Conversation with Jonas

When Jonas and I drive in the car, he likes to pick my brain. Here's today's conversation on the way to the library. Sometimes I think he's playing his own version of "stump the chump."

We drove past a church
Jonas: Which church is that?
Becky: The Nazarene Church.
J: Oh, is that the first church?
B: What do you mean? In Henderson?
J: Yeah.
B: No...I guess the first church is St. Paul's Episcopal Church. I think that maybe they were the first church in town.
J: What about the first church ever?
B: I guess that's probably in Israel, but I don't think it's there anymore.
J: Where is it?
B: Well, I guess it fell down. It would have been there a REALLY LONG TIME AGO.
J: Did you used to go there?
B: No.
J: Did you ever see it?
B: NO. I mean, it was a really long time ago!
J: Did you ever go there?
B: To the church?
J: No--to that place.
B: Yes, I've been to Israel.
J: Oh, did you see that church?
B: No, honey, it's not there anymore. I did see lots of really old churches, though.
J: How do you spell "Israel?"
B: I-S-R-A-E-L
J: Some people don't believe in God.
B: Yes, that's true. Do you know any of those people?
J: No. Do you?
B: Yes, a few.
J: Well you just tell them--Wait until you get to Heaven! Then you'll see!
B: Okay, I'll remember that.
J: So, how old are fruits?
B: Well, fruit has been around for a long time.
J: Vegetables, too?
B: Yes.
J: Oh. Do they still make that kind of orange that Adam and Eve used to eat?
B: Actually , we don't know what kind of fruit Adam and Eve ate.
J: Oh. I think it was an orange.
B: Really?
J: So, does every chimney have a fireplace?
B: I guess so.
J: Did Santa Claus make all of the fireplaces?
B: Well, no.
J: What's Santa Claus's real name?
B: St. Nicholas or Kris Kringle.
J: Oh. Was God born?
B: No, he wasn't.
J: Hmmm.
B: God just always was there.
J: Oh, well, is God still dead?
B: No, absolutely not.
J: Oh, is Jesus God's son?
B: Yes he absolutely is. And he's alive, too.
J: Can I eat an apple?
B: No, not now.
J: Not now! When we get home.
B: Let's get through the library first.

These are days when I try really hard to remember every detail! I'm sure I missed some. He sure does come with a lot of good questions.

Feliz Navidad

Well, Christmas 2005 is over! It's hard to believe. We packed a lot of family fun into the past three days, but tonight we're just hanging around the house. The little kid and the big kid (my husband) are watching Home Alone 3 in the family room and I couldn't take it anymore, so I'm checking my email and blogging in the office! I think those Home Alone movies got worse and worse with each one that they made. Jonas got all 4 for Christmas at his mother's house and he brought them over here.

We had a very nice Christmas. St. Nick visited us as expected and left a few toys for Jonas--a truck and a telescope--and a treadmill for me.

woo hoo.

No, actually, it's exactly what I asked for, so I was glad to see it. It's been a long time since Santa surprised me, and it was fun to get that kid on Christmas morning feeling again. We do our Christmas thing on Christmas Eve morning and then go to Jason's parents house to have Christmas there.

The whole family--Jason, Jonas, Austin (Jason's brother), Megan (Austin's wife), Tyler, Nolan (Austin and Megan's boys), Shelia (Jason's mom), Sherry (Jason's aunt), my mom and I--went to church on Christmas Eve. It was nice to all go together! Last year, we had to cancel the Christmas Eve service because two feet of snow fell, and I really missed going to church on Christmas Eve. After that service, Jonas' mother picks him up so he can go have Christmas at their house. Jason and I went to a Christmas party with his maternal grandfather's family. We do it again with the maternal grandmother's family the next night.

It's a lot of Christmas-sing.

Anyway, I hope that all of my friends had Merry Christmases, with lots of fun and family time. And I hope that you got to take a few minutes to remember the whole reason we celebrate in the first place--for without the Christ, there would be no Christmas.

Kids Say...

Jason and Jonas were driving home the other night and crossed some railroad tracks.
Jonas: There are railroad tracks this close to our house?
Jason: Yes.
Jonas: That gives me the cramps!

While driving to Evansville, Jonas sees a picture on a billboard that looks an awful lot like his stuffed dog, Scooter.
Jason: There's Scooter!
Jonas grabs Scooter (who is always with us, of course): Scooter! You're FAMOUS!

Christmas Program part 2

Last night was the formal Children's Christmas program at church (their nativity on Sunday was part 1). Here are Teresa and Jawara, two children that come to our after school programs and started singing with the choir on Wednesday nights.



Breck and Ike before the meal.


Rhonda and her boys at dinner.

The Durham men looking dapper as usual.

This is Jonas' new outfit.

The children get ready for their program


And the night ended with a visit from Santa Claus.

New Toothbrush!

My dad always sends us new toothbrushes along with his Christmas gifts. Here is Jonas enjoying his:

The Chronicles of Narnia

We went to see Narnia on Tuesday night. It was a wonderful movie! We took Jonas, who is 6, and really enjoyed it. The only thing that we may have made a mistake on is that the battle scenes are pretty intense and we don't usually let him watch movies with intense battle scenes. He actually covered his eyes ;) But otherwise he really enjoyed it. We weren't sure whether he would like it or be bored because it wasn't a cartoon.

When we left the movie, I just kind of said to Jonas, "You know, the lion is kind of like Jesus." He's been working on that riddle ever since. He's asking all kinds of questions about why did the lion do this and why did the lion do that. He's pretty much got it figured out.

