Christmas Eve Traditions

	Ahh... the Ufolla family Christmas Eve tradition, new jammies.
	Every year before leaving for service we open one gift on Christmas eve, always our new Christmas jammies.
	This year ECF did not hold Christmas service. We were challenged to do Christmas differently. Specifically, we were challenged to go out and be a part of the larger household of faith. I wasn't sure how to do it, no I didn't want to do it! Bob knew how and he didn't even realize he was doing it or was supposed to. Allow me to explain...
	While shopping for our jammies Bob suggested including Rochelle in our family tradition ...
	He Enjoyed picking out just the right shirt for our wise pastor. It's an inside joke I will share only upon request.
	It's official she's now a fully integrated part of the Ufolla clan. She has completed the Christmas Eve rite of passage and received her goofy jammies to prove it (she bears the mark of Hello Kitty along with Kaitlin and myself).
	The boys sport their new jammie shirts. Hello Kitty just didn't seem appropriate so...
	Game on, Wii jammies for the boys.
	Rochelle sports her new mop slippers and ponders the experience. A few days later... Bob and Rochelle were discussing the jammies and Bob made a statement about the shirt he got for "HIS" pastor!!

Hmm "HIS" pastor!

Yup, Christmas Eve this year was different and made a mark on more than those who gathered together in the different church buildings for services. God used my husband to show me how to be a part of the larger household of faith. It's as simple as including someone into to your Family. You know God can and will use anyone to teach us. In the process I believe He's doing more than just teaching me, why else would Bob claim anyone as "HIS" pastor?

Christmas Service w/o expectations!

Jeff, Eli, AndreYa (back to camera), Joey, Isaac, Aubrey, Zeke

Jeff, Isabella, Joey, Zeke

Bob, Jeff, Isabella

AndreYa (back to camera), Jeff, Eli, Joey, Isaac, Isabella/Amy, Zeke

Isabella

Zeke, Aubrey

Jeff, Eli, AndreYa

Joey, Andre Jr, Zeke, Aubrey

Rochelle, Tiarra, AndreYa, Aubrey, Andre Jr, Andre Sr, Antonio, Jeanita, Joey

AndreYa, Andre Jr, Jeanita, Kaitlin, Isabella, Joey

Shalom...

May His light shine brightly for you... this Shabbat, this season, this year...

may you be encouraged as you refuse to kindle your own fires... may His presence engulf you and may you find rest in Him.

Shabbat Shalom, Echo!

Looks like church to me!

Yep, sure looks like church to me! No, not because there are pews lined up so people can look at the backs of each other's heads... in fact, I'm not even talking about the layout of the room. Do you see the Church in this picture? Sure, it's the PEOPLE, working together (and bumping heads just a little bit) as they figure out what "church" will look like in the fellowship hall. Best part for me? They started doing it without my help.
In the foreground, Karen wisely stays out of traffic and busies herself putting together gifts for the mentally ill at the group home we visited later that day. The cookies on the plate were made by kids church (Eli, Zeke, & Leyton) for us to take along.

And I? Well, I just stood back with a goofy smile on my face.

After a lovely lunch with Karen and James, and the beautiful visit to the group home, and a little downtime at Ufollas, and then a houseful of kids and adults celebrating some King birthdays (even Bob showed up to smirk and serve cake)... after all this, I called my mom as I often do to keep me awake on the long drive home to Fenton. My first words to her were...

"Can I just say, I go to the BEST CHURCH EVER!"

Alright, maybe the rest of you Echoes didn't feel what happened in the Spirit this weekend. That's okay... it should be apparent to you before long that we really are becoming a Body.

HIS Body. And His pleasure is tickling me.

He likes having a Body you see... ;-)

Echoes...

Well! It's been a while since there's been an entry that reflects life at Echo... So...

Echo continues to "become" a family, as folks have reached out to help not only families in our community (through the Problem Pregnancy Center in Oxford), but also one of our own in financial need. When I sent out an email to the Body to let them know of the need, imagine my intense joy to discover that at least two people were already "on the job!"

Echo Fenton has met twice, and the joy over the Word is such a delight. It's easy for us to grow apathetic, thinking everyone already knows "all that" in the Bible, but guess what... there are many in the Body who hunger for the Word, and who really do want to know. Oh "mature" Christians, please don't get so satisfied or complacent that you forget the sharp hunger for the presence of God... that "first love" that delighted you so... hanging out with younger Christians can sometimes help to re-ignite that passion.

Speaking of young and hungry... Echo Detroit is set to launch January 11, and actually earlier as I and some as-yet-undetermined number of Echo-Lake-Orions share Christmas dinner with Jeanita, Danette, Michael, and the 19 children that will make up this little home fellowship! Please keep praying for Danette and her 10 children, who are currently living in a shelter in Detroit. Even more, please pray they are awakened to their hunger for God.

What else is going on? Jeff's 2nd sermon is coming up this week, the women's retreat at Echo Grove is just around the corner in February, and we look forward to Seder 2009... which will be somewhere...and Shirley Carpenter's visit during Pentecost.

