Ladies Tea 2010

The Ladies Spring Tea was held at the church on Saturday. I'm not much of a girly-girl, but I really do enjoy attending a tea.

This time I hosted a table, so I could make good use of my great-aunt's china. The tablecloths, treasure chest and Bible were provided by my friend Thelma Norwood. The Bible was the one her husband carried with him in the army. It's not easy to see in the picture, but it's leaning up against the treasure chest.

This angle is better:
I borrowed the bronze flatware from my brother (it was given to him by our great aunt also) - it's from Thailand.

The tea was very nice - great chicken salad! The guest speaker was Jeannette Clift-George, Christian actress, author, director. She shared her testimony and some words of encouragement; she was very enjoyable.

My favorite part, though was the "opening act" - Chelsea Holmes. Chelsea is a member of our church (20 year old drama major at U of H). She so moved me last year with her monologue about the woman charged with adultery where Jesus says, "Let those who have never sinned throw the first stone". And everyone leaves. Then he tells her, "Go and sin no more." This year Chelsea went with a comedic monologue about women and the many hats we wear. It was hysterical! She did a wonderful job! Great "range"!

The theme of the tea was "Treasure" and that we should treasure God's word about all else (the verse is from Psalms). All the decor focused on things we treasure - memories, family, riches, and most importantly His word and our salvation.

So I have a bunch of pictures of the different tables (still learning this camera). Someday I might take pictures of people, but I'm not ready for that yet.

Random Easter Musings

Easter celebrates the most significant event in human history - Christ's resurrection. It is something that Christians celebrate in their hearts every day, but Easter is the one time a year when we focus on nothing else. The Easter bunnies and bonnets and all that never really distract from the point - all that Jesus said is true. I love hearing, "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" He keeps His promises - and there are a lot of them.

I understand being angry with God. He lets things happen that are painful - like death. If He's so all-powerful and good, why would he let people suffer? The answer has to do with the world being cursed, and the gift He has given us of free will. And it isn't that He can't, but that He won't - which sounds like He's really mean, and that is not true, either. We all know that parents who really love their children must say "no" sometimes, maybe even lots of times. It's difficult, if not downright impossible, to see things from a God perspective. We have no idea what the big picture is - what good He is really working in the world. But He did provide a future and a hope.

Christ died painfully; God sacrificed His only Son. And then Jesus came back to life on the third day - death has been conquered. FOR US! We are forgiven and accepted by God because of what He did for us. Life can be hard, but we don't have to worry about that. God is with us.

Yes, churches and church people can be disappointing - they should but rarely do behave any better than anyone else. But a believer is meant to be with other believers - living and learning life together. I drift toward solitude, but find it brings me to a self-centered and depressed place. I am so much happier when I'm in the group focused on something besides myself. Anyway, I'm thankful for Easter that brought hundreds of people back to church to celebrate. I hope they stick around.

Check out Mike's Passion Vine - the first bloom was on Good Friday -

Reflection on the Number 40

Well, I've been 40 for almost a month now, and I'm kind of getting used to it. It's not like it feels any different - I've been having those aches and pains for a while now. And I started my forgetful phase a couple years ago. (I've always been at the head of the class.) But the number 40 is a really big number!

If life is a bell curve, I guess I think of 40 as the number on the top of the curve. Literally all down hill from here. Now, I enjoy down hill. Much easier bike ride; and with no brakes, it can be very exciting! But it also means the end of the ride is coming - and it seems to go by so much faster than the uphill part - same distance, but at high speed.

I'm not saying 80 is the end. And I honestly don't think I want to live that long anyway. I love life, but I have an inkling that what comes next will blow this life away. So, I'm not that concerned with hanging on here indefinitely.

No, it's not a fear of death that has started my melancholy reflection on the number 40. I'm just wondering how 4 decades have gone by, and I don't have a whole lot to show for it. I'm not even sure what I mean by that. I don't know what I expected to "have" to show. I have a great family; wonderful husband; roof over my head; a cat. Oh, and a lime tree!

Check out what my wonderful husband got me for my birthday!

Anyway, I'm 40 now. I can handle this. "Hi, I'm Gena, and I'm 40." See? No problem.

Chosen?

So today I'm staring at 1 Peter 2:8, and I don't get it. My NLT version goes like this:

"And, 'He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them
fall.' They stumble because the do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them."

