The Burnt-Over Blog: Easter to Retreat

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Easter to Retreat

Lincoln got sick over Easter of course so we just have Ella all dressed up in one of the cute dresses "Amma" Bryant got her.

This past weekend we attended a Young Adult retreat at DeerHaven campground with the Community of Christ. It was a wonderful weekend and the kids had lots of friends to play with. The guest speaker was Doug Pagitt, amazing Christian who gave us all some great things to think about. Linda Booth, member of the First Presidency was there as well. Seth and I ended up sitting in a little circle with her and a few others discussing a chapter in Mark. We were talking with a member of the First Presidency, how cool is that! She stayed for the whole weekend and spent time getting to know everyone there. Don't get that opportunity very often.

We had a great time and below are some pictures of the kids adventures there. Becca just loved playing in the sand(they don't have dirt here) and finding all the new plants and leaves to pick up and play with.

There is a lake here but during the winter months it gets pretty low, but still a pretty place and a fun weekend.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...: Ella's got a beautiful dress one. She is so cute!; April 2, 2008 at 7:28 AM
Unknown said...: I saw your comment on my blog and I'm sorry we never informed you that we are expecting. We never even told anyone until I was 20 weeks and we knew everything was going okay. I can't believe how big your kids are they are so cute and I love Ella's dress. I hope you and Seth are doing well. Are you planning a trip to Utah this summer?; April 2, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Unknown said...: Jenn you're coming in May that's great. I'm due May 2nd so rather than seeing my pregnant belly hopefully you can see the baby. Hopefully we'll get to see you when you come.; April 2, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Sean Langdon said...: It was good to hear about the retreat! I attended a Community of Christ Young Adult Retreat this past weekend as well. This one was in Washington State.

I love Linda Booth. Though, just to clarify, she is an Apostle in the Council of Twelve and not a member of the First Presidency.; April 2, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for the clarification on Linda Booth as a member of the Twelve apostles. I still don't know everyone very well. Thanks!; April 3, 2008 at 4:35 AM
The Bott Family said...: How fun! It sounds and looks like you guys had a great time. I love the pictures!; April 4, 2008 at 4:20 PM
American Pinay said...: Wow Ella is so pretty!!! She looks even prettier in that dress!!!; April 6, 2008 at 7:31 PM

Post a Comment

Doctrine and Covenants 163:10a-b

Del Gue's Parting Words

I ain't never seen 'em, but my common sense tells me the Andes is foothills, and the Alps is for children to climb! Keep good care of your hair! These here is God's finest sculpturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here! And there ain't no priests excepting the birds. By God, I are a mountain man, and I'll live 'til an arrow or a bullet finds me. And then I'll leave my bones on this great map of the magnificent...

The Meaning of Christ on the Cross

At the heart of divine love is sacrifice-the willingness to be diminished so that another may be increased. This is the meaning of Christ on the cross. God, who could have insulated himself from pain, descended to earth, assumed the aspect of his children, and bore the greatest pain in his own person. Rather than hoard the heavenly feast for himself, he invites beggars to his table. He breaks bread with us and drinks from the cup our lips have touched. When he speaks to us, it is no longer from a great white throne, centered in a vortex of light, surrounded by celestial griffins, warding off the unwashed. He speaks to us eye to eye, from a traitor’s gibbet, with his blood and sweat and shame upon him for all to see, and with his wounds forever open. He comes not as king, but as slave. He comes not as judge, but as accused. He comes not as patriarch, but as bastard. He comes not to punish us, but to let us punish him. He does not ask us to love him until we are first certain that he loves us. He is the great failure who saves us from our success. He is the great fool who spares us from our wisdom. He is the rejected lover who will not, in turn, reject his love. He is a prophet without honor, a citizen of a despised nation, a poor relation, an unwanted guest. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness of every human heart. He is the God of grief and sorrow who is the joy of our desiring. He is utterly good because he loves us in our sins and imperfections, because he freely made himself equal to us, and because he freely opened the way whereby we may be made equal to him.

--Paul Toscano's "Priesthood Concepts in the Book of Mormon," Sunstone (Dec. 1989): 17.

True Conversion

Conversion is a permanent process in which very often the obstacles we meet make us lose all we had gained and start anew. The fruitfulness of our conversion depends on our openness to doing this, our spiritual childhood. All conversion implies a break. To wish to accomplish it without conflict is to deceive oneself and others: "No one is worthy of me who cares more for father or mother than for me." But it is not a question of a withdrawn and pious attitude. Our conversion process is affected by the socio-economic, political, cultural, and human environment in which it occurs. Without a change in these structures, there is no authentic conversion. We have to break with our mental categories, with the way we relate to others, with our way of identifying with the Lord, with our cultural milieu, with our social class, in other words, with all that can stand in the way of a real, profound solidarity with those who suffer, in the first place, from misery and injustice. Only thus, and not through purely interior and spiritual attitudes, will the 'new person' arise from the ashes of the 'old.'"
--Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation, 118

The Burnt-Over Blog