i changed my blog settings

I finally changed my blog settings so that anyone can leave a comment. you don't have to be a registered user in order to do that. sorry about that.

Jim Brickman - Never Alone

Jim Brickman is the one playing the piano. This song is on his latest cd and I thought the words said it all.

I went to the Zoo today. It was AWESOME. I have made a photo album of all the pictures. Click on "Linda's Photo Album" that is over to the left so you can see the pictures. Until then, here is one for you to enjoy.
Yes, I know I know...you can't tell which one is the gorilla can you????

Things to Think About

I took this picture today while I was at the zoo. It sums up how my life has been since being here. I call it God's Light. (should it shock you, the reference to light???) Maybe it should be called new beginnings - with the light through the clouds. I don't know. But read on to understand.

It was a year ago this weekend that I graduated from seminary. This past week, I have been able to reflect and really think about what life has been for me in the past year. The first thing I have to say is, I am happy. I am so happy. It has been such a long time. There are so many good things happening to me. Man o man has God been there in the process. I can't even begin to tell you all that God has done for me. I don't even know how to explain it. I am left speechless.

I am in such a good place. Many of you know what "church" was like for me back in Richmond. Pretty ugly in some places. I use the word in quotes because I don't think I was really in a church. It wasn't church to me. I am in a different world here. Now I know what church is all about. FBC Newton has been a real church to me. They take care of me. They take care of me and allow me to take care of them. Before, I wasn't sure what church was supposed to be. I was just going to work. Now, it's different. I am coming to a place of worship that I get to be a part of and minister to. I know a lot of that has to do with who I work with.

I work with a Senior Minister who allows me to be the person that God wants me to be. Charley is great. We work so well together. He has this gift of knowing who God wants me to be, even before I do. The great part is he makes me want to be a better minister...and a better person. My dear friend Steve approves of him. So you know he must be ok. ;-)

My health is improving too. I am walking almost every day and I am taking care of my life. I have lost almost 60 pounds and it has been such a wonderful feeling and a wonderful release. I am learning so much about myself and about how God has been molding me. No matter how many times I fell off the potters wheel - God got me back up and started again. This time I think, something is beginning to form.

Now, I say all of this with two disclaimers in mind: 1. For my support group back in Richmond, Midlothian and Kilmarnock, I miss you terribly. I sure could use you. But know that I am doing ok. 2. My post sounds like my world is perfect. It is not. There are definite challenges and issues that I am facing but God is with me, along with other people. I am dealing with those challenges in ways I have not before and it's good.

I said that Charley knows who I am capable of being. Here is the big difference.... I am starting to see that too. I am starting to realize and feel the person that God wants me to be too. And that has made all the difference. Thank you Charley.

God picks me up when I fall and carries me when I can't.
God walks behind me and allows me to lead. God pushes me when I am hesitant.
God walks in front of me when I need a leader and beside me when I need a friend.
God loves me. And God gives me what I need to love myself. Thank you God.

The Weather in Boston

OK - I know I have not posted lately. Sorry about that. I have actually been enjoying the outside world. I am blown away with the weather up here. We have 7 months of winter weather and then all of a sudden we get spring. For the past two weeks, we have had WONDERFUL sunny weather. It got warm last week at a whoppin 85 degrees. Here is the difference from Virginia - it does not get HUMID. It is a nice 85 degrees. Blue skies, sun shine, pretty white cotton balls of clouds, green grass, blooms on the trees, it is pretty. So because of the weather, I have been trying to get outside as much as possible.
One great thing is I thought about the Virginia State Fair this weekend. I thought about it because my little town of Newton had it's own Kids fest carnival this weekend. It was pretty and cool and looked like a lot of fun.
A lot has been happening at the church. We are trying to wind things down with the end of the first year of Sunday school. Next Sunday, we are having Youth Sunday, when the youth lead the worship service. We have been working hard on that. Lots of talented youth who can speak, sing, and play musical instruments. They are so mature.
I also got to do something else. I went to the ballet again. This time, to see the modern ballet by the late Balanchine. Several of my parents play in the Boston Ballet Orchestra. There is a picture of me at the Wang Theatre, right before the performance. It was a WOW time. Very modern type movements and angles. The music was phenomenal (and very hard I heard). I went with one of our members whose husband is leaving tomorrow for Afghanistan for a year and a half. Their family is also in Richmond. Keep them in your prayers.
Guess what next weekend is? It was a year ago that I came to visit the church that I am currently serving. I came to interview with several groups, meet with many many people, and meet with Charley. A whirlwind of 48 hours but it was exciting. That happened a year ago. THEN, the weekend of Memorial Day will be a year since I graduated from seminary!! Man o man, this year has gone by fast.
Other things are happening and I am thankful every day that I am here. I will share those at another time but know that good things are happening. Thank you for your prayers, emails, and encouragement. You are awesome!!

