Yes, Jesus Loves Me.

A few Sundays ago was "Sanctity to Life Sunday". One of our women ministry leaders, Marge' Brandt spoke on the Right to Life for all.
Here is her message:  Right To Life message

But before she spoke, four young children came up on stage to sing "Jesus Loves Me". One of them was our own Hannah.

Nathan (preschool), Peter (1st), Erik (2nd) and Hannah (4th)

They did a great job. My videoing wasn't so great but you get the picture.

Soul Care

FCC had the privilege of joining with Bridges Community Church to host their annual Women Alive Fall Conference. My Women's Minister, Christy I. and myself were part of the planning team with the Women's Ministry at Bridges. It was our 2nd year partnering with them and they welcomed us with open arms. It is true that Jesus' church is His people not the building. And we had the great opportunity to work together to serve our community of the Tri-City area.

This year we had Donna Jones, a renowned speaker, author and pastor's wife to come speak on the topic of "Soul Care: Our Soles Don't Determine Who We Are - Our Souls Do!"

The eight workshop speakers introducing themselves and their topics to the audience

Along with our main speaker sessions, we were able to choose one out of eight workshop speakers each speaking on a topic that was dear to their hearts.

Topics were:
- Taming Your Family Zoo
- Bad Things Happen to Nice Girls
- Keeping God's Word Alive in My Life
- You've got Purse-onality
- Sex: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
- Welcome to Worry Warts Anonymous
- Let's Do Life Together!
- Who's Laughing at the Days to Come?

I attended the "Welcome to Worry Warts Anonymous". The topic not only spoke to me but the speaker also did too. She might look familiar to you too?

Yes.. it's Grace Lee, my Bondfire Buffet Club Vice-President. But she was not here on a physical eating opportunity, it was a spiritual feeding opportunity. She spoke on being a Worry Wart and how she has battled her worries through her 6-Step Recovery Plan.

Worry-holics Anonymous

In John 16:33 God said, "In this world you will have trouble..." That's just how life is. It is not easy and can be very overwhelming to handle all by yourself. We are only human.

And in "The Me I Want To Be" by John Ortberg, he says that 15-20% of people are born to be worriers. We are just wired that way. But we don't have to live that way.

Here are the 6 steps that Grace shared that will help us not be ruled by our worries:

Step 1: Word of God- we need to admit we are powerless over worry unless we are constantly and creatively in God's Word all the time to help us over come the negative thoughts (Psalms 119:28; Hebrews 4:12)

Step 2: Worship of God - we need to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity (Ephesians 2:10)

Step 3: Women -  we need friendships; admit to God and our friends the exact nature of our worries so they can encourage and support us

Step 4: Workout - we need to make a significant effort to exercise, it gives us the endorphins to take on another day

Step 5: Winks - we need rest, sleep, continue to take personal respite, to rejuvenate when we are exhausted

Step 6: Whimsical - we need to take an inventory of the fun things we see and like and just do it! Like your bucket list of things to do in your life.

My sister-in-law, Matthea, and Grace, my awesome friend and workshop speaker

This was the first time I got to hear Grace speak in a 'professional' capacity. And she was incredible!
She was organized, had well thought out examples, scriptural references, honest sharing of her personal experiences and funny! Boy was she funny! Some of my friends who attended other workshops had commented to me that they heard a ton of laughing coming from our room down the hall. Yes, they wanted to see what we were laughing about! She was relatible and real. That's what you want a great speaker to be. Plus she brought treats and souvenirs for us too!

I was so proud of her!

So Grace, no need to worry about how you did! You were fantastic! And I am not biased!

All Grown Up

Throughout life, we meet a lot of people. A LOT A LOT of people!! So many that sometimes when I bump into someone I haven't seen in a long time, I don't remember their name nor where I know them from. Was it from school? which school? old church? new church? old work? new work? a friends' friend? at a party?  conference? on vacation?

You get the picture?

Sometimes it's little people. No.. not that kind of people. Kids... Babies... Children. They grow up and I don't recognize them anymore. My only memory of them is when they were 5 and now they are 25. They don't go by JonJon, Ali, NicNic or Chellie-Bellie anymore. It's Jonathan, Alison, Dominic or Michelle. They are adults... attending college... driving... dating... and even getting married.

Oh but I am getting ahead of myself. I should start at the beginning.

