Apologetic - What do you believe? Why?

DD is working on her faith paper for Confirmation class. Our minister asks the students to write a paper to explain why they are part of our church and part of the confirmation class. He explained to all of us that he has them do this in the style of the Apologetics. Confirmation is the time for the students to decide their religious fate. Their parents can make them attend confirmation classes, but we cannot force them to be confirmed. We can dole out bribes or punishments, but the choice is ultimately the students both if they choose to join the church and to which denomination they choose to join. This faith paper is just one step toward making some of these decisions.

"Apologists are authors, writers, editors of scientific logs or academic journals, and leaders known for taking on the points in arguments, conflicts or positions that are either placed under popular scrutinies or viewed under persecutory examinations. The term comes from the Greek word apologia (απολογία), meaning a speaking in defense.
The term Apologist applies especially to early Christian writers (c 120-220) who took on the task of recommending their faith to outsiders." (definition from Wikpedia)

I thought that this was a great idea not just for her but all of to do. Why do we believe? What do we believe? I think that I may do this activity myself and read some other appologetics.

Have any of you written such a statement? Perhaps you could add a tag for us to read your statement.

Devotional - God's Gifts

Read Romans 12: 1-8

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
-Romans 8:28 (KJV)

As with many women these days, my days can be crazy - - -between work and the kids, there hardly seems any time. Yet, somehow I find a way to work in volunteerism, book clubs, and homeschooling our children. Although to outsiders, it looks like I am always organized and prepared, inside I’m terrified that I have forgotten something or wondering what I will do if something goes wrong. On one of these particular days, I was particularly harried I ran into my minister. He simply said, “You know, Dawn, Romans 8:28 that is what I always say.” I think the blank stare in my eyes told him that I did not understand the reference. “All things work together for good to those who love God,”(NKJV) he winked and walked away. Immediately I felt better. He was right. I was working for God. I had done all that I could to prepare. It was in God’s hands. I could relax.
“Romans 8:28” is now my mantra whenever I feel unsure or overwhelmed. It even has become a bit of a reassuring chuckle, when as I make brownies for coffee hour, I have just enough flour or when someone comes to volunteer when I haven’t even voiced my need. I have even reminder our minister of this scripture when I’ve seen our minister a bit harried or overwhelmed.

Prayer: Dear God, Help us to find our Godly gifts so that we can better serve you. Help us to improve those gifts so that we show your glory throughout our church, community, and the world. Remind us that that when we do Your work, You stand beside us and carry us when needed. Amen

Thought for the Day
How can you use God’s gifts today?

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fish except with apples and pasta

This morning I was trying to figure out what to make for breakfast. We are out of milk so choices were a little limited. I opted to make Apple Oatmeal Muffins as we have a bag of apples that was given to us after helping out at the crop walk (note: I know it takes milk, fortunately dry milk saves practically forever). As I was cooking away, it dawned on me that in the past two week’s several of our meal had come by the grace of God. I’m sure like many of you out there; we are starting to feel a pinch in this economic time and have been downscaling and being careful. One of the few discretionary expenses is food. The question becomes how far can you stretch a dollar.

Lately, especially after my car died this week, I have been feeling very depressed about the situation. I’ll be honest. I was losing hope. This morning though as I was stirring the muffin mix I realized that I was in the middle of my own loaves and fishes story. In the past week and a half or so, God had truly provided. Whenever we have done something for others or for the church, we have been rewarded. DH helped a friend at a Spaghetti dinner. He came home with extra ziti, sauce, apple cider, bread, and parmesan cheese. DH helped with our church auction, he and the kids were fed and we received a very helpful gift which allowed he and DS to get breakfast and lunch. We all partook in the Church pot luck for which DH made Chili using some of the meat sauce that we got from the spaghetti dinner. Then as I said from the crop walk DD and I received a bag of apples which have now served us apple crisp and now apple oatmeal muffins. Thanks be to God.

Sometimes you just need a reality check. As I worry, in my warm house with tv and internet, there are so many in worse shape. I could be serving my children mud pies like in Haiti to quell their hunger.

