Are you being persistent and persevering?

I had to look up the definition of these.
Persistent: It's an adjective meaning continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition; continuing to exist or endure over a prolonged period of time.
Persevere: It's a verb meaning to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.
and yes, I watched many of you persisting and persevering last week.  Trees down, children out of school, no power, evacuees in your home (including their pets), holes in the kitchen ceiling, rescheduled birthday parties, Bazaar drop-off, a Sunday USC game; but how did you weather these storms?  I saw most of you on Sunday many different places and I was amazed at what I saw; smiles, happy children, stories to share, continued persistence and perseverance; God's Grace!  But how did you do it I wondered?  You decided the hole in the ceiling looked like a cross, you came to church first, you prayed and kept your requests persistently before God.  You gave thanks because His mercies are new every morning.   Isaiah 43:1-3 tells us "Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you."  He doesn't say "if", he says "when"! 
The Gospel lesson this week is Luke 18:1-8 and it tells the parable of the persistent widow.  May we all be the ones who cry out to God day and night.  May we be those who live for him day by day, believing He will hear our prayers and answer our prayers. "I tell you he will see that they get justice and quickly." (Lk.18:8) 
I saw in you this week what Jesus will find on earth; faith!

Did you send that thank you note?

I am the first to admit I am the worst at sending thank you notes.  It is not that I am not grateful, thankful, humbled by someone thinking of me; none of that.  I could give every excuse, I forgot, I can't find the words, I couldn't find the address; but the real reason is probably because I get distracted by my own agenda, my own priorities. 

In this week's Gospel according to Luke, Jesus heals ten men with leprosy but only one, a Samaritan, returns to say "thank you".  Why didn't the others?  Those with leprosy were forbidden to come in contact with others or at least had to give warning to those they came in contact with of their affliction.  If the leprosy was believed to have been cured or was in remission, they had to be declared free of the disease by a priest.  Jesus had sent them to the priest before they were healed and they took off!  They responded in faith; so maybe they felt they were simply following His instructions.  Or, did they simply receive the gift of being delivered from their trial and move on with their lives?  Distracted by their own agenda, their priorities. 
When we find ourselves in fiery trials, I believe there are 3 ways our faith can be played out. We can ask to be totally delivered from the the trial and our faith will be built at least for a while.  We can pray to be delivered through the trial and our faith will be refined.  Finally, we may be delivered by the fire into our father's loving hands and there our faith is perfected.
I believe this thankful man saw that his faith had played a role in his being delivered through this fire and his only natural response was one of thanksgiving.  I believe this man's faith was refined through this healing and his ONLY response was "Thank You!"

My children grew up with Barney singing the "Please and thank you, they are the magic words" song.  We still sing it as a reminder when a simple "please" or "thank you" has been neglected.  When we recognize those moments of God's grace and mercy through our trials and we stop to whisper those words of thanks this opens an opportunity for Him to grow our faith.  Let us not grow weary in being thankful and showing that thankfulness so that God may continue to grow our understanding of His grace through faith.

Why do we teach our dogs to shake hands?

Do you know the story of St. Francis and the wolf of Gubbio?

O Lord, give  us humility to thank you for the creation of animals, who can show affection which sometimes puts us to shame.  Enlarge our respect for these your creatures, of whom we are the guardian ans stewards.  Give us a sense of responsibility toward all your creation, for Jesus' sake.
- A prayer from Robert Runcie, 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury

As the story goes, a wolf was terrorizing the people of Gubbio.  "St. Francis had pity on the people and decided to go out and meet the wolf. He was warned by the people, but he insisted that God would take care of him. A brave friar and several peasants accompanied Francis outside the city gate. But soon the peasants lost heart and said they would go no farther.

