Prayer for the City of Nashville

O God, who is in the midst of the city,
     hear us as we pray for our city,
     The city of Nashville.

You hold us accountable if justice is denied
     even to one of us, including the stranger
     within our gates.

You delight in us
     when faith, hope, and love
     describe the way we live.

Have mercy on us when
     our unfaithfulness breaks our covenants,
     our hopelessness threatens our future, and
     our lovelessness undermines our most precious
     relationships.

Thank you, God, Source of forgiveness,
     who enables us to begin again,
     by God's grace.

We pray for the peace of the city, and for
     the courage to do the deeds that make for peace.

Help us be good neighbors
     to our neighbors.

Give us the purpose
     to follow Jesus,
     who is Building Bridges
     between one and another, and
     between us and God.

Amen. And let all the people say, Amen.

Written by DeLane M. Ryals on October 7, 2006
Read on Sunday, October 31, 2010, in morning worship at First Baptist Church, Nashville, TN

Sister Saturday: Halloween Edition

 1972

I was a witch and Jeanette was a ghost for several years in a row.

I think this was the first year. She was 3 and I was 5.



1976

I think I was purposely being a sad clown.

By this time, I hated figuring out what to be

and hated dressing up in a costume.

I was also jealous that Jeanette got to have a store-bought mask,

although I got store-bought makeup.

Jeanette made a cute Raggedy Ann!

My Soul Finds Rest in God Alone

I first heard this song when a friend posted the video on Facebook and I immediately loved it. So, I was very excited when our Worship Leader, Jeff, chose to sing it at Grace last Sunday. I have hardly been able to get the tune out of my head since working on the bulletin last Friday (of course, the fact that I can now listen to it on my iPod helped). :-)




Psalm 62

My soul finds rest in God alone,
My Rock and my salvation,
A fortress strong against my foes,
And I will not be shaken.
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse,
And lies like arrows pierce me,
I’ll fix my heart on righteousness,
I’ll look to Him who hears me.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

Find rest, my soul, in God alone
Amid the world’s temptations;
When evil seeks to take a hold
I’ll cling to my salvation.
Though riches come and riches go,
Don’t set your heart upon them;
The fields of hope in which I sow
Are harvested in heaven.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

I’ll set my gaze on God alone,
And trust in Him completely;
With every day pour out my soul,
And He will prove His mercy.
Though life is but a fleeting breath,
A sigh too brief to measure,
My King has crushed the curse of death
And I am His forever.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

O praise Him, O praise Him, hallelujah, hallelujah,
O praise Him, O praise Him, hallelujah, hallelujah,
O praise Him, O praise Him, hallelujah! hallelujah!

Words & Music by Stuart Townend & Aaron Keyes
Copyright (c) 2007 Thankyou Music (admin. worldwide by worshiptogether.com songs excluding Europe, which is admin. by kingswaysongs.com) (PRS)

Sister Saturday

Jeanette got a cute new hair cut yesterday.

 I think it makes her look more like me!

But that's fine with me. After all, we are sisters!



Celebrating Life, Love and Hope

This past Saturday I had the honor of walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with some dear friends to celebrate our friend, Patty. Almost a year ago, Patty was diagnosed with breast cancer and began a journey toward recovery that was not easy, but which God graciously led her through. Today, Patty is cancer-free and we wanted to celebrate! And we were glad that she drove us to the Race, 'cause as a Survivor, she got a prime parking spot!

Before we got out of the van, we spent some time in prayer, thanking God for what He has done in her life, to bring her to this point. We also spent some time lifting up other women and men who are currently in the middle of battles against cancer. One thing I came away with from this event was that while we were among many who were there to celebrate life and survivorship, there were many others who were there to walk or run in memory of a loved one or friend who lost the battle. It was especially sobering and humbling to me to see young children with t-shirts memorializing a grandmother, aunt or a mom. I also appreciated seeing teen-aged boys out there running, realizing that some of them would one day have a wife with breast cancer.