Before we went to the movie, we went to Jonas' class party at school, went to visit Santa at the mall, and ate dinner at Red Lobster (we had a gift card). After the movie, we went to Central Park. If you haven't been to Central Park in Henderson at Christmastime, you're missing out! They decorate th whole park for Christmas. There are lighted displays and a train, a bus, and a firetruck that kids can get in, little houses, a castle, igloos, the Berenstein Bears ice skating in the fountain, a house where Santa goes to sit and greet children on Saturdays, Mrs. Claus' candy store, a great big rocking reindeer, Santa's sleigh with seats to ride. It's a Kodak experience, but I don't have pictures from that because we forgot our camera! Oh well!

Christmas Caroling

These are just a few of our Christmas Caroling pictures. We went to the homes of some of our older members :)

Christmas Program Part 1

Every Nativity has a Mary--here's ours :)


Here's Joseph spending some time with the Wise Men.


Our Angelic Angels and some sheep...




Here are our SHEPHERDESSES--they are all about inclusive language.



A donkey and an angel


And one shepherd and his father!

Reformed Theology and Faith

This past weekend, I had my lay ministry class. It was taught by a minister from a Presbyterian Church in Owensboro named Jonathan Carroll. It was actually very interesting! Here are some of the topics we covered:

Confessions, Creeds, and Catechisms
Scripture as the Word of God
The Trinity
Creation
Providence
Sin
Jesus (Christology)
The Work of Christ
The Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
Salvation (Soteriology)
The Church (Ecclesiology)
Baptism
Communion
Growing in Faith
The End toward which we move (The Reign of God)

We discussed each topic as it is found in the Bible, the Christian traditions, the Reformed viewpoint, and contemporary significance.

On the Front Porch We Can Build a Snowman!

I realize I'm a little late with these, but here are a couple more snow pics!

Snow Day

It's a snow day in Henderson County. I just thought I'd check in! It's a bit icy, but nothing too major just yet!

UPDATED: Well, it's 3:12 and I took a picture since we got some real snow. It's still falling. Maybe I'll get some good pictures later, too.

Christmas Parade Pictures

Our 2006 Girl Scout Cookie theme is "Be Brilliant." Our float theme was "Be Brilliant, Be A Brownie!" We had school desks and a chalk board. The girls wore white graduation gowns (choir robes) and construction paper caps with yarn tassles. The only bummer of the day was that it was so cold! The girls were all bundled up under their caps and gowns!








Jonas' Cub Scout pack was also in the parade. Here are the pictures that Jason took!

The Durhams Get Ready For Christmas

I am locked out

I went to volunteer at Jonas' school this morning and I guess that I forgot my set of keys that open doors. I have three sets of keys: My car key/mailbox key; My keys that open doors; and my nearly useless keys that I only need once in a long while. I had my car key set so I could get to where I was going, but I forgot my keys that open doors and in the meantime Jason went to work and I got locked out! Thank goodness that he's leaving work at 5:00 to come home to get ready to take Jonas climbing at Vertical Escape! I went to the church and was able to get in because one of the ladies that works in the offices upstairs came down and let me in.

And the most exciting thing of all is that 5 years ago, I anticipated this moment! I knew that some day I would be locked out of my office and would need to have a spare master key somewhere. So I found a super-secret hiding place and got one of those key boxes and hid an extra key. Well, after Phyllis let me in, I went to my super secret location and found the key exactly where I left it. That was exciting enough on its own, but I was just really glad to find it. I'll return it after I find my real set of keys at home. I know that they are there somewhere because I let myself in yesterday afternoon after work.

Yes, it would be easier to have only one set of keys, but then that one set of keys would be REALLY HEAVY. And no, I will not tell you where my super secret place is.

Anyway, I'm hanging out at the church until I can get into my house! I guess there's always some more work to do!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like YOU KNOW WHAT!

I am sitting at my desk (piled high with lessons and mail and all kind of other JUNK), watching itty bitty flurries swirl around ever so slightly outside my window! The first itty bitty flurries of the season! It looks like our more northerly neighbors are seeing more than itty bitty flurries--maybe they can let us know what their weather is like!

Anyway, it's Thursday and I've had a challenging week. Mostly because my Brownie Troop sold nuts and candy and this was the week that the money was due. It was a lot of paperwork and a lot of hassle, and three parents still owe me money, but I think we'll make it out alive! I hope so, anyway.

This weekend is the Christmas Parade in Henderson. Now, when I first moved here and went to my very first Christmas parade, I was most surprised! If you think that Henderson's Christmas Parade would be a small, rag tag event, you are WRONG! It's actually very delightful and a lot longer than you might expect it to be with lots of floats and cars and marching groups. Brownie Troop 981 has a float in the parade and until this morning, I thought I was going to miss all of the fun. Fortunately/Unfortunately, the class I was supposed to attend in Hopkinsville was postponed. It's good because I now get to be in the parade, but it's bad because they rescheduled it for next weekend which is when I was going to take my Brownies Christmas Caroling.

Christmastime is a wonderful time to work in a church. The ladies have made the church look absolutely beautiful this year! I love Poinsettias and lights and candles and nativity sets and wreaths! Plus I love celebrating the season of Advent--a season of waiting for the coming of the Messiah--both in remembrance of the first time He came and in anticipation of the next time he will come. I love the music and the children's programs and little shepherds tripping over their robes and miniature angels trying not to lose their halos. I try to remember what it was like to be a child and how Christmas couldn't come soon enough (and felt like it took forever to arrive!)--and I'm trying to recapture that feeling even though I'm an adult who is far too aware that there are not nearly enough shopping days until Christmas and that it's entirely possible the money will run out before the gift list is complete! It seems that the true meaning and the true joy and peace get a little more lost in the hustle and bustle each year.

What exactly happened to peace on earth?

Well, anyway, enjoy your itty bitty flurries, or you great big flurries, or your warm tropical sunshine wherever you are!