Friday, March 28, 2008

The Armor of GOD

On Wednesday nights the children have been learning about the ‘Armor of GOD’.
The younger classes made armor to go along with the lessons.
This last Wednesday night they dress up in their armor
and paraded through the sanctuary.
While in the sancutary the adults gathered around them and blessed them.
As you all know we have the greatest kids!!!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Coffee Tree in the Living Room

Many people have been amazed that we have a coffee tree growing in our living room. It started out as a small plant from Safeway in Anacortes in 1994. It is now touching the ceiling- so had to put some weight on the top to slightly bend it over.
For a little over a year it hasn’t produced any beans. Just last week there was one small bean again. Yeah! (I guess you wouldn't know that I am very happy with this tree.)
From this new bean I’m going to start a new plant. Don’t know if it will work but I’ll try.
2006
In 2005 - Isaiah and Ezekiel help pick off about thirty beans.

Monday, March 24, 2008

What Stitch Am I?

Tom was preaching last week about our desire to understand what the LORD is doing with and in our lives. Tom said that we want the LORD to explain - why He lets things happen in our lives. But often we are falling for the deception, that if we understood we would therefore obey! Is our understanding really the obstacle to our obedience?

What if the LORD said to you - that you are a knot stitch? Wouldn’t we reply, “Huh?” and wouldn’t we be more then a little confused. I thought about the needlepoint pictures I have done. The knot stitch is a little stitch but needed in the completion of the needlepoint picture. Today at the library there were beautiful needle points hanging from the ceiling. I wrote this last night so within myself I chuckled. Just to see the beauty that a person could produce and thinking about what the LORD would reveal to us in eternity delighted my heart.

The needle point hanging down was so big it looked like a tapestry I wanted to stand there and enjoy its beauty but it was time to go. Next week if they are still there I will stop to enjoy them.

Here are a few of the stitches I know. Chain stitch is also known as tambour stitch and point de chainette, Backstitches, Basketweave stitch, Knot stitch, Parisian stitch, Cashmere stitching, Mosaic stitch, Jacquard stitch, Byzantine stitches, Gobelin stitch, Continental Tent stitch, Half Cross stitch, and Overcast stitch. When all these stitches are used together in a picture the results can be breath taking.

This is one of my early needlepoint pictures which I did for Grandma when I was seventeen. Many of the above stitches were used in it. See the little knot stitch flowers?

The LORD calls us a tapestry and when we see the finished work we will all gasp in awe at its beauty - then we will understand every stitch was important. For now let’s be content with who we are and live life to the fullest.

Colossians 2 :2-4
I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of GOD. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, GOD's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret." (The Message)

Friday, March 21, 2008

Earliest Easter Date

Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). The dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

“Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date for the year. In June 325 AD astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling the Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) dates. From 326 AD the PFM date has always been the EFM date after March 20 (which was the equinox date in 325 AD).”

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

Here’s the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years form now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hi Ya All,

I want to share about what the children are doing as a group. They are bringing in nonperishable food and clothes for those in need. We will be collecting stuff every season.

In the 'Big Glass Bottle' we are collecting money for different ministries. We have sent over a hundred dollars - two summers to 'The Gospel Box'. 'The Gospel Box' goes around the world to tell children that have never heard - the Good News of Jesus. This Christmas we sent a hundred dollars to 'Charlie's Lunch'. Ask a child and they will tell you about 'Charlie's Lunch'. I was thinking that this next offering we send to the Root family to bless them for Easter.

Have I told you yet that our kids are the GREATEST! They are a group of willing workers with really big hearts.

Some of you might not have children in Sunday school or you might be a teen but I was thinking you might want to participate, too.

Love ya all,
~ Pastor Cindy

Isaiah 58
6-9
"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed, cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of Glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'