Mon.-Met Helen and her girls at Lindsay's for Cookie Bake. We made monster, gingerbread, and spritz cookies and divided out other cookies that we had already baked. Helen brought soup and I brought bread and veggies and Lindsay provided lots of beverages. Emma and Adi said lots of 'I love you's' during the day. They took naps and Emma said that Abigail was her new best friend and Adi said Serena was her best friend. It is a pleasure to be with those sweet girls and their dear mama and it was lovely to be with Helen, Bethany, Meredith, Abbi, and Serena. Hopefully, we have started a new-old tradition. Started feeling not so well in my throat.
Tues.-Stayed home from school. Got the sinus/sore throat thing that Phil has. Took it easy and read and rested.
Wed.-Stayed home again. Feeling better but throat is more sore. Made baked cinnamon ornaments. Makes the whole house smell wonderful. Listening to Christmas music.
Thurs.-Wiped out but was able to get groceries and take Susan to physical therapy. She is released from therapy unless she needs to go back sometime. Three times and she was out. So thankful!
Fri.-Gil and Lindsay dropped Emma and Adi off around 10:30. They are going to Lexington for the weekend to have some uninterrupted time together. I vegged out on the sofa with a slight fever and watched 'Tinkerbelle' with the girls. Susan came home and was the greatest of help. In fact, she became the main caretaker and I backed her up. She was patient, wise, consistent and motherly. I am so proud of her.
Sat.-Emma and Adi slept in Susan's room last night and when they woke up early, she kept them entertained in her room so we could get more sleep. The girls are falling in love with my boys. At one point this weekend, my grown up boys and a friend of theirs were all watching 'Tinkerbelle', completely engrossed in the creative animation. I wished I had taken a picture. In the late afternoon we went to the Guild/Jones annual Christmas party at the Guild's. It was nice to see everyone but I should have stayed home. Still felt lousy. The little girls did well and began to really enjoy the party after Abigale and Serena got there. Some people have hearts of gold and I saw hearts of gold among our friends that evening.
Sun.- Michael was squished in the back seat between the girls on the way to church. I looked back and he and Emma were holding hands. We sat in the Bantons near the back of the church spot since we needed to leave right after church to get the girls and go back home to meet Gil and Lindsay. They got there soon after we did and joined us for pb and jelly sandwiches and/or turkey sandwiches. It was nice to hear about their good weekend. The girls were glad to see their parents but were not in a hurry to leave. I am so proud of Gil and Lindsay and the way they love God and each other. They are some of the best parents around. Emma and Adi are blessed to call them mom and daddy.
Rested a bit after they left. Went to church to see Christmas musical,'My Big Fat Christmas Wedding.' It was especially gratifying to see Freeman play his parts so well. He played many parts: a thug in the park, a cool Elvis type dude, a geeky lover boy, an Italian family member, etc. That boy can sing! I also liked Dee's part as the old woman. She was amazing. I can't imagine being bent over that long. Sometimes, I saw her do something unscripted and I would look down and see the director, shaking with laughter. I also loved the Bethlehem scene, where Kara and her husband Brent, played Mary and Joseph and PJ and Kelly's baby Sage played Jesus. Their voices were so beautiful and easy to listen to and the baby was as relaxed as I imagine Jesus would be. The choir around them sang, "What child is This?" which is my favorite Christmas song.
We came home and ate popcorn out of our new Christmas popcorn theater boxes that the Banton's gave us for Christmas.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Suffering
I've been thinking about the suffering of Christ and the fellowship that we have with Him when we share in His suffering. When we go through things that are unjust, undeserved, senseless, and even brutal, we are sharing in His suffering.
While Jesus was hanging on the cross,
the soldiers divided His clothes among themselves.
I wonder what they did with them.
There is something very intimate about the clothes
left behind after someone dies.
It is hard to clean out the closet and disperse of your loved one's clothes.
