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September 2014 Issue 45
Most merciful Father, you have entrusted us with the well-being, guidance and leadership of these your Junior Daughters.
Grant us, we pray you, the vision to guide them by our example in the way you will have them go. Help their lives to be a reflection
of your Holy Spirit, give them the strength to resist temptation and to meet with grace and dignity the challenges they will face in their daily lives.
Equip them with the necessary tools to go out into the world and spread your love. Let your church be for them a safe harbor, a place of refuge and renewal. Bless them with the gift of a willing and compassionate heart for all your people. We ask this all For His
Sake and in the blessed name of our King and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Spirited Walking Meditation
Our theme this month is interaction. We live in community with one another. As Daughters of the King, we worship in common. We use the DOK Handbook and our respective worship/prayer books,
such as The Book of Common Prayer, which do not refer to "ordinary" prayer, but prayer we hold in common with others. We pray in community with
our families and with others who share our faith. This month reflect on those who belong to your community.
How excellent are the Lord's faithful people. My greatest pleasure is to be with them. Psalms 16:3
Click here to read the rest of this month's meditation and how community helps us remain healthy in many aspects. Participate in the on-going discussion centered on
these articles on the Walking in the Light page of the website.
In This Issue
Spirited Walking Meditation
First Chapter in Colombia
Junior Daughters Quilts
Junior Directress Retreat
Living into My Vows
I love This Cross
Gallery of Crosses
Service and Evangelism
For Reflection
Cross+Links Editor
Susan O'Brien
Assistant Editor Lynn Kimbrell
Quick Links
What's New on the Website Forms on the Website Order Form Transition Form Pay DOK Dues Online Make a Donation Join Our Newsletter List
Province Presidents
Province I
Donna Abramov
Province II
Janet Papa
Province III Laura Richard
First Chapter in Colombia
It is with great joy that we announce the formation of the first chapter in Colombia! Martha y Maria del Divino Salvador Chapter at Parroquia Nuestro Salvador
was instituted in Cartagena, Colombia on August 10. The Rev. Canon Connie Sanchez, DOK National Chaplain for Honduras, introduced the Order at Parroquia Nuestro Salvador earlier this year, and then returned to present the Charter and admit the nine new Daughters of the King on August 10, 2014.
Pictured in front from left to right are: Carmen Baena, Nicolasa Sierra, Esperanza Salavarra, Petrona Torreglosa, Gilma Cantillo, Burgos and Sandra Vanegas In back left to right: Rev.
Canon Connie Sanchez, Bedelia Mendivil and Elia Gonzalez.
Province IV
Lindy Kirk
Province V
Pam Sebura
Province VI
Lyn Zolman
Province VII
Brenda Amos
Province VIII
Sara MacDonald
National Office
or
770-517-8552
Junior Daughter Quilts
Quilters at the Junior Directress Retreat spent a busy weekend sewing together quilts from the quilt squares
they had received. They put together four quilts of nine squares each. The quilts are about 36 inches square. However, we have not received squares from all of the Junior Chapters, and it's not too late to get them in. If you have misplaced the instructions, here they are again: Cut a 10" square of cotton fabric. The fabric should be something that reflects your chapter or excites your chapter, with the restriction that it should be light in color, either a solid or a print. On the back side of the square, mark in
pencil or tailor's chalk a line one inch from the outside on all four sides. On the front side, staying within the eight-inch marked square, decorate the square. You can decorate the square any way you wish. You may write or draw on it with fabric markers. You can sew designs or appliques on it. You can add buttons or ribbons to it. Let your creativity flow. The front of your square must include the name of your chapter, the city and state where you are located, and the year in which your chapter was instituted. When completed, mail the square to St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Attn: Brandylee Marsh, 15415 N Eldridge Pkwy, Cypress, TX 77429. Don't delay. Now that the "new" year has started, make this the first project of the year and get it in right away.
