Another Gift, Another Blessing

One of the loveliest gifts of God is receiving anew the friendship of those you knew long ago. Through the wonders of Facebook, I located a sorority sister, who - surprise of surprises - had been trying to locate me. Messages flew from "wall to wall" and as the Lord would have it, I was able to visit in person with not one, but two of my long lost sorority sisters. Well, they thought I was lost. And no wonder, we had not seen one another for nearly 35 years! We talked, laughed, cruised the the main drag of our former college campus, and even rapped on the sorority house door begging for an impromptu tour - at 9:45 PM. The house is no longer a sorority, but a student residence hall whose occupants were curious about its former occupants: the sisters of Delta Zeta.
What surprised me the most was that we didn't spend a great deal of time talking about the "old glory days", but mostly shared about our lives, our experiences, and where we have come. Before we called it a day - and what a good time it was - we perused the local Target store (not my favorite but the company was exceptional) and celebrated our reunion by buying hats: each of us a different hat that was as unique as the wearer.(Sorry, the hat picture didn't turn out.) Even though we were sorority sisters and had those years in common, sorority was not the main course of conversation, but one another's lives, joys, struggles, lessons learned.
Thirty-five years were as nothing. We simply picked up where we left off and the "sisterhood" continues.
How much that is like persons who know the Lord and gladly share the journey.

Started a new three-sermon series last Sunday: "The Afterlife."
For last Sunday's sermon "Carried or Buried" please click on the sunset.

I Dig This Drill!

Today the sun shone! Praise the Lord. It's been more than two weeks since we have had some serious sunshine! And in this morning's mail was my order from Breck's - no not shampoo, bulbs! 100 watt tulip bulbs: double pinks, purples and creamy whites fringed with fire red. All summer I looked for a bulb planting drill bit and long last my search was rewarded with a winner!
Twenty four inches of "drill-a-bility" to make digging planting a snap. Seven bucks for saving back muscles and knee bones! Not bad. So this afternoon in the not-so-warm sunshine (after all it is late October in Northern Iowa) I dug in and drilled to my fill - until every bulb was tucked in the ground for winter.
Funny - how when you plant something totally new in the garden, you fantasize how it will look in the spring. As I buried each promise of spring in the cold damp black earth, I imagined the creamy white beauties floating above my periwinkle, the pink doubles rioting in my rock garden, the lavender ladies dancing on the slope of the terrace, and eye-popping powder puffs of allium dwarfing hostas in the courtyard. I worked until the temperature and my muscles reminded me it wasn't Spring, and I'm not thirty any more. This may well be the last planting day - a gift so late in the season by God who loves gardens almost as much as those who tend them.
A full week prevented me from posting the sermon from Sunday October 18th. It is the second half of the two sermon series "Surrender and Self-Denial." To read it, click on the piece of pecan pie.

Mini Two Series

Finally after four weeks, I laid King Solomon to rest. It was a fascinating sermon series to research - but it was time to move on. One of the members of my Worship Team in Odebolt mentioned how much she liked the hymn I Surrender All, and could we possibly sing it. We had that month's themes pretty sown up, but I promised that this month, I would design a service around that hymn: Surrender. Well, it mushroomed (as sermons often do) into two sermons. The first was indeed Surrender. You'll have to wait until next week for the second. To read Surrender, click on the white flag.

