What's Your Spiritual Gift?

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind — just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

At church, several weeks ago now, our pastor preached a sermon that talked about spiritual gifts. It was a good and moving service, and I was quite taken aback when the pastor went around the room and individually named spiritual gifts that each person in our congregation was blessed with. Wow.

She really nailed my daughters. She named faith as a spiritual gift of my oldest, and joy, a gift of my youngest. What really surprised me was the gift she named for me. Teaching. Teaching? Really?

Funny, but when I was a younger working adult and went back to college, I wanted to get a degree so that I could become a teacher, but the counselors discouraged that choice, and so I focused on marketing instead. And my jobs since then have all been in sales-related fields. My passion has always been writing. So where does teaching fit into all of this?

But it does. Sales and marketing is a matter of educating a prospect on the benefits they will receive with your product or service. So I am teaching in my job. And as far as writing, it would be swell to think that something I wrote had an impact on someone in a manner that they felt they learned something.

So teaching as a spiritual gift is cool. And I hope to learn other meaningful ways in which to teach.

Christmas International House - Day 5 and 6; Christmas

Day 5 – Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve consists of dinner at my sister’s house, followed by a candlelight worship service at Woodforest Presbyterian Church. Our family tradition is to open one gift on Christmas Eve. For our kids, the gift is always pajamas so they have something new to wear on Christmas morning. For Ren Zhe, we give her a soft and fuzzy pair of socks with Shea Butter from Bath & Body Works.

Day 6 – Christmas Day
We spend Christmas Day at my mother’s house and enjoy good food and great company. The kids play games, and as always, Ren Zhe is an enthusiastic participant. She teaches them a card game she plays in China, and they call it "slaps" since Ren Zhe isn't sure the American name.

Today, I am surprised by Ren Zhe's intuitiveness. We play the game, Loaded Questions, and on one of the questions she very easily answers correctly that "too much to do" is one of my worries. I guess I am pretty transparent when it comes to stress.

I also learn that many of the people of Shanghai, China are Buddhist. There are many Buddha, unlike Christianity which has just one God. Taught to live a good life, Buddhist believe what they do in this lifetime determines what they will become in their next life, or rebirth. The worst is to come back as a bull or a horse, since everything is packed on their backs.

In Shanghai, people may get together to celebrate Christmas but it typically only involves dinner and well wishes for a happy Christmas. It has no religious significance. Christmas trees and decorations are not usually used in the homes and most people work, as it is not a major holiday.

Merry Christmas! While I'm not so sure I've done a good job preparing my heart during the Advent season, I am happy to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with my family and loved ones, and with our new friend Ren Zhe, from China.

The REAL Christmas Season

You hear it all the time. People say (me included),

All the stores have their holiday decorations out already - and it isn't even Thanksgiving!

Wouldn't it be nice if we finished one holiday before we started the next?

Christmas trees are up already in the stores, and it's just Halloween!

It's true; it gets earlier and earlier every year. But as quickly as the decorations go up, they also come down. It seems Christmas is over for most folks on December 26.

But wait a minute! Doesn't that just further commercialize Christmas? Are we to buy into the idea that Christmas is simply the days leading up to and including December 25?

During the children's sermon each Sunday during Advent, our Pastor has the children add figures to a nativity scene. It begins with an empty stable, of course, then animals are added each week. Mary and Joseph arrive, and finally on Christmas Eve, the baby Jesus.

But it isn't over yet. The Magi ("Three Kings" or "Three Wise Men") have yet to arrive to visit the baby Jesus. This will occur during our Epiphany worship service. This, to me, better signifies the ending to the Christmas story. We don't have to be in such a hurry to un-decorate, as Christmas is not yet over.

So, Merry Christmas (still)!

As for our household, the decorations did come down today, New Year's Day, as a matter of convenience (we always have this day off) and tradition (well, we always do it then). What about you? Are you still celebrating Christmas?

Wordless Posting - Pics of Live Nativity

Live Nativity - A Holiday Stress Buster

Continuing with the theme of my last post, I offer this as a holiday stress buster. While true this is still something to do, it's meant to result in your taking the time to reflect on the true meaning of this season. And it's fun and free, and the weather looks to be perfect.

Woodforest Presbyterian Church hosts its annual live nativity, tonight, between 6-8pm. It's your chance to dress as a shepherd or angel and participate. The stage is set for the holiest of nights, complete with stable, live animals, Mary, Joseph and the babe. Refreshments are served.

Woodforest Presbyterian Church is located at 15330 Wallisville Road, at the corner of Black Rock and Wallisville in Houston, Texas.

