Last Day of CBS

Today was my last day to teach my kids in Community Bible Study. As I look back over the year, I am so thankful for the gift God gave me of letting me teach this year. He allowed me to grow closer to my oldest two nieces through having them in my class. He allowed me to experience the stories of creation, Noah’s ark and others in Genesis through the eyes of children. He taught me patience and understanding. I have seen the kids grow in knowledge and mature in their faith throughout the year, and God has given me the satisfaction of knowing I was a part of that.

We had a program for the last day where the children sang some of the songs they learned. My class is the oldest group, so they sang some songs alone and one with the younger kids. They did a great job; I was very proud of them!

Next week the children’s teachers will meet with the other adults so we can all share what God has taught us this year. I am looking forward to that.

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I don’t know what God has in store for me next year. I love CBS, but I need to be working more, so I’m praying He will provide me with a job that will at least allow me to attend as a member, if not a leader. This is a wonderful program, and one I hope to continue to be a part of.

Fireproof

Don and I watched this movie last night.

Kirk Cameron (Caleb) is a fireman whose marriage is falling apart. Neither he nor his wife is willing to admit fault, and they are headed for divorce. Then Caleb’s dad steps in and gives his son a challenge that changes his life.

I won’t tell the whole story, but this is a movie that makes you realize the importance of your marriage vows and how easily things can slip in to destroy your allegiance. It is very realistic and hits on issues that commonly cause problems in today’s marriages: money and materialism, lack of communication, general self-centeredness, pornography, the temptation of infidelity and more.

One important lesson the movie reminded me of is that you can’t look to another person, even a spouse, to fulfill you. Only God can do that. I think if more people realized this, the divorce rate would probably be much lower. In making this point, the movie conveys the plan of salvation.

When things get too serious, it cuts to scenes that bring in a little humor. Don calls this "comic relief."

I highly recommend Fireproof, especially for married couples, though I would think single people would enjoy and benefit from it as well. It is both entertaining and thought-provoking and provides a very valuable message that every couple should be reminded of, whether your marriage is currently experiencing difficulties or not.

Noah’s Flood

For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Genesis 7:17-20

I am finishing up a study of Genesis in my Bible study. I am studying creation in my Sunday School class. And it is springtime, and everywhere around me I see beautiful life springing forth that has God's fingerprints all over it.

I am planting a garden. Sorry if you’re getting tired of hearing about that. But I have noticed as I have been digging in the soil is that there are rocks. Lots of them. Not jagged-edged rocks, but smooth rocks, such as those in a river. How did they get there? There are no rivers within at least a mile of my house. I don’t live in an area that would ever flood under normal circumstances.

One thing I have learned in my creation class is that there are fossils from sea creatures throughout the Grand Canyon. This intrigues me as well. How would sea creatures get into the Grand Canyon . . . unless it was once covered by water?

Some may claim that the story of Noah’s flood is myth. Others may say that it was just a localized flood. But Bible says the waters covered the whole earth, and that’s what I choose to believe. Not to mention that there is evidence of it everywhere, including my own back yard.

There is so much around us that supports what the Bible tells us in Genesis. I don’t understand why there are those who refuse to see it, who choose instead to believe in a "theory" that really makes no sense if you try to study it very deeply.

So Genesis is MY story. And I’m stickin’ to it.

Iris Time in Tennessee (well, almost)

The Ellington Agricultural Center has an iris garden, which is beautiful when the irises are in full bloom. These pictures are taken from the top of the hill looking down on the garden.

They have an iris festival every year which they try to time for when the irises will be at their peak. It is this weekend. Unfortunately, everything seems to be running a little late this year, and the irises weren’t quite ready. We did get to see some of the early bloomers though.

We had a nice walk there with the dogs and took a few other pictures. Everything is so beautiful right now. We are hoping to go back in a week or two and maybe catch the irises at a better time.

