Dear Phenom Gals..Hope Your Spring Break Rocks!

Dear Ladies:

Happy Thursday and Happy Almost Spring Break!


Here, I found a picture of us...

Here is me with Cheryl E. last Spring Break in Barbados...

It was sooo fun.. No Silly, that wasn't us. But look, I found the whole Phenomenal Group of Us on the beach two years ago...

No, guess that was us more like 20 or so years ago...

But we can do it again. Yes, I can foresee next year the...

First Annual Phenomenal Sisterhood Spring Break Weekend..

Yea!! There we are. Next year -- or next month? It's definitely possible.


Okay, for those of you who can't get enough of Cindy's beautiful new granddaughter London Reece South... Here she is one more time with Daniel her very proud Daddy.






Next year London Reece can join us at the beach ... Yea!

Okay, for those not travelling our discussion in SSchool will revolve around Chapter 8 -- Finding a Life in Balance. Your Emotional Health..

Lisa asks us to ask ourselves.."To what am I enslaved and yoked?" What do I find myself burdened by... depression, abuse, loneliness, skewed perspective, anger, an eating disorder, an addiction? How is my life in balance or out of control?"

I wonder if they mean slightly off-kilter or completely raging out of control?

Oh dear. Sounds like very weighty stuff....

But in addition to recommending seeking out a Godly therapist to help deal with any very deep, thoroughly entrenched enslaving behaviors and tapes,

The Chapter is full of great practical advice.

BOUNDARIES... We all know that word. SELF CONTROL... Another two words we all know.

Self control and boundaries create freedom. YEA!!!!

Also to find balance, "Consciously, slow the pace of life. Take your foot off the accelerator pedal. Obey the speed limit."

And with a more flexible schedule for most next week -- that's a great place to start..

Take a hike.. get outdoors by yourself or with the kids. If you go far enough -- the children can roam free for hours and hopefully not get abducted by madman or hit by a car... and you might even get to take a quick cat nap.

Hurrah!




Or you could just very quietly sneak away to bathroom. Lock the door and find quiet.

Your own little spa moment....

If you are heading out of town. Travel safe. All the rest of your Phenom Gals - I hope to see you Sunday!!!!



Much love and Much laughter.............

God Bless and Hope your Spring Break Rocks!! j

All the Who's down in Whoville...

Another photojournalism attempt by me... for those of you who missed the fun decorating our lovely sanctuary -- here are a few highlights..

okay -- it really wasn't my eyes that were bad when i took this picture. it was terribly out of focus.

What do they say? Everyone hard at work..or hardly working.

Yea!



-

We thought just draping the greenery over the pews might be the way to go this year.
At least most would likely stay awake in church. -- for will be tad uncomfortable.

Lovely.

Ladders...thankfully, Joe and everyone else once again managed to stay on them.

Some of our most valuable younger helpers!





Who is that guy just loitering around in the red sweater?



All done! quite spectacular! Good Job!

Mstone Classnotes 11.18.07. Catnaps and Black socks.

Dear All:

Okay – it is the most beautiful day outside. I just feel most cat-like sitting in the sunshine typing away. The only thing that would be better would be if I were asleep. Taking a catnap of sorts. That is incredibly cat-like for I think my father told me once that cats sleep two-thirds of their lives away.

Sounds great! Kind of.

Sunday School was indeed great yesterday – another large Milestone crowd. I mean don’t you people have homes and beds where you could be sleeping on Sunday mornings?

Well, Jamie – then we would miss out on all the fun at church!!! Of course, that must be it. (for you certainly have homes, beds and the like.) Though hope they are neater than mine at present. But who would wantest to be inside straightening with such glorious day. Not i! (big surprise)

Laree and Dan the Man taught great lesson again this week. Actually it was just Laree this week, guess Dan is up next week.

We again discussed Max Lucado’s thoughts on hope and experiencing Jesus.

We started with 1 Corinthians 15:35-38. Thankfully I was sitting by Ruth for she very patiently helped me find the verses that Laree called out in class. Rather like Jake thankfully sitting by James in many of his middle school classes.

This passage talks of the new glorious body we will have in heaven.

Laree, “What does Paul mean by body?”

Mary D., “A new form of being – be ourselves yet different.”

Julie spoke of how our lives could be compared to the acorn and the oak. That our perfected bodies are the mighty oak – but all our potential is always there in the tiny acorn.

Then Laree really gave us all uplifting food for thought thinking of what our future here on earth is with our earthly bodies.

Arthritis, disease, gray hair, wrinkles, loss of bladder control, bad backs, -- black dress socks, translucent white legs attached to white tennis shoes – and whatever happens to the aging brain that doesn’t realize that this just looks STUPID. This affliction seems to be particularly epidemic amongst the aging white male population of Dade County.

I stopped writing at this point for felt sudden gripping wave of depression and noticed I really, really had to use the little girls (or rapidly falling apart women 40-somethings) room.

It is quite bummer getting older.

Then Laree mentioned how Jesus gives us hope. (And what do you know – it is not in the form of Botox injections.) How when we see His body we will be amazed…2 Thessalonians 1:10.

See the bible says he has this amazing body – holy, just, pure, ready to do 100 Ironmans in a row – and we are promised something similar. Unbelievable!

Okay this is where I stopped taking notes again, but Katie said some great things about how we all can see this perfected Jesus reflected in the people we meet every day.

Yes, once we are born again the perfection process starts. That doesn’t mean we won't fall – but God never stops trying to help us fulfil his commandment to be perfect like He is perfect.

Laree liked the analogy that we are the seed. All we have is there from the beginning and if nurtured we grow, blossom and bear fruit.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way. “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

Yet God wants us to be perfect…starting toward that goal of flight. And we will fail on that journey. Fall lots of times. But I think this next thought of Lewis’ is so simple, yet sums up everything in a brilliant nutshell.

“You must realize from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe -- except you yourself -- (emphasis mine) can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.”

Whatever he calls us to do toward being as the glorified Jesus on earth, nothing can stop us – except ourselves. The truth of that really troubles me, challenges me, scares me – even more than the thought that my brain might one day not comprehend that shorts, black socks and tennis shoes are just BAD.

So it's our choice -- to surrender all and immediately be cleared for take-off. Or hold on to things that seem too precious to turn over to God.

Thanks Laree for great lesson.

Prayer Requests

I think most all of you have heard the sad news of Tim's father's passing. We will be sure to pass along service arrangement information.

Let us all keep Tim's mom Dolores, Tim and his brother and sister in all our prayers during this most difficult time. We pray for their safe and expedient passage home.

A cottage at the Methodist Children's Home housing teenage boys burned Saturday night. Please keep all in your prayers. The class is discussing ways the we can corporately help. They certainly would like individual donations as well.

Rick Spence had a great meeting with all the Duke medical personnel. They have mapped out a course of treatment for the entire year. Thank God that Rick is working with a medical team that is on cutting edge of treatment for his condition. We continue to pray for strength and complete healing.

Karen asked for prayers for her Aunt Barbara Peters who is having a very difficult time and complications from her chemotherapy. Right now she is in hospital with blood clot in her lung. We pray for healing and peace in this struggle.

In spite of how much i am having kittens over this beautiful weather -- we really do need to pray for rain.

Announcements

All Mstones please stay after church or return to sanctuary to help decorate for Advent after 11 a.m. service. I think i heard something about pizzas provided.

The Christmas Party is set for December 15 at the Couch's. Please RSVP to gatrjam@aol.com for Kathryn is going to start list of those attending for Empty Stocking Gift exchange.

Good Week, God Bless and

i've decided to dress as a Pilgrim this year for Miles' Thanksgiving feast...what do you think? i don't think this is actual violation of no black socks rule. i think they are more black stocking-like.