We lost heat in the building this week and spent service in the fellowship hall. I'm going to send out an email to the Body asking for a vote about whether to keep meeting in the fellowship hall during the winter to save on the heating bill. [I confess I SO ENJOY that environment, MUCH more than the sanctuary with the traditional people-in-the-pews-looking-like-they're-watching-TV arrangement. :) But that's just my opinion...]

And speaking of TV, the March 5 (2009) episode of "Ask the Pastor" on TCT-Detroit should be...uh... interesting. There will be a brand new pastor on the panel that week... I had never watched the show, but now I'm excited about the ministry that goes on. As mentioned above, people really are hungry for the Word, and the calls that come in to that show just break your heart with how much people really do want to know Him and serve Him better. As I like to say, "I don't have a lot of wisdom, but I know Someone who does..." I pray His wisdom will flow through His servants on that show... and that He will use this newbie to contribute somewhat to that river.

Oh Echo... may you find your purpose in His Word coming to life in you, birthing Life... may living water flow through you... may you desire His presence more than any worldly pleasure, while each worldly pleasure you do taste will be infused with His presence.

You really are never alone, you know.

shalomy shabbot to you courtesy of echo west!

Jacob's Ladder?
The sunset tonight reminded me of the ladder Jacob dreamt about early in this week's reading. Ever pondered the significance of this image? I have been this week and i dare you to dig a little with me! There is much to be found i assure you...

Some suggested starting points... Look at the cross refs, look up the use of ladder elsewhere, think about gates (Jacob calls it the gate of heaven), and try to answer the question "why would angels need a ladder?"

Toasty echoes' toes!
Nothin quite like a good fire after watching a two-hour christmas parade!

Frozen echoes!
Beautiful day for a parade...just a little chilly! Brr!

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Peacemakers... eireno-poioi ... makers of peace. poieo is the Greek word used for Creating in the LXX. It's doing, making, creating, manufacturing, producing, causing, accomplishing.

Blessed are those who produce peace (as a fruit, a la Gal 5).
Blessed are those who create a safe, peaceful place for others to rest.
Blessed are those who accomplish peace through keeping short accounts with God (1 John 1:9), refusing to go to bed angry (Eph 4:26), preserving unity (Eph 4:3), and forgiving each other (Col 3:13-14).

Blessed how? "They shall be called sons of God," receiving inheritance alongside the Firstborn...

"For a child will be born to us...And His name will be called ...PRINCE OF PEACE." Isaiah 9:6

Let us follow this Prince of Peace in all things, especially in this making of peace during this season we celebrate as the one heralded by the angels: "Peace on earth..." (Luke 2:14)

Doesn't matter if we are "clever enough" to know that this probably isn't when the Word took on flesh. Rather than squabbling about dates and times and seasons, let us concern ourselves with "Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17) which is how Paul defines the kingdom of God, which we are to pursue FIRST (Matt 6:33).

As Shabbat ends, receive this exhortation to move from resting in peace (shabbat shalom) to working out peace in our relationships and in our world.

Okay, go.

Toldot (Genesis 25:19-28:9)

I liked Sarah's short Questions post last week so much that I'm going to follow suit, and post just one question...

Genesis 25:21-22 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

In these two verses we see how struggle moved first Isaac and then Rebekah to go to the LORD with their concerns.

Are you struggling with anything? Are you uncomfortable in any area? Are there promises He's spoken to you, but the way seems to be blocked with all manner of troublesome darkness?

Perhaps He is moving you to genuinely talk to Him about it... and perhaps He is moving you to release His will "on earth as it is in heaven" by praying in faith.

I'm just silly enough to believe what His Word says about prayer, and to believe these examples of faith are for us to follow.

How about you?

Love being loved

Just wanted to take a moment to say thanks!!!! For making a fuss, even tho it was totally awkward for me! I felt so un-deserving of everything. Yet at the same time your deep expression of love caused me to once again realize how much God loves us even tho we really aren't deserving of it. What a beautiful gift to give a guide to Torah!! I am soooooo geeked!! I have already read all the intro and re-read this weeks readings!!



I came home last night and said to Kaitlin...

"I'll bet that I'm the only 37 year old Christian woman to be Bat Mitvah'd!"

So this morning I woke up at just before 3:00 and sat down to finish up Isaiah (couldn't sleep). Well by 4:00ish I was content with being half way through Isaiah. Technically I still have the rest of Isaiah and all Jeremiah to finish (I backslid while trying to read them before, just struggled with understanding them). But I will keep plugging away because that's how I am.

Today I am a year older and with a little more of His word in me surely I am a

little more wiser!?. I'm not sure just yet what His plan is for me. I haven't been given a distinct vision. So, until He makes it clear to me I'm going to continue training with this beautiful child's tutor-Torah. When this child is called I want to be equipped!

Thank you family for blessing me with such an awesome gift. . Thanks to my big sis, Rochelle and most of all thanks to Him whom we are seeking after together, the one Torah points us to,Yeshua our Mashiach!