Thanksgiving Retrospective

Jen, Fok, and Kaleb took a "red eye" flight from SFO to Boston Saturday night and made it home tired but in one piece. I imagine they were glad to have Sunday to recoup before going back to normal schedules on Monday.

Jeremy and Amber stayed over through Sunday lunch before negotiating he I-5 maze back toward L.A. It was special to have them here for worship. Since Jarrod was gone, I preached and Jeremy led worship. Virginia and Amber both sang on the praise team. It was a good Sunday in many ways.

Here are some photos of the weekend. Enjoy!



An early Christmas since we'll all be with others in December.












Great hike over the hill to Contra Loma Regional Park on Saturday.










OK... so who took the pic???












All of us on the bridge to Loma Island.












Fok, Kaleb and Jen... Kaleb's the one with the bubbles. :)













Jeremy and Amber.

Kaleb taking a picture of Amber.

Kaleb in the leaves.

Kaleb and Virginia both love bubbles!

We had a great time... just ask The Shadow!!

Thanksgiving

The food has all been put away... the dishes washed... the table wiped clean... some of the gang are catching a late matinee of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire... the 3 pies are patiently waiting their return. It's been a really good day.

Fok and I ran in the hills this morning for a little over an hour. He finished the run with a quarter mile sprint while I just tried to remember what it felt to have young legs. Virginia and Jen went for a walk around the lake. Kapil arrived just before they got back. Amber had Kaleb focused in fun ways on the Macy's Parade. Jeremy and I went over Sunday's service, and he kept tabs on fantasy teams.

We all pitched in to prepare the meal... a composite of traditional fare from several family sources... each one contributing something special to the meal. Watching Virginia enjoy the collaboration may have been the most fun of the day! We called my mom and talked with her for a while... Kent and Susan and family will be in Cabot tomorrow for a couple of days.

At one point during the day I checked email and linked to an article from the Bruderhof site. One article called Lights for Thanksgiving (http://www.bruderhof.com/articles/mosley-thanksgiving.htm?source=WeeklyDig) was really good. Check it out if you have a few minutes to spare.

As the day draws to a close, I'm feeling very thankful. My prayer is that more and more the actions of my life reflect that feeling. God bless, and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Homecoming

I'm getting excited... not about the drive to SFO tonight, but who will be getting off the plane and meeting us in baggage claim. Jennifer, Fok and Kaleb arrive at 10:30, and we should be back home before midnight. And so Thanksgiving 05 begins.






Jeremy and Amber are headed from L.A. to Fresno even as I write. They'll spend the night with Steve and Gail, getting some rest, and head this way in the morning, arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon.
We're ready... or getting that way. Virginia has been shopping and cleaning and planning. We'll try to prepare favorite recipes... lots of fun with ideas from a variety of families. We'll hang out and talk, maybe hike in the hills or see the new Harry Potter flick. Some of us will probably hit the famous "Friday after Thanksgiving sales" that will abound... I'll pass on that one.

Oh yeah, we'll also take some time to pretend like it's Christmas and exchange gifts. Kaleb will love that... and so will I for that matter. It will be a great few days.

God, help us each to appreciate and relish the time together, brief though it is, and be thankful.

Mushroom Omelet and a Broken Chair

Jarrod and I drove past Rio Vista to the intersection of Hwy 12 and I-5 today to meet with Chris Goldman and talk about the training weekend Cordova is hosting in March. We chose that intersection because it's about half way between Antioch and Sacramento. There are several service stations and fast food joints, a 76 truck stop, and a "family restaurant"... a relic from another era.

Walking through the door of the restaurant was sort of like stepping into 1960... back when they called such establishments cafes. The waitress (yes, waitress... not server... 1960, remember) smiled and showed Jarrod and me to a booth to wait for Chris. She poured coffee and went about her rounds. We decided a table would work better for conversation, so we moved, and I had to switch the broken chair on my side of the table for a replacement. Our waitress, decked out in her burnt orange uniform... kept the coffee cups filled until Chris arrived.

We talked and ordered food and talked some more and ate. My mushroom omelet was passable, and the country potatoes were tasty, but I'm pretty sure I received this week's supply of grease. The conversation with Chris was productive, so it was definitely worth the trip... to the intersection and back to 1960.