A New Favorite Author

I've recently discovered Alfred Leland Crabb. He was an author who wrote three novels set in Nashville between the Civil War and the late 1800's. The books were written in the 1940's, but in my opinion, they are easy to read and get caught up into.

His characters include some real historical figures: James K. Polk's wife, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Andrew Johnson and others, and some who are just everyday people.

I just finished Supper at the Maxwell House, and am now reading Breakfast at the Hermitage. He has another one called Dinner at Belmont. I've gotten my dad into reading them too.

If you live in Nashville (or even if you don't) and are interested in history, these are books you may enjoy. I think they are out of print, but the Metro library has them, or you can probably find used copies on Amazon or E-bay.

Grafted Into God's Family

"Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Romans 11:22-23

I love this tree. It’s in my neighborhood, and I see it when I am walking. I’m not quite sure how it came to be, but my best guess is that a pink dogwood and a white dogwood were grafted together when they were small.

It always reminds me of Romans 11, the only place in the Bible that mentions grafting. It talks about God grafting the Gentiles into His family so that they too could receive salvation. To do this, He had to cut the Israelites off for a time, because of their transgressions, but He will bring them back.

I don’t fully understand it all; I only know that I am thankful to be "grafted" into the tree of God’s family. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, salvation has been extended to the Gentiles who believe.

The tree in this picture represents to me the two parts – the Jews and the Gentiles, blended together to make one tree. And what a beautiful tree it is!

Gardening Update #1b

Just thought I'd throw in a couple of pictures to add to Gardening Update #1.

My strawberries. Hopefully all these pretty white blooms will be juicy red berries in a few weeks.

My herb garden, freshly planted and mulched.

Gardening Update #1

I’m sore. I’m sunburned. I ache all over. But I’ve been working in my garden, and it’s soul-satisfying. I’m not posting pictures yet because it still doesn’t look like much (except for my strawberries which have blooms all over them). I’ve dug up a fourth 8’x8’ square, and I planted a few more things today: carrots, yellow onions, bush cucumbers and celery. I’ve still got to plant my annual herbs and some more vegetables that need to wait until May.

I have some radish and cabbage seedlings, and tonight we grilled our first 2 stalks of asparagus (these are perennials). I’m seeing a little lettuce, spinach and green onions poking their heads up too. Some of my herbs are ready for harvest. Can’t wait to make my first loaf of Rosemary and Thyme Bread and my first batch of salsa!

Stupid

"Stupid is not a nice word. Don’t say it." "Don’t call your brother stupid." These things have been instilled in me since childhood.

I heard someone use it the other day. My first thought was, "that’s not a nice word," but the way they were using it was very appropriate.

A lot of things are stupid. People thinking they can define marriage as being anything other than what God created it to be. People thinking they can decide when human life begins so they can justify murder. People being offended by any mention of God or prayer when they are living in a country that was founded on Christian principles. Refusing to teach kids about abstinence but instead offering them birth control, abortions, venereal disease treatment and drugs for depression. High school teachers being penalized for even mentioning the fact that the theory of evolution has many holes in it. Having more concern for criminals and terrorists than for their victims.

What happened to common sense? It seems we have lost it entirely. Maybe if we weren’t so concerned about being politically correct, we could step back and look at all the stupid behavior that is going on in our country and call it what it is!

Egg Hunt and Pizza

It has become a tradition in our family to have an egg hunt after church on Easter, with pizza for lunch.

When Don and I were dating, I wanted him to have lunch with us on Easter. He had to go to work later that afternoon, so we decided to just get pizza to save time. We discovered it was just as fun to get together and have pizza as it was to have a fancy meal, and a lot less stressful. The next Easter, after we got married, Don volunteered to make homemade pizza. I made plans to have an egg hunt for my nieces and nephew, later deciding to let the adults hunt too, and the tradition began.

