Category: The Living Room

"Silver, Wood, and Ivory"

Gina, Marcia, and I

Two good friends treated me to a fantastic dinner concert Friday evening.  “Silver, Wood, and Ivory” was an incredible performance I would recommend in a heartbeat.  Tracy and Cindy are the names of the two musicians which form this very talented flutist/pianist duo.  You can see their website at  http://www.silverwoodandivory.com/.

Cindy (playing the harp, here) and Tracy (playing the bass flute)

The piano is beautiful, and Tracy’s collection of flutes, recorders, pennywhistles, and other unique pieces including a bass flute and six and a half foot tall contrabass flute is beyond compare!

Tracy's collection
The contrabass flute...taller than I! How I would love just to try playing this once!

We went to Cindy’s home in Lititz, Pennsylvania where we ate a delicious dinner served by a husband-wife chef pair, mingled with Cindy (the pianist) and Tracy (flutist), enjoyed coffee and dessert, browsed their products for sale, then joined the others in the sun room for a thrilling Christmas music celebration!

Our chefs

Their rendition of Sleigh Ride was complete with two sets of sleigh bells;  one Cindy strapped onto her hand while she played the piano, and the other Tracy strapped to the arch of her foot and proceeded to beat out a steady rhythm almost throughout the entire song while still playing the flute!

Tracy's sleighbells!
Tracy's sleighbells!
Tracy playing the bass flute once more

When they began O Holy Night, my mind was transported back to that humble and lowly stable where our Lord and Saviour was born, an outcast among men.  It reminded me of our human plight, doomed to sin and destruction, until our glorious Redeemer was born!  What a merciful God is ours!  What a costly sacrifice!  Such unworthy sinners!  Such amazing grace!  It brought tears to my eyes!

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and I look forward to the day I can attend another of their concerts, perhaps to treat a friend of mine!

Class Christmas Party

Throughout this fall semester, I have been privileged to teach the Basic Life Principles class for second and third graders in our homeschool co-op at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  I have eight students, and we have surveyed many different character topics from generosity to respect, gratitude to self-control.  With each topic I gave a lesson based on God’s Word, the only TRUE pattern for our lives, along with practical examples.

As a tough teacher, we had homework each class period as well!  What is a class without homework?  I attempted to make these homework assignments and projects very practical so that the children would understand the real-life meaning of each topic.  Every homework page included questions, a practical definition, a key Bible verse, and a “hands-on” project applying the topic to their daily lives.  For example, there is the topic of Gratitude:

1. Definition: Having a heart that is FULL of thanks to God and others.

2. Key verse: Psalm 92:1  It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

3. Project: Write a list of fifty things you are thankful for.

So we went on, week after week studying these Biblical character traits.   And each week, upon reciting the verse and definition, and showing proof of having completed the project, the kids received a hole punch in their name card (created for just that purpose).  Those to complete all eight punches in their card were awarded a Christmas Party at my house.  Some struggled, but in the end, all eight students won the party!

Playing Chinese Checkers by the tree

Seven of the eight were able to attend the party, and we had a great time!  We played board games, Christmas games, sang Christmas carols, listened to the Christmas story on a cassette tape, and had the chocolate fountain!   I used white chocolate this time since that is what was on hand.  And boy was it delicious!

The white chocolate fountain with all of us in the background!

Then, those at the party who could say all of the definitions and verses in a row by memory, received a homemade, completely edible gingerbread house!

My chief gingerbread-making assistant! We formed a fantastic construction crew...built three houses in a couple of hours!

(This was my first experience making the little constructions, and it was pretty simple!  They held up real well, and we had a lot of fun doing it!)

Altogether, it was a good end to a good semester!  It is a privilege to serve the Lord teaching children!

One of my students!

A Vacation Worth Waiting For

This is where Andrea and I will be in just…45 days now.  You say, how can a newly married couple in this recession economy end up on a tropical vacation?  Good question!  This was supposed to be our honeymoon spot.  Almost a year ago, I booked flights and paid for bed and breakfast accommodations: I think it was supposed to be from May 25-June 2.  Three weeks before our wedding, though, a little predicament came in our way called Swine Flu.  I know, I know, it ended up being a big scare over nothing; but it was a big deal back then, if you can remember.  We took some counsel over the whole thing, and instead of taking chances during our honeymoon, we decided to stay in Chicago for the week or so after our wedding.  It ended up being perfect, and better than we could have ever expected…especially after what we get now!  Two airline tickets and accommodations that I already paid for a year ago!

Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico is where our vacation will take us.  This old pueblo in the Yucatan Peninsula has about 10,000 people in it, the majority of which still have indigenous Mayan roots.  I originally picked Tulum because of its tropical climate, beautiful scenery, very reasonable prices, and overall quiet feel (from what I have read on the internet).  Our “casita” is about six miles north of Tulum itself on the coastal road, just 150 feet from the Caribbean Sea!  It looks incredible!  We are also staying 4 nights in a little “posada” (inn) in the pueblo of Tulum itself–the real Mexico, as Andrea would say.  We plan on eating a lot of Mexican food (I trust my wife to find the places that are sanitary/healthy!), seeing a lot of neat things,  and enjoying the Mayan Riviera winter (85 degrees, and no rain).

Some attractions we want to see are the Mayan ruins of Tulum (in the picture above), Chichen-itza (one of the seven wonders of the world), cenotes (giant sinkholes of freshwater that are popular to swim in), and the jungle itself–which is practically everywhere that the ocean isn’t.  We are so spoiled to be able to go on this trip!  We certainly don’t deserve it!

Pastor Chris will be picking us up to take us to the Baltimore/Washington Airport at 3:15am–a little payback, I say, for us having to do the same thing for him and his wife a couple of months ago!  Our flight leaves at 5:45am,  and after a short layover in Houston, we fly to Cancun, arrive at 11:15am, and drive 2 hours south to Tulum.  And I had better stop now–I don’t want to tell the story before we get there!  Our hotels have internet, so I bet we will post at least once from Mexico.

Our casita on the Caribbean

"It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

…So the song goes; and so it goes here in York County, Pennsylvania!  Andrea has been dreaming of snow for a while now, and fretting a little that we may not get as much here as we grew up with in the Great Lakes region.  However, we woke up this morning to a couple of the first snow flurries of the season.  Not much, but enough to make you want more.  The forecast said that it would probably end around 9:00am.

We drove to church to go soulwinning around 10:00am this morning, and guess what?  It was still snowing a little–and maybe even more than earlier.  We kept saying, “Ahh, it won’t stick.”  Much to our surprise, it began to snow harder, and it did stick!  From what I here, we just got our first snow before our families in Northwest Indiana.  Just a few minutes ago, we took these pictures just outside of our home: