Yesterday’s sermon was the second part of a two-week series on marriage.  It focussed on the husband’s role in the marriage and laid out the husband’s calling, his weakness, and his power.  I missed the sermon for the wife last week, so I’ll have to go back and listen, but hearing the message yesterday was a blessing and encouragement for my marriage.  I really liked the challenge to take part in The Marriage Prayer as well.

One thing that I found particularly interesting is that Mike pointede out that a lazy, unresponsive, and neglectful husband can be just as harsh to his wife as a domineering, controlling husband.  I thought this was a very good point (one that is not talked about often), and Mike preaching boldly about it is sure to challenge many men of our church in their area of weakness.  Praise to God who is our power for our marriage and life!

If you weren’t at church yesterday, you can listen to the sermon here.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian was an Oprah’s Book Club pick back in 1998, so it’s got to be good, right? Well, I haven’t read every book that Oprah has chosen for her club, but all the ones I have read so far have been good!

A caution: don’t read it while pregnant. It’s about a respected lay midwife in Vermont who finds herself in this nightmarish situation: she’s been called to a patient’s (or is it client’s?) house during a winter storm. The strom worsens and there’s absolutely no way to go for help when complications develop and the mother dies before delivering. Sybil, the midwife, knows that the baby is still alive and needs to be delivered in order to survive, so she decides to perform a c-section – without anesthetic, of course, because she has none and the mother is dead anyway. Or is she? What follows is the trial of Sybil Danforth, which looks into whether her client really was dead at the time, or if Sybil inadvertently killed her. Between the small town’s upheavel, the growing antagonism of the medical community toward lay midwives, and Sybil’s own shifting thoughts of what went on that icy night, this book will grip you – I couldn’t put it down – but now you see why you really shouldn’t read it if you’re pregnant!

Another Halloween and Reformation Day approaches. It was October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his grievances with the Church to the doors of All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg, Germany - an act we now consider to have sparked the Protestant Reformation. The motto of the Reformation is “Semper Reformanda,” which means “always reforming,” The spirit of the Reformation is the thought that the Church should always be willing to re-examine and change our beliefs, should the Lord open our eyes thusly, and not get bogged down in tradition for tradition’s sake, not knowing why we believe the things we do.

It is in this spirit of “semper reformanda” that I have come to my current thought on the issue of Halloween. Last year, I posted an article I’d written many years ago on why perhaps we shouldn’t celebrate Halloween. This year, however, we came across this short blog post, which gives some background on All Saints (and All Hallows) Day and Eve as well as Reformation Day, and which has given us some food for thought.

One is the points is that these days have belonged to the Christian Church for many centuries and we should act like it, celebrating them in various ways, including with costumes and “boatloads of candy.” He suggests only that we not dress up as “members of the other team - witches, ghosts, devils, imps, or congressmen.” A comment asks if the blogger has any thoughts on the tradition of dressing up as these things is to mock the devil instead of join forces with him, and I’m curious about that, too, though I’ve not looked into it. Clearly, most people in our culture who do dress up as bloodied zombies (think Halloween Horror Nights or their billboards, if you’ve never been) aren’t mocking the devil, but maybe a little child of God who dresses up as a devil with spiky tail and pointy red horns could be. Maybe. Any thoughts on that?

Another suggestion is that we believers ought to give more candy than our unbelieving neighbors, “as opposed to a glare and/or a tract about the fires of hell.” As one of the comments points out, there’s probably nothing wrong with giving a bunch of candy in addition to a tract, but you get the idea.

I don’t take this little blog post as my authority on all things Halloween, but it’s given me something to consider. What do you think about Halloween?  Has your view changed over time?

Fall has arrived in Florida! The highs are now only in the 80s. I know many of you have lived elsewhere and remember what a “real” fall feels like, but I haven’t, so I’ll take what I can get!

One thing we look forward to each October is the annual St. Joseph’s pumpkin patch and carnival. We plop the kids amidst the pumpkins and try to get some good shots, then ride the rides and eat some funnel cake. This year the carnival will run October 16 – 19. The pumpkin patch usually lasts until Halloween. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is located on Alafaya just south of 50.

For me, October also means candy corn. Even though it’s available year round, I limit my candy corn consumption to the month of October only, to make it more of a treat.

Another fall tradition we’re establishing is a trip to Green Meadows Petting Farm. It’s a bit pricey for what it is, but there’s an Entertainment Book coupon that makes it more reasonable, and a coupon on their site that reduces the price $2 a ticket. In addition to the animals, there’s a pony ride, train ride, and hay ride. You can also milk a cow! You get a free pumpkin from their pumpkin patch if you go in October. My tip is to go during a weekday when there aren’t as many people there.

And last, fall means pumpkins (click for good recipes) – pumpkin desserts, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin shakes, roasted pumpkin seeds, and carving pumpkins. Over the past few years, we’ve experimented with vcarious pumpkin-carving strategies. The first year we decided to carve pumpkins, I got a little ambitious and decided to do a pumpkin for each member of our family – a big one for Matt, and medium one for me, and a littler one for Evie. But, needless to say, that was a lot of cleaning and carving! I might need to put that tradition on the shelf until the kids are old enough to clean and carve their own, and then perhaps we can have a contest! Do you have any pumpkin-carving traditions or strategies?

What activities do you and your family enjoy at home and around town during fall? I’d love to hear!

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We’re on the tail end of Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from Sept 15 - Oct 15 every year.  And even though there are only a few days left I wanted to write about it anyway. I wish I could say I celebrate this month every year but I don’t.  Still I’m very proud to be Puerto Rican.

There are many Hispanics/Latino’s here in Orlando.  Do you know the difference between the two words: Hispanic and Latino?  Because I don’t look the stereotypical Puerto Rican I here many positive and negative comments about the Hispanic community, some of which I agree with.

Now is a good time to learn a little more about Hispanic American’s who’s heritage is from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.  I hope you enjoy some of the resources or events left.  I’ll be going to the “Mascaras” art exhibit.

There are still a few events left for you to attend for FREE.  I’ve added some links below as well.

Latino Fusion Recipes - they all look really good!

Books

Concert by La Rondalla de Orlando -  Free and open to the public
10/19/2008
4:00 PM
University High School Auditorium
11501 Eastwood Dr.
Orlando, FL

Exhibit by Puerto Rican Artists Obed Gómez and Pedro Brull
10/14/2008
6:00 PM
Art Gallery, Visual Arts Building, UCF Main Campus
Orlando, FL

Free and open to the public, cosponsored by the Department of Art

Art Exhibit “Mascaras”
09/12/2008 - 10/26/2008
Maitland Art Center
213 W. Packwood Ave.
Maitland, FL

For additional information visit www.maitlandartcenter.org