Month: February 2010

A call to Ubuntu

…the call to transcend and include is a call that comes from the Holy Spirit, in whom all of us live, move and have our being. So we cannot escape. We can throw a temper tantrum. We can sit in the corner and pout. We can cower in the closet in fear. But then we hear music from another room playing faintly. Gradually, eventually, we are enticed and magnatized by the Spirit’s jazz, and we have to come out of our closet and dance, to join in the unending improvisation and lively rhythm of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

-Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christianity

Clara Oleta Knotts (Jan. 28, 1919 – Feb. 16, 2010)

Clara Oleta (Glasco) Knotts, 91, went home to see her Lord and Savior face to face, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 in Dallas.

Oleta was born Jan. 28, 1919, in Pickton, Texas, to Clara and Jesse T. Glasco. She grew up and attended school in Pickton before moving to Dallas during World War II with her sister LaVerne. In Dallas she worked for Proctor and Gamble and then later joined her sister LaVerne at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She met her husband, Deryl, in the spring of 1949 and the two were married Jan. 6, 1950 at The First United Methodist Church in Dallas. She always said the happiest moments of her life were those spent with her husband.

After their marriage, Deryl and Oleta moved to southeast Dallas where they both became active members of Pleasant Mound United Methodist Church for over four decades. Oleta was a firm believer in the hope and love of Jesus as her redeemer. She spent her life sharing those lessons with others, including teaching adult Sunday school classes for more than 40 years. When Oleta and Deryl later moved to east Dallas they quickly became active members of Eastridge Park Christian Church in Mesquite.

Oleta was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Deryl P. Knotts; her brother Noble Glasco; her sisters LaVerne Cheney and Myra Ragan; and her granddaughter Amy Elizabeth Blundell. She is survived by her two daughters, Margery and husband Fred Blundell of Mesquite and Beverly and husband Del Oyler of Sulphur Springs; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Friday from 6-8 p.m. at Grove Hill Funeral Home in Dallas. Services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Eastridge Park Christian Church in Mesquite with internment at Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas. Pastor Dan Carroll will officiate. Memorials may be made to the Good Samaritan Fund at Eastridge Park Christian Church.

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Listen to an interview with my grandmother in 2007.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers this week. She will be greatly missed but I’m comforted that she’s now at peace with Granddad, Amy and other family members.

Understanding the fine print

Stacks

As part of our training to be foster parents, we were required to make a set of family rules. It seemed almost funny to come up with house rules, knowing we were wanting an infant or toddler at the oldest.

They’re broad and yet basic. Not super specific.

And of course, our first test of these rules, our first placement — two toddlers.

I considered reading all the rules to them (I think there are 7 or 8 rules) but in reality it wouldn’t make any sense to them.

Instead of focusing on the big picture rules, we have to daily remind them of the fine print.
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The Big Red Tractor

From Francis Chan:

Excellent!

How does your community of faith compare? Are you trying to push the Big Red Tractor with your own strength, or putting its true power source to full use?

Read more from Holiday at the Sea

Add a Buzz This button to your WordPress blog

Last week Google released Buzz to the masses — with mixed reviews.

Love it or leave it, it’s another avenue to help share your content with others.
Continue reading Add a Buzz This button to your WordPress blog