Francis and his companion began to walk on. Suddenly the wolf, jaws agape, charged out of the woods at the couple. Francis made the Sign of the Cross toward it. The power of God caused the wolf to slow down and to close its mouth.
Then Francis called out to the creature: “Come to me, Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ, I order you not to hurt anyone.” At that moment the wolf lowered its head and lay down at St. Francis’ feet, meek as a lamb.
St. Francis explained to the wolf that he had been terrorizing the people, killing not only animals, but humans who are made in the image of God. “Brother Wolf,” said Francis, “I want to make peace between you and the people of Gubbio. They will harm you no more and you must no longer harm them. All past crimes are to be forgiven.”
The wolf showed its assent by moving its body and nodding its head. Then to the absolute surprise of the gathering crowd, Francis asked the wolf to make a pledge. As St. Francis extended his hand to receive the pledge, so the wolf extended its front paw and placed it into the saint’s hand.

 

 Then Francis commanded the wolf to follow him into town to make a peace pact with the townspeople. The wolf meekly followed St. Francis.

By the time they got to the town square, everyone was there to witness the miracle. With the wolf at his side, Francis gave the town a sermon on the wondrous and fearful love of God, calling them to repent from all their sins. Then he offered the townspeople peace, on behalf of the wolf. The townspeople promised in a loud voice to feed the wolf. Then Francis asked the wolf if he would live in peace under those terms. He bowed his head and twisted his body in a way that convinced everyone he accepted the pact. Then once again the wolf placed its paw in Francis’ hand as a sign of the pact."
Retold by Sharon Callahan.

I invite you this Sunday to join us in The Blessing of the Animals at 6:00 in Cart Courtyard.  All animals will be blessed and Eucharist will follow. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

I realize Matthew 10:29-31 is not the Gospel reading for Sunday, but it is for Wednesday night and I did not want you to miss out on this special lesson.   Dr. Seuess' Horton Hears a Who holds a message that runs a beautiful parallel with Jesus' lesson of preparing for persecution.  "A person's a person, no matter how small."  "And even the hairs of your head are all numbered." (Mt. 10:30).  What precious lessons to teach.  No matter our size, age, upbringing, color, mistakes, or any multitude of things cannot shake God's love for us.  We are precious in His sight and worthy of His love and nothing can take His Spirit from us. All it takes is a YOPP! or a prayer.  So don't be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows.

Psalm 91:1-6 echoes this:  Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Here are some quotes from Horton Hears a Who:
"there's a tiny person on that speck that needs my help!"
"I meant what I said and I said what I meant . An elephant is faithful 100%."
"have you forgotten what we've discussed?.  Oh no, I'm an elephant and elephants never forget."
I hear a lot of Jesus echoed in these quotes.  I invite you to join us Wednesday Night as we dig deeper into what Horton did to save the people of "Whoville" and what Jesus did to save us.
Just in case you cannot join us, I am attaching the video.
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=youtube+horton+hears+a+who&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-003
Take some time to realize how precious and worthy of God's attention you are.

Have you picked a pumpkin?

On October 9th we will join together at the State Farmer's Market to pick pumpkins and then discover how the pumpkin is transformed into a jack o' lantern.  This is a precious story also of how we are transformed through Christ into Christians to shine His light.  I am attaching a full calendar for the upcoming months and I hope you and your family will be able to join us for times of worship, times of fun fellowship but mostly a time to experience God, be transformed and to make Christ known in this world!

Fall Fun at Trinity!

First Friday Movie Night— Meet us in the Workshop for supper and then join us in the Edward Room for a fun flick! Movie Night is held at 6-8 pm every first Friday of the month.

Sunday School: — We will begin our journey with Moses through Exodus for the first 6 weeks and then follow the 10 Commandments for 5 weeks; followed by a study of the Advent candles for 3 weeks.  Be sure to grab a brochure.

September 14: Wednesday Night Suppers begin— Join us at 5:45pm in the Sterling Room for supper and then to hear the Gospel According to Dr. Seuss.

September 14: A Woman’s Heart Bible Study — Bi-weekly Bible study will begin September 14th in the Edward Room 9:30-11:30. Childcare will be available.

 3rd Friday Parent’s Night —  Come join us 6-9pm for an evening of fellowship.  Locations TBD.  Please let me know if you would be interested in hosting this event.  bbabson@ trinitysc.org.  We will meet this month at the Kvam’s 1219 Pinemont Drive.

