Vacation

By Janet Morris Grimes –

In a couple of weeks, our family will be on vacation. This particular year will not bring us to the peaceful beaches or massive theme parks we see in the photos of our friends. Instead, the Grimes Family will be headed to Branson, Missouri.

Jealous?

Branson has become America’s variety show theme park; the vacation capital of the world, for those over 80 years of age. But it is here that we find our oldest daughter performing in the live show of Veggie Tales, and nothing is more rewarding than watching your child do something they excel in, no matter where that happens to take you.

Branson also offers a great water park, some beautiful lakes, and what we crave most in this particular year. Togetherness.

It is our much-needed vacation. Swimming pool, nothing on the agenda, quiet walkways beside lakes we didn’t know existed until we arrived, and conversations that don’t take place over Skype or with a text. We get the chance to be together, under one roof at the same time, something that has become a rare occurrence for our family of five.

This is the place where we will reunite, rest, and probably order a pizza or two. We might grill out, rent a jet ski, catch a movie, or choose to do nothing. But we will do it together.

And we will sing a few songs with the most adorable dancing vegetables you have ever seen.

The memories we create will be as unique as the quirky family God created us to be.

And personally, I am counting down the days.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the sights, smells, scents and touch of summer. Thank You for this time to be together. Bless it and be glorified, and continue to direct our paths.

History of Church Seating

By Carol Barnier –

It’s happening again. Another local church is talking about ditching the traditional pews in favor of something more plush and comfortable. I really feel uneasy about this. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere in Leviticus a warning about the ungodliness of a relaxed posterior and the slippery slope of comfortable worship.

Amazingly, the idea of sitting in church didn’t even emerge until the Reformation. It’s true! Up till that time, those poor German peasants worked hard all week long and then went to church on the day of rest to do what? STAND and listen to a sermon in a language they didn’t even speak. You may not have known this, but when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, thesis number 58 was, “It’s time to let us sit down in church for crying out loud!”

In some churches today you’ll see kneelers. These little flip down steps of wonder were put in place for the ease of congregants whose church liturgies involved more and more kneeling. But no such devices can be found in the earliest church structures. That’s because the preferred submission position was prostrate (face down, flat on the ground) and the early church architects felt a flip down panel accommodating this practice would require too much space between the pews. Besides, early attempts of this device revealed a flaw that sometimes catapulted would-be-supplicants up and over the altar.

Eventually kneeling did emerge as the preferred method of humility. However, for quite some time, the earliest congregations needed no such kneelers. They were of hardier stock and found the cold solid stone against their knees refreshing. But then the Church Potluck was introduced and folks began having problems with the getting back up part. Enter: the kneelers. Followed by kneelers not quite so close to the ground. Then, the padded kneelers. Then ,the intricately needle-pointed padded kneelers. I think heated gel pads and a lift ticket are the next obvious mutation.

Now seating is growing more and more like expensive theatrical events. Stain resistant. Deeply cushioned. Padded armrests. Sometimes even with cup holders. I fully expect this trend toward more technology will eventually include an electronic circuitry panel embedded into the backs of the seats in front of us allowing us to provide constant assessment and feedback of the pastor’s efforts.

My current level of interest….hmmm…my mind did wander just a bit there. I’ll give him a 4. Clearly he’s trying. But that passage about Cain and Able could have used a bit more action and drama. A video clip would have been nice. Well, maybe just a 3 then.

I’m thinking we’ve got this backwards. The technology should be on the side of the preacher. If we begin to whisper and be distracted or start nodding off, he would have several buttons of wonder at his disposal. First offense, the chair simply vibrates. Sort of a you’ve-been-warned sensation. The second option would be a sort of elevator that lifts you up over the crowd a good three feet, so that others will know of your transgressions. For the really offensive congregants or those who’ve completely gone to sleep, I’m thinking a mild seat-imbedded tazer is in order.

Okay, perhaps a bit much. But you know what they say.  If you laid all the sleepers in church end-to-end along the pews … they’d be a lot more comfortable.

Pet Peeve

By Elaine James –

Oh boy! My husband left the shower head arm up again. I like it put down after use; it is a pet peeve of mine. If he leaves a cabinet door open I can care less, but it just bugs me when the shower head is up. I can’t explain it!

It is so hard to be nice when I remind him to please leave it down. He nonchalantly asks “What’s the big deal?”

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies to a greater degree than others may find it. Your spouse, children, dear friend, or co-worker might ask “what’s your problem?” or “what’s the big deal?” In addition to their question, and to annoy you further, they roll their eyes or curl their lip.

