Yet Another Funeral -
I am ready for a couple of months with no funeral.
The one Thursday is an elderly man whom I visited once last month and was planning to visit again this week. Only he died before I could visit again.
It was unexpected. He was a gruff, salty kinda guy with fuzzy memories that Alzheimer's brings. I didn't even know about him 'til middle to late January, when his SIL called and mentioned he could use a visit. I've been visiting that nursing home for over a year and nobody told me. Course, he hasn't darkened the church probably for 30 or more years. His daughter remembers coming to church when she "was little."
I'm beginning to feel like an angel of death. Most everyone I've visited in the nursing homes have died and some I visited at home.
I'm beginning to feel scared to visit to visit the homebound and the last remaining one in the nursing home, for fear it won't be long until they too, pass away and join the church triumphant.
I'll be known as the interim who brought death to members rather than life. I've lost more members than have been gained during this interim.
That's probably happened in most every church I've served.
It's not that I haven't reached out and spent time ministering to non-members. They just haven't joined. It also seemed that every visitor to whom I sent a note thanking them for worshipping with us and an invitation to call me, should they have a need, was never met by someone joining the church. All the members who have joined did so, by the invitation of a member of the church.
In my 26 years of ministry, that's not much of a track record. But, I know, that in some ways, I have brought Christ a little closer to them in their time of need. The rest, of course, is in God's hands. I am not an evangelist by any stretch of the imagination, although, I do tell the good news of Jesus Christ in my preaching, in my praying, in my visiting the lonely and the homebound and the sick, in the confirmation class, etc.
I just don't appreciate this mantle of the harbringer of death I seem to be wearing lately. It is unsettling, unnerving.
Just a couple months more and I pray onto a new place to serve...May I bring life and the promise of new life into this week, into the funeral, into wherever I will be blessed to serve next.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE: SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

For today's Friday Five, please share with us five spiritual practices or disciplines from your experience. They can be ones that you have tried and kept up with, tried and NOT kept up with, ones that you flirt with at various times, or even practices that you have tried and found are definitely NOT your cup of tea. Let us know what's worked for you...and not.

1. Lectio Divina -
although I don't engage in lectio every time I study the Bible, it
has been a most helpful spiritual practice. I find that I read the
Bible text slower on Sunday mornings in the pulpit as well which I
believe congregations have appreciated. When done in a group, it is
even more meaningful for me as the passages expand in greater depth,
significance and meaning.

2. Daily Examen - opps, it should be daily, but I admit that it isn't
always daily. I find it helps me to know where I was close to God that
day, to thank God, and to confess where I missed the mark, and what
lead me away from God.

3. The Jesus Prayer - this is one I engage with from time to time. It was
a great struggle for me to pray this prayer as I was too focused on
getting the phrasing correct. However, when I heard the prayer set to
music, it opened up for me. Now, when I pray the Jesus prayer, I put to
the music I heard it set to in my head. That works for me.

4. Labyrinth - this has been a wonderful way for me to pray with my body
and has centered me. I don't often get the chance to walk it any more.
I have had some incredible prayer experiences when I walked the
labyrinth. It never ceases to totally amaze me.

5. Spontaneous Prayer - my most active practice. More times a day than
sometimes I can count. A quick prayer of intercession for someone, a
thank-you for something I have noticed, felt, or was given, or a word of
adoration. From the mundane to the sacred in the moment, I speak them
to God. And as Meister Eckhart has pointed out, if giving thanks is
all we do, than that is prayer enough.

POLE DANCING FOR JESUS -
Is anyone else somewhat disturbed by this new trend of church ladies pole dancing to Christian music?
Quite frankly, there's something really disgusting about it and I can't help but ponder what our Lord must be thinking, shaking his head side-to-side, his heart aching, thinking this is NOT bringing me any glory whatsoever.
Why do you need a pole to dance your faith any way? Isn't it more freeing not to be "tied" to a pole and let your spirit and body move freely?
Wouldn't it please Jesus more if you danced your way through life, sharing his love, feeding the hungry, visiting the imprisoned, comforting the sick, clothing the naked, etc.?
There is a difference between something sensual and something sexual. Pole dancing falls in the latter. Prayer and images, meditation and dancing can be sensual without being sexual.
Pole dance for your husband, if you must or will. But, please, don't do it for Jesus.
Just wondering if I'm the only one who finds it sullying, and just plain, out-of-place or have I turned into a I just-don-t get-it, middle-aged frump?

Seven years last fall, I planted hope one afternoon. In the dirt of the front flowerbeds, I put in crocus, tulip and daffodil bulbs. Today, with the crocuses blooming which have every year multiplied, I am the first in the neighborhood to have something blooming and a splash of color. Such a simple thing and now, all who pass by can see them and I enjoy and delight in them.
This spring, I am looking for hope. For something new to spring up for LH and I. I suppose it would mean moving and I will have to leave my beloved meadow with the open view of the sky behind. I will have to leave my gingko, my perenials - grape hyacinths, coneflowers, siberian iris, brown-eyed susans, bee balm, baby's breath and butterfly bush behind. I hope the next owners will enjoy them.
I hope that something will come forth for us; new life, a place to serve, a place to call home and live together, a backyard for our greys. I hope it is not too much to ask or to hope for.
Will the hope I planted in my heart from the Word of God, take root and bloom this year? May it be so. May it be so.

SPRING IS HERE!!!!
How do I know? The crocuses are busting out in beautiful purple blooms with orange centers. Just gorgeous amid a brown and empty landscape! Even the honeybees are out sampling the first blooms of spring. Vibrant, wonderful, glorious color!!!

BACK ON-LINE!
Yikes, the computer modem went out at the church and I spent a long afternoon with two different tech support people, plus our local computer magician only to find out that our modem went bad. So, a new modem had to get shipped and then another 1 1/2 hours on the phone with tech support again to get the modem to register.
All this for a little box with a bunch of cables plugged into it.
Couldn't check my email all week or look up anything. Felt disconnected.
Nothing like a little black box with cables hooked up that makes the magic of the internet appear on your screen and connect you with the larger world.
I can't even begin to imagine how disconnected the people of Japan are feeling in the midst of such a horrific disaster and nuclear crisis. My prayers are with the grieving, suffering, anxious, fearful, overwhelmed people of Japan. The images were surreal and yet all too real. And one's heart aches at the enormity of it all.
I am slowly, ever gently having to disconnect from my time here as the PNC is close to finding a new pastor. My time is getting shorter and I will need to find another position, another place to serve. Sometimes, it seems my future is as bleak looking as some of the folks and areas of Japan. Yet, I press on, trusting that somehow, someway, God will provide and open something up for us.
This living on the edge of nonexistence, this teetering on-the-edge-of-a-plate life is wearing thin, has zapped my energy, my imagination, and has broken me. All I can do is bring the fragments to the Potter who can heal and make whole. All I can do is seek the wee flicker of light in this dark night of my soul. All I can do is pray to the Great Silence, and wait and trust.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE: ALL ABOUT CARS

Maybe it's just me, but I often remember how long ago someting occured or something about it by recalling the car we had at the time. For today's Friday Five, tell us about the cars in your life.Specifically, tell us about:

1. The earliest recollection you have of a family car -

It was a pinkish beige Chrysler, early 1960's with a bit of a fin and
slanted front headlights. It had a clear plastic covering over the
seats that had tiny raised triangles on it that left imprints on your
bare legs. Of course it was hot in the summer and you stuck to it and
cold in the winter. There weren't any seat belts as I recall nor did
we have car seats. The front and back were bench seats.

2. The first car you drove when you could (legally) get behind the wheel yourself. -

That would be when our family had two cars and our second car was a stripped down 1972/73 Ford Maverick, with plastic flooring, only an AM radio and my sister and Mom shared it.
Later I shared it with them. The family car was a Chrysler Newport -
brown, as long as the Queen Mary, which I had to wash and wax. I also
drove that one, but preferred the smaller, easier to park Maverick.
The last year we had the Maverick ($3,000.00 brand new)I drove it
commuting to our nearby community college. It had no heat any more
and I wrapped myself in a wool blanket. The backseat floor behind
the driver's seat was soft - rusted through and you couldn't put
anything heavy like grocery bags on it!

3. A memorable road trip -

Wow, there were so many. Perhaps, the most memorable were in my Dodge
Charger that my folks got me when I graduated from Seminary. Also,
a bare bones car that had AM/FM radio, but no A/C. It was grey 1984
model. I had a sunroof put in to help ventilate in summer. I drove
400 miles every other weekend from OH to IL to be with my husband
LH. That was during the summer of 1988. The summer of the hot drought.
I'd arrive in IL and hit the shower just to cool off and wash the
dusty road grime off of me. Two weeks before our first anniversary,
we actually moved in together in OH. I also vowed never again to own a
car without A/C!!!

4. The car you drive now. Love it? Hate it? -

I am on my third Dodge minivan and I do love it. Room enough to haul
all my stuff, especially living away from home again. Plus, it
accomodates our two greys. The middle bench is stored away in the
basement and so anyone sitting on the back bench has plenty of leg
room. I love my perch and view while driving. Just wish it had a
moonroof.

