Celebrating California Style

First, thank you everyone for the sweet birthday wishes. I've been dragging this one out for a few days and enjoying every minute of it. Since we had revival service on Tuesday night, Les and I postponed my birthday celebration until yesterday. We made a full day of it!

We started out by meeting some Tennessee friends for breakfast at the Sheraton Universal. Sis. Ann Johnson with her daughter and granddaughter, Tammy and Leanna Batson, are in town for a few days. We gave them as many tips as possible to make their days in Los Angeles fun.



Our plan after breakfast was to head over to Santa Monica, rent a tandem and ride from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach and back. This is about a 36 mile round trip ride that we have done several times in the past. What we hadn't planned on was unusual weather! The sun was shining, it was about 60 degrees out, but the wind was howling! It was blowing steadily at about 15 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph! That would have made for a very fun bike ride on the way down, but we would have needed a tow truck to get us back! After looking at the bikes that were available to rent and standing in the wind for about 15 minutes, we decided a bike ride was not going to happen!



Since we were in Santa Monica, we decided to wander the pier for a while. In keeping with my "I want to be six" theme - we even rode the Ferris wheel! The views were beautiful and you'd never know by the pictures how cold we were! If you look closely at the ocean, you'll see it was very rowdy. We decided to go to Bubba Gump's for lunch since it had indoor dining available!


After lunch we left the pier and wandered the Third Street Promenade for a while. Since it was my birthday celebration, I didn't buy a thing and Les did! That is so typical for us. I never find anything when I'm looking (and have money) and he does.


We got the biggest kick out of the street musicians. One couple tried to get a volunteer tambourine player. Another guy, who was playing his own tambourine with his foot, said, "Okay everyone, I've got one more song." The only problem - he hadn't drawn a crowd. The only reason we stopped was to get a picture of his tambourine. Another creative guy was using a car battery to run his "mixer board." I guess this is easier than 50 feet of extension cords!


We finally ended the day with dinner at one of my favorite places - Duke's of Malibu! Crab and macadamia nut wontons, coconut shrimp, ocean front dining, and Hawaiian music in the background. We could almost pretend we were in Hawaii! Especially when we spotted a pod of dolphins swimming by. Hula Pie for dessert was the finale for the night.

See the seagull just outside the window? He and another gull were fighting over a fish earlier. I'm not sure if he was the victor or not, but I know only one of them had any of that particular fish last night.


If you click on this picture you'll get a larger view and can see two dolphins in the lower left corner. We spotted about 8-10, but they're hard to catch on film!

We took dozens of pictures...

To Be Six Again

This is the lighthearted post I wanted to do yesterday. It is NOT how I celebrated my day! Les knows better...

A man asked his wife, "If you could have anything in the world for one day, what would you want?"

"I'd love to be six again," she replied.


On the morning of her birthday, he got her up bright and early and off they went to a local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Screaming Loop, the Wall of Fear, everything there was! Wow!


Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park, her head reeling and her stomach upside down. Off to McDonald's they went, where her husband ordered her a Happy Meal along with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake.


Then it was off to the zoo, hot dogs, popcorn, Pepsi Cola and M&M's. What a fabulous adventure!


Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed. He leaned over and lovingly asked, "Well dear, what was it like being six again?"

One eye opened. "I meant my dress size. SIZE SIX!!"


(I actually attended Weight Watchers yesterday and am happy to report that I am still at my goal weight after 4 years! The gift I keep giving myself is taking care of my health!)

Mind Over Matter

20 years ago Mom wrote this in her Bible:

4-27-90 - Black day for me - but God is in charge. Cancer is not too hard for my God.

I can't believe it has been 20 years. Not exactly an anniversary I want to celebrate, but it's been on my mind for the past few days. It's unreal how a single diagnosis can change your life. I celebrated my 26th birthday that day and wondered how many more I would get to celebrate with my wonderful Mother.