Really the houndstooth cloak will make all the difference. My research turned up that they were all the rage in Puritan Early America. Definitely hottest item at the Plymouth Gap in year 1600 for glam feast-wear.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

How did the turkey get it's name?

Some say Columbus thought the turkey was part of the peacock family. So he decided to call them "tuka" which is the word for peacock in the language of India.


Big Bird (from Sesame Street) is dressed in a costume of turkey feathers. His costume is made of nearly 4,000 white turkey feathers (dyed yellow).

Turkeys don’t really have ears like ours, but they have very good hearing. (what?)

The Game..

The Red Sox swept the Rockies.

The Ducks beat the glamour boys. Though those Oregon uniforms really are a cry for help. I guess because they are West Coast they can get away with cutting-edge completely ridiculous.

Tennessee beat somebody. I guess the Tennants and Faye know who.

Michigan valiantly fought for and won the little brown jug. Guess it has been that kind of season. Thrilled to win the little jug.

Let see... there was one more game this weekend.

Shady Brady and company barely escaped the Redskins...

And oh yes there was one more game...

Seems this poor confused fellow is trying to attempt the chomp. You can tell he is amateur at chomping.

Yes, the Bulldogs were thrilled to beat the Gators. Too bad there weren't any stars mid-field for Bulldogs to stomp rather than chomp.

Mark Richt -- really, had to be commended. His game plan was perfect. Took advantage of Gators young secondary, got to Tebow...and honestly...that guy is really a pro.

I mean i need to know whether he does the body spray on tans or the lotions at home? I think he must go the professional route because no streaks in sight.

Yes, flawless Mark -- your game plan and game day tan.

I enjoyed watching the game with Ironman Rick and family. Well, honestly i enjoyed seeing Rick look so great. I didn't pay much attention to the game for the more the thing went on it was just making me rather mad-ish.

No, the Bulldogs won in 2007.

And i really don't have anymore to say on the subject.

oh -- i guess -- could say lots of stuff, but i would come off looking the poor sport.

So enjoy your year of victory Dogs.

Ugh!

You can't spell Ugh! without UGA. Well, it almost works. I'll just pretend it does.

No Greater Love...Mstones 9.16.07

Dear All:

The Tennants taught a great class about a great woman who died 10 years ago.

This is a special picture. You may remember that they died within days of each other in August of 1997.

Wonder if Diana is asking Mother Teresa if she got her shoes at Nordstroms?

Our class discussion focused on Mother Teresa' s sayings and life. Most of the material from the book No Greater Love.

Ken and Angela distributed a detailed handout outlining Mother Teresa’s thoughts on these subjects: Prayer, Love, Giving/Sacrifice, and On being Holy.

There was plenty of Group discussion:

On Prayer: Karen, “We all want to make prayer about ourselves.”
Ruth, “We need to remember to start with Praising Him.”
Laree, “We need to remember to pray for the little things, not just call on God for the big things.”

Angela shared how Mother Teresa is being considered for sainthood (canonization) by the Catholic church. She explained that there are two groups involved in the investigative process. One that gathers all the positive and one that searches for things that could be considered negative.

Next week:

What has come to light are pages and pages of her handwritten notes to spiritual counselors and confessors throughout the 50 years of her ministry. (Mother Teresa asked that these be destroyed, but the church overruled her). These are now included in a book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light.

The Tennants handed out a very recent TIME article which focused on the content of this book – and this will be the discussion of the next week’s class.

In all candor, the excerpts of her writings from the piece are some of the most heartbreaking, emotionally-wrenching glimpses into a person’s life I have ever read. I honestly cannot imagine it. The torment that she was in, yet the life of sacrifice she continued to live.

I have just placed my order for a copy of the book.

She speaks of such darkness she lived in..crying out to feel God’s Presence.

