This morning, I heard a sound that I haven't heard for many months, about six months infact. It was the trill of a red-winged blackbird in the meadow behind our house. What a delight to hear once again! I saw a red-winged blackbird out of our kitchen window on the shepherds hook in my herb garden.
The red-winged blackbird is the true harbringer of spring and the first sign of spring - aside from tulip, daffodil, hyacinth and crocus leaves that are sprouting up all over and have been the past few weeks. It is still February and the blackbirds are here!
I thrill to hear the call of the blackbird and to watch them glide to a
landing in the meadow.
I look forward to hearing the song of the meadowlark who, perhaps, will not be too far behind.
There is an awakening from the sleeply doldrums of winter and I feel it within me as well.
Welcome, Spring!

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - EMPTINESS

Over at RGBP's, our host noted,I have been pondering this Friday Five over and over in my mind, but I am coming up with nothing, so I am wondering; what do you do when you feel empty of all creativity and unable to make/do anything? This is a completely open question, the only rule is name 5 things that fill/ inspire you:

1. Going to the Art Museum - eye candy and always inspires

2. Going to a book store - somehow I'm like a kid in a candy store, and
one can browse to one's heart content

3. Going to JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Pat Catan's - so much of
so many things, materials, candles, fake flowers, clay, wood,
paints, etc. Good place for jogging creativity. Looking at all
the different patterns, textures and colors of material at JoAnn's
seems to strike in me. Perhaps, because my Mom was a seamstress.

4. Playing with something - clay, markers, craft items, the dogs

5. Praying - sometimes the Holy Spirit doesn't work on my time and
inspiration comes in bits and spurts and at times closer to
a deadline than I would like!!!

BONUS - Gardening - working in the dirt, tending, planting, can all help.
On a whim, I soaked an avocado pit last summer. It's now planted
and has six leaves and delights me every day. It was a long, slow
process though.

Just Sittin' - sometimes just being quiet helps.

Reading Poetry - always touches me and inspires me

Change of scenery - a beach, Lake Michigan, a retreat house,
mountains, forests - creation is a huge
inspiration

A nap - just to let go and sleep on it

For my Birthday
I received Facebook wishes, cards from family and friends, a card and candleholder from my niece which is no small thing from she-who-never-sends-cards, phone calls from family, my sister, my brother-in-law and his wife, my niece and my nephew and two cousins from Switzerland. Plus, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a lovely taupe purse filled with sundry items from my sister, and LH actually bought me a chocolate cupcake, decorated with curling ribbon, a candle, a star pick and festive, sparkling colorful sprinkles!!! I enjoyed a quiet day and had a worship service at church with the usual dinner out after worship with several parishioners. All in all, a good celebration!
So, here I begin a new week and a new year in my life. Praying God's blessings as I live into both.

SOON
too soon, I'll be celebrating another birthday. I should rejoice that I am still here, alive, relatively well. Blessed with LH, our greys, a wonderful sister and extended family, even if we don't see each other very often. I have a roof over my head, food on my plate (too much at times), and a bed. I have a position, albeit very part-time and have time to clean, to garden, to read. But here we are in our earning years, and earning very little, enough to get by. I will drive my van another year.
I keep hoping and praying, that somehow God will make a way for us into new life. I am tired of receiving rejection notices for positions. The icing on the cake was letting a church know I was not interested in them and then still getting a form rejection notice!!! Please.
I am somewhat restless for what is next. But I don't know what that might be. I'm not much more sure of myself than I was when I was younger. hen, I might have been more sure of myself because I was too ignorant to know better!!!!
I am still awaiting the new life God has promised. I had thought we would have moved on by now, but here we still are. A sort of holding pattern. Neither here nor there.
Every birthday, I take stock of where I am. Give thanks for what is, pray for what is yet to be, maintain hope, and let go of what has been and cannot be.
Last Friday, a song came on the van radio from my college days and filled me wth remembering - being younger, more carefree, with endless possibility stretching before me, an optimism, a knowing of where I was headed.
And here, many years later, childless though married, serving though very part-time, and not where I had thought I'd be back then.
So, I am letting go, surrendering, what is not in order to welcome what will yet be. Learning my star gift word of "Contentment" this year.
I'm young enough to still have some energy, ideas, creativity and desire and too old to be fresh, full of energy, new ideas, flowing with effortless youth. I take more measured risks. I take more time. I deal with aches and pains. I wear more sensible shoes. But there are moments when my spirit dances and sings, when I put on some wildly mismatched socks, when I see what can be full of life, beauty and energy. And other times, when I feel old, out of touch, worn down, more than my age.
Middle-age is a strange time of life. A mixture of what has been and is yet to be, youthfulness and aging. Of letting go of old dreams and hopes and embracing new and different dreams. And keeping hope and having hope.
Perhaps, I'm feeling this, as I serve this congregation of another denomination, because they are staid and don't want to try something different, and I want to bring them the blessing of joy and they refuse. I will keep at it and pray that somehow they will be lead into life even as they heal. That it is ok to delight in God and have God delight in them. That one can laugh in church and it is not irreverent for God will laugh with them, and celebrate. That it's ok to have balloons in church, to make a mistake, to enjoy the faith in which we live, move and have our being. And that the good news of Jesus Christ is to be celebrated and lived into fully.
So, perhaps, I'm not really as old as I feel sometimes and the grace of my faith still shines through bunions, sore back, achy knee, extra pounds, more gray hairs, hair where it oughtn't be sprouting (chin and moustache), and alittle less endurance. And that's worth celebrating, not only on my birthday, but every day.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - LOVE

