Wonderstruck and Wonders of Wonderful

The evening has a nice breeze to it.  The distant sky has the look of cold but it is in the 70's.  We are obsessed with weather around these parts especially when there is a good chance that next week will be downright cool, maybe even cold.  The framing of a new house across our "water feature" has been an interesting prism.  I know wood doesn't reflect but viewing sunrises and moon rises through the timber has been entertaining and some days down right awe inspiring.  Margaret Fineberg, one of my favorite authors, has a new book that is released on Christmas Day.  The title, Wonderstruck.  I actually have the first three chapters of the book and I am deliberately going slowly through the words, taking in all that she shares about the wonders of God.  I am totally excited that I will be downloading the whole book on Christmas morn, or after or eve onto my Nook.  I cannot think of any other book I would rather have with me on my trip to Israel, two days after the release.  With exception of the Bible but that is a given.  Margaret Fineberg's book, Scouting the Divine is one of my all time favorites.  You'll love her style, you'll love her observations and you will love how she teaches the Bible and God in her writing.  Here is the link to Amazon and you can read all about her newest book.  http://www.amazon.com/Wonderstruck-Awaken-Nearness-Margaret-Feinberg/dp/1617950882/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352419376&sr=1-1&keywords=margaret+feinberg

Another wonder is the Orchestra and Choir of Houston's First Baptist Church.  They are doing a preview in all three services of the upcoming performances of Celebration.  If you aren't able to attend, go to www.houstonsfirst.org at 9:15, 11:00 or 5:30 this Sunday...and join in on the web cast.  Also http://thefirstchristmas.org/ has lots of interesting info.  The Spirit, The Songs, The Story. 

We had wonderful discussion and laughter this morning in CBS core group study.  We are studying the book of Hebrews and just finished up the 3rd chapter.  It was also brunch day but instead of bringing food or rather a covered dish, we opted to go across the street to eat at Ruthie's Mexican.  We had a great time together.  We actually were supposed to discuss the last question for our brunch topic, but we really answered the question in our group time.  We talked and shared so many things that have happened or are happening in our lives.  We may or may not have discussed Duck Dynasty.  Hey, they're believers! 

It has also been a wonderful day remembering my mom.  I have to admit I got a little teary this morning thinking back to last year and the phone call from Roy letting me know my mom had passed away.  But one thing we talked about in leadership meeting and Jennifer mentioned in teaching time was the story of David.  He and Bathsheba's first born son died, but while he was still alive David cried out to the Lord in sackcloth and in ashes.  Once he learned of his son's death, he arose, got cleaned up and had dinner.  The time for sadness had passed and he went about serving the Lord.  So today I have honored my mom by remembering her joy and love of life.  Her laughter.  She loved a good card both sending and receiving.  She loved her friends.  Her love of the Bible and Southern Living.  Although she loved to bake, I didn't honor her memory by making up a batch of cookies or banana nut bread.  I honored her another way too...we were invited to go to Le Mis tonight but frankly, I am physically and emotionally worn out.  Because I know I need to stay in my parameters to function, I knew even as much as I would have loved to go tonight, it wasn't the smart thing to do.  And I laughed thinking about my mom and how she really didn't care for musicals, especially the musical Oklahoma.  She probably hadn't even heard of Le Mis but I can hear her saying, "why they were having a perfectly good conversation and then they had to go into singing about the conversation."  Yep, she wasn't a fan of the musical. 

My last wonder of the day is, Roy is bringing home dinner.  I am a huge fan, in spirit hopefully not in size, of the Fuddrucker's salad with chicken.  Oh my, I think I could eat it everyday.  And that's what's for dinner.