Thanksgiving 2007

I made it home through the snow to Denver to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. The Holdaway, Glenn. Brown Thanksgiving was a huge success this year! We enjoyed a delicious meal from Mimi's Cafe and enjoyed the usual Holdaway festivities as we stuffed ourselves silly. The best part is that no one had to clean up! YAY!!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday as well!

We love you!!

Tea at the Ritz Carlton Hotel

The girls and I had the pleasure of spending Saturday afternoon at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Fransisco for the Lovely Mrs. Janelle Hyatt's 26th birthday. All and all the day was a huge success! I definitely want to go again!

Sophie, Amy, Janelle, Jeni, Katie

Sophie, Amy, Janelle

Amy & Janelle

Jeni & Katie

Finger Sandwiches YUM!

Cucumber Sandwich

Janelle's Birthday Strawberries

Amazing Grace

I watched a wonderful movie last night called “Amazing Grace” last night. The song “Amazing Grace” has been one of my favorites since I became a Christan 14 years ago so I was excited to see what the movie was about. I really had no prior knowledge as to the origin of the song and was surprised it was associated with the slavery abolition movement in England during the early 1800’s. This movie really shed light on how much work it really took to get slavery abolished. I am so grateful and thankful to live in a country where slavery has been eradicated.

"Amazing Grace"

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That sav’d a wretch like me!I

once was lost, but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease;I

shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who call’d me here below,

Will be forever mine.
John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)

History
John Newton wrote this hymn some time after converting to Christianity in the village of Kineton, in Warwickshire, England. The lyrics are based on his reflections on an Old Testament text he was preparing to preach on, adding his perspective about his own conversion while on his slave ship, the Greyhound, in 1748.
The melody most often used for this hymn was not original (nor was Newton a composer). As with other hymns of this period, the words were sung to a number of tunes before and after they first became linked to the now familiar variant of the tune "New Britain" in William Walker's shape-note tunebook Southern Harmony, 1835. [1]
There are several tunes to which these words have been sung. "New Britain" first appears in a shape note hymnal from 1829 called Columbian Harmony.


Shape Note version from 1835.
The melody is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin; it is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune; the hymn is frequently performed on bagpipes and has become associated with that instrument. This tune seems to have been firmly established as the 'standard' for this hymn after an arrangement of it appeared in a series of popular hymnbooks in the early twentieth century. (See also the versions in the Sacred Harp article.)
Another tune to which it has sometimes been sung is the so-called "Old Regular Baptist" tune. It was sung by the Congregation of the Little Zion Church, Jeff, Kentucky, on the album The Ritchie Family of Kentucky on the Folkways label (1958).
Newton's lyrics have become a favorite for Christians, largely because the hymn vividly and briefly sums up the doctrine of divine grace. The lyrics are based on I Chronicles 17:16-17, a prayer of King David in which he marvels at God's choosing him and his house. Newton apparently wrote this for use in a sermon he preached on this passage on New Year's Day 1773, and for which he left his sermon notes, which correspond to the flow of the lyrics[2]. (He entitled the piece "Faith's review and expectation.")
The song has also become known as a favorite with supporters of freedom and human rights, both Christian and non-Christian, in part because many assume it to be his testimony about his slave trading past. The song has been sung by many notable musical performers, including iconic folk singer Judy Collins.
The hymn was quite popular on both sides in the American Civil War. While on the "trail of tears," the Cherokee were not always able to give their dead a full burial. Instead, the singing of "Amazing Grace" had to suffice. Since then, "Amazing Grace" is often considered like a Cherokee National Anthem[3]. For this reason, many contemporary Native American musicians have recorded the song.
In recent years, this song has also become popular in America with drug and alcohol recovery groups, particularly Christian ones, at celebrations of how they "once were lost, but now are found." SOURCE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace

Cute Kid

I was talking to a coworker earlier today about babies and being a cute kid. I of curse piped in the Josiah (my nephew if you hadn’t already figured that out) was “The Cutest Kid in the World”. What he didn’t figure was that I was going to say I was “The Second Cutest Kid in the World” when I was young. I have to say I was quite adorable from birth until around 5th or 6th grade. Then came the “ugliness” that didn’t dissipate until I was about 20 lol! (I’m sure my mom would ague that one). So anyway, I came across these pictures of when I was runner up as cutest kid in the world and thought I’d post them. Hopefully the “ugliness” pictures are still locked safe away in the bottomless pit of my parents basement.

Go Green!