How to describe the fear... the doubts... the uncertainties... the absolute terror... the numbness and shock that followed our family in those days. Surgery was scheduled immediately. Mastectomy - what a harsh word.

BUT, on that dark day, Mom chose to trust God. She chose to enter the fight and not just throw up her hands in despair. Yes she was afraid, she was in pain, she was sick, but she would always say, "I can't give up." She was amazing and strong and her sense of humor would shine through when you least expected it.

Written in another place in her Bible:
My philosophy is
Mind Over Matter

If you don't mind,
it doesn't matter...

But, I do mind and
It does matter!

I sure am missing her today.

Revival Continues

We had an awesome weekend at church! Bro. Jackson preached an amazing message last night from 1 Samuel chapter 21. He found that the Hebrew word that is translated as feigned is the same as praise. So in verse 13 when it says David " feigned himself mad in their hands" he actually praised himself crazy!

Psalm 34 has this little tidbit before the verses:
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

Here are the first four verses:
1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Yeah, we had some crazy praise going on in the house!

We also had a first time van rider who was really touched by God yesterday. Both in the morning and evening services she was praying and seeking after God. She had never been in a Pentecostal church before, but she knew she was feeling something real. It was beautiful watching the tears stream unashamedly down her face as she called out to God.

Our services continue tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to what God has in store!

Proud Auntie Moment #998834

Little Miss Hannah just keeps on progressing in Bible Quizzing. Here is the latest report from Lance:

Yesterday and today (Friday and Saturday) we quizzed in Columbus OH at the Extravaganza. 15 teams in the Beginner division. We had three teams from Calvary. I coached the #3 team, which had Hannah and two other girls that knew their verses but had not been answering many questions in tournaments. This was the first tournament that this group had quizzed together. The head coach decided to try it as an experiment in hopes that it would give them more of an opportunity by being out from under the more aggressive quizzers on our first 2 teams.

In our first quiz we needed the get the last question to win. Hannah had 4 correct but hesitated and her teammate buzzed in - and missed. Hannah was high scorer but her passivity probably cost us the quiz.

In the second quiz we were behind 70 to 10 on question # 10. Hannah hadn't even attempted a question. I called timeout and told the girls that they needed to hit the buzzer a word before they wanted to and that I didn't care if they missed the question or not...I just wanted them to prove to me that they could beat the other team to the buzzer. Hannah proceeded to get #10, 11, 12, and 13...including two on beautiful interruptions. All we needed was one of the last two to win. The other team got #14. But on #15 Hannah interrupted at the perfect spot on a quotation question and answered perfectly.

Our third quiz was against a very good Missouri team. Hannah continued her hot streak by getting 5 ten point questions and quizzing out with 6 correct on question #11. It was the first time Hannah has ever quizzed out in a tournament. Unfortunately her teammates could not get a single question in the quiz and we lost by 5 when the other team got both #14 and 15. In hindsight I should have told Hannah to only answer a couple 10 point questions. But I had no idea she would go on such a hot streak. For the string of 12 questions from our second and third quizzes she answered 10 out of the 12, with half of them interruptions.

Needless to say, the experiment was a success. The other two Calvary teams are now lobbying to have the coach put Hannah back on their teams. I am obviously biased, but today Hannah was quizzing as well as any quizzer in the Beginner division. Honestly, I was a bit dumbfounded watching it all. It reminded me an awful lot of watching another little girl blossom as a quizzer some 27 years ago. She ended up with an 83 point average, which would have put her 5th highest in the tournament except that she had to have 4 quizzes to qualify for all tournament team.

It appears that our niece had an awakening this weekend! If you've been involved in quizzing, you were feeling as nervous as I was reading this. Losing by 5 is more difficult than losing by 50! So close! But we're so proud! Look out quizzing world, Hannah McElhaney is on the move! Oh, and the girl from 27 years ago... Les and Lance's little sister, Lisa.

Happy Birthday, Kim!

