The Day is Dying in the West

While my pastor and his family were on vacation I offered to help out facilitating their Sabbath evening Bible study (5p-7p). I was looking forward to it since I've never really lead out in a guided Bible study like this. Unfortunately, none of the members of the study showed up on either of the two weeks that I was supposed to fill in. I found this disappointing. Each week I waited an hour before I decided it was time to head home. But this week I was feeling a bit restless, so I took to the road and went exploring. I'm not usually one to just drive aimlessly around so it was an adventure for me. I ended up following Macon all the way to Fisherville, TN. What a beautiful little drive. It just so happened that the sun was setting as I was heading back. I don't remember the last time I was able to just sit and watch the sunset. In the winter I'm stuck at work and the rest of the time I'm usually too busy with grocery shopping, watching TV, or any other number of activities. It was the upside down cross pattern in the clouds that grabbed my attention. I'm fairly certain it wasn't an airplane trail due to the angles and thickness of the clouds, but even if it was it was a great end to the Sabbath. Luckily I had my camera in my purse. Here are a couple shots for your viewing pleasure.

Day of Rest

This morning I woke up early and was able to take my time getting ready. (As this is not usually the case since the snooze button and I are really close, it was a treat.) This set the tone for the day. I was able to fit in my devotion book reading and some Bible reading while eating breakfast this morning. For the joint Sabbath School I gave the history of the hymn "Now Thank We All Our God" and then opened it up for people to share their sentiments of thanks. I was grateful to see that most everyone had something to share. There were only two kids that showed up for Earliteens and they offered to join with the small Junior class so that I could hit up the adult lesson. What a nice change. After church I went over to check in on Ti-Ti who I am cat sitting. We had our Sabbath dinner together then snuggled while I worked on my circular knitting project for Christmas and watched Dave Salmoni and his work with the African Lions. I think Ti-Ti was into the show as she made sure she could see the TV when she was balled up in my lap. I rather enjoy hanging out with Ti-Ti as she is much more affectionate than either of my girls. There was one strange thing that happened both last week and this. Both weeks, right before going in to the sanctuary for the joint Sabbath school I had someone (a different person each week) exclaim, "I didn't think you'd be here today." You would think the fact that my name was in the bulletin both weeks for announcements should have been a clue. I know that I usually go away for Thanksgiving, but I'm always here the Sabbath before Thanksgiving. And I told anyone who asked that I wasn't going out of town this year for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that people think I would bail or not get coverage for those tasks I'm responsible for. I take my commitments and responsibilities very seriously. The only time that I've had to miss Sabbath school was when I was sitting in Urgent Care and even then I made it to church. Having people flake on their responsibilities is one of my pet peeves. I hope that I would never do anything so selfish, inconsiderate and rude. It borders on insulting that some think I would do such a thing.

September

September is gearing up to be a very busy month for me. Thankfully I have Monday off to work around the house. This weekend I'm going to be going through all of my clothes and seeing what I will be taking with me to Morocco. That's right, I no longer have to be jealous of my grandparents. I'm going with them! But before I go, I will have to find a way to fit in everything else that is going on this month: leading out the joint adult SS program & teaching the earliteen SS this week, hosting the Young Adult Bible Study on the 11th, leading out in the joint SS program (one of our new members is giving his testimony, so there won't be too much work for me on that one) & teaching earliteens on the 12th, hosting the earliteen/youth movie night on the 12th, participating in the school fundraising Putt-Putt game on the 13th, Church board on the 14th, School Board on the 17th, drive several hours up to and chaperon for the Young Women's Retreat weekend. That of course doesn't include the regular Wednesday night prayer meetings & church sign changing, packing for both the retreat and the Morocco trip which includes a night's stay in Boston each way, work or naps. Don't worry I'll take lots of pictures on both trips and am looking forward to the vacation portion of the month. I've already got a few books set aside for the flights. Wonder if I can bring my knitting needles on board?

She's Crafty...

