Concert on Saturday Night for Justice

This Saturday night in Bluffton at Church of the Cross off of Buckwalter Parkway there is going to be a concert at 7pm, that highlights some Christian artists signing music for justice to support Food for the Hungry and the International justice Mission (IJM). If you have never heard of IJM, they are an amazing organization that is rescuing children and women from prostitution around the world, amongst doing other amazing things. Here is the link for the concert - it's $10 to go...http://www.saragroves.com/concerts/artmusicjusticetour/.

Here is the link for IJM...http://www.ijm.org/

Also, just found out about another cool blog spot where you can have daily Christian insights sent to you from a minister (?) in England...here is his description of his "morning bell" - I just signed up myself.

morning bell is a daily resource from Ian helping you to....
find a way into the monastic rhythm of prayer, create still space at the beginning of your day, pray with others around the world, discover the true ground of your being
morning bell is a txt message or email sent to you early each day with some wisdom from the Christian tradition, a prayer practise and meditation ---in tough times we can tend to become inward looking.
This week the morning bell call to prayer is a call to remain generous. I hope you find it helpful. Peace and generosity be yours....
if you want to receive morning bell direct to your phone or email please contact Ian at ian@maybe.org.uk.

Moonlight

Last night was great on the beach ..watching the moon rise was restful and fun.
This morning a friend sent me a link to the following blog...I am looking forward to checking it out... http://www.inthebellyofthebigfish.blogspot.com/

I finished!

"Congratulations from Bank of America for finishing the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Your recorded finish time was 5:22:57 and you placed 23746 out of 31,401 finishers." I received this email in my inbox today. Yeah! I have completed what I set out to do and I survived to the end. I am so thankful for all the love and encouragement from family and friends. I am thankful for everyone's generosity with the fundraising and for the other forms of generosity. Thank you to Jesus for carrying me through. Thank you to Jamie for being there for me the whole way. Thank you to Laura for her hospitality. Thank you to Melinda for her care package and moral support. And today, I will celebrate with a massage and good food and a day off at home on Hilton Head, this beautiful place that we live, green from all the rain and with cool, mild temps. Praise to the Lord for He is good, his love endures forever.

Rain on Hilton Head

This afternoon it rained an rained on Hilton Head Island. Last night it was nice to listen to the rain outside the window. It is nice enough weather now on the island to have the windows open at night. Rain is a restful thing. I appreciate the overcast skies and the beckoning to relax. It is so easy these days to be uptight and busy, that God's call to relax, via rain, is very needed.

Family pic...

At my older sister's house this summer...great photo.

Sonshine and more sunshine

A quick note about spending a beautiful day in the sun... and with both a son and the Son. Spent the day enjoying walking on the beach, enjoying a good morning church service, enjoying good food, sharing experiences and watching Jamie kite surf. It turned out to be a splendid afternoon. So glad I didn't work all day.

The water sparkled yet was also a turquoisy blue. Jamie did great on his kiteboard...I am very proud of him. He did it. He conquered his fears, hopefully the Lord helped with that, and he had a blast. He was also fun to watch. So powerful and yet so graceful.

Now sitting back in my office (yes working on a Sunday night) I still feel the sun's glow on my face and its warmth on my forehead. I am thankful for the Lord's creation, the sun and God's Love through the Son. And, I am thankful for spending the day with Jamie.

Waves of energy

I am in the final count down to my marathon. A little more than a week to go. I am trained, I am ready. I just need to coast to the starting line. I am blessed by those who have comforted me and taken care of me along the way. I am thankful to my God. I am prayerful for the race and for the children in Zambia who will have clean water because of this run.

In the next week, I will breathe, relax, eat right, enjoy as much as possible the outdoors without over exertion, relish good company, sleep well and let the stress of work go. I will be on a wave of good energy. Praise be to the Lord. Amen.

(And when I get home from the race I can paddle surf again - yeah!)