Part Five of our Anniversary Vacation--a Bucket List item crossed off

I first heard about Sight & Sound Theaters when I was working at the post office. Every year I would see the pamphlets come in the mail and I knew it had to be an amazing thing. I told myself that someday I would go there. I am so happy to say, I have been and it was all I hoped for and more.
Unfortunately I obviously couldn't take pictures of the show. These are all I took. The building is huge and impressive.

I think I was too excited and in awe to take more pictures of the outside. Here is a picture of the postcard.

We saw the play, "Jesus". If this is the one and only time I get to see a play at Sight and Sound, this is the one to see. It was inspiring and just phenomenal, perfectly done. There were live animals from flying doves to sheep and horses going up and down the aisles. There were stormy seas and Jesus walked on water. I bought the program guide and I could take a lot of pictures to show you but I will just share a couple so you can get an idea of what the set is like--just incredible.

It was not only in front of us, but on the sides too. I really can't do it justice in my descriptions--a gift for the eyes and the heart. If it weren't so far away, I would make this a yearly visit. But I finally made it, it was worth it and I will have the memory of how great it was. I loved it. It was worth the wait.

Boycotting Mother Teresa?

"I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind. of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."--Mother Teresa on her acceptance of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a stamp August 26th on what would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday. She was a wonderful humanitarian and did so much for so many people. Who would ever find fault with honoring her on a stamp?

Well, it appears the Freedom from Religion Foundation is asking people to boycott the stamp. They feel it violates the postal regulation that "individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings" cannot be on a stamp. There is no doubt that Mother Teresa was a religious person and motivated by her faith, but the same could be said of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Father Flanagan. There was no flack for them being honored on stamps and dare I say, what about baby Jesus who is on a stamp every Christmas?

This atheist group suggests that people purchase the Katherine Hepburn stamp instead because (I did not know this) she was an atheist. I can't imagine that with her successful acting career that she would want to be remembered for being an atheist. Since Hepburn's stamp is coming out in May and it is standard practice to only have commemorative stamps for a few months, it is likely that the consumers won't have the opportunity to choose between Katherine Hepburn and Mother Teresa. There are, of course, many other stamp choices, but I for one, after this publicity, hope that the Mother Teresa stamp becomes a big seller. If the postal service changed their issuance schedule, they could possibly cash in on a contest between the sales generated by Katherine Hepburn vs. Mother Teresa. Who would have ever imagined a contest between those two women?

Who would think that a woman of peace would in death, cause controversy. She blessed so many and in her honor, I leave you with one of her many, many inspirational quotes, "Every time you smile at someone it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." :)

Crossing T's

I am left handed. I will say things are much better now from when I was growing up--that, or I've adapted. I couldn't cut things at all. Scissors were definitely made for right handed people. I wonder if I had been given the same opportunities as others, maybe I would be more gifted in making crafts or maybe I would have learned how to sew. When you can't cut anything, it kind of slows you down. Later in life I got left handed scissors. It's great to be able to cut--simple pleasures.

I haven't been bothered much by a right handed world in recent years until last week. I bought this new type of correction tape that I saw someone use. It looked nicer than white-out. I was anxious to try it out. I looked at the directions--you had to press down as you guided it over the part to be covered. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that it is designed to be held in the right hand. That is not good for me--have you ever tried to draw a straight line with your non-dominant hand?

My worse memory of discrimination for my left-handedness came in 3rd grade--maybe it was 4th, I can't be sure because I had the same teacher for two years in a row--and it was two years of torture for me. I would have quit school if I could have. My only day ever of playing hooky was that year.

Anyway, in retrospect I am not sure my dilemma was due to being left handed or that I was just different. Nevertheless, the teacher told my parents at the conference that there was a problem. I would not cross my t's from left to right. I always did it right to left. Yes, this is a true story. Fortunately, my parents thought this was foolishness, as I did, and stood up for me. I guess I should be grateful that the teacher didn't slap me with a ruler every time I did it. To this day I cross my t's from right to left and I'm proud of it. To me it's a natural movement to catch it on the way back and you wouldn't know if I hadn't told you. I defy anyone to look at a piece of paper and decipher which way the person crossed their t's.

I've been thinking about t's this year. It started with my Christmas cards. I thought it was neat to put a star over the "i" in Christmas to represent the star that the wise men followed and I crossed the "t" up high to represent the cross.

As the new year started, I decided that this year (perhaps a resolution), I will cross all my t's high like a cross. This is helping me to daily remember Jesus and what He did for us. It reminds me that He should be in my life every day. It takes a conscious effort to do it, but I am enjoying the challenge and appreciate the chance to find God in all I do.

I would like to challenge all Christians out there to do the same. I think it would be neat for the word to spread and for people everywhere to be seeing the subliminal message being sent with all the "crosses" in our written words. In a world where God is being omitted or neglected, let's bring Him him back in even the littlest ways, such as crossing t's--and it doesn't matter whether you do it from left to right or right to left.

The Cracked Windshield

We were driving around this weekend minding our own business when a truck driving from the opposite direction kicked up a stone and hit smack dab in the middle of our windshield. Either two stones hit or it bounced because there were two little holes with tiny cracks protruding from the sides. That put a damper on our Sunday ride, but we knew we had full glass coverage and actually called the insurance company from our cell phone and it will be repaired while I am at work in a couple of days. How convenient.

The interesting thing was that after driving a little, the cracks got a little longer. While I was talking to the insurance company, I told them the crack was getting bigger as we spoke. It went from the two little holes to a line that takes up about 3/4 of the length of the windshield. Now that the car is parked at home, I personally think it's done growing, but my husband says that you never know and he suggests I don't drive it. Good advice, I'm sure.

The whole thing made me think of an analogy of a lie. A tiny little fib doesn't look like it will hurt much--a tiny spot in the windshield. However, then there's the little crack that you have to cover up and then it spreads and spreads getting bigger and bigger. Horrible ones can cause shattered glass and much damage. It was a good illustration of how a little lie can cause so much trouble.

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."--Romans 5:19-21.

So, Jesus is like our car insurance company. We can call our insurance claim department 24/7. They will forgive us and because our premiums are paid, they will replace our windshield for free. We don't even have to take it anywhere. However, we did have to call them or they wouldn't know it needed fixing.

Likewise, we all know that Jesus is available 24/7, He will forgive us, and in His case, He even paid our bill. He will come to us when we ask and make us whole again like the windshield. He also knows ahead of time when our windshield needs fixing, but He wants us to recognize the need and to ask Him. How comforting that whatever the sin, He has grace to cover it if we ask Him. How's your windshield? Any cracks? Is it even shattered? Jesus has it covered, if you put in a claim to Him.

Lessons in life are everywhere if you just open your eyes.