Susan Keith Junior Daughters National Directress
Junior Directress Retreat, 2014
Forty-Four Junior Directresses from New York to Miami to Colorado joined many of the Directresses from Texas at Camp Allen, Texas, for a retreat and workshops. We spent time reflecting on creation, reviewing the Junior Daughter section of the revised Chapter Manual (which is nearing completion), working on the Junior Chapter Quilts, and planning Triennial. There were times of tears and quietness and times of laughter and fun. We worked hard and played hard, and everyone seemed to have a grand time. Adelle Muller-McKinstry introduced us to her Metamorphosis program, a program she is using for her Junior Chapter, and
Sonya Atchison taught us about "Bags of Grace". Many of us are taking these two programs back to our own chapters.
Laughter
Laughter The wonderful sound of women having a good time. Laughter The glorious sound of new friends sharing. Weeping, The sound of friends Able to share their trials. Weeping, The blessed sound
of new friends parting. A weekend full of laughter. A weekend full of intense sharing. A weekend full of hard work Ends in a flood of tears. Tears of joy from new meetings. Tears of the sadness of leaving. Laughter and tears Sharing and networking Resulting in renewal. A weekend with Directresses Results in a fresh devotion to Junior Daughters.
Susan Keith National Junior Directress
Living into My Vows as a Daughter at Large
I was asked to provide an article about how Daughters at Large live into their vows. I felt that I should write it, but what should I write? There are so many Daughters at Large (DALs) around the world living into their vows. We have DALs in Hawaii connecting with each other. We have DALs
in New Zealand connecting together. We have a DAL who just moved to Hong Kong who is "going to try to get some conversations going in Hong Kong" and live into her vows. What, if anything, do I have to share about living into my vows from my home in little old southwestern Virginia? I was installed into an established chapter of Daughters of the King in South Carolina in April 1995. I enjoyed the prayer, service and evangelism we performed as a chapter.
I enjoyed the blessing of this prayerful community until 1999 when a career move took my family to Virginia into a new church with no chapter. I then became a DAL. Not too much grass grew under my feet before we instituted the Holy Cross Chapter with six charter members in 2001. In 2004, we started a Junior Chapter, as well. I was no longer a DAL but had a prayerful chapter and community again. In 2007 we changed churches and, once again, moved to a church without a chapter. I approached two priests, two different times. The first priest said "no," and the second priest didn't support it. It's difficult to begin something new without support from the priests! Nonetheless, I remain a DAL to this day.
In 2009 as a DAL, I was elected to National Council. On National Council I have served as your DAL Chair. It has been a blessing and a challenge to stay connected and to connect other DALs around the world. It remains a constant challenge as I type this because not all DALs are online! So we have our more seasoned DALs who don't use computers and may need this newsletter read to them. We have a Facebook Page and a Yahoo group and this online Cross+Links newsletter. It's all good if we use it. I love the Order of the Daughters of the King. I love the vows we take when we're installed as members, vows of prayer, service and evangelism. It is MUCH easier to live into these vows when you are in a chapter and perform your vows in community. When you're a DAL, you lack that visible, outward sign of prayers said
together, service performed together and evangelism done together. As a DAL, you are doing this alone. It's difficult doing things alone. We all know that two are better than one and that where there are two or three gathered together in His name, He is in their midst! So, as a DAL, how do I live into my vows? I pray daily, sometimes all day! I pray before I get out of bed, at red lights, at work, in meetings. I work for The Salvation Army (TSA) where we can pray on the job. I pray in the evenings. I like to think that I am in constant conversation with God. I teach my children to pray and to rely on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as our Best Friends! My Best Friends help me to live into the vow of service. The vow of service takes on many forms as a DAL.
