Mother/Daughter Luncheon

In celebration of Mother's Day our church hosted a Mother/Daughter Luncheon today. It was called "Design on a Dime", and in addition to a lady-style lunch (choice of ham and cheese or chicken salad on a croissant, pasta salad, and mixed fruit), music, and a message we were entertained with a fashion show. Girls and women of all ages from our church walked down a runway showing off great buys which are fashionable and modest. The message shared was about modesty and what God's Word says how we are to dress. Kristen Hammel did a great job relaying the Scriptures to us.

At first I wasn't going to attend the luncheon because I had decided to not take Rebekah, but Tina wanted to go, so we went together since our mother's were indisposed. The reason I left Rebekah at home was because I figured she would be more into visiting with her friends and would have a hard time sitting still for the message. In retrospect, I think she would have enjoyed it, but she definitely would have struggled during the message. I will probably attempt to take her next year, though.

The tables were decorated in the theme of the Red Hat Society. Too cute!


Our table


Tina and me

Christ the Lord is Risen Today! Hallelujah!

After only four hours of sleep I managed to get up and ready for church on time! Praise the Lord! Thankfully I got a really good nap this afternoon/evening, and I'm not too sleepy at the moment.

The Easter service was just wonderful this morning! The music was powerful, and both services were packed! The overflow room was even being used to pipe the video for those who couldn't fit in the auditorium. From the choir loft it was just wonderful to see people worshiping during the praise/worship music time. We sang, "Up from the Grave He Arose" and "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" followed by the choir singing a new version of "Happy Day!" by Tim Hughes. (Linked is the artist's version while we did a choral arrangement.) We also sang this great praise chorus, "Revelation Song" by Kari Jobe. Todd Gaither, our interim minister of music, and two men in the choir finished the music time singing "Arise, My Love". Powerful!

The sermon was by one of our rotating interims, David Lawson, who gave a clear message of the Gospel and what Easter is all about. I had heard that Easter was originally a pagan holiday changed Christian, but did you know that is not true? It has always been a Christian holiday from the beginning. Only one person (I don't recall the name) ever said it was pagan, and this source had been known to spread other falsehoods as well. We also got to see a video of a woman in our church who was recently baptized give her testimony. It was really wonderful! Someone in the congregation during the first hour got saved also! Praise the Lord!

After church my parents joined us for lunch at our house. We had some really nice family time, we ate a lamb cake I made for the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and the kids dug into the Easter/Resurrection baskets, although they got to check them out after they awoke this morning.


Rebekah's basket: lamb, grape juice and animal crackers representing the wine and the bread, Easter stickers, chocolate cross, empty egg for the empty tomb, green grass for new life in Christ, promise seeds with Scripture (candy corn)


Joshua's basket: lamb, grape juice and animal crackers, Easter stickers, empty egg, green grass, promise seeds, and Cedarmont Kids Easter songs


Checking out their baskets




Darrin and I on our back porch in front of our beautiful dogwood. (We tried to do a family pic here, but the kids just wanted to run around!)


Family pic - the best we could get


The lamb cake - I ran out of frosting, I guess because I was too liberal starting out, and the perfectionism in me wanted to make more, but since it was already between 10:00 and 11:00 PM last night I opted not to run the mixer and risk waking everyone to make more icing.


Praise the Lord for sending His Son to die on a cross for our sin, but not only that, but He rose from the grave and He lives forever!!! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Joyous Night In December 2008

The ladies' ministry at our church has a Christmas dinner every year called the "Joyous Night in December". It is one of those traditions that I look forward to every year to kick off the Christmas season. At the "Joyous Night in Decemeber" women decorate tables beautifully for Christmas as well as host their table (or in some cases someone else will host if the decorator is doing a table two nights). We are served a delicious gourmet meal by men in the church and hear from a guest speaker, usually a Christmas message. The lights are dimmed after dinner while we listen to the message, and the entire room is just gorgeous with all the candles lit on the tables.

This is the table where my mom and I were seated.


This table is one of my favorites. I just love the whimsy of it. I know Rebekah will go bonkers over these pics because she is very much into gingerbread people and houses. We got her Gingerbread Baby this year. It is a take-off on Gingerbread Boy, and Rebekah loves this book! Anyway, here's the gingerbread table. Isn't it so cute?! I first took the back side of the house not realizing it was the back.


Then I saw the front.


Here's another one that is similar with the peppermint theme. The woman who did this table used her last name, Mingle, on one of the plates. Jingle-Mingle!


Some of my favorites are the nativity tables.



Some tables are simpler...


...while others are more elaborate.


Some are low on the table...


...while others are huge! (OK, this one was really huge, the biggest one there.)


Sometimes I think I would really like to try this, but I would be intimidated too. I've done it once before for a totally different kind of party, but it was not as elaborate as these. I'm not really creative enough to come up with my own ideas, but I can imitate what other people have done, and with all the pictures I have over the years of these tables I might be able to create my own. Maybe one day I'll have the guts enough to take the plunge and just do it.

Family Fall Festival

Last night was our church's Family Fall Festival. What a blast! Rebekah really got into the activities this year, particularly the big inflatables. She did a couple of the games, but she didn't care for them as much.

Of course, sliding is always a big hit!



Even Mama Bear and Baby Bear take a turn with Goldilocks!



Another big hit was this obstacle course. Even with all these big kids ramming through Rebekah didn't seem to care.



Of, course! There was a slide at the end!


Goldilocks and the 3 Bears


Tractor-pulled train...this one was too small for me to climb in with Joshua, so he didn't ride it. He had more fun walking all over the place with Darrin while I took Rebekah to play.


Joe, one of the men who is filling the pulpit while we are without a pastor, shared how cleaning out the gunk from a pumpkin, carving it, then putting a light inside relates to the Gospel. God cleanses us from our sin, makes us into a new person, then shines His light inside and through us.


Rebekah and her friends, Caroline and Rebecca

AWANA Starts Back!

Tonight was Rebekah's first day starting Cubbies in AWANA. She could not wait! Most of the other children in her class were also in Puggles last year, and a couple of them didn't want to promote because it was so fun last year, but Rebekah has been so excited for the past few weeks. She kept telling me she wanted to wear her Cubbies life jacket (i.e. vest) around the house, but I had to remind her that we needed to save it for Sunday nights. So tonight she finally got to dress for club.

This week I was recruited to help out as a leader in Cubbies, and I am getting to work in Rebekah's class. I got a few pictures from our first night. It is jam packed with activities, but it is a lot of fun, too! Tonight was just an introduction to Cubbies, so I know it's just going to get better.

All dressed and ready to go!


Rebekah poses for the first day in her class


After making a craft and having a snack they join with the younger 3's for a game.


Rebekah's turn!


After game time all the 3's join the 4's for music time and a puppet show.


We ended the evening back in our original classroom where the kids could color, do puzzles, or play until the parents came to pick them up. Since I am a leader I stay to clean up, so it makes for a later night, but I'm looking forward to taking a more active role in the Children's Ministry and to see first-hand what Rebekah is doing and learning in AWANA.