Coffee & Conversation

From the website “Journey to the Cross”
Friday, March 5, 2010
http://www.d365.org/journeytothecross/

Dear God, at your earliest convenience, could you please send me a detailed list of your plans for my life and for the world? That would really help me out and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Thanks!

Oh, if only life were so easy and God were so clear! Sure, God is pretty evident when you see a beautiful sunset or a child born or when a stranger offers words of encouragement. But that day-to-day life thing – not so much.

A hallmark of our faith is that at the end of the day, we are claimed by God to be part of God’s unfolding of life and creation. We are not always going to know how we fit into that unfolding, but we believe that we are somehow part of its realization. While this could be daunting and overwhelming, it is also a chance for us to embrace the art and dance of faith. We struggle with God’s word to us through scripture to guide our lives. We navigate the nuances of communal discernment. We come to God in prayer, lifting our voices to God, seeking to know God’s will. What an amazing gift of faith we have, knowing God so deeply that we trust God without even knowing where God may be leading us!

Bruce Reyes-Chow

Amazing God, open my heart and mind to your presence during this season of Lent. Allow me the wisdom to trust in the unfolding of your hopes in my life and in the world. Amen.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58

check out this inspirational anecdote set to the music How Great Thou Art

http://wandascountryhome.com/pinetrees/index

Lent for me is a time when I make a conscious effort to get closer to God, through prayer, meditation, attending church services, reading, writing, and listening. I typically do not watch TV very much, and I usually find plenty of miscellaneous “busy” stuff to fill the time I would otherwise be stuck in front of that little box. But during the 40 days of Lent, I try to simplify even more, to give myself plenty of quiet time, when I do nothing except the basic things I listed above. Not only is this experience calming and relaxing, but I really do find that I can establish a peaceful and tranquil environment and let my mind be completely open to whatever thoughts and dialogue come to me. There are so many resources that I come in contact with to stimulate my thoughts and help to make my meditation time more meaningful. It might be something I read, something I see, something I hear, or a conversation with another person. I start to really think about it, and before long, I am understanding on a deeper level, listening for whatever God is trying to tell me through the particular resource. This year, a resource I have found particularly valuable is the Daily Lenten Devotional by members of the St. George Church Family. I am so thankful to all the contributors, for their thoughts and explanations, insights and the lessons learned. Reading a page each day gets me in the right frame of mind to start my quiet time where my own thoughts can flow freely. As suggested in the Devotional, I have also started a Lenten Journal which is helping me capture my thoughts, feelings and experiences during this contemplative time of year. One habit I have started this Lent is to start each day with some personal affirmations, to get the day started off the way I want to, and to remind myself of the actions and behaviors I choose to embrace and those that I choose to release. It is really working for me and I wanted to share the practice to help anyone else who would like to try it. Here are my affirmations – feel free to use these, or add your own personal ones that have the most meaning to you.

TODAY, WITH GOD’S HELP:

• I CHOOSE TO BE AT PEACE WITH MYSELF;
• I CHOOSE TO ACCEPT MYSELF AS I AM, AND OTHERS AS THEY ARE;
• I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY AND JOYFUL;
• I CHOOSE TO EMBRACE HOPE AND POSITIVE ENERGY;
• I CHOOSE TO FEEL CONFIDENT AND ABLE TO DEAL WITH ANYTHING CALMLY;
• I CHOOSE TO FORGIVE OTHERS AND ACCEPT FORGIVENESS FOR MYSELF;
• I CHOOSE TO EAT FOOD THAT NOURISHES AND STRENGTHENS MY BODY AND CONTRIBUTES TO MY HEALTH AND MY WELL BEING;
• I CHOOSE TO ENJOY EVERY EXPERIENCE THAT COMES ALONG;
• I CHOOSE TO CARE FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS WITH DEEP LOVE;
• I CHOOSE TO SEE ALL DIFFICULTIES AS OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE ME STRONGER;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL ANGER, FEAR AND GUILT COMPLETELY;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL STRESS AND ANXIETY;
• I CAN ACCOMPLISH ANY TASK WITH EASE;
• I INTEND THAT MY ACTIONS HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT;

TODAY, I AM THANKFUL TO GOD AND I AM GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE.