It's a matter of reaching out and being open to new opportunities. Being in tune with the Holy Spirit gives you an openness to opportunities that arise. For instance, last week I made a random, out-of-the-blue phone call to a volunteer for The Salvation Army. I was lining her up for our upcoming Christmas season. She wasn't thinking about The Salvation Army though, she was thinking about her VIP program at her church. She was lining up drivers for her VIPs (her Visually Impaired Persons). She was in a bind and needed a volunteer driver to pick up three VIPs Monday morning! I asked her if you had to be a member of her church to drive. She said no. I volunteered to drive and pick up the three VIPs. It was a God instance: I called her out of the blue; I heard her desperate need that I could fill; I solved a problem for her. She called
me a blessing; it was a blessing to me! I made three new VIP friends on Monday! This encounter, this short little story, is what inspired me to write this article about DALs living into their vows. As DALs, no matter where we are, we need to pray about living into our vows. We need to be open... open to the Spirit's nudging and following where the Spirit leads us. If we are doing this, the prayer, service and
evangelism will follow when we are open to the Spirit. AMEN! Chesley Vohden Daughters-at-Large Chair
I Love This Cross
This gallery is gathered from across the world, the crosses made of all sorts of diverse material, reflecting the diverse spiritual gifts of the Daughters who submitted the photos of the crosses. As each cross arrived in my Inbox, I traveled further on my spiritual walk, called by the voices in the crosses. I hope you all experience the same uplifting tingles I have each time I see them. My thanks to all the Daughters who sent in photos of the crosses that called to them. Please click here to read more about each of the crosses in the gallery below. Crosses do not just call us to respond by photographing them, but they may also call us to write about our response to them. I would like to close with a poem submitted in answer to a call from a cross. Christ took the cross for our sins in this world And the cross took the shape of the man. With his arms opened wide He suffered and died And our lives, now eternal, began.
Susan Ledbetter 2014 Susan O'Brien Editor, Cross+Links
"I Love This Cross" Gallery
Service and Evangelism
The following story may help each of us
understand the closeness of the connection between service and evangelism and the importance of God in each one. There is a woman who spreads sunshine and joy where ever she is. The people around her are blessed by "the rivers of living water" that flow from her. I follow her on Facebook. The woman tore her hamstring early this summer tripping
over a trailer hitch. It was extremely painful and limited her mobility so she saw her doctor who ran some tests and determined that she needed surgery to reattach her hamstring in three places. It was quite a blow to her because she had great plans for the summer that did not include being in bed, waited upon, and having
physical therapy for weeks on end. However, she has a wonderful relationship with Jesus so she read scripture, played upbeat Christian music, and in general soaked herself in prayer and praise, thanking God for an opportunity to heal. She says, " It is not me, but Him working in me. I can't do it on my own. " When you read this, summer will be almost gone. The angle of her knee will have been lowered from 90
degrees to 0 degrees, but she still won't be able to walk or drive. She will need to take a leave of absence from her teaching duties in order to continue her physical therapy, which she does three times a day. She will continue to need the help of family and friends to bring meals for her family, to provide transportation for her sons, who can't drive, and to take her to physical therapy, and still others just come and visit with her. As I said above, I follow her on Facebook, so I see the numerous comments which indicate that people want to be with her, and they cannot believe her joyful attitude. They come to catch the spirit she exudes when they are around. They want that spirit. They leave amazed. While the talents of physical therapists, God, her own efforts, and time work to heal her injury, she
continues to share her joy of living, her sunny spirit and the love of God to all who cross her path; and by their presence they provide love and care she so desperately needs. Here is a prayer which each of us can pray if we want to increase the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
"Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen" Author Unknown
Lyn Zolman Province VI President
For Reflection: The Practice of Walking on the Earth
Not everyone is able to walk, but most people can, which makes walking one of the most easily available spiritual practices of all. All it takes is the decision to walk with some awareness, both of who you are and what you are doing. Where you are going is not as important, however counterintuitive that may seem. To detach the walking from the destination is in fact one of the best ways to recognize the altars you are passing right by all the time. Most of us spend so much time thinking about where we have been or where we are supposed to be going that we have a hard time recognizing where we actually are. When someone asks us where we want to be in our lives, the last thing that occurs to us to look down at our feet and say, "Here, I guess, since this is where I am."
(Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World, page 56, 2009).