Yesterday was a long but fruitful day. The Women's Ministry group at church started a Crafting for the Homeless/Halfway House residents project. There was crocheting, knitting, and fleece blanket/scarf tying. Since I tied a few blankets last year and once knew how to crochet (and by once I mean about 20 years ago--dang, that makes me feel old!), I figured it was time to learn to knit. I brought along my newly purchased needles and yarn and was ready to learn! It wasn't nearly as easy as I had hoped. It took me a little while to catch on when it came to getting the loops from one needle to the next. But after a bit of practice I was ready to start my scarf project for real. Since I was using small needles and a thinner yarn, I found some great yarn make out of recycled plastic bottles, I went with 35 stitches. Somehow that morphed into 37 stitches by the time I was ready to head home. After a couple of hours at home, my stitches numbered 42. I have no idea how that happened. I did discover a hole and when I tried to pull out the stitches, I couldn't put them back on the needles. So I did what anyone who had spent 4 hours on a project would do, I unraveled the whole thing and started over. After another 2.5 hours, I was back to where I had been before. Here is a view of my progress: Knitting Day 1

This pic shows a little more detail.

This one shows the beautiful Forrest Green color

Year of Evangelism - part 2

As promised, here is the prayer part of the Prayer & Fasting handout that I worked on. From what I could tell, the presentation I made on Sabbath was well received. I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who stuck around and participated in the prayer walk that we did around the church building.

A Short Guide to Prayer

It is common to have prayer without fasting and you can even fast without prayer, but when prayer and fasting are used together a whole other level of communion with God can be reached. During this Year of Evangelism, it is important not to neglect the opportunity being given to ask God’s blessing on the series and programs that are being presented both locally and around the country. Paul encourages Christians to “pray without ceasing “(1 Thes 5:17). One way everyone can take part is with purposeful praying. Below is a list of a few ways to incorporate purpose driven prayer into your day.

· Appointment Prayer – Every member is encouraged to stop and pray at 7am and 7pm every day. These can be quick one sentence prayers asking for God’s blessing on the upcoming evangelistic series. Pray not only for the leaders, but those who are making a decision about coming to the series as well. Just imagine, our entire church spread out all over the Memphis metro area in prayer at the exact same time! · Trigger Prayer – Think about committing to pray throughout the day each time you see a specific trigger. The trigger you choose is up to you. If you do a lot of non-highway driving you may want to stop and pray at every red light you come to. If you are in an office, you might want to choose a specific time trigger. Consider praying each time you notice the clock repeating numbers such as 10:10, 2:02 or each time you check your email. Your trigger should be something that you can easily come across and will serve as a reminder to pray throughout even the most hectic day. · Prayer Partners – Find someone who will pray with you over the phone or in person. You can also serve as an accountability partner for each other. You may also want to write down or email prayers throughout the day to encourage one another. · Prayer Walk/Drive – Pray as you walk or drive around a neighborhood for those living and working in the area. Take your time to stop and observe the neighborhood for specific needs. For example, if there are toys in the yard pray for the children in the home; if you come across a business pray for the customers and the financial needs of the business.

The Year of Evangelism

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (of which I am a member) has dubbed 2009 the Year of Evangelism for the North American Division. This means that every church in North America is focusing on bringing people to Christ and enlisting every church member. There will be seminars throughout the year as well as other friendship based activities for sharing. One of the things that churches throughout the country are doing to support the work of evangelism is through prayer in fasting. I've been asked to help spearhead this initiative in my local church. Below is the handout I worked on about fasting. One on prayer will be forthcoming.

A Short Guide to Fasting

Complete fasting traditionally refers to a period of time when someone willingly goes without food and drink—with the exception of water. (The morning meal, breakfast, is to literally “break fasting”.) The basic idea of a religiously motivated fast is to do without something that is a major part of your life for a set amount of time and for the specific purpose of humbling or afflicting our souls (Leviticus 16:29) in communion with God. As a result, fasting is not limited to just denying yourself food. In fact, a complete fast is not something that all people can do. Some individuals have medical conditions which make fasting for several days detrimental to their health.