My first experience with children (other than being one myself) was teaching Sunday school at my old church, CIBC O. I remember trying to figure out where would I best help out in the church. I didn't want to do nursery (carrying them for an hour while they were crying for their mom to come back did not sound like something I wanted to 'serve' in); toddlers were still too little and I didn't want to do the 'diaper-thing'; but preschool was do-able. Four and five-year-olds seemed more independent, self-sufficient and self-entertained than all those other younger ages. (Little did I know that elementary aged kids are even better.)

I started helping out in the Children's Church (ages 4-5). It was here that I first met Crystal. She was very outspoken and obedient young lady of four years and always had a huge smile on her face. Her brother Jonathan (Jon Jon) was only a few years younger than her and was super smart.. now I mean .. SUPER smart... I think he even skipped a grade and he played the piano like it was a part of him.

A few years later, Crystal and Jon Jon's family helped start CI's church plant in my current home town. My boyfriend, at the time (and now husband) and I soon followed to help start and build this little family oriented church. It was an incredible time of building wonderful relationships with some incredible families all of whom are still near and dear to us today. I continued teaching Sunday School, this time 2nd/3rd grade, and Crystal was in my class again and JonJon soon followed. It was teaching Sunday School that I decided to change careers and go into teaching full time.

Fast forward many many years later. Crystal went to UCD for her undergrad and became involved in a Christian Fellowship called InterVarsity. Her heart was drawn to teaching college students about God and even though she taught high school for a little bit, God was leading her to do something different. She became a campus minister back at her alma mater and that is where she is today.

But not alone.. you see.. she just got married to Michael (another IV staff worker but not from UCD... but all the way across the country in Detroit.)

Jonathan graduated from UCLA with his undergraduate degree and is now at Berklee College of Music pursuing his passion and dream in music.

I came out of retirement and had the privilege of coordinating Crystal and Michael's wedding ceremony. My husband was even an extra photographer for them (which I was thankful for since these pictures on this post are his).

It was a honor also to stand with Crystal's parents, Alan & Angelina, dear dear friends of ours during this precious time in their daughter's life.

Nowadays, weddings are an 'event-filled' and event-planned' affair meaning that the bride and groom hire professional wedding planners and decorators to plan every aspect of their wedding from the engagement portraits, invitations, table settings, to photo booths and cupcakes and favors all coordinated and tied together seamlessly to a specific theme. It's gorgeous but very expensive!

Crystal and Michael's wedding was one of the simplest yet beautiful weddings I have ever attended. They made God the center of their wedding and honored their guests and family throughout the wedding and reception.

Nearing the end of the ceremony, their officiant Brian (who did an awesome job.. you would have never known that this was the first wedding he officiated), the bridal party and their guests all laid hands on the new couple to pray a prayer of blessing upon their new life together. What an honor and blessing to God!

Now getting back to Kids turning into Adults. Crystal and Jonathan. I've only known them as kids. I didn't know at that time many years ago what or how they will grow into adulthood and what they will do with their lives. Or what kind of decisions they would make for themselves. You just don't know. I didn't know. I was just a Sunday School teacher to them. Just a tiny part of their precious life. And to see them at this wedding... it brought tears to my eyes.

I am so proud of the adults Crystal and Jonathan have become.

New Sunday

We have been attending FCC for over 12 years. It is the church that both Emily and Hannah were born, dedicated and raised in. Through the 12 years, it has gone through many many changes. (For those of you who used to attend FCC awhile ago, you might appreciate seeing these new changes.)

First significant change is our Atrium. A year ago it was just a large corridor where people come and go as they walk to and from the Pavilion (aka our sanctuary/school gym/meeting hall). Now it is has become a meeting place, an area to gather, chat, drink coffee/tea and/or just hang out.

 We have a place for little ones to read and hang out comfortably.

 We have a spot honoring our founding pastor, his wife and their family. (And if you were wondering, yes they are still at FCC.)

We have a place to display our talented congregation members works of art...

We have a place outside of the Pavilion for you to sit and enjoy the service via TV monitor. The Digital Arts Studio is a place where our KHA students work on their video assignments.

 Not only did we change the physical appearance of the Atrium, but we also combined all of our services (we used to have three: two different services on Sunday mornings and one Saturday evening) to now just one service at 10am. We combined the styles of structured-contemporary and relaxed-contemporary to hopefully one that met everyone's needs. 