October 2^nd Blessing of the Animals – 6:00pm Cart Courtyard.  We will bless all animals and id tags.  It’s going to be a howling, meowing fun celebration of St. Francis! 

October 9: Family Pumpkin’ Pickin’ and Carving— Come pick a pumpkin 4-6 pm at the State Farmer’s Market.  Then join us for a special pumpkin carving story and supper at the Babson’s home.

 

October 15: The Bazaar!  10:00-2:00 pm You can’t miss the Children’s Carnival!

October 17: Fall Scavenger Hunt at Carolina Children’s Garden 11 am -1 pm.  Bring a bag lunch and come explore all 12 gardens and see how many items you can find on the scavenger hunt…be on the lookout for Pooh and Peter the Rabbit!

November 13: Christmas Present Project; 4-6pm at the Mad Platter—  Bring the whole family and create a special ornament or keepsake for Christmas 2016.

 November 27: Lessons and Carols/ Advent Festival/ Wreath making/ Chili cook-off. 4-6 pm beginning in the Cathedral followed by activities in Satterlee Hall.

December 20: Christmas Pageant

Rehearsal. 10 am -12 pm

Cathedral followed by lunch and arts and crafts in Satterlee Hall.

To have and to hold.....

It's wedding week for my family.  My precious nephew will marry this precious little girl Saturday.

I tease my children that I pray for whoever they will marry to forgive me for what I did not  teach them. ...but I do pray for their future husband and wife daily.  As I watch Charlie and Katherine walk down the isle of Trinity Saturday, I will remember funny stories about how Charlie would not go anywhere without his butter; an argument over a chainsaw verses a lawn mower; how John and I kept him one weekend and he NEVER slept and we swore we would NEVER have children!  Most of all I will take in every second and pray for their happiness, peace, and the legacy of their love for each other for years to come.  I invite you right now to stop and pray for your children, grandchildren and their future families and all of the blessings of this life!

I ask your prayers especially for Charlie and Katherine.

What is the value of salt?

Nana is the best cook on this planet.  She is her own best critic though, especially when it comes to butter beans.  Too much salt; not enough salt....that seems to me to have always been a dilemma since I can remember.  They have always been perfect to me!

Jesus teaches the parable about the cost of losing our saltiness or our effectiveness as disciples in this world.  Salt is used in many ways; to purify, to preserve and even to penetrate, just as when we share the Gospel.  We are called to purify and preserve the good in this world; to keep things from going stale and even to penetrate hearts that need to hear God's word.  If we become stale we lose our effectiveness.  Ancient salt was compounded with impurities such as gypsum.  If it became damp, the salt was leeched out and was useless.  It could not even be used on compost piles.  It was simply thrown into the streets and trampled upon.
There is a precious fairy tale that goes something like this:
A famous king, depressed by circumstances in his kingdom and feeling rejected by many of his subjects, called for his three daughters to comfort and reassure him. After they had talked awhile, he asked how much they loved him. Two of them answered that they loved him more than all the gold and silver in the world; but Mary, the youngest, said she loved him like salt. Her answer did not please the king, for he considered salt to be of very little value. The cook, who overheard the conversation, knew that the child’s reply had more significance than the father could ever imagine. She devised a subtle way to emphasize the true meaning of the young girl’s words. The next morning at breakfast she withheld the salt from everything she served, and the meal was so insipid that the king could hardly swallow any of the meal. Then he realized the full force of his daughter’s remark. She loved him so much that nothing was good without him! With a smile he said, “I understand now, Mary. Your love is the greatest of all!”

Salt has the capacity to change everything it comes in contact with, just as our saltiness for Jesus has the same possibilities.
So, how are you going to stay "salty" in helping others understand that nothing is good without Him?
I invite you to share in a Wednesday morning Bible study 9:30-11:30am in the Edward Room or to attend Wednesday Evening suppers; or have you registered for a Sunday school class yet?
http://www.trinitysc.org/grow/adults/sunday-classes/
I encourage you to make a plan and stick to this plan in order to feed your spiritual soul so that you might be that salty butter bean to feed others!