God, Thank you for all that you provide for me and my family. I am truly grateful. I am sorry for those times that I seem like an ungrateful, selfish child. Please forgive me. Thank you for reminding me of your presence today when I needed it. Please show my family how we can best use our talents to help in your service.
Amen

Children's Sermon - Reformation Sunday

For those of you that are protestant, you know what an important day today is. It is Reformation Sunday: the day to celebrate the posting of Martin Luther’s questions of the church. This reform eventually produced the Protestant religion. The actual date was October 31st, but it is celebrated in the church today.

It was my day to give the children’s sermon so I opted for this topic. It wasn’t biblical per se, but definitively historical to our religion. I wasn’t sure if the subject matter would go too far over the kids’ heads, but it went off very well. One of the kids even came up with the invention of the printing press to one of my questions.

I was so nervous and this weekend had not been going well. I even joked with the other choir members that if I seemed to get lost in thought that they should break into “Jesus Loves Me” to save me. And just before I went down to the give the meditation, I actually gave a quiet prayer asking God to help me through and getting his message across.

The general mediation went basically like this:
Welcome everyone. How are you today? Today we are celebrating a very special day in the Protestant religion. Way back on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther began the reformation. Some of you may have heard that word earlier when mentioned that today was “Reformation Sunday”.
Sometimes when you are part of the church there are words or terms that go over your head. Today, I am going to try to let you know what this special day is about. The reformation was started by Martin Luther (Not Martin Luther King Jr. that many of you may be familiar with, but Martin Luther). Martin Luther actually set out to ask some questions about the Holy Roman Catholic church. He did not set out to beginning a new church, but just to reform the Catholic Church. Reform – thus we call “Reformation”. He began a protest that became our protestant church.

Interestingly, part of what happened Marin Luther never intended. Have you ever done something that you haven’t thought something all the way through. For example, if I had a pile of books next to me and asked one of the kids to take out the bottom one. If he pulled the bottom one out, what would happen? (the books would fall over) This is kind of what happened to Martin Luther. He was troubled by some of the things going on in the church and so he got his quill out and wrote down 100 questions and thoughts which he posted out on the door to be discussed. But there was a little invention that had just come out. Does anyone know what that might be? (the printing press)

Exactly, very good. So the note that Martin Luther had posted on the door was taken down and copied. Copies spread throughout the town, Germany, and even to other parts of Europe. The for a series of political, social, and religious reasons, a protest was begun: A protest that would lead to the reform of the church and the founding of the church.

And one of the important parts of our church is the questioning and learning. That is why our minister is Dr. Reverend so that he can help us learn and understand. So keep questioning and keep learning and this Friday take a few minutes to say thank you to God for the special man, Martin Luther.

Before my words of prayer our said, I fold my hands and bow my head.

Dear God,
We have so much to be thankful for. Specifically, we thank you for Martin Luther. We thank you for giving him the insight and courage to begin the reformation that led to the Protestant church.
Amen

Sing Unto the Lord

“Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel." - Judges 5:3 (KJV)

"Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!" -1 Chronicles 16:9 (KJV)

"Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.' - Psalm 9:11 (KJV)

Singing was one of my favorite things as a teenager, but just as many other activities and interests; it had gotten pushed aside by the responsibilities of work and family. I could, however, be heard singing song in the shower or as I did my chores. DD picked up on this and started to encourage me to join the choir at church, which I finally did last year.

I hate to report that my range has diminished and I’ve forgotten so much about technique it is truly sad., but it feels so good to sing in church. There are times I actually get the chills (and that’s not just when I hit some horrible dissonant note).. Singing and making a joyful noise makes me think of the way some worshippers transcend space and time and feel one with the spirit. While I am not quite at that point, it is a spiritual experience.

So I encourage all of you, no matter your voice or talent to make a regular joyful noise unto the Lord. It will add another dimension to your worship.