5. An interesting story that involves you and a vehicle. (No, I do not have a dirty mind!)-

We had Dad's old company car early 1980's Mercury Cougar, 4 door
sedan, Ivory cream color shipped to Switzerland and stored at my
Grandma's (who never learned to drive). Whenever we went over, we
had a car available to us. We went over quite often. During the
summer of 1983, when I interned at a church 2 towns over from my
Grandma's I had use of the car for the summer. When I went to see
the church for the first time on a Sat. there was a wedding. I was
told by some guest who pointed by church and said park down there.
I took them literally, and found myself driving down stairs toward
the church and found a little alley to turn into. I was mortified
as onlookers watched a crazy American driving a "big" American
car down the steps!!!! The car survived with nary a scratch. I was
very shaken!!!
When LH and I made our honeymoon to Switzerland 5 years later, we
drove the old Cougar and decided one day to take the most direct and
shortest route from a resort village to another bigger town. The road
on the map was a thin yellow line. OK, so it was a small road.
However, part way across the hill, we were stopped by the military
who said they were "shooting a little" that day. I said we were just
passing through to the one town. He radioed to suspend shooting til
we were through and waved us on. A little ways later, the road turned
to gravel and then just two dirt tracks through meadow. After 10-
15 minutes it became a narrow one lane road again. Needless to say,
we took the longer, wider road home that evening. I put that old
Cougar through a lot, and it survived, by the grace of God!!!

Despite the above stories, I am a very good driver and have miles and
miles to prove it!

Bonus: What's your idea of good "car music?"

Usually "oldies": Beach Boys, Styx, America, Supertramp, Carole King,
Manhattan Transfer, Gordon Lightfoot, Bare Naked
Ladies, Simon & Garfunkel, The Cars and a good
oldies station. Quite an ecclectic mix!!!

A Blessed Lent -
LH told me he heard the trill of the red-winged blackbird in the meadow behind our house. Although, he didn't see them, he heard them. They have a rather distinctive call. The first sign of spring around these here parts is not the robin, which often spends the winter here, but the red-winged blackbird.
The crocuses are pushing up as are the hyacinths, daffodils and tulips, but the crocuses will bloom first.
Lent begins this year not in the tight-fisted clasp of winter but in the opening hand of spring, ready to receive new life.
Most in our culture and society pay no attention to this sacred season of Lent. It comes and goes without much notice, except for the bunnies, baskets and bags of jelly beans and candy.
I find I need Lent, to offer up the deadness, finiteness of my life, to empty out the accumulated stuff I gather in a year within me and to be more intentional in prayer, in reading scripture, in time with my Lord. I need to be drawn into the passion of Christ and to be touched once again by a sacrifice of love so great, that I am here, alive, and counted as one who is loved and belongs to God, no matter how flawed I am or how grimed with sin I become. It was for me, my Lord suffered and died. It was for you he bore such pain and death. It was for the whole of creation, yes, even the ones who walk through these Lenten weeks oblivious, that the Beloved One emptied himself on the cross and endured the anguish he did, so that you would someday know how very beloved you are.
Wake up world! Wake up people! Leave your shallowness and superficial living behind and come, come and journey these Lenten to the ugly, awful cross and know a love so amazing and astounding that you will be made whole and all that you seek in the trivialities in life, but which never satisfy, will fill you to overflowing and you will want no more.
Blessed be this season of Lent to you.
I will eventually make it home to hear the trill of the red-winged blackbird and to crocuses blooming, and the cup of my being will overflow for the grace and gift of this blessed and glorious holy season.

PREPARING FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

This was a dual personality week - working on Transfiguration Sunday and the mountain high of Jesus dazzling and sparkling and recalling all those wonderful holy moments and encounters with God in my life and then transitioning to the solemn and somber Ash Wednesday where we encounter our mortality and sinfulness. From mountaintop to valley in seconds and hours.
I want to stay on the mountain but know I am called to serve in the valley.
I have made my list of items to bring for Ash Wednesday. I had been mulling over the idea of having a paper shredder and slips of paper where folks could write down and pray their sins and then send the paper through the shredder. A visual reminder that are sins are swallowed up, shredded, destroyed, gone in the grace and saving death of Jesus Christ.
When I went to big office store #1, shredders began at $50.00 to nearly $300.00. Way out of my price range. So, I let the idea go and planned a very simple, traditional service.
During the week, I worked on Lenten bookmarks - hoping folks will use them as they spend more time in scripture reading, meditation and prayer. I had to go to Basic Office Store to run copies off on card stock. I also wanted to pick up three more pens made from recycled water bottles. (Did you know that gel ink doesn't freeze like ball point pen ink? I was able to write with the one stored in my van to record mileage without any problem all winter long! Consider this a free tip of the day!!!)
As I headed to the checkout, what should my eye behold? An entire display stack of shredders for $19.99. It was serendipitious! God was calling me to go ahead and work with it. So, I returned to church aglow with the shredder in the back of the van.
On the drive back, it occurred to me that I would need to have some scripture, directions, prayer and assurance of forgiveness, besides slips of paper and pens & pencils. So, I wagged my finger at God, and said, "You are a sly One! Just when I gave up the whole idea, You present it and tell me to run with it. Only I haven't worked it all out! Thanks, a bunch, Lord!"
I have learned to pay attention to such moments. They don't happen by mere chance and God and God's Holy Spirit have been behind them all, directing me, leading me, teaching me. They are wonderful grace-filled moments, mountaintop moments of a more mundane nature, but nonetheless, an ordinary thing made alive with possibility. Who would ever think a shredder could have such a holy use? God takes the simple, ordinary, mundane thing and transform it into something more and greater or a way to point to God's Own Self.
It humbles me every time. And amazes me every time.

We Were Supposed To -
We were supposed to go and get our taxes done on Friday. That was the plan. We had scheduled the time. Made the appointment. Winter had something else in mind. Winter is not leaving without a fight. Winter came overnight and most of the morning long, covering everything in white. So much so, at times you could barely see across the street. The wind gusted and blew and we knew, we did. We were not going anywhere.
At least, not until LH fired up the snowthrower and the wind abated and the snowplow would come through. LH made it out the grocery store late Friday afternoon.
I did my laundry, my mending, my pulling items for the children's sermon, and locating items for Ash Wednesday, playing Solitare on the computer, when I should have been working.
One more snow day before winter ends. Of course, March has been known to bring a storm or two.
And today, after two days of warmer weather and rain, the snow is nearly all melted. Come and gone so quickly and disturbing our careful plans.
This coming Friday, we are supposed to go and get our taxes done...We will try again!

SOMETHING FOR SUNDAY -

"Worry is like a rocking chair;
it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere."
Erma Bombeck

I've stopped worrying about tomorrow because it made me too ill and paralyzes me. I am learning to trust God more without knowing what tomorrow will bring or where I'll be or what LH will be doing. It's so beyond our control at this point, I can do no other than to simply trust God as hard as it is, especially, when I think there must be something I can do. Sometimes, you have to simply trust God and keep praying.
I cannot concieve of not having health insurance - but it may happen. I cannot conceive of not having an income - but it may happen.
Trusting God is so very difficult at times. But it helps to know that I am inscribed on God's palms and not forgotten. I cling to that. That God has not forgotten us.
And so, I will not worry about tomorrow, I have enough to deal with today.

JAUNTY -
Hard to think of my staid, middle aged, workhorse minivan as jaunty. But today, after our major snowfall, it sported a jaunty mohawk look. Covered in a good 5 inches of snow, I worked for 15 minutes sweeping the snow off the windows, the fenders, the hood of the van, and even managed to reach the edges of the luggage rack going the length of the van. I am too short to reach or go beyond that. I then had to scrape off the windshield.
I parked her in the church parking lot under a blue sky with sunshine. And she looked rather jaunty and sporty with the snow piled inches tall on her roof and cleared off everywhere else.
Alas, it only lasted this morning, as the sun now is beginning to radiate some heat and has partially melted the mohawk.
But there for a time, my minivan looked jaunty!

Birthday Eve -
Tomorrow will be another birthday. I am thankful to enjoy another birthday, just not so sure about going deeper into my 50's. It is as it is, and I am ever amazed at how the years have zipped by. Each year even faster.
I don't think I get as much done or accomplished as I used to.
My life is structured by the seasons of the church year and plays out Sunday to Sunday. Although, this past year, there is an undertone of Thursdays to Thursdays, since I get to go home.
This year, my birthday falls on my day off! WhooYoo! And it doesn't fall in Lent! WhooYoo! It would be a great year to party! Think I'll settle for a dinner out with LH and a frozen adult beveridge for dessert and if LH is thinking, some chocolate cupcake with a candle on it.
For the most part, I am simply grateful to be able to wake up in my own bed next to LH and to be in the company of greyhounds. Now, that's the best B-Day present ever!
In the meanwhile, I'll just have to get used to being this age and pray that there are many more birthdays to celebrate ahead of me. And that this year will bring some new adventure and fresh good changes. That is my prayer, that is my wish. To do more than merely exist, to live as I was created to live, fully, deeply and at one with my God.

WESTMINSTER - THE DOG SHOW, NOT THE CATHEDRAL

Although, I always root for the greyhound, last night, I was rooting for the golden retriever (after the Deerhound, of course). Goldens and Labs are the most popular dogs, yet Goldens have never won. If there would be a Hall of Fame for dogs, Goldens should be in. They are great dogs as a whole. Good all around family dog, therapy and service dog, and usually with great personalities.
I also liked the Weimeraner. Thought it was a great looking dog.
For fun I like the Puli and Kommondor.
It was no surprise to me to see a Pekingese, the cocker spaniel or the Porteguese Water Dog (I am amazed it didn't win due to the President owning one). They are close if not some of the usual picks. The PBGV and Dandididmont are always culled from their groups.
I'm waiting for the Rhodesian Ridgeback, The Golden Retriever, and The Greyhound to win.
It is a really politcal, who knows who sort of sport.
But they are all really great and wonderful dogs and it's fun to watch them. Sometimes I wonder how the judge can make a decision when they have a whole collection of such fantastic dogs before them. I know each breed has meet their conformation, but really, didn't all those dogs look great?
In the end, we all have our favorite breeds and hopefully, make our home with one.
I figure my boys won't ever win any dog show as they are ex-racers, but they place best in show in my heart. Jett is so good looking and proportioned he could almost make a dog show. Jazz, alas, is pure racer, compact, sturdy, boney, bow-legged but with a face that melts your heart.
And that's all it's about in the end. Love your hounds and let them love you. They are a delight and a comfort, a gift of grace and joy.
No, my boys aren't show dogs, but they are living their second chance at life, with creature comforts of doggie beds, couch, knitted afghan, food and dinner scraps in their dishes, milkbones aplenty, a yard to run and romp around in, someone to care for, rub them and love them. What more is there?
They don't need bows on their heads (not enough fur), they won't ever been seen in any kind of outfit or get-up, their nails are not painted. They are as they are, just like God made them and more than satisfied and content.
Jett and Jazz, you're my best in show.
And congrats to the Scottish Deerhound, who actually won. One down and three on my list to go!!!!!