Another option is a partial fast. One example of a partial fast is intentionally leaving certain foods—such as dairy, meat, highly processed or fast food, etc—out of your diet much like the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. Other types of fasting that can be done in conjunction with or in place of a dietary fast could involve abstaining from watching television, surfing the internet , sexual relations, shopping, working, hobbies, or any other activity which may distract you from fully focusing on communing with God.

According to the Bible fasting was done both individually and communally. People are recorded as fasting on many diverse occasions such as to ask for God’s favor (2 Samuel 12:16-23), to ward off crisis and ask for protection (Esther 4:16), to mourn a death (2 Samuel 1:12), to ask for repentance (Jonah 3:5, Psalms 69:10), and to ask for the revelation of God’s will (Acts 13:2-3, 2 Chronicles 20: 3-4).

The Bible also mentions the misuse of fasting. A couple of examples can be seen in Acts 23: 12-14 when a group of Jews made an oath to fast until the death of Paul. Another is mentioned in Jeremiah 14:12 when the nation fasted in mock repentance. A fast is not a hunger strike neither is it a way for us to convince God of our plans, but a way for us to hear to God. Remember, fasting is a humbling of oneself and should not be used to show spiritual superiority as was the case for the Pharisees (Luke 18:12).

For more information about fasting:

Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19:8, 1 Kings 21:27, Nehemiah 1:4, Matthew 4:2, Matthew 6:16, Matthew 9:15, Acts 9:9, Acts 14:23, 1 Samuel 31:13, Ezra 8:21-23, Ezra 10:6, Deuteronomy 9:9-18, Job 33:19-20, Psalms 102:2, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 11; 27-28, Joel 2:15, Isaiah 58:2 http://www.spirithome.com/fasting.html http://www.new-life.net/fasting.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting http://www.adventistreview.org/2001-1537/story3.html There are also several books on the topic of Christian fasting.

Weekend To Be

Tonight I will be gearing up for a weekend away. Laundry and packing are on the top of the list. Once I dig out my sleeping bag and slippers I'll be halfway packed. I'll also need to bring along my main dish foods for the trip. No, this is not a romantic weekend away (I don't see that happening in any near future scenario.), but a weekend away nonetheless. Tomorrow I will be driving to Podunk, TN* to the KY-TN Conference campgrounds for their Women's Retreat. The theme this year is Worship with Abandon. I have only been to a young adult retreat so I'm looking forward to this new experience. I'll be driving up with one of my friends from church and once the retreat wraps up we are heading down to the conference offices for a school board seminar. I don't expect Sunday to be as stimulating. Maybe I'll be surprised. *Name has been changed to more accurately describe the town. According to wiki, the population is 367.

Back to Good?

On Sabbath I tried out high heels again. I haven't been able to wear them for over a month now due to my sore knees and ankles, but I figured that since I'm done with PT (but not keeping up on my homework---I know, I know) I would give it a try. I slipped on my white 2.5 inch heels Sabbath morning and felt ok. I was able to sit down for SS as I only had one student--hey it's the first time someone's bothered to show up since APRIL! Anyway, after SS I booked it over to First Church for Ella's dedication. My knees held up pretty good for those three hours, but I think the driving got to them a bit. Because of the heels I couldn't extend my knees as much as usual. At least it's progress. I don't know why but I can't seem to get anything done on Sundays. Does anyone else have this problem? I have such lofty aims--laundry, cleaning house, packing for vaca, trimming the yard--but spend my time on the couch alternating between watching TV and napping. I don't remember the last time I had a productive Sunday. Now, because of my usual lack of activity, I have to rush around to find time to fit everything in over the next two nights.

One Day At a Time

I don't know why I am so tired this afternoon. Maybe I do. I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't stop my mind from racing last night and I am still running laps in my head. I've had too many Starbursts today (yellow and pink are best!) and my tummy is complaining. I can only pray that the situations that are causing this uneasiness are resolved quickly and pleasantly. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be going that way. There are more questions than answers and more talking than listening. We are supposed to be loving Christians. Where did we go wrong?