Today I am really struggling with the reasoning behind a 3 hour conference call that I’m actively participating in but obviously not paying attention to. It took exactly 24 minutes for all of the participants in the call to understand the instructors simple command of -“Click the second link. Type your name. Click Enter Meeting”. I being the techno savvy person that I am was able to log into the call after exactly 45 seconds.

My second issue with this call is that it’s regarding “going green”. Don’t get me wrong “going green” is a great idea. We should save money and energy if at all possible. But I don’t need a 3 our phone call to tell me that it’s a good idea. I feel like they’re beating a dead horse. Or maybe I just feel like beating a dead horse… maybe I should start paying attention…..

Jesus Take the Wheel

I came across this the other day when I was reading through some things I had jotted down. I wrote it a little over a year ago. I thought I'd re-post it. It's still as true today as it was a year ago!

______________________________

I had a conversation yesterday with a friend about letting God control your life. Letting God control my life is something that I really struggle with. I am one of those people who really like structure, organization, planning, and order. I like to know where I’m going, when I’ll be there, how I’m going to get there, and what I’m going to do when I arrive. The lord has really been dealing with me about it lately and I relayed this analogy to my friend that has helped me stop and let God do the work. Say you are a passenger in a car and God is the driver. You start out on your journey by jumping in the car with both feet. Not really caring where you’ll end up and just excited to spend some time with God. As you drive you start talking to the Lord and He starts to tell you a little bit about where you’re going and what you’re going to do. After a while you start to get impatient. It seems like it’s taking forever to get to your destination. Looking at the highway a head you realize that you are about to hit traffic and that will delay your arrival even more. You casually mention to God that you know a shorter route that would avoid much of the traffic a head. God thanks your for your input but continues down the road toward the traffic. Now you’re annoyed. You KNOW that the other way is much faster so instead of just trusting that God has you on the right path you yank the wheel out of His hands in the direction of your short cut. As soon as you take the wheel BAM! You’re in an accident. You were lucky this time it was just a minor fender bender. Not major damage other than being shaken up and a little bit sore. But now you’re off the highway. You wind and twist and have several near misses with accidents. Finally you realize that you’re lost. So you swallow your pride and hand the wheel back to God. It takes a little navigation but before you know it you’re back on the highway headed to your destination. Along the drive you forget that God is, well God, and you take the wheel a few more times and unfortunately get into a few more accidents and eventually lost, again. You even blame God along the way for a bit of it! (how silly we are!!) However, the Lord is patient and always there to help when asked but like a gentleman He never forces His will on us. Eventually, you are so tired and bruised from all the accidents that you just give up and completely give Him the wheel. You are tired, hurt, frustrated, your car is in pieces and is barely running. But as soon as God has the wheel He drives you straight to the dealership for a tune up. Before you know it you and your car are as good as new! With God behind the wheel you start back on the highway and on your path. While He’s driving you start talking to each other more. You realize that while you had the wheel you were so focused on getting yourself out of the messes you got yourself into that you had neglected your relationship with Him. The more you talk to Him the more you realize that He DOES know exactly where you’re going and how to get you there. You do still run into traffic and hit a few pot holes along the way. But the ride is much smoother and the ware and tare on your vehicle is much less. I know it’s easier said that done but letting God take the wheel really is the best option out there. It’s not always fun or easy. It’s often painful and confusing. But ultimately God does have a plan and we will get where He wants us to go.

Sunday School!!

We had our 2nd annual Sac-Hop Sunday School harvest party on Saturday. We had over 20 kids show up for the big event! Our party consisted some of the best pizza I've ever had (complements of Round Table Pizza). We played games, gave away prizes and decorated our favorite pictures and put them into frames. All and all a huge success!

Thursday morning musings

Sometimes I think I forget that God is in control of my life. I try to do stuff on my own and it inevitably gets screwed up. Then like magic I remember that it’s not up to me. It’s all up to Him. The pressure and stress leaves and then everything falls into place like it’s supposed to.

It’s like the little kid reaching for something they need or want high on a shelf – Instead of asking their dad to help them they try everything possible to reach what they want. They’ll grab a bench that’s too short. Try to jump, leap, spin in circles and eventually fall on their face. Finally, after they are frustrated and worked up they’ll ask their Father for help. It takes Him all of 5 seconds to do what took us hours of frustrating work to fail at. I think I’m slowly but surely learning what I can control and what God control. And allowing God to be God and take care of what He does best - taking care of me :o)