The Joy Club

This is Diane. No, she is not the president of the Joy Club because we don't have a president but in my heart I think she IS the president. She radiates joy and she is a really great lady who loves Jesus and loves His people. 
This is the Joy Club. We are all either gramas or gramas to be except for lovely Karen who is raising young 'uns. (top right) We meet weekly in sweet Carol's house. (far left) It is not just a house though. It is a vintage heritage house but what you feel when you walk in is a HOME that has sheltered family for many years. It exudes love from its very walls. We meet weekly and have been studying a book called "A Long Obedience In The Same Direction" by Eugene Peterson, the author who translated the Bible into The Message. We have gained so much insight into God's Word as we have also built a stronger relationship with Him and with each other. It means so much to me to surround myself with women of faith who are in this for the long haul. We have so much experience between us and it is truly a JOY to share the wisdom and insights from walking with the Lord from an early age. Susan (in the middle with her lovely red) is also a pastor's wife and we are even the same age. She was actually a baby in a buggy back in 1951 when her mother walked through the doors of our church at Third and Rupert. Before it became All Nations Christian Fellowship it was a Foursquare Church and  Susan's mother was their first convert. Isn't that cool? Carol (bottom left) is a reader and we enjoy sharing book titles. We first met at BSF several years ago. She is a fellow American and a devoted daughter and mother who travels to the States more than I do.  And then there is Judy. (far right) We met in her home for our Christmas meeting. If Martha Stewart wasn't already an icon, Judy's name would be the name we would all say when we talk about someone who can do it all. She is just amazing. Yes, she dazzles and amazes. And no, she did not disappoint us as we gathered for  our last meeting of 2008.
We all got our beautiful place settings around the table. At first I thought the berries were some fancy thing she made for us to eat. Even the eggnog punch was so perfect that Diane convinced me it was plastic. It wasn't. Judy has her ways but she is also very willing to share her secrets for success.
My sis Sandy and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making little vignettes around the house. I recently realized that this art of decorating is very similar to making a collage. Judy shares in this passion. I've added these two vignettes for the benefit of Sandykins.
You may wonder how we came up with the name - the Joy Club. We just actually dubbed ourselves this week. I've thought of us as The Gentlewoman's Club as Diane talked to me on the phone before we started meeting and described how it must have been for someone like C.S. Lewis who met with his colleagues and drank port and smoked cigars in the Gentleman's Club in England. We would be the same - musing and pondering and speaking of our life in God. So in my mind we are the GW Joy Club. J O Y - Just Older Youth. And of course, there is the real definition of Joy which is Jesus. Diane had a great little presentation about what Joy stands for which I can't begin to explain here. Maybe I can get her to do it again on video so I could post it. It had to do with Jesus, O Yeh!

At first dubious hearers say, "Jesus? Oh Yeah?"

And then as they begin to be introduced to Him, will say with a light bulb going on, "Jesus? Oh yeh."

Once you encounter Him for yourself it becomes a "Jesus! Oh Yeh!"

And from there she had many ways of saying the same words. It was really cool.

What do you say?????