Pistol Packin' Presbytera

Presbytera, in the Greek culture, is the wife of the Father, or parish priest.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Saranita Kay's Day of Birth

Here is the star of the show!!


Proud Papa!


Proud Looper Grandmas Sandy and Barb!


Godparents-to-be but already Aunt Margaret and Uncle Nat


Adoring Cousins (this was considered a field trip for school)


Grandpa Kavouras with all his granddaughters. He has already begun to brainwash (ahem, teach) Saranita that Grandpa is the funniest man in the world.


Grandpa and Grandma Kavouras blessed beyond measure to have another grandchild. Praise God!


Proud Momma Naomi declined to be photographed until she is a little more recovered from her labor. She is all smiles and appreciative of the hugs people sent her and their congratulations. I imagine I will post more pictures....it will be the equivalent of pulling out my wallet and showing you pictures of my grandchildren. By the way, I have no pictures of grandchildren in my wallet. Saranita's birth was the first one of my grandchildren which happened when I was home and not traveling somewhere. I gave her the chance when I went to South Bend this past weekend but Saranita decided to wait until I got home : )

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Hospital Bound


Here is a picture of Naomi last evening. I wanted to get a good picture of her very pregnant. Notice the rings around her neck. Her wedding and engagement rings have not fit her for awhile. It was a good thing I took this picture when I did. The doctor determined that her blood pressure was on the high side and the time for Saranita to comes is NOW!

Naomi and Nick are at the hospital having labor induced even as I write. Sandy is making preparation to travel to Ohio for the birth of her first grandchild. I am simply pacing : )

I will keep you informed.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Catechesis for September 17, 2006 14th Sunday after Trinity

This is what we use for Sunday School material - the Bible, the Hymnal and the Catechism. I also use the bulletin to choose one of the hymns which Pastor has chosen for church. We will also sing one in Sunday School (that is if we are not working on memorizing a hymn like we are this week). I print one copy of the lesson out for me and I also post it here on my blog. This past summer we worked on the Table of Duties. At the beginning of September we started on the Baptism section of the Catechism. We should have this section completed by the beginning of November.



Catechesis for September 17, 2006 14th Sunday after Trinity

Begin with Luther’s Morning Prayer
Recite the Books of the Bible Moses wrote the Pentateuch – first five books. 12 books of history, 5 books of poetry, 5 major prophets, 12 minor prophets. Gospels – first 4 books of the New Testament. Acts & Romans are the NT books of history. When you hear Matthew 5,6,7 – what does it make you think of?

New Lesson This is the Trinity season. It is the non-festival part of the church year. The color on the altar is green because this is considered ordinary time – the time of growth. It is the longest part of the church year. This Sunday is the 14th Sunday after Trinity. What do you think next Sunday will be called?

Memorize & Review:

What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

Which is that word of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

NEW MEMORY WORK What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues us from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

Explain, read and enact the Gospel lesson: Luke 17: 11-19 (All were cleansed of their leprosy but the one who came back was also forgiven his sin – notice he was a foreigner so he did have faith in the living God but once he was cleansed, he returned to give thanks to God (Jesus) – he recognized that Jesus was God. Jesus comments that his faith had made him well , not just cleansed but his faith in the Savior has cleansed him of his sin.) Note that they also cry Lord Have Mercy like we do in the Kyrie

Memorize TLH 297 The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace

The Gospel shows the Father’s grace, Who sent His Son to save our race,
Proclaims how Jesus lived and died That man might thus be justified.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made th’atoning sacrifice,
And calls the souls with guilt opprest To come and find eternal rest.

It brings the Savior’s righteousness Our souls to robe in royal dress;
From all our guilt it brings release And gives the troubled conscience peace.

It is the pow’r of God to save From sin and Satan and the grave;
It works the faith, which firmly clings To all the treasures which it brings.

It bears to all the tidings glad And bids their hearts no more be sad;
The heavy-laden souls it cheers And banishes their guilty fears.

May we in faith its tidings learn Nor thanklessly its blessings spurn;
May we in faith its truth confess And praise the Lord our Righteousness!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saints at Work

This past week I saw another cutesy church sign which I didn't consider very cute. It said "Caution, Saints at Work". I realize that they were trying to be clever and worked off the sign Caution, Men at Work but at least we could have a little truth in advertising on church signs!