It was a beautiful day to walk and it was fun to be with Patty on her first Race as a Survivor. We also met another Survivor, who was celebrating being two years cancer-free on that exact day of the event.

We ended the morning at The Perch enjoying crepes together.

Chihuly Night @ Cheekwood

My friend, Sondra, invited me, Shawn Marie and Ruth to be her guests at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, viewing the exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures. We had a fun, relaxing time strolling around seeing the sculptures. There were a couple of really pretty ones hanging inside the mansion, but they didn't allow photography inside.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the evening.  I took over a hundred shots and edited them down to about forty. (And I would have posted a few more than this here, but I couldn't figure out how to rotate the vertical shots and Blogger wouldn't cooperate.)

Hint, hint

The second novel in the Father Tim series, by Jan Karon, is coming out on October 19! The books in the Mitford series are probably my all-time favorite books and I have read through most of them twice. I wasn't so sure I was going to like a new series about the main character from Mitford, Father Tim, but of course I did! Jan Karon is just too good a writer for me to not like the new story.

The only thing I don't like about Jan Karon's writing is how long it takes for her to get the next book out in a series. I think she is now so popular that she can take her sweet time and it doesn't hinder her sales, but when I get surprised about the next book coming out because it had been so long since the first one, that's a little too long. I'll probably need to re-read the first book just to refresh my memory! Today, I opened an email from the nice people at Amazon letting me know that I could pre-buy this new book right now, if I so desire.

I really should put it on my Christmas list (hence, the hinting in the title of this post), but it will remain to be seen if I will be able to wait another two and a half months to get the book. If anyone reading this post decides to take my hint, you might want to keep the receipt, in case I cave. Another option is that I could get it for my Dad, who's birthday happens to be October 19, and then I could pre-read it for him, to make sure he'd like the gift. Nevermind that he hasn't read the first one in the series . . . or any of the Mitford books. I think he probably has at least heard of Jan Karon though!

Hmmm . . . to wait or not to wait . . . that is the question!

Sister Saturday

When we were in high school, Jeanette and I both participated in the Glen Ridge High School Marching Band. Being the oldest, I got interested in it first, when I was in the eighth grade. I remember going to the home football games with my friends and watching the marching band perform during half time. I think some of my friends had older siblings in the band or color guard and I started getting an interest in trying out for the flag line. Jeanette played percussion in the middle school concert band, so it was a natural for her to go out for marching band in high school, especially since I was already in the color guard. From the fall of 1981 (late summer really) until she graduated in 1987, marching band was a big part of our family's lives.

In New Jersey at the time (and probably now), high school football games were played on Saturdays. That's right, we didn't experience "Friday Night Lights" (don't worry, we didn't know any different, so we don't feel deprived). Then on Sundays during band season, our marching band would go to competitions around the area. These were a BIG deal, with points being tallied to send us to larger competitions out of state. I can remember riding school busses to away football games and then the next day getting on nicer charter buses to head to competitions. And as it got later in the season, the colder it got, with hot chocolate being the drink of choice after coming off the field.

Our band went on two out-of-state trips to band competitions during my years in high school. I think Jeanette probably went on one after I graduated, but I can't remember. My first trip, in November of my Freshman year, was to East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City. Little did I know back then that just a few short years later, I'd move to Tennessee to attend Belmont College and end up becoming a Tennessee resident and establishing my adult home here!

I think I started dating my first boyfriend on that band trip, or at least during that band season. Good old James Davitt, a tuba player who was one of ten children in his family (good Catholic family). It was a sweet little romance, including going to the Candy Cane Ball that December. Sadly, I broke his heart, deciding soon after Christmas that I wanted to move on.

Funny thing was that during my Junior year, when the marching band went to another competition out of state, at Western Carolina University, in Cullowee, North Carolina, James and I rekindled our affections and started another brief romance. Must have been something about the long bus rides . . .

Anyway, every Fall when the temperatures start dropping and the leaves start crunching under my feet, I can't help but remember all those football games and band competitions as a member of the color guard in the GRHS Marching Band. Fun times and great memories. And so glad that I got to share them with my "little sister"!