We've been asked to share 5 Valentine's with some of the amazing people in our lives; excluding spouse/significant other, children, G-d, Jesus & Holy Spirit.
Who are the amazing ones in your life you'd love to send a valentine?

1. My sister. She's my best friend and very giving. She's more "A" personality
type than I, but I love her dearly and so appreciate all she's done and
given me in my life and all our shared experiences. My valentine would be
time together doing girlie things.

2. My niece who is experiencing love for the first time and is hard at work
in med school. She is a unique and intense, but a wonderful young woman.

3. My good friends from Seminary. We have don't see each other much but have
been in much contact and shared visits throughout the years. They are
going through a tough time and my valentine would be to see them again
and prayers that all will work out and a new position for him and a
published book for her.

4. My past spiritual director. I miss her and she is an amazing woman who
has had health issues. So patient, kind, insightful. I pray for her
and her health.

5. My cousin in Switzerland with whom I spent a week this past August. She
cares for her significant other who is paralyzed and is still dealing with
residual problems from a head injury. She is a bright spirit who has
grown immensely in the past years.

BONUS: A valentine to all the wonderful church women who serve the church in
myriad of faithful ways, giving of their time, faith, love and
themselves. I've been privileged to meet so many of them, lay and
clergy throughout my years of ministry. (Yes, there were some real
pills as well, but the many outshone the few dim ones!)

IT ALL STARTED
very simply with LH deciding we needed a new down comforter. OK. It was time to replace it. Then, it dawned on me how very, very tired I am of blue.
Twenty-five years of blue duvet covers, blue sheets, blue blanket and navy blue dust ruffle! Ugghhh. Enough. I found a new duvet cover in a laurel green color, which then lead to a new dust ruffle in ecru, and a new blanket in ecru. Then came new sheets to match in a soft green. Followed by LH wanting to replace his pillow which had aged as thin as a pancake. In the end, we kept one down comforter and returned the other, returned the duvet cover which had polyester in it and a polyester back - we are cotton people. But the print on the duvet comforter package was in tiny print that the back was all polyester and not a blend. One dust ruffle was returned as I found another cheaper one. And the blanket was returned as it was only a full/queen and not a true queen.
Today, we have a set of sheets, a down comforter sans cover, another ecru cotton blanket, and an ecru dust cover. To fit the size of the comforter, I have had to go on-line. There are 3 options. Will have to swing them by LH and then order the duvet cover.
I have spent two afternoons, searching for and returning something that should be rather simple. Who knew queen sized duvets come in two different sizes? And how hard it is to find a cotton duvet cover with some interest that isn't bland, isn't way out there printwise and doesn't cost an arm and a leg? It is near impossible! Maybe, I just should've stayed with blue, except that it is really, really old.
I pray that one of the duvet covers will win over LH and we can put this marathon buying and returning to rest. I hardly ever return things to a store, but this time I have returned nearly everything.
Part of it all is, I don't need pillow shams or all the other extras
they want to include. Just a plain old duvet cover in breathable cotton. I can't even make my own any more as stores don't sell single flat sheets separately. I may hold onto the blue duvet cover afterall and just a do a neutral bed theme, so the duvet cover can be changed. It is all so complicated trying to match sizes and colors. What should have been a fun thing, turned out to be more than frustrating.
I wonder at the bedding manufacturers and how expensive sheets and bedding have gotten. Neither I or LH want to dump a bunch of pillows on a floor before we go to bed and put them all back the next morning. I don't want to hide my pillow in a pillow sham that I have to take off every night and put back on every morning. Come on. Really. In what reality do people do this nightly/daily? We're just glad to make the bed each day!!! And then all the busy patterns on all the little pillows on the bed and duvet cover. It's just simply too, too much.
So what started simply mushroomed into a huge endeavor that shouldn't be necessary.
I'll be glad to be at the church tomorrow. And focus on more important things in life than covering our bed.

