Currently Reading Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel By Anne Rice see related

The Power of Your Story

                    From the days I trained with Church Resource Ministries on how to be a network facilitator, I have been sold on the power of a person's own story as the most effective witnessing tool.  There is just no substitute for the power of God displayed in your very own life.  I think that is why I am a people person...I love to hear a person's story.   I don't always claim to be a good listener...I like to tell my story too.  The joke in our family has been that 5 minutes in any kind of line and I have either told my whole life story or heard someone else's.  That is a pretty fair assessment.

                     So..........let me tell you about a story that has impressed me this month.  You may have heard of author Anne Rice...you know.....vampires, Lestat, etc.   I have never been drawn to her writing or topics until I saw the book mentioned above.  It captured my interest not so much because of the title (Christ the Lord - Out of Egypt), but because it was written by Anne Rice.  How could she know anything about Christ?????

                     And so I read this novel, which was a fictional work, drawn mostly from the gospels, about what Jesus childhood was like between ages 7-12.  It was written from the viewpoint of Jesus Himself and was very refreshing.   More than anything, it made me imagine what He was like as a child.  She balanced very well His humanity and His emerging recognition of His diety.   A delightful story!  The whole time I am reading this, I am wondering how Anne Rice could have written it.

                      Well, at the end of the book, she has about 20 pages which is her testimony about her recent conversion back to Christianity.  WOW!  She was raised in the Catholic church which she had left years ago.   When she researched this book, she did it historically, going back through the events in history to the time of Christ.  More and more, she realized that the gospels backed up the story of Christ.  She was married for 41 years to a committed atheist, artist Stan Rice, who died of a brain tumor in 2002.  From 2002 to 2005, Anne Rice read everything she could get her hands on about the New Testament and as a result, she is now a Christian.  The book was worth the price, just to read her testimony.

                        O the power of the personal story!!!  I went to a speaking engagement with an Advisory Board member this week.  About midway he said,  "now it is time to tell you my story...how I met and became involved with The Salvation Army".   He said two sentences only, but they brought the house to applause.

Sentence number one:  "On September 11, 2001, I was in my office in the south tower of the World Trade Center."

Sentence number two:  "The next morning at Ground Zero, the first person I met was a Salvation Army officer who had obviously been there all night and I determined then that I wanted to know more about the Army."

                         I love stories, don't you?  Especially when they point the way to Jesus!

By the way, Anne Rice also has written Christ the Lord - The Road to Cana and coming out in October is Called Out of Darkness - A Spiritual Confession.

visit my facebook to see my photo album of the grandkid's this summer:

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php

Currently Reading The Shack By William P. Young see related

Lazy Days of Summer

                           It has been a great summer in Columbus.  I have been working on the SWONEKY GROWS Leadership Campaign for our division in my role as Divisional Leadership Secretary,  been enjoying a revival of Greenwood Lake Camp Vespers, and finishing up my BSF study on Matthew.  At the same time we are getting our structures in place for Adopt A Family, Angel Tree, and Christmas in general.   Because of the wonders of the laptop, wireless internet, and the blackberry, I have been able to work a lot from home.                                                           

                           It has been a wonderful time for me and many of the grandchildren.  We were able to spend the fourth of July weekend with Joel, Jen, and Noah, Chris and Ashley, Hailey, and Ari, and Jon, Janette, and Owen, and Jeff and Isabelle.  There was lots of good food and fellowship, sparklers, and fireworks.  Jeff and Isabelle stayed five extra days at Noah's and went to Bible School with him.  They came to our house after that and spent 4 weeks with Grammy and Grampa.  During that time we hosted Joel and Noah and went to Cosi, where we learned some valuable life lessons.  We toured Graeter's ice cream, went swimming on the Slip and Slide and in the pool at GWLC.  We had barbecues, picnics, times at the playground, ice cream sandwiches, DQ's, and had lots of fun at the Library.  We rented lots of books and videos and had a great time together.  We read Bible stories, rode on our new scooters, played with Julia and Olivia Tuck and neighbor kids.  The last week they were here we also had Owen!!!  What fun!  While Jeff and Belle went to Bible School with Julia and Olivia that week, Owen had daily walks with Grampa in the neighborhood, played with sidewalk chalk, and a little tiny sandbox.  We enjoyed numerous sugar free popsicles.

                            Some funny things out of the mouths of babes:

jeff - while visiting the pharmacy window - "why do we have to stop here"  Grammy - "grampa needs his medicine", jeff- "will that keep him from getting old"  

jeff told grampa that he wanted to be a grampa just like him.

belle - "grammy, I think Owen needs a nap.  He had a big lunch"  Of course she was only thinking of Owen and not the fact that she wanted to watch a movie uninterrupted by the little cousin.]

jeff - "do you know that God and Jesus are the same person?"

belle - "do you know that dead people live under those statues?"  Belle commenting on a cemetary.

Owen - jumping three feet off the end of a slide and landing an olympic landing while grammy panics.  He just gave me a "you silly woman smirk!"

