Murder on the Prairie

What do you get when you take Reyeses, Cannons, and a few good friends, a murder mystery, dinner, and Jason’s birthday? A crazy fun time!

Last Sunday our families along with Brian and Tracie Young gathered together to solve the mystery of Murder on the Prairie. It was a game I bought online where each person comes as a character in the story (11 suspects, 3 witnesses) and during three courses of dinner must reveal a list of clues(while in character)then attempt to predict “who dunnit” at the end. Here are a few pictures:

My sister provided the prairie atmosphere. Here are the suspects and witnesses busy at work/play.

This is Brian (prairie barber)and Tracie Young (victim’s wife), our dear friends of many years.

Longtime buddies

My brother Jimmy (young farm hand in love with victim’s daughter)and Abby (victim’s daughter)

Chris (sheriff) and Emily (Jason’s sister and…prairie can-can girl)

My Brother-in-law Dan (scary gunslinger who played his part too well! and my neice-his daughter- Sierra, my right hand gal)Dan was also the photographer for the evening.

My parents Jim and Daryl Cannon(prairie store owners)

Laurie (me) and Jason (birthday boy and farm hand).

I couldn’t have done this without my 13 year old neice and helper, Sierra. She helped with the cooking, serving, and even took some photos!

Jason’s parents and grandmother: Tom (farmer), Debbie (teacher), and Granny (can-can girl, and great sport!)

Me and my sister, Karyn (indian maid)who was a huge help in decorating, setting up, and cleaning up. Isn’t she gorgeous?!

crazy cowboy hat cake (a whole post could be devoted to the history of this cake and how it came to be)

Birthday boy blows out his candles.

I won’t say who the murderer was because we are thinking about hosting it again, maybe with our caregroup leaders?

Victorious Loser

I have good news and bad news.
Bad news first: none of my teams are left in the College Basketball bracket.
Good news: Neither are Jason’s; and I had more right predictions for victory than he did which makes me the victorious loser (five of my elite eight picks made it).
Even Better News: We have bonded in a new way through this basketball madness. Even though I generally fall asleep before it’s over (only to discover on 3 separate occasions that my teams beat his in overtime or dramatically at the last second), I still know whose playing when and so on and so forth. Way more interest than my usual, “You have got to be kidding me…another basketball game??!!” I even know things like “sweet sixteen”, “elite eight”, and “final four”.
Best News of All: I get an hour long massage. Sweet victory!

Because Dad Says It So Much Better…

My Dad left a comment on my last post that I found so edifying, I’m posting it. It was actually through a series on the Sovereignty of God that my Dad taught years ago that I heard for the first time that grace does not equal easy. My Dad is the author of that phrase, not me. He expounds on it by saying

I realized that the older a man gets the greater the temptation to shift his ambition to seeking his own comfort and ease above all else. What a tragic way to end one’s life – seeking one’s comfort rather than God’s glory. What a tragic epitath to one’s life: “He lived by God’s grace for his comfort,” rather than “He lived By God’s grace for God’s glory.” May all of who call upon the name of the Lord not be entangled by the “Grace = Easy” snare and finish with Paul’s words on our lips: “2 Tim. 4:7-8 (ESV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

We may not be older men…ever…but still, is it not true that even as moms we face daily temptation to desire comfort and ease, rather than glorify God through the hard work He has called us to? Thanks Dad. Your voice comes through in so many of my “spiritual” posts. You have been a faithful teacher of God’s Word not just in the pulpit, but in ordinary life as well.

I love you

Grace = Easy?

When one of my boys was in kindergarten he was having trouble with a Math concept. After working for a while we were both frustrated, so I finally remembered to pray and ask God for help. We continued to work on the concept, and after a few minutes my son says, “Maybe God isn’t helping me because He’s resting right now.” I answered him, “Sometimes the way God helps us is to help us work harder.”

I need to take my own counsel. Somehow I think that grace means my life will feel easy. Sometimes this does happen. I mount with wings as eagles. I run and do not grow weary. But there are times when grace comes in the form of obstacles, perseverence, and really hard work…that I feel every bit of. This week is one of those weeks. I have so much to do, and God poured out grace upon grace – but I am exhausted and tempted to think that today – God must be resting. The “gas tank” of energy is empty, and I am hoping for those magical wings to pick me up off of this chair and get me into the kitchen to clean!

No, God isn’t resting. In His sovereign activity in my life He decided that grace would look like, and feel like hard work this week. May I say with Paul, “it is God who works in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.(Phil 2 :13) and that I am “…struggling with all His energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Col 1:29)

God, please give me the grace to have the will and the capacity to work for your good pleasure. As I struggle through this day, help me to do so with your energy that powerfully works within me.