I get that Peter is quoting Isaiah in the first part. I get that "He" is Jesus. What I'm struggling with here is the "fate that was planned for them".

I know we're all on a dangerous path to Hell and the only way out is Jesus. But is that path really the "fate that was planned"? I can even go with the whole idea that Jesus causes people to stumble. I hear it all the time - the biggest problem people have with Jesus is His claim to be the only way to God.

In this chapter, Peter is talking about Christ as the cornerstone, and His followers are living stones of a spiritual temple, holy priests, a chosen people. So those who stumble over Jesus are left to their fate; those who embrace Christ are called out of the darkness.

This really, really makes it sound like the whole free will idea is false. God calls us - chooses us. Does that mean we don't have a choice? Did Peter just leave out the part where we answer the call? Or is that the part about obeying God's word - we have to choose that, right?

And if we're chosen, then that means God also chose (planned) those who would go to Hell. But Peter also says in 2 Peter 3:9 -

"The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."

I think that's pretty clear that God's choice is for all to return to Him. And if some don't, it must be because God lets us choose. So what's up, Peter, with this "fate that was planned"?

"Spring" Cleaning

Well, you do it when you have the chance. Saturday was living room day - moving furniture to get all those cat hair dust bunnies, cleaning out the fireplace, taking things off shelves to dust. I even emptied a box that has been living in the corner since we moved in and had just not been unpacked yet.

So today was kitchen day. Ick. I pulled the stove out. This apparently has never been done before. It was disgusting! But it's much better now. The good news is the dishwasher is screwed into the counter, and I didn't mess with that one. Now I'm tired and my back hurts (go figure). Maybe I won't have to do this again for a while!

I can almost feel comfortable with the downstairs if someone happens to drop in. Almost.

New Year

Happy New Year! I'm only a week behind....

So, the big holiday event this year was not Mom and Dad's trip up to see us in Houston and my bro and fam in Dallas. It was their change of plans that was big. Dad got home from a business trip to EP in time for a doctor's appointment the week before Christmas. They didn't let him go home until the day after Christmas, 5 days after a triple bypass. But he did go home! Mom is thrilled (I think Dad is pretty happy, too).

So, we all had our own little individual Christmases, with anticipated "in person" gifts having to be shipped late, etc. But it was all ok. Quiet. Personal. And then, Mike and I had the opportunity to go down to the island to see M & D for the New Year's weekend. We didn't want to be a burden, but I really wanted to see for myself that they were doing ok (see how I make it all about me - it's a gift). And we were invited, so that sealed the deal.

I am happy to report that they really are doing fine. Dad's moving slow, but is able to go up and down the stairs, etc. He gets tired easy (but I don't know if that's new!). We watched a heck of a lot of football, some basketball, and played Rummikub. I got Mom's Wii set up, and we bowled and golfed a bit (Dad preferred watching and laughing to actually playing).

I got the news yesterday that both of Dad's doctors (the cardiologist and the surgeon) have given him a clean bill of health. He's only cleared for desk work, but I don't think he minds too much. And the doctors don't want to see him for two or three months. (I think that's a good sign.)

So, 2010 is a fresh new start. And I'm calling it a new decade (after all a decade is ten years - there are no rules about when you have to start or end it). Who knew we'd live this long? It's all bonus time now, so it has to be good!

New Revelation Perspective

I love when someone shows me something from a different perspective; seeing with new eyes. It's a wow moment.

For example, as we studied Revelation, still in chapter 1, Beth was focusing us in on John's description of Christ in verses 12 - 16. It's a very descriptive paragraph, and we went through most of it in detail. But what really got me was the part in vs. 16, "...and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth." I mean, really, what is up with that? It is so weird that I have always shut that out and moved on when I read it. I can't even visualize what he's saying.

So Beth didn't blow past it. What does it mean "two-edged sword"? OK, so I've heard that phrase before somewhere else. It's Hebrews 4:12 - "The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword." So it seems this is not a difficult concept at all. What comes from his mouth? A sharp two-edged sword aka the word of God. Well, duh!

Then I was thinking there's somewhere else where the word of God is described as a sword. I found it in Ephesians 6:17 where Paul is talking about putting on the whole armor of God. He says "take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

What better weapon for Christ to wield than the word of God? At God's word, the universe came into being, so I'm pretty sure that Christ doesn't need anything more than God's word against the enemy.

Anyway, I thought that was cool.