# 22, December 26, 2002

Missionaries Bill and Charlotte Are Charged for 2003, Beginning January 3.

Bill and Charlotte need help for the Friendship House/Hull Street Shelter dinner on Friday, January 3. The details are below:

Our class has the privilege of preparing and serving dinner for the Friendship House/Hull Street Shelter on Friday evening, January 3rd. Charlotte and Bill will plan the menu and buy the food. If you can help cook the meal - or take the meal to the Hull Street Shelter and serve it there - please e-mail Charlotte at >wimsams@aol.com< or call her at 285-3185. We will probably need to gather in the kitchen at church about 3:30 PM to prepare the food and will need to leave for Hull Street about 6; 15 PM.

Once worn clothes are also needed at the Freedom House/Hull Street Shelter. Bring those clothes that you have outgrown (?) to Sunday School this Sunday. The message below is from Bill and Charlotte:

Clothes You No Longer Can Wear?

The Freedom House/Hull Street Shelter can use nice, clean clothes for adult men and women. We would be happy to take any contributions of clothes when our class provides the meal there Friday evening, January 3rd. You may bring them to Sunday School this Sunday morning or to the church office through Thursday, January 2nd.

Remember that the Duffel Bag Project is already underway, but will continue through January.

The Year 2003 CE Arrives at Midnight on Tuesday (or actually Wed. AM).

Come and enjoy a festive evening and watch the new year roll in. If you are among those Shepsons who have nothing to do on New Year's Eve, you are warmly invited to attend the fourth annual SSBSC New Year's Observation. The socializing will begin around 9 PM and extend beyond the midnight hour. A selection of games and puzzles will be available. Light refreshments will be available and various liquid nutrients will also be in abundance with Champaign or apple cider just before midnight for the countdown. This fourth annual event will be at the home of Brenda and PH at 301 Westham Pkwy.

Directions: From River Road Church, baptist, go east on River Road one block (short block) and turn left onto Westham Pkwy (if you are from Southside Virginia going west on River Road, turn right at Westham Pkwy just before you get to RRC,b). Go one-half mile on Westham Pkwy until you reach Lakewood Drive on your right. The house is on this corner. Park in the driveway or on the street (preferably on one side or the other). Our two terrorist trained mutt dogs will be on alert, but they will be securely under orders from Canine Commando Brenda.

Inside Information for the romanticists in the SSBSC: Brenda and PH met at a New Eve's Party on December 31, 1964. This was one of those parties that PH was encouraged to attend by some of his medical classmates. So, there PH was and he spotted this young woman across the room (If PH had been Ezio Pinza, you know what he would have sung) Needless to say, this happenstance event was a miraculous turning point in PH's life, but PH still had to get up the nerve to call Brenda a few days later. Her answer was "yes."

Eyewitness to the Judy/Dick Marriage of December 26, 1959 Reports:

Judy and Dick Morris were married in Park View Baptist Church (overlooking the lake at Byrd Park) on the day after Christmas in 1959. The rehearsal dinner was on Christmas Day. Allegedly this was the only available time to marry as Dick had to return to Alabama to graduate school and took his new bride with him. The eyewitness who reported to PH is this same bride who seemed to have the glitter of youthful joy in her eyes as she told PH about this Christmas Story of forty-three years ago.

Dr. Donna Is Twenty-Nine on January 2

Donna Brown was almost a New Year's baby twenty-nine years ago. On Thursday, January 2, 2003, Donna will turn twenty-nine and remain one of the youngest eye doctors in Richmond. Judy Morris, the bride mentioned above, will also be twenty-nine on Saturday, January 4.

Prayer Rounds

Remember in your prayers all of those who have dealt with adversity during 2002 as well as the Manor (Lakewood) Bible Study group, the pulpit committee, and those known only to you.

What About Mary?

Pastor Jim preached a masterful Christmas message last Tuesday night. Various aspects of his message may have touched each of you present. What impressed PH was Pastor Jim's interpretation that the Word Becoming Flesh was expected, but not in the way it happened. Mary was a young peasant woman. The shepherds were not the elite of the Roman government nor were they from the Jewish royalty. Mary gave birth to her first borne in an unlikely place in very vulnerable circumstances. As Luke narrates his story, all that happened was outside of the expected entrance for a Messiah. Is Mary really the Mother of God? Biologically one could argue the concept with some rationale. Was she just a surrogate uterus or mother? Even so, the gospels give every indication that Jesus recognized her as his mother. Did the Protestant Reformation reduce Mary's importance unjustly? These and other questions are discussed in countless publications in contemporary literature. PH can only judge by what is accredited to Mary in Luke's story. As Pastor Jim stated in his message, this lowly young girl said, "Yes" to the angel when informed of her special selection. Luke quotes Mary as saying, "I am the Lord's servant, may it happen to me as you have said." Mary identifies herself as the Lord's servant. Is not this the best the example for all of us? Mary's song of praise soon follows in Luke 1. This song is a strong message to those who have ever felt a diminishing of self-esteem. To place it in a clinical sphere, the words are therapeutic to the least among us. Ponder the words attributed to Mary:

Mary said,
"My heart praises the Lord;
my soul is glad because of God my savior,
for he has remembered me, his lowly servant!
From now on all people will call be happy,
because of the great things the
Mighty God has done for me.
His name is holy;
from one generation to another
he shows mercy to those who honor him.
He has stretched out his mighty arm
and scattered the proud with all their plans.
He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors,
and has come to the help of his servant Israel.
He has remembered to show mercy to Abraham
and to all his descendants forever!"

And Luke follows this magnificent song with the simple words: "Mary stayed about three months with Elizabeth and then went back home." (DDGN Bible). PH wonders what these two pregnant women talked about for three months. Luke does not tell us. Maybe this three-month span might be the basis for a good historical novel.

PH wishes all Shepsons and other readers a Happy New Year.

Poor Henry's Archives

All of the PHA's can be accessed at the PH archives.