Memorial Day

It was a beautiful day today, very hot and dry.  Don worked on lattice on the porch and finished it up and did some priming so that when we buy some white paint, it will paint on easily. We would like to paint the doors, all doors, green so as to give the house some color.  Then we went out to some parishoners for the day, swam in their pool, laid around, ate and I got to experience swinging on a hammock, what fun that was.  It was a good Memorial Day and our first here in Butler, PA.  We have almost been here a year, ya!  Where has the time gone!

Warmer weather

This is our garden. We have worked very hard on it. This last week, Monday, we had 10 yards of rock delivered to the house, and so Don and I spread it all around. We are building a berm on the side of the house where all the rock is, but that will not be finished until fall some time, and we will plant some bushes next spring. Hopefully next spring will not be as volatile as it is this spring. We have had nothing but rain and to the far south of us, just tornadoes and flooding. We are so happy to be where we are at, though we do keep in prayer those who have lost their homes, their livelihood, and memories in pictures and loved ones.

We have an abdundant amount of shale here, and I do not always know what to do with it, so decided to make a bed just of shale. I also wanted tomatoes and green pepper and I am also trying my hand at cucumbers. Don is going to make me a trellis so the cucumbers can climb up it.

This weekend is Memorial Day. Saturday they are having a parade downtown, so Don and I are thinking of parking at the church and just walking and seeing the parade and try to meet other folks we might know. We are having our Sunday service on the yard, under the shade of trees. It is suppose to get up to 90 degrees this weekend. It happens all at once, doesn't it?

I hope for a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We bought our flag to hang out, so we will be like most folks on our block with the flag. I will take a picture and put it on our blog. Happy Memorial Day to all.

John 14:1-4

Our gospel lesson today was from John.  Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me. 


Sometimes that is a little hard to do.  One of the things I have done is stopped excessively worrying.  I allow myself to worry a couple of times a month, although yesterday was an exception, but today I keep telling myself not to worry, that everything is all right.   For me it is mind over matter, it can be difficult and I have to continually remind myself that I am not in control, that there is a higher power, and all the worry will not change the outcome whatever that may be.  Life is very short and how we live it is up to us, at least for me that is true, so everyday I take off that worry hat and discard it for one of faith.  "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me."
Written by Anna

Home Ownership

Well here I am digging out our moat around our house. Actually just one side of our house. We dug out 2 trenches, one above the first trench closest to the house and one right by the house. The one right by the house, we have put in 4 inch pipe so as to divert the water away. Tomorrow we get a load of gravel, so half of our house with have lots of gravel so as to keep out the water. We are also going to put it around all sides of the house, so that the water has someplace else to go. Oh, the joys of home ownership. The work never seems to stop. Our next big project will be replacing all the basement windows, which Don is going to do with a little help from one of our parishoners and yours truly.

Right now it is sunny, so hopefully tomorrow will be the same. They are delivering the rock at 9 am, so you know what we will be doing in the morning. Plus I hope it stays nice so that we can mow and weed whack.

Written by Anna 

Gardening

This is beginning of our garden. We created this over a couple of days. What you cannot see if a red bud tree. It has now gotten leaves. It is just a baby. Next year it will have more and perhaps even have some red flowers on it. It is sunny right now, oh how that lifts my spirits.

Gettysburg

This last April, Don and I had the opportunity to visit Gettysburg.  We had been wanting to since we moved to the state of Pennsylvania.  There is so much history here, and it just seems there is never enough time for us to be able to get away, especially now that we have a kitty that has to have medication twice a day.  We have our challenges, but we make the best of what we can.  Anyway, we decided for a quick get away, especially before the gas got too expensive to drive around.   

We stayed the night at Gettysburg Seminary, which overlooks one of the battlefields.  We have the movie Gettysburg, and always in the beginning it shows Seminary Ridge where the seminary stands.  It was so exciting for me to see this.  I love history, especially the Civil War.  

