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Evidence that I may need to get a job….

January 14, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 23 Comments

13 Piddly thoughts that I feel the need to share with you. On January 13th.

1. I love the phrase “Do what?” in place of “Pardon?”

2. I am ashamed to say that I threatened to send my children back to ‘real’ school today. “And you can’t tell your teacher there that you’re NOT gonna DO your math….or that you don’t LIKE to memorize poems. When I was your age, I had to walk four miles……rant, rave, and rant some more…..and you ARE gonna respect me….do you understand me?”

( Stepping down off of a very large soap box. )

3. Having a new puppy is like a big whirlwind of squishy, yummy slobbery kisses and poop. Arranged like little land mines all across your back yard.

4. I do not complain about the ‘land mines’ because I’m so thankful they are not in the house.

5. While serving my family the most awesome beef stew I have ever had acquaintance with, I say to them: “When you eat food like this, you know one thing for sure……Somebody loves you.” They fake smile and nod. And then devour the most awesome beef stew. Ever. I’m too tired to post the ‘recipe’ because I cook like an old granny who doesn’t even know where her measuring cup is. And washes styrofoam and reuses it.

6. My brand new Nikon D90 has a weird malfunction and will NOT take pictures. The Nikon representative told me that ‘if the inconvenience bothers me, I should return it to the store where I bought it’. Well sir, the tiny fact that my new Nikon camera WILL NOT TAKE PICTURES….sorta does bother me. A TEENY TINY BIT. IT’S A CAMERA THAT WILL NOT TAKE PICTURES. I am not an unreasonable woman here. Despite the fact that my lounge pants are covered in dog hair and I’ve claimed the ‘clippie’ as a hairstyle.

7. I have been using a certain high-end hair product which I thought was a conditioner. This said product, given to me by my stylist, is apparently a toner that has slowly turned my hair into something I do not recognize. A sort of blondish, beigish, yellowish, orangish color that I have never in fact seen in nature. The scary part is….I really don’t care that much. This could be devastating evidence that I’m becoming one of ‘those’ mom-types who has given up. You may want to intervene.

8. Did I mention the beef stew? ‘Cause I think I could enter it into a state fair and win a blue ribbon.

9. Do what?

10. There are ‘chew’ marks on my laptop. And on the legs of all my furniture. Is this gonna be covered under my warranty? Home owners?

11. Speaking of chew, Southerners often say “Chewsdee” for Tuesday.

12. My ‘resoluteness’ for my ‘resolutions’ is waning. It happens to be January 13.

13. My outside Christmas wreaths are still up. It happens to be January 13.

Do what?

In order to make the ‘do what’ phrase work, you have to say ‘what’ in a really high pitch and in two syllables.

I am forced to post this scintillating piece literary nothingness with no pictures because MY NEW NIKON CAMERA DOES NOT TAKE PICTURES. There, I feel better.

Supper and winning…

January 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 12 Comments

I read a blog post recently that opined about not having the physical Jesus here with us, present physically so that we could be more ‘near’ Him. To touch Him and get our pictures made with Him. (okay the post really didn’t say that). And of course you and I have been talking extensively about that lately. So it made this prayer all the more striking to me yesterday before I went to the communion rail:

“We do not presume to come to this thy table O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the body of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink His blood, that we may evermore dwell in Him and He in us. Amen. “

As I knelt down at the rail beside my children and my husband….and beside a dear friend dying of pancreatic cancer….and near a man who can hardly physically walk up to rail anymore, I was completely overcome with emotion. I am so unworthy to receive this gift from God. Here, in the very bodily presence of the Lord I am….and I want to cover my face and hide. I want to cry out and beg for forgiveness. And as I eat the bread and drink the wine, I accept in faith the overwhelming love and grace and forgiveness that is mine. And I think about the frail little man who is blessed with the Lord’s body too….and I wander how many more times he will be able to share this gift with me. And I think of Lonnie and how she has blessed us by teaching our children and I feel so blessed to share this cup of the Lord with her. I love how coming to the Supper levels the field. Young, old, sick, healthy, rich, poor, talented, can’t carry a tune….no matter. There’s only one way to come to the table. As a beggar in need of grace.