Perhaps one of the best ways to bust the stress of the season is to be intentional. Read this "Holidays or Holy Days" post by our church pastor, and please share your stress busting thoughts in the comments.

Psalm 100 for a 100th Post

This is my 100^th post to my WordProverb blog, which started back in June of 2007 with a post about our too busy lives. Many musings later, and still busier than ever, I'm tickled with the wonderful ride this blog has provided. Thank you for your readership, and for contributing your thoughts and comments. I hope you'll join me for another 100 posts.

A Psalm for giving thanks
In confirmation classes at our church, my daughter must pick out and share with her class one of her favorite Psalms. I like Psalms 100, and what better time to share it than with my 100^th post.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Do you have a favorite Psalm I can share with my daughter?

Awesome Kids! Awesome God!

The youth of Woodforest Presbyterian Church led the worship service last Sunday. That's right. The kids led the service and it was fantastic, from the Call to Worship to the Benediction and everything in between.

Many in the congregation congratulated the kids, and "good job" was heard often as people left the sanctuary. I know the kids did a good job, but what's more, it was also a great learning experience. The youth led service provided the kids an opportunity to better understand the order of worship, self-confidence in speaking in front of a crowd, and a better understanding of the work and preparation that goes into a service.

Here's one of the songs that the kids picked out and that the congregation sang! They are awesome kids that praise an awesome God!

Free Family Fun for Christmas

Anyone looking for free family Christmas fun in the Houston area, check out the live nativity at Woodforest Presbyterian church. They have live animals, a manger scene, and costumes to dress in. It's a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.

An Interesting Sermon

My husband and I normally attend Woodforest Presbyterian Church, but on a recent Sunday, we visited Christ the King Episcopal Church instead. The sermon that Sunday was on The Parable of the Talents, found in Matthew 25:14-30.

This is the story of the master who went away, giving five, two, and one talent each respectively to three servants. The servant receiving five talents doubled his money, as did the servant receiving two talents. But the servant who had received one talent was scared and didn't want to take a risk, so he buried the money and returned it – but no more – upon his master's return. Click here to read the actual bible verses to this parable.

What made this particular sermon unique however, is the activity the Reverend used in conjunction with the sermon. They actually passed out baskets of five-dollar bills and asked parishioners to take one. The parishioners were told to take their bill and use it to earn more money that they would return at a predetermined future date.

The Reverend gave examples of how the Parishioners might use their money to make more money… purchase supplies to make a craft that could be sold, a lemonade stand (for the kids), or a family could combine their bills to do something bigger. She challenged everyone to think about it.

This was a distinctive and memorable sermon. I hope that when the date comes for the Parishioners to return the money, Christ the King Episcopal Church finds they have many good and faithful servants indeed!

I'm curious, what would you do with your five-dollar bill?

A Dirt-y Weekend!

What a truly magnificent weekend! I had forgotten how much I love to play in the… dirt! All those fond memories came flooding back this past weekend, as we undertook the project of making a garden.

Gardening has been in my blood for many years. One of my favorite childhood memories is of running through the paths of the garden at my great great Aunt Grace's house. What a spectacular garden she had! She grew every imaginable vegetable and fruit. Of course, Aunt Grace lived on a farm, off a gravel road in rural southern Illinois, and the prairie soil there was rich and fertile.

I undertook my first real garden in Massachusetts. Oh, I had grown things before, a tomato here or there, perhaps a flower, but this was my first real garden. Rows of perfectly placed vegetables, tenderly cared for and watered. I even had a perennial garden patch of asparagus, strawberries, and chives. Everything grew prolific.

Here in Texas, it's a little bit different. I tried a garden when I first moved here. I tilled the soil, added some Miracle Grow, planted, and… well, suffice it to say everything died. I couldn't keep up with it. Every day it seemed the invasive grass inched closer and closer to my precious plants, and then the weeds began taking over. The soil was like clay, not the dark rich fertile soil of up north. Plus, it was hot. Smack dab in the middle of summer, I gave it up and let the grass take it over. Nevertheless, I learned some valuable lessons for any future attempt at gardening in Texas.

First off, this newly created garden is not sitting on the ground. We built an 8' x 12' box out of timbers that sits 12" high (just let the grass try to grow up into that)! Next, we lined the bottom of our garden with wet newspapers, to keep weeds from growing, and over that we placed black plastic.

We then had five yards of garden soil delivered, of which probably two or three yards went into the garden. Still unconvinced it was of the same quality soil as our previous garden (and Aunt Grace's garden), we then added some Miracle Grow continuous-release fertilizer to the soil.

Finally, as we dug the hole for each plant, we filled it with Miracle Grow bagged garden soil.

