Category Archives: For Family & Fun

Share Your World Week 47

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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It’s week 47 of sharing my world in 2013. I am not sure exactly what happened but we are not finishing off the year with week 52. Somewhere we misplaced 5 weeks! How odd. Anyway my answers are below and our other “Sharing Friends'” answers can be found at

http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/30/share-your-world-2013-week-47/

How do you like to spend a rainy day?

Just now the more appropriate question is , “how do you like to spend a snowy day?”

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I don’t often have the luxury of calling it quits because of the weather,  but when I can I like to curl up with a coffee and get lost in a good book! We are scheduled for 6-12 inches of snow on Thursday and I am probably going to be driving into Boston at some point on that day.

What is the weirdest or strangest thing you saw or heard or did this week?

This week I  officiated at a funeral for a man I had not seen in  20 some odd years. He was the father of some friends from my youth group years, who have since moved to the west coast. As we were watching the family video at the closing of the service there was a picture of the man sailing a sail boat just in front of my grand-parents lake house. It struck me how small our world is that this man I barely knew somehow touched upon the lives of my grand-parents.

What item, that you don’t have already, would you most like to own?

I saw a three burner crock pot in Wal-Mart the other day. I would love one of those! It would make church pot-luck so much more interesting!

How many times you have moved in the last ten years?

I have moved once in the last ten years.

Share Your World 2013 Week 46

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Cee has given us some great questions to answer this week. I am a little behind because of the Christmas woosh but at least I have finished week 46 before week 47 starts! When you have finished reading my answers to Cee’s questions stop on by her site to see how others responded.

http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/23/share-your-world-2013-week-46/

Name one thing not many people know about you.

My first instrument was the flute. I have played for 38 years. But I seldom get to play it in public as I am most often paid to play the piano.

What is set as the background on your computer?

Right now a blank blue screen is set as my back ground but I have two favorites that are usually displayed. The first is a field of lavender in Provence and the second is a  picture of the glacial ocean in the North Pole.

Have you ever gone scuba diving? If you haven’t, would you want to?

I have never been scuba diving. I am not sure I would be up for such an adventure. Big fish really do scare me.

What made you smile today?

Watching my cousin wrap her arms around her sister as she grieved the loss of her daughter. There is something profound about the human capacity to comfort the wounded.

Christmas Woosh!

Posted on by under For Family & Fun, Photography

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Dear Readers,

I am sorry I have been so long away from the writing desk. The Christmas Holidays have turned into a Christmas Woosh.

It has been such an enjoyable. powerful, difficult week of ministry. The experiences  have left me  little time for putting fingers to keyboard. I just checked my dashboard and I have logged a little more than a thousand miles of driving since last Sunday!

On Sunday I led worship as Pastor Risto gave his last sermon before leaving for Canada for his Christmas holiday. You can find that sermon here

http://cornerstoneag.net/2013/12/22/the-invitation-to-and-from-the-manger/

 

After service and  Cornerstone’s  cookie fellowship my sister and I drove through a light snow to pick up my daughter Melanie and her fiance James at their pastor’s home in Cambridge.

James Franklin and Melanie Lillie

James Franklin and Melanie Lillie

We dropped the kids off at Melanie’s mother’s home for their family Christmas which was scheduled for the 23rd. That gave me the time I needed to finish up my shopping and wrapping ( yep I had last-minute stuff to buy).

On the 23rd Brenda and I drove to Lynnfield MA to visit with Brenda’s boss who is in the U.S.  for her year of itinieration.

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Judy  gave us a tour of her home, Beth Shan, and took us to lunch at Kouzinas Kitchen in Saugus.

On the 24th I was privileged to preach the Christmas Eve service and then we all (that is Me, Mom, Brenda, Amanda, Melanie and James) nestled in for a long winter’s nap after nachos , Christmas Stolenn and eggnog of course.

Christmas was as Christmas always is a day of celebrating and eating. I made pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lasagna for lunch and leftovers followed up with pumpkin pie and berry pie for supper.

Yesterday I drove James and Melanie to James’ home in Oakdale CT  so they could be with his family for a few days.

Today I have just come from officiating the funeral of a distant cousin. This last event sort of puts all the running of the season in perspective. The holiday is wonderful in and of itself but all the traditional celebration means nothing if we lose the reason for the season. When all the veneer of frivolity is stripped away and we are left facing life as it really is, full not just of life but of death, what truth do we have to speak into that dark night of the soul?

The people who walk in darkness
    will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
    a light will shine.
3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
    and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest
    and like warriors dividing the plunder.
4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery
    and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
    just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5 The boots of the warrior
    and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
    They will be fuel for the fire.

6 For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! Isaiah 9:1-7

 

 

Share Your World 2013 Week 45

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Oh boy! This week Cee has given us some questions I can really sink my keyboard into! After you are done here go on over to Cee’s place and take a gander at what her other subscribers have said. Better yet try answering the questions for yourself!

http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/16/1391/

 

This week’s questions:

What was the most important event in your life last week?

I think the most important event of my life last week was the launch meeting of  New England’s first Special Touch Chapter. We have chosen the name Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. (Respecting Everyone’s Ability to Choose Hope) for our group. We had 39 people out to our first annual Christmas party ministering to the disabled. Considering the day, that threatened a foot of snow I would say that shows great support for this  work! If you are interested in learning more about Special Touch check out their website here!

http://www.specialtouch.org/

Who was your favorite singer or music group in high school?