I put the kids’ eggs in low places and the adults’ eggs in high places. This requires quite a bit of creativity. I just missed getting a picture of my 69-year-old mom standing on the bed grabbing one off the top of one of the blades of our ceiling fan. I try to make rules, such as "no unruly behavior," which my brother obviously disregarded when he nearly knocked my poor sister-in-law off the bed trying to beat her to a Reese’s egg on top of a picture frame. I think the adults may enjoy the hunt more than the kids do, though the kids follow the rules better.

Besides my family, I also invited a few friends from church – 13 people in all, which was a lot to fit in my kitchen for lunch, but everyone seemed to have a good time!

Hopefully this is a tradition that will continue for many years to come, though I may change it up a little as the kids get older. Seeing how much fun the adults have, I don’t anticipate the kids will ever outgrow it!

Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. I love it because it’s in the springtime, and the new life all around us reminds me of the new life that Jesus offers us by His death and resurrection.

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Not all of my reasons are spiritual. I love it because of Easter egg hunts. How is that for someone who doesn’t like Christmas because it’s way too commercialized? But Easter isn’t commercialized like Christmas is. The whole world doesn’t go crazy for a month or more at Easter. There is no pressure to give gifts. Easter egg hunts don’t distract me from its true meaning. They’re just a fun way to celebrate.
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I love going to church on Easter. I love the music that we play and sing. I love seeing everyone all decked out in their new Easter clothes. I love that we can wear white now.
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Most of all I love it because Jesus it alive. I will never tire of hearing the story of the women going to the tomb and finding it empty and the angel telling them, "He is not here, for He is risen!" It is such a joyful day, not just for those women when they finally believed, but for all of us who believe as well. Because He conquered death, we too can live eternally.

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May your Easter be beautiful, and may you truly celebrate the eternal life that Jesus offers you because He defeated death, once and for all!

Pam’s Tree

When my friend Pam died, two of my other friends went in together and gave me a gift card to buy a tree in her memory.

Don and I got engaged at the Ellington Agricultural Center about 3 weeks after she died. It was the first day I was really happy again, and one of the main things I remember about it was that there were dogwoods in bloom everywhere. So I chose a dogwood tree to remind me not of the sadness of Pam’s death, but the renewed hope that came afterward. I think it’s what she would have wanted.

I also chose it because of the dogwood flowers’ unique resemblance to the cross. Besides its obvious shape, each petal has a hole at the end that appears to be outlined in blood. The center looks somewhat like a crown of thorns.

I got the little tree the fall after we got married, 3½ years ago. The first one I got died, and we had to replace it. Neither the first one nor the second one has ever bloomed, much to my dismay.

Until this year. For the first time, it is beautiful. I get a bit mystical sometimes, but it is interesting that this wonderful event happened so shortly after this one. Pam asked me to stay in touch with her kids, and I have not even seen any of them at all in the last four years, until about three weeks ago, when I began making a real effort to get involved in her younger kids’ lives. I hope this will lead to getting involved with her older kids as well. At least the ones who are still alive.

Just a coincidence? Possibly. It’s one of the things I want to ask her when I get to heaven.

Good Friday

It is a gloomy, stormy day in Nashville. I am always glad to see it storm on Good Friday, because it reminds me of that first Good Friday nearly two thousand years ago.

I often wondered as a child why it was called Good Friday. My equally-young neighbor tried to explain it to me one day: "It was good because God had planned for Jesus to die." I still didn’t fully understand. Why would a loving God put His own Son through such a horrible thing?

It was several years later when I was able to grasp the concept of sin, that I was a sinner, and that God had said, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22b). Jesus came to die for our sin, and by accepting this gift, I could have eternal life with God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Though I am eternally thankful for this gift, I still have had hard time with thinking of the horrible death Jesus died and calling it good. God does say: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). That’s my best understanding of it. God looks at things from an eternal perspective, while we see them from an earthly one. In His eyes, it was good.

As I watch the storms today, I am so thankful to Jesus for the sacrifice He made for my sins on Good Friday. Just before He died, He cried out, "It is finished." God’s plan for the redemption of sins had come to pass, and because of it, though who believe in Him can live with Him eternally.