So I surely look forward to the day when we will see the Lord face to face. But for today, I am ever grateful for the nearness of Him. In His word. In the waters of Baptism. In His Supper. And those places that He has promised to be, I long to be too. Lord, help us to come with hungry hearts and open hands to Your table. Bringing only sin and doubt. And fill us with faith. And forgiveness. And life.

The pastor speaks these words after communion, “The very body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen you preserving you in true faith to life everlasting. Go in peace, serve the Lord for you are free indeed”.

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And now for the winners of my birTday giveaway. That seems so shallow and empty after talking about God’s gifts to us. But here’s how it went down at my house. EMME picked number 39—’cause that’s how old I am. And since she picked such a fine number, that will be the grand prize winner of a ‘few of my favorite things’. So, Kathy Eller email me with your address and I’ll get cracking on that. In a jiffy. Next, ELEA picked number 7…because she is 6 and EMME is 8—and ‘it’s only fair’. Okay, so congratulations to my friend Country Girl who I will gladly send a copy of my near and dear Lutheran prayer book. Don’t worry that you’re not Lutheran, you’ll love it. Promise. And then my dear Stevie picked number 20. I don’t know why. Maybe he wishes he were 20 again. Maybe he wishes I were 20 again. Maybe he wants 20 kids instead of 8. Maybe when he was picking his number, the clock said 6:20. Could have been the Vikings had 20 points. But regardless, congratulations to Debilou , you also will receive a copy of my favored Lutheran prayer book. As will number 13, Gypsy aka Tam ’cause that’s the number I picked. Or did Steve pick 13 and I picked 20? Well, you are all winners in my book. And if you have play a giveaway with me again, seems Elea picks 7 every time. Just sayin’. And since the teens weren’t here when we picked, I’ll pick numbers 16 and 18 for their ages. So Dusti and Sarah, you win too. You know the routine, email me and I’ll start my Amazon order. Happy Birthday to us all!

Now if you have the fortitude to go back and ‘count’ the numbers of the comments…..we counted every entry once…even is someone posted twice and even the comment was then deleted. That’s just how we roll.

Thank you for reading this blog and for putting up with fact that I violate every rule of blog writing there is. Hugs and kisses and much love!

And for our next serious topic (after part II of the Lord’s Supper, which this post is not) would you like to discuss the feminization of the church or baptism?

And for our next fluffy topic, would you like an eye shadow tutorial or would like for me to redo my laundry room?

Ratty pants, I can’t leave Marcus out. He picks number 22 (is he 22 or 23?). So Mad(elyn) you win too. You know what to do.

Friday Fotos (on Saturday)…..

January 11, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 13 Comments

One of us makes Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies. You will need to write this recipe down and make them soon. And email me one. K?
2 sticks butter 1 c. mini choc. chips

1/2c. brown sugar 1 T. milk

2 c. a.p. flour 1.t. vanilla

Mix, scoop into balls and then mash with a fork. Bake for 10-11 minutes at 350. Your welcome.

While one cute one among us tugs and chews at everyones’ heart strings. This little chunk-a-munk is a riot. Oh.my.word. He is for sure without a doubt the sweetest dog. Ever. He’s barely 10 weeks and is sitting at the door whining to go potty. He falls all over himself. And has grown 6 inches or more in 2 weeks. He CANNOT eat his food fast enough and he has eaten 2 board games, the book of Job, and the finish off my dining room table. Okay I exaggerate but he is a maniac. And has completely won me over. He is a big bundle of squishing belly and velvet fur and we are smitten.

And some of us do not know our limititations. My BirTday cake from my friends. Don’t laugh. Yes those are canned peaches and yes that is red ‘gel’ icing. And yes the cake was very wet. I do not know why. But now you know that when you go to a Mexican restaurant and order something…..stick with enchiladas and queso. Do not venture into birthday cake world. Americans have a corner on the transfat buttercream icing market. We do not mix peaches with cake. And we do spell Birthday with an H. We didn’t get our obesity problem eating this kinda cake, I promise you. All that said, Thank you my sweet wonderful dear friends. I love you and laughing about this cake made my week.