Discouraged and Disappointed

I have spent most of the night tossing and turning. My mind is playing and replaying the events of the day and each time I think of them I am saddened and discouraged. Today was our first official nominating committee meeting. Without violating the confidentiality of the meeting, I feel an immense burden to express my discouragement with the Seventh-day Adventist church. This morning we discussed the positions of Elder, Deacon, and Deaconess. While reading the February 14th edition of the Adventist Review, I came across a letter to the editor in reference to a previous article about one woman's call to ministry: "The Cost of the Call." The letter closed by asking "I conclude that only one anomaly exists: the deaconess is to the deacon as the (what) is to the elder? (pg 3)" I brought this up in our meeting and asked about this exclusion. The overwhelming response was that while it is a good idea in theory, the likelihood of a female elder at our local church is slim to none. This was reinforced by the shrinking number of female elders in the conference. "After all," I was told, "this is the South." The overall thought was that before the idea of a woman holding a position of such high regard could even be entertained, a complete re-education process would need to be undertaken with regards to a woman's ability to "teach." I let the matter drop while making known my wish for the re-education process to start and my displeasure of seeing a platform of only Elders when that is a position that women are not encouraged--but are actively discouraged--to obtain. "Women have other roles in the church." One of them is that of Deaconess. Never before being a deaconess and not remembering seeing my mother or grandmothers in that role, I was unfamiliar with the duties of that position. But when I was asked to serve as a deaconess for the upcoming term, I accepted. When I got home I took out my SDA Church Manual reference sheets. Specifically I looked at pages 57 and 58 which deal with the duties of a deacon and deaconess. I had always thought of a deaconess as "a female deacon" much in the same vein as an actress is to an actor. Disappointingly, that is not the case. A deacon in the SDA church has six main responsibilities: 1. Assistance at Service and Meetings, 2. Visitation of Members (I think it is of note that not once in the two and a half years that I have been a member of my current church, and not once that I can remember in the 10 years I was in Boston, have I ever been visited in my home by a Pastor or other church officer. Perhaps this is because I am a single female?), 3. Preparation for Baptismal Service, 4. Assistance at the Communion Service, 5. Care for the Sick and Poor, and 6. Care and Maintenance of Church Property. In contract, deaconesses have only three main duties: 1. Assistance at Baptisms, 2. Arrangements for the Communion Service, and 3. Care of the Sick and Poor. I find this very unsettling. The deacons take up the offering and dismiss the congregation each week at my church. But if a deaconess wants to contribute to the service all she can do is to fold the napkins over the communication table once a quarter. Is this really all that the young women growing up in our church--including myself--have to look forward to? It pains me that the Seventh-day Adventist church--both corporately and locally--see me as a second class citizen. A church founded on the teaching of a prophetess resigns it women to the pews. Yes, we can teach the Sabbath School lessons and tell the children's story. But it seems to me that in a time where a woman and a black man are the top contenders to govern our country, the only places for women in my church is that of wife (to support her husband) and mother (to train up her children). Where does that leave me? In the kitchen at potluck?

Remiss

I just noticed how remiss I've been in posting. Fortunately, or would it be unfortunately?, not much has happened. Let's see (Warning! Stream of consciousness approaching!). I've been sick and am on my way back to health. I only have an annoying cough now. I was put on the church nominating committee. This is my first time on one and I'm kinda looking forward to it. We are going to start meeting Sunday mornings from 9a-noon. I hope they don't mind me bringing my Starbucks fix. A group of us did our first Dinner My Way at LadyBoyd's. The pastor has bowed out of teaching in my SS class, but his wife has stepped up to the plate. Cross your fingers. I did my taxes and have gotten my refund. I paid off one of my credit cards with it and put some money away for a new roof. One of my goals for this year is to be very proactive about paying down my credit card debt. I could do so much more with that $700+/month I send out in payments. Today is my nephew's 3rd birthday; I can't wait to see him this summer. My brother and SIL close on their houses (sale of old, purchase of new) in a few days. I'm getting an estimate on Monday for the roof repair. I think I may have just enough socked away for it. Thank goodness for small houses. O'Malley may have a problem with one of her eyes. A thicker discharge than normal. It was very runny, but that stopped. Hopefully that will clear up without a vet visit. Our new boss started this week. He seems like a really good guy. I've taken the reigns (again) and am working on the plans for the church Teen campout. We planned it the weekend of Spring Break. I hope that people can still come. I know that one of the chaperons has already taken that Friday off. I also know that three of our regulars can't make it. I voted in my first ever presidential primary. This was the first year I was able. I don't pick a party on my registration card since I like to vote based on who a person is not what the party is. Until this year, MA did not allow open voting in primaries so it was never an option. TN has open primaries. I believe that if you don't vote, you have no business talking politics. So I voted, even if I don't spend a lot of time talking politics. I had my hair cut. It's just above the shoulders and my grey adds some nice highlights. Enough rambling. Happy Thursday.

