Garland of Grace

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:3

Today I was graced with a precious treasure: a pikake lei by a student's mom. Hundreds of intensely fragrant pikake buds were woven together into a beautiful garland. She kissed me and hugged me, as is the custom, and then adorned me with the sweetest aroma I have ever known. She warned me that everywhere I went today people would want to come near me to smell the lei. And she was right. Several of my Hawaii friends told me how blessed I was to get this particular lei; it is mostly used as a bride's lei. I was honored beyond words.

The custom of leis is such a precious picture of being a Christian to me. God loves us and draws us to Himself, give us the gift of salvation through His Son, and places a garland of grace upon us. His work in us is so real, so complete, that the difference of His presence is noticed immediately. The fragrant aroma of Christ in our lives draws others near to Him. I am told that if I am gentle and faithful in caring for this lei, it can last up to 3 or 4 days. The sacrifice of time and effort for this lei is tremendous, yet it pales in comparison to the sacrifice of Christ. The sweet fragrance of this lei will last a few days but the joy of salvation will last forever.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him."

2 Cor. 2:14

Wealth Management

What would you do if someone offered to make you rich? Yesterday one of my friends at the YMCA told me that while she was meditating, I came into her "awareness." She told me she wanted to have dinner with me to share with me what her company was helping people do; get wealthy. Not just a little wealthy mind you, extremely wealthy so that they wouldn't need to work again. I told her that I would pray about it and let her know. I said this not necessarily because I needed to pray about it, but because I needed to give her an answer and myself some time to explain. I'm planning to write her this note.

Dear Ina,
Thank you for your dinner invitation. I, too, practice regular meditation. In my meditation I use God's Word, the Bible, to listen to Him. Here is what I read recently about wealth: "give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread." I believe that my calling in this life is to be a teacher and to minister to families and women. God has done amazing things in my life and has provided for me in amazing ways. I consider myself abundantly wealthy already. I believe that He will continue to provide when I am focusing on what I need to do for Him for He says, "A faithful man will be richly blessed." Because of this, if I lift my awareness from ministry and turn it to wealth, I will become poor for He says, "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint." So, thank you for your kind offer to help me get wealthy. I have meditated on the idea and found that I am rich beyond measure already. "

History Day at Trinity. We acted out the Peloponessian War with a tug-of war between Athens and Sparta. All grades K-6 participated in all the activities together.

Dave and the kids arranged for some families to join us this weekend to celebrate my birthday. Pasta, friends and cheesecake. Yum! My friend Anne is sitting next to me, we share the same birthday!