A Faithful Soul

My church has suffered a loss. A woman has died who served us in many capacities.


She joined our faith community when she took on the directorship of a local home for retired women, but she had a varied and interesting career. She served as a nurse at a children's hospital, a missionary at a children's home, and as the Minister of Christian Education at a church in a nearby town before starting at the home here.

After here retirement, she became our volunteer minister of visitation. She has also offered pastoral care when our pastor was on vacation, written a devotional book, and helped organize various mission and service projects. She was a frequent visitor at our house as we faced losses.

She was a valued member of our church family. 

This is of course, a beginning for her. She is in Heaven -- has gone Home. She was ready to do so. We will remember her, mourn her, celebrate her life and then move on keeping a piece of her alive in our hearts. We will look forward to seeing her again.  For the moment we are sad.

We look to God and each other for comfort, and to the sure and certain hope of resurrection for those who know Jesus.

Who are you remembering?




I am participating on the October 2017 Ultimate Blog Challenge. A blog post every day in October. #blogboost

Drive Carefully

Labor Day weekend is one of the most dangerous on the roads, because of an increase in drunk driving. So be careful out there.

And please remember to drive responsibly. There are no excuses for:

Driving Drunk
Driving after smoking pot
Driving on drugs or medications that make you drowsy or affect motor coordination and reaction time
Driving exhausted
Texting and Driving
Calling and Driving
Speeding and being reckless on the road.

Just don't do it!! Your life and the lives of others are at stake.

In 2010, I lost a friend to a drunk, drugged, wrong-way driver. Tom was just 24 years old and left behind a wife and two very young sons. Gone far too soon, because someone was irresponsible.

Another friend lost her husband to a drunk driver over Labor Day two years ago.


Please be careful. And please, bystanders, take those keys or that phone if the need arises!

Love you all and like you alive!!

Learn more about Tom and how to end drunk driving here:

Drunk Driving
Ending Drunk Driving
Drunk Driving
Celebrating a Life
Drunk Driving: In Memory of Tom Serewicz

The Thomas J. Serewicz, Sr. Foundation for Kind &Responsible Living remembers Tom’s loving and generous spirit by supporting a variety of charities and hosting an annual memorial picnic.

I met Tom and his wife, Cherise, at the Christian YouthConference at Ocean Park (CYC), when they were teenagers. It was where they met and decided to marry. (I looked after Cherise’s engagement ring once while she was out on a service project doing physical labor.) CYC meets for two weeks every August in Maine and is open to all high schoolers. The 2018 Conference will be August 5-18.


Usually I post a blog about Tom on July 17, the anniversary of the accident. But my blog was on hiatus this year on that date. Hopefully, I am back now for a good run!

Memories and ABCs -- Camp!

Each year at the youth conference, the classes of young women make gifts for each other, their counselors, and the women faculty. . Back in 1999, one class handed out a scroll title the "ABC's of NEBYC." It's a list of things they found wonderful about the conference and wanted to remember. I came across my copy today. Reading it,  I realized how much of the list would be echoed by campers now... or campers back in 1920. Back in 1920, we were called the "School of Methods"; now we are CYC. But name changes notwithstanding, the important stuff has remained constant. Here's that list:

The ABC's of NEBYC

A  Alone with God: Answers: Amazing

B  Beauty: Banquet: Boys: Believing is Becoming: Bell Tower: Block Party: Big Sisters

C  Communion: Commitment: Chapel: Class: Campfire: Care Cards: Canoeing: Curfew: Camp Meetings

D  Dining Hall: Dancing: Desire: Devotions

E  Enthusiasm: Energy (or lack of): Evening program: Everlasting Bond

F  Faith: Fun: Friends:: Fellowship: Fort Williams: Free Time

G  God: Graduation

H  Hasseltine: Hope: Hugs: Holy Spirit

I  Indescribable: Ideas: Individual: Inspiration

J  Jesus: Judson: Joking: Joy

K  Knowledge: Kindred Spirits

L  Love: Listening: Laughter: Life: Little Sisters

M  Meaning: Miracles: Moonlight

N  Nature

O  Ocean Park: Ocean: Openness

P Peaceful: Party: Pines: Possibilities

Q Questions: Quiet Time

R  Railroad Tracks: Raiding (there is no...): Reveille: Raspberry Lime Rickey

S   Singing: Serenade: Silence: Sherwood: Sunrise: Sunset: Searching: Swimming: Soda Fountain: Soulful:

