Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
Consider giving a gift that will extend the work of Christ’s Kingdom in our community! This year, choose to give a gift in honor or memory of someone special through our Christmas Offering. All proceeds of the Christmas Offering will be used to further the mission and ministry of First Baptist Church in our town and around the world. When you contribute to our Christmas Offering, the church will send a Christmas card to the person you choose to honor. Christmas Offering envelopes are available in both the pew racks in our sanctuary and our church office.
My friend, Gabby, tells me that he wakes up each morning with eager anticipation of what the new day will bring.
That’s interesting. I’m not sure what Gabby’s personality classification might be but, unfortunately, Enneagram Six types like me—reliable, troubleshooting, trustworthy—are prone to anxiety. Rather than being inclined to greet the day’s opportunities, my waking brain attempts to address anticipated issues and needs.
For me, prayer and meditation are essential for getting past those “what ifs” and to find a centered position from which to engage the remainder of the day.
Besides dealing with anxiety, I also contend with prediabetes, making it vital that I maintain a physical exercise regimen. Although my vocation related to community gardening keeps me active, I usually need supplemental physical activity to help keep my blood sugar in balance.
During my 19 years in Thailand, I would see Buddhist monks silently walking their daily predawn rounds through neighborhoods to collect alms of food from local devotees. While humbly receiving food for daily subsistence, monks are engaged in a walking form of meditation.
Inspired by such spiritual disciple, and to maintain both my physical and spiritual health, I start each day with a two-mile walk. It is during the first mile or so that I attempt to engage in prayer and meditation. Depending on my mood, the walking prayer is usually meditative, during which I attempt to “listen” to God.
Some days I may need an internal, calming mantra that incorporates attention to breathing to help settle my heart and mind. Other days, I pray through the Lord’s Prayer, applying each phrase of the prayer to the day’s circumstances and needs. And often, my supplications are more like Anne Lamott’s “Help me, help me, help me” prayer.
Some mornings are naturally devoted to praise and gratitude, especially as I take in the Florida sky at dawn. But often, my “monkey mind” isn’t so easily tamed, rested or centered.
A quote from Father Richard Rohr resonates with my prayer aspirations. In a 2020 New Yorker article describing how he wakes around 5:45 a.m. each day to spend an hour praying wordlessly, Rohr told the reporter, “I’m trying to find my way to yes,” adding that he often wakes up in a state of “no.” May God help us find our daily way to “yes.”
Pray...Give...Go.
Gertrude Allen, a former long-time choir member, would always bring this dish to choir
gatherings. Barb Holquist made it for the choir party this year, and it was a hit!
Ingredients
4 cups (1 pound) fresh cranberries, chopped
1 large apple, chopped
1 cup nuts, chopped
1 orange, chopped
1 cup boiling water
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple (drain and save juice)
2 cups sugar
6 ounces cherry jello (any red jello will work)
Instructions
Combine cranberries, orange, and sugar; let stand for several hours. Add pineapple, apple, and nuts to cranberry mixture
Heat pineapple juice and water to a boil; add jello and stir to dissolve. Pour over cranberry mixture and mix well.
Chill until set.
–Gertrude Allen (submitted by Barb Holquist)
Cranberry Congealed Salad
Click here to download a printable version. Recipe provided by Gertrude Allen (submitted by Barb Holquist).
Church family, Carroll and Gaye Buchanan wish to thank you for the cards, phone calls, and wonderful meals brought to us after my fall. We love each and every one of you!
Merry Christmas!
Another busy week for 1st Explorers as they wind down for Christmas holidays. On-Site Coordinator Melanie Stokely reports that the children enjoyed music enrichment on Tuesday when her friend Kayla Maynor visited the group. They played musical games including Freeze Dance and a game called Poison where they had to recognize specific notes and sounds. 1st Explorers loved it!
On Thursday, Curtis Collins visited from the Jackson County Health Department, providing guidance on having a positive self-image. A special treat at the end of his visit -- he brought his 3 dogs for the kids to visit and love on. A fun time was had by all.
The week was capped off on Friday with hot chocolate with marshmallows, popcorn, and the Grinch movie and treat bags supplied by Charlie and Diane White..
We continue to be grateful for the FBC volunteers who work the back door each week, to the RA and GA leaders who come each Wednesday, and to the guests who lead Chapel each week. And, special thanks to Melanie Stokely and her staff who love and care for the children each day.
Add this email address to your contacts list on your devices so that our staff and Pastoral Care Team can learn of your prayer requests as quickly as possible. And yes, you may still contact the church office directly at 828-586-2095 to share your prayer concerns, as well.