“Lord My God, who am I that You should forsake me. The Child of your Love – and now become as the most hated one – the one – You have thrown away as unwanted – unloved. I call, I cling, I want – and there is no One to answer – no One on Whom I can cling – no No One – Alone….Where is my Faith.”

And that is a question for us all to consider this week.

Where is my faith when bad things happen? Where is my faith when i don't feel God's love like i did before?

Where is my faith when all i know is darkness and arid desert?

Is He still there?

Thank you Ken and Angela…great job. See you next week.

Prayer Requests:

Kathie Pendergraft was diagnosed with breast cancer this past week. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. We pray for complete healing and for the doctor’s wisdom in which course of treatment to pursue.

Julie shared that her Aunt Julie received some very good news from her doctor. Further tests revealed that her lung cancer has not spread to her lymph nodes as they previously thought. At this time, the cancer is all contained in one of her lungs. Julie gave a mighty praise for that answer to prayer. Let’s keep her in our thoughts as they proceed with her treatment.

Karen’s Aunt Barbara is now starting her chemo for her cancer. Please prayer for healing and peace during this anxious time.

Larry Coleman has been diagnosed with cancer. He is Beverly Hayes father. We pray for his treatment and healing.

Cheryl asked for prayers for her father as he has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Please pray for healing and strength for him and all family members.

Let’s all keep Alleyne, Tom and family in our thoughts.

Please keep Rita (Mary Ellen and Kevin Ramsey’s cousin ) in your prayers. She lives in Alabama and lost her only son Will who was 16 in a car accident just a few months ago. Please pray that she experiences God’s Presence and His love.

Last thoughts:

We never will understand all that happens on this earth. As evidenced by our prayer requests this week, there is so much physical pain and illness. And now it seems, Mother Teresa suffered with great emotional and mental anguish.

We never know what that person standing in line next to us at Walmart (right Marge) is living with, trying so hard to deal with. The depths of grief people are experiencing. Hiding deep inside their interior all the fractured mess that is their life at the moment. All concealed by a hold-it-together exterior shell.

There is private pain in all our souls and all around us.

We are to be His light…Always looking for the good in others. For we never will know what most people have overcome or are in the process of overcoming.

“Love each other as God loves each of you, with an intense and particular love. Be kind to each other.” Mother Teresa

God Bless, Good Week and

Be kind to each other………..

a link to the TIME article..http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

Milestone 8.19.07 Whatever...

"Behind every great man, there is a woman rolling her eyes." jim carrey

Dear All:

Our group on Sunday was huge. Really huge.

And that was a very good thing for it was a good day to have such a huge group in attendance. I guess everyone must have known that Butch Thompson and so many of those who had traveled to Honduras this summer and years past would be in our midst.

Butch started his presentation with the statement that it had been “the most amazing trip to Honduras” they had experienced – "but not necessarily the easiest."

The Bible School crew (including Heather, Laree, Stephanie and Jesse Robinette)had prepared for 150 – think by Friday they had 516. Yes, that’s 516. In a big room about the size of our classroom except – no air!!!!!

Then the construction crews were digging through rock with a little of sand thrown in, mixing the cement on the ground then carrying it in five gallon buckets to the house they were working on. And they also helped build a chicken coop.

I know I can’t begin to explain all that they did – and I know some of what I’ve transcribed is incorrect (except I’m sure the 516 is right). But watching and hearing the reports of the trip, two things struck me.

First thing, was how every year, I think 14 groups go from North Georgia Conference. And how after seven years things start to build on each other.

Butch showed us many of the finished projects. Homes, Churches, Food Kitchens, Kitchens, helping the local craftsmen and artists find ways to market their creations, and on and on.

