Savior! Woo hoo!
How lovely was the cello at 11pm! Wow- and some of the folks who came out tonight I have not seen in a long time. Was wonderful to see them and their Christmas smiles.
Now, I must clean up and pack up to drive home.
Marry Christmas, everyone! And God bless us, everyone!
We celebrated with 1061 folks tonight the birth of our Lord and Savior! Woo hoo!
How lovely was the cello at 11pm! Wow- and some of the folks who came out tonight I have not seen in a long time. Was wonderful to see them and their Christmas smiles.
Now, I must clean up and pack up to drive home.
Marry Christmas, everyone! And God bless us, everyone!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas Eve after 9pm
Now, we're in the last stretch... one more time!
Lovely to see out college students in worship this evening. So many folks dressed in red sweaters and boys in ties and young gals in fancy dresses! Too fun.
Our Youth did our religious graffiti on the luminary bags this year and they did a wonderful job! Love it!
Super music again!
Feel so blessed I could burst. But ready to get another Diet Coke and maybe a cookie or too!
Lovely to see out college students in worship this evening. So many folks dressed in red sweaters and boys in ties and young gals in fancy dresses! Too fun.
Our Youth did our religious graffiti on the luminary bags this year and they did a wonderful job! Love it!
Super music again!
Feel so blessed I could burst. But ready to get another Diet Coke and maybe a cookie or too!
Christmas Eve after 7pm
Okay, so this pastor puddled up during her reading of the gospel message! Favorite moments and godly moments:
Now that I have vacuumed... off to worship again!
- watching my daughter snuggled up to her daddy (my husband)
- listening to the pre-worship show my an eager 3rd grade acolyte
- cheery "Merry Christmas!" from a little kid during worship
- gorgeous music!
- amazing O Holy Night solo by Katie that made me weep!
- sharing Holy Communion with our people
- knowing that the light for all of our candles this year came to us from Bethlehem!
- sharing Holy Communion with our nursery people
- watching the sanctuary lit up with candles! WOW!
Now that I have vacuumed... off to worship again!
Christmas Eve after 5pm
WOW-it was noisy and wonderful! The Holy family sat in the front row the entire time and even participated in the Message (aka the Children's Sermon)! And yes, Baby Jesus is a girl this year! Woo hoo! Girls rock!
Packed service with lots of smiles and families! Thoroughly was blessed by the reading of the Isaiah passage in which the family read antiphonally the names for GOD! Awesome!
Wonderful! Simply wonderful!
Now for some Chinese food and Diet Coke!
Packed service with lots of smiles and families! Thoroughly was blessed by the reading of the Isaiah passage in which the family read antiphonally the names for GOD! Awesome!
Wonderful! Simply wonderful!
Now for some Chinese food and Diet Coke!
Pre-Christmas Eve Services 2012
Here we go! In less than 21 minutes we begin our l-o-n-g night of music, Communion, carols, messages, and Light as we celebrate the birth of the Christ child!
As Spongebob would say, "I am ready!"
My thank you notes have already been started... the food is to be delivered for the staff meal in between services and the crowd in the sanctuary is growing! Woo hoo!
Hopefully, all is well on the home front with my little family.
See you later to blog all about it!
Merry Christmas-ing!
As Spongebob would say, "I am ready!"
My thank you notes have already been started... the food is to be delivered for the staff meal in between services and the crowd in the sanctuary is growing! Woo hoo!
Hopefully, all is well on the home front with my little family.
See you later to blog all about it!
Merry Christmas-ing!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Advent 4
Since the world did not end (via the Mayan calendar) we will have the last week of Advent after all! No snow storm will stop us. And it is a short week... one day and part of another. Does not give us much time to pause and ponder the fourth candle added to our wreath. The candle of love.
The powers that be (aka the dude who works down the hall from me) decided that I should preach this weekend. The Gospel text is from Luke's first chapter about Mary visiting her kinswoman, Elizabeth. In spite of the fact that I have been sharing this story all month with our shut ins, my sermon work this week has been slow and tedious.
Yet every time I gaze upon this piece of art... and bit more of the crusty junk of life flake off of me and my heart melts into the love poured out at Christmas. Ponder this art and pray.
(The three of you that read this will see this piece again on Sunday in worship as I share it with our congregation.) May Love dwell among and within us! And may we leap with JOY!
The powers that be (aka the dude who works down the hall from me) decided that I should preach this weekend. The Gospel text is from Luke's first chapter about Mary visiting her kinswoman, Elizabeth. In spite of the fact that I have been sharing this story all month with our shut ins, my sermon work this week has been slow and tedious.
