Happy New Year!
In less than 3 hours we will all say goodbye to 2011. In less than 3 hours we will close the last chapter on the 2011 year. We will also say hello to a new year. We will welcome in the 2012 year with all of its promise and potential.
In 2011 we were blessed with challenges and triumph. We had the challenges of Trish's pregnancy, my job, the girls extra curricular activities, extended family, school, church, friends and finances. We had incredible lows and periods of great fear and uncertainty. We had the triumphs of a healthy baby girl added to the family, 35th birthday parties, a twelfth anniversary to remember, birthday parties, summer and summer trips, band, band competitions and awards, a new school age child, a Thanksgiving full of blessings and a Christmas to remember and enjoy.
I am so thankful for 2011 and the blessings of family, friends and faith. As I watch little Ava on the rug and hear the girls playing upstairs I know that in the great scheme of things 2011 was a year of triumph. And I know that 2012 will be another year of joy, triumph and blessing.
I pray that 2012 will be a wonderful and amazing year for everyone. I pray that God will richly bless your family, as I know that he has and will continue to bless mine.
Remember, we are living a life of triumph because of our triumphant king, Christ! Blessings and peace and Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The best gifts of 2011
So, all of the gifts have been given and all of the presents opened. All of the paper is in trash bags and the cardboard boxes are in the recycle bin (or fire). After thinking about all that took place this weekend and all of the gifts I had this curious thought: what is the best gift of 2011?
With that thought in mind, here is my short list.
With that thought in mind, here is my short list.
- Christ! Well, hands down the best gift given in 2011 and every year since the birth of Christ has been and will be Christ. Duh! That is a no-brainer! Christ as the best gift year after year seems so obvious. Yet, it seems to cost us all no shortage of problems receiving it, accepting it and living in the confidence of that list. I even add myself on the list of being thankful and yet sometimes in so much awe that I can hardly take it all in. All that said, dear God thank you for our Savior and our Lord.
- Time with family! The second best gift I received in 2011 is time with my family. This year my wife planned a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner for us all and we had dinner together at the table. All of us sat down together for at least 20 minutes of eating a great dinner prepared by my awesome wife (www.trhuegifts.blogspot.com). After I got home from Christmas Eve service, we spent time with the girls doing Santa cookies and the other traditions we have made up over the years. My wife and I spent Christmas morning together video taping the girls as they opened their stuff.
- Time with my dad! One of the best gifts I was given in 2011 was time with my dad. On Christmas day Daddy put together some seats in the back of a trailer and created a "hay ride" through the woods. He called it the Christmas adventure. We bounced and bounded our way through the woods in the back of the trailer as he showed us the family property lines. It was fun with all the kids, but especially because it was time with dad. After the Christmas adventure Trish and Dad combined to give me another day of time with dad. I got to tag along with Daddy as he worked on hanging barbed wire around the new pasture. I am grateful to my dad for letting me tag along and my wife for giving me the time to hang with him.
- Time with my mom! As always I find time with my mom to be fun and full of laughter. It is cool just to hang out with her and listen to her retell our stories and her stories of growing up. We laughed about her grandchildren and our children. We talked about times when I was an explorer and tried to take apart nearly everything in sight. Between dinner and snacks we caught up, and strolled down memory lane. It was good to eat dinner at the house and have her spend time with our kids.
- RC Mustang! Yes, I said it. I still collect and play with toy cars and nothing is prettier, hotter, sweeter or badder than the new and classic mustangs. Each year for at least five years I have been collecting RC cars and this year my wife gave me another gem for my collection. This one is red with tinted windows and I'm sure it flies. The car has tinted windows and the shiny plastic rims. It will go well with the 18 wheeler, blue mustang, red and white mustang, and die cast cars. Next year I'll be looking to add another one to the collection too!
So, those are my top gifts received. The top gifts given in my mind are:
- Time. I think this year I got a lot of time off from work and spent it with the girls and Trish before Christmas.
- Love notes. I think the best gift I gave was a series of love notes and cards with each of my wife's gifts. The gifts themselves were probably not award winners, but I hope the thought and extra notes made it special.
Merry Christmas
So, I didn't get to post on Christmas Day. I wanted to post something right after we got up and opened gifts but it was a very busy few days.