Candle Pin Bowling - kinda weird but fun

Ok, I went candle pin bowling for the very first time last Sunday. The youth group went. What is candle pin? A very big thing up here. Instead of "regular" bowling pins, the pins are tall and thin. The ball is a small ball that fits in the palm of your hand, with no holes. It goes VERY FAST. Two games in an hour, wirh five people playing.
I scored a 56 and a 57. With the size of the ball, it is easy to shoot straight down and hit only ONE pin. AND it is EASIER to throw the ball down and hit NOTHING. The latter was easier!
You would think that growing up in a bowling alley for 20 years, I would have some skill in this game. Not really but it was fun.

RIP Lt Commander Kevin Davis

One of the BESTEST experiences I ever encountered was being able to witness and stand in awe as the Blue Angels practiced at my uncle's Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Well - it's not really HIS air station, but you know what I mean.

Man o man was it awesome!!!!

Anyway, rest in peace Lt Commander Davis.

Here is the Blue Angel missing man formation.

ITS SPRING YIPPEEEEEEE

After a pretty rough couple of weeks with the weather, news, emotionally, personally, etc... I am SOOO happy to see the sunshine. It is Spring. I hope it stays for a little while. They are warning me that it may not. With that said, I took the chance to go out and enjoy it.

My apartment windows were up to let the spring air in. Jelly Bean was excited about that. She jumped right up as soon as I opened the window. My car windows were down to enjoy the afternoon, and it was a beautiful evening on Boston College campus. Here I am in front of the Gasson Tower, one of the main entrances of BC. You can see the gilded bronze eagle. The St. Ignatius of Loyola statue is the founder of the Jesuit order.

Just a couple of pictures of the 73 degree sunny day.

words of hope....I hope.

Romans 8: 35 – 39

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

On a Good Note

On a Good Note - Today is my Uncle Tom's birthday. He lives in Pepsicola, florida and is beating cancer and has fought it to another birthday!!! (yes, i meant to say pepsicola)
I believe he is 39 years old! shhh. Uncle Tom, I got home really late tonight so I was afraid to call and wake you up. But something is on the way. Happy Birthday to You!!!! Love your favorite niece!!

what will it take???

What will it take for us to finally get some gun control in this world? Oh, yeah that's right...we have a president who just loves guns and he loves to provide his own death penalties. Would you believe that in the middle of his remarks about Virginia Tech today, he actually added that he still believes that people have the rights to guns?
Ok, I need to get off of him.
Please pray for the students, staff, families, and communities of Virginia Tech. I know several students there. I used to minister to them, now I can't get near them. I have not heard anything yet.
It just brings so much pain to my heart. I preached a while back about the massacre at Columbine High School, where 15 people lost lives because of guns. And now this, 33 more people. I can't count how many happened in between those and the countless number of those who were temporarily or permanently injured. The eighth anniversary of Columbine is this week.
What will it take to get the guns? How many more lives will have to be hurt and lost in order for the people to step up and stop this? It's just not right.

An Easter Sunday Photo

Someone just sent this to me. Here I am in my professional form. I wear this each Sunday, with the exception that the white stole will be a different color based on the church season.
At this moment, I was listening to the choir singing the Alleluia chorus. How beautiful was that? Take my word that is was quite moving. I had goose bumps.

OOO - hello to my family and Happy Easter. I missed not being at the annual Easter Egg Hunt and watching Braxton cheat. I miss us cheating and telling Lindsay where the "special" eggs are. Did you find all the eggs this year?? Cousin Jennifer, hope you hid the eggs well!!!! I hope you all had a wonderful day.

Views of the City of Boston

Ok - I took lots of pictures today. Too many to put on this site page. SOOO, I have a link to all the pictures that you can look at. I found a great website to hold all of my pictures that you can look at.
Note: you will see pictures from a aerial view. I went to the 50th floor of the Prudential tower and it gives a 360 degree view of the city. I tried the best I could to remember all the significant buildings and neighborhoods, and landmarks. Enjoy.

http://lmoore23.photosite.com/

Boston Legal Trivia

It is Saturday afternoon, April 7th. I took a trip downtown to the city of Boston. I love to visit the area, riding on the T (subway for you outoftowners). It was a nice day, yet a little crisp. 40 degrees I believe but still a nice day.

