Coming Soon St. Luke's Parish Fair

St. Luke's Parish is reinstating its Annual Fair.  This year it will be held on May 31, 2014 from 8 - 10 AM breakfast of souse, and or stew; 11AM... until dinners. All this on the Parish Hall grounds.  Every one is invited to be a part of this grand occasion.

 There will be the traditional games of hoop-la, bingo, punch board, guess the number of items in the jar, the bouncing castle and lots more; there will be scrumptious meals like, peas soup with dumplings, fish, chicken, barbeque ribs, dinners; conch salad, conch fritters, ice cream, pop corn and much much more.

Mark your calendars. It would be a day you would not forget.

St. Luke's Parish encompasses St. Columba Tarpum Bay; St. Luke's Rock Sound; St. Michael and All Angels Green Castle; St. Mary Magdalene Wemyss Bight; St. Joseph Deep Creek and St. Mary The Virgin Bannerman Town.  So, if you are a descendant of any of the communities mentioned where ever you are in the Bahamas, come spend the day with us.

We look forward to seeing you there.

  

The Dangers of being overweight and obese.

I promised myself a few days ago that I would write about the problem of being overweight or obese from my point of view.

Obesity is killing too many people in this 'small global village' that I live in.  Everywhere you go there is someone who is overweight.  Some people say, 'I'm thick'; 'I'm big boned'; I'm solid'; 'I'm pleasantly plump'.  No! they are actually overweight and in many cases obese.[That is weighting 20% more then they should for their height] If your waist is over 35 inches as a female that is being obese.  If your waist size is over 40 inches and you are male, you are obese.
  I see obesity on a daily basis whether it is in the work place, at the clinics, in the schools, at the super markets and in the community at large, both male and female.
  This condition does not have to be a death sentence, yet so many young people allow it to be just that. If a person decides to sit and watch television for hours, don't engage in any form of exercise and do not get 7-10 hours of sleep then they make the decision to be obese. And, too many young people smoke that too can increase the risk of being obese.
  In a small country like The Bahamas, there are far too many people suffering with hypertension and diabetes, these can and in many cases lead to strokes, heart problems, infertility and some cancers.
   People who are overweight and obese are discriminated against.  I see young people 'poke fun' at their peers who are obese.  They call them names like 'piggy', 'elephant', and they make the sounds that the pig makes as they pass them.  This is mean.  It only triggers lower self-esteem and encourages the person being teased to find comfort in more 'food'.  The thing is though, they do not eat a whole food like an apple or some grapes; they reach for a chocolate bar, some sugary cookies, ice cream, sugary drinks and soda.
  The schools in this country should sell only 100% juices and yet some sell 'drinks' that are basically sugar, oil, colouring and water. Where they should be selling fruit they choose to sell chocolate bars, M & Ms, candy and biscuits.  These do not help the situation but make it worse. The children now add being hyper to being overweight.  
  I have personally spoken to people who are suffering from hypertension and diabetes because of being overweight, but when you recommend that they try some natural product to help them and suggest that they change their diet, they say they can't afford it. The thing about it, those words 'I can't afford' should be linked to becoming more overweight then to not wanting to spend money to correct the problem they are living with.
  I say that it is cheaper to start a corrective program to change your diet then to get to the point where your pressure is so high that the doctor can't get it down, or to go into a sugar induced coma. It is cheaper that having to call a charter flight day or night to take you into New Providence to one of the hospitals and then pay the doctors and nurses whom you may need for round the clock care. Little changes in your lifestyle can make a whole lot of difference.
  And there are those people, including those in my own family who say, "I inherit this!" I don't think you can inherit being fat.  It 'boils' down to what you put into your mouth and how much of it and how often.
  There is a saying that we are what we eat!  So if we eat fried potatoes and fried chicken every day two to three times a day and then add peas and rice, baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad and follow that with a soda and ice cream what can we really expect? Just as food can be our medicine, it can be our death sentence!
  Anyone can make the decision to live/eat healthy. It is up to us to do that.  We as parents would have to make that decision for our children. We must be the example and let them learn by what we do.

There is a product that I use daily called "Unicity Balance". It works folks, it does. I will be happy to talk to you about it. To find out more, email me at annahorton768@gamil.com.

Let's live people! Not die for lack of doing the right thing.
Be blessed.    

St. Luke's Church Rock Sound Eleuthera,The BAHAMAS.

The congregation of the church above have witnessed and proclaimed God in the community of Rock Sound and the island of Eleuthera and by that the entire Bahamas for 150 years in this building.

There have been a number of priests who have passed through these doors as Rector but today we have a young man from the 'Eleuthera soil';  Bradley Miller whose parents raised him and his siblings in the neighbouring town of Green Castle.  He attended the local high school here in Rock Sound, Preston Albury High School.  He served his country in the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Prison Officers Department and then he got the call to 'come up higher'; to serve not only his country but his people in the Priesthood.

It is fitting that he is the Priest 'today' 2014 as we the congregation of St. Luke celebrate 150 years of service to Christ and the community.