Christmas morning in the Irmo Rhue household began sometime around 3:30. Just after 3:30 we had Sydney come bounding down the stairs. She was really excited about Christmas and Christmas presents. After Sydney came Cassarra. She walked down the stairs and it took her awhile before she realized where her gifts were and what they were.
For the first time, we actually had to go and wake up Gabby and Paige. Normally those two were running down the stairs as soon as "Santa" went up the chimney. Heck! Sometimes those rascals barely gave "Santa" enough time to get down the chimney before they were coming down.
This was also Ava's first Christmas. All of the excitement and gifts seemed to go right over her head. The only thing she seemed interested in the entire time was getting her hands on the wrapping paper and tissue paper. Once she got her hand on a good piece of paper all she wanted to do with it was put it in her mouth.
It was nice seeing the girls react to Christmas again. It was also so neat watching Ms. Ava laugh and smile her way through a first Christmas.
After we opened gifts we took a quick nap and then it was off to church and then to Georgetown. As always I wished the season, the moments, and the joy with family lasted longer than Christmas day. Hopefully, this year we will allow the spirit to last all year long.
Christmas morning in the Irmo Rhue household began sometime around 3:30. Just after 3:30 we had Sydney come bounding down the stairs. She was really excited about Christmas and Christmas presents. After Sydney came Cassarra. She walked down the stairs and it took her awhile before she realized where her gifts were and what they were.
For the first time, we actually had to go and wake up Gabby and Paige. Normally those two were running down the stairs as soon as "Santa" went up the chimney. Heck! Sometimes those rascals barely gave "Santa" enough time to get down the chimney before they were coming down.
This was also Ava's first Christmas. All of the excitement and gifts seemed to go right over her head. The only thing she seemed interested in the entire time was getting her hands on the wrapping paper and tissue paper. Once she got her hand on a good piece of paper all she wanted to do with it was put it in her mouth.
It was nice seeing the girls react to Christmas again. It was also so neat watching Ms. Ava laugh and smile her way through a first Christmas.
After we opened gifts we took a quick nap and then it was off to church and then to Georgetown. As always I wished the season, the moments, and the joy with family lasted longer than Christmas day. Hopefully, this year we will allow the spirit to last all year long.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A hidden gem
Have you ever noticed those little gems buried in the ordinary? Have you ever been out somewhere or hanging out with someone and you find one of those little gems? You know what kind I'm talking about right?
I'm talking about those little life lessons that you learn in ordinary situations with ordinary people under the most ordinary, and sometimes odd situations. Well recently I had one of those moments. My moment came while at Manna Station a ministry to feed the homeless and hungry of Columbia on the first Saturday of each month at Wesley UMC on Gervais Street.
While serving meals a gentleman came up and asked could he take a plate home to his girlfriend or fiance (I can't remember which), who was ill or at work (again, I can't remember which). I gave him our standard answer by repeating to him our policy on taking food outside the building and the policy on extras and extra plates. A policy we only implemented because we want our guests to come for the devotional not just the food and because we want to be sure we have enough for everyone who comes to dine with us. Well, anyway, after giving him the stock answer, for some reason I also said, "if we have something left at the end after everyone has been fed, and you stay until the very end of dinner when we start cleaning up, I will see what we can do."
Well, we had more than enough by the grace of God and as we were cleaning up I saw a man standing by the doorway to the kitchen. He motioned to me and asked if we had anything left. He was holding a plate in his hand covered with a torn grocery bag and crumpled up pieces of foil. After a few moments, he reminded me that he had asked to take something to his girlfriend (or fiance). Since he was already holding a plate I thought we had already given him the extra plate (read revisionist history), so, I asked him what was in the bag.
Now, here is the moment and the gem! He said to me, "This is my own plate. I didn't eat anything off of it because I wasn't sure if you would have enough for me to take to my girlfriend (or fiance). So in case you didn't have any I was going to give her mine." Boom! Did you see that?
That was the gem! A reminder of what it means to love someone: a commitment of my will to their best interests and their needs despite the sacrifice and cost.
I'm talking about those little life lessons that you learn in ordinary situations with ordinary people under the most ordinary, and sometimes odd situations. Well recently I had one of those moments. My moment came while at Manna Station a ministry to feed the homeless and hungry of Columbia on the first Saturday of each month at Wesley UMC on Gervais Street.
