Sue Group Celebration

Gene Sue leads prayer in "the circle"

Grandpa David Douglass

Sue Group Takes The Cake

As is his custom, Gene gathered all the people in the room into a circle, joining hands on Sunday morning, to pray.  The Sue Group celebrated 20 years of God's blessings, through good times and bad, through sickness and health, and through the parting of many loved ones through death.  Many people have been blessed to be placed inside that circle through the years, hands laid on them, and the church family praying over spiritual matters, finances, health, marriages, children... We have seen God work miracles of faith, healing, love, joy, peace and sweet fellowship as a result of these prayers.

Tables at the back of the room featured prayer requests and praises throughout the years.  Casey Sue, Gene's son, called his youngest son, Joshua, over to show him his birth announcement among the praise reports.  There were photographs of service projects such as the "City of Children" orphanage in Mexico and the Homeless Ministry at Santa Clara and F Streets in Fresno each month.  There were pictures of parties for Halloween, the Pismo Beach camping trip and many other church family traditions.

Gene and Linda have modeled for us, in their own lives, how to love unconditionally, but also be no-nonsense about righteous living.  I cannot think of anything more Christ-like than that!  Well done, good and faithful servants!  May the Sue Group enjoy 20 more years of meaningful ministry!
--Posted by Mama O.

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High School Christmas Dinner

Jason Swain and Hunter Scott "photo bomb" the young ladies'
photograph

Gentlemen of the College Church of Christ high school group

Looking forward to a beautiful evening

Group shot at the Hamms
(Photo courtesy of Rachel Hamm)

Marcos Miranda and Arthur (the Ferri's St. Bernanrd)

Girls model the popular socks in the gift exchange

Toasting (with Martinelli's) at the Pafford's

Christmas Cheer!
 Our high school students enjoyed a wonderful evening of "progressive dining" on Friday night.  They met at the church, in the Uptown lobby of our Children's Ministry.  Then, they proceeded to the home of Marshall and Rachel Hamm, where they were treated to "twice baked potatoes" and homemade jalapeno poppers.  Considering that the Hamms just moved into their home last week, we think this is a Christmas miracle!

The group then proceeded to Tannon and Theresa Pafford's home, where they dined on salad, bacon-wrapped filet (prepared by barbecue chefs Tannon Pafford and Luke Oehlschlaeger) and creamy mashed potatoes, prepared by "Mama Mandy" Oehlschlaeger.  The Paffords even moved their sofa into the garage for the evening to accommodate the crowd!

Then, the grand finale took place clear across town at the home of Bruce and Cathi Ferri, where the high school students enjoyed Christmas cookies, cupcakes and candy, as well as a lively white-elephant gift exchange.  Cozy socks were the most popular gift-exchange item, while the most memorable gift was probably the bank shaped like a pile of, pile of, well, let's just say it looked like something the Ferri's St. Bernard puppy left on the front lawn!

Thank you to Aaron and Sarah Scott, to our hosts, and drivers for a wonderful and memorable evening!

--Posted by Mama O.

Family Suppers

If I could give our church staff and elders a "Zagat Rating" for their delicious church family suppers on Wednesday nights, it would be the very highest possible rating.  Bon Appetit to Doug Baker for a wholesome and delicious bowl of vegetable soup last night!  To Lee Smith for a pheneomenal pork loin (the secret was in the spicy sauce!).  To Aaron Scott for his Chicken Spaghetti--a crowd pleaser every time!  To Sandra Henderson for her mouth-wateringingly tasty pulled pork sandwiches.  And to Jason Locke with some alarmingly good chili and corn bread!  We appreciate your culinary prowess and your willingness to serve us in yet another way!

It is possible that the fine men and women who lead us would like some other chefs to join the circuit--think of it as an opportunity to be the star on your own Food Network show!  Let's talk about forming some "chef groups" for Wednesday night meals in the new year.  I believe we will be more blessed than we are a blessing as we participate in the tradition of making and breaking bread together as a church family.

We'll talk more about this in Shepherding Group....

--Posted by Mama O.

A Group of Wrap Artists

Wrap Artist Kyle Mason

Mmmmm....tri tip

Theresa Pafford serves the men

Hunter Scott and Aaron Roland



Luke Oehlschlaeger and John Jacobo listen to
Wrapper Sean Gresham

Jason Gresham watches Wrap Artists Sean Gresham
and Steve Ocheltree

The chow line

Watching the game

Thanks, Tannon Pafford, for these photos of the Wrap Artists' party on Monday night, December 3, 2012, to prepare gifts for Angel Tree, a ministry to children who have a parent in prison.

Great job, Wrappers!

--Posted by Mama O.

