Giving Thanks for His Grace

Many times throughout life I applauded myself for an array of accomplishments.  At some point along the way I learned that it was all by the grace of God.  I'm so thankful for this valuable lesson because it has changed my life. Giving thanks for His grace today and every day!  Happy Thanksgiving, all!

It's All About Jesus

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." Hebrews 13:15

Did you know that many pastors preach from the Book of Hebrews over the Thanksgiving holiday?  Hebrews 13:15 in particular is used to remind us to always thank God for the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us all.  Can't wait to dig into this chapter with Lisa Harper in Hebrews: The Nearness of King Jesus in 2014!  It's all about Jesus! #NearJesus

A New Chapter

I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to be a part of a new initiative by Lifeway Christian Ministries.  I'll be part of a team of social media enthusiasts that will help launch a new Bible Study by Lisa Harper called Hebrews: The Nearness of King Jesus.  I'm grateful to add intense and fun Bible Study to my Learn at Lunch activities.  I'll be blogging about the Bible Study over the next few weeks so I hope you'll join me on the journey!

Conservative Challenges in the 113th Congress

For this week's Learn at Lunch, I stopped by the Heritage Foundation to hear a lunch discussion by Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) on conservative challenges facing the 113th Congress.  Representative Scalise is chair of the Republican Study Committee, a "group of House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives."  I wanted to attend several events at Heritage for some time now.  They have great speakers and the forum topics are always relevant to the pressing issues of today.  I really wanted to see former Congressman Artur Davis' forum on educational opportunity during school choice week, but couldn't make it to that one in person.  The stars finally aligned and I was able to slip away during the lunch hour for this event. 

At the risk of it seeming like I've never run across a Learn at Lunch opportunity I didn't like, I would highly recommend checking out the Heritage Foundation for one of their forums.  It's no surprise that most of the conservative challenges cited were pretty much everything on the Democrats agenda.  But no matter your political persuasion, it's always engaging to listen to accomplished, smart people debate current issues.  If you're in D.C. and a wanna-be policy wonk like myself, you'll really be in for a treat.  It's also a pretty classy affair.  The event auditorium was lovely and they serve a great lunch afterwards.  I would definitely recommend checking out the events page to find a topic that interests you!

Bringing Information to the Masses 18th Century Style



Visiting the Freer and Sackler Smithsonian Museums of Asian Art have been top on my to do list for weeks. Unfortunately my work schedule kept getting in the way. When I heard about a tour of the Hand-Held: Gerhard Pulverer's Japanese Illustrated Books exhibit, which runs April 6 - August 11, 2013 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, I made a point to attend.  The exhibit contains a collection of printed Japanese books from the Edo period (1615-1868). 
 
It was a fascinating exhibit and tour led by Ann Yonemura, Senior Associate Curator of Japanese Art. Prior to mass printing books, Japan had a long history of illustrative narrative scrolls that were primarily available for the elite. Woodblock printing made books and information on a variety of topics available to everyone, much in the same way the internet does today. Printing started off slowly in Kyoto, the center for crafts and art, in the 17th Century and then took off and spread to other parts of Japan like Edo and Osaka.



The books are in amazing condition considering they are hundreds of years old.   I especially liked the color prints and couldn't believe how they retained their color over time. The books are arranged by subject, including literature, science, religion, landscaping, and travel.  There is even a little sample of "erotic" books (you might want to rush the little ones past those).

The entire exhibit will be available online one day, but its definitely worth seeing in person. It's amazing to see how these handmade books stood the test of time and get a little window into Japanese culture.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 

The Pocahontas Challenge

The Mitsitam Café at the National Museum of the American Indian is one of my favorite places to eat lunch in Washington, DC.  They serve traditional Native American dishes with the best ingredients (fresh vegetables, whole grains, etc.).  My desire to go back to the café put the American Indian museum at the top of my Learn at Lunch list. 

My lunch was excellent. I had a great time just looking at the dishes on display, but eventually settled on the mustard greens and acorn squash. Both dishes tasted like they were cooked in my own kitchen, except more flavorful. I love fresh, whole foods and it’s so rare to go out to eat and not worry about whether there are preservatives or fillers in your meal. The Mitsitam Café didn’t disappoint and it was only a five minute walk from my office.

After lunch, I had just enough time to check out a short exhibit on native Chesapeake residents.  I especially enjoyed the “Pocahontas Challenge,” an interactive question and answer segment designed to test your knowledge of Pocahontas’ life.  Although I only missed two out of twelve questions, it turns out I didn’t know that much about Pocahontas. I thought she served as a guide for early English settlers and knew that she had a special relationship with one, John Smith.  I didn’t know she actually married another English settler, John Rolfe.  Their marriage helped maintain peace between the English settlers in Virginia and native tribes for a few years.   Pocahontas, her husband and their son eventually went to England  where she served as a kind of Native American ambassador and even met with royalty.  She died on the journey back to the Americas.

History really doesn’t do the story of Pocahontas justice.  To be fair, I may not remember the details of my history classes that well and perhaps teachers taught a lot more about her than I can recall.  However, even movies seem to focus more on her relationship with John Smith.  I would be interested to learn more about the latter years of her life. Being in an interracial (perhaps political) marriage, assimilating, meeting with royalty...it all sounds fascinating.  Perhaps that will be the focus of an exhibit to come.

The Royal Butterfly Brooch

I stumbled across this Smithsonian Magazine blog post earlier this week regarding the Royal Butterfly Brooch by Cindy Chao, a Taiwanese jeweler. The brooch recently became the first piece by a Taiwanese artist to be included in the National Gem Collection. After reading about it, I couldn’t wait to visit the National History Museum to see the new addition.  The piece appeals to so many aspects of my personality, my love for Asian art, brooches, and my own Taiwanese heritage.  I thought it would be a great way to brighten an otherwise dull lunch hour.

The butterfly brooch seemed modest compared to some of the other pieces in the collection.  I was surprised to read that it weighed 77 carats and contained over 2,300 gems. I almost completely missed the four large diamonds that make up the flat panels of the butterfly’s wings.  A lot of other pieces in the collection were of course stunning to look at, but not something I could ever envision myself owning or wearing.  Many of them were originally owned by royalty and I'm sure were worn for extravagant, official ceremonies hundreds of years ago.  Even though Cindy Chao's pieces can range from $15,000 to $1 million, the brooch felt a little more relatable and less ostentatious.

I'm glad the Royal Butterfly Brooch is part of the National Gem Collection. The "wow" factor of 80 carat earrings is always fun, but it’s also nice to see more simple, classic beauty that people can envision wearing. I'm now an instant fan of Cindy Chao's work. Although, I'll probably never be able to afford one of her pieces, I hope to own something similar one day.