February 9, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 4

Discussion of Colossians 2:4 - 15 (No Deception)
Led by Bob Carroll

January 26, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 3

Discussion of Colossians 1:21 - 2:3 (Paul's Ministries)
Led by Holly Lundberg

Snow Angel

Along with thousands of other East Cobbers, my children and I found ourselves going nowhere fast trying to get home from school last Tuesday during the expected or unexpected, depending on your source, mini snow and ice storm. Thankful that I had arrived safely to their school to pick them up on slippery roads, we prayed as we headed for home. I knew it would be slow going and dangerous, but we were going slower than slow. We had already been in the car two hours and were nowhere near home, it was starting to get dark and more importantly, I had to go to bathroom. The time had come for action! I parked the car on a side street, we got out and started walking toward our house. Did I have a coat on because it is winter? Yes I did. Did my children have their coats on because it is winter? No they did not. Will they remember this bad decision? probably not.

Feeling very much like Maria Von Trapp as she and her family were climbing the Swiss Alps, we started walking in the snow. The kids were even dressed alike with their uniforms on! We were not singing. I did have my GPS on my phone so at least I knew where we were and how to get home. Technology is good. We had been walking about an hour or more when a good Samaritan in a pick up stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. My youngest and coldest said yes! I sized him up to be safe so we piled into his very warm truck. He took us as far as he could go without sliding down the hill himself and we walked the rest of the way home. Praise be to God who provided a snow angel to rescue us! He had provided for us before we even said our prayer.

The rest of the week went downhill from there. The kids were out of school for three days which resulted in too much time with siblings and neighbor kids. Let's just say a snow man was beheaded, causing tempers to flare and umbrellas to fly in my garage, not good. My daughter meanwhile used the time to sew a dress out of a table cloth, a little Scarlet O'Hara! That's more like it!

 I am thankful God provided a Snow Angel in a pick up truck when we needed a ride. I'm also thankful for my husband who rescued me from dealing with my son over the umbrella incident. God is good, all the time.

Happy New Year!

This year has started out with a bang! So far in our family, we have managed to run one vehicle into a fence in the church parking lot and one of our pipes burst last week in our basement after the ridiculously never before seen low temperatures in Marietta, GA. I for one am ready for spring. Oh, and last Sunday, as I was driving to take my daughter to Bible Buddies, my son was yelling from our driveway at the top of his lungs that he hated me. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Thankfully, I have our class and church to come to on Sunday morning. Though you will probably not pay for the fence or the burst pipe, somehow seeing you in SBS, week after week gives me joy and encouragement. None of you have told me that you hated me which is also nice. We are all on this journey of life and it's easier when we do it together. God knew this! And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

We have some new faces in our class that I hope to get to know in 2014 and I hope you do too. Let's welcome them and make 2014 a great year.

Silent Night Holy Night

Balancing on a balance beam is difficult. Not that I would know personally. Gymnastics requires balance and flexibility both of which I possess precious little of. I have a horrible gymnastics memory of standing petrified up high on the uneven parallel bars refusing to do the penny drop, I digress.. My only knowledge of gymnastics comes from watching the gymnasts on the Olympics, which I find extremely stressful. Invariably someone falls because like I said, it's difficult.

I'm finding it's the same way with balancing the jolly holiday Christmas with the Silent Night, Holy Night Christmas. It's difficult. But there has to be a way to balance Christmas activities with the real meaning. I would say I'm somewhere between ELF and a new favorite blogger who seems to exude tranquility 24/7 at her house.  I'm sure that isn't the case, but her website would suggest otherwise.  I have traded the chocolate candy advent calendar for an advent devotional book, The Greatest Gift. I'm finding the devotion is indeed helping me focus myself and my children on the beautiful story of Christmas even though I'm missing Day 3 and Day 6 ornaments! I hope this isn't a trend. We also suggested to our youngest kids that they choose a gift from the Joy of Sharing catalog at church to replace of a gift for themselves. It was interesting to see their choices. Our son chose to give the most expensive gift, my youngest chose to give the least expensive gift and my oldest chose the sheep because she likes animals. I think I have really confused my children this year because when I started to put up the Christmas tree, my son said," I thought we weren't going to do all that."

But I do want to give gifts. I am a gifter. I love finding the perfect gift for people, especially if they didn't know they wanted it. Yes, Black Friday has turned into an ugly display of consumerism that has nothing to do with Christmas, but isn't there something in between? And what about Christmas cookies and Christmas movies and candy canes?  There is incredible fun and joy at Christmas time as we spend time with precious friends and family. There is also joy in giving. God is a gifter too! He invented giving and gave us the desire to give to others. I can tell that He enjoys giving and He in fact gave us the very best gift of his one and only son, the perfect gift we didn't know we needed.

It's true, no cookie exchange or Christmas light display can compare to going to the Christmas Eve service at our church with all the candles lit, singing Silent Night altogether in worship of Jesus. And this year, my son will be lighting the Advent Candle which will add another element to the service for me, hopefully the awe and wonder of Jesus and not fear of a fire catastrophe! Christmas is absolutely all about Jesus Christ being born in a manger so that he could grow up to give us himself to be our savior. There is no greater reason to celebrate!

I think I'm getting closer to finding balance, but it's only December 12th and my two young adorable grandchildren have yet to arrive at my house! Their cuteness can be overwhelming and I have loved picking out gifts for them, but I've refrained so far from going overboard with gifts I can buy. I mostly hope to find ways to point them to the manger where Jesus Christ came into the world which is the very best gift I can give them.

Gratitude

Like our fearless teacher suggested, I've been giving thanks for things big and small. Lately, I have found myself overwhelmed with thanksgiving with the birth of our new grandson, Wyatt. I'll count that one as both big and small! I've been pretty much walking on air since that happy day last week. But I'm also trying to make a point to give thanks for other slightly more ordinary things.

I find that you can't be in a bad mood at the same time that you are being thankful. It's like sneezing with your eyes open, something my son has been trying to do lately. It can't be done! Gratefulness forces you to just smile and take whatever is happening at the moment and look at it differently in a more thankful way. One of my favorite verses is, In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I think he means everything, even having to abandon my groceries in the self check out at Kroger because I discovered that I left my wallet at work. I was immediately thankful that I work at church and that it was indeed in my desk right where I left it. I would have been even more thankful had someone decided to pay it forward at that moment but I was thankful all the same.

I'm thankful that my Dad had to cancel his upcoming visit over Thanksgiving even though I am very disappointed I won't get to see him. I'm thankful that the reason is that he feels the need to be at the church he pastors to encourage the Adult Bible Study teachers who are struggling with classs attendance. I'm thankful he loves the Lord and that He continues to spend his life in service to Him, going on 55 years now!

Maybe there's something to this attitude of thankfulness. Think I'll keep it going. I may even pay for someone's groceries myself the next time I'm at Kroger.

November 10, 2013 class audio - Does Science Point Toward a Creator?

Discussion of session 6 of the Faith Under Fire book Exploring Christianity's Ten Toughest Questions
Led by Holly Lundberg