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED?
I bought a new blouse this past week, a kind of early birthday present.
Maybe, I just wanted something springy to look forward to amid all the ice and snow packed down and somewhat grimey, grey, yucky and black.
It had buttons down the placket and on the cuffs.
I also bought a 3/4 length sleeve shirt with shell-like buttons along its V-neck.
I washed them according to the label instructions:
the v-neck shirt I washed inside out, cold water, gentle cycle. When the washer was done, I pulled out the shirt. Two buttons were completely off and at least two others were dangling by a thread. Actually, since there were sewn on continuous thread and not sown on separately, when one goes, the next is affected and in time, all will be affected.
the blouse I washed cold water, regular cycle. When the washer was done and I hung the blouse to dry, lo and behold, the bottom button was missing. I looked and reached in the washer and there was the small button, busted. The middle of the button looked like a doughnut or bagel one hole in the middle instead of 4 tiny holes.
Please note, neither shirt had ever been worn. They had been washed only one time for the first time.
I spent part of my weekend, resewing buttons.
I have spent a lot of time resewing buttons in recent years.
Have you noticed that clothing manufacturers run thread into the buttons to attach them to the garment but there are no real knots. Which means, of course, that the buttons will come off in now time at all. Thankfully, they often include an extra button.
However, in the case of my blouse (light blue with blue and sage green splattered dots), I had to use the extra button to replace the one that broke in the wash. It would've been nice to wear the shirt at least once.
If another button breaks, I will have to go to the fabric store and replace all buttons, because I am sure I won't find an exact match.
Have you all noticed the loose button situation with your clothing?
Annoying isn't it?
Thank goodness, I do know how to sew on a button. Now if the clothing manufacturers could figure it out, that would be even better.

The Sound of the Thaw
It was a sound that really was music to my ears-
It startled me when I heard it
for my ears have not beheld that sound in many, many weeks,
even months.
There is a Zen-like quality to the sound that reaches down
into one's very soul
and awakens it.
It's trickling, tinkling sound spoke to me, gladdened my heart and spirit
filled me with hope and long did I listen that Sunday morning at
church and then at home in the afternoon and evening when the
sky was blue and pink.
Ahh, the sound of melting snow running in streams through the gutters
and into the downspout, harkening, laughing, the thaw has come,
the thaw has come...
Can spring be far behind?
What a luscious sound I heard on Sunday
of ice and snow melting into a melody all its own.
The thaw has come serenading us with music!

Sometimes -
sometimes I feel so out of touch
out of place
old
inadequate
weary
ready to retire
uninspired
like I missed the train
uncertain
yet somehow loved in and through and by it all
by a love so deep and true that even when I feel
it not, or doubt it, it is there...ever there
and I make it through another day and another week
held in a love as vast as the universe yet often
invisible, nearly undetectable...but ever there.

MONDAY THOUGHTS -
Snow has begun to fall again, here. Light, tiny flakes that aren't yet sticking to the walkways or streets. It will, before the evening falls. Another arctic blast will descend and it will be bitterly cold. The sky is a light grey and we've had two days of sunshine, maybe three in the whole month of January.
One of our elderly homebound says the walls are beginning to close in on her! Cabin fever!
A reminder to me how important it is to stop in and check on folks within the congregation. To make the time for a visit. It doesn't always need to be a visit with deep theological discussion, just to be there, to make time for that person, to pray for them and with them, to inquire about how they're feeling, to break up the monotony of their day or week. To genuinely want to spend some time with them and to share news they hadn't heard through e-mail or because they weren't in church Sunday.
I feel several visits coming on this week. It is good for me and for them and keeps us all connected in a very personal way, which the computer can't do.
So the grace of these cold, snowy, icy days are the warmth of connections between one another and the maintaining of relationships within the fold. It makes the last weeks of winter more bearable.

BRRRRR......
It's a cold one today but the sky is blue and the sun is shining.
After the ice coated and encrusted everything, it began to rain overnight. On Wednesday morning, as I was ready to leave for the church, the secretary called and said the church had no power. Wouldn't be able to do a thing!
I looked at the rickety wooden steps and handrail which were just wet and no longer encased in ice and sighed.
I plugged in the old laptop and worked on my sermon and prayers. By late morning,the temp had dropped dramatically and the wind was blowing unmercifully.
By 5 pm the cable had been restored and I could catch the news. I had been playing the radio so I wasn't totally in the dark.
I was thankful for the old laptop and that my part of the town hadn't lost power.
Today it is just really, really cold.
Playing catch-up to get every ready for Sunday and I get to leave at noon to go home today!!! I would've preferred being snowed/iced in at home with my boys, but the quiet keep me from distractions and helped me to get my sermon done.
All of a sudden, salt has taken on more meaning - salt that thaws the frozen from their fear, anxiety or despair, that melts the iced hardness of bitterness and hatred, etc.
I pray that power will continue to be restored to all still without heat and light. Although, my space heaters aren't much, there still give heat and keep it in the 60's.
May we, Midwesterners be salt and light especially now, and every day.
As we reflect on the gift of salt and light, our need of salt and light, may we more fully become the salt and light to which Christ calls us and to a world sore in need of both.

THE ICE COMETH -
This morning was all about asking; will I be able?
Will I be able to go down the rickety wooden steps from the apartment
without slipping? The landlord salted the steps, but the wooden handrail
was coated in ice, not much of a help.
Will I make it to my ice encased van, without slipping or falling?
Will I be able to open the van door and start the van?
Will I be able to even scrape some of the 1/8-1/4 inch thick ice off
the van? (Yes, as the van heated up I was able to scrape several
windows but not before breaking the scraper off my snow brush and using
this little black plastic scraper to do it all. I stopped on the way to the church and got a new scraper at the corner gas station!
Will I be able to get enough traction to even back out of my parking spot?
Will I make it the church okay?
Will I be able to pull into the skating rink, aka - the parking lot - at the church?
Will I be able to make it from the van to the church entrance without
mishap?
Obviously, I made it, one half hour, sore shoulder later. No one is here.
The meals-on-wheels group cancelled - no meals made or delivered today and probably not tomorrow. The secretary couldn't make it in either.
Now the questions reform as I hope to make it back to the apartment for
lunch and back to the office before the next round, even nastier than this one, comes.
Ice really cripples us. The schoolchildren and teachers rejoice - no school! The elderly and frail snuggle in at home, content to stay in where it is warm and cozy and familiar. The rest of us, are out making our way slowly and gingerly through the world, at least today. Tomorrow will be another story.

RGBP'S Fave Verses Friday Five:

For today's Friday Five, list your five favorite passages/verses from the Bible and tell us something about why you love them.

1. He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
Had to translate this passage from the Hebrew and contains such a wonderful image of faith, of what God wants, desires, expects of me.

2. Isaiah 35:3, & 8:
After my knee operation, I like that God will make firm my feeble
knees and will build a highway for God's people where not even fools
shall go astray. I find great comfort that I, as a fool, and foolish
though I am, will not go astray.

3. Psalm 149:5 "Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy
on their couches."
Mmmm...I can love and praise God even from the comfort of my couch!

4. Matt. 22:37-39:
It really doesn't get much simpler than that. That's all I need to
do with my life - Love God with all my being and love my neighbor
as myself. It's also one of the hardest things to do. Therein lies
both the blessing and the challenge.

5. Matt. 28: 20 "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age."
That whether I feel Christ's presence or not, he indeed is with
me to the end. As I am nearing the end of my 51st year and will
be greeting my 52nd birthday, it's nice to know that as one age
ends and another begins, yet Christ is there! Well, that's for
fun! The great comfort is knowing Christ is with us until the
end of time. Always, ever. It's a promise that Christ keeps.

ANOTHER -
Another week, another funeral, another sermon, and since it's the end of the month, another newsletter article, and another week short of a day off.
Sigh. I am funeraled out. Just two this month. But trying to figure out what to say that I haven't already said or finding yet another way to say it. I am tired and weary.
I will be sore as I had to get a couple moles removed and one in a tender spot.
Maybe, I should call it a day and begin anew and afresh in God's mercy and grace tomorrow.
Sounds like a plan to me!

Ever Notice -
that once your car has been in an accident and repaired, it's just not the
same it was before? Maybe the differences are really noticeable or more
perhaps, more subtle. But, somehow you sense, see, feel, it is just not
as it was before.
or
when you have your computer cleaned and you have to re-enter short-
cuts, favorite places and a whole of host of other things, and it
is different than it was before.
or
after some surgeries, although you are better and good to go, you
may not be back to "normal" and you are or feel different. Then you
begin a new normal.
I wonder how different I will be, what my new normal will be like after this dark night ends. I do not know. But I do know that I can trust God and however, this may unfold, God will be there as always and will guide me. As silent as God now is, I know God is still there and holding me in God's care. May the light of Epiphany illumine my way and be the tiny glow in the deep dark.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - BOOKS!