We have had such fun with the kids and look forward to many years of sharing life with our grandchildren.

Catching Up and Sharing

                   I am just so reluctant to say goodbye to Xanga altogether.  Facebook is good for catching up on a quick basis and sharing snippets, but this seems more private and offers an opportunity for sharing.

                   I am very blessed in Columbus and over the past 10 months, more than ever before I have a rich sense that this is right where I belong.  I am content and filled with joy.  Each day has it's little stresses that come to all people everywhere, but they seem to be lost in the contentment I feel and the love of Jesus that overflows me.

                   The kids are great.  Michele and Ed are longing for Alaska again and I think we will see them go about this time next year, with Eddie and Aimee.  I have just said to them...go someplace nice in Alaska so we can see some great stuff when we come.  It is a long trip.   Jon and Janette are running ragged with the very active and cute Owen and are expecting again around Christmas.  Joel and Jen are settled and very involved in their church.  Noah is playing t-ball and ice hockey.  His father is trying to live out his dream of be a Red Wings player through Noah. LOL.  Noah's equipment probably weighs more than him.   Chris and Ashley, Jeff and Becky are all anxiously waiting for Commissioning....wondering where they are going.  Ohio? New England? NY?  What will it be. oh my, oh me?   It will be an exciting weekend...that's for sure.   Jeff and Isabelle don't care where they go as long as they get to spend a month with grampa and grammie this summer.  Isabelle...."why can't we all just live together?"   My dream exactly.   Sammy is growing like a weed and looks like no one but himself.  Very happy baby.   Hailey is a math whiz and will be going to a new school in the fall.  She and Ari are nothing alike.  Hailey is very much the little lady and Ari is athletic, daring, and will try anything.   All the kids are a joy.  I am working on an on-line grammy album to post.

                   Frank and I are doing well and still longing for Maui again.  We so enjoy being together even after almost 36 years.  I pray it is the same for my own kids.

                   I read an article in Guidepost Magazine (Anthony Destefano) about prayer and the way God answers prayer that I would like to share some thoughts from.  He compares our prayers for forgiveness to playing a football game.  Now I know this is baseball season, but it is really good, so adapt it if you can.  He says.."Imagine a football game where every fumble is ruled a do-over (sort of like a foul ball hit).  That's the way God views our lives.  Every time a  player drops the ball, fouls another player, or blows a play in any other way, God is ready to let us run it all over again until we get it right.  No flags, no 10 yard penalties, and no turnovers (Satan does not win) - as long as we admit our fault and ask for forgiveness."  (The bracket comments were mine.)  I thought that was really good because we make mistakes all the time running down the field and we have a God who loves us and let's us run it over.  I often need a do-over.  

                   I am so grateful today for a forgiving God who gives me infinite chances to do life over and get it right.

ALOHA

              Here they are folks....pictures from our great trip to Hawaii.  The highlights were absolutely being with friends:

               The scenery - sunsets, sunrises, green mountains, the bluest, teal ocean you have ever seen, pinks, orchid, yellows, rainbows, black lava beaches, color, color everywhere, tropic storms, and rushing rainfalls.

             The animal life - it was whale season and the humpback whales from Alaska were there giving birth and breeding.  Everywhere we looked there were majestic whales playing with their babies.  We had 10-12 sea turtles each day frolicking in the surf in front of our deck and one day we even spotted a stingray about 6 feet long.  While snorkeling (my favorite activity) in the volcano crater, in very clear water, I swam with at least a hundred species of colorful fish and beautiful coral.  Then we went to another place and snorkeled with sea turtles and octopus.  We also saw some brightly colored parrots.

             The fun - we had a blast!  Our favorite night out was the Luau...everything you are imaging!  Frank even did the hula and I will place a video on here of that.  The food was plentiful and we even ate of the pig that was buried in the ground.  The show was the best...a retelling of the Island history.  It was a magical evening and Frank and I enjoyed a dance for people who were celebrating their anniversary right on the beach under the stars.  Never wanted the moment to end.  We enjoyed pancakes with coconut syrup (yum), lots of pineapple, great sushi (we love it) and mahi-mahi.  Craig even caught a mahi-mahi on our fishing trip and prepared it for us for our dinner that night.  Doesn't get much better!!!   The sun, the warmth, the jacuzzi, the pool, the times of relaxation and exploration were without compare.

            Most of the time (all but one night) was spent on Maui but we did visit Pearl Harbor and the Arizona our first day there.  It was a very moving experience for all of us...amazing that 1100 people are buried in that ship.  Here is a fun fact....the Arizona is still considered an active Navy ship and is treated as such.  The Navy maintains the Arizona and a US flag is hoisted on it everyday.  As a special side to that day, our 9th grandchild, Samuel Elijah Kirk, was born to Jeff and Becki way back in Suffern NY.  We bought a commemorative coin from the Arizona for him.

            Well, much longer and I know most of you will stop reading this, so  I am going to close for now.  Enjoy the pictures and the videos are coming.