While serving meals a gentleman came up and asked could he take a plate home to his girlfriend or fiance (I can't remember which), who was ill or at work (again, I can't remember which). I gave him our standard answer by repeating to him our policy on taking food outside the building and the policy on extras and extra plates. A policy we only implemented because we want our guests to come for the devotional not just the food and because we want to be sure we have enough for everyone who comes to dine with us. Well, anyway, after giving him the stock answer, for some reason I also said, "if we have something left at the end after everyone has been fed, and you stay until the very end of dinner when we start cleaning up, I will see what we can do."
Well, we had more than enough by the grace of God and as we were cleaning up I saw a man standing by the doorway to the kitchen. He motioned to me and asked if we had anything left. He was holding a plate in his hand covered with a torn grocery bag and crumpled up pieces of foil. After a few moments, he reminded me that he had asked to take something to his girlfriend (or fiance). Since he was already holding a plate I thought we had already given him the extra plate (read revisionist history), so, I asked him what was in the bag.
Now, here is the moment and the gem! He said to me, "This is my own plate. I didn't eat anything off of it because I wasn't sure if you would have enough for me to take to my girlfriend (or fiance). So in case you didn't have any I was going to give her mine." Boom! Did you see that?
That was the gem! A reminder of what it means to love someone: a commitment of my will to their best interests and their needs despite the sacrifice and cost.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Where is the Camera when you need one!
OK. So this morning I am riding in to work and I see the most awesome sight. I drive in across Lake Murray Dam in the morning because I work in Lexington, SC.
On most mornings I’m usually too distracted by cars and trucks changing lanes and people driving too fast that I barely notice anything else. Of course, those folks might argue that I'm driving too slow, but anyway this morning was a bit different. There were fewer cars and trucks and just as I was coming on to the Dam I happened to look over to the city horizon. As I did, I saw the sun coming up on the horizon and it was jaw dropping gorgeous!
You know how pretty a rainbow can be, and you know how special a double rainbow truly is. Now, imagine seeing the beauty of a rainbow and the specialty of a double rainbow but without the rain.
This morning I saw a rainbow of colors in the sky painted by huge billowy flowing clouds. There were perfectly manicured and well layered rows of purple, gray, blue, red, orange and yellow. Each row layered one upon the other, blended and folded and all surrounding the most radiant morning sun I’ve seen in quite some time. I wish I could have stopped and taken a picture of it for you and you would be able to agree that it was stunning.
This morning’s sun was just one more reminder of how awesome our God is. He paints on the canvas of the skies, with colors no one else has ever been able to duplicate. He garnishes his master piece with the golden and precious drops of sunlight and wraps it up for us all to see.
God is awesome and I wish I had a camera to capture just a glimpse of what he provides for us daily.
Hey - have an awesome day!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Talented....
So lately I've been thinking about just how much our family has been blessed. No, I'm not just talking about financially blessed. Lately I've been thinking about how we have been blessed with some amazing gifts and talents.
No offense to any other family and I am not trying to brag or compare, but this family has a ton of talent. God has richly blessed us with a lot of different gifts. We have talents that span art, industry, academics and athletics just to name a few.
Recently I was blown away by several of my family members and once again the gifts of God came back to mind. On Saturday and Sunday I was listening to some of the younger kids singing in choir practice, and others playing Christmas music in preparation for a band concert. It was very special seeing two of my very own playing together and helping each other practice.
Tonight I just got through watching my niece sing with her school chorus on the local TV news. She was awesome and it made me so proud to hear and see her using her talents. I watched in awe as she was doing something that most kids her age would be to shy to do and even some adults. Way to go! Keep singing!
A few minutes ago I found the link for my daughter's performance at finals 2011 with the high school band. I watched their band do somethings in marching and music that were awesome.
I probably don't have time to mention the talent displayed by other nieces, nephews and cousins on basketball courts, football fields, baseball diamonds and volleyball courts. I would need an extra set of hands to name all the talents we possess in business, leisure, industry and academics -- see trhuegifts.blogspot.com to see my wife's gifts in photography just as an example.
All I can say is this family is talented and I hope we actually begin to realize this fact and put it to use.
We would do well to remember that to whom much is given, much is required. We have been give a lot and it was so refreshing to see gifts of God being put to use.
