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MARCH 26, 2013

What did you do today?

People are interesting.

There is so much variety in personalities and tastes and culture.
Yet in spite of the many differences, there are strong similarities.
No matter where people live or even how far back in time, there are basic needs common to all.  One of those is the need to love and be shown love.
Where we now live, we meet people from all over the world who have come here to visit or to live.
So many different cultures.

So many different religious ideas.
Still, the words Jesus spoke in his famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3 ring true.  “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need.”
Living so close to some of nature’s amazing beauty, many people here recognize they have a spiritual need and finding a satisfying way to fill that need gives many great happiness in life.

This morning we got up all 5 of us took a walk together.  Lately, Mikee and Austin try to go out for a run early in the am before it gets too hot, but today the whole tribe went.  Our walk took us around the marina and then over to the dolphins.  We love the dolphins and stopping to visit them is a treat we like even better than candy.

Have you ever heard a dolphin “speak”?

This morning, the dolphins were especially chatty and frisky.  Sorry, but try as I might, I cannot describe what a joy it is to sit on the edge of the water and have these beautiful and intelligent creatures come up and visit.  Today we saw Iesha, Hildago, Valentina, and Charlie.  We had 4 dolphins “talking” to us and competing for our attention.  My children were fully engrossed in the “conversation” and it was a precious memory that will always put a smile on my face.

Who could live next to turquoise waters that show off their power with the constant noise of their surf or gently lap the shore in a protected cove or put on a snorkel and mask to see a world of brightly colored fish all swimming in different directions but together or reach out and touch the back of a sea turtle that has traveled the world and come back to the spot it was born to lay it’s own eggs or find a sink hole formed thousands of years ago and filled with water so fresh it just smells healthy -how could you witnessing these beautiful works of nature and not reflect on it’s wonderful designer?
Romans 1:20 says that “his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the worlds creation onward.”

What is this story leading to?

Well, today is a special day for us.  It is the annual memorial of the Lord’s Evening Meal.  What is that and why is it so important to our family?

People from all over the world recognize Jesus Christ as the greatest man who ever lived.  This is the anniversary of the date that Jesus offered his life as a ransom to save mankind.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 marked a date on the Jewish calendar that is very important.  Nisan 14.  It was the actual date that Jesus Christ was killed.

The significance of what Jesus did has been written about in 1 John 4:9: “By this the love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotton Son into the world that we might gain life through him.”

Millions of people from around the globe attended this special commemoration.  Maybe you received an invitation to this event.  All congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the globe have been working diligently to hand an invitation to as many people as possible for the past 3 weeks.
Last year 19,013,343 people attended this special meeting in 239 different lands.

Many attended at a local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses while others met in rented facilities or private homes and some even in prison.

Since there are 7,782,346 Jehovah’s Witnesses, you can see that more people attend who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses than those who are.  Very interesting.
Where do you live?
Did you receive an invitation and accept it?
What did you think?

Since it is a special annual event for our family, we usually mark it with a family picture.

IMG_8793_600w

Here are some more from the day…

Making the special bread

Making the special bread

Picking up the flowers that Kelley and Sherri beautifully arranged

Picking up the flowers that Kelley and Sherri beautifully arranged

Setting up the bread

Setting up the bread

Pouring the wine

Pouring the wine

The emblems

The emblems

The girl team

The girl team

{ 6 comments… add one }
  • Ellice March 27, 2013, 5:14 pm

    Hello! How many did you have at your Memorial? We have 109 publishers in our congregation and our Memorial attendance was 207! So, we had 98 visitors!
    It was pretty cold here and I would have been warm in boots but I refused to put them on! I did not dress for Memorial as I usually do, in a pretty spring dress because it was TOO COLD! I had to wear a skirt and sweater! Can you believe it?! It NC!!! But, that’s not the point. 🙂
    Chad had all 7 of his students attend the Memorial and I had 2 of mine, along with 2 previous students who are now Witnesses. So, of course, they were there! It was a special night!
    PS – It’s so COLD here we are under a freeze warning tonight!!!

    • admin March 27, 2013, 10:23 pm

      That is pretty impressive Ellice. Except for the freezing part. I think we had just over 300. There are 2 english congs here in Playa and we combined both in a rented place. The Kingdom Halls each have so many spanish congregations that this worked out best for everyone. Stay warm. Mikee says “hi.”

  • Anu Smith March 27, 2013, 11:08 pm

    222 in Heartwood , Vancouver WA. Hall was packed. Many faces we longed to see, this was a special night. It was also wonderful to meet the new interested ones or those “knowing-it’s-the-truth” and yet they arranged their affairs to observe Lord’s evening meal. We had a sister, homebound due to the health issues, right there among us. What a privilege! Another, went through heart surgery recently, but we saw her there, too.
    7 year old did not drop the bread nor did she spill the wine so I guess the night was successful!

  • Jodi Hernandez March 27, 2013, 11:36 pm

    Hi Guys! I love reading your blog and catching up on what you all are up to. I’m studying right now and I was very happy to see 177 people in our Spanish congregation in Independence MO last night! I stayed for the Memorial in English as well and I’m not sure how but I must have missed when they said the number in attendance 🙁 Look forward to your upcoming posts. Have fun!!

  • Julia M. October 30, 2013, 10:32 am

    I’ve just been reading back through your posts, since I”m horrible at keeping up on these things 😉 But I love your blog and it makes me miss you all even more.This picture of you ladies is beautiful 🙂
    Much love and hugs to you all! :*

    • admin October 30, 2013, 5:07 pm

      But Julia, you write for a blog yourself. haha

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