Easter with the Homeless

This morning, my youngest son and I served breakfast to the homeless. Our church has a weekly ministry at the park on Sundays. It's called "Church at the Park".


While people eat, a simple church service is given.



I was in charge of sliced oranges. People said "please" and "thank you". Some of them stayed after and helped us fold up the long tables.

"Church in the Park" happens every Sunday rain or shine.

Today on Easter we had about 80 guests. They are from all walks of life. Some live at the park, a few came on bikes, some came on foot with backpacks, 2 came on the bus...

As people threaded by me, I wasn't sure whether to say "Happy Easter" because of their hard lives. So I said, "Would you like more oranges?"

"Happy Easter!" a toothless man smiled.

"Happy Easter!" said a another.

One man went forward at the end of the church service. He said later, "I've been saved 5 times now!"

It was a wonderful way to spend Easter morning.

Eyewitnesses

If Christ has not risen from the dead, there is no reason to embrace the Christian faith. There is no reason to believe there is life after death.

If Christ has not risen from the dead, we are alone in this vast universe. We are a fluke...an accident.

If Christ has not risen from the dead, then his eyewitnesses...his disciples lived...and died for a lie.

I am joyful today, because I believe the records that have been passed down...

I trust Peter's words (2 Peter 1:16) in his letter written around 65,66,67 AD. "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, BUT WE WERE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY."

And John says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN with our eyes, which we have LOOKED AT and our HANDS HAVE TOUCHED....The life appeared; we have SEEN IT and TESTIFY to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. I John 1: 1-3.

One of my favorite books is "A Ready Defense" by Josh Mc Dowell. He discusses the evidences pointing to the reliability of these eyewitness accounts. The Jewish culture into which Jesus was born did use literary documents, but primarily, it was an oral-tradition-based culture. In the time of Christ...to learn by heart and recite were two normal ways of transmission of a text. A number of rabbinic quotations are cited showing how important it was in Jewish culture to receive and transmit oral tradition accurately. In one quote, a pupil is described as having learned it from his teacher "forty times and it became for him as though it lay in his purse." One of the rabbinic quotes advises to sing the words every day.

I think I'm drifting off topic...but the above inspires me to memorize more scripture.
Filling one's mind with scripture can keep one grounded.

Lost

My blogging friend's daughter disappeared, but tonight word is out that Ladybug has been found! This made my night! If you don't know Cynthia, you might want to. She's an excellent writer. Her blog is called Walking On.

We are in the midst of our own struggles over here. And it's so hard to trust the Lord. Just tonight, I was thinking...is God really out there? Yet I have been praying for my friend's missing daughter. When I visited her blog tonight...I can see that God is there...and he brought a lost lamb home! Yaaaaaah!!!

Although my son is here, he is not here. He is in another world. It seems we may not be able to harbor him much longer. It's the hardest thing in the world to force a son to leave. Especially when he doesn't have a place to go. I can't believe God would ask me to do this. Although it might be the best thing for him in God's eyes...it doesn't make it any easier on me.

But our family is worn-out, and it is hard for us to keep our jobs, with everything that is going on. It's hard for our other son. Our family is splitting apart.

We didn't have "Easter" last year because of problems with our son. And this year, it has happened again.

I want to keep him here and try to get him the help he needs.
My husband wants to expel him and save our family.

Lord...what do you want?

Special Weekend

I was so fortunate to be able to go to the beach twice last weekend. Once with my friend Lynn and back down again the next day to see my brother who was visiting my parents. He lives in Colorado.

We decided to set out for some family tennis. This was mom's first time out on her new knee. She had a knee replacement on January 14th. My dad has also had a knee replacement.



My brother and me
Mom, my brother and dad

When we got back, a friend of my dad's brought over his radio car. While the men played, mom and I took a drive.




We ended up at the beach. Mom rested in the car while I followed the path down to the tide pools.




Click on the picture, you can see the Pelicans perched on the rock!

It was nice to breathe some prayers, and to walk around on the rocks.
...Things are still rough with my son. It will be a long journey. But I remind myself that the Shepherd has a rod and a staff. I pray he will guide my son out of danger.

An Unexpected Break

Meet my friend Lynn.



On Sunday, she caused something very unexpected. She called me on the phone and said, "I need a mental break--Let's go roller blading at the beach."