No offense to any other family and I am not trying to brag or compare, but this family has a ton of talent. God has richly blessed us with a lot of different gifts. We have talents that span art, industry, academics and athletics just to name a few.
Recently I was blown away by several of my family members and once again the gifts of God came back to mind. On Saturday and Sunday I was listening to some of the younger kids singing in choir practice, and others playing Christmas music in preparation for a band concert. It was very special seeing two of my very own playing together and helping each other practice.
Tonight I just got through watching my niece sing with her school chorus on the local TV news. She was awesome and it made me so proud to hear and see her using her talents. I watched in awe as she was doing something that most kids her age would be to shy to do and even some adults. Way to go! Keep singing!
A few minutes ago I found the link for my daughter's performance at finals 2011 with the high school band. I watched their band do somethings in marching and music that were awesome.
I probably don't have time to mention the talent displayed by other nieces, nephews and cousins on basketball courts, football fields, baseball diamonds and volleyball courts. I would need an extra set of hands to name all the talents we possess in business, leisure, industry and academics -- see trhuegifts.blogspot.com to see my wife's gifts in photography just as an example.
All I can say is this family is talented and I hope we actually begin to realize this fact and put it to use.
We would do well to remember that to whom much is given, much is required. We have been give a lot and it was so refreshing to see gifts of God being put to use.
A Visit
This past weekend my cousin Solomon and his wife stopped by for a visit. They came down from Baltimore on a multi-purpose trip. All in all I think they did a graduation, a lunch with family, a visit to our house, visit with other family, and a Christmas concert at Reid Chapel.
I really enjoyed their time with us this weekend. It was so nice to have them over and to talk and chat. It was fun listening to Solomon and Cheryl talk about life with an empty nest. It was funny hearing Solomon talk about not having up lights, falling asleep early and not having the hustle of kids in the house.
It was just nice spending time with family and catching up on what has been going on. I am thankful that they took time to swing by our house and visit. We always enjoy our company and we are looking forward to the next time.
Hopefully in 2012 we will get to visit them when we go to D.C.
I really enjoyed their time with us this weekend. It was so nice to have them over and to talk and chat. It was fun listening to Solomon and Cheryl talk about life with an empty nest. It was funny hearing Solomon talk about not having up lights, falling asleep early and not having the hustle of kids in the house.
It was just nice spending time with family and catching up on what has been going on. I am thankful that they took time to swing by our house and visit. We always enjoy our company and we are looking forward to the next time.
Hopefully in 2012 we will get to visit them when we go to D.C.
A Semester in the Books
Whew! I have been taking the long journey of walking through seminary one and at most two classes at a time. I am hoping that I will one day reach the destination of Master's of Divinity from LTSS.
This fall I took two classes. I thought maybe, just maybe if I took one hard class and one easy class I would be able to survive the semester a little better. A few years ago I took two really hard classes and by the end of the semester I was fried.
Today I am happy to say that the fall semester at LTSS is in the books. Sort of. I have one more paper to write for CM 203 and then it is all official except the final grade. I took my exam for CM 241 Theology of Pastoral Care a few days early. The exam was essay based and included a couple of questions on using a pastoral care model to walk through two case studies.
I have taken about half of the classes needed to complete my first year at LTSS and this class was one of the best I have taken so far.
I have learned that God needs to be the subject of more verbs; to look at the world through cross shaped lenses; and the importance of re-telling stories of fatih and representing Christ.
Now for some rest before the spring semester.
This fall I took two classes. I thought maybe, just maybe if I took one hard class and one easy class I would be able to survive the semester a little better. A few years ago I took two really hard classes and by the end of the semester I was fried.
Today I am happy to say that the fall semester at LTSS is in the books. Sort of. I have one more paper to write for CM 203 and then it is all official except the final grade. I took my exam for CM 241 Theology of Pastoral Care a few days early. The exam was essay based and included a couple of questions on using a pastoral care model to walk through two case studies.
I have taken about half of the classes needed to complete my first year at LTSS and this class was one of the best I have taken so far.
I have learned that God needs to be the subject of more verbs; to look at the world through cross shaped lenses; and the importance of re-telling stories of fatih and representing Christ.
Now for some rest before the spring semester.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)