Yet every time I gaze upon this piece of art... and bit more of the crusty junk of life flake off of me and my heart melts into the love poured out at Christmas. Ponder this art and pray.
(The three of you that read this will see this piece again on Sunday in worship as I share it with our congregation.) May Love dwell among and within us! And may we leap with JOY!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tending the Light
Yesterday as my eight year old sat in the car with me doing her grammar homework, we traveled north to my church office. A trip to my church office is not unusual for my daughter and I, but this errand had a special purpose. Diana listened during the sermon on the weekend about the Peace Light, she said, "I want to get the light too, Momma!" and now we were on our way to receive the light. (See www.peacelight.org )
She is quite smitten with the Light. In fact, she is taken by it. So precious to watch her keen and avid interest in the Light. She told me how she had dreamed about bringing the Light home. And how special the Light is.
Once we arrived at church, she carefully lit our candle from the peace light flame in the office suite. And then we began our eight mile journey with an open flame in our car! We made sure her favorite stuffed animal (her caterpillar) would not catch fire. All the way, she would give me updates, "Its okay Momma, the light is just fine!" And then after a moment of deep thought, "You know, Momma, if our light goes out we could still drive back to church and get another!" It seems my kid has an emergency plan for the light.
Once home she literally introduced her father to the Peace Light as if it had a persona all it's own (and it does!) She told him all about how it had traveled from the church in Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity (built on the traditional site of Christ's birthplace a cave/grotto in the hillside of Bethlehem) and is lit by a child every year) and now the light is going around the world before Christmas.
Throughout the evening while making Christmas cookies and decorating them, she checked on the light.
Early this morning in the dark rain, she wandered into the kitchen in her fuzzy, footed jammies to see how the light was doing.
I was summoned about out of bed with, "Oh, Momma, come see... it is beautiful! The light is glowing all around. (She paused to grab my hand in hers) You know Momma, as the light goes around the world to more and more people... something really good is going to happen this year because this Light is special! it is from Bethlehem!"
My kid tends the Light. And she is tended by the One Who Is the Light. And how exquisitely beautiful to see them glow upon each other... my child's face glowing with God's Light of Peace and the Light of Peace spilling over into the light in my child's eyes.
This is my moment. Now I have had Christmas come... into my heart.
Come tend the Light and be tended by it!
She is quite smitten with the Light. In fact, she is taken by it. So precious to watch her keen and avid interest in the Light. She told me how she had dreamed about bringing the Light home. And how special the Light is.
Once we arrived at church, she carefully lit our candle from the peace light flame in the office suite. And then we began our eight mile journey with an open flame in our car! We made sure her favorite stuffed animal (her caterpillar) would not catch fire. All the way, she would give me updates, "Its okay Momma, the light is just fine!" And then after a moment of deep thought, "You know, Momma, if our light goes out we could still drive back to church and get another!" It seems my kid has an emergency plan for the light.
Once home she literally introduced her father to the Peace Light as if it had a persona all it's own (and it does!) She told him all about how it had traveled from the church in Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity (built on the traditional site of Christ's birthplace a cave/grotto in the hillside of Bethlehem) and is lit by a child every year) and now the light is going around the world before Christmas.
Throughout the evening while making Christmas cookies and decorating them, she checked on the light.
Early this morning in the dark rain, she wandered into the kitchen in her fuzzy, footed jammies to see how the light was doing.
I was summoned about out of bed with, "Oh, Momma, come see... it is beautiful! The light is glowing all around. (She paused to grab my hand in hers) You know Momma, as the light goes around the world to more and more people... something really good is going to happen this year because this Light is special! it is from Bethlehem!"
My kid tends the Light. And she is tended by the One Who Is the Light. And how exquisitely beautiful to see them glow upon each other... my child's face glowing with God's Light of Peace and the Light of Peace spilling over into the light in my child's eyes.
This is my moment. Now I have had Christmas come... into my heart.
Come tend the Light and be tended by it!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The Kid's View
Often I forget how tall I am or how extremely tall my husband is. Too busy running around in my own world to notice my impact on the world, I guess.
That is until recently. As I was sorting photos off of my phone, I ran across one that my daughter took of my husband and I at the Circle of Lights Christmas Tree lighting in downtown Indianapolis.
In spite of the blur, you can tell just how much shorter she is than us... and how hard it was to get her tall parents into the frame of the photo. My husband's head is part way there... see?!
The photo reminds me of perspective. Where we stand, how tall we stand, and what sort of shoes we stand in impact how and what we see and experience.
