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Pinnacle Presbyterian Church

Echoes (of the Word)

Fabric, Ribbons and Smiles

A few weeks ago while in Haiti we gathered with women and teenage girls in a room. There were many easily identifiable differences in the room, but what mattered was not what divided us—in this moment it was what united us.

We all had the same blessings and challenges of being women. We stood in front of these women who were just like us, girls hoping to go to school and change their lives, and women who wanted to work and take care of their families. The difference between us was that when our monthly menstrual cycle came around each month our days went along as normal, but for them, life stopped. Girls could not attend school and it would be difficult for women to take care of their family.

We were able to connect over these challenges. We Pinnacle women wanted to bring help and support through a women’s hygiene kit made from fabric, ribbon and smiles to help our sisters in Christ. For the past year women and teenage girls have been putting together these kits developed by Days for Girls International.

Often, men and women in America don’t think twice about what a menstrual cycle might mean. Some see it as embarrassing, annoying, maybe a little painful or just get in our way, but it doesn’t often stop our daily lives. We grab a tampon or a maxi pad and go on with our day. But for some women around the world time stops.

As we explained how to use each item in the kit we watched their eyes open as they realized what this bag of fabric would do for them. We demonstrated each step to use the kit and they watched eagerly. This kit would gift them their life back one week each month.

I will never forget their faces as we handed out these kits. Their simple questions about a woman’s body. The light gleaming through their eyes. The person whose face has stayed with me is a man who was waiting to see the doctor. He became more and more interested as we continued our education until he realized what this kit was all about. He said through the translator, “Please give me one of these kits for my wife, it will change her life.”

While this kit would change their lives one week a month, they most definitely changed my life. Even as we prepared these kits, sewing each piece with care, it is hard to imagine what the smiles on their faces would really look like. It is hard to realize what this kit might really mean for a girl in school or a mom whose hard life demands that she is working and taking care of her children every day, not just three weeks a month.

That day we all bonded, the gifts of the women and the smiles that beamed not only from their faces but from ours as well. They blessed us by telling us once again what it means to be united as women where color of skin, language and status don’t define us, God does. Where the gift of a woman with a menstrual cycle doesn’t keep us from life but blesses us instead. I am still smiling from ear to ear.

Thank you for your support! Please keep these women in your prayers as we continue to work on more Days for Girls kits for our Sisters in Haiti. To find out more about this program see daysforgirls.org

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Thank-You Notes

Growing up far away from extended family, my family and a few friends who needed a Thanksgiving home would sit down for a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, veggies, and pie for dessert. We spent the day playing games, watching movies together and, of course, calling family who lived far away. Each Thanksgiving we would go around the table and share what we were thankful for, as our blessing over our meal.

The pilgrims, on the first Thanksgiving many years ago, had a little different feel. They celebrated this day because they survived. The people had made it to the new land and had figured out how to live with the native people and how to farm the land. They built shelters and worked together to make it to that cold day of celebration.

What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Thanksgiving might be a day of cooking all day and finally eating a fantastic feast together! We sit down with family and friends to give thanks for the bounty that has been provided for us. Maybe Thanksgiving is the day to watch football or be with family and friends. Or maybe Thanksgiving is the time to start setting up your Christmas decorations.

Yesterday, as I was thinking about what this day means to me, I received a thank-you note in the mail. The note was from a friend, and she was thanking me for a phone call we had a few weeks ago…but that part doesn’t matter; what does matter is how it made me feel to receive the note. It didn’t have a lot in it but the fact that she took the time to write it and mail it made me feel special. It made me wonder what it would be like to write a thank-you note to God for the many gifts he has given me. What would I say? What would I include?

Many of the Psalms are basically thank-you notes written to God. They are the Israelites' way of thanking God for what he provided to them—thanksgiving for safety (Psalm 91 and Psalm 144), thanksgiving for guidance (Psalm 146 and 23), thanksgiving for forgiveness (Palm 51), thanksgiving for the many blessings (Psalm 136 and Psalm 150), and my favorite, Psalm 100, thanksgiving that we know God. What a true blessing it is to be known by God and to know God. Each psalm is beautifully crafted to express the gratitude the people had for the gifts God gave them.

What would you put in your thank-you note written to God on Thanksgiving Day? Below are a few of mine.

  • Thank you for the beauty of the desert, the dry landscape that flourishes reminds me that even in the midst of struggle, God brings life.

  • Thank you for my dog, Calvin, for he brings comfort, laugher, friendship and warm snuggles.

  • Thank you for my family, who supports each other, laughs together and loves each other.

  • Thank you for your church filled with warm and faithful people who seek God in their life.

  • Thank you for my morning walks where all is still silent and I can almost feel the Holy Spirit waking us up with a beautiful sunrise.

  • Thank you for Jesus, who guides me, walks with me and challenges me in my call and work.

May God bless you and keep you on this Thanksgiving week! 

Golfer Chi Chi Rodriquez said, “When a man retires, his wife gets twice the husband but only half the income." 
 
Making the adjustments that come with retirement is a challenge for nearly everyone. When I first retired, I woke up every day with a hip, hip hooray: “I don’t have to go to ANY church meetings tonight!” That exhilaration lasted three months and I began scouting about to find something more meaningful to do than hike and play golf.
 
Marie Obermann wrote this prayer called “Upon Retirement”:
Dear God,
Help me have the grace to understand, when my retired engineer husband becomes an expert in dishwasher loading.
Let me grin and sweetly reply each time he asks where I’m going and when I’ll be back.
Let me ignore his accusatory words when I’m late.
Let me swallow my words when he makes our whole house the depository for mail, newspapers, and torn-out articles.
I love the man, God, so please help me adjust to his being here, day after day.
Let me forget that I was solely in charge and learn to share space and time with him.
You have been good to me, and I thank you for keeping him well and with me.  Just help us to remember why it was so important to become a couple those many years ago. Amen.