Angel Tree



Men from College Church of Christ gather at Tannon Pafford's
home after an Angel Tree shopping excursion at Target on
Monday, Dec. 3, 2012
(Photo courtesy of Jonathan Waltiere)

A holiday tradition of fun, food, and fellowship was celebrated last night when men from College Church of Christ filled the aisles of Target at Willow and Herndon, comparing toys, tiaras, Barbies, board games and even make-up! Thanks, men, for your generous and fun-loving spirits to come out on a cold December night and buy gifts for children whose parents are in prison! And, thanks, Tannon and Theresa, for your hospitality and some great tri tip sandwiches!

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the turh, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:37-40 (New International Version)

Watch for a video of the shopping trip, coming soon, thanks to videographers Amanda Ellington (also our video editor), Stacy Sholes and Carolyn Ocheltree (aka Three Chicks With SmartPhones in Target).  While the men dined on tri tip, we went to In 'N Out Burger and, in the true spirit of Christmas, ate with Santa Claus and were served by a man named Jesus!

Stacy Sholes and Santa Claus
(Photo Courtesy of Amanda Ellington)

--Posted by Mama O. 

 

Great Aunt Rachel Goldman's Visit

Great Aunt Rachel Goldman from Miami, Florida
shares "family stories" about Jacob

Great Aunt Rachel Goldman of Miami, Florida, visited the Ocheltree Shepherding Group on Sunday morning, sharing "family stories", the kind you only hear when you're a real "insider".  These stories, mind you, are taken from from Jewish tradition and commentators on Torah.  They are speculations on why things really happened as they did.  We cannot prove or disprove these theories.  But, why do we listen to the Jewish commentators?  Because this is their story!  Who is better prepared to share all the inside family stories than the family itself?

 

The stories, as shared briefly in Genesis 33-36 of the Bible, are scandalous.  A young woman, Dinah, is raped by the prince of a neighboring village.  When her powerful brothers hear of the outrage, they are incensed.  They practice subterfuge, at first appearing to agree to a marriage of their sister to her rapist.  They convince the young man that he and all the men of his village must undergo, shall we say, a minor surgical procedure--circumcision.  Then, three days later, while all the men are recovering, two of the brothers attack the village and kill the rapist, and kill all the other village men, in the process of rescuing their sister and vindicating her honor.

 

Here is one fascinating tidbit, gleaned from Jewish tradition: Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, actually began life as a male embryo. Tradition states that she became a female when her mother, Leah, prayed, thus exercising judgment (din), that her sister Rachel be allowed to have at least two of the 12 sons which everyone knew Jacob was supposed to have.  At this point, Leah had six sons and each of the maidservants had two sons.  If Rachel were not allowed to have two sons, she would not even be equal to the maidservants, according to Torah commentor Rashi. (Women in the Bible #5: Dinah by Dina Coopersmith, aish.com)

 

Another fascinating tidbit, again, gleaned from Jewish tradition, is that Dinah had a child as a result of being raped, a daughter named Osnat, who was adopted by Potiphar in Egypt and eventually was given to Joseph in marriage.  (Midrash -- Yalkut Shimoni 134) Osnat or Asenath--Genesis 41:50 is the mother of Joseph's two sons, for whom the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are named. (Women in the Bible #5: Dinah by Dina Coopersmith, aish.com)

 

As I said earlier, we cannot prove or disprove these theories.  But, it is interesting to hear the "story behind the story" in a family.  It often helps us understand a lot of things in the here-and-now.  And, certainly, we gain from these stories a sense of a God who loves His people unconditionally and redeems them from even the worst of situations--whether of their own making or at the hands of someone else.  Rape, Revenge and Redemption.  It's all there to read about in Genesis 33-36.

 

--Posted by Mama O.

 

 

 



Reunion, Rape and Revenge

Tomorrow's lesson on the life of Jacob promises to give everyone lots to think about.  We'll talk about some deep Jewish symbolism in Jacob and Esau's reunion: a precursor to Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Booths, or Succoth.

We will ask the question, "What changed Esau's desire to get revenge on Jacob?"  He was headed in Jacob's direction with an army of 400 men.  But their acutal reunion was peaceful and brotherly.  Why?

Then, we move right into the hot topics of rape and responsibility and revenge and bastard children.  Jacob's family life continues to be colorful and, shall we say, morally ambiguous.  Is murder justified, sometimes, or never?

Since we are dealing with all "R" words here, can "Redemption" be woven into this tale?

Come tomorrow and we'll talk.  I learned some things during my research that were eye-opening, if not downright shocking.  I'm itching to share...10:45 a.m., Room 700.

--Posted by Mama O.