Begs the question what is a kid's view? a grandparent's viewpoint from a wheelchair? a friend's view? And how much more understanding and communication can happen when we pause and consider another person's perspective!!!
That is until recently. As I was sorting photos off of my phone, I ran across one that my daughter took of my husband and I at the Circle of Lights Christmas Tree lighting in downtown Indianapolis.
In spite of the blur, you can tell just how much shorter she is than us... and how hard it was to get her tall parents into the frame of the photo. My husband's head is part way there... see?!
The photo reminds me of perspective. Where we stand, how tall we stand, and what sort of shoes we stand in impact how and what we see and experience.
Begs the question what is a kid's view? a grandparent's viewpoint from a wheelchair? a friend's view? And how much more understanding and communication can happen when we pause and consider another person's perspective!!!
Santa List
This year I think I shall write to Santa Claus myself with my grown up wish list of wants and needs. All I want for is peace in Jerusalem, an end to cancer, brain tumors, and disease. I'd like a simple cure for mental illness too.
But before I write that list up ... here is a picture of my daughter's letter to Santa. And yes, her poor penmanship is from her mother as I did horrible in handwriting in second grade as well.
We mailed her letter to Santa a week ago via the local library special red and green Santa Express Mail Box. Hope to get a return letter soon.
When we had the chance to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus at a holiday party on Sunday night, he had not yet received the news of Diana's requests. So, she had the opportunity to whisper them into his ear.
Later as Santa left the party in an unmarked old car, so that no one would recognize him, and the sleigh was in in for repairs, I heard my daughter exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Santa is awesome and to all a good night!"
But before I write that list up ... here is a picture of my daughter's letter to Santa. And yes, her poor penmanship is from her mother as I did horrible in handwriting in second grade as well.
We mailed her letter to Santa a week ago via the local library special red and green Santa Express Mail Box. Hope to get a return letter soon.
When we had the chance to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus at a holiday party on Sunday night, he had not yet received the news of Diana's requests. So, she had the opportunity to whisper them into his ear.
Later as Santa left the party in an unmarked old car, so that no one would recognize him, and the sleigh was in in for repairs, I heard my daughter exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Santa is awesome and to all a good night!"
Monday, December 3, 2012
When not blogging...
- On Mondays I am at the mercy of a 2nd grade teacher who has endless interruptions, questions, sniffling children at her side. Each requiring zillions of photocopied pages and papers (collated and stapled, thank you very much.) And then the students need things laminated for the classroom. Papers graded. Math evaluated. Special projects hung on bulletin boards for all to admire. Papers filed and questions answered. And so on and so forth. Some Mondays I am there for 2 hours and other Mondays (when teaching is tougher I am there for 3 hours). After I finish at school, I drive around Avon doing 'errands'. Then I clean house, finish laundry and attempt to organize my household for the week...only to dash back to the school by 3:30pm in order to get the child to her piano lesson. sigh. Monday nights usually end with a grumpy me.
- On Tuesdays after a busy day of ministry at church... I come home to be Mom, homework helper, cook, and Chauffeur. My husband has graduate class on Tuesday nights so it is a girl's night with lots of homework and then dance class.
- On Wednesday we have a staff meeting to organize, prepare, vent, laugh, evaluate, complain, and try to get our stuff together. After the meeting it seems there is always EVEN MORE to accomplish. Why is that?, I wonder.
- On Thursdays I just might get caught up on ministy things leftover from Tuesday and Wednesday, but usually what happens is this...I get interupted. Now, before you wax poetic to me about how "interuptions are ministry" I know that. But still I get interupted in the middle of the interuptions! ACK! And that is why I rarely blog on Thursdays.
- On Fridays I figure why bother trying to accomplish anything because I'll just get interupted again anyway. At least I have a more relaxed attitude on Fridays... which may mean that I'll sneak in a blog or two every fourth month or when there is a full moon in December.
- On Saturdays it is useless to blog so I do not even open the computer. Too many household projects, piano practicing, grocery stores to shop at etc.
- On Sunday when my heart is full from worship would be a terrific time to blog. But I don't. Instead, we cram more family activities or a weekly playdate or a football game. Mostly it is filled with boring things like laundry and my husband's homework for school. Now on Sundays I run over to the facility where my father is so that I can see him and grab his laundry to wash. Sigh... no room for blogging on Sundays.
And that is why and how I come to have so few blogs this year... I like sleep more than I like to write. Hate me for it or tease me about it, but you'll find I am much more pleasant to be around if I have had sleep than if I have been staying up all night writing blogs! :)
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