Interesting.......

In our Sunday night "book reading" a bunch of us gals are doing, we're reading a really different book, the title of which has totally left me. I've only sat in on two sessions but this book gets us all thinking and thinking pretty hard too. It is challenging us in ways I had never before figured I COULD be challenged. I have been taught Biblical truths but never been challenged to think these things through myself. It's all good.

I'm beginning to think that God is really so much bigger than I ever thought was possible. There is so much more to Him. There is so much more to the spiritual world than we can imagine.

We even got talking about various theories, "the Chaos Theory" and "The Quantum Theory of Physics" and how they relate to our thinking of God and the universe. We first decided that we need to look up what the Quantum theory actually involved. I did manage to look up several articles on this theory and I even read "Quantum Theory for Dummies" but alas, I'm even more of a "dummie" than the book can reason for. Like I've said before, I don't DO math!

I believe this is why Scripture states, " 'Come, let us reason together' says the Lord."

We're sure reasoning together, that's for sure. I think we're in the middle of a "reasoning epidemic" within the church. I do think God is wanting to expand our feeble little minds!

I'm still singin'..

What an evening. What a jazz evening. My friend called and asked if I would accompany her to a jazz night as her husband wasn't into this kind of "stuff".

Who in their right mind would NOT go to a jazz night. It brought back fine memories of a year ago at our conference Annual Meeting and the "jazz coffee house" we had in our church basement. It was so very cool.

So, last evening was somewhat like that. The trio of gals "Arioso" and a trio of guys "The Jazz Guise" to be exact. The gals sang stuff from the '40's by the Andrew's Sisters....I was singing away to myself with them. When I was small, the radio was on from morning 'til night in our house. We didn't have TV. Not only that, but my Mom sang these songs all day long too. I learned them all. So, it was kind of a walk down memory lane for me. Then came the songs from the '60's and my teenage years...."It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...cry if I want to, cry if I want to, You would cry too if it happened to you!" Oh ya. Good times.

Then the fellows played and the pianist sang "Mac the Knife" and James Taylor's "Fire and Rain". Wanna' sing? Let's do it.......Ready.........

"Fire And Rain

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were
gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this
song
I just can't remember who to send it to

I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never
end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find
a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Oh,I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would
never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find
a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy
time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows
it'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone
line to talk about things
to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in
pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would
never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find
a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you,
baby, one more time again."

It's great to have friends who think about me 
and ask me to enjoy a special evening like this with them.

Talk about talent here in P.A.  Incredible!!!

God gives good gifts to his people....and the people use
them to benefit others.  I'd go back to hear them in a 
second.

Ya, I'm still singin'....."Don't sit under the apple
tree, with anyone else but me....anyone else but me......
anyone else but me, no, no, no......."

"Oh the shark has, pearly teeth dear,....."

It's good to sing too, don't forget.....and it doesn't
matter what others think about your singing either!

La, la, la, la, hummmm, hmmmm, hmmmm, da, da, da...

It was a very good day.

God always comes through. He hears us and answers. Not sure how that works but it does. The spirit world is difficult to understand and talk about at times because what we know about it is very personal and individual and unseeing.....yet the ways we experience it are within us, deep within us, in our hearts and minds and souls........converging all together in a one-ness. As I said, it's difficult to explain.

That kind of "one-ness" happened today at World Day of Prayer. There were Covenanters, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, Mennonites, Nazarenes, Anglicans and folks from the United Church. Most likely other folks were there too, representing various other denominations but today we were all simply one body....the Body of Christ.

I liked it because God was there. It's a little more difficult when you're leading a service to get a feel for how God's spirit is moving, as you're always making sure everything is running smoothly, but today I felt his presence in ways I'm not even quite sure about, but they were good ways.

People said it was meaningful to them. Some talked about their friends who had been with them at the last year's service but had since died. Others spoke to me who were very old and beloved friends of my late parents. It was kind of like a reunion of sorts. Churches coming together each year and saying hello to fellow believers whom they haven't seen since last year's service.

We read the liturgy. We sang the hymns. We greeted one another "in Jesus Name".

Another "World Day of Prayer". Will it have brought us to our knees?

The whole world....

heh heh heh I'll bet you thought I was singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".....

I was, sort of. Well, I may as well sing it now that I've said it......

There. I just sang it.....like perhaps you just did.

So, where was I going with this....oh ya, tomorrow is World Day of Prayer.

Many, many countries will be hosting the the very same service that my church will host tomorrow. All over the world, hour after hour, God will hear the cries of his people for the same things.....the pleas for justice and mercy and hope and new life.

I feel like I'm such a small, yet important part of the big picture. My friend and I will co-host this event at Gateway tomorrow at 2 pm and many people from various churches in Prince Albert will also be a part of this gathering. But I like to think of the entire world engaged in this...all of us together, in one day. Now, THAT'S the big picture!

I'm praying for God's presence. I'm praying for his Spirit to overwhelm and enter in and become part of people's very fibre. I don't really think we realize how vital prayer is, how great things can come from small talks with God.

Reading liturgically is not typical of our church but we will forge ahead and trust the words will be meaningful to everyone present. It's just good to be together as THE CHURCH universal.

World Day of Prayer....coming to a town near you. Tomorrow.

Time to plan.

This can be a very good time of year.

We begin to think ahead to warmer weather and leaves and birds and flowers and no snow and heat and V--A--C--A--T-I-O-N.......in the summer sun.

The lake awaits us.
The trailer too.
Oh fish of the North
We'll cast for you.

The plans will slowly begin to fall into place, Lord willing. It will be a lovely five weeks off.

I'll be prayin' for enough trees to shade us from the wilting heat, enough summer showers to keep us cool and enough sun to give our bodies adequate Vitamin C for the whole year.

I don't want much, do I, but I shall ask Him nonetheless.

It's all included in the plan.

Times are a changin'......

Life just continues on and the constant barrage of change in one form or another makes for an exciting existence.

It is not for the faint of heart, this living.

We get pushed at, prodded along, rooted up, scraped up, smashed down, sat on, moved over and sometimes we even have a good time.

Did I say life is not for the faint of heart? Ya.

So, dear Aunt Connie will be trying out Abbeyfield on April 1st.....for a couple of months, I think.

I know she will enjoy it and she won't have to worry about being cared for anymore. I mean there are simply some things we, as lay/non-medical types cannot do for her. Her meals will be taken care of and she'll have so much less room to worry about keeping tidy. That's important to her.

I'm trusting for God to direct her in all of this. I pray that his hand will be upon her, in yet another change that this life is sending her way. But, if I know her, she'll eat it up, perhaps spit some back and go on with her life.

That's the way she is.....always able to cope with whatever life throws at her.

Quite a woman!!!

The girl.

Well, that was one great weekend. Have you ever seen that show "Meet the Fockers"? Well, the weekend wasn't at all like that!!!

Son had lady-friend with him and we all met in Regina at daughter's house.

Yes, it was one great weekend.

I now am totally convinced daughter has the gift of hospitality.......not to mention cooking!!!

I think I'd like to have a weekend like that again in the very near future.

Well, other than son's car not starting today and daughter having to offer up her car for him to drive so he and lady-friend can visit her young brother in Bible college 3 hours away to the west.

Ya, other than that, I mean, it was a super weekend.

Did I mention the 80km/hr winds Sunday?????!!!!