I don't think whoever put up the sign (do you think they have a Sign Ministry Minister?) was talking about the pastor inside as the saint at work. Certainly if you entered the church on Sunday morning, you would find a Saint (the pastor) at work. If the church is particularly blessed, you might find another saint, the organist at work. That's not what the sign was indicating. It was talking about all the members sitting in the pew at work praising and worshipping God. That's not the primary reason I go to church. I go to church to:

rest
receive God's gift of His Body and Blood
hear "I forgive you all your sins...."
listen to the Word
hear my fellow members singing to me
say back to God what he has said to me

I don't go to church to be a saint at work! If you want to see saints at work,

*go to my daughter-in-law's house while she prepares dinner for my son as he returns from a 12 hr shift as a paramedic
*go to my other daughter-in-law's house as she changes one more diaper
*follow my friend as she dons steel toed work boots as she welds
*sit with me while I help my granddaughter become more proficient at reading
*look at the pizza delivery man who comes to your door
*see the mom who takes care of the daily needs of her five children
*listen to the clicking needles of a mom who knits sweaters for her family
*follow the man who makes sure the computers work at the Cleveland Orchestra
*listen to the sewing machine of this mom as she creates delightful clothing and costumes for her family and friends
*accompany this computer geek as he works in the insurance industry
*greet the chilly morning with this mom as she milks the cow which provides her family with milk and cheese
*or wake with me at 4 a.m. to the telephone ringing and a member saying "Can I talk to Pastor? It's an emergency"

These are saints at work. Here, there, in their homes, at their work, these are Saints at Work. Sunday mornings, they are saints at rest receiving the good gifts of God. Well, you will probably also see them at work on Sunday morning as they instruct their children on proper behavior in church but most of all, you will see them at peace.

Last weekend I attended a birthday party for 2 of my grandchildren. It was not work for the children. They ate food prepared by their parents. They opened gifts bought by someone else. The children were not workers, they were receivers. As we all are on Sunday Morning. Caution: Saints at Rest.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Country Jammin'

This past weekend my husband and I attended the Country Jam at the county fairgrounds. It was our first Country music concert of any kind and it was an experience to say the least. More pictures can be found at WGAR.

Most everyone at the Country Jam was costumed. The ladies tops had spaghetti straps and revealed a good deal of cleavage and jeans were mandatory - with or without fringe, rivets or spangles. There were many cowboy hats in attendance; I even saw a nice purple woman's hat but was not tempted. I never realized there were that many cowboy hats in Cuyahoga county!! Not everyone had cowboy boots but I saw quite a few. I was really amused at all the tee shirts with sayings, well, not all the shirts. The one pictured here has a really scary thought on it (considering this person had a certain plumpness : ) I was also offended by the shirts which talked about the size of body parts. I was embarrassed to read them; I can't even imagine wearing them! I also noticed many Gretchen Wilson, Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffet wannabees. Part of the appeal of the Jam was looking at the costumes.

Another thing in abundance was Bud. There were long lines for beer even at $5 a cup. There were even longer lines for food. Perhaps they didn't anticipate the number of people who would be in attendance because it was a zoo when it came to eating dinner. Come to think of it though, maybe they wanted the atmosphere to mimic a zoo.
In spite of all that, we had a great time. I really wanted to go because Trace Atkins was the headliner and I like his music. He was the last one performing so we stayed to the very exciting end. We did not go early to get a spot close to the stage (10 hours seemed like a bit over the top to me) and we also did not bring chairs so we were relegated to standing on a picnic table in the hinterlands but it was still fun!!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Catechesis for September 10 2006 13th Sunday after Trinity

Begin with Luther’s Morning Prayer

Recite the Books of the Bible
Moses wrote the Pentateuch – first five books. 12 books of history, 5 books of poetry, 5 major prophets, 12 minor prophets. Gospels – first 4 books of the New Testament. Acts & Romans are the NT books of history. When you hear Matthew 5,6,7 – what does it make you think of?

New Lesson This is the Trinity season. It is the non-festival part of the church year. The color on the altar is green because this is considered ordinary time – the time of growth. It is the longest part of the church year. This Sunday is the 13th Sunday after Trinity. What do you think next Sunday will be called?

Memorize & Review:
Let each his lesson learn with care, and all the household well shall fare

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5: 5-6



What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

NEW MEMORY WORK Which is that word of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

Explain, read and enact the Gospel lesson: Luke 10: 23-37 (Jesus is the Good Samaritan – He rescues us as we have been beaten down by sin and evil desires. He bandages our wounds/pours oil on us in Holy Baptism) (Jesus is also the Man who is beaten up for us. By His stripes we are healed)

Memorize TLH 297 The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace

The Gospel shows the Father’s grace, Who sent His Son to save our race,
Proclaims how Jesus lived and died That man might thus be justified.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made th’atoning sacrifice,
And calls the souls with guilt opprest To come and find eternal rest.

It brings the Savior’s righteousness Our souls to robe in royal dress;
From all our guilt it brings release And gives the troubled conscience peace.