Devotional - Let All Blessings Flow

Read Psalm 100

“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessings.”
-Ezekiel 35:26 (KJV)

I had hit a dark time. It seemed that I could not escape a sadness that had taken over. I had spent so much of the past months helping with my mother’s care that when she died, I did not know how to go back to my “regular” life. Everything became a chore – something to get done so that I could get to the next thing. I knew I didn’t like being this way, but I could not seem to break the gloom. I decided that I needed to change my perspective, to start seeing God’s blessings again. I started to literally count my blessings. Each night before I went to bed, I listed at least five blessings that had occurred in my day. At first it seemed hard. One and two usually came quickly, but I really had to think of three, four, and five. But then as I continued, I could almost feel the Holy Spirit fill me. He hadn’t left me before. He had carried me or I most surely would have collapsed, but now He took a new role. As I asked for Him to fill me up, he did. As I took one step forward, He took two toward me. It wasn’t long until I could not only list 5 blessings a day, but could often fill full pages. God’s blessings were simple things like the flutter of a butterfly. They were concrete like cuddling with my children. They were spiritual like the feeling when singing hymns in church. I was awake again and in God’s light. It had always been there, but now I could see it.

Prayer: Dear God, You are always with us in dark days and joyous. Thank you for always being there. Please help me to continue to see the many blessings that you pour onto us. Amen

Thought for the Day:
Blessings are all around us, if we would just stop to look.

Mission Monday - Knit One, Save One

Here is a terrific opportunity to help the world with a small action. Knit One, Save One is run by Save the Children. The program is requesting us to knit or crochet hats for infants (plans are in their booklet) and to send a note to our new President to make sure that he knows infant health care is our priority and should be his. I encourage all of us to participate in this program. I think DD and I will try to crochet at least one hat. I hope that you will too.

Book Club - The Year of Living Biblically

A.J. Jacobs is insane. Trying to live a year following the all the rules in the Bible literally, is the definition of ab absurdum. His wife Julie deserves all of our respect. She not only endured this year but did it while carrying twins. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed his experience from the safe distance of my couch.

I was intrigued by this book, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possibly, as soon as I heard about it. It seemed like an interesting way to learn more about religion and to hear another opinion about God’s word without having to endure the slog through another dry read. This book is witty, insightful, and a joy to read. There were some areas that I wish he developed more, but he does a good job covering a huge range of Biblical topics from the wearing of tassels to snake handling.

I would not recommend this book to people who believe that the Bible IS the word of God as they will call it heretical and dismiss it outright, but for those who believe that it contains the word of God, this is a worthwhile read. This book will make you consider areas of the Bible that you had not before. It may give you insight as to why the Bible calls us to do things that we don’t fully understand.

As for A.J., a self-proclaimed agnostic, it is interesting to read his own personal transformation: from purposeful prayer to inspired prayer; from A.J. to Jacob and back to A.J.?; from Jewish by genealogy to Jewish by life choice. One of my favorite scenes was his time locked in his bathroom – did the handle fall off or perhaps a greater hand in his lesson? A.J.’s voice is friendly and interesting and though most of us probably would have given him wide berth in his white un-mixed fiber costume, you will want to continue to hear from him. In fact, I plan to try to get his other book The Know It All out of the library today.

,

(Oh wait - I have to read Suite Francaise for the Book Club - see how this becomes a problem?)

Bible Study - Jesus birth through baptism

As I have mentioned, in Bible study we are reading “A Harmony of the Gospels” by Ralph Heim, which is a parallel way of looking at the gospels. Each gospel is lined up so that you can see what they have in common and what they don’t. For this week’s assignment we read the first section (basically, the birth of Jesus through his baptism and temptation by the devil).

The most interesting part is the volume of words. The book of John is mute. There is no writing in this section at all. Mark is second, keeping his words to a minimum. Mathew and Luke however have a great deal to say.

It is also interesting to note the phrasings that are identical between some of the books: John the Baptist “making the path straight”; John saying “After me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry”, and they all seem to concur that the heavens were opened and a dove came down (although there seems to be some semantic disagreement about who / what the dove is) along with a voice that was heard saying, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased”. They also all seem to agree that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Luke and Matthew give much more detail to this, while Mark’s explanation is rather brief.