Great Talk from the Girls

If you haven’t done it yet, please read Nicole Whitacre’s post on God being our burden bearer. Here’s a little sample to whet your appetite:

What is your burden today? They come in countless shapes and sizes—from clingy colds to crushing cares. But one thing’s for sure: our idols cannot bear their load. Leisure and escape don’t provide true rest. Sinful anger cannot relieve the pressure. Even friends are not strong enough to bear up under their full weight.

How often I look to leisure, escape, and anger – such futility! I am grateful for Nicole’s reminder to turn the unfathomable strength and the faithfulness of our Father to bear our burdens.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)

Your Goodness Passes Before Me

I read the familiar passage in Exodus this morning where Moses asks God to show him His glory.

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

I have often read this and envied Moses. I have prayed, “O God, show me Your glory. Let Your goodness pass before my eyes.” God answered my prayer powerfully today.

Also in my Bible reading today was John 12 when Jesus goes to Jerusalem (His triumphal entry) and people are saying Hosanna! While I’m reading this I realize that I am watching the Goodness of God pass before my eyes. I saw the good plan unfolding as Jesus, the glorious One, is getting ready for the hour of His crucifixion. I saw the Good One – the perfect One marching on toward Calvary.

I hide in the Rock of Ages cleft for me today. I behold what Moses could not: the culmination of the goodness of God expressed in the death of His Perfect Son in order to save a rebellious people for His glory, and then make them objects of His mercy and grace over and over and over again.

Spring Cleaning

I was curious to know if any of you actually do “spring cleaning”. If you do, why do you do it? How do you do it(what does it consist of)? What is your strategy?

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them…And Then Beat Them

March Madness. It has been a seasonal guest in our home since we were married. The men in my family don’t really get into basketball, so I never knew such a thing as March Madness existed until that first March when I learned that I would, indeed, have no control over the remote for an entire month every year of our married lives.

I never knew much about March Madness except that it meant tons of college basketball games that would eventually lead to a final 4, final 2, and finally the winner. This year will be different. I decided that this year I would join Jason in the madness. We filled out tournament brackets over dinner at Red Brick Station. He enjoyed explaining to me what the little numbers meant next to the teams. I picked my teams with a little combination of statistics, loyalty, and heart. It took me five minutes.

Well, guess what? Thanks to my loyalty to Dad’s many alma maters I chose well. Texas A&M, LSU, and George Washington University all won. A special thanks to my Tennessee connection. And another thanks for whoever named a school Gonzaga (chosen for how it sounds). So far I am beating Jason’s picks: he chose 9 winning teams. I chose 12.

My Loaves and Fish? or Bread of Life?

I read about Jesus feeding the 5000 in John 6 this morning. Many times when I read this I make the application is as follows: I have five little loaves and two little fish of my gift, ability, etc. and Jesus, who is all-powerful, can take my little offering of myself, and increase it to feed 5000! Such application gives faith that where I am lacking, Jesus can increase.

This morning, however, the Holy Sprit gave me eyes to see things differently. I have no loaves or fish. I have an empty stomach. Jesus is the bread, not my abilities. His body had to be broken on my behalf. Is it possible that the whole reason humans need to eat, and not just eat – but eat things that once had life, but had to die to feed us (meat, vegetables, grains)- is to show us a greater truth in the spiritual realm? Our souls need food or we will die. Jesus saying we must partake of Him, or we will die is hard to understand. I think it has something to do with Jesus, like food, having to be broken and killed so that I might live. I think it means something about Jesus being the only thing that satisfies my hungry soul. I believe it means that viewing manna as my daily Bible reading doesn’t go far enough if I remember Jesus said He is manna- Bread come down from heaven. It’s not just reading the Bible as an ends in itself, but it means reading it as a means of intimate communion with Jesus. And it means that when Isaiah asks the question: Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your wages for that which does not satisfy? God is inviting me to turn aside from the poisonous lite fare of this world (comfort, entertainment, praise from man)that never satisfies but leaves me craving more; and turn to the Bread of Life and find my soul deeply satisfied, nourished, alive and thriving…and craving more.

Happy Birthday, Handsome!

Today is Jason’s Birthday. I thought and thought about how to honor this man who means more to me than any human alive, and my words fall short. I have always loved this poem because it expresses a bit of what I feel about my husband. My best daydreams about “the one” from my single years fell woefully short of what God in His mercy and grace has given me in Jason.

XXVI. “I lived with visions for my company…”
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I lived with visions for my company
Instead of men and women, years ago,
And found them gentle mates, nor thought to know
A sweeter music than they played to me.
But soon their trailing purple was not free
Of this world’s dust, their lutes did silent grow,
And I myself grew faint and blind below
Their vanishing eyes. Then thou didst come—to be,
Belovèd, what they seemed. Their shining fronts,
Their songs, their splendours (better, yet the same,
As river-water hallowed into fonts),
Met in thee, and from out thee overcame
My soul with satisfaction of all wants:
Because God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.