Kindred Spirits

Ministry in a local church is challenging, fun, fabulous, frightening, full of surprises, frustrating, and fulfilling. How is it all those things? I don't know... but if you've been in ministry, you're shaking your head knowingly, aren't you? One of the characteristics of ministering in a local church is that all the blessings and all the challenges tend to focus your attention more and more on that church... her needs, strengths, weaknesses, and dreams. In at least one sense that's exactly the way it should be... ministering to, praying for, working with a church family. An inevitable side effect is that it's easy to forget that you're not unique... that there are guys in similar roles out there who are experiencing the same blessings, struggling with the same challenges, and dreaming the same dreams for other church families.

Today I spent most of the afternoon with Greg Brown, the Associate Minister at Tri-Valley. We're collaborating on forming a joint praise team and crafting a worship time for the Pepperdine Lectures in May. Coincidentally, Jarrod spent some time with Steve Martin, Tri-Valley Preaching Minister, working on a class they'll co-teach at Pepperdine. Our meetings went well, but the unexpected benefit was that we were all reminded that we are in this together... that our churches, our ministry roles, our experiences with our church families are all more similar than different, that they create community among us, and remind us that it is God who wills and works through us. That reminder is freeing, and it's always nice having companions on the journey.

Friends

Last week was really special for us. Our friends of many years, Arlin and Pamela Hendrix, were able to stay with us for a couple of days, and our time with them, though usually brief, is always rich. We hiked in the hills behind our house; we caught up on all that is going on with each other's kids; we shared dreams and memories; we just soaked up our time to be together.

They're currently on furlough from their life-long work for Jesus in Lyon, France. Every three years or so they come back to the States to visit family and friends and touch base with supporters.

I just love how friendships in Jesus can grow and be enriched... even when we don't get to see one another very often. God is good.

Sweet Spirit

About 27 months ago Virginia and I walked into baggage claim at Oakland airport. We gathered our luggage and looked for the couple who were there to pick us up for our exploration weekend with the Eastside church. It didn't take us long to find each other, and thus began our friendship with Bruce and Sandy and Bruce's mom and dad, Carl and Betty.

Tonight we joined several others from church at Lone Tree Convalescent Center to gather around Betty's bed and sing to her and with Carl... to sing old favorite hymns, some of which Carl and Betty have been singing since before I was born. Betty's health, due to multi-systems atrophy, has declined dramatically in the last year, and she may not live to the end of the week. How very special that makes the memory we now have of her mouthing the words along with us as we sang,

Angry words, O let them never

From the tongue unbridled slip

Let the heart's best impulse ever

Check them 'er they soil the lip.

Flat on her back... in a nursing home... probably her final home on this earth, Betty ministered to each of us as we all sang her favorite song. She never went to seminary... probably wouldn't be considered a biblical scholar... but her lovely and caring heart, her concern for others, her gentle nature, her love for others have been breaths of fresh air in a fellowship where being right used to always trump "the heart's best impulse." Thank you, Betty, for allowing Jesus to shape who you are. Thank you Carl and Bruce and Sandy for sharing tonight with us.

EEM

Virginia and I went to a dinner at the Concord Hilton tonight to hear all the latest that is going on with Eastern European Missions (http://eem.org/). It is truly amazing what God has done and is doing in former Soviet countries like Russia, Ukraine and Siberia... and EEM has been positioned to have a wonderful role in many camps and schools in many provinces. Since the fall of the Wall, EEM has grown from a band of dedicated Bible smugglers to a partner in providing education in spiritual values for hundreds of thousands of school teachers and children.

For those in the area, Frank Farr will teach a combined class this Sunday morning at 9:00 at Eastside.

Treat-'n-a-Trunk

Treat-'n-a-Trunk last night was great! Quite a few of our Eastside Family showed up in their vehicles with lots of candy in hand. Some came straight from work... some were all decked out in costume... some were in street clothes with big smiles... all showed their hearts to be warm and full of love as they greeted kids from the neighborhood, from Harbour Lights Preschool, and from church. Ruth had arranged to have a couple of those inflatable bounce houses and a cotton candy machine to round out the evening. I think most of the kids had more fun bouncing and playing than collecting candy. More than one parent was overheard saying something like, "Come on, Johnny, don't you want to stop playing now and go get candy?" The evening was a hit with the neighborhood parents who came by with their kids. I pray that this event will grow bigger and better each year. Here are some pics of the evening...