So tell us what you're reading, what you would and would not recommend--five books or authors! And if you don't want to do that freestyle, here are some questions:

1. What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them.
Gunilla Norris' The Mystical Garden. Lovely little book that looks at
gardening and compares it to the garden of our soul. Still in process
of reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

2. What books are awaiting your available time to be read?
Paradoxology by Miriam Therese Winter, Fields of Compassion by Judy Cannato, Roots and Wings by Margaret Silf

3. Have any books been recently recommended?
Nope, just the ones that have caught my interest.

4. What genre of books are your favorite, along with some titles and/or authors you like best?
I really liked Jan Karon's The Mitford Series. I have enjoyed and
am awaiting the next installment of the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency
series by Alexander McCall Smith. I enjoy novels that aren't
depressing (to balance the tragedy we deal with in ministry) and are
uplifting and easy reads, since I read much ministry related items.
5. What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend? (or to condemn?)
See above. Plus, Living with Purpose in A Worn-Out Body by Missy
Buchanon,a devotional for older folks.

FIRE ALARM
Thankfully, there was no fire at the church. The men, who were renovating the women's restroom downstairs, were power-sawing trim (door frame, chair rails and new windowsill) and the dust caused the fire alarm to go off.
We had to call the Fire Department to cancel the call and the secretary looked up the code to the fire alarm box. The noisey alarm was annoying, but we were grateful that it was merely the wood dust and not a fire.
It was so cold yesterday (today and tomorrow as well) that the funeral home cancelled going to the cemetery for the committal which I did in the funeral home. The luncheon had to be served sooner at the church but it all came together beautifully. The luncheon was planned for 60 and there were only about 30. I am sure the cold weather and 4-5 inches of snowfall the day and night before, kept some folks away.
All's well that ends well.

WHERE I'VE BEEN -
Right here, preparing for yet another funeral, annual report, annual congregational prayers and remarks and being without a computer for two days. Yes, it had to get debugged. It froze up and that as they say was that. Right at the end of my funeral sermon that I was at the point of saving. Thank you very much! Had to rewrite the whole thing and it turned out somewhat different than the first.
Nothing more infuriating. It put me out for a couple hours afterward. Although, the men are working on renovating the women's restroom downstairs, there was nothing to demolish. That had all ready been done. More's the pity!!! I was ready to bash something in or pound something.
As it was, I eventually went to lunch and then worked on Sunday's sermon and made a visit. I didn't work on the funeral sermon again until the next morning. By then I was calm and ready to tackle it once more.
The funeral will be tomorrow, my day off. It figures. And it will take the whole day. A snowstorm is expected this afternoon and tonight with a few inches and bitterly cold. I'll have to leave home earlier tomorrow morning, calling hours are from noon to 1 pm, the service at 1 pm with the committal and luncheon afterwards. I probably won't stay at the luncheon for long but it will be about 4 pm by the time I get home and I may have to leave around 10 am that morning.
Will be back in town, Sat. evening for Sunday service with annual meeting, so a longer day Sunday as well.
The consolation is that I can leave early today, run to the grocery store, fill up the gas tank, do some laundry, and get my hair cut. Hope I can squeeze it all in this afternoon.
The other consolation is that we had a good Session meeting yesterday evening. The PNC is hard at work and it probably won't be long until they find their new pastor.
Time to update my dossier - just not this hectic weekend.
The fire alarm just started beeping....gotta go!

It Was To Be -
a week of meetings, all of which were cancelled due to snow and the hazardous roads. Perhaps, in this part of the country, we get use to having to cancel a meeting due to snowy conditions or roads. All the committee members are giving a sigh of relief, that they get a night in that they hadn't planned. The church will not come to a grinding halt because the committees didn't meet this month. We will keep on functioning and pick up and go on.
I was able to make dinner rather than just microwave a frozen dinner. Finally, ate that frozen pork chop and fish. Kind of normal and nice.
So, my schedule changed from what was to be to what it became and it was good, all right, okay. Some things are not worth fighting.
Perhaps, this dark night was also to be and not worth fighting, but living into it, seeing the goodness of it, and still being thankful. It has been such a struggle. But I haven't come to a grinding halt and will keep on functioning and go on. I would like it to be so different, mind you. However, I will continue to be taught, to learn from this dark night.
I will keep reading, praying, trusting even when it runs as thin as fiber optic strands.
It was to be -

WEEKEND HAPPENINGS -
The weekend went by far too quickly - laundry, banking, grocery shopping, a run to the fabric store for thread, stop in the license office for new license plates, more laundry, cooking dinner, doing dishes, feeding the Boys, rubbing the Boys, shortening the sleeve length on a top, oil change, tire rotation and new rear wiper blade arm.
I didn't get everything done. I pulled out my birth certificate to make a copy of it for my children's sermon. I remembered my Mom and Dad, read through my Baby Book which is not very long and lingered over the pictures and wondered where the time went and how fast it all goes by. I am astounded that my Mom had put a picture of my cousin in place of mine. It doesn't even really look like me. She probably forgot to put her glasses on!!!
I did notice that Mom wrote that I loved to read and that the skits and poems I prepared for Christmas Eve were always welcome and that my gifts in these areas made that time of year and our celebrations more special. I had not remembered her writing that. It was nice to receive and read that affirmation. We received so little of it growing up. The Germanic "ok, but know that you could do it even better next time."
Guess I always felt my Mom never understood me or knew what to do with me - too much like my Dad and his side of the family, rebellious, creative, reading and writing, sometimes crafting, coming up with hare-brained ideas! I was not the tidy, little, hausfrau who kept everything clean and neat.
But here she wrote that she did indeed appreciate my gifts. And that has warmed my heart in these cold days of winter as I contemplate another birthday next month. So, perhaps, I wasn't what she expected from her daughter, but she noticed and appreciated the gifts I had. That's worth everything! Thanks, Mom. I know you hear me still and I know you can feel my thanks and gratitude rising up to heaven. And I know you still laugh whenever I take on a sewing project and it takes me longer than it ever would take you, or I have to mull it over how best to tackle it, when you knew just by looking at something what and how it needed to be done.
But thanks for your words of affirmation when I really needed to hear them.
So, for a busy weekend, there was time to reconnect with who I was, and the loved ones in my life and those I still miss so very much.

Revgalblogpal Friday Five: Holiday Redux Edition


And so partly to give us all a record and partly to give us all a chance to reflect on the 2010 Holiday Season now that we are out of it, I ask you this:

1) What food item was one of your favorites this year - a definite keeper?
The Zopf - a traditional Swiss bread- I make every year. Turned out
really great this year and always a way to greet Christmas morning.
2) Was there a meal or party or a gathering that stands out in your mind from this mose recent holiday season?
Nope, no gatherings this year or any special meals. Maybe, just the
evenings I was home to have dinner with LH.
3) Were you involved in a jaw-dropper gift? Were you the giver or recipient or an on-looker?
The gift from the congregation was overwhelming. LH gave me
a pair of earrings by Sheila Fleet - a Scottish jewelry designer.
You can check out her collections at Sheila Fleet on the internet.
4) Was there at least one moment where you experienced true worship?
That would have been when the choir sang and during communion.
Had a small manger set up on the communion table the 4th Sun. of
Advent with some straw in it. On Christmas Eve, I wrapped a
loaf of bread in white linen and laid the loaf in the manger.
It was just lying in the manger as folks arrived. When it came
time for communion, after the invitation & Great Prayer of
Thanksgiving and Lord's Prayer, I unwrapped the bread and broke
it. I think folks understood visually the impact of God's gift of
in Jesus and in Jesus gift of love, of himself, for us.
5) What is at least one thing you want to make sure you do next year?
I'd like to do communion again that way Christmas Eve.
It was nice to have LH with me and his company for the drive in
and back home again. Made it even more special.
BONUS: What is something you absolutely must remember to do differently... or not at all!
To not live apart and to actually put a Christmas again.
OR: If you just want to sum it all up in a few words, that will work too.
Whether you play these questions exactly or something similar, please let us know by leaving a link in the comments section. We'll be sure to come around and read about your memories from December of 2010.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A PARISH PASTOR IN JANUARY WHEN -
...you start your New Year off with a funeral
...you're working on your annual report
...you're preparing for the annual congregational meeting
...you're constantly preparing for Sunday and working on yet another sermon
...all the committees that didn't meet in December are all on the calendar
for January
...you're still tired from Advent & Christmas
...there's still 3 days of Christmas left to catch up on visits
...the heat goes out, the boiler breaks down, the furnace dies on
the coldest day (usually a Sat. night to affect Sunday worship)
...you explain the "mystery" of per capita once again (only us,
Presbyterians)
Welcome to 2011!! Welcome to a New Year!!
Blessings to all who are serving our churches.
May your words challenge and comfort, build up rather than tear down,
inspire and encourage, remind and strengthen. May grace flow through you to touch, transform and change the ones you meet. May love be in all you do and say. May peace take root and grow within you. May hope be the heels that support you and keep you in all you will encounter and all that will unfold. And look ever to the Light that shines before you and all around you, even in the midst of dark nights and bright days. Be blessed this year.