One of us reads while standing up. And walking. Or doing the splits. Or hiking one leg up onto the sofa. Or while doing ballet. I kinda prefer sitting. But to each his own.

And others of us start random games of scrabble and try to invent words such as smod.

While one in particular of us practices her culinary skills on mom’s cake.

and the 39 yo among us beats the January Saturday doldrums by decoupaging a barn star…..

with pictures of the kiddos.

Real Presence, Part I

January 8, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 17 Comments

Many of you have expressed interest in some of the specifics of Lutheran teaching. And really, I can hardly restrain myself. I feel like I’ve just found out that Dillard’s is giving out free IPODS to everyone who visits the shoe counter…..that’s how much this teaching has wowed me. There are two teachings in particular that are very different than what’s taught in most American Evangelical churches today; those that surround Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. I’ll attempt to tackle the Lord’s Supper in two parts over the next few days.

In part I, I will explain what Lutherans believe the Bible teaches about the Lord’s Supper and in part II, I will present common arguments against the ‘real presence’ and how we Lutherans answer those arguments. Let me say first that I am no Bible scholar and though I have listened to and read many Lutheran scholars for hours and hours on this subject, I realize I have serious limitations. I do not speak Greek or Hebrew or Latin and I have not been to seminary. (But I know a few people who do and have and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night). I pray for God’s mercy that I will explain things clearly, with humility, and with the sincerity that His teachings deserve. I will refer you to my favorite Lutheran pastor if this discussion gets over my head. I’ve heard before that you don’t really understand a subject unless you can explain it to someone else. This is my attempt at that. And we should be able to defend our faith and practices. I’m working on that one too.

Let’s dig in.

Lutherans teach the ‘real presence’ in the Lord’s Supper. That the true body and blood of Christ is present ‘in, with, and under’ the bread and wine. There are several scriptures which can be used, but they all have similiar language: “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take eat; this IS my body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this IS my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” I could stop there I guess. We take Jesus at His word. And since as far back as the time of the apostles, the blessing and giving of the Lord’s Supper has been central to the church’s gathering. In Lutheran churches, it is THE central event of the worship service. Worship is literally the receiving of God’s gifts (His word and sacrament) and returning thanks to Him for those gifts. The Lord’s table is positioned centrally with the pulpit off to the side. These guys are serious about Christ-centered, cross-focused worship.

Most Lutheran churches serve communion every Sunday……taking advantage of every opportunity to receive the blessings promised with the sacrament; namely, the forgiveness of sins. I have to admit that I struggled with this when becoming Lutheran. ‘Eating the Lord’s body….drinking His blood’…..how can this be? Surely He meant a ‘spiritual’ type eating. It just didn’t sound right. At least not to my rational mind. Lutherans don’t attempt to explain how it is this happens. It still looks like bread and wine…..it tastes like bread and wine, and yet Christ says ‘This IS my body and blood’. Jesus’ words have always been powerful like that though. He spoke the worlds into being, he spoke and turned water into wine, he spoke and food multiplied, he spoke and people were healed. Miracles are part and parcel of the christian life, so why is this one so hard for us? Because we’re reasonable and rational and because this teaching doesn’t fit into a nice little box that we can easily explain. We serve a God who thinks and works outside the box. And we can try to twist His words to fit our rational or we can simply take Him at His word.

Why did God choose bread and wine? Maybe He intended for us to see the sacrament as the very sustenance of life. We literally live by the body and blood of Christ. It is likely not a coincidence that just as God used manna in the desert and fed the 5000 and instituted the Passover supper , he also feeds us now…Himself, his body broken for us, his blood poured out for us….. for the forgiveness of sins. He gives us this sacrament in the form of eating and drinking because it’s a concept we understand. We must have food to live. Even more so, we must have His food to truly live.