Little Things

Well, I haven't blogged in a few days, because there is nothing major going on, just a few minor things:

1. My dog Nash has tapeworms. This isn't too serious and pretty easy to get rid of with medication, but this is the second time he has had them in 6 months.

2. I got elected treasurer for my church's WIC (Women in the Church) group. The funny thing about this is that I am not even involved in the group, but I did agree to be on the ballot, thinking surely no one would vote for me.

3. We got our taxes done and, because of some stupid laws, have to pay our entire federal refund and then some to IOWA. I'm sure you can guess how we feel about that, especially in light of my last blog.

4. It was snowing at my house this morning.

5. I'm cleaning my house to get ready for a big Easter egg hunt that has become an annual tradition for our family.

6. Last night I topped my own high score in Scramble (one of my Facebook-related addictions). I already had the highest score of any of my friends, even Laurie, who beats me at everything.

That's about it. I guess none of those things is really worth a blog on its own, but hopefully together they are interesting enough to read about.

Don's Disgust

My husband Don came up the steps with his Iowa license plate in his hand last night. He had removed it from the front of his car. He had an Iowa sticker on his car that he removed too.

I never thought I would see the day come, but he is deeply ashamed right now to call Iowa home. He said he won’t put the license plate back on until the people of Iowa vote on an amendment to ban gay marriage.

Apparently a gay rights group from New York lobbied in Iowa to reverse the ban on gay marriage, and they succeeded in persuading the Iowa Supreme Court to do so. Don says it’s unconstitutional for judges to make that decision; he thinks the people should vote on it. Most states that have voted on this issue, even California, have voted to ban gay marriage.

I agree with him. I have already expressed my views on gay marriage in this blog, but I will add that marriage is God’s institution that He created (Genesis 2:24). Who are we to commit an act that God considers detestable (Leviticus 18:22) and call it "marriage"?

This is not the fault of the people of Iowa, but the government. Iowa is the third state to make gay marriage legal. I hope the opposition will be strong enough to reverse this decision, or at least to bring the vote to the people, where it will most likely be banned.

Tornado!

I was getting ready to leave for a Weight Watchers group I was working yesterday afternoon when my mom called. She works at the airport (which is between my house and my Weight Watchers group) and said they had all been evacuated to the basement because a tornado had touched down in the area. She begged me not to leave my house.
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I wasn't sure what to do. I'm not one to just not show up for work. So I took the dogs down into the basement and tried to turn on the TV. If you read this blog, you may remember that this is no small task. At any rate, I could not get anything but static on the TV. Then I called my co-worker from Weight Watchers, and she turned on her TV, which showed that indeed there was a tornado, and they were advising people in my part of town to take cover immediately. She lives in a different part of town, so she was going to go ahead and go and assured me that she could handle it without me since there probably wouldn't be very many people there anyway.
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Don got home a few minutes later, and I was still struggling with my decision. He tried to discourage me from going too. He also turned on the TV for me, where I saw that two tractor trailers had blown over and were blocking I-40 in both directions, during rush hour, so even if I tried to go, I probably wouldn't even get there before the group was over. So I stayed home.
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As it turned out, there was a building destroyed not far from Weight Watchers (this picture is from our local newspaper, The Tennessean). Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

To look at a picture like this is just a reminder to me of God's power. He destroyed a building in seconds, yet in His mercy He protected those inside. I am filled with awe as He has made both of these attributes real to me.

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"Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness." Psalm 150:2

I Won!

Kay at Notes from the Wall, one of the blogs that I follow, had a little contest recently to celebrate her blog's first birthday. She gave away two books, a cookbook and a devotional book, and anyone who left her a comment that day would be entered to win. Well . . . I won! AND today I got a big package in the mail from Texas containing the two books, plus a sweet card and a package of Texas Bluebonnet seeds (she reads my blog too and knows I love to garden).

Thanks, Kay! I can't wait to read the books, try some of the recipes and plant the seeds!