END OF THE YEAR -
There's always a bit of sadness to see another year come to an end. It seems to happen quicker ever since turning 50. I am sad this year for what hasn't happened and come to be yet in our lives. LH still searching for a position and I living an hour from home. Granted, things could be worse - I could be further from home.
But this is the first time I can remember feeling sad over what hasn't happened rather than what has happened in the year past.
Perhaps losing FIL right before Christmas also plays into this sadness somewhat.
I am not sure how to greet this new year, with trepidation, I imagine. Since 2010 was disappointing in some regards and what I had hoped would happen, didn't materialize, I enter 2011 with trepidation. I know my interim position will soon be coming to a close here and without much on the horizon, we face being incomeless and having no medical insurance.
I try not to become overly anxious and trust in God, but it does get the better of me at times. I am trusting, hoping, believing...even when it is most difficult to do so and takes every tattered shred of faith still within me.
I feel ready for our lives to move forward and onward and we are in this insipid holding pattern, as though forgotten and just circling around and around until the call comes for clearance to land. I hope the fuel lasts until our landing but the tanks are getting empty.
So, I say goodbye to this year, to the joys and the sorrows, the continued dark night, to my FIL, to my garden, to broasting in the apartment this summer, to my family for a wonderful wedding celebration across the pond, and to all that didn't happen, both good and ill.
I pray to greet the new year in faith and trust, open to new adventure, and for things to happen for which we have been waiting and hoping.
May you make peace with this old year and embrace the new year soon to unfold.

POST CHRISTMAS -
The days before Christmas were busy, as usual, making sure the bulletins were done and the power point presentations were together.
On Thursday, Dec. 23rd, FIL entered the Church Triumphant and Eternal, may he be at peace, the peace he didn't have much in this life. FIL had a full life, although not an easy life. These past 2 1/2 months were hard on him and us and offered him no real quality of life. LH and I are mostly grateful that he didn't linger any longer. He will be missed.
Now will come the all the legalities, the cleaning out of his apartment and settling affairs. A memorial service will be planned for spring as all of us will have to travel at least an hour or more or journey in from Canada. That gives us all time to plan the service.
FIL will not be far from us. Every time LH goes on and on about something, he is his father. Whenever, he makes a political commentary, I hear his Dad. We have warm and good memories of times shared together. For such a gentle man who hated conflict of any kind, I wish he had had more peace and a better time of things. He treated so many children for a variety of ailments and illness as a pediatrician, some curable and others, not. But he was ever gentle and ever patient with them all.
LH spent Christmas Eve with me and worshipped at the church I am serving. I was grateful we could be together and enjoyed the company in the van on the drive there and back.
Christmas was a quiet one with phone calls to family and the Boys were happy with their quacking duck toy, little fleece blanket and of course, special doggie Christmas cookies. Jett is doing well and we are so grateful for every month we have with him.
Sunday's service was low attendance, but we had five children present and a continental breakfast followed worship and most everyone stayed. I have today off and it is snowing.
My SIL's will come on Friday and it will be good for them and us to remember FIL, exchange gifts and wish them well for the New Year. Much is yet before them.
I pray that LH would find a position and that our lives could move forward now too. With FIL gone, we no longer feel tied to even stay in the state, but opportunities for full-time calls are not plentiful. We remain faithful and trust God will open a way for us.
As you leave this year behind, and look to all the New Year will bring and offer, I pray God's blessings for you.

THE LONGEST NIGHT -
It is the longest night tonight and the shortest day. It seems like I've known the longest night for a very long time. I have been living it. There is some comfort, for in the dark of the longest night, the stars still shine and I continue to look upward for any glimmer and shimmer the long dark night offers. I can still wonder. I can still laugh. I can still be touched and moved by pieces of scripture, a line of a hymn, and love when it lives around me.
I know not what next month will bring or how we will survive or when LH will have another interview, but for now in this longest night, I still make my way to the manger and long to behold as never before the birth of the One who is Love, Life, Hope, Peace, Joy,and Grace. It's all I need in this long, dark night of my soul. And all I really want or desire or need for Christmas. Come, come to the manger and behold the gift for you, for me, for all the world so desperately in need of all Christ brings...

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - CHRISTMASES PAST
My 500th post is a day late, but nonetheless, here it is!

Tell us about five Christmas memories you have.

1. When we (my sister & I) were young, K-5th grade, we had to memorize
Swiss and/or German Christmas poetry verses and then recite them on
Christmas. Some were easier and some harder. Never did enjoy it that
much. One year when I was 6, we memorized, "Josef Lieber, Josef Mein".
My sister got to be Mary and I, Joseph. We wrapped the wool african
blankets (my Dad had brought back from his time in Ghana) around us as
cloaks and used the play crib with a doll. We recited the hymn verses
and read the Christmas story from the Bible.

2. One year, when I was about 5 yrs. old, my older sister read the
Christmas story from the Bible. I just had to read something too, and
it was Yertle the Turtle that I had checked out of the church library!

3. My sister and I made Christmas cards from the year before Christmas
cards our family received. We cut off the picture and glued it on
construction paper and wrote in them. We gave them to each other, our
Mom & Dad and aunt. We also made tags for our Christmas presents using
the pictures from old Christmas cards, punching a hole, and tying a
ribbon through it onto a bow. We even used a neat scalloped little
paper cutter to make fancy edges and that was way before all the
scrapbooking stuff ever came into being!!!

4. Every year we helped bake Christmas cookies - mostly traditional Swiss
cookies that we cut out. We also made Swedish Rum Balls that we got to
roll in our hands and then roll around in chocolate sprinkles. Snowballs
were fun and we put a Hershey's kiss inside them. Of course, eating
them made it all worthwhile.

5. After our aunt gifted us with a piano and we had lessons, every
Christmas Eve, we'd gather and do a lessons and carols service
complete with a special Christmas prayer and incorporated
English and German Christams carols. There were more carols than
lessons. Then it was off to church for the late night worship service.
In actuality, we worshipped twice on Christmas Eve, within our family
and then with our larger church family. That was pretty much tradition
in our family. We always enjoyed a special Swiss meal - Pastaetli -
puff pastry filled with sweatbreads or turkey on a creamy sauce with
mushrooms. Of course, we ate in the dining room with china and silver
and crystal and candles. It made for a very special time for our
family. Sometimes, my aunt would join us if she had Christmas off. As
a nurse, she would have to work on some Christmases.

These are some of the memories of wonderful Christmases we shared and which still reside warmly and richly in my heart. I learned the mystery and wonder of Christmas, the gift of the Christ-child, and it still touches me in my deepest places no matter what my life's circumstances are. The miracle of God's love in Jesus Christ still enters in every year and casts its glow of grace and peace within and around me. I am thankful that I have always celebrated Christmas well and knew its wonder and mystery.

SNOW DAY!
It is snowy, bitterly cold, with a gusting wind causing near white-outs.
Since the schools are closed here and along much of the way to the church, I have taken a snow day, myself.
I have done some reading, put the Christmas gift bags together for the church staff, and I feel some homemade chocolate chip cookies baking coming on.
I hope to be able to make the drive into church tomorrow.
The boys are happy that I am home an extra day even as they snooze the afternoon away.
LH is firing up the snowthrower but with the wind it'll have to be done again.
It is too early for such arctic conditions - it's still fall and only mid-December. This is January weather.
I am glad to be in the warmth. The oil space heaters at the apartment take quite a while to heat up and take the chill out of the air. I can imagine it will be close to Dr. Zhivago-esque tomorrow. I have even had to use my grandma's cherry pit sack (heated in the microwave until hot) to slip under the sheets to pre-heat the bed and then slip under my very warm duvet and nestle my feet under and around the cherry pit bag. Nice and toasty warm. Looks like tomorrow night I'll be doing that and bringing in a hot lunch while I eat in my winter coat until the heaters warm up.
There's nothing like being home on a cold, arctic day.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - WHO OR WHAT LIFTS YOU UP?

So, for today's Friday Five: What lifts you up when you are low or troubled? Who helps you remember that you are not alone, it's getting better all the time, etc.?
Your five responses can be people you know, people you DON'T know, music, places, foods, scripture, surprises, something you do for someone else. It could be a pair of slippers. It could be a glass of water.

When feeling low these are things and people that lift me up:
1. Swiss milk chocolate and a glass of cold skim milk. Always makes me
feel better.

2. Talking with my sister on the phone. She's my best friend.

3. Being home with LH and the greys, and nuzzling my greys, Jett and Jazz.

4. Listening to Marty Haugen's "We Come Dancing" CD.

5. Snuggling under my duvet, wrapped in warmth.

Bonus: Do you like the song "Jingle Bell Rock?" If you do, who do you prefer to hear sing it? Bobby Helms, Brenda Lee, Mean Girls, Stephanie Smith, Chubby Checker, Billy Gilman, Brian Setzer, Hilary Duff, Thousand Foot Krutch (I am not making this up), oh, there are so many more! I am currently partial to my friend Marco.
Not my favorite but better than many of the Christmas Carols played on the radio where they ruin the carol by singing it in a maudlin way. I don't know who sings the popular version I hear on the radio, but it's ok.
I really enjoy Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas carols much, much better.

And it came to pass that at the Presbytery meeting last night, we worshipped and we sang. (It was an Advent Lessons and Carol type service.)
And the One for whom I am waiting met me in the old, familiar Advent carol - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
In my captivity to this dark night, this exile and banishment I have been feeling, in my hope wearing as thin as a piece of paper, the Great Silence came to me in this song of the season, with hope and reassurance of the coming of Emmanuel - God-with-us, God-with-me. It is the rejoicing part that is so very hard and difficult when the way seems endlessly dreary and bleak and there is no sign of movement toward release and the new thing God is doing and bringing.
I could barely choke out the words for the lump in my throat and the tears in my eyes, and had to stop singing. It is precisely for those such I,exiled, mourning, lonely, captive, banished, fearful, anxious, despairing that God came and is coming to release, bring home, set free, embrace, make a Holy Way through and out, and to cause the desert to burst into bloom and hot dry sand to become a pond of cool fresh water. I cling to God's promise, as tenuous as it may seem, as improbable and impossible as it may be. That is the hope of this season of Advent. That is the hope of this season of my dark night.
O Come, o come Emmanuel...