- AMEN -

The children have been working on a song for our Christmas celebration.  I found this source on the Internet that you can go to and hear the music to practice with them at home.  Hope has the words posted on our website under the Sunday School tab.  They will be singing the first and last verse.

http://www.christmas-songs.org/songs/the_snow_lay_on_the_ground.html

[Here's a cute little ditty going around on the Internet.]

1.  Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re serving rum balls.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

Here’s another Veggie Tales clip we just have to share!  Enjoy a sweet little song about goodwill to others and a few yummy cookies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dnKKcPncQ0&NR=1

Here’s the link to a Veggie Tales clip for children of all ages.  It mixes humor with the greatest love story ever told.  Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzhhzeaiv4

TAKE, LORD, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will — all that I have and call my own. You have given it all to me, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. This is enough for me.

- Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job
A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
- Luke 21:33, NIV

Sunset on Fort George Island

We sit on the porch alone together at twilight.
“Soon,” I whisper, “the sun will set and our sky will change.
The show will begin.”
“The eye of God will come and all His glory will perform just for us.”

We are like children filled and overflowing with anticipation,
as if running down the stairs on Christmas morning
to see what new shinnies the man in red has left behind.

Spellbound, first we see a soft blue, we point and say,
“Oh, that’s the color we should paint our bedroom.”

Then, with each inch the sun retreats below our marsh:
the pink, warm golds, deep blue – crimsons and orange.
We just gaze, almost a strange glare in silence engulfed and flooded
by the presence of God.

I don’t think either one of us is breathing….?

For a moment I remember back to the time when He and I started this journey together.
We had nothing – we were both children – both alone.
We had held each other and declared,
“We can do this!”

Yes, we are breathing.

Here we are now, engulfed and submerged in this Shangri-La.
We feel hidden as if we have been sitting here alone together for centuries,
taking in all knowledge of what we see.
In the silence of our shambhala
we become conscious of great noise filling our lull.

Can there be soft noise?

In our stillness we now see the other world,
we hear the other world also along with us at the closing of our day, their day.
They are lifting their voices, their essence, to their God, our God.

First a song from the wren, soft and sweet, calling earnestly.
Crickets using drums to communicate, a familiar cry of the marsh hen
and off to the left frogs begin to harmonize.
There is life all around us giving praise.

Not wanting to be left out,
the tall cedars begin to sway, dancing with the music from the breezes.
We close our eyes and feel their soft touch on our up turned faces
as they ask us to join them in their evening dance.

With one last gift to be given us on this memorable evening – just off to the northeast, slightly into our right ears,
we hear the peacocks offering up roaring cries, their last prayers for this night,
from high atop the massive oaks where they retreat and retire for protection.

Now He and I join hands as black silhouettes against a sea of color
slowly slipping away to become our night sky.
Our breath is good.
Our breathing in time.
“We are happy.”

He looks at me, deep, intensely – into all I am – we smile –
Is this what Paul meant when he said, “to be in constant prayer”?
I think so!

The phone rings.
My thoughts are yielded.
It’s Kammy.
I laugh out loud!

- Elizabeth Slover 2006

Liz & Dave celebrate 40 years of marriage on November 23, 2009

1. Take someone’s shopping cart and switch the items with stuff from the person next to them’s cart
2. Walk up to complete strangers and say, “Hi! I haven’t seen you in so long!…” etc. See if they play along to avoid embarrassment
3. Smash the person in front of you on the head with a ham
4. Go up to some old geezer & say “Grandpa!!! You’re ALIVE!!! It’s a MIRACLE!!! etc.”
5. Take something from someone else’s cart, when they say “hey, that’s mine! ” call the security and say that the other … person was trying to take your (more…)