     Smiles: Spirit: Sunshine

T  Temple: Thankful: Tears & Tissues: Trust: Talent Show

U  Unconditional Acceptance: unity: Unique

V  Ventures: Vacation: Volleyball: Vespers

W  Worthy: Wacky: Wonderful: Water: Welcome

X  Xcellent: Xtraordinary

Y  You (the one and only): Yummy

Z  Zany: Zeal

Camps and conferences for teens offer so much. Try it and see. 

CYC, or the Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park, offers two weeks of Christian community, discipleship training, fun and friendship every August on the beautiful southern coast of Maine. Check us out!

 

Song for Sunday: Prelude from Bach's Prelude for Cello Suite #1

My most interesting uncle --actually a grand uncle -- passed away this morning at the age of 93 after a long full life 

What made him so interesting? His stories. Often humorous, they dealt with his life working, often overseas, for the phone company, his other travels, and his stint as a chauffeur and household assistant. 

That was for a famous cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Here the Maestro, as Uncle Clay called him, plays Bach's Prelude for Cello Suite #1. Uncle Clay wasn't particularly a classical music enthusiast, but I post this in his honor, a nod to his varied and interesting life. He'd probably  laugh. 

Meme-ic Monday: Memorial Day

I don’t know much about my Grand-Uncle Russell. He died in WWII long before I was born.

I do know that he was adopted, meaning that he joined my great-grandparents’ family. There were no formal or legal proceedings, because that wasn’t the way things were done then. Not all the time, anyway.

I know what he looked like as I have a picture of his army unit, each head shot displayed separately and labeled with a name.

I know that after he died he was laid out in my great-grandparent’s living room. Decades later I would play and visit in that room. I know that his birth parents attended his wake and funeral.

I know that it was in his honor that the Gold Star hung in the house.

I don’t know much about my Grand-Uncle Russell, but I do know that he died in war and so we honor him on Memorial Day. I also know the truth of this meme:

and this one:

On Memorial Day and always, let us honor the Fallen.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On Mondays, I will be posting and responding to memes, one each week. They will be ones that grab my attention, perhaps either resonate with me or annoy me. If you see a meme you would like me to react to, let me know.

Song for Sunday: America the Beautiful

A classic hymn, imbedded with prayers for the US, this song is perfect for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. In fact, we sang it in church today. 

Most schoolchildren in the US can sing the first verse, but it was the other verses that struck me today. I especially noted the first two lines of verse three: "Oh, beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!" A fitting reminder of the servicemen and women who paid the supreme sacrifice. I also love that this song acknowledges that America isn't perfect, and reminds us we are under a higher power. 

1. 1. Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,
   For amber waves of grain,
   For purple mountain majesties
   Above the fruited plain!
   America! America!
   God shed his grace on thee,
   And crown thy good with brotherhood
   From sea to shining sea.
2. 2. Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet,
   Whose stern, impassioned stress
   A thoroughfare of freedom beat
   Across the wilderness!
   America! America!
   God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
   Confirm thy soul in self-control,
   Thy liberty in law.
3. 3. Oh, beautiful for heroes proved
   In liberating strife,
   Who more than self their country loved,
   And mercy more than life!
   America! America!
   May God thy gold refine,
   Till all success be nobleness,
   And ev'ry gain divine.
4. 4. Oh, beautiful for patriot dream
   That sees beyond the years
   Thine alabaster cities gleam,
   Undimmed by human tears!
   America! America!
   God shed his grace on thee,
   And crown thy good with brotherhood
   From sea to shining sea.
5. Text: Katherine Lee Bates, 1859-1929
   Music: Samuel A. Ward, 1848-1903
6. Public Domain.
7. Here's a link to a version by the Hillsdale College Choir.
8. 
   
9. 
   
10. On this Memorial Day, however you celebrate it, honor the fallen.

Meme-ic Monday: Choose Happiness

We can't choose what we have to face, we can choose how to react to it. That's the piece of advice that this meme reminds me of.