In response, you boil over inside and wonder, “Why don’t they see what a big deal this is?”
Here’s an idea. Got to www.getannoyed.com for the world’s largest list of pet peeves. As a family, we looked at the list and laughed. Conversation proved to be interesting.

In our fast paced, quick solution world we snap at those we love when we are annoyed. You have done it, right?

I hate when my husband leaves mail on the counter. I want to belt out “For the hundredth time please don’t leave the mail on the counter.” But last time this happened, I held my tongue. I was convicted. I asked the Lord for His perspective, “What do I do about this situation?” The Holy Spirit brought to my mind the verse found in Colossians below.

It took time to sort it out. Good thing I did not say a word. I later learned that he forgot the mail because he was busy putting the dog out. The dog almost had an accident on the floor. My husband’s pet peeve is that no one pays attention to the dog accept for him. Literally a pet peeve!

We can pray for someone to change, but quite often they don’t. But we can ask God to help us to change our response. I am humbled after writing articles like this. I am reminded of how much I need a Savior.

Learning to laugh a little it could take the edge off a tense situation.

PRAYER: Lord quite often people annoy me. Help me love others with Your peace reigning in my heart. Thanks for not letting go of me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing; sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way” (Colossians 3:15 MSG).

No. I Don’t Want To

By Kathi Woodall –

One night I hurried to throw dinner together. I added spices and other ingredients to ground beef before shaping it into hamburger patties. My oldest daughter mixed up coleslaw. My youngest daughter sat on the stool beside me. At four years old, her eagerness to help and her frequent position right next to me already made her into quite the little chef. She could measure, pour, mix, and even chop a little—with a table knife, not a sharp knife.

This particular night, she pleaded to help me. However, even with her diverse skills, she could do nothing to help with the hamburger patties. Her older sister asked her to help by retrieving ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator but she wanted to help mommy, not sister. Besides, I believe she felt those tasks didn’t fit with her particularly advanced skill set. I could tell she only wanted to do the “bigger” jobs such as mixing and measuring.

So often I have seen myself in her position. Just as she sat beside me and watched me work, I have been in the presence of the work of God. I watch what He is doing and, like my helpful daughter, I eagerly want to join in and help. So He gives me a job to do.

Perhaps He says, “Make a phone call.” But I say, “No, I don’t want to do that. I want to teach a lesson about this issue.”

He says, “Donate some money.” But I say, “Hey, I could write a really great blog article about this.”
I might hear Him say, “Tell her about Jesus.” So I respond with, “No, not now. I’ll just be a good listener.”

Like my daughter, my heart is in the right place. I truly do want to be helpful. The things I want to do are all good things. However, if they aren’t what God is asking me to do, then am I really being helpful? We each have a unique way to fit into the work of God’s kingdom; however, God is the One who determines what that way should be.

“So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body. So the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary” (1 Corinthians 12:13-22 HCSB).

A Facebook Society

By Carin LeRoy –

Five years ago at the prompting of a friend, I started a Facebook account and began to collect a list of social friends. It’s been a great way to connect with old college buddies, people who live in other states, and stay connected my children who live out of town. I love to see updates and photos of my family and the special events of others. I just added a great friend from my middle/high years whom I haven’t talked with in over 30 years. People that we can never actually visit, we can communicate and keep up with on Facebook.

It can become a great place to “spy,” brag or vent – not necessarily good virtues. We can post so many updates that it looks like some think their realm of friends is interested in their every move (who cares if you just bought a milkshake at Burger King?). It’s easy to see what mood some are in for the day–happy, mad, depressed, struggling, grieving–just by their posts.

Although I have several hundred friends and make comments on other’s posts, the communication is superficial. It’s a word here or a sentence there as I scroll down the home page. Communication is brief and to the point with no in-depth conversation. I see that as the sign of our busy times: Connect, comment and move on.

How dangerous it can be for us if our times with God are as brief and superficial as a Facebook post! Read a verse, pray and move on? How badly we need extended times of prayer and meditation with the Lord to hear His voice and draw on His strength for this life. Does God just get a token prayer like our friends get a one-sentence comment? With Facebook that might be enough, but it’s not enough for communicating with our Creator. Let’s remember to not let the busyness of our lives crowd out time for nourishing our spiritual life and hearing God speak.

PRAYER: Lord, keep me mindful that spending quality time with You needs to be part of my day. Help me to meditate and reflect on Your word and spend time in real communication with You.

“I recall the old days; I meditate on all You have done; I reflect on Your accomplishments. I spread my hands out to You in prayer; my soul thirsts for You in a parched land,” Psalm 143: 5-6 NET).

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