https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/Pastor Sylvia finds God's extraordinary teachings in ordinary life. These lessons reveal God's caring attention and ability to transform our "everyday moments" into meaningful experiences. Sometimes these weekly entries will make you laugh; other times they will make you cry. They will always make you think and remind you that God isn't some distant, mystical being, but a living and loving presence in everyday life. hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/647925Dust to Dust A couple weeks ago when John and I were in Oregon we visited my grandparents’ graves. I wasn’t enthusiastic. But my mother wanted me to bring her a picture. Her desire was bigger than my lack thereof. First I had to find the graveyard. Forty years is a long time between visits. That...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/647211Every Sunday when John and I drive to Yelm we pass the Forza where our Lakewood officers lost their lives. Last Sunday there were two police cruisers parked there. I felt an unexpected sense of relief. After the shooting a number of people declared that our police shouldn’t conduct business from...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/646256Last week John and I drove down the Oregon Coast to the little town where I spent my childhood. I hadn’t been “home” in almost forty years. En route I wondered how much of what I remembered would be gone now, supplanted by new ideas, more modern values and a whole generation of new faces. We...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/645174This week I went inside my brain on a fascinating adventure. I’ve often wondered about the relationship between science and faith. My personal knowledge of God doesn’t negate the amazing scientific discoveries of our generation. And the more I study science, especially quantum physics, the clearer...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/644445Watching the news coverage of Haiti is overwhelming. Hundreds of thousands of people are missing, presumed buried somewhere in the earthquake’s rubble. Men, women, children, grandparents, parents, friends, business associates, all of them disappeared in an instant. I watched one woman as the...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/642770We have started the New Year, a time of looking forward instead of back. What experiences will mark the next 12 months? Too often I ignore the opportunity for a fresh start because I’m concerned that the world holds unidentified disasters. Instead of rejoicing for the beautiful new babies about...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/641683My stepson and his wife stayed with us at the end of the their holiday. Their visit felt very awkward. I’m not sure when our relationship began to change, but a couple years ago I realized that we hardly knew them any more. I don’t know what they like to eat. What beverages do they drink? Do they...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/640924Gift giving is a science in my family. If I spend a hundred dollars on you, you should come close to that on my gift. Additional elements complicate the math, such as effort spent obtaining the gift, presents that are handmade, gifts that require much thought and gifts that show an inordinate...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/639104Atheists fascinate me. Most of the ones I know are smart, well-read and very analytical thinkers. I admire that in a frend. For instance, Oxford biologist/atheist Richard Dawkins makes a good case against Christian morality in his book The God Delusion. He believes that secular societies are far...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/pastorsylvia/639102The Bible doesn't really tell us very much about the girl that God chose to bear his son. Mary came from a respectable family, not a wealthy one. She probably didn't read or write; Jewish girls weren’t educated in her day. We are told nothing of her IQ. We don't know what she looked like, if she...