I'll keep you posted as to how the plants are doing. Right now, it's so fun to go out each morning to check the "crops." We're growing tomatoes, eggplant, sweet onion, jalapeño, and an artichoke! I also have a row of Zinnia's for cut flowers! I'm so excited to be back working playing in the dirt!

I'd love to hear your gardening stories and challenges, and especially any tips or tricks for a successful garden in Texas! If you love gardening too, please add a comment to this post.

P.S. As promised, here are pictures from this Easter at Woodforest Presbyterian Church, where each year we participate in the "flowering of the cross."

TGI-Good-F

Thank Goodness It’s GOOD Friday! It’s always wonderful when Friday rolls around in a week, but this Friday is Good Friday, making it especially fantastic. But have you ever wondered why we commemorate a holiday that represents the darkest day in history? After all, this is the day of Jesus Christ’s horrific suffering; the day he was beaten and nailed to a cross.

The good news is we know the end to that story, because in three days he rose and defeated death. He washed away our sins and paved our way for eternal life.

To borrow some words from my pastor from the confession and assurance part of our worship service …

He lived for us;
He died for us;
He rose in power and glory for us;
Friends believe the good news of the gospel; in Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

We will be “flowering the cross” on Easter morning at Woodforest Presbyterian Church in Houston. This is a tradition dating back to the 6^th century and symbolizes the new life in our risen Lord. A bare and wooden cross has been in our churchyard throughout the season of Lent. Adorned with flowers on Easter morning, its transformation is breathtaking. It visually represents the new life we are celebrating. I will try to post pictures afterwards as it truly proves to be beautiful each year. Some years we accompany this with a butterfly release, only I’m not sure if that is part of the program this year or not.

If you are looking for a place to celebrate the resurrection of Christ this Easter Sunday, I invite you to attend services at Woodforest Presbyterian Church at 10:00am.

And, as my kids are so fond of saying, "Hoppy Easter!"

LIVE NATIVITY

What better way to prepare your heart and mind for Christmas than to visit a live nativity during Advent. Through the ministry of Woodforest Presbyterian Church, visiting and participating in a live nativity can become a reality. All are welcome; please stop by for this magical dose of Christmas that will leave you filled with the Holy Spirit.

The manger takes center stage, where the baby Jesus lies sleeping with Mary and Joseph standing nearby. The donkey, sheep and goats, and even a camel grace the landscape and munch on hay, while shepherds and angels gather to celebrate and see the miraculous birth.

Guests are invited to don shepherd and angel costumes and interact at the stable scene. Costumes are provided, as is a free Polaroid picture of your party with Mary and Joseph at the manger. Cookies, coffee, tea, or hot cocoa is also available. Everything is free and it’s great fun! The tough decision then becomes, which costume to select, the angel or the shepherd.

Both are so important to the Christmas story.

THE CHRISTMAS STORY
from Luke 2: 1-14

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

Woodforest Presbyterian Church is located at 15330 Wallisville Road, Houston, TX 77049, at the corner of Wallisville at Black Rock. The church website address is www.woodforestpc.org. The live nativity event will be held on Saturday, December 15, at 6:00-8:00 p.m. I invite you to attend!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

What I Like Most About Church

I missed church this morning. Missing church is not something I do often or take lightly. To help alleviate some of the guilt I am feeling over missing church and my Sunday morning ritual of fellowship and worship, I thought I would spend a few minutes blogging about what I like most about church. My church in particular.

Woodforest Presbyterian Church is very small, and that is exactly one of the things that I like about our church. When you arrive, whether for a morning worship service or an evening bible or book study, you are always greeted with genuine smiles and warm hugs. Everyone knows everyone, and there is truly a sense of community, of family.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.–Matt. 18:20. And so it is. I can truly feel the Lord's presence at my church when we gather together in worship and in fellowship. While the church may be small, it is large in belief.

Right now, in the adult Sunday school class we are studying the Book of Revelation. Another wonderful reason to love our church, this study is fascinating to say the least. Enough so that I will need to reserve more time and space to a more full discussion at a later time. Suffice it to say that we have a magnificent and very knowledgeable leader, one that is able to reference many Old Testament passages that support the Book of Revelation, very interesting questions and conversation, and well, we know the end. God wins!

These are just few things that come to mind when I think of reasons I love my church. There are more. In fact at one point we came up with and published a "top ten list" of reasons to attend Woodforest Presbyterian Church. I don't remember all ten, but I know fellowship and a sense of community was right at the top.

We don't have much information posted on our website, but it you want to take a look, the address is http://www.forministry.com/USTXPCUSAWPCWP/.

Shalom!