Lazy Days and...

I barely got out of the house today. Watched some football, worked on my computer, did a little cooking... didn't even work out. I guess it was partly the dreary, chilly weather; part was just being lazy; I think most of it was being a bit sad about my friend John. He's been in ICU for about 2 weeks now; he's had some ups and downs; but the latest news is that he still is not improving. Please pray for healing. Thank you!

Quotes of the Day

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'" - Theodore Roosevelt

"When someone tells you something defies description, you can be pretty sure he's going to have a go at it anyway." - Clyde B. Aster

"Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it." - Elias Schwartz

That Time of the Year

The end of each year is always adorned with pine needles, ornaments, mangers, colored lights, gift cards, a chubby guy in a red suit, and (at least every 4th year) presidential candidates making claims they can't prove, promises they won't keep, and assertions they often try to take back later. (insert sigh here)

I ran across this quote by Eugene McCarthy. Now, no matter what you think of his politics and/or rep, I think he hits pretty close on this one:

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important.

We really enjoyed Mom's stay with us, but she flew home to Arkansas this morning. When I talked with her this evening, we found out her trip was a bit harried, complete with substitute plane and unscheduled plane change. They got in about an hour and a half late, but she said the Southwest people were nice every step of the way. Also, after Louise picked her up they went to New China to eat... one of Mom's favorites.

Maybe she'll decide to move out here, and then she won't have to negotiate those flights to see us. One can only hope, right!?! :-)

Oh... one more thing that I'm sure will make reading this post totally worth it (insert drum roll here)... Jen called to tell us that Claire is rolling over from tummy to back by herself!!!

Christmas Eve

One of the true blessing of this time of the year is all the greetings and pictures we receive.

Merry Christmas!!

Tick...tick...tick...

Christmas is drawing ever closer. Today as we worshiped, Brice's message was woven into the tapestry of our singing, our readings, and our prayers. As our children sang to us and as we closed by singing Welcome to Our World, each of us had been drawn more intimately close to the God who loves us enough to become one of us... to die for us. Each of us renewed our thankful hearts.

A friend of ours from Houston is both an English teacher and a writer. She is also a woman of faith and blogs at this site. In a recent post she wrote of faith as a trust fund. Check it out and see what you think.

Merry Christmas!!

Quotes

I ran across this quote from Eric Hoffer:

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.

I was intrigued, so I looked up some other quotes by Mr Hoffer, American author and philosopher:

Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is
compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.

Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.

Every intense desire is perhaps a desire to be different from what we are.

In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future.

The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.

It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate.

Many of the insights of the saint stem from their experience as sinners.

The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from
becoming anything.

And finally...

The real Antichrist is he who turns the wine of an original idea into the water of mediocrity.

Enjoy!

Christmas Fun

Christmas should always be fun. I know that sometimes things liking lines at the mall, server crashes, sharing cold bugs, and other common Christmas traditions sort of diminish the fun, but I still believe that Christmas should be fun never-the-less. Here are a few things that have been fun this year.

Amaryllis - the whites gave us this beautiful flower. We'll probably eventually kill it, but it's sure been fun watching the blooms open and reach toward the light. They're beautiful, aren't they.



This link is fun... 10 guys doing a really neat acappella version of 12 Days. Check it out; it will make you smile.

Here's another fun link. You may have seen it via email, but this singing Santa gives Sinatra a run.

Jen has posted some new pics of Claire and Kaleb... now that's what I call fun! Click here if you want to enjoy them too.

Hey, Christmas will be here in just a few days. Relax... enjoy... have some fun!!

Christmas: the Ultimate Missional Holiday

For many years our church has participated in what we call the Giving Tree each December. It works like this (at least in its present form):

1. Our church secretary, Ruth, collects names of families who need help with Christmas
2. She sets up the Giving Tree, complete with numbered tags that say something like "boy, age 10, remote control car"... you get the idea.
3. Church members sign for and take the tags, bringing back wrapped gifts; others donate cash to help the families with Christmas dinner
4. Ruth, with help from Kyle and the youth group, organize the gifts by family groupings
5. The families come by and pick up their gifts or we deliver them... happening this week.

Our church family always comes through. This year we have been able to help 14 families, including 50 children. We even had a few coupons for Christmas trees donated through the Antioch PD. As families have come by to pick up gifts, we've seen lots of smiles. My guess is that Jesus is smiling too.