Roller blading at the beach? The beach was a 45 minute drive. Besides that, I had a lot of stuff to do around the house.

But then again....the idea of roller blading at the beach sounded so fun...so...so...wind-in-the-face wild!

(do I look wild?)

Off we went with reckless abandon.

We skated for miles along the sandy sidewalk.

Finally we took our wheels off, and went for a walk. Below, Lynn pauses to watch some fishermen.
(click for a closer look--City of Long Beach in the background)

I splashed through the water.

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We ran along the beach. The soft earth massaged our feet. Our hearts pounded. Anxieties melted away in the wind. And God's breath brushed our faces, as if to say, let go of your burdens...let them blow away in the wind.

We arrived home at 4:30 p.m. As soon as I walked in the door, Mozart greeted me. "Can you help me?

"Can you take this down and have it copied?" He handed me a thick stack of music.
"I'm trying to get ready for a session tomorrow and I falling behind."

Fifteen minutes later I was at Office Depot, pushing papers through...a copy machine. And dealing with paper jams. But for some reason I felt calm.

I remembered the blue rolling waves, the sand under my feet, and the wind blowing softly across my face.

God's Sombrero

In recent weeks, my My husband has been composing a lot of music. He is under contract for 3 CD's of original music. It's now time to record drums, and his favorite drummer lives in the foothills of our local mountains. My husband (I'll call him Mozart) wanted to take a CD up to him so Mr. Drummer could familiarize himself with the music. "I'll go with you," I said.

It seems we haven't been on a date in a year. This would be an opportunity to be alone with Mozart. Well I had forgotten how fast he drives. Then I remembered how little he drives! He usually hibernates in his studio, at home. Fortunately we made it in one piece.

After delivering the CD and some small talk (in Mr. Drummers living room) about cymbals and mudslides, we stepped outside. Mr. Drummer's street is very dark and I immediately noticed how beautiful the stars looked. In front of me, was the constellation of Orion, and behind me, the Big Dipper. Now I hardley ever see those two out together...but that's what happens this time of year. Yet, in a while Orion will drift out of the crisp spring sky, and we'll have the Big Dipper as our host for the entire summer.

Recently my dad sent me some pictures taken by the Hubble Telescope. I love this picture of the Sombrero Galaxy.

Isn't God amazing?



Have you ever seen some of the photos that the Hubble has taken? After looking at these beautiful pictures, I have often wondered....were those pictures touched up? Is space really that colorful? Click here for some facinating facts. colors

My dad, who is now retired, worked on the Hubble. The company he worked for made all the optics for it. (I just called my dad right now to confirm I had this right.)
"Yes, that's correct."
"Do you want me to write anything else?"
"No, that's okay." (He sounded in a hurry)
"So....what are you doing right now?"
"I'm trying to hoist the giraffe up in the air."

For those of you who remember, my dad's latest project is building an enormous giraffe.

Have a nice day. And don't forget to look up at night!

Sunshine or Rain

Today, before, getting out of bed, I reached over to my table for a little book. I turned to the section that said "How can I respond to life's sometimes troubling circumstances?"

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and fields lie empty and barren, even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains."--the Bible, in Habakkuk 3:17-19

I am encouraged to know that God can bring me safely over the mountains. The comment under the scripture reads:

"Focus more on the joy, the peace and the future that come from a relationship with God and less on your troubles. You can always respond joyfully to the God who offers you the eternal (lasting forever) gift of salvation (forgiveness and friendship with God--through Jesus Christ). The more you wallow in unpleasant circumstances the more they may drag you under. The more you reach out to God, the more he can lift you up."

The little book is: "Touchpoints for Troubled Times".

The small book is filled to the brim with scriptures sorted according to situations.

The next verse listed was this one:

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.--I Thes 5:18

The books goes on to say..."Accept life's circumstances with thanksgiving to God, as well as trust in him for his constant presence and comfort. Whether you are currently living in SUNSHINE OR RAIN. God never changes and his love for you never changes. God is always eager to teach you something from both the good and the bad."

God is attentive. He knows. understands, and has compassion...about our circumstances. He is always at our side. He teaches us-in both the good situations and the difficult ones. Our situations change, but God's love is steadfast.