I also found differences as interesting as similarities. For example, neither Mark nor John speaks of Jesus’ lineage in this section; however, Matthew and Luke do. Interestingly too, differences arise. One, the lineages don’t match until both reach King David. Two, it is interesting that Matthew only extends the line back to Abraham while Luke finds importance in extending the line back to Adam and therefore God. Of course I find it rather interesting that this paternal genealogy is so pertinent when just a few verses later they make a point that Joseph is not the father of Jesus, but that Jesus is God’s son and he has no earthly father.

I look forward to a lively conversation on this section and can barely wait to read on and see what else I notice due to the different format. How I wish I knew and understood more. I will pray for God to continue to direct my learning and understanding of this miraculous book, the Bible.

If you read the Gospels in parallel form, I would love to hear about some of your insights.

Mission Mondays - The Hunger Site

Apparently, I should not have called this post Mission Mondays because I don't seem to make the posts on Mondays and when I find something I want to share, I don't want to wait.

Another way to help without spending a penny. It costs you just the time it takes you to go to this site and click. While you are there check out their other click to help sites.

Devotional - God Endures

Read Peter 1: 23-25

“And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11 (KJV)


When we bought our new house, we were so excited to have land of our own that we could plant and till. Due to the costs of actually buying the house, we had little extra to expend on purchasing more, but yardwork could easily be done with little expense. We were often out raking and planting. I took advantage of the many perennials that were already in the yard, splitting them and moving them to new areas. During this time, we came across many interesting things: more golf balls than could fill three coffee cans, old rusted tools still stuck in the soil, two stones that had etched in them Mom and Dad, an old wooden swing discarded in the woods. We could only guess where these things were from and why they were left here.
Inside, however, sat our Bible, a book filled with stories thousands of years old and a word that is just as true today as the day it was first written: A simple, but visible reminder of the fleetingness of this life and a promise of the everlasting life to come. A reminder of where our focus should be as we set about making our new home. Paint would make the house look pretty. Flowers would bring a sweet aroma. But without the foundation of our family in the Good Book, all our work would be for naught.


Prayer: Dear God, It is so easy to dream of more: to always wish for newer cars, bigger houses, and fancier clothes. Please forgive us for these earthly desires and remind us where the true treasure lies. Amen

Thought for the Day:
Center your life around God.

Confession Time

I did not go to church today. I have not missed in quite a while and today, there really was no excuse. My stomach was bothering me, but I’m sure I could have made it through. DH and DS were camping, but DD and I could have gone. I feel guilty for the choice not to go. We used to skip all the time. We didn’t really even go to church between the time we got married and the time we had children, but now it has become a very central part of our lives. This week though, I skipped. It was a pretty selfish choice and today hasn’t seemed right since. If I could rewind, I would get my lazy but out of bed this morning and get to church on time.

How important do you think going to church is to your faith?

mission Monday - HELO, Inc

At our Girl Scouts meeting last night, one of the girls invited Elisabeth Kennedy to speak to our girls about her mission. The girls have been working on their Global Girls interest project and have been learning about many of the issues that affect women and children around the world. After doing several other activities, the girls created a display about women and children's at our local library. This reminded one of the girls about a speaker that she had heard and so she asked if we would be interested in having her speak to us, thus last night Elisabeth spoke to us about her experiences. After 9/11, Elisabeth began her trips to Haiti. She was so touched and tortured by what she found, she has committed herself to making a change. Through a series of unexpected events and a bit of grace, last year she opened an orphanage in les Cayes, Haiti. Her orphanage currently cares for 13 children, who without her intervention would be left to their own devices and possibly not survive. Her orphanage brings hope and opportunity to these children and hopefully many more to come. She named her program HELO, Inc. HELO stands for Home, Education, Love, and Opportunity. Elisabeth says that she has learned to take small steps but in the course of a year, she has already rented a house for the children, hired caretaker, and begun the kid’s education, but her dreams are larger. She would like to care for my children. She would like to own a campus where a church, school, and home can all be developed for the children. It is important to her that the children have a skill that can carry them on after they leave the care of the Centre Fe Formation Juvenil Bethestda.