Heavenly Father, the events during the summer of 2021 in Afghanistan were devastating for the Afghan people just as they were heart-wrenching for all of us who watched them unfold in real time, televised live for all the world to see. Even as I (Rick) prayed daily during the actual evacuation from Kabul Airport, I knew that many of those same Afghan refugees would end up in my community here in Fremont, California. I thank you, dear Lord, for preparing Lita and me for the arrival of those refugees through our 20 years of presence among Afghan refugees in the San Francisco Bay Area. When Afghan refugees, embattled from fleeing a war zone and bewildered because of uncertain travel issues, began arriving last fall in California, I thank you that we were ready to meet them—ready to be the welcoming presence they so desperately needed and ready to meet some of their overwhelming needs.
Even now, I pray for them.
I lift my prayer for the families who left behind loved ones, including those who had to leave behind spouses, parents, or even children. I pray for those Afghans who have already lost beloved relatives and for those who are frantically worried about loved ones who remain trapped in Afghanistan with an uncertain future and dwindling hope of ever making it out to join them here in America.
I lift my prayer to you for the families whom I know that were actually on the tarmac that terrible day as bombs exploded at the airport—as they witnessed the carnage which they cannot forget and for the PTSD that stays with them day-after-day.
I pray for the children, now struggling in school to make up for lost learning and trying to master the English language; I pray for their parents who are muddling through the first year as refugees in America while trying to create a happy new life for those dear children.
For the Afghan church, small as it is, I pray for growth; and I pray that many Afghans will come to faith in Christ. I pray for this Afghan church’s pastor and its leadership as they work tirelessly to bring the gospel to their compatriots.
Lord, bring healing.
Bring physical healing for those suffering medically and bring emotional healing to the many Afghans who are suffering mentally, particularly the children. Bring social healing to a people group fractured by distrust of each other and by gossip about each other. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open many Afghan hearts to receive the love of Jesus in whose name I pray. Amen.
Pray...Give...Go.
Francesca Street, a travel correspondent for CNN, asks the theologically rich and existentially stirring question that will gnaw at us for days:
"What do you do when your evening flight is canceled, you really need to be somewhere in the morning and there are no other available flights?"
Stranded in the Orlando International Airport with zero options to get to Knoxville on a Sunday evening, one passenger had an idea. Michelle Miller wondered if other grounded travelers from her flight would join her in renting a 15-passenger mini-van to drive to their final destination. As it turns out, 13 very different people--and their luggage--elected to take the risk.
Road trip, anyone?
"Michelle Miller was set to present at a conference in Knoxville on Tuesday. Carlos Cordero and Laura Puckering were taking their 17-year-old daughter Mikayla Puckering to tour the University of Tennessee. One passenger was heading to a custody battle. Someone else was helping a friend move to Mexico. Others just wanted to get home."
In contrast to the number of flight options into Knoxville (that would be zero), some travelers could rent a van on the spot, load up, and head north through the night.
Alanah Story, a twentysomething college student who began documenting their road trip on TikTok, was delighted by how their shared need to get somewhere brought a diverse group of people together.
"If I thought that this was crazy, I knew other people might think it's crazy also," Alanah tells CNN Travel. "And so I just figured, this is a very unique bunch of people, we're all very different. So I don't know, maybe other people would want to see it too, because things like this just don't happen on the regular."
When the mini-van pulled motored north, the passengers numbered off and made a plan for each person to drive for a couple of hours. Some tried to get some sleep as they drove through the night, while others talked about "their lives, families, and jobs." For those who were upfront, they kept each other awake by telling each other about themselves. One passenger, a minister, shared his story about his work in the church.
And as they did, millions watched the videos Alanah uploaded to TikTok and commented about their journey together.
They joked. They got punch-drunk. They had a blast.
"We all were so different. And I think a big part of why people like it so much is because you could literally see our differences in real time," says Alanah.
"We were like a big dysfunctional family," says Michelle. "It was fun."
Stop me if this sounds familiar, but this sounds like church.
"Everybody was so awesome. It almost went too perfect," says Carlos. "There was no traffic. Everyone got along, everyone pitched in. It was just seamless."
"It took collective effort. Everybody really had their own thing going on. But everybody cared about one another's ventures and responsibilities."
Ultimately, the passengers all reached their destination and could keep their commitments. One passenger reflected, "I take away the fact that there are some really good people in this world. We were all different cultures, we were different backgrounds. It couldn't have gotten more perfect. So I don't have any regrets. No regrets whatsoever."
Jesus once gathered a strange and diverse group of people to join him on a road trip that would change the world. Along the way, they experienced joy because they had company as they traveled with Jesus.
Today, we may not be riding down a highway to our destination in the dark of night. But our pews sure do look a lot like the seats on a mini-van.
-----------
This story about airline passengers taking a road trip together to reach their final destination was reported by CNN's Francesca Street, with the headline: "13 Stranded Strangers Went on a Road Trip. Here's What Happened." It was published online at 11:26 AM on December 7, 2022.