Today Cheryl and I went on an all day tour of Washington DC. When I think of seeing DC in one day a certain phrase comes to mind…GET REAL. While it is impossible to get even a small overview of Washington DC in a day, we think that we actually did very well at seeing the highlights. We started out our day by going to Capitol Hill. Here are some pictures in and around the capitol building:
After the Capitol building we went to the Smithsonian Museums. Cheryl and I knew we only had two hours at the museums and prioritized our time. So our first priority was the First Ladies Exhibition at the American History Museum. They have several of the gowns that the first ladies wore including Jacqueline Kennedy and Nancy Reagan who Cheryl and I agree have the most timeless style. We were surprised to see a silk dress worn by Martha Washington and a dress worn by Mary Todd Lincoln (pictured below).
Our second stop at that museum was the Price of Freedom Exhibition. Our favorite part was the piece of Berlin Wall. What a powerful picture.
Next priority was the Natural History Museum. We saw the fossils:
Then our next stop was the Hope Diamond. This is a 45.5 carat blue diamond in a setting surrounded by 16 white diamonds and hanging on a chain of 45 diamonds. The Hope Diamond is one of the most visited museum items in the world:
After the Natural History Museum we visited the outdoor sculpture park at the Art Museum. Our favorite piece was this silver tree:
Cheryl poses next to a unique sculpture:
After the Smithsonian we had a photo op by the White House:
From the White House I walked over to the Washington Monument:
My favorite part of the day was visiting the WW2 Memorial. In the center of the memorial was an oval pool with fountains in the center. Surrounding it were wreaths hung on pillars representing each state or province that participated in the war. When we looked towards the Lincoln Memorial there were three infinity waterfalls on either side of 4000 gold stars with each star represented 100,000 men. In front was engraved, “Here Marks the Price Paid for Freedom.” This is a powerful monument honoring the 4,000,000 men who sacrificed their lives in WW2.
To end our tour we got to drive by the Washington National Cathedral. What a beautiful church!
Julie and Ruth went on the Duck Tour:
They got to experience the city on land and water. Here they are posing outside the famous restaurant, Ben’s Chili Bowl:
Julie, Cheryl, and I take a picture to mark the opening session of Triennial XIII:
Our first session began in the evening. Ruth Hill, the executive director for the national women ministries, welcomed us to Triennial XIII. This is Cheryl’s first triennial, my second triennial, Julie’s seventh triennial, and Ruth West’s (my grandmother) eleventh triennial. Ruth Hill will be speaking at our fall retreat in September!
The flag ceremony was a highlight of the night. We have 30 countries represented at this conference:
Noriko from Japan recently came to our church for dessert. She is carrying the flag for Japan:
This is a picture of the beautiful woman representing the Sudan:
We had wonderful worship and ended the night with one of the most (if not the most) powerful messages I have ever heard. If you get the opportunity I highly recommend listening to the message at http://www.triennialxiii.org/videos.php. Cheryl will recap the message for you!
Trienniel XIII
Opening Talk
Keynote Speaker: Brenda Salter McNeil
Written by: Cheryl Meakins
Tonight Brenda spoke truth! It was truth that all women across our nation and our world needed to hear. Reflecting God’s Glory has been the theme ushered into our Women Ministries at Triennial XIII.
Brenda started the evening by sharing a personal story. She had been incredibly busy in her ministry to students on campus at a college near LA when she determined she would stop and spend time with God. As she invited God to her time of reading and worship she remembered a practice that a professor encouraged them to use in their times of reading scripture. She began to read the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) but used her imagination to place herself in that story. And in doing so, God brought something to the surface she had no idea had been buried within her heart. She imagined Martha welcoming Jesus to her home and how busy she was, in the kitchen baking, washing dishes and giving orders to those around her to help with the process. Brenda had a flash back to her mother preparing for company and how her mother only wanted the best, in her home and her children. Until that moment Brenda had no idea that she had kindled, for 20 years or so, a resentment for the perfection that was demanded of her. Brenda responded in tears and asked for forgiveness for what she had masked over with her easy churchy answers of, “Mmm Hmmm I am blessed,” “No Mam and Yes Sir.” You see she had been raised in the church and new the ‘right’ things to say, and quite frankly thought she was just too good a church girl for something so nasty to be residing in her heart.
Quite often we all choose the business of Martha because we are too afraid of Jesus coming into our home and finding dirt under the rug, or dust on the mantle. And if He should lift the rug we distract the conversation with our ‘offerings’ of a cold drink or fresh baked cookies. Or maybe it is out of fear that we don’t sit and really talk with our Lord. Maybe we don’t trust that He would reflect back to us the beautifully inspired vision of ourselves, made in his image, as a daughter of the King, uniquely gifted for this time and place.
So as Brenda closed she took us to Revelation 3:14. Where Jesus was talking to the Church! Yes, you got that right, when Jesus said “Behold I stand at the door and Knock” he wasn’t talking to the unsaved, unchurched or heathens in this world, HE WAS TALKING TO THE CHURCH! Why would He have need to knock on the doors of our hearts? You see, Jesus is not interested in being busy for Him he is interested in knowing you and in being known by you. He did not drop in for a social call, he wants to come home and walk in without hesitation and be comfortable with you. He wants the real you; cracked, broken, used, failing. And out of the time spent getting real with Christ you will end up reflecting REDEMPTION! That’s the real reflection! It is time for us to GET REAL!
Until tomorrow...which is now in Washington DC...
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