Twenty-three years of marriage we marked on Sunday, and we are as poor as church mice, living apart, just as when as our marriage started. Only this time around, I can be home every week without a 400 mile drive, one way.
This year, I received a bouquet of a dozen red roses from LH. He who never gives me flowers during the year or even in these 23 years, had a dozen red roses in a vase waiting for me as I entered the door.
Yes, I blew up at him earlier in the week, feeling stressed and sorry for myself, allowing fear and anxiety to take hold, not feeling appreciated for the sacrifice I have made, am making for us. I told him so.
And then days later, I walk in from the garage, just glad to be home again and to my shame the dozen red roses sit in a vase on the table.
I have paid for them, many times. But, I zip shut my mouth. Twenty-three years of marriage, and I know when it's best not to say anything, but "Thank you." I am touched and humbled and know that though he won't speak it, he does love and appreciate me.
Afterall, it is for better and for worse, and this is one of the worse times we are navigating in our lives and marriage. It is also for richer and for poorer, and this is one of our poorer times, again.
Twenty-three years and counting...

FEELS LIKE SIBERIA -
In this dark night as I deal with the idea of exile and the feeling of banishment, winter has come in full force. It is barely 25 degrees today and snow is falling although not as heavy as it probably is back home.
At my humble apartment there is no heat, only two space heaters and it was about 40 degrees at most. I ate my lunch in my winter coat and rested on the loveseat with boots on, the winter coat, a throw over me and my cashmere gloves. I was still cold. It feels like Siberia in my soul and on my person. I am held in an icy grip of the soul's dark night and wonder when I will ever be warmed again by God's love.

A Warm Welcome -

Pondering the scriptures for this Sunday in Advent, and thinking of being welcoming and welcomed, I hold close this memory.
In 1965, my family flew to Switzerland for the first time. Dad hadn't been there since 1951 and Mom since 1956. A long time to be away from your mothers and siblings and family.
Even as a young child I will never forget, driving to my Grandmother's, my Dad's Mom's house and arriving at this chalet on a hillside overlooking the lake. As we entered the upstairs living room, my Grandmother who was sitting at the table, simply said, "W! W!" with such loving delight and indescribable joy, with a warmth that could melt an iceberg and a with a longing finally fulfilled. As if she had been waiting for just this very moment to see her son again. I can still hear the joy, the love, the warmth of welcome in her voice.
How much moreso does Christ Jesus welcome us to him even as he calls our name. I hear in his voice the very same depth of love, warmth, joy and longing finally fulfilled when we come to him! In this season of welcome and being welcoming, that is a welcome imprinted deep upon my soul.

TO THE MAKERS OF SCOTT TP:

You thought we wouldn't notice how you thinned the paper on the roll to being nearly see-through.
You thought we wouldn't notice how you shortened the square of paper.
You thought we wouldn't notice how you narrowed the roll of TP. My TP holder has lots of extra room width-wise.
You thought wrong.
We did notice. We are not happy. You have taken a good, solid, reputable,
dependable product and cheapened it to the point that you have no where else to cut or skimp. And you have blown your reputation. You are now producing a miserable, cheap, and awful product. More and more of us are leaving you "behind" and finding other TP up to par.
I know this isn't Advent material, but I just had enough with the cheapening of what used-to-be a good product. Now that it's off my chest, I can resume more theological, more focused mindset on Advent, itself.

You Are Orange Tea

You are a down to earth and humble person. You pride yourself on being pretty happy. It's easy for you to be content. You know what matters most in your life, and you focus on those things. You are a bit on the shy side. You prefer to think rather than talk, and you mull things over in your mind for a while before acting. If someone asks you a question, they'll get an honest and thoughtful response. You give great advice.

What Herbal Tea Are You?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - PIE-OLA

Please answer these five questions about pie:
1) Are pies an important part of a holiday meal?
Not necessarily. For Thanksgiving, I make a Pumpkin Mousse dessert
that doesn't require any baking and is lighter and easier to eat
than a heavy, dense pumpkin pie. With just the 2 of us at Christmas,
an apple crisp is easier and smaller. I do miss the mincemeat pie
I used to bake at Thanksgiving when I served at the church where
they made excellant mincemeat. Topped with vanilla bean ice cream
and served warm it was so delicious.
2) Men prefer pie; women prefer cake. Discuss.
Maybe it's the chocolate in the cake that appeals to women.
Give me a good chocolate chip or chocolate oreo cookie over cake or pie
any day!
3) Cherries--do they belong in a pie?
I suppose they do. Used to have cherry pie on Washington's B-Day
at the SAR luncheons. If any fruit pie is more gooey than contains fruit -
Ewewww...count me out. Ditto for Cool Whip/Whipped Cream desserts.
Yuck.
4) Meringue--if you have to choose, is it best on lemon or chocolate?
You mean a baked meringue shell? Or like chocolate cream pie?
Make mine French Silk!
5) In a chicken pie, what are the most compatible vegetables? Anything you don't like to find in a chicken pie?
Peas, carrots, leeks, asparagus, broccoli, and corn. Leave out the
potato pieces.

QUIET ON THE HOME FRONT -
It is quiet, too quiet this Thanksgiving morning. We have not wrestled with a slippery heavy turkey, washing and cleaning it, seasoning it, stuffing it and putting it in the oven.
There are dishes that aren't being used and still in the cabinets. The china, the silverware, and the crystal reside in their usual resting place.
The dining room table doesn't sport its fall cloth and is full of items still waiting to put away from where I dropped them on my trips home. The crowns from Christ the King Sunday are still on the table.
There are no warm smells emmanating from the oven or the sizzle of the turkey roasting, or from the stuffing and stock made the day or two before. There are no potatoes to be scrubbed and peeled, no cheeseball and crackers, no sweet potatoes to be microwaved.
It is quiet, all too quiet for Thanksgiving. There is a deadness which reflects the deadness in our lives. And I miss the hustle and bustle, and the getting ready, and the smells wafting through the house, and looking forward to receiving the company of family.
It is quiet, all too quiet, this year.

ADVENT -
In this dark night, it seems as if this entire past year has been an Advent that keeps continuing...I'm ready for the coming...of new life to born into our lives. But we are still waiting...hoping...praying...trying not to lose heart...or hope. This extended waiting has dulled us, wearied us. We started out expectantly, anticipating this new thing God would bring to us or bring us to. It has yet to happen.
Yet, another disappointment with an interview that went nowhere for LH.
I am still living an hour from home. Still freezing on the cold days and nights, relying on space heaters for a little warmth, still hauling laundry back and forth and clothing changing from summer to winter, and groceries every week.
It will last longer. I am thankful for serving this good community of faith and thankful we have a small income coming in from me.
But this waiting is hard...and doubt creeps in. And I wait for God to break in into my life again...filling me...being close to me. I am ready or so I think, to move on, to begin anew and again...God apparently still has some work left do with my spirit and in me.
And so we wait...awhile longer...but not too much long...dear God.

MONDAY MARATHON -

Have pretty much gotten the bulletin and liturgy ready for the First Sunday in Advent - this coming Sunday! I worked on it last week already and trying to work ahead.
Still am working on the sermon, prayers and kids' sermon - which will be a series of boxes within boxes - 5 of them each wrapped in different Christmas paper with a bow. There will be a tag on each bow - do not open until the next Sunday! Thankfully, we had to order a new big fry pan from major on-line retailer and it came in a nice big box. The smallest and last box that will get opened on Christmas Eve has a cutesy nativity scene. (not necessarily my style but cute for the kids). There's bit of prep work involved in this but it builds the anticipation over the weeks.
Now, if I just had my sermon done with sermon title, that would be great.
Have one pre-surgery visit to make this afternoon. So, I will get it done hpefully today, so that I can begin working on the next two weeks of Advent.
The secretary will be taking vacation in the middle of December and I really have to have things in place.
I think I will be pretty worn out come Christmas. Since I have to commute in on Friday, Dec. 24th (my normal day off) and then commute back on Sat. evening for Sun. Dec. 26th, I have graciously been given Monday, Dec. 27th off. Thanks be to God.
Well, back to the old keyboard in Word and praying for more inspiration!

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - THANKS FOR THE UNEXPECTED

1. I am thankful that Dad B is still with us, at least for awhile longer.
And as long as he is not in pain or suffering.

2. I am thankful that Jett is still with us, at least for awhile longer
and as long as he is not in pain or suffering.

3. I am thankful that I still have an interim position at least through
the New Year, although the church is ready for a new pastor.

4. I am thankful that we still have a roof over our heads and food on
our plates and heat.

5. I am thankful that I won't have to do any dishes Thanksgiving Day, as
this is one of only a couple years when I am not hosting Thanksgiving
dinner. It saddens me greatly. But we will be going out to eat for
a turkey dinner with my SIL's and visit my FIL.

PREMATURE -
Although my FIL is terminal, apparently yesterday was not the day he was to join the Church Triumphant and Eternal. When LH arrived at the hospital, the medication had begun to work and FIL was awake, although unable to talk with a tube in his mouth.
LH had a good visit with his Dad and read him his mail.
He drove back there again today to see him and to complete some legal/financial business.
We are on the alert, however, knowing that FIL could go at any time in the near future. I doubt that FIL will ever get back to his apartment or drive again. I pray that I will get a chance to see him one last time when we go to visit on Thanksgiving Day.
This is one of very few times, when I will not have had FIL and SILS for Thanksgiving with turkey and trimmings. We will miss the leftover turkey, homemade stock, and the greys will miss those things as well.
Life intervenes and what was a tradition of us hosting Thanksgiving will change this year and who knows what the future will bring?
As for now, I will be content to just see FIL one last time.