My sister, Pam, passed away on February 25 and her memorial service was yesterday, March 12. A "Celebration of Life and Legacy" we called it, and it was. The men wore Hawaiian ties supplied by her husband because she had wanted Hawaiian shirts at her funeral but that might have been misunderstood by some. I wore a muted Hawaiian print shirt with my black skirt and gray shrug.

Pam had used the phrase "Life is Good" throughout her battle with cancer. Shortly before she died, she switched to telling people to "Choose Happiness." Today's meme was posted on her Facebook wall by a friend after she died.

I choose this meme in memory of my sister, and I have no desire to critique or even react to it. It just stands in remembrance of her.

How do you react to this meme?

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On Mondays, I will be posting and responding to memes, one each week. They will be ones that grab my attention, perhaps either resonate with me or annoy me. If you see a meme you would like me to react to, let me know.

Song for Sunday: Wind Beneath My Wings

I remember really enjoying the song Wind Beneath My Wings when it was out in the late '80's.

My sister and brother-in-law had it as their wedding song in 1989. Yesterday, it was played at her memorial service. A way to recall a happy occasion and the start of a wonderful life together. It was also a fitting tribute to her.

I hope you enjoy this link:

What song do you use to honor someone? Who does it honor?         

Roads, Walls & Soldiers' Toilets: Reflections on History and Survival

Yesterday, we drove down a Roman Road. It was very straight and, after nearly 2,000 years, very usable.

Of course, over the milennia it has received maintenance, upgrades, paving and modern markings. All over Britain there are ancient Roman roads still in use.

We took that Roman Road to an ancient fort called "Housesteads." Really, a ruin. You can still see the outlines of many buildings. From an archaeological perspective, it is remarkably well preserved, but trust me, you don't want to use these toilets. Though the latrine was built to the highest level of sanitation technology known in the world at that time, it is now a curiosity, useful only to teach us about the past.

Preservation is a wonderful thing, as is learning about the past. Ruins are one way to recognize our history and to feel connected to those who came before.

But there is an even greater connection, a living connection, when we are still using the items our ancestors made. I have seen this in the castles, church buildings and cathedrals we have visited, too. Some are simply museums, showing old items and teaching facts -- often in creative and interactive ways. I love re-enactors!

Others are stil residences, places where people live, eat, laugh and cry. Or they house vibrant congregations who continue the tradition of worship. They don't live and worship exactly as their ancestors however. They have electricity, running water, projectors, updated language, new styles of music, different clothing, new forms of art and communication mixed in with the old. Historical, yet living. Renewed and transformed, yet connected to centuries past.

How is your church or organization? Is it a museum to the past or a living community? It's worth thinking about.








+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CYC does a good job of balancing tradition with renewal. It's a 100 year old ministry to teens. Send your highschoolers along to this amazing two weeks in August on the southern coast of Maine. It's not too late to sign up for our 100th anniversary conference that starts August 2, 2015.  

Still Remembering

On Monday, I attended a Memorial Day ceremony at which were rededicated 29 trees in remembrance of those killed in service to their country. One  was for someone I knew personally. The people leading the ceremony asked us to keep remembering after Memorial Day, so here goes.

I knew Danny as an active and friendly boy. He faithfully attended my Sunday School class in the early 1980s. He was a good friend of my brother. He grew up, entered the Navy, and was deployed to the Persian Gulf.

Early in the Desert Shield operation, Danny -- Engineer's Mate Third Class Daniel M. Jones -- was killed in an electrical accident while performing routine maintenance aboard the  USS Antietam in the Persian Gulf. He was 19.

My brother and I were at the youth conference at the time, working on staff; I as the registrar, he as an SIT. As they do, the community surrounded my brother as he mourned his friend and supported me as I broke the news to others of our church who were present, supported my brother, and mourned myself. Most had never met Danny, but they prayed for his family and for peace.

Danny is listed as having been single at the time of his death, but he left behind a girlfriend. His parents and six siblings keenly felt the loss.  His wake and funeral were very  well attended, a testament to his youth and the lives he touched as a US Sailor. The pastor gave a powerful sermon reminding us that God, too, had lost a son and that a part of Danny would live forever. It was broadcast on the news, reminding our nation of the sacrifices military members and their families make.

