Apple Picking

Hope Church went apple picking this past Sunday afternoon. The owner of the nearby orchard donated all the apples.

It was a bit colder than expected. Yes, those "blurs" in the photograph are none other than big, wet snowflakes.


We got ourselves a box of apples and Alissa's been busy making and canning jelly, apple sauce, apple butter, and apple pie filling! (Pictures to follow.)


And I've a small, firm treat for later this afternoon sitting on my desk.


Now that I've been on a ladder in the freezing wind, grasping for little green and red orbs, I think I'm just maybe allowed to read Robert Frost's classic poem, "After Apple-Picking."

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/frost_apple.html

All Saints

"I believe in…the communion of the saints.”

– Apostles’ Creed

Many Christians recite this phrase each Sunday. But what could it mean? We celebrate holy communion and we have heard of saints, so we might reckon that it has something to do with famous Christians of the past eating the Lord’s Supper. But we would be a bit off target if we did!

Rather, this phrase of the Creed points to our belief that all Christians, whether dead or alive, are united in Christ and so have eternal fellowship with God and each other. In Jesus, we are all made one, and neither life nor death can ultimately destroy this fellowship, or, to use the term from the Creed, this communion we have.

Christians celebrated this communion from the earliest days through a practice which might strike us as a bit strange. On the anniversaries of the deaths of martyrs (those who died rather than recant their faith in Jesus), Christians would gather at so-and-so martyr’s grave and have a feast! While they were sorry to have lost that person, they knew that she or he was not ultimately severed from them, and they celebrated the martyr’s entrance into heaven.

But over the centuries, so many faithful Christians had died that there were too many anniversaries and not enough days in the year! So the Church decided to celebrate the lives of all of the saints together on one day – All Saints’ Day.

Presbyterians (along with many other Christians) celebrate All Saints’ Day on November first or the first Sunday in November. And on this Sunday, Presbyterians do not just celebrate the Biblical saints and the ancient martyrs, but rather lift up all the faithful of every place and generation.

Still interested in All Saints’ Day? Take a look at these Bible passages.

-- Hebrews 12:1-2. How might remembering the faithful Christians of the past encourage us?
-- Psalm 116:15. How does God view Christians’ deaths? Does this alter our perspective?
-- Romans 4:18-25. The word “saint” is a translation of Biblical words for “holy one.” But who is a holy one and who isn’t? Take a look at the Apostle Paul’s explanation of how one becomes holy” (Paul also uses the words “righteous” & “justified” to express this).
-- Romans 1:17 & 8:27. Does the Apostle Paul seem to use the word “saint” to apply to all Christians or only to some?

(From November church newsletter)

Date Night

Last week Andrew surprised me with a date night. I had a great time with him. First we drove to New London (about 5 miles away) and grabbed pumpkin spice coffee. Then we walked around the little downtown and checked out the little shops (I had not yet done so). We found a shop that sold tea, hot chocolate, cider and coffee along with a lot more. I picked out some Carmel apple cider. After the shops closed at 5 or so we walked around the area taking pictures. I had wanted to do so but just had not made it until now. The fall colors are almost gone around here and it was an overcast day but I took a few of the little church on the pond.

Across the lake I saw another photo opportunity. I thought it turned out alright. If the weather conditions were better I would have been a little happier.After the photo break we headed to Wilmar and tried a restaurant called Green Mill. The next photo is taken from our back yard. Lucy is getting big!

Fall in Minnesota

The church's youth center is in the background.

Here are some updated pictures of Lucy.
This is her first real adventure outside.

Introducing Lucy

This is Lucy. After much deliberation, petting, and pulling cats off of our heads in the "Kitten Room" of the Kandi Humane Society, we decided on this little furball (or should I say, "purr-ball"?).


For those of you who may have missed it, Toby died a couple of weeks ago at the vet. He was a people-loving-feline till the end, but just couldn't go on.


As I write, Lucy is sacked-out on my lap, purring whenever awake, silently breathing when she drops into sleepy-land. She's been having lots of fun chasing anything that dangles and has developed a propensity for sleeping on desks. And we've been having lots of fun teaching what she can and cannot do. If the pictures don't fully describe, she is a three-month old calico kitten.



As you can see, she is fitting in quite nicely and is beginning to develop distinctly "crandallish" traits, especially regarding interest in and consumption of, heat-exploded grains. This isn't a habit we plan on encouraging. "Pass the spray-bottle!"





























She's been a bit camera-shy.

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival

We were given some tickets to see this festival and it was a pretty big deal! We had a good time tooling around the fair grounds and checking out Minneapolis. This was the entrance to the festival.
Some of the festival goers even dressed up their small children.

And this picture which I guess is too small to really see is some knights about to joust. It was fun to walk around and have a "date" day with Andrew.

El Primero

With bumbling bandwidth
And fleeting time
We blog our thoughts --
Both yours and mine!

-- Andrew