Princess Party

I was a little bit nervous for this weekend because in addition to teaching SS, Saturday night I hosted a youth movie night at my place. This was a first for me. There were 9 kids and 6 adults. I had a blast and I think everyone else had fun too. I read a devotional to start the evening and then we started the movie and pizza festivities. The Pastor's wife made pizzas and I was on Popcorn watch. We went through 4 boxes! The kids chose Princess Bride and A Cinderella Story. It was nice to have a living room filled with laughter. I don't usually have hostess duties. In the past this was mainly due to the fact that I lived so far out from the rest of my friends (ie, Collierville, Weymouth...) and recently it is because I don't have a doggy friendly house. Someday I'll get my fence fixed, but that won't help with not having doggies inside. Anyway, it was fun playing hostess. My guests cleaned up after themselves so I didn't even have to vacuum! I would open my house for guests again in a second. Not only was it fun, but it's a good way to keep me on task with the house cleaning :). On top of that, I got the good news this afternoon that Ellie is ready! After only 24 days of waiting the part is in and installed. I'm going to pick her up in the morning.

A week later...

The once glowing tree outside my office is now naked. Most of the leaves came off in the nasty storm we had this week. On the bright side, the tree in my backyard is sporting nice yellow leaves. As for me, it just the norm. I have potluck this week and will be running between churches. Unfortunatlly, until they can get a youth leader this will be standard practice. I am heading down to MS on Sunday to visit E&J's new church. As E is aware, I'm having a bit of a hard time with the fact that she is not just switching churches but denominations. But I understand why she is doing what she is and am trying to be supportive nonetheless. Work is ramping up with all of the '08 Planning. Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it as no one here usaully bothers to ask me and just spends anyway. It's pretty hard to hold back paying something if we've already committed to it. Also, the proposed office move next summer is leaving things in the air expense-wise.

What's your Passion?

On Sunday we had a typically under-attended church business meeting to go over ways in which we could improve our church. There were many good ideas; it is just a shame that so few attended. One of the goals we came up with was to develop a program that will help to keep the youth/teens/pre-teens in church. I know that this is a problem for a lot of churches. I am not sure if we just don't have a lot of them in my local church--the fact that my youth sabbath school tends to have an average of 1-3 people each week is my basis for this--or if they are all hiding. Anyhoo, I was volunteered to work with the pastor's wife on this project. I know that this was brought about because I am involved in the youth class. But I have a secret: Ministering to the Youth is not my passion. I'm not really sure if I have a true knowledge of what my passion is, but at this point in my life it is not Youth. (I've been spending a lot of time up front at church and church related programs...maybe that is my calling? Scary thought.) Why then am I so involved? While it is not my passion, I still care. I believe that due to circumstances beyond their control the youth are often dumped on, ignored, or spoken down to. I have seen this at the Raleigh church with the former youth leader and his/my supposed assistant leader. That is one reason I stepped up and started preparing a lesson every week instead of just my one week a month. Thankfully, starting in November the Pastor will be leading the class more often than not. It will be refreshing to have a break. I kind of have a hard time relating to Youth. I don't have kids. I haven't been a youth for over a decade and when I was I went to boarding school. During high school and college I thought (and often still do) that Sabbath School class was one of the best parts of the whole church service so I don't understand their current mindset. I am trying to figure out what teens these days want/expect out of their churches. What do they like to do? Are they apathetic about everything at this age? Do they even know what they want?