We can help in this mission by:
-Becoming more educated about the situation in Haiti and educating others.
-Praying for this mission.
-Donating money (If you are interested in this option, HELO is a non-profit agency. The address for donations is HELO, Inc, 43 Lake Shore Dr., Middlefield, CT 06455. If you would like to specify usage for your money, please choose one of the following categories: Shelter, Food, Education, School Supplies, Clothing, Building Fund, or you can sponsor an individual child for $75 per month. Include your name and address so that a receipt can be returned to you).

The entire meeting left me thinking of the amazing power of One. Elisabeth had felt the calling and she acted. It is quite an amazing story.

PS. I know that it is not Monday, but this infomation couldn't wait.

New Sunday School Ideas

We did the Operation Christmas Child all church activity today. It was a little chaotic and I missed the beginning of church because I was setting up, but 45 minutes into the program all the kids were seated and still working on their respective projects. I figured this alone made the program a success. Afterward, the superintendent of the Sunday School, myself, and a mutual friend were talking. We started by talking about the fact that Bible Quest has ceased publication and now the Board of Christian Education has to find a new curriculum, but we digressed to a discussion of the number of students. We didn’t have 60 students in the program today. This is down from registration in previous years of up over 100 – not a good sign. Our conversation developed into a conversation about how important is was to keep a strong Sunday School. It is easy to say that our numbers are down, the economy is tight, perhaps we should scrimp, but I think that if we scrimp we will loose the battle. Loose the children: Loose the parents.

So, does anyone have any good Sunday School Curriculum that they can recommend (we are a Congregationalist / Methodist church)? Or any innovation Sunday School ideas that we might incorporate to spice up the Sunday School?

Operation Christmas Child - All Sunday School Program - Final Plan

Whole Group –
Prayer:

Dear God:
Thank you for bringing us all here today.
Please assist us as we undertake Operation Christmas Child again this year.
You have given to us and we understand our obligation to give to others.
We look forward to passing on our blessings like clothes, toys, and school supplies, but most importantly passing on your love and your word.
Please be with us as we fill our shoeboxes and shower your love on those who receive them.
Amen

We have participated in Operation Christmas Child for several years now. Can anyone explain about this project to someone who is new?

Here is a quick quiz for everyone:
How many different countries received gifts through Operation Christmas Child in 2007? 10, 50, or 100
How many shoe boxes were sent in 2007? 700,000; 1,000,000; 7.6 million

The journey of these boxes is very much like the delivery of gifts many years ago. Can anyone think of gifts that were delivered a long time ago?

You know, I think those bearers of gifts are here today (in walk three kings).
King 1: We are the three Kings
King 2: We have traveled a long way to worship the king of the kings.
King 3: We come bearing gifts.
King 1: I have gold fit for a king.
King 2: I have frankincense for a priest.
King 3: I have myrrh to symbolize that his death will be as important as his birth.

(kings will stand frozen while the scripture is read)

Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)
The Visit of the Magi
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifrom the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.



Today we are going to begin thinking about our gifts. Gifts that will not be going to Jesus, but instead going in his name. From now until November 9th, we ask that you bring donations for us to fill shoeboxes. I will pass out fliers with information to each of you, but don’t feel that you have to put together a whole box yourself. If you bring in items we will combine them into boxes from all of us. To that end, we are going to begin our journey today with a few fun activities. I’m going to break you up into three groups pre-K -2nd; 3-5; 6-8.

Break kids into smaller groups as described below:

Group 1: PRE-K to 2nd (four older children to facilitate)
Create the star that the Magi saw – Have star cutouts available. Let kids use glue and glitter to decorate. Let the kids know that they should take this star home to remind them to bring their gifts in, just like the Wise Men did when they saw the star.
Take picture of group.
Have kids decorate Gingerbread Cookies to serve at coffee hour. Explain to them that this is how we are going to let the adults know that we are kicking off Operation Christmas Child.

Group 2: 3 to 5(Two older kids)
Take picture of group.
Brainstorm and write down ideas on a board about what God expects of us and why we do missions. After several ideas are written down, ask kids how do these ideas fit into how they behave and act. Do they need to change to better reflect these ideas?
Decorate wrapping paper. Explain that we would like to wrap the gifts with their love. Ask them to use symbols of God and Christmas to decorate the paper.
When they are done, fill in “about me” paper.