The stage was changed to accommodate more people and the feel of being closer to the attendees. We added a vocal team along with two worship leaders (instead of just one). The choir still sings twice a month on stage. The youth (high school +) have a small portion of the stage every Sunday.

Matthew played on this Sunday in the band.

We have three main preachers (our lead pastor, our women's minister and a licensed minister) along with  our other pastors (we have five more) who take to the pulpit.

We have an extended time of Ministry of Prayer where anyone can come up and receive prayer or an anointing with oil for healing at the end of the sermon. The pastors, elders and leaders of the church are available all around the sanctuary to be prayed with. I personally feel that this is our strength. Every Sunday many come up for prayer. It is because of this great need that the service changed to a 'soft' ending where you can leave whenever you feel like after the sermon. You can stay for prayer or participate in the extended worship time or exit your corporate time of worship time with God that morning. Before we had a 'hard' ending or 'official closing' benediction and exiting song.

Overall, I'm liking the new service and all the newness it brings. I don't like change but the one thing that hasn't changed at all is our love for Christ, focus on God's Word and that from His Word we are challenged to be better Christians in a world that so needs His salvation and love.

Singing in the Choir

No not me.. (heaven forbid!).. but my girls, as a part of their Sunday School class, got the opportunity to sing with our church's adult choir and Pastor. They sang "Noah Built the Ark" and everyone did a great job!

Now since our church is a 'tiny' one, our Sunday School is also 'tiny'. Looks like on this particular Sunday, we had 16 kids all between the grades Kinder through sixth.

Whenever I go visit other churches, it always seem that their congregation of children are exploding.. with the kids usually outnumbering the adults.

I  guess either more of our kids come to the 11am service instead of 9am or we just don't have that many young families. Food for thought...

A Planner... I Am

Some of you may have known that I worked in advertising before I became a teacher. I actually graduated in advertising and have worked in two large ad agencies in the city. To get into advertising you always start at the bottom and work your bottom off to get to the area where you really want to work. For me that was in Media. After about a year and a half in accounting, I was offered a position as assistant media planner. I eventually worked my way up to Media Supervisor when I was let go due to a loss of a big client but I really enjoyed being a Media Planner (one step below Media Sup).

What is a Media Planner? Well , I "plan'' how to spend the client's money in whatever "media/medium" would be the most cost efficient for their dollars. It could be in print (newspaper, magazine), outdoor (billboards) or broadcast (radio or TV). I had to do lots of research, print graphs and charts and all that good stuff that was in planning. We had lots of perks in the job. Reps from magazines and broadcast stations were really nice to us.. since we were their 'clients'. I mean, I did get to decide where our client's money goes.

Here I am with my co-workers at a Sports Illustrated function. They always had a big luncheon to promote their swimsuit issue.. and yes that is Kathy Ireland.. who was on the 1992 swimsuit cover.

I've always been a planner.. all my life actually. I 'planned' where I wanted to go to college, what to do as a career, when I was going to get married, what type of person I was going to get married to; my wedding; when I was going to have children etc.. Of course, the majority of my plans didn't pan out. I learned the hard way that "my plans" may not be "God's plans" for me and that "my" plans may not be the 'best' plans.

As a teacher, you have to write out lesson plans daily. That's pretty much what we do. Plan it out and then execute it.

Here is a sample week's lesson plan:

I guess planning things is my forte'. It is a gift from God since I do enjoy all the little details that come with planning.

At church, I help plan our women's retreats.  Normally our annual retreats have been through the weekend at a conference center in the mountains. It takes about six months to plan and execute.

This year we had a one-day retreat at the church. This one took three months to plan but felt like the same amount of work as if it was a weekend retreat. Nevertheless, we had over 90 ladies attend and it was extremely well received!

We served breakfast and lunch with the majority of the food all homemade.

We had a mini worship team lead by my dear friend who just celebrated her 25th anniversary. I, btw, coordinated her renewal of wedding vows ceremony.

I piggybacked on a great idea from my cousin's wedding: having a Favor Bar..

of candy ...

.. and bath salts (for those who are non-candy eaters). The theme of the retreat was Refresh.. Spa for the Soul so I though the bath salts would be very appropriate. It was a very blessed retreat and God was present!