He has made a difference:

St. Ambrose Guild Service

Reviving of the CYM - at the Parish Level;

Revived the use of the Parish Hall- The Fredrick G Guild Complex for Church Functions:

See the latest 150th year Banquet Transformation

Stages of the transformation from Parish Hall to Banquet Hall

 Imagine how much more can be done if we continually work together?

Now a Gazebo is being completed to the north west of the church, imagine the lovely sunsets as you sit and truly enjoy God's creations.

A Parish Fair is being planned for May 31 2014 - Right on the Parish Hall grounds.

This St. Luke's Parish is on the move.

If you come to Eleuthera from anywhere in this Global village please stop by our church to enjoy our Worship and Fellowship.  We worship on Sundays at 11AM every week. 

Reflections.

It's been a while since I last posted on this blog and since then some significant things have happened in my life.
 In September of 2011 I had the pleasure of welcoming my second grandson into this world - Mekhi Amari.
 In June of 2012 the decision to go back into the classroom was realized. So after six years of being in charge of myself, I again became subjected to someone else. What an adjustment. Some of the so called "professionals" treated me as if I was a novice who had never been in a classroom, these included those who I had left there. Time truly changes things and definitely people, but so be it.
  That first month was like living in a 'war zone'. The eleventh grade that I was given, were also 'told' to frustrate me as much as they possibly could. They tried. They, the students 'took' me to the office three times in one week. Did I get the support that I felt I would have gotten? No! Instead I was blamed for being too hard on the students.  The work was too hard, I was too rough, and so on. I found out that 14 of them had their parents' blessings.  It did not stop there, when I let it be known that I felt that some of the adults were being disrespectful, they got the parents involved who felt I was marking too hard, I did not have to point out 'all the errors'. I teach English. Parents came and verbally abused me in front of administration, did I get support then? No! i had to actually say to a parent who brought my husband into the picture, that if she tried it again I would involve the police for the verbal insults and abuse. despite this I entered 90 percent for the BGCSE Language core. I looked beyond the chaos to what could come out on the other side.
 By the Christmas holidays I was ready to get out of the country, so I did. And although I got laid over in Atlanta because of the snow, the feeling of 'lightness' was worth it.  Spending that holiday with my 3 months old grand son and my 6 years old grand son was heavenly. It made the abuse worth it all.  Just for those 12 days of tranquility.
  And then, school reopens. I laid down the law. This term was short and the last term to ensure that the syllabi was covered and that they got the materials needed under their 'belt'.
  They got it.  They realized that it was never about me, but them.
  I realized that it was all a TEST one that was humongous! I took on my Parish's youth organization. The numbers were staggering some weeks ranging from 60 - 90 teen agers and tweens. I realized then that the test was to see if I could do the real work that God had for me to do. See teaching is my passion. I trained to teach Sr. High school students and here I was with ages 8 - 19 and some weeks 20-21 year olds.
  Thank God for the faithfulness of my fellow church member and teacher Ms. Butler. She stuck with me and helped to keep order. Even when she felt she had enough, we knew that we could not let the young people 'down'.  And yes it helped that we taught some of them at school.
  God's sense of humour showed through. The very young people who said that I was too hard on them 'begged' to be part of the Youth group, those very young people came to me as a confident when things were going 'extremely bad' for them. What could I say? God placed me there to be more than a teacher, much more. For that I am thankful.  And those who brought their parents, yes those, they came for personal tutoring and advice on what to do in regards to higher education, for those letters of recommendation, for that help to get things done 'right'. And all I could do is smile because God in His Infinite mercy and wisdom showed me that it's not about me, it's about doing 'His will and His work'. After all He said it's better to have a large stone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to harm one of 'the little ones'.
  The year ended in June of 2013.  When the BGCSE results were revealed, some of those same 'nay sayers' changed their tone. Most of the students in the group passed the core, got the C [highest grade for the core] some their D and 2 got the E. See those who chose to listen and work were rewarded. Those who continued to hold out as if they were doing it for me, learned the hard way.
  We have completed term one and now half way through term two.  There has been a complete turn around.  Now, those same students can't wait to get to class and if by chance they are going somewhere and may miss the class they inform me either personally or through fellow student.  Some of my colleagues have questioned me as to how it is that the students I teach 'behave'? And how is it we can laugh and still get the work done. It's not me! It's GOD He is the master planner and the Designer of it all. I am only the instrument that He is using.
  And when he revels to me that the students are being duped or are going to be duped, I tell them. When they see it they look at me as if I had prior knowledge, No. I do NOT!
  I know now, that God has placed me with the homeroom I have and the students I have to help through teaching because He has a plan for every 'life' He is allowing me to come into contact with.
  While my two grandsons now 8 and 2 have my 'heart'. I see the 105 students I come into contact with in the classroom and the 300 plus outside the classroom as my children.  After all I am a mother/grandmother and who knows when I have to 'stand in the gap'?
  See I know now that God is counting on me as I count on Him.  He is ALL I need.