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you've been bad and good. ~Linda Sunshine


A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added. ~Chris Montaigne


My sister taught me everything I really need to know, and she was only in sixth grade at the time. ~Linda Sunshine




If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine (I'm sure you've felt this way about me!)

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us? ~Pam Brown



Kim,
I'm so glad you're my sister! Hope you enjoy celebrating the 22nd anniversary of your 29th birthday...

Love you tons!!

So Sweet

Congratulations to Jerus David and Brittany Regnart on their engagement! I've been looking at the pictures from when they got engaged and they are so sweet. They also bring back wonderful memories, since Jerus proposed at Yosemite just like Les did!

You can see all the pictures here.

Doesn't it seem like they're looking right into their future?

Revival and Restoration

During the revival our church is having our evangelist has mentioned restoration many times. It seems it is God's theme for this time in our church. Last night was one of those services that is hard to explain. The glory of God filled the place. God is at work in Victory Tabernacle and we are rejoicing in that!

Webster defines restoration as:

1 : an act of restoring or the condition of being restored: as a : a bringing back to a former position or condition : reinstatement b : restitution c : a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition d : the replacing of missing teeth or crowns
2 : something that is restored; especially : a representation or reconstruction of the original form (as of a fossil or a building)

I believe God is restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition! When God restores, you don't see any cracks or deficiencies. It just like when God healed Les of Muscular Dystrophy - Les hasn't spent the rest of his life walking with a limp, still showing signs of the disease that had attacked him. He was made completely whole! His health was restored 100%.

Restoration of the soul is a work that only God can do. I love these verses in Joel chapter 2:

21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

"Restore to you the YEARS..." it doesn't matter how far or how long we drift, God is fully capable of restoring.

Above All

We started revival at our church last week with Bro. Wesley Jackson from Little Rock, Arkansas. God has showed up in a big way - doing great things! I have sat in awe as Bro. Jackson has preached exactly what our church needs to hear.

Sunday night after service I said to one of my peeps, "Are you getting everything you need in this revival?" While the question was a good one, I was later convicted about my lack of faith. God is definitely in the business of meeting needs, but He's capable of so much more! He doesn't want us to live a life of "needs being met." He is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

We start our second week of revival tonight and I'm upping my expectations!

A Sting or Honey?

My devotion the other day was about bees:

When a bee stings, she dies. She cannot sting and live. When men sting, their better selves die. Every sting kills a better instinct. You can't say stinging things without a harmful result to yourself.

Maybe a bee stings to "get even." Nevertheless, getting even takes its toll. Perhaps the bee even has just cause to sting. It dies anyhow. And so with you and me. No matter what the reason, we can't "sting" another and escape the penalty.

This is so true! Of course I had to do my own research about bees. It is the Honey Bee that loses its life when it stings. The same insect who can sting is the very one that gathers flower nectar to produce honey! What a contradiction.



James chapter 3 had something to say about our most contrary member:

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Will your tongue produce a sting or honey today?

Friday Funny

Sorry, no foodie today. But here's a funny I hadn't heard before:

During a recent password audit, it was found that a blond was using the following password:

"MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento"


When asked why she had such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.

Georgia Bike Camp

Last week Les flew to Tennessee to meet up with Lance for the inaugural "North Georgia Cycling Camp." This consisted of four days of riding in the Georgia mountains and staying in Lance's rental property just outside Ellijay, Georgia. There were six guys total and they had a great time! There were no mishaps and I'm sure they are all already scheming on how they can do this again real soon!



I wanted to let any of our friends in the Tennessee/Georgia area (or farther if you want to travel) know about Lance's cabin. It's a three level, three bedroom, three bath cabin that can sleep up to 20. It's 50 miles southeast of Chattanooga, and only 90 miles north of Atlanta. The cabin setting is extremely private due to its large wooded private property. It has its own private access to Carters Lake. The property is available for rental and obviously can accommodate a large group. If you're interested this link will give you all the details: Sky High Sanctuary.