Feeling Far From Where I Need to Be -
more physically than existentially. My FIL has been in and out of the hospital and nursing home these past three-four weeks. He was moved back to the hospital on Sunday and LH got the call from SIL that FIL's breathing was getting shallower. LH took off at 2 pm for the 1 1/2 hour drive to his home town and to see his Dad probably for the last time. It has come far more quickly than any of us in the family would ever have anticipated. Three weeks ago, he was driving and living in his apartment, but the disease has caught up with him, a man who never drank much alcohol his whole life, gets cirrhosis. Go figure. It was last Thanksgiving when we noticed that he was walking slowly and not as steady, when he was not as sharp as normal. He went to the doctor shortly afterwards and they discovered his ammonia levels were high. He didn't get diagnosed til May. He's been doing real well with no indication that the end would be this unexpectedly quick.
I want to be with LH and his family. I so feel for them and fear for them. They will be lost without their Dad, who supported the girls, and the twin boys. LH and older brother were not supported in any way. It will be a tangle and quite the unfolding.
My heart and spirit, and me just want to be with LH, to have gone with him, to be with him in his grief. And I am an hour away with obligations. In this tender time, I await to hear from LH. It will be a very sad Thanksgiving this year and sad Christmas. A family in grief and LH and I separated by the need for an income. My prayers and spirit are there with LH and his sisters and his Dad. I never got say to say good-bye to him or see him one last time.
In the meanwhile, I finished my sermon and prayer, newsletter article for December, Session agenda, and mileage for Oct. Too bad Session is tomorrow night. I won't be able to leave to be with LH.
This being away from home is so difficult at times. But I know that God is with them all. And may FIL's passing be peaceful.

WINTER'S REST -
Thankful for the Indian Summer we had last week, I was able to cut down the Siberian Irises for the winter and pull out the Chinese Lanterns. There are still some roots and they will come back next year again. I still have one set of Irises to cut down as the leaves weren't yellow/brown enough yet.
I pulled some extraneous grasses and throw some cow manure down on both perenial beds.
I laid the flower beds to rest for the winter with a touch of sadness. But I was glad to give back (some nutrients) for all the beauty and joy the flowers gave to me all spring, summer and fall. The flowers deserve a long rest and I will begin to look forward to spring when one by one they will greet me again with their colored faces. Wherever we may end up, I hope that the next owners will enjoy them as much as I have. The provided food for bumblebees, honey bees, and even the finches who ate their seeds.
Jett visited the vet on Friday and got his bandages removed. His left elbow looks the best it has since the end of May - yes, a bit bald but healing well. Soon, soon, he will get the air donuts off his neck and really be free and enjoy the remaining weeks, months of his life. He deserves that and as many chest rubs as he wants whenever I am home for my days off.
For now Jett can rest better and the flowers too.

RGBP'S WINTER'S ON THE WAY FRIDAY FIVE:

When it is cold outside:

1. What is your favorite movie for watching when curled up under a wooly blanket?
While You Were Sleeping - romantic comedy

2. Likewise, what book?
Whatever is on hand that I am reading. Really like The Ladies' No.1
Detective Agency serie by Alexandar McCall Smith. Have to wait til
spring for the next installment.


3. What foods do you tend to cook/eat when it gets cold?
Mince and Tatties, Fondue, Raclette, and Meatloaf. Green bean
casserole with spaetzli and ham bits in it. And let's not forget,
Lasagna Florentine (with spinach) and Cocquilles St. Jacques.

4. What do you like to do if you get a "snow day" (or if you don't get snow days, what if you did)?
Take a nice long nap and get caught up with laundry, etc. Enjoy the
company of the greys and bake chocolate chip cookies.

5. Do you like winter sports or outdoor activities, or are you more likely to be inside playing a board game? Do you have a favorite (indoors or out)?
Inside is more my speed. Although, I do shovel snow, if it's not feet
deep and not on our inclined driveway. Typically, I enjoy a game of
Scabble or on my own - Woerterwuerfel (Scrabble with 13 dice).
Scattergories or even Monopoly if there would be more than just
LH and I.

INDIAN SUMMER -

From his pipe the smoke ascending
Filled the sky with haze and vapor,
Filled the air with dreamy softness,
Gave a twinkle to the water,
Touched the rugged hills with smoothness,
Brought the tender Indian Summer
To the melancholy north-land,
In the dreary Moon of Snow-shoes.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hiawatha 1855

We get to enjoy a bit of Indian Summer this week with warmer, milder temps, vibrant azure blue sky with no clouds and unrestrained sunshine.
It is both beautiful and glorious. A gift of grace to savor, which I will.

STEWARDSHIP GEMS -

1. The most expensive vehicle to operate is the grocery cart.

2. The greatest surprise of Mary's life was receiving a dollar on her
fourth birthday. She carried the bill around the house and was seen
sitting on the stairs admiring it.
"What are you going to do with your dollar?" her mom asked.
"Take it to Sunday School," replied Mary promptly.
"To show your teacher?" asked her mom.
"No," she said. "I'm going to give it to God. He'll be as surprised
as I am to get something besides pennies."

Did You Know That...
- a person who was given a bible as a child or youth is likely to
increase their annual gift by $221/year as an adult

- a person who reads the bible daily gives $545 more a year on
average than those who do not read scripture regularly

- Jesus spoke about money and possessions more than any other
subject (and that includes prayer!)

The single most reliable indicator of a person's giving is church attendance. Those who attend worship twice or more a month give 2-4 times more generously than those who attend sporadically.

Thought these gems might be of interest to you.

JETT UPDATE:
Well, after our visit with the Vet, I feel a little better. Jett's prognosis remains the same, but he may be with us for a month, or three or even eight months. Hard to say since we are not going to have extra x-rays and scans done, nor or we opting for chemo, which may only prolong his life by a month or two more at great expense nor will we ever amputate his right front leg or any leg. We will love him, monitor his quality of life and when the day comes, we will let him go in peace to cross Rainbow Bridge.
I think just knowing he could be with us for a while yet, made it easier for me.
I also remind myself that every year that Jett has been with us has been an extra year in his life that he may never have had. So, many greyhounds are destroyed when they can no longer race or win races and bring in money. It's a nasty business when you have so many wonderful hounds with so much love to give whose lives are cut short because of a money-making industry. So, there is that consolation that Jett will have had a real home full of tasty treats and morsels in his dish, a yard to run in just for fun, comfy couch and love seat with pillows to rest his head, kisses and chest rubs that make him feel good, all kinds of fun toys and a chance to be a regular dog with people who love him and care for him. That's not bad to have a second chance at life. I wish he could be with us for at least a couple more years, but that is highly improbable. So, we will take it day by day and week by week. That's all any of us can do anyway. One day at a time as God graces us with it and to be thankful for that day, and live it with love.

Friday, November 05, 2010Revgalblogpal Friday Five: It Is Well With My Soul Edition


We lead privileged lives.


True, some are more privileged than others but the fact that we are communicating right now via technological devices puts us in the privileged category.


There are many perks in my life for which I give thanks and then there are some that make everything right in the world during the moment I am enjoying them. I'm wondering what a few of those things - five to be specific - are for you.


IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL:
1. When I am at home with LH and the greys - giving the greys neck
scratches and chest rubs.

2. When I have some Swiss milk chocolate and a glass of cold skim milk.

3. Each week when I talk with my sister.

4. When I am at home with God, in sync, and love flows freely into
me.

5. Sleeping in my own bed with duvet and pillow and LH.

THE PHONE CALL YOU DON'T WANT TO GET -
LH just called to say he spoke with the Vet and the pathology report came back. Jett has hemangiosarcoma. My handsome, refined, elegant 9 year old grey is terminal as it is an aggressive cancer. This is the first grey we had to have cancer and the first dog I've had to get cancer. We will do what we can to keep him comfortable for as long as possible. We'll find out more at our Vet appointment on Friday. I can't see putting Jett through more just to prolong his life by an extra month or so. He's had a hard enough time of dealing with this surgery. I had feared it might be a cancer, but I was hoping the earlier blood test that was negative for cancer was true.
LH is still looking for a position, mine will be ending by the end of the year, no income, no health insurance, and now this, losing our beloved Jett. It is more than I can bear...

JETT UPDATE -
Wow, that sedative from the Vet really worked. Jett slept all afternoon and evening. Course, he was exhausted anyway from being overstressed. Today, he finally had some morsels of cooked ground turkey. He ate some. More to come later and slowly work in the dog kibble. He hasn't eaten in three days and I was getting worried. It's not like greyhounds have a lot extra on them plus they have such a high metabolism.
Now he can walk and actually go outside without help from us.
Looks like he's on the mend.
Just have to wait for the pathology report this week.
Thanks for your prayers.

JETT UPDATE -
Jett came through his surgery well. He was still wobbly and with the leg bandaged around his chest, he was thrown by it. He barely laid down on the ride home and subsequently, overstressed his back leg muscles and could hardly support himself to walk.
He bleed through his bandage that we took him to our regular vet when we got home thinking he had pulled his stiches getting in and out of the van.
But no, just drainage from the surgery site. Rebandaged and sent home.
I spent the night on the sofa, helped him get water and then, had to lift him by a sling around his hindquarters to help him go outside at least twice during the wee hours. I got two interrupted hours of sleep and eventually three hours after he settled down.
He had one accident on the front door mat sometime in the 3 hours I was out.
Had a vet appointment today and she gave him a shot to help him settle
down and he slept this afternoon as did I.
Won't know any pathology results until next week sometime.
We are all hoping for a better night's sleep tonight and that he will have a bit of an appetite. Hasn't eaten in a day and a half.
Prayers for his recovery are much appreciated.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - COMFORT MEDIA


Today's Friday Five is an opportunity for you to list five of your favorite 'go-to' movies/tv shows/books. You can use images, links, explanations or netflix.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
Always a favorite and one to watch over again and again.