It is the pow’r of God to save From sin and Satan and the grave;
It works the faith, which firmly clings To all the treasures which it brings.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Overheard at SBA


While eating lunch, the girls were watching squirrels gathering acorns and Marina remarked that the squirrels would hibernate for the winter like bears do. I reminded her that we see squirrels come near the patio and eat ears of corn during the winter do they do not hibernate. They continued with their conversation and then I heard "Do snakes hibernate?" "I don't know, let's ask Grandma." "No, snakes are a Grandpa question; we'll have to ask him." At the next opportunity, I let my dh know that he had a question coming his way and he just as quickly googled to find out the answer. He also informed them that Big Boy, our 20 " koi, also hibernates at the bottom of the pond.
I love homeschooling. This year I decided to concentrate on one classical composer a month by reading books about them and listening to some of their most enduring music. This month is J. S. Bach. The girls were amused that this man shared his middle name with a Disney character! They particularly like the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and asked yesterday, "Grandma, can we turn Bach on and dance?" That's just what they are doing here.

I am also trying to get twice as much done musically this year by having one of them practice the piano while I work with the other on the Recorder. They love both of these instruments and were quite excited to be able to do both. Wednesday is also art day and they began learning cross stitch. At the rate they are going though, it may take all year just to complete the first project! Just kidding, I realize they will get faster as they practice.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

St. Barbara's Academy in Session

Tuesday saw the first day of SBA for the 2006-2007 school year. It went really well! The students were well refreshed from summer vacation, the weather was perfect and most of all Grandma got organized ahead of time. I knew what I wanted to do and had everything prepared. This is unusual for me. I normally only have it half together : ) This year we added 3 subjects to our curriculum - science, spelling and handwriting.

I worked out a tentative schedule since I had no idea how long it would take them to complete one page in the Italic handwriting book or how long it would take to read through the first Astronomy lesson. We were pretty much on track until I discovered I needed to scoot out to get Country Jam tickets. Being resourceful, I packed their lunch and off we went. Later in the day I discovered that I had neglected to schedule any time for Writing Strands each day. I juggled and trimmed some time from read-aloud-to-grandma-time and completed all I wanted to accomplish for day one.

May all our school days proceed as smoothly as this...from my keyboard to God's ears : )

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Labor Day Airshow

Yes I really did take this picture at the airshow! For the last several years, we have gone to watch the airshow from the balcony of the FBI building in Cleveland. There is an outside patio which overlooks the lake and we bring chairs, family and goodies and enjoy the afternoon. This was orignally planned for Saturday but because of the weather was postponed to Sunday and then rescheduled for Monday. It was a beautiful day to see the Blue Angels! I took this shot while they were doing a close fly over the building.

Here is the family enjoying the day. I took the pictures when they were not covering their ears with their hands. The first picture is Theo and Theo; the second is Dean and Dean1


The gang is almost all here in this photo.








I recently wrote about our meal in the flats and showed a picture of the train bridge and boats. Here's a picture of the lakefront and in the foreground, you can just see a train as it passes by the building. Then you can see the freeway with the cars and then the airport with the planes. Finally in the background you can see Lake Erie with the sailboats. Trains and boats and planes!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Catechesis for September 3, 2006 12th Sunday after Trinity

Begin with Luther’s Morning Prayer

Recite the Books of the Bible
Moses wrote the Pentateuch – first five books. 12 books of history, 5 books of poetry, 5 major prophets, 12 minor prophets. Gospels – first 4 books of the New Testament.
When you hear Matthew 5,6,7 – what does it make you think of?

New Lesson This is the Trinity season. It is the non-festival part of the church year. The color on the altar is green because this is considered ordinary time – the time of growth. It is the longest part of the church year. This Sunday is the 12th Sunday after Trinity. What do you think next Sunday will be called? The Introit for the week begins “Make haste to help me O Lord” . When do we say that in the Liturgy?

Memorize & Review: Explain the Table of Duties & vocation Let each his lesson learn with care, and all the household well shall fare
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5: 5-6

NEW MEMORY WORK

What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

Explain, read and enact the Gospel lesson: Mark 7: 31-37 He can not hear; he can not speak. The Word (Jesus) enters his ear and tongue and then he can hear and speak. Liturgy: O Lord open Thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise…followed by today’s introit.

Memorize TLH 297 The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace

The Gospel shows the Father’s grace, Who sent His Son to save our race,
Proclaims how Jesus lived and died That man might thus be justified.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made th’atoning sacrifice,
And calls the souls with guilt opprest To come and find eternal rest.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Hello September

I have many coffee mugs so several years ago I decided to have a mug of the month which I would use for my coffee. It's time to say goodbye to my August mug which has served me faithfully for 31 days. It features one of my favorite things -- cats. It was given to me by family friends, the Emmons. I wonder how they knew just the right mug to get me : )

It's also time to say hello to my September mug. I use it every September because it reminds me of 9/11 and the work which my husband did with the FBI in Shanksville PA. It is a bittersweet choice because 9/11 is an awful reminder of the vengence of God. At the same time, it reminds me that we are to clearly witness to the truth of Jesus Christ even in our politically correct world. That is what my husband did in the weeks following 9/11 and it is what he continues to do.