These canoes belong to Lance, so they are available for use:


Just a short walk to Carters Lake


Cycling not required!

Hmm...

I think we've all heard that eating at night is not good for us. I'm not sure I agree with that - calories are calories. I've never been a nighttime snacker so I've never seen its affects - my overeating times are usually between 3 and 5 pm.

My latest Weight Watcher magazine had a short article about this subject. New research suggests that eating at times that conflict with your natural body rhythms can prevent you from losing weight. They gave a few pointers about avoiding nighttime snacking, the last point was this:

Japanese Sumo wrestlers maintain their bulk with late-night eating sessions. Got that image in your head? Enough said.

(This was the most family friendly picture I could find, but I think you get the idea!)

Studies in Galatians

I've been doing a really interesting Bible reading plan this year that I downloaded on my iPhone. It's called Thematic and has really jumped around the Bible. There are days that the chapters seem to have nothing in common, but as I continue in whatever books I'm reading, two chapters will pop up that go together so well.

The past few days I've been reading Jeremiah and Galatians. Rereading Galatians has brought back memories of my one year as a Junior Bible Quiz Coach. We studied Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians that year and believe me that was tough stuff for Junior Quizzers!

One Sunday afternoon I was trying to explain Galatians chapter two to five girls, ages 8-11...

Quizzer: What is circumcision?
Me: Um... (thinking, Oh dear!)... I'll let your mother explain that...

Quizzer: What does verse 11 mean? ("But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.")
Me: Paul and Peter had a disagreement and Paul stood up to him.
Quizzer: What did they disagree about?
Me: Because Paul was preaching to the Gentiles. Most Jews didn't like that. (This was quite an "aha moment" to think that the great apostles didn't always agree.)

Quizzer: Who was a Gentile?
Me: Titus, for one.
Quizzer: How do you know?
Me: Verse 3 says, "But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:" (I got five blank looks on that one.) You know, Titus was from Greece...
Quizzer: Huh?
Me: Well what do you think that verse means?
Quizzer: That Titus was a goofy guy.... you know, a nerd... (Agreement around the table was unanimous!)

Poor Titus will always be remember as an uncircumcised Geek!!

Proud Auntie Moment #4297531

Saturday the Indiana district held its annual Quizzing Decathlon. Instead of the traditional quiz tournament, all the the quizzers were divided into groups (without their normal team affiliation) and rotated through 5 stations where they participated in various quizzing drills (quoting, referencing, written questions, etc.). Quizzers scored points at each station with trophies then given to individual quizzers rather than teams based on their total points scored.

There were 83 quizzers in the Beginner division. Hannah ended up the highest scorer with 305 points. This also turned out to be higher than any quizzer in the Junior division as well.

Our little Miss Hannah is a quizzing machine! So proud of her!

Signs of Spring

It's a beautiful day here. After a rainy Monday and windy Tuesday and Wednesday, it's nearly perfect today. Spring is definitely my favorite season. Signs of Spring are popping up everywhere...

Sandals and bright colored clothing...


The first strawberries of the season and other wonderful produce...


Flowers blooming...


Lizards sunning on the sidewalk...


Ducks landing in our pool...


And then there is this...



Yep, definitely a sign of Spring! Or at least Spring break in our town!

Are You a Flexitarian?

I read an interesting email yesterday regarding The Flexitarian Diet. The simplest definition is a person who primarily follows a vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat. Yep, that's me and Les! We definitely don't eat meat everyday, but we haven't eliminated it completely. We try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables and generally eat healthier most of the time, but there are just sometimes that only a steak will do!


I was thinking about some "Flexitarian Christians" I know. They love it when the Pastor preaches "ask and ye shall receive" and "the joy of the Lord is my strength," but talk about praying everyday or living holy and that's just not their cup of tea.

I Peter 2:2 says, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: " A diet of ALL the Word is a way to be healthier, prevent the disease of sin and add years of joy to your life!