FEBRUARY BEGINS -
and brings with it all the preparations for Lent, Ash Wednesday, and midweek Lenten potluck/program/worship. Sigh. This year, I will be presenting - Discovering Our Spiritual Gifts. I pray that it will be healing and offering some vision for this congregation. Most likely the ones that should be there, won't be, but, I pray that it will prove beneficial to all who attend and will get them thinking of how each has
something good and needed to contribute to the life of the church. Wednesdays will be long days for me and it will last 6 weeks. And each week, it will be preparation for what to bring to the potluck.
Thankfully, there will be no Easter Vigil this year. I am not a huge fan of
the Easter Vigil - it is very long, occurs too early on Sat. evenings and if you can get folks to come to Maundy Thursday & Good Friday - that is to be celebrated. Expecting them to come three evenings and Easter Sunday morning is somewhat out of the realm of the reality of people's lives, at least in this day and age.
Still, it promises to be a busy time and I am thankful that I will have time to rest inbetween. Being so part-time is really a whole different rhythm than I am used to and I have to work at making my time off productive and spiritual, and appreciating said time, to reflect and sit with God. It just doesn't do much for paying the bills. But I am learning to be content with this semi-retired life and praying that something more is yet ahead for us.
In the meanwhile, there is an Ash Wednesday sermon to write, the Lenten
program to organize by sorting handouts by week, a whole Lenten pilgrimage to make.

On the last day of January, I put on my spring jacket when I drove to the store and filled up my gas tank.
On the last day of January, I got out the pruning shears and pruned the inkberry bush and the burning bush, and pulled out some old dried grasses
from the flower beds.
On the last day of January, I took the greys for a walk around the neighborhood.
On the last day of January, it was 58 degrees and felt like a March day.
I can not remember such a last day in January nor even a first day of February which reached 57 degrees, that was so warm, sunny and such a
wonderful gift of grace.
I was glad on that last day of January, with winter half over, to talk a
walk with the greys, to savor the day, to enjoy the sunshine, to do some
gardening.
Thank you for the blessing, God. It was much appreciated!

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - MOVIES

It was 14 degrees, sunny, blue sky with high thin clouds when I left to run my errands and do some grocery shopping. By the time I arrived back home it had risen to 18 degrees. Now, it has clouded over and the snow is coming - probably enough to fire up the snowblower. Seems a good time to reflect on movies!
Thinking of movie-watching, what do you prefer?

1. At home or at a theater?
Haven't been to the theatre since The Passion of Christ. More's the
pity! We usually watch at home, when you can stop the movie, let the
dogs and go to the restroom.

2. With whom?
I went to "The Passion" by myself. Hard when you don't have family or
friends in the area. Usually, LH and I watch movies at home, although
we did see "March of the Penguins" in the theatre together.

3. Movie you look forward to seeing?
There are a couple, but I forget which ones, since we now wait til
they're shown on TV. By the time, they come to TV, I've forgotten
which ones they are. We so miss Blockbuster when you could go and
pick up a DVD. The home subscriptions are too expensive for just 2
movies a month. Redbox hasn't really had any movies I was interested
in seeing. So, we haven't done the Redbox route yet.

4. Movie you like to see repeatedly?
Oh, there's several - Fiddler on the Roof, Under the Tuscan Sun,
While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, Secondhand Lions,
Hatari, Master and Commander, Harry Potter movies, Bringing Up
Baby, The Desk Set, Fried Green Tomatoes,A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Something's Gotta Give, Because I Said So, Casanova's Big Night, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, October Sky,My Summer Story (sequel to A Christmas Story - just as entertaining) Elf, A Christmas Story, and etc.
I look forward to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2.

5. Food with a movie?
Buttery or cheesy popcorn, naturally!

Bonus: Recommendations for home/theater viewing
Since we're so behind the times, I'd best not offer any. See
the list above!!!!

GREY DREARY DAY -
It's a soggy, rainy, grey day and I am stuck in the house as my van is getting healed. It began to make a weird whining whirr sound as I exited the interstate ramp early Sunday morning and continued down the main street and even into the church parking lot where a parishioner heard it. Interesting how these mechanical things happen not in your driveway as you return home but on the way to church and on a Sunday when there isn't much you can do about it. I drove home and it seemed ok. Late afternoon, I drove down again for a potluck and LH went with me. We heard it, though it was not as loud and really inconsistent.
However, I knew it could not be ignored. I was able to get an appointment late yesterday morning. The dealership is the closest one and they do huge volume business and even moreso after the closing of the dealership in our town. Their check in process alone is 15-20 minutes long!
Needless to say, it will be a very expensive repair - new water pump, new rack and pan for power steering, and the van won't be done 'til late afternoon today.
Being without the van today is really no big problem since I have to write a newsletter article anyway and plan for midweek Lenten program. There is no dearth of things to do at home. Mostly, I am chafing at the idea of not being able to go anywhere and being "stuck" at home. So, in a way, I have time and focus to write that article, to hem a pair of pants, and even do some reading. It all worked out as it needed to and with all the driving, my