Arizona Trip to See Dad

This is San Xaviar Indian Reservation, and this beautiful Mission Church is on their land. 

Favorite Peanut Butter

http://www.scojuice.com

Santa Cruz Organic, Dark Roasted

Sea buckthorn

Sea buckthorn, whose Latin name Hippophae Rhamnoides translates to "horse light," is suggested to have been used originally to give horses a shiny coat and help improve their eyesight, in turn "giving light."

Even further, sea buckthorn is scientifically reputed to have a superrich cocktail of antioxidants and human health benefits. The coral-red, edible berries of this summer green shrub are made up of juice and oil.

It's golden-red pulp and seed oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids (provitamin A), and Vitamin E. This nutrient rich composition helps protect the skin from UV radiation and free-radical damage associated with signs of aging. What's more, it possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and the easily absorbed oils support the buildup of the skin's lipid layers. 

Juice from the sea buckthorn berries contains among the highest amounts of beta-carotene and vitamins C and E of any fruit or vegetable, including oranges and lemons (for Vitamin C), and sunflower seeds and almonds (for Vitamin E).

"I'm not a Waitress!"

I served Communion today at Church. I go to a non-denominational Church, so the way we serve Communion is a little different. We pass the trays isle by isle, with 2 of us serving on each side, then grabbing the trays from that row once they've gone through. 

I served at both services, and the early service was not as full as it usually is, so there were a lot of empty spots; some rows only having a few people sitting in them. As I started a new row, there was a Husband and Wife together, with her Husband on the end, right by me. But in between the two of them were like 10 or more empty seats, and then 2 or 3 people at the other end of their row. Get the picture?

Well, when I went to hand the Husband the tray with the wine, he took it from me, and (they are to pass the tray down, each person, to the end of the row), as he held it I heard his wife whisper, "Take one for me (meaning a little cup), come on, grab me one, " (in a demanding tone),and he must not have heard her or just didn't listen, so he passed the tray to her for her to take her own, and she totally says to him, complaining in a tiny rant, "Ugh, I'm not a Waitress!"  I could not believe my ears. The only thing that kept me from judging her was that I started to pray for her asap.

I'm not writing this to expose this woman's poor attitude or issues, we all have em. And I'm not here to say, "Can you believe that?"

I wish I could talk with her and find out what is so wrong; I mean who knows!? I just beg to differ with her. Because actually, we are all Waitresses if we are in Christ!

Another name for a Waitress is, Server, right? Well the whole New Testament is about serving! Serving God and others! 

So if you find your heart in the condition as this woman--to not want to get up and pass the tray to the person 10 seats from her--just remind yourself through God's Word, and prayer, and discipline, that we are all called to be serving, and running rag-ed for the Lord; and if we are not, we have got to check in with God and find out why. 

Are we working for the Lord throughout the day? Throughout the week? I am not just talking about our paying jobs. We need to be running around like a Waitress/er does during her/his busiest times of their shift!  Sometimes sweating, and running, and being bothered, and irritated, and annoyed, or tired. If the Lord is alive in our hearts and we are abiding with Him, we will WANT to serve Him, and serving Him is automatically serving others.  Servers at Restaurants get their hands dirty sometimes--they deal with crabby people probably a lot of times. Their feet probably hurt at the end of the day.  They get exhausted.  They break a sweat.

We have to make sacrifices! Whether it's time away from the TV, or the Computer or even our Family. 

LOOK for ways to serve; the possibilities are ENDless. So I submit to you, we are all Waitresses!!! And I pray that the Lord or someone in this woman's life, shows her this someday.

I love vintage post cards; I use to collect them. This one is from www.shilohpostcards.com

We got out for some fresh winter air yesterday! It was actually 47 degrees, which is like a heat wave for us.

We were around The St.Paul Winter Carnival, and the kids went Ice Skating, and we looked at a bunch of melting Ice Sculptures!

Nells had a blast too.