2. Father Goose
A fun, humorous movie set in the South Pacific of WW II

3. Gone With the Wind
Who doesn't like the costumes and melodrama? I keep hoping that
Rhett and Scarlet do get together again

4. Fiddler On the Roof
Love the characters, the story, the faith amid the hardship

5. My Cousin Vinny
Fun, and Pesci and Tomei are great in this movie

PRAYERS -
Jett is in surgery this morning to clean up his elbow which hasn't healed in 4 months. The vet will do another biopsy and dental while she's at it.
Please pray that this surgery will help him to heal once and for all. He's been miserable and our carpeting has taken a beating with blood drops and cleaning more times than ever we could count in these past 4 months.
Jett is tired of the antibiotics he's been on for most of these months, the air donuts around his neck and not being able to stretch out on the couch.
This is costing an arm and a leg, of course. But we've already spent so much and we want him to heal and be well. Poor fellow!

OMINIOUS -

The winds are beginning to pick up and the sky is overcast. We are in for some major wind gusts and heavy rain as a cold front moves in on our warm front. It has been gusting through IL, IN and now, us.
I think my umbrella will be mostly useless. Will plan to be in car or building during the worst of the rain?!!? Is that possible?
Batten down the hatches, thar she blows.....

PICTURE THIS -
if you can, the slow downward slide of fewer picture books being published. Apparently, 4 year olds are now being pushed to read chapter books with little or no pictures. What is up with that?
I used to lose myself in the pictures of books, to notice the actions, the colors, the dipictions, and the wonder of it all. Whatever are doing to our children - that at 4,5, 6 and beyond, that they no longer are allowed by the parents to savor and linger over picture books? What are you doing to the creativity, imagination, and being able to see and observe and to notice? Please, you are robbing your children of play and wonderment all in the name of getting them into the right preschool, and eventually into Harvard or so you think. Let them read both. Let them just be saturated by the illustrations, the artistry, the beauty, the movement. They need that as much as content and information in their life. Let your children be children, well-rounded, with active imaginations, creative, and able to notice and appreciate beauty.
I am over 50 and I still can lose myself in a picture book. It is good for the soul, which ought not to be neglected in the hurry and flurry of getting your child into the right and proper schools and ahead of the "game". Foster the goodness and the beauty of your child's soul as well their intellect. You will never regret it ever.

Friday Five: The Perfect Blendship



If you're ever in a jam, here I am.
If you're ever in a mess, S.O.S.
If you're so happy, you land in jail. I'm your bail.
It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.
When other friendships are soon forgot, ours will still be hot.

For today's Friday Five, some questions about friendship.

1) Who is the first friend you remember from childhood?
Denise, she lived on the same block and we were friends until I moved
2 blocks north on the same steet when I was 7. We also were split in
school into three classes - fast, medium and slow. I was in the fast
class and she ended up in the slow. We drifted apart.
2) Have you ever received an unexpected gift from a friend?
Many little gifts too numerous to count or remember.
3) Is there an old friend you wish you could find again? Or have you found one via social media or the Internet?
Yes, my best friend in HS. I blogged about her this fall. I used
facebook and found her obituary and lamented not being able to connect
with her again in this earthly life. I did, however, become facebook
friends with a gal who we hung around with in grade school, which
was kinda neat.
4) Do you like to get your good friends together in a group, or do you prefer your friends one on one?
My best friend lives in MA and we stay in touch with email and phone.
Just not possible to get together very often, alas.
My sister is my bff and we get together at least once a year and talk
weekly on the phone. We grew up sisters and ended up best friends as
well as sisters.
5) Does the idea of Jesus as a friend resonate with you?
Can't imagine where I'd be without my friend Jesus. He's always there
for me even when I feel him not and always welcomes me to him.

QUICK CHECK-IN

It is another full week with yet another Memorial Service. Had one last week with the service one day followed by a luncheon and the commital the next morning.
I also had a Presbytery meeting 2 Saturdays ago and will be taking my second half day off to compensate this week on Thursday. With the Memorial service this Saturday, that will be another 2 half days off the next two Thursdays, except for Oct. 28th when I won't be able to leave until after 2:30 pm because of the Women's Assoc. meeting. I won't get home til after 3:30 pm, so not much of an afternoon off. It just goes with the territory but I am trying to hold to the 3/4 time. Plus, I really miss being home and am usually anxious to get home on Thursdays.
The herb garden has been mostly put to rest. I yanked out the giant tomato vines which are now in the garage where the beautiful green tomatoes will hopefully ripen yet on the vine. One year, I had a red homegrown tomato in January!!
I plucked the dried basil leaves and put them in a jar.
I still have to pluck the tarragon.
The marjoram remains in the ground and I hope to pull it out next weekend. The curly parsley bush is still in as is the rosemary. I also need to put the dried sage leaves in storage containers.
I replanted my garlic, put down Sweet Peet and crumbled egg shells on top. (The calcium leeches back into the soil and prevents blossom end rot).
Still need to cut down the front perenial flower beds and sprinkle some good old-fashioned cow manure down.
My hamstrings are still complaining today!!!
It's always saddens me some to lay the garden to rest. It was a bountiful year of tomatoes and herbs and I will miss them. However, I know the ground needs to rest and that the plants have given their best and also deserve rest. Don't know that we will still be where we are next spring. I pray that God will open up a position for LH soon and then, we will have to sell the house. Wherever we end up, I hope that I can plant another herb garden and grow some perenials.
For now, the growing year is over and I thank God for the fullness of the threshing floor and the overflowing vats of wine and oil. And there will still be parsley aplenty!!!

A sliver of hope
is all it takes to live.
A sliver of hope
can bring me to my knees in grateful thanksgiving.
A sliver of hope
makes me feel not forgotten by God.
A sliver of hope
reminds me to keep faith, to trust.
A sliver of hope
not much, but enough for today.
A sliver of hope
offers encouragement to go on.
A sliver of hope
is a gift of grace in this dark night.

What is God up to?
In this dark night of my soul, where self-esteem, humor, and hope have been smaller than a mustard seed, why would I get a phone call from one well acquainted with humor who heads an organization related to humor, full of names of well-known and extremely gifted folks?
How did my name ever appear as anything but an infintesimal blip on their radar screen? Just one of hundreds.
How can I who am grasping for humor and hope, be a catalyst for others?
Dear God, what on earth are you up to? Having a good laugh at the irony of it all!!! I will walk down this ironic twisted path hoping against all hope that you will be there providing the light. Maybe, we can share a laugh together?!!?

A Fall Word Association Friday Five
Hello everyone! The Canadian geese are excited, forming up and practicing, encouraging each other with honking, the Wisconsin fall color is at peak where I am, and in Kohl's Dept. Store the Christmas decorations are up. Yep, Fall is here. It's my turn to do the Rev Gal Blog Pals Friday Five. It has been a while since we did one of these word association Friday FIves, so here goes, with an autumnal theme. I know, fall is one way on this side of the world and different in other places, but please bear with me as I post words that say FALL--at least where I am.

Give us the the first word that comes to mind (you know how that works, right?) and then add a little something about why, or how or what.

1. Pumpkins - all orange decorating the front porch

2. Campfire - the wonderful wood fire aroma that wisps through the air

3. Apples - caramel & nut apples and the warm apple crisp fresh from the
oven

4. Color - the beautiful hues of red, orange, rust, yellow, brown, burnt
sienna, beige, taupe and green that delight the eyes

5. Halloween - kids in costumes coming to the door looking for treats, who
doesn't like to dress up once in awhile?

And since it is REV Gals and their Pals, here is the bonus question, sort of a serious one:

What does the following passage from Daniel 2 make you think about?

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
Wisdom and power are his...
He changes times and seasons."

Thanks be to God for the glory of God's wisdom and power for our lives and the seasons of life through which we live and God brings us.

The Sky Is Blue -
Yes, for the first time in 5 days, we actually have a blue sky today!!!!
For the past 5 days it has been cold, dreary, rainy, rainy, rainy.
Yesterday, shortly around 5 pm, the rain and grey sky moved east and the sun broke out in the west and there was a beautiful rainbow that appeared in all its colorful promise. I love rainbows and whenever it looks like there will be a possibility for one, I look for it. All too soon they fade in muted shades of washed out colors.
And it astounds me, how so many miss it. They don't stop, take notice, or even see. Too busy doing whatever it is they are doing or involved with, to notice the beauty, the hope-filled promise before them, the grace among them. I noticed. I was touched. I gave thanks to God. And my spirit felt lighter and brighter just to be touched by God's beauty and grace.
If we don't stop to notice, to look, to see what is before us and around us, we miss so much. We miss God. We miss out on grace. We miss the healing of our souls. We miss the joy that is scattered around us waiting to be drawn into us.
Today, I give thanks for blue skies and sunshine and a rainbow full of grace.

"Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world,
the forms may change yet the essence remains the same.
Every wondrous sight will vanish and every sweet word will fade,
but do not be disheartened.
The source they come from is eternal....
growing, branching out, giving new life, new joy.
Why do you weep?
That source is within you as well..."
Rumi

Simply contemplating this Rumi quote today.