MOTHER'S DAY

   

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day, or Family Sunday, as it's known in the church.  Some cynics claim that Mother's Day was invented by the greeting card companies as a way to sell more cards but there have been festivals celebrating mothers as far back as 250 B.C.  Whatever its origins, the second Sunday of May is a time to say thank you to all the mothers amongst us and to celebrate the love of family, in all its shapes and forms.
     At SPPC we are a particular kind of family and I thought you might like to know what "our kids" have been up to.

      Rebekah and Megan have been to a band festival in Whistler.  This was a big adventure for them, travelling with a school group of about 40 musicians, playing before an adjudicator and then taking part in a master class.  

They report the weather was great, the trip was fun, the master class was super and we'll all forget about the adjudicator.

Apparently the food was good too!

       

This is a bear, not the adjudicator

      Peter has taken up baseball this term.  He had a big hit at a recent game, knocked in run, and his team went on to win the game.  Great for Peter and even better that his brother was so excited for him.  That's what families do.  We cheer each other on, sharing our joy and lightening our disappointments.
        Max has been in several rowing regattas but the big one was at Mill Bay a few weeks go.

 His four-man squad won the junior varsity event with 22 seconds to spare (That's huge in rowing terms).  Not only that, given their time, they would have placed second if they'd been competing in the varsity race.  Way to go, Max!
     

     Elizabeth, our resident guest pianist, won the piano concerto contest at U Vic.  The prize gives her bragging rights but no cash.  On the other hand, she does get to play a concerto with the U Vic symphony next year.  I love Elizabeth's playing and really look forward to attending that concert.

   

Felicity spent a lot of time in the kitchen and produced this beautiful cake in honour of all the mothers in our

congregation.  Not only did the cake look wonderful, it tasted great too.  (I heard a rumour that the youth class might be holding a bake sale -- if that is true, I'll buy one of Felicity's cakes!)
   

      But while we are celebrating with cards and flowers and special dinners, let us remember the mothers and daughters around the world who suffer, especially those in Nigeria, where violent men seek to enslave girls in ignorance and poverty, just because they are girls.  Evil abounds in this world in many guises but the kidnapping of school girls is particularly egregious.

   For the joy of human love,
  Brother, sister, parent, child,
  Friends on earth, and friends above,
  For all gentle thoughts and mild,
  Lord of all, to Thee we raise




  This our sacrifice of praise.