People like Danny need to be remembered outside the immediate circle of their family. They died for all of us. Until there is peace, someone will always be dying for our freedom and safety. I close with a prayer that Eleanor Roosevelt carried on her person during World War II.

Dear Lord, lest I continue in my complacent ways, help me to remember that someone died for me today. And if there be war, help me to remember to ask and to answer "am I worth dying for?"


Who did you remember this Memorial Day?









---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking for an excellent learning opportunity for your high schooler? Consider the Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park a two week residential camp for teens held in early August on the beautiful southern coast of Maine. Celebrating 100 years!

Birth Story

For my 50th birthday blog post, I thought I would tell my story. It's quite funny. Or rather, the way Mom got to the hospital was funny, not the birthing itself. I don't actually know to much about that, except that it happened at exactly 11:00 AM on a Monday.


My father was in the military. Just after my parents returned from their honeymoon, he went off to basic training and then they were stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri which is tucked in the Ozark Mountains. My father was a Lieutenant and his unit was responsible for the base post office. He worked 7:30-5:00 six days of week, a fairly short workweek for a soldier in war time. My parents shared a duplex with a couple who were friends from back home.

Dad was a jokester. As my Mom's due date neared, he started calling the neighbor very early every morning to say that she was in labor. The neighbor was an officer for a traditional combat unit, so he had to be out at the crack of dawn every morning. I suspect the joke got old pretty fast, but it kept up.

Finally, the big day came. It was snowing, a proper storm. It would be the only snowstorm my parents would experience in their two years on that base and it wasn't very big. Just a few inches clung to the ground. My father went out to start the car and found a flat tire. He started to change to the spare but that was flat, too.

With labor progressing, my father called the base hospital and requested the ambulance. He was told "no." The snowstorm was keeping the ambulance out of commission. This surprised my New England born and bred parents a bit. An ambulance won't come out in a bit of snow. Really? Just about anyone back home would drive in an inch or two.  There wasn't much they could do about it.

With options running out, my father called his neighbor, who was also from New England. This time my father actually  woke his friend up to ask for a ride. The neighbor, a bit annoyed at the early ringing of the telephone, didn't believe that this call was real, no matter how much my father insisted that it was. Finally, my mother spoke to the wife of the neighboring couple and convinced her. She was finally on the way to the hospital.

After my birth, our neighbor was one of the first to visit me at the hospital. The story was repeated and laughed over during many reunions over many years.

That was 50 years ago today.

My parents are gone now, but this story and  many other happy ones are remembered.

What is your birth story? Or maybe you have a "gotcha" story instead?

Anniversary of 9/11

It's been 12 years since 9/11/2001.

People remember. I am seeing a lot of "where I was" posts on Facebook. I know people who paused to pray.

For some people, life became very different after 9/11 than it was before. Those who lost a loved one had their lives changed immediately. Those who went to war, or had a family member who did, also experienced change and loss.

I think, too, of the now 11 and 12 year olds who were born into grieving families because their fathers died in the attacks before they were born. They have never known a lack of mourning.

Some people changed their outlook because of 9/11.

Many people, though, go about their day to day lives as though the attacks never happened. Only when they have to wait in long airport security lines or hear a public announcement of an anniversary do they recall the events of that infamous day.

I do not know whether this is a good or bad thing. Perhaps it shows the resiliency of the American people and the human spirit. On the other hand perhaps it shows peoples' ability to shut out unpleasant things and act as though everything is fine.

I wrote a post titled "We are at War and Life Goes on as Usual" with some reflections on that.

I don't know the conclusion of all this. I struggle with how to respond to war and old attacks. I do know it is good to remember and to work for peace, even if I don't know how. Prayer is the place to begin, I guess, as always.

Remembering -- the attacks on the World Trade center, the Pentagon, Flight 93 and on 9/11/2012, American envoys in Benghazi.

God grant us peace.

Family Recipes

My grandmother always made the best Toll House Cookies. She used the recipe on the bag. The rest of us use that recipe, too, but our cookies don't come out like hers did. We have never been able to figure out what she did differently to what we do.

My mother was famous for her biscottis. They were small lemon cookies with lemon glazing. I think she got the recipe from my father's family.

