Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay so it's a bit early, but today was the day Tim and I could celebrate. So we cooked 2 chickens , 5 kilograms of potatos, some cornbread and a bag of black beans, and at it all ourselves. Okay, just kidding, we ended up having 16 people over for lunch in the end (the party kind of grew... we were even adding people at 1 O'clock today!) And they each brought a side dish to supplement the meal. Our last guests stayed til about 6:30 tonight, and it was SUCH a wonderful day! We got up at 7ish to start cooking and went to church, then came back and finished everything off. We loved it, and it was actually so easy to do, Tim and I said to eachother tonight that we should definitely do it more often. (I also thought to myself More Power To Catriona Lamont - the minister's wife at my previous church, St. Columba's - who does this single-handedly every blimmin' week.)

I was really praying that it wouldn't be JUST a day of eating (as Thanksgiving in America can typically be) but a really blessed day where peoples' relationships are deepened, and they leave encouraged and closer to God. I have to say, thanks to the Lord, I really think that happened. I saw a few significant conversations going on, and could tell that people were truly blessed by the community gathered in this house. I'm so thankful to Him. It reminds me of one day in my Texas home, many years ago, when Mom and Dad put on a Thanksgiving lunch, and we ended up collecting a selection of strays who didn't really have plans. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is cool, this is how I want to live life." (Lord, please give me eyes to see more clearly those opportunities to love people better in your Name around me.)

Music: When I Was Drinking - Hem
Mood: Mmmmmmmm....

Adventures Ahoy!!!

Well, today my mom, dad, and baby sis have embarked on an amasing adventure. They are going to INDIA for 2 weeks! The reason it's so amasing is that my sister, Skylar, will get to see her birthplace for the first time in her memory. They'll fly in to Mumbai, then go to Pune(and get to visit BSSK, the childrens' home where Sky was for her first 10 mos), Lonavala (birthtown), Dheli, Agra(Taj Mahal!) and Srinigar (we have close family friends that live and work there).

Skylar has always seemed extra-special to me because she is from India. Had the turn of events been different, she might not have been my sister. But I'm so glad she is - God sure knew what He was doing. I wish I could be with her as she goes to see this strange and yet familiar land. The preciousness of it is almost beyond words, and I can't wait to hear what her experience of it was like.

Love you Sky. Have a blast.

-Sis

Monday, Monday...

The weekend was nice. Worked Saturday morning and evening. In between I went to part of a training day for the Navs students which was helping them to think about what the core nugget of their beliefs as Christians are (known as The Gospel), and how they would communicate that briefly. I wasn't there for the bit where they went on to the Royal Mile and asked other people what they believed... I think they got allsorts. The students asked these acquaintances what things were most important in life, what they wanted to have accomplished by the end of their life, what they thought happened after death, who or what God was to them, etc...
Very interesting the responses! I don't people generally put much thought in to recognising and being able to communicate what their core beliefs are.

Sunday, we went to church at MBC and the sermon was definitely challenging: Matthew 6 says your heart is wherever your treasure is, so what is your stewardship of your money telling you? I had no idea that, after "The Kingdom", Jesus spoke more about MONEY than anything else! That is huge, and we don't challenge ourselves on that enough.
For Sunday lunch we went to the Wexlers', a couple from my choir, for curry. It was really nice to get some good time to chat with them. And in the evening we had our next-but-one-door neighbours Kris and Sarah over for tea and games. I love having friends so close by - it reminds me of Mom and Dad's stories of living next door to some friends, the DeVries', including late night card games, etc... :-)

Current Mood: Gearing up for Navs!
Current Music:... Nothing particularly. That's unusual!