I thought I would give you a little trivia about Boston and "Boston Legal". I have become a great fan of the show and wondered about the buildings that are shown in the episodes. When you watch the show, you will see a picture of the building where the Law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt is located. The actual building is a at 500 Boylston Street which is located in the Back Bay of Boston. In the real building (the taller one) are retail stores and offices.
The office is located at a famous intersection of Boylston and Dartmouth. You can see the street signs pop up in the show as well.
Then there is the "courthouse" in the show. I love it! The Boston Legal Courthouse is actually the City of Boston Public Library. (the longer stone building) The library is also located at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth. Both buildings, as well as the street corner, are located in Copley Place. The famous Trinity Church of Boston is next door to the 500 Boylston Street Building.
One more picture is the Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. Pretty unique and a recognizable Boston landmark in many movies and shows.
Just a little trivia for your day.

Found this Quote

I found this quote during the weekend and I thought it was so appropriate for life and the lessons that we learn on a daily basis. Let's see if I can remember to keep it on the forefront of my daily walk and challenges in the world. See you soon.

"One day at a time - this is enough.
Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone:
and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come.
Live in the present, and make it so beautiful
that it will be worth remembering."

-- Ida Scott Taylor, Author

Meet my top youth

I thought I would share this with you. I have a celebrity in my youth group. Her name is Esther Mobley and she is the president of my youth group at church. She is a senior at Newton North High School and a VERY very busy lady. Her father is the one who gave me a ticket to the Duke basketball game. Anyway, here is a picture of us from back in October. But you can see better ones in the link below. Well, if you get the New York Times, Esther made the front page, above the fold, of the Sunday paper. There is a special BIG BIG article about Esther and two of her friends, with a subject on the pressure of high school and college and juggling life inbetween. There are more pages then just the front. The link to the Times is below. When you see a picture of three girls in desks, Esther is the one in the middle with the glasses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/education/01girls.html?hp

Today is Palm Sunday and we processed into the church with the congregation waving their palms (the leaves, not their hands). It was a busy busy morning, with a busy week to come. In the midst of the busyness of the week, remember the reason for Holy Week and the preparation of the death and resurrection of Christ.

uuuugghhhhhhh

ok - i have not blogged in a little while. it has been a crazy week. the biggest part of the crazy week is the fact i am about to blow up my car. it broke down yet again and is at the gas station. i don't know what to do. i think i need to go ahead and get rid of it and get something else but not sure if i can do that. Since i was without full time employment for five years, i am still trying to get my credit back on track and credible for people. i can't imagine a car company not allowing me to have a car for that reason.

also, i am working on my taxes now. there is one bad thing about being an ordained minister. unfortunately it is a BIG BAD thing. When you are ordained, the state and fed governments consider you self-employed. this little piece keeps many deserving people from being ordained because they don't want to deal with the "stuff".

i am a bit frustrated and trying to remember there are more important issues to deal with than a car breaking down or taxes i can't seem to get right. hey, maybe i will get arrested for getting my taxes wrong and i won't need a car. how great would that be?????

i know there are more important things to deal with and people out there, including those i love very much, are dealing with true issues/concerns that are much more important than my little stuff. Sorry to my aunt and uncle for crying about my stupid issues. i hope you enjoyed your week last week and behaved with your visitor!!

here is some more snow

Here is another picture of the snow. Today is the last day of winter and it is snowing as I speak. The picture is the Newton City Hall, my little city hall.
And, I saw Gracie and Jelly Bean on the bed together. I could not resist taking a picture of them. I rarely get that. hee hee

Let it snow?

Well, Wednesday got up to 70 degrees. Friday it got up to 7 inches of snow in my town. A little baffling I think. Even more than Richmond's weather. I was out today shoveling and sweeping. It took about an hour to get my car in a place where I can get out for church tomorrow.
The great thing is that my landlord helped me shovel and clear the way. That's why it only took an hour. Then again, we stopped and talked a couple of times. He has been really nice. He helps with diagnosing my car problems and taking care of the apartment.
I had to go to a meeting this morning. A friend picked me up. The main roads were actually in pretty descent shape. My road oddly enough was not. You would think differently knowing that the mail trucks have to be on my road in order to get to the post office and get the bundles of mail.
Logan Airport was closed Friday afternoon. We canceled our coffeehouse.
I will try and get more pictures for you tomorrow.