Spiritual Moments

Good morning, All! It's been a great (and busy) couple of days for us. Tuesday night turned out to be all we had hoped and more! The babysitter my friend recommended was AMAZING. She is so sweet with Garin. She is a lovely Christian young woman. AND she not only cleaned up after herself, but she loaded their dinner dishes into the almost-full dishwasher, ran the cycle and put away the dishes!!! Oh, she'll DEFINITELY be back!!!!! I haven't had a tidy babysitter in a long time....

But on to our evening...We had no major traffic issues and got to the theatre at 6:30, so we picked up our will-call tickets early (smart move, as the line was out the door later) and walked a couple of blocks looking for a restaurant. We happened upon a neat little place called the Marathon Grill. It had a loft atmosphere, very chic, but it was very reasonable. They had a phenomenal (no exaggeration) menu, and we had a delicious dinner before heading back to the theatre. We had great seats for the show, but after seeing the layout, I'm not sure there are any truly bad seats in the building. The show was wonderful! I never cease to be amazed at how well the writer expresses the power and beauty of God's grace and mercy for those who will accept it and the peril for those who insist on living under the weight of the Law! All of the actors were good. I wasn't terribly impressed by Fontine (but how could I be after seeing Lea Salonga in the role?!) and Javert, but they weren't bad. Jean Valjean was excellent. Only one disappoint there: he didn't sing "Bring Him Home" as powerfully as I'd have liked. But Cosette was wonderful, and Eponine was incredible. It was a very, very good performance, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone!

Yesterday, we were all tired, so there wasn't much going on except for my voice lesson. We did grill some brats and corn, warm some sauerkraut and have a delicious dinner before going to church. It was the last gathering of our Southern Campus Launch Team before we begin worship at the Dover Sheraton on September 7th. As it turned out, it wasn't a meeting at all, but a very moving individual experience with God that had been set up in the sanctuary. A large shape of the cross was taped on the floor, with a pathway taped around it. Along the walkway around the cross, there were interactive stations where we were to stop and spend intentional time listening to God. We were guided by instructions at each station. One by one, we entered and were greeted and instructed. At the first station, we heard the Scripture about the Moses and the burning bush. The other stations were these:

Noise (eliminating life's noise to hear God's voice)

Worry (we were provided with a stone to 'hold' our worries, which we cast into a pool of water)

Hurts (we were to draw or write about how we had been hurt and how we had hurt others and then throw them away)

Image (we had to sit before a mirror and read the verses about being created in God's image and being fearfully and wonderfully made and then look at ourselves with the intention of seeing what God sees rather than our flaws) -This was hard for me. I realized that when I think of these verses, I think of my children (or other people). It is very easy to see the God in others, not so easy in me. I began to think of my children and how I see them with such love that I don't see their mistakes or their sinful nature when I look at them. And then I realized that, as God's child, I am seen with an even greater love through His eyes.

Others (we had a chance to think about our relationships and to light a candle and pray for them) - This was very moving for me also.

Impression (we sat before a box of sand and made an impression of our hand, while thinking about the impression that we will leave on this world when we're gone and what kind of impression we want that to be) -Interestingly, for me, I didn't like the impression my hand made. I looked at it for a minute or two and thought about how I also don't like part of the impression I have left on this world. Then the Holy Spirit gently reminded me that because of what Jesus did for me at the cross, I am not bound by past mistakes or sins and that I don't have the right to carry them with me after He has forgiven me. So I bent over, smoothed the sand and made a new handprint. I liked it better....and I like ME better.

Holy Place was a station at the center of the cross where the communion table was set for us to share with Him. It was a place to read His word, talk with Him and share in his last supper.

Finally, we left with some verses about peace. I believe it was from John (maybe?) Sadly, I don't remember exactly. My thoughts were still on earlier stations. It was a special night.