I really do enjoy all the details of planning events. It's the melancholy in me I guess. Event planning is very exciting. I guess that's why I enjoy coordinating weddings; planning showers; organizing VBS and retreats. It's the little details that are thrilling to remember to include into a plan. I love the planning process. It's the execution that it not so exciting. The execution is so physically exhausting. It'll be much easier if I could just do the plan and have someone else do the execution. But of course, the choleric in me would not allow anyone to execute 'my' plan besides 'me'. (More about my temperaments in a future post).

A Very Special Wedding

Yes, another wedding but I did not coordinate nor plan it. I just made the fluffy punch. :)

This was a very special wedding for a very special person in my life: my dear friend Jan waited 51 years to marry the man of her dreams. She met him when she was 12 and he was 16. They became an 'item' for one year but separated when Jan's family moved across town. Both married other people and had families.

Fast forward 51 years. Jan decided to use Facebook to reconnect with old friends. She reconnected to Tony, who was divorced, and they renewed their friendship and eventually decided that there should be no more lost time spent between them.

For the 10+ years that I have known and loved Jan, I so desired her to be loved and cared for since she loves and gives so much to others. It gives me so much joy to see how happy Jan is today.

So never say never when you want true love! God will provide in His time.

This is a picture of them when they were together the first time around.

The little girl in between them is Jan's great-granddaughter who was the flowergirl.

Jan was so beautiful; this was her going away dress handmade by a dear friend of hers

25th Anniversary Wedding

Many of you know that I do weddings. Actually for many occasions I was always the wedding coordinator not the bridesmaid. Sometimes I missed being in the spotlight with my dear friends but  only for a very brief moment. I do wedding planning much better than standing and smiling for the cameras. Being in the background and knowing all the details was more my forte'.

This time I coordinated a Renewal of Vows ceremony. A first for me! My dear friends Tony and Teresa celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows in front of family and friends. Tony is an incredibly talented musician, one of our church's worship leaders, our school's music and band teacher and Emily's clarinet teacher. Teresa has been a faithful attendee of my bible studies along with also being a gifted worship leader. Their three children were a part of their wedding party; Teresa's dad gave her away; they sang the same song they sang to each other at their original wedding; and they wrote new vows of commitment and love for each other.

More importantly at this day and age where marriage is seen as not essential and not needed, their commitment for one another has influenced their children to strive to attain the same for themselves. Each child shared to the guests how their parent's love for each other through the good times and bad have impacted their lives. THAT part was my favorite and the most touching to me. Through the power of God's love for us, we can stay true to God's commandment of marriage by loving one and only one for life. It was truly a spectacular event and I felt privileged to have been a part of it.

(I thank my very talented husband for taking these beautiful pictures of their wedding.)

Hard at work...try 'pinning' an aisle runner on concrete.. and this was my first outdoor wedding too!

Bride and her father

Singing to each other

The very happy couple!

The gorgeous family

My very dear friend and sister-in Christ

The Year Is Coming to An End...

Written on May 22, 2011

... the School year that is! So much has happened so here is a quick update:

• The Band Awards: We did not know what to expect being that this was her first year in band. But Mr. B. awarded each student a medal and certificate for beginning and intermediate band members and trophies for advanced members. Each medal and trophy was personally engraved with their name and year and band level. What a wonderful reward! Emily's goal is to get one of those big trophies!! So she'll keep playing the clarinet! What an incentive huh?

• CCS Art Fair: As a school fundraiser, the kids created a drawing/painting, a company frames them and then sells them to us for $35 each. What away to make money right? We bought both of the girls paintings. They will be hung prominently on the wall somewhere in the house.

• Two weeks ago was our Spring Musical, where Emily had to perform with the Band and with her class singing various songs. Hannah's class also sung their songs very well. (We were actually able to pick out Hannah's voice as she was singing. I guess she can be loud!) All the kids were wearing t-shirts promoting out new school name.

• Last week, Emily and her dad came back from a full 2-day field trip to Sacramento. She got to visit the Capital, Governor's Mansion, a real coal mine, Sutter's Fort, Old Sac, Vietnam Memorial, and even panned for gold. She came back with a tiny piece of gold and some gold dust. It was not as easy as it looked , she said!

• This morning during church service, Matthew was interviewed by Pastor Kevin as part of his sermon on encouraging us to join small groups. He did a great job and if you want to hear what he said I'll email you the video link on the church's website when it's up.