Walk in Love

If I had a patron saint, it would have to be St. Francis or Sister Clare.  I am fascinated by their complete giving of self to God and the ministry to the poor and prayer.  The film Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a MUST SEE for everyone in my opinion!  If my family had remained Catholic, I probably would be found cloistered at the abbey in Memphis.....though I would have found it difficult to lead a quiet lifestyle at times.  Anyway, let's not chase rabbits here.  Why am I telling you this?  While looking for the Publix mystery coupon in the newspaper today (why does my world seem to revolve around coupons?), I happened upon an ad for the St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church stating that they were holding a Walk in Love Shoe Collection until April 1st as part of their Lenten outreach.  This seems a perfect ministry for a body of believers named after St. Francis.  Here's a blurb from www.chattanoogan.com dated March 9th:

St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church Ooltewah will hold a Maundy Thursday service on April 1 beginning at 7 p.m. The guest preacher will be Brother Ron Fender.

Brother Ron is a member of the Brotherhood of St. Gregory which is a community of Episcopal men who live under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Brother Ron washes and provides therapeutic care for the feet of the homeless in Chattanooga.
As part of the service the membership of St. Francis will present Brother Ron with new and slightly used shoes to be delivered to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen to be dispersed as needed to the homeless in Chattanooga.
St. Francis invites everyone to participate in this Walk in Love Ministry. They are looking for donations of new and gently used walking type shoes sizes 8-14 (mainly men’s). Other donations of foot care products and socks are welcomed. There is a collection barrel located in front of the main entrance of the church located at 7555 Ooltewah-Georgetown Road. Cash and check donations are welcomed and will be earmarked to Brother Ron’s foot ministry. Checks should be made out to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.
The Maundy Thursday service commemorates the last supper of Jesus Christ with the apostles. Immediately following the service will be an agape meal. Agape is New Testament Greek for ‘self giving love” and this meal is a quiet time to remember meals that Christ shared with his disciples and others throughout his life. Everyone is invited to join the service and meal. For more information, call the church office at 238-7708 or visit www.sfaec.org. The service will start at 7 and the meal will follow.


If you live in the Chattanooga area, please consider donating shoes, socks, or other foot care products.

Porch Curtains

We have a small screened in porch that has become my husband's sanctuary.  He loves sitting on the porch reading where he can hear the birds, feel the breeze, and......bake in the sun.  In the summer, the patio can be hot at times, so I would love to put up some porch curtains for the times of day that the sun becomes unbearable.  I'm still not sure how I can go about this, but here are some photos I found online for ideas.

Quick Giveaway!

Would you like a year's subscription to Better Homes & Gardens magazine for one year?  If I renew my subscription (which I will) I can give two subscriptions away for free.  If you would like a free one year subscription, just comment "pick me" (only on the actual blog website and not the facebook fan page) and I will give it to the first two responders.  Don't wait though; this offer won't last long.

Coupon Competition

I am by nature somewhat competitive, but it is something I war against actively in my life.  You would be surprised where this trait rears its ugly head. Thankfully, I can come online and read the blogs of so many wonderful women who surpass me in so many ways, and I am reminded to keep my eyes on what God has for me and not what He has for others. 

If it were not for the blogs of these super women, one area where I could have easily become competitive or proud is in the area of couponing.  This week my couponing organization had to morph into a medium sized tote with a handled lid. (My index card file was too full to hold my treasures.)  In the past when I went up and down the grocery aisles with my coupons, first with the notebook of baseball card pages for easy coupon view to the price book category -divided notebook and then to the index card box with coupons filed alphabetically according to brand name, no one paid any attention to me and I could shop undisturbed.  But, this week as I carried in my handled tote so neatly organized, I was stopped more than four times in 20 minutes with questions and compliments on my organizational skills and creativity.  While I find this amusing and it does bring a smile to my face, I don't find much pride in it because I know I am NOT a savings/coupon guru, nor do I believe I will ever be one.  I do not have the time, health, energy and resources to chase down every bargain as some of these women do.  I am ever indebted to these women who lay out the good deals and bargains for us and alert us to deals both good and bad.  All this is not to say that I don't want to do my best at saving money for our family; it simply means that I want to do my best, rather than someone else's best. 

“Don’t be too easily convinced that God really wants you to do all sorts of work you needn’t do. Each must do his duty ‘in that state of life to which God has called him.’ Remember that a belief in the virtues of doing for doing’s sake is characteristically feminine, characteristically American, and characteristically ...modern: so that three veils may divide you from the correct view!  

There can be intemperance in work just as in drink. What feels like zeal may be only fidgets or even the flattering of one’s self-importance. As MacDonald says, ‘In holy things may be unholy greed!’ And by doing what ‘one’s station and its duties’ does not demand, one can make oneself less fit for the duties it does demand and so commit some injustice. Just you give Mary a chance as well as Martha!”

C.S. Lewis, Letters to An American Lady