That first day we visited the museum.  It was so impressive, it took most of all day to tour it.  We were pretty saturated with history by the time we finished our tour.   My main interest was to see where the 20th Maine fought their battle on Little Round Top. The reason for my interest is that my great-great-grandfather, Don Carlos Sinclair, fought in the Civil War.  Thank goodness not in Gettysburg.  He fought in Petersburg, in Virginia, another bloody battle that lasted almost a year.  He started out with the Maine 19th infantry before transferring to First Artillery while in Petersburg.  I was in awe walking some of the Civil War battlefields and seeing the ground the South had to cross.  The following are a collection of pictures, not all of them, just a smattering what there is.  All along both battlefields, North and South, are monuments put up by the regiments and states to honor the fallen. 

This farmhouse was used as a hospital.  There were so many thousands of men wounded, they had to find a place to treat them all, so the army took over many farmhouses and turned them into makeshift hospitals.  Gettysburg Seminary was also used as a hospital, that is until school started and they needed the seminary back to begin classes.

Reflections

We have lived in Butler, Pennsylvania for almost a year now.  The time has passed quickly.  This year has been full of wonder, joy, sadness, loneliness, anticipation, love, patience, and acceptance.  Wow, what a plethora of emotions. Part of the emotions stem from what has happened in the ELCA in the last couple of years. 

I am a Christian first and a Lutheran second.  Our church split this year due to a decision that the ELCA made in 2009.  In making this decision, our church split.  There is now the NALC and the ELCA.  The split came because of a vote to allow gay and lesbian pastors be in committed relationships.  I will be honest, I am not sure how I feel about that.  I am not sure how I feel about using the bible as a book of condemnation either.  That is not what God is about.  God is about bringing people together.  He is about love and forgiveness.  His children are not always as accepting or forgiving.   

Luke 6:27, 30, and 31.  I say to you listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, "bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  Give to everyone who begs from you.  Do to others as you would have them do to you. 

Luke 6:35.  Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.  Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most high; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

Luke 6:37:  Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. 

I like these verses, they speak to me, especially for today.  There is much fear, anger, and hopeless in our world.  Fear of the unknown, anger because of the fear and a loss of control, hopeless over wondering where our world is going and what will happen to us.  Many are without jobs, homes, even family.  How can we as Christians stop the tide?  Do we look to ourselves or do we look to God our Father?  What do you suppose God is trying to convey to us?  He certainly is not a vengeful God as so many people try to make him out to be.  He is our Father, a loving and forgiving God who only wants the best for us.

One of my favorite psalms if Psalm 23, which is appropriate for this Sunday as it is about the Good Shepherd.  John 10:1-8.

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.  The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  the gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep hear his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

According to the Lutheran thinking, this means that Jesus' own are able to recognize his voice.  The man born blind responds to Jesus' voice and is healed.  Lazarus was dead four days, but responded to Jesus' voice when he heard him and raised from the dead.  Mary Magdalene heard Jesus call her name as she was mourning his death, and recognized his voice.  "Are we as Christians able to recognize Jesus' voice in our lives?"

The Good Shepherd lends itself back to Psalm 23.  The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.  He leads me in the right paths for his name sake.

I think I do hear God's voice in my everyday life.  Sometimes it is hard to always do what he wants of me, but I listen and I hear.  I hear God in the birds.  I hear and see God in my church community.  I see God in the children in my neighborhood.  And even though I am not close to my family, I see God there at work.  When life gets tough and there are many worries, I look to God and give him back those things that I cannot do anything about.  By giving to God everyday my worries and fears, I live my life that much more joyously.  God is great and let us all rejoice! 

As far as the issue of allowing people to be in committed relationships who are not straight, I will not judge.  God is judge.  I will not think for God and pretend to know what he is thinking or why he does things.  I will not use the bible as a weapon either to prove or disprove. I will not use the bible to say one religion is wrong and another right.  We ultimately all believe in the same God.  God is in charge.  We are all his children, all of us, not just a segment of us, not just Christians, but everyone period.  Thanks be to God! 
Written by Anna