I have been trying to make those biscottis since she died. I think I have mastered the cookie, but the frosting has yet to come out right. Tomorrow my aunt, my father's sister, is coming over to help. We are going to see if we conquer this frosting.

I hear many stories like this. Recipes have been passed down... but something is different. I don't know why that is. It would seem that if we use the same recipe and techniques, we should get the same results. I, suppose, that a person who makes a recipe standout must make minute, unconscious adjustments. They just have a flair for getting it right.


Are there any recipes like that in your family?

Two Beautiful Days

This week, I have been blessed by two wonderful days.

First, there was today. I attended the baptism of a friend's young daughter. We worshipped in a tent, went down to a cove for the baptism ceremonies and fellowshipped together at a barbecue. The weather was lovely, the spirit amazing. It was a truly fabulous way to celebrate new life in Christ. Such a happy occasion.

Then, there was last Thursday. I went out to Martha's Vineyard with CYC friends for a Memorial Service. The weather was gorgeous and John Wilbur --whom we were remembering -- had been the Conference's weatherman for decades. We worshipped at a lovely church, ate together, comforted the family and then went walking about before we got back on the ferry. A few of us even rode a carousel. We all talked about what a good day it had been.

And it had been a good day, for all that we were at funeral. John was close to 90 and was a man of faith who is surely with God. Our memories of him are good ones, his legacy a vital part of our lives. We were together. We laughed, remembered, shared, worshipped. In sunshine and warmth with just the right breeze. Yes, a good day.

What beautiful days have you been blessed with recently?






CYC is  a two-week conference for high school teens that combines worship, Christian education, friendship and fun to offer a life-changing experience on the beautiful southern coast of Maine.

This is my first entry in the July Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am going for 30 posts in 30 days!

Ten Thousand Angels.

This song by Ray Overholt provides and excellent reflection on the death of Jesus for us.

They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where He prayed;
They led Him thro' the streets in shame.
They spat upon the Savior so pure and free from sin;
They said, "Crucify Him; He's to blame."He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.Upon His precious head they placed a crown of thorns;
They laughed and said, "Behold the King!"
They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name
All alone He suffered everything.He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.When they nailed Him to the cross, His mother stood nearby,
He said, "Woman, behold thy son!"
He cried, "I thirst for water," but they gave Him none to drink.
Then the sinful work of man was done.He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.To the howling mob He yielded; He did not for mercy cry.
The cross of shame He took alone.
And when He cried, "It's finished," He gave Himself to die;
Salvation's wondrous plan was done.He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.

Veteran's Memorial

"Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure."

                                                                                                     ~Abraham Lincoln



Today, in honor of Veteran's Day, my town dedicated a new granite WWII Memorial Monument to replace the old decaying wooden one. It was at the request of veteran's and the town paid for it without  using any local taxes or government grants. It was all private donations from local residents, organizations and businesses. It was put up this week.

Jordan took pictures of both the building and the dedication. He go to learn about Armistice Day, weight load limits, cranes, monument building, granite and patriotism.

I hope that he learned how important it is to thank veteran's. I think I will set an example. To all of you military men and women, current and former, young and old, living and dead, whatever war you served in or if you served in peace:

THANK YOU!!

Dance in Peace

"Don't rest in peace, Charlie. Dance in peace... and joy"

In the midst of all the remembrances of my friend who died a few days ago, I found one with the sentence above. It seems fitting.

First of all, Charlie was never one to rest much. Even ill he kept going and going. He loved music and he loved to laugh. There are loads of pictures of him smiling. Dancing seems more like him then resting.

I also wonder if dancing is more what Heaven is about than resting. Certainly, when we believers reach Heaven, we enter into God's rest. Theologically, that means God will have completed us. We willl no longer be being worked on, created. We'll be "finished products." Does it mean that we will be in a perpetual state of rest? In some places there is mention of praising God in Heaven. The Bible talks about praising with singing, tambourines, lutes, lires and, yes, dancing! Sounds pretty active...but I think in Heaven we won't get tired.


It's just a random thought that popped into my head because of a sentence. What do you think? What will Heaven, the final version of Heaven, be like?




Oh .... and, Charlie, you will not be forgotten!!