It's hard to open the plastic bag that holds the battered clothes that your once living child wore on his last day on earth.
Mary didn't get to keep the clothes Jesus last wore.
She didn't get to hold them close and smell His sweaty sweetness
mingled with the stench of death.
Even His bloody clothes were taken from her.
But Mary had blood on her clothes too.
When they took Jesus down from the cross,
she held Him and kissed Him
and cried.
His blood got on her clothes.
I wonder if she believed that He would rise again in three days.
I wonder what she did with her bloodstained clothes after she saw Him
living and breathing.
I cannot wait to meet this woman
who was acquainted with pain and suffering.
I cannot wait to meet this woman
who had joy beyond any other woman on earth.
While Jesus was hanging on the cross,
the soldiers divided His clothes among themselves.
I wonder what they did with them.
There is something very intimate about the clothes
left behind after someone dies.
It is hard to clean out the closet and disperse of your loved one's clothes.
It's hard to open the plastic bag that holds the battered clothes that your once living child wore on his last day on earth.
Mary didn't get to keep the clothes Jesus last wore.
She didn't get to hold them close and smell His sweaty sweetness
mingled with the stench of death.
Even His bloody clothes were taken from her.
But Mary had blood on her clothes too.
When they took Jesus down from the cross,
she held Him and kissed Him
and cried.
His blood got on her clothes.
I wonder if she believed that He would rise again in three days.
I wonder what she did with her bloodstained clothes after she saw Him
living and breathing.
I cannot wait to meet this woman
who was acquainted with pain and suffering.
I cannot wait to meet this woman
who had joy beyond any other woman on earth.
Gems from My Mother's Journal
11 John 5:3b-"And His commandments are not burdensome." How about that? His burden is light, Jesus says. Yet somehow I shrink from complete obedience. Where did I get the idea that it will always be hard; always something I'd rather not do!? This whole chapter is wonderful and could be read over and over to get all there is in it.
11 John 5:16-"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death." I'm not sure what the sin is that leads to death. And will God forgive another's sin if we ask Him? What a difference it would make if we talked to God about a brother's sin rather than to each other!
I have been wondering why the Lord didn't meet the needs of the Israelites until they began screaming and complaining. Is that the way to get our needs met? I didn't see how. Then I read this in Deutoronomy 8:3a-"And He humbled you and let you go hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know." The answer was in the asking, not the manner. It is humbling to realize we have no way of meeting our need. We need Him to do it and sometimes He lets us become desperate before we realize that fact. But complaining is never justified. God used some very severe measures to prove that fact.
More on the teaching that when we have no needs we can become proud:
Deut. 8:11-"Beware lest you forget the LORD your God"..v.12-"When you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and have lived in them.." ..v 14-"Then your heart becomes proud and you forget the LORD your God..v.16- "That He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end."
Our tendency, when all goes well and we have everything is v.17,18-"To say in your heart,'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you must remember the LORD Your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth."
11 John 5:16-"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death." I'm not sure what the sin is that leads to death. And will God forgive another's sin if we ask Him? What a difference it would make if we talked to God about a brother's sin rather than to each other!
I have been wondering why the Lord didn't meet the needs of the Israelites until they began screaming and complaining. Is that the way to get our needs met? I didn't see how. Then I read this in Deutoronomy 8:3a-"And He humbled you and let you go hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know." The answer was in the asking, not the manner. It is humbling to realize we have no way of meeting our need. We need Him to do it and sometimes He lets us become desperate before we realize that fact. But complaining is never justified. God used some very severe measures to prove that fact.
More on the teaching that when we have no needs we can become proud:
Deut. 8:11-"Beware lest you forget the LORD your God"..v.12-"When you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and have lived in them.." ..v 14-"Then your heart becomes proud and you forget the LORD your God..v.16- "That He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end."
Our tendency, when all goes well and we have everything is v.17,18-"To say in your heart,'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you must remember the LORD Your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth."
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