Almost all churches, I suspect, observe the Lord’s Supper in some form. In the churches where I grew up, it was called an ordinance—-a fancy word meaning law. In the Lutheran church, the sacrament is pure gospel. The unmerited grace of God given to us freely. In my prior experience, it was a ‘representation’ of something Christ did. Lutherans believe it is the means by which Christ’s forgiveness is granted to us…..over and over again. Previously, I was taught that I needed to be ‘right’ with God in order to take communion. Lutherans teach God makes me right with Him in His supper as He imparts His grace to me. To ‘discern His body’ in the Supper, properly understood, I think, means to acknowledge His true presence there.

Lutherans do not believe the scripture teaches transubstantiation as Catholics teach. Of all denominations, Lutherans tend to hold one of the highest views of the sacrament. It is not an ordinance or a representation. It is pure, free, powerful gift from God. A concrete, physical means by which I can know I have received God’s forgiveness and grace…..rather than looking for concrete evidence in myself…in how much I am improving in the christian life. I am so thankful for this tangible gift that Christ gives. We are doubting physical beings who need physical sustenance and reassurance. His supper is His means of giving us both.

For an audio clip on this teaching, click here. Or try this article , written by Todd Wilken. In the next couple of days, I’ll post part II. I welcome your thoughts, your church’s practice, even your questions….which I may or may not be able to answer. Some scripture references include Matt. 26: 26-28 and I. Cor. 11:23. May God bless the reading and studying of His word.

Winners for the giveaway posted on Monday. Yes, I said winnerZ. My family insisted on more than one. You lucky blog friends-a-mine.

January 7, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 11 Comments

My son’s band, The Verity, finished recording their album last night! Oh my! You’re gonna love it I think. If you’re new here, maybe you should read this first. The CD is still not quite available to buy yet but you can listen to two songs on their myspace page. You don’t need a myspace account (thank our lucky stars above)…..just go to this link or type ‘www.myspace/veritytruth1 into the address bar. These boys are talented and I’m so proud of them.

I pray that they will make this their desire:

Eph. 6:20 “Pray for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am in chains.”

https://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2009/01/166/

I Brake for……..

January 6, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 15 Comments

Have you ever ridden with anyone who was a brake pumper? Who, say 75 feet before you reach a light that’s red, pumps the brakes 4 or 19 times? And then even after you’re at a complete stop, pumps 3 more times. And if you were mid sentence during the pumping, you’re sentence would become, “Do. you. still. want. to. go. see. the. King. Tut. Ex.hi.bit?” And after a whole ride to church , a mild case of whiplash ensues.

Well, Stevie is a pumper. Sunday mornings he drives us to church in his car. Because it would take 25 minutes for me to clean mine out enough so that he could sit in the front seat. And then he’d try not touch any surfaces and he’d look around as if he were scared and then ask when was the last time I changed the oil. So, taking his car is way easier. His car is pristine and devoid of any evidence that he has eight children and two dogs. With a full tank of gas. And recently changed oil. Mine screams, “This woman has 14 children and 5 shedding dogs and is apparently legally blind”.

I can’t remember how I pointed out the pumping to him. I don’t think I said, “Hey,can you ease up on the pumping?” I think it was more like, “Have. you . ever. noticed. how. Eddie. pumps. the. brakes. a. L.O.T. when. he. drives?” Eddie is his dad…. who happens to be one of my favorite people. But Stevie comes from a long line of pumpers.

I say all that to say that Stevie is so sweet and now is conscience of his pumping. He apologized for pumping last week and I didn’t even notice the pumping. that. time. We all have little things that we do that we probably aren’t even aware of. I’m glad he doesn’t write this blog or he’d tell you all mine. But he could just have easily said, “Look, I’m a pumper. And that’s just Who.I.Am. Deal with it. Or clean your car out.” But instead he thinks of others and lets this new awareness ‘in’. I don’t know why, but that makes a girl go weak in the knees. It makes me thankful that I’m married to a man who says I’m sorry and who is willing to rethink the way he drives his car.

I imagine that when he’s alone, he pumps those brakes a lot. and real hard. Just. because. he. can. But what a man to keep the ride smooth as silk when the girls and I are with him. Or to at.least.try.