Group 3: 6-8 (2 adult)
Explain that part of the mission of these boxes is to convert people to Christianity. Many of the people that get these boxes may never have heard about God’s love. This box may be their first contact with God.

Ask them to write a letter / note to the recipients about how Jesus & God has affected their lives and why they should received God into their lives.
Challenge them to think about how we could expand this program to include our community.
Give them materials to create posters for town wide collection or pen and paper for a letter to the editor.

Dismiss as needed.

If extra time, come back together as group and do Pass the Prayer Parcel(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf ).
Hand out boxes to groups. Explain that, in the manner of ‘Pass the Parcel’, you will play some music during which each small group passes the box round. When the music stops, the person holding the box takes out a slip of paper containing a prayer and reads it out. When the room goes quiet, start the music again and continue.

[Picture: Exercise booksandpens]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to learn.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy learning at school.

[Picture: Woollyhat]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs clothes.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
keep warm, day and night.

[Picture: Toothbrush]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to keep clean,
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy looking after themselves.

[Picture: Teddybear]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to be loved.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
know that someone cares for them.


When you think everyone is finished, bring the music to an end and conclude with the following prayer:

Leader: God, our maker,
we are all your children,
and we all need your help.
We thank you for giving us Jesus,
because he shows us
how much you want to help us in our lives.
Amen
(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf )

Incredible Church Photography

In researching the development of churches for the confirmation class I can by these beautiful pictures by Paul Wainwright:





You have to visit this photographer's site, go visit the exhibition, or buy his upcoming book or prints. His photographs reminds us how special our meeting houses are. These are only two of the many, many on his site.

Bible Study Begins

Today was the first day of the new year of Bible Study. In the past we have worked through Karen Armstrong’s History of God & Our Religions. This year we are going to focus more on Christianity and are going to be working through A Harmony of the Gospels by Ralph D. Heim. It is a parallel gospel so that we can compare the similarities and differences in each book. As our minister noted, too often we blend similar stories into one and forget the differences. I look forward to really delving into the gospels.

In today’s conversation, I was intrigued by the idea of scripture. As we discussed the writing of the gospels we contemplated the audience to which the texts were written. At that time there was no New Testament, nor a consideration of one. While each may have known of the other’s writings, they were not originally intended to be together. When they were talking of scriptures, they were speaking of their religious scripture, i.e. the Old Testament. This may seem like a silly point but it really struck me as profound. It is hard to imagine that they originally saw themselves as a sect of Judaism and not as the beginning of a new religion called Christianity!

Confirmation into Our Church

Well, DD has entered a new phase of life. She has begun confirmation classes at our church. Tonight, parents and children were required to attend. This is the beginning of 20 classes until Confirmation Sunday in April. As those of you who read DD’s entry on A Cup of Tea with Mom and Me, being confirmed at our church means a great deal to her.

The class started with a quiz:
1. In the Book of Genesis there are how many creation stories?
2. God asks Abraham to leave Ur and travel to what land?
3. Even before he had 12 sons God changes Jacob’s name to?
4. King David conquered what city and made it his capital?
5. King Solomon built the first one of these buildings?
6. The first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah, are:
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, and Deuteronomy
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Judges and Deuteronomy
7. What two Sacraments are celebrated by Protestants
- Holy communion and Baptism
-Holy communion and Confirmation
-Holy Communion and Holy Orders

There is more but I will not bore you. They then made us compare our scores with our children.

Fortunately, I beat dd. Not all parents did.

Over the next 20 weeks, DD will have to write an apology, do research on an important religious figure, attend a retreat, read a book on the history of Christianity, and pass periodic quizzes. And worst of all, I have been tapped to teach next week’s class. DD is not too thrilled with this and I just hope that I can do it justice. I have to instruct ,with the help of one of the dad’s thank goodness, on the architecture of the church and on how our church works. When she has survived all this, she will be a full member of our church.