And secondly yesterday out on my daily “couch time” run, Steve Curtis Chapman’s song came on iPod (in between Disco Duck and the Monster Mash). And I couldn't help but think, it so applied to what we had heard from those on the trip…

“I made a list, wrote down from A to Z
All the ways I thought that You could best use me
all my strengths and my abilities
I formed a plan it seemed to make good sense
I laid it out for You so sure You'd be convinced
I made my case, presented my defense
But then I read the letter that You sent me
It said that all You really want from me is just…

WHATEVER… "

Yes, we can plan to build houses certain ways, plan on so many children for bible school..and then we come up against a bunch of events that make it all look like….God? Hey... i'm trying to do my best down here. What do you really want?

(okay – since I haven’t ever been to Honduras that is total editorial comment) But Butch recounted example after example of how over the years they thought one way was the best way to do something…but when that failed …God showed them just the opposite.

And you know they didn’t say – wait, God – that’s not how we planned it. They just said…

"Whatever, whatever You say
Whatever, I will obey
Whatever, Lord, have Your way
'Cause You are my God, whatever "

If you want to see John Miles go crazy, it’s usually when I just look at him and say “Whatever.”

I’ve tried to break myself of that bad, annoying habit. Because truth be told when I say “Whatever..” with rolled eyes and exasperation, it really means, this is what I think about this…and you obviously don’t agree.

My “Whatevers” are not acquiescing …they're are not to be taken as agreement (or in anyway changing my opinion on the subject)

But this S.C.Chapman song is talking about a completely opposite attitude of “Whatever.”

….Whatever it takes, however hard it is… i will bury my pride, opinion and ego. And follow YOU.
And that’s what the Honduran crew did….talk to them about their experience --- it was amazing.

Yes, some days it is so easy to roll my eyes and say, "whatever.." But the Godly "whatever" speaks of something entirely different. One that has forgotten about opinions, being right in decisions and caring passionately about having one's own way at expense of all else... needing one's life and service all planned out.

"In the Christian life, godly influence is never conscious of itself. If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Christ. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the common place something that is inspiring."

Oswald Chambers

Announcements

Shelly Massey gave a treasurer's report. We have $4,812.98 in account.

We some of the ways MClass monies have been distributed..
Kids Camp in Athens, Taylor Kinchen fund, UGA Heroes, Honduran Fund, Appreciation gifts given to all Sunday School teachers last week. The women received lovely Pure Bliss notions. The men Georgia coffee cups - with all due apologies to Scott Webb who is huge Clemson supporter.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for Karen Griffith's sister, Becky Foy. She is still dealing with autoimmune problems. They have moved from RI to VA (please wave at the Angels for us). She needs help finding a new doctor. We pray for the perfect physician and that they will have new insight in how to help her body heal.

Keep Ruth's father in your prayers. He was hospitalized for diverticulitis and they discovered an aortic aneurysm. He is coming home from the hospital today. But will have to receive treatment on the latter in near future. Ruth is traveling to Florida today for a few days -- so keep all in prayers.

Meredith Hollaway asked for prayers for a friend's child, 5 month-old Ashton. There is a growth in his neck that they weren't initially concerned about -- but now it is getting bigger and they are going to do test. They are fearful it is cancerous. Please pray for peace in this very anxious time and complete healing.

OKAY ---

God Bless, Good Week and

"So strike a match, set fire to the list
Of all my good intentions, all my preconceived ideas
I want to do Your will no matter what it is
Give me faith to follow where You lead me
Oh, Lord, the give me the courage and strength to do ... Whatever....."

(i really wish i could pump music into these thing -- no... that might create all other kinds of problems) j

Thanks from the lovely Feather Whidby...

Dear Milestoners –

I’m not big on emailed thank you notes, but I didn’t want to miss anyone. So, I’ve asked Jamie to put this on the class blog. Thank you, thank you for the wonderful goodie bags that you gave the Honduras bound group. The contents were wonderful entertainment, helpful gadgets and much needed snacks. Not to mention spiritual nourishment to know that you were praying for us while we were gone.

It was an experience I will never forget, and I highly recommend the trip to everyone. I can’t wait to see you all Sunday and enjoy the presentation Butch will give. Have a great week – God speed – heather