I loved David Meece. I think “We Are the reason” was one of my favorite songs.

 

Name the foreign countries you’ve been to.

I  spent some time ministering in England in 1997 and then in Mexico in 2004.

I am not sure Canada counts. Although, my pastor who is Canadian needs a green card to minister in the States so I guess it does. I have been to Canada.

Since my sister lives there I have visited The Netherlands twice and while crossing over the Pond I stopped in Iceland and Ireland.

I hope to take my daughter for a vacation to Ireland after she graduates college.

Does your first or middle name have any significance (or were you named after another family member)?

My first name is Joseph and my middle name is Elon (pronounced EEE- lawn). I am the fifth in line with that name (my son is the sixth) and the name Elon goes back, in my family, at least seven generations to just after the Revolution.

I used to hate the name. Even the principal of my High School misread it at graduation and announced me as Joseph Ellen Lillie. After I did a word search on it, though, I grew into it a little bit. The names together mean “He shall add strength”.

Share Your World 2013 Week-44

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Cee is changing things up a bit this week. Instead of giving us four short essay questions she is handing us 10…count’em 10… “would you rather” questions; And here they are!

WOULD YOU RATHER:

  1. Always have the sun in your eyes, while driving no matter where you go -OR-have to use your heater, full blast, in the summer and AC, full blast in the winter (also while driving)?                                                                                                                      This is not even a contest. Who wants to use heat in the summer and AC in the winter? I am not a big AC guy even in the summer, but I desparately need my heat in the winter. My toes, and my nose are the weakest parts of my body and once they are frozen it takes me weeks to warm up. I choose the sun in my eyes!
  2. Be able to go forward in time on 3 different occasions in your life – OR- go back in time once?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            This is a really good question! Since I am pretty sure that I could not change my past even if I went back into it, I think it’s best if I let the past just fade into gray. Going into the future though, now there lie some interesting considerations. I think the future is a little more fluid than the past and perhaps by knowing I might be able to better inform the choices I make today. So I choose to go forward into the future!
  3. Be considered annoying -OR- boring?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Boring is seldom effective in any circles. At least annoying has the potential of getting something done. Annoying it is!
  4. Be the last-ranked person in an accelerated high school class -OR- the first-ranked person in a decelerated high school class?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Being the least of the best is better than being the best of the worst, I guess. So last in an accelerated class is my choice.
  5. Drive 100 miles on a freeway with speed bumps every ½ mile -OR- drive 100 miles on a freeway that is completely covered with those little reflective lane dividers?                                                                                                                                                   I choose the little reflectors. At least they can be avoided.
  6. Find out the house you just bought sits on top of an earthquake fault -OR- an top of an old burial ground?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Since I fear earthquakes far more than the departed I would choose the burial ground. Still I think it would be terrible to find out after the fact.
  7. Have an itch in the middle of your back at all times -OR- an eyelash in your eye all the time?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I am an eye freak. I hate having anything in my eye. An itch I could handle… an eyelash in my eye …I think I would probably have to be committed.
  8. Have your picture be on the one dollar bill – OR – on the cover of every magazine and newspaper once?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            As long as the reason I am on the magazine covers is positive (like I saved the world or something) I would choose that.
  9. Never again be able to make a right-had turn while driving -OR- never again be able to go more than 3 blocks straight in a row while driving in your town?                                                                                                                                                                Oh! I have actually had this one happen to me!The downtown section of one of the cities I lived in became all one way for about 10 years You could only turn left! REALLY ANNOYING!!! Now, since most of the Massachusetts road system is built on a twisty curve idea (no North/ South/ East West grids in this state) I lost the ability to drive straight for more than a half mile long ago anyway; I embrace the 3 blocks idea. 
  10. See everything in slow-motion -OR- see everything at double speed?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I think once I got used to seeing in slow motion and stopped anticipating everything I would enjoy it more than double speed. I know at my current pace there is much I am missing along the way.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Here is the link to discover what Cee’s other subscriber’s  said in regards to these very fine questions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/09/share-your-world-2013-week-44-would-you-rather/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Share You World 2013 Week 43

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Well here we are, another week gone and creeping aggressively towards 2014! I loved Cee’s questions this week. I think I might even add a few pictures with my answers. Hey while your here why don’t you go on over to Cee’s page and see what she and our other friends have to say!

http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/02/share-your-world-2013-week-43/

Do you prefer to receive gifts or give them?

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the best gift. Ice cream with the kiddos

I am not much of a gift person really. I love to sit with  people over a good meal and then perhaps a movie. When I receive gifts or give them I like them to be gifts that can be used up. I am a great lover of the gift card.

If you could be given ANY gift what would it be?

A sweet memory to mark eternity.

If you had a shelf for your three most special possessions (not including photos, people or animals), what would you put on it?

The Bible, My favorite music book and a pen and journal set.

Would you spend the weekend in an abandoned house in the forest?

Sure as long as I had some help to start the fires and catch the food ( I am assuming that the house does not come stocked). It would need to be a step up from this place though.

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