Christmas Is on the Way

The merchants of America have been telling us about the coming of Christmas 07 since about the time we handed out the last Halloween candy. Most folks started at least thinking about decorating around Thanksgiving. At the Johnson house, we've finally gotten the message, broken out the boxes of decorations, and put some up. Virginia's good at it; it takes me a few boxes to get in the spirit.

We decided not to put the tree up this year, so we substituted this little fiber optic tree... sits on the piano and is only about a foot high. Here are some of the other decoration choices we made this year from our eclectic collection.

This is a new addition to our minimal outside lights. Believe it or not, it says Merry Christmas.

The center poinsettia is one of those with the mottled blooms.

Santa's boots light the way.

The piano top transformed.

Santa topper without the tree.

One of my favorite decorations that we've had for probably 30 years. The candle has changed, but that little cub still seems to enjoy the climb.

We are blessed to have my mom with us this year over Christmas. She flew in Friday, and it was a long day for her, but she handled it well. She'll be with us about two weeks. It's already been a "successful" trip... we enjoyed her signature whole wheat muffins this morning for breakfast.

I want to close with a prayer request. John Dedeaux, our benevolence deacon at church and an older gentleman with a wonderful heart, had knee replacement surgery Thursday. The surgery went well, but he now has pneumonia and is in ICU. Please pray for John... thank you!

Saramento Trip Part 2

One thing our guide mentioned that really struck me is that the Capital is a temple. The architecture includes symbols that are a combination of traditionally religious (the dome and cathedral-ish design) and Greco-Roman (from whom we got democracy and representative democracy. The Capital is a temple to the democratic ideals of of a state and a nation. Here are some more pics from the tour.

Senate Chamber from above. Note that red is one of the main colors, patterned after the British House of Lords with red as a symbol of money and status.

The desks were made by a California furniture maker who decided he could make more money using his wood working skills than panning for gold. The original cost was about $15 each back in the 1860s. My guess they'll cost a bit more if they ever need to replace one.

Here's the House Chamber, very similar in design to the Senate Chamber, only bigger because there are more 80 Representatives and 40 Senators. Also, notice that the main color is green, patterned after the British House of Commons, which was originally made up of guys with an agricultural background. It's also interesting that in the Senate Chamber there is a large portrait of George Washington, a wealthy plantation owner, while in the House Chamber there is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, who grew up as a poor farm boy.

Hand-carved staircases... really marvelous craftsmanship. At one point the building was remodeled and the staircases were removed. When the building was later restored to the earlier design, they had to hand carve the staircases again.

Notice the Grizzly bear on the close up. As the state animal, you see them all over the Capital. If you get the chance to go and see... by all means, go and see!!

Visit to the Capital

Virginia is a California native and I did most of my growing up SoCal, but neither of us had ever visited the Capital Building until today.

Her Crime Analyst association scheduled the tour and a lunch, and we chose to pay the extra so I could go along.

It's been rainy all day, and we had to park and walk several blocks from the Capital because all the closer parking garages were full, but it turned out to be well worth the effort. Our guide was both funny and informative; the history was fascinating; the food at lunch was delicious; and we got to do it together. Near perfect trip.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Looking up into the dome in the rotunda from the first floor. When it was built back in the late 1800s, it was the tallest building in Sacramento... but not for a long time at this point.

Larkin Goldsmith Mead’s Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Legrand Lockwood by pioneer banker Darius Ogden Mills for $30,000, who then presented it the state in 1883. Slightly over life size, the sculpture weighs approximately nine tons including the base and is located in the California State Capitol Museum. There's not a direct connection between Columbus and California, but the story goes that Mills gave the statue either because his wife didn't want it in her parlor and/or he thought the adventurous spirit of Columbus lived on in the state of California.

Rotunda on the 2nd floor. The tile is representative of the basket designs of California native Americans.

A stained glass version of the Great Seal of California: The seal design includes an image of the Roman goddess Minerva (Greek goddess Athena), a Grizzly Bear, and clusters of grapes representing wildlife and agricultural wealth. A gold miner and sailing ships in the background represent industry and commerce.
According to ancient Roman myth, the goddess Minerva was born fully-grown. Just as Minerva was born fully-grown, so California became a state without first having been a territory. Minerva's image on the Great Seal symbolizes California's direct rise to statehood. Pretty cool!

More to come...