“My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures – then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”    
Proverbs 2:1-5

We took our granddaughter, Mary Cailin, to Grant’s Farm to see the Clydesdales – and she took us on a journey in God’s world through the eyes of a child.

It started out rather innocently, really, Nancy and I had some extra time on our vacation and were planning to see some of the wonderful sights in and around St. Louis – and Mary Cailin loves horses (ever since she had the opportunity to ride one at DuBois with her Papa!). So, to plan a trip to Grant’s Farm in St. Louis with Mary Cailin seemed to be an excellent way to spend a day at a place we hadn’t seen in a long, long time, while absolutely enjoying time with our favorite granddaughter. Plans were made, cold water and Gatorade were added to the bags for the hot weather, even an umbrella was taken along – just in case of a shower (though it proved to be Cailin’s favorite way to escape the power of the sun.). Then, the teachings of a child began:

1. The ride to wherever you are going is exponentially longer in direct proportion to your desire to already be there.

2. Papa’s job is to carry his granddaughter and push the stroller. Nanee’s job is to provide treats and make sure we make it to the shows.

3. Uncle Ched’s job is to provide entertainment between Papa doing his job and Nanee doing her job.

4. Cailin’s job is to make sure we are all on task.

5. Goose poop looks like Tootsie Rolls with icing (I was never aware of that!).

6. The tram which takes you into Grant’s Farm is a wonderful, magical train ride with a seat for everyone unless, of course, Cailin chooses to ride on someone else’s lap, which does not necessarily mean that anyone else can sit in her seat while it is vacant.

7. White tail deer are more interesting to Papa than to Cailin.

8. The peanuts and animal food on the ground are more interesting to Cailin than to Papa.

9. The best seat in the house at the elephant show is on Papa’s shoulders, no matter how hot it is.

10. A shady spot on a hot day does not necessarily equate with a cool spot on a hot day, in fact they are often mutually exclusive especially when the air is heavy and still. For example, a tree offers shade but is not necessarily cooler, whereas the Budweiser sample area is shady and cooler . . . and, from Papa’s perspective, should be considered as ‘healthier’.

11. Balloons are balloons are balloons, unless, of course, they are blown up by one nostril of the trunk of a two ton elephant, then a balloon becomes a challenge not to bust and to get safely home to mommy and daddy so that the elephant snot inside the balloon does not become a permanent stain in Papa and Nanee’s car.

12. Little billy goats are fun to feed small bottles of milk to – until they decide to climb up your legs to get to the outstretched arm of your granddaughter who does not want to feed the bottle to the goat and is holding the bottle above her head, while sitting on your shoulders.

13. Papa’s fascination with the horse carriage collection at Grant’s Farm should not be misconstrued as being representative of anyone else’s interest.

14. A mature bald eagle is as tall as a 3 year old girl and Nanee’s excitement about getting a picture of her granddaughter near the bald eagle should not be confused with the fear of the granddaughter at the notion of standing near a bird that is as tall as her – and has a hungry look in its’ eye.

15. Little girls can run fast for prolonged periods of time – in fact, it would appear that little girls can run faster than they do, but they hesitate to do this since it would make their Papa’s look really silly trying to keep up with them while gasping for air, calling for oxygen, and praying that the cramp in the calf of their leg will not explode and leave them with a permanent limp.

16. Little girls can be coaxed to quit running so fast ahead of Papa . . . with snow cones.

17. The blue food coloring used in snow cones washes out of Papa’s shirt, but lingers in the sweat band of his favorite cap.

18. Clydesdales are big horses and, in the eyes of a 3 year old, would make excellent house pets.

19. The white ‘boots’ on the Budweiser Clydesdales remind Cailin of her favorite shoes that she wears to church – and she wonders how they take them off.

20. Little girls have the ability to imitate a horse’s whinny for hours on end – and it is cute for about the first two minutes.

21. Though it is acceptable for the monkeys to scratch particular parts of their body in public, it is not an acceptable practice for little girls to imitate, even when their kind and loving uncles are encouraging them – just before getting home and seeing mommy and daddy.

22. The heat of the black asphalt parking lot rises in constant proportion with the amount of time you have to spend on it looking for your car in the sea of vehicles which arrived after you parked and walked away from you car, failing to remember the number of the row where you parked.

23. Air conditioners in cars are not designed to cool down a car in anywhere near the amount of time that your granddaughter thinks it should – therefore Papa and Nanee need a new car.

24. The amount of time that transpires from placing your granddaughter into her car seat after a hot day at Grant’s Farm to the time when she falls asleep on the ride home is far too long, especially when being urged by her uncle to eat one more piece of candy and have one more drink – which only guarantees that a bathroom break will have to be taken on the 45 minute drive home, whether Papa wants to or not.

25. There is nothing in the world so precious as a child – God’s gift of humility, wonder, laughter, excitement and joy. Thanks for the lessons, Cailin! God is surely kind in allowing us to share time with you. Papa & Nanee love you!

 Confirmation Classes Resuming!!

For all young folks, seventh and eighth grades: Confirmation classes begin September 11, 2005, 4:30 p.m. WITH PARENTS, in Fellowship Hall. Class will be 1 ½ hour long that day only, leading into the St. Paul UCC Praise Service, ‘Shabach’, at 6:00 p.m., which all Confirmands are encouraged to attend.

A letter listing all class dates, times, expectations, etc., will be arriving at your homes shortly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Member Class!!

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about St. Paul United Church of Christ, perhaps even in becoming a part of the St. Paul faith family, plan on attending the upcoming New Member Class, Wednesday, September 7, 2005, 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room near the Office. Those choosing to become a member of St. Paul UCC will be received into membership in worship on Sunday, September 18, 2005.

The class lasts for approximately 1 ½ hours and will include an overview of the United Church of Christ, St. Paul United Church of Christ, sacraments, membership expectations, and a question and answer time. Everyone is welcome to attend, but we do ask that you contact our Office Manager, Becky, at 537-4991 so that an appropriate number of materials can be prepared. See you there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illinois South Conference Annual Meeting

Representatives of the 87 congregations which comprise the Illinois South Conference of the United Church of Christ will be gathering in Annual Meeting on Friday and Saturday, September 9 & 10 at the Holiday Inn, Mt. Vernon, Illinois. A complete agenda of the meeting events is available on the Illinois South Conference web page, www.iscucc.org.

The delegates from St. Paul UCC, Lebanon, to the Illinois South Annual Meeting are Kathryn Lucas, Anita Rockwell, Rosemary Captain, and Pastor Don. Should you have any questions concerning the ISC Annual Meeting or want more information about the events and business, do not hesitate to contact any of your delegates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“From my perspective” by Pastor Don

At the July Church Council meeting, I was asked how many members of our congregation I really expected to participate in the Faith Family Conversations (information in another article in this newsletter) . . . and I really pondered that question before responding. The person asking the question wasn’t trying to push the envelope, but rather was making a valid point: Far too often, those who participate in Congregational Meetings, Special Meetings, etc., are a rather small, faithful crew – in proportion to the number of people who belong to St. Paul UCC. From my perspective: The Church belongs to Christ; this particular congregation is an expression of Christ’s faith and love through those who participate here; and those who participate in the Church of Jesus Christ as members of St. Paul UCC are expected by Christ to be present when the roll is called for a gathering of the faith family in conversation. If you don’t have the time for faith family conversations now, why should Christ believe your prioritization of time will be any different when the Roll is called in the Kingdom of Heaven?

That’s just my perspective. How many will really participate? Only Christ knows.