Sunday, December 31, 2006

End of Year Activities

This morning I'll be heading out early to pick up Walter for church. I have choir practice so I'll have to leave a bit earlier than normal, no problem though - this will be our last Sunday excursion like this since next week he'll have his car back.

Our Sunday school lesson covered Psalms 107 - Dr. See refered to it as covering the Facts and Philosophy of the Travel of Life. Basically this one little Psalm covers all the "universal" things that we all must go through in life, and how to deal with them. The three basic ones we covered (although there are more) were sorrow & suffering; sickness; and seeing God at work. Generaly we must learn that, "I" can't control anything or anybody else only myself and that "I" must rely on the unlimited mercy of God. He also noted that we give away our peace when we allow others to irriate us. It is a giving away of our peace that causes the strife. We must give mercy to get mercy. If we look into all the storms of life, we can see God. His timing and ours are not always the same, but it is his unlimited mercy that will give us peace.

It was interesting that Dr. Fowler's sermon also dealt with Peace. It was interesting to note that the word peace/shalom mean a completeness, wholeness, and wellness of your being. It is an all encompassing word with a much deeper meaning than we usually speak of. It is only through having a relationship with Jesus can we have peace with others; our circumstances (be content); with ourselves; and with God. Some of the points that he gave as hinderances to this peace were: excessive worry; unwillingness to turn over our problems/worries over to God and leave them with him; continued focus on our circumstances; the sin in our life that we are not willing to deal with (refusal to forgive; pray, etc.) The third point on his sermon was on how to experience His peace by: receiving Christ as Savior; be reconciled to others; develop a habit of prayer; Refuse to think negatively [of the past, present and future]; and continuously & confidently putting our trust in God.

Dean is talking about a family outing this afternoon. We may go into town and take a walk on the flood wall or perhaps along the canal walk. A lot will depend upon the weather. If it is bad weather maybe we can take in a museum; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is always a good choice.

Walter has ordered himself a repair manual for his car. That will give him plenty of reading material for his out of town trips. Apparently Volvo only made the type of car that he has for two years. I guess that makes it super special.

Since the weather this afternoon is overcast and yucky we really didin't want to get out and find ourselves in a sudden rain storm. After much debate we decided on a alternate plan. It looks like our earlier choices have lost out to the Science Museum of Virginia and a movie at the IMAX theater there. We are going to see Night at the Museum, which promises to be a very good movie. If you click on the poster it will take you to the page movie trailer. The trailer itself is very good.

The movie was great, although the only thing that would have made it better was to see it on a regular movie screen. I remember now what it was about IMAX that I don't like. You can't see everything, unless you are sitting in exactly the top middle row of the theater. The plot was quite interesting - imagine everything in a museum coming to life at sundown. The statutes, wax figures, animal exhibits everything. The night watchman is responsible for keeping everything out of the museum as well as everything inside. It really does keep you guessing as to what will happen next. I can't wait till it comes out on DVD to really watch it again, because there have got to be a hundred subtle things in the movie to find. Most likely a real treasure trove...

Mom sent this great New Year's card - I know that she probably even took the picture of the fireworks herself. Thats a great way for the New Year to come in with real spectacular blast!

Speaking of fireworks if this year is anything like previous ones the fireworks will be going off all over the neighborhood. Someone will get really carried away and keep shooting them off until almost 1 a.m. A typical start of a New Year - perhaps I can at least be in the bed and ready to snooze some before the noise begins.

Come to think of it, it might be a good night to get some audio recordings of the fireworks exploding....hmmm.....

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thoughts for the Day:
  • Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but, wont' get you anywhere.
  • "What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching your destination." - Zig Ziglar
  • The author of doubt is Satan.

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