Upstairs, Downstairs

Ok, this is the 12th of October (Happy Columbus Day), and the second time it has snowed in three days! I expect snow in North Dakota in October, maybe even in September, but not in Iowa before Thanksgiving! In 1991 we had a blizzard on Halloween. That was surreal! Even the jack-o-lanterns shuddered! But today was a good day for the transmutation of summer clothes to winter clothes. Our elevator is not working at the moment, so John helped me by hauling five tubs of woolies up the stairway, and five tubs of light weights back down! I am so indebted to that man. Without his help, I would be hauling clothes up until June, and then I's have to haul them back down again.
I love changing over the seasonal wardrobe. It's a little like a shopping spree with no finance charges. I try on things, sort, and hang my new "old finds". When I get done with the slacks, skirts, blouses, sweaters, suits, and dresses, I move on to the shoes. Not so many for winter. I pack my favorite barbie doll heels, the stroppy little sling back numbers, the formal, informal, and sloppy sandals, all the cool stuff, and barely fill my vacant shoe rack with the pilgrim stoppers, thick heeled sensible pumps, and my navy blue quilted velor flats. Not much exciting there. Then there is always the hunt for the runaway left shoe, mates to orphaned gloves and lonely single socks. Finally it comes down to the purses. What I lack in winter shoes, I make up in winter handbags: red, turquoise, purple, dark brown western, light gold western, black, brown and all with multi pockets. No wonder I never know where to look for my keys! All in all, though, it was a good day. Cleaned out three of my four dresser drawers. They don't bow anymore! Well, at least all but one. And my closet looks like it was imported from California, all neat and organized - for now. I organized my slacks from the nearly fitting on the top, to the "when I loose 30 lbs" size on the bottom of the pile. I figure I have all winter to weigh my way and work my way down.

The Crown was the weakest link!

Somehow I failed to properly link the sermon with the crown. Try it again on this one.

King Solomon's Mind: The Folly of Solomon

Years ago (let's not count them), John gave me a book for my birthday. It had a quirky blade of grass cartoon character on the cover. The title was "Make Friends with Your Lawn". I read the book, but my yard didn't. Maybe I should have found the sequel, "Make friends with your landowner!" I was reminded of it this morning because I had to make friends with my checkbook.It was a bit of a balancing act, but by mid afternoon I was on my way to visit a dear woman in the hospital. Frail and at risk for surgery, being with her put my yard and checkbook in perspective. Back on the highway I headed for my church in Early to meet with two friends to simply sing and worship. All three of us had burdens to lay down first before we could raise our voices in song. It was wonderfully uplifting and deeply moving. Three of my four prospective confirmands and their parents met for dinner and orientation. I have a class of four boys. I'm looking forward to our first class next week. Hit the road again for my other church and preparation of the bulletin for worship service for this Sunday. E-mailed the finished product to my two secretaries. Checked my e-mail, and facebook messages. That brings me here. A long, full, and productive day brought to a restful close by a random blog. Last Sunday was the last sermon on Solomon...at least for a while. If you would like to see how the story ends, click on the crown. Solomon had it all,and was the be all and end all of his time. But he blew it.

King Solomon's Mind: The Passion of Solomon

Solomon was a wise-guy, and he had a way with the ladies - at least a 1,000 of them. To find out more and learn from this amazing monarch, click on the crown.

There are two more sermons left in this series. In both Odebolt and Early Churches we use Power Point. The red numbers on the sermon manuscripts are frames numbers in the power point images. To read the third installment of King Solomon's Mind: the Passion of Solomon click HERE

King SOlomon's Mind: Wisdom 2

Today Odebolt Church had a potato bake. The youth group dug potatoes, washed, sorted, and prepared them for the meal after church for a free-will offering. Of course there were lots of garnishes: cubed ham, broccoli, cheese sauce, melted butter, bacon, chopped tomatoes, and sour cream. And that's just what I had on my tater!
To the next installment of King Solomon's Mind: the Wisdom of Solomon, part 2 click here.

King Solomon's Mind

I owe an apology to my faithful viewers: both of them. I have not blogged in way too long. I hope to catch up on what has been a wonderful roaring summer! It was all I could do to clutch the itinerary and hang on for the ride. So look in the weeks ahead for snapshots of my new acquisition, the Fashion Show of the season, a scrapbook page or two, wild times at the zoo, and brick 0'brack from the best summer ever! But for now, here is the first installment of a four part sermon series I hope to conclude this Sunday: King Solomon's Mind ( not to be confused with the novel or consequential movie: King Solomon's Mines). CLICK HERE