Book Club - Suite Francaise

We have decided on a book Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Barnes and Noble describes it as:

"Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.

When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died. For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown."


A couple of women in the church have read it and recommended it. It certainly sounds interesting. If anyone wants to discuss it once I've read it, I'd love to. I have also reserved The Year of Living Biblically at the library. It just looks to good to pass up.

Church Book Club - November Reading

Has anyone read this book?



We left our book club last month without picking a new book and frankly I’m a little nervous about attendance. A couple people recommended books that other book clubs are doing, but I’m not sure that it is worthwhile doing books that other groups are currently doing. It may reduce the possibility of people coming. As we are a church group, I thought this book might bring up some very interesting conversations.

These are the other books that I was considering.






Let me know if you have any insight on any of these. I welcome your help.

All Church Activity - Kick Off Operation Christmas Child

I have to do an all Sunday School activity next Sunday as we kick off our Operation Christmas Child Collection. I am thinking of trying to do a rotational system. The OCC facilitator’s package comes with a great DVD full of videos about the program, but we have watched the video every year. Usually I have all the kids come together, watch a section of the video and then do some sort of note making that we include in the boxes. Last year, we also took a picture of all the kids to include in the boxes too. The problem is that there are so many kids, I’m not sure that they all stay focused. This year I’m thinking of breaking them into four groups maybe pre-k –k, 1- 2, 3-5, 6-8 and then having four stations.

STATION ONE can watch the DVD – there are plenty of different levels so we can choose to watch sections appropriate to their age instead of boring the older children or being too advanced for the younger ones.

STATION TWO can create wrapping paper. Instead of buying wrapping paper, it might be a great idea to have the kids create the paper. I will have to check on prices of butcher paper. We can supply stamps, markers, and stickers to decorate the paper. Note to self: I will need a lot of extra hands in this station.

STATION THREE can create the note cards. The OCC site has a PDF note card that some of the younger kids can do, but I’ll have to think about what the older kids can do.

STATION FOUR - HMMM? Here I may need some assistance – Maybe we can do a verse memorization or a group prayer. Maybe a relay. Perhaps they could decorate some Christmas cookies to serve at coffee hour. I am really open to ideas.

I have a week and a half to get it all pulled together. If anyone else does Operation Christmas Child and does related activities with their Sunday school, I would love to hear about it. We aren’t doing the Children’s Sermon related to OCC until Dedication Sunday in November, so I have barely even begun to think about that.

Children's Sermon - You Mouth is Your Rudder

I am so happy to see you all here today.

One of the last times that I talked to you, I mentioned that you should think and pray about scriptures. To show you that I was serious about this fact, I would like to show you one way that I do this. I read a devotional. I have found I really like the Upper Room Devotional, but there are all kinds of other devotionals: Devotionals for kids, for moms, for men, for teens, for girls. Devotionals usually have you read scripture and then have some commentary about it. Some devotionals include prayers, related scriptures or quotes, or sometimes even a game or comic. When I was reading mine the other day, September 24th actually, I thought of you all. The topic was “A Gentle Answer” and the reading was James 3:2-12.

First, I thought that the book of James may be one of the lesser known of the 66 books so you may find that interesting. Actually, I thought it might be interesting if you challenged your parents or older brothers and sisters tonight to list as many books of the Bible as they could and then you could check to see how close they were to 66.

Secondly, I thought this would be appropriate because it speaks to my comment about the Bible that although it is an old book, it relates to our life today. The Bible gives us direct instruction about how we are to live our lives. The particular reading for today relates to our mouths.

I assume you all have a mouth. How many of you have a brother or sister? How many of you have parents? Well, then this scripture speaks to you directly.

James 3:2-12 (New International Version)

“2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

Have you ever yelled at your brother or sister? Or gotten mad at your parents and said something mean? That is exactly what this scripture is about. If we say that we are trying to be Godly and therefore praise God, should we use the same mouth to be mean or hurtful. If we use our mouth to say prayers, should we use the same mouth to use bad words? When we use our tongue for evil or bad, we aim our entire life in that direction. If you want to do well, then speak well.

The devotional actually goes on to tells a story about a woman who was quite upset. She called to complain about service on her computer. She was really angry and ready to scream at whoever answered the phone, but when the woman answered the phone she was very pleasant, “Hello, how can I help you?” With a little of her thunder stole, she told her complaint to which the woman replied apologetically, “I am so sorry, we will be right over to take care of your problem.” By being nice to the complainer, everyone’s mood changed. Bad was made good.

So I encourage you to live as you believe and to let your tongue direct your body toward goodness.

Let me finally share with you from the devotional, the prayer for that day. Before my words of prayer are said, I fold my hands and bow my head.

“Father, help us to mirror the character of your son, Jesus, not only in good times but also when we are tired, frustrated, and upset. Amen”

A Prayer - - -

I’m asking for a small prayer for a small child. Our friend’s daughter was placed in the hospital to help her fight off an infection. She has Cystic Fibrosis. I encourage you to go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s website to learn more about this disease. In the meantime, please send a prayer for a small child who is not sleeping her own bed tonight but in a hospital and for her parents and brother, who are watching over her.

Favorite Sermons?

This weekend as I mentioned I did the Children’s Sermon again, due to the illness of the regular lady. I felt very badly about the situation since the regular woman is still not feeling well. I asked her sons how she was doing. The boys, who are adults, both have special needs. They related how badly their mother felt about not being present at church to give her “favorite” sermon. This favorite sermon has become a bit of insider joke in the church. I cannot tell you how many years she has given the same sermon. The sermon has no scriptural basis, but is related to the children of the church listening to their parents as we all set you for our local fair. Most people were thrilled not to hear this same sermon again. It made me realize that I better be wary of creating a “favorite” sermon. Being able to refer to the sermon as “favorite” may imply that I have told the sermon one too many times.

Mission Mondays - Box Tops for Education

In these tough economic times, it is always helpful to find ways to help that don’t cost you more money. Certainly you can always offer sweat equity, but here are two related ideas that build on actions you already take. Most people are already familiar with the traditional Box Tops for Education: clip, collect and send in those little boxtop coupons found on our food packages . However, some people may not realize that if your school is not already listed, you can add it in. This is not just true for public schools but also for private schools and homeschool organizations. Also, the program does not end with boxtops. Since all of us need to shop, if you do so through their online corridor, you will not only buy what you need, but also will be adding a donation to your chosen school without spending a cent yourself. BoxTops has partnered up with companies like JcPenney, Staples, Barnes & Nobles, and many, many more. Donations for your purchases range from .5 - 22.5% depending on the store's particular arrangements. Both of these programs are terrific opportunities to help out, without cutting into your already tight budget.