Sunday, April 24, 2011

Resurrection!





Easter is such a joyous time!

Having observed Lent again this year, I confess the fact that I have had great anticipation leading up to Easter this week. I attended a Maundy Thursday service at Chapel Hill and took communion with a sweet and familiar set of friends that I don’t get to see very much. The sunset that evening capped off the evening nicely. I have had pleasant and meaningful conversations with Will and with my mom that have deepened the meaning of the season for me. I will treasure those moments.

But Lent is a time of fasting, and Easter is the time to break the fast. Anyone who has fasted knows how it feels to anticipate the end of the fasting. And so, Easter brings great joy because now I can partake of the things that I have denied myself for the past six weeks.

It is a great joy to be able to enjoy sodas, coffee and tea again. And it is a great joy to be reunited with all my friends and family on Facebook.

But those are such small things compared with the great joy of the resurrection of Jesus. His life gives me strength, hope, and love. I’m so thankful for all He has done for me and all He continues to do.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Holy Week

Happy Easter to Allphoto © 2008 Melissa Doroquez | more info (via: Wylio)


In the Church universal, many people observe the coming week as Holy Week. There is Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. As I approach the coming week I am making plans to carve out some time for quiet reflection each day about what this week means to me and my personal faith journey. I am thankful to have the leisure of spring break this week which will make it easier for me to have the time. For those of you who do not have that luxury, I still think that you need to set aside some time for meditation.

I've enjoyed following a new blog lately. This blog belongs to a new friend of Kathryn's; they go to church together. This entry has some great things to say about Holy Week.

http://rachelheldevans.com/not-so-holy-holy-week

I'm excited about our church service tomorrow. The choir is doing a wonderful song. (Thanks to Alyssa for her passion for making the music come alive.) We will be sharing communion; I love this! Can't wait to see what God does in our midst.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Jason & Jessica


My dear friends, Jason & Jessica, have been youth ministers at our church for the past 13 years. They have resigned, feeling called to something new, although they are not quite sure what that is yet. We had a special service for them tonight, and I, along with many others, got to pay tribute to them. Here's what I said:

"Jason and Jessica have been active in my kids’ lives for all their formative years. They have ministered to them in so many different ways. Their faithful service every Wednesday night has given my kids a solid foundation in the Word. Each summer at camp they were challenged to go deeper with Christ, to open their hearts more fully to the work He wants to do in their lives. They went on mission trips to New Orleans and Oklahoma, as well as being a part of missions right here in Dunlap. And both of my kids have chosen to spend a summer on a mission trip, Kathryn at Yellowstone and Will this summer in Canada at Camp of the Woods. Without the continued emphasis on missions that Jason & Jessica provided, I don’t know if that would have happened.

"I’ve shared a lot in their ministry, being a part of the Youth team, planning activities, opening my home, being a counselor at camp, chaperoning other youth trips. I introduced them to my brother, and he became their brother too. It has always been a blessing. I’m so thankful that they let me be a part of it.

"We have been through lots together, and they continue to be some of the “go to” people in my life. When I have been going through hard times, I have known that I can count on them and lean on them for support. They have been there for ME, not just my kids. I can never thank them enough for all they have done for us.

"They are two of my dearest friends, and when I heard of their decision to leave this ministry, I wrote them these words:

How courageous you are!!

You have let go of the known to venture into the unknown (or at least, the different)!
You have dared to imagine doing and being something different than what you see in your life right now.
Bravo!!

"And finally I am sharing again with you this verse that has meant so much to me through this very tough year. We sing it as a song in Kids’ Club…
Joshua 1:9
'Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.'

"He will go with you. You can count on Him."
Yesterday Aaron took Kathryn, Mary and I on a wildflower hike. It was a pretty strenuous five mile hike which took us about four hours. The path was strewn with all types of wildflowers. It was beautiful and hot and exhausting. There were many butterflies out on the flowers too, which seems very early for them to be out and about. We saw Sutter's Falls and Horsepound Falls at the Savage Gulf State Park where Aaron is a ranger.

The hike was a little longer than I would have liked but it was worth the time to see Mary enjoy it so much. She told me she wouldn't have gone if I hadn't gone along, and having Kathryn along was a great bonus. It was a throughly enjoyable afternoon, and I'm so glad I got to experience the beauty of all those wildflowers.






Friday, April 8, 2011

Something to Consider




I've continued to listen to and be challenged by Andy Stanley. His latest sermon that has set me to thinking is called "I Owe Who?" It is about gratitude and ingratitude and is taken from Luke 17:12-19. It is a familiar story about 10 lepers who were healed but only one returned to thank Jesus.

Andy's main premise is this: "Unexpressed gratitude is the same as ingratitude." If you had talked to the 9 lepers who did not return to Jesus and asked them if they were grateful for their healing, I feel certain that they would have all expressed how grateful they were. They felt grateful. But feeling grateful is not the same as being grateful.

Another point Andy made was that ingratitude in almost impossible to recognize in yourself. That is because you feel grateful. So you would never say that you are guilty of ingratitude. What makes this even harder is that it is so easy to see ingratitude in someone else.

And so I've been challenged this week not just to feel grateful but to actually be grateful. I thanked Phil for cutting the grass and taking care of the yard. He thanked me for the spaghetti dinner I fixed for him last night. Gratitude grows gratitude in others.

And I've begun to realize how often I've prayed for something and received the answer I had requested, and then I forgot to thank God for the answer. Just like the lepers.

I really need to work at this...expressing my gratitude instead of just feeling it. Maybe you do too.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Peter and John: A Story Rap

We had a chance to make our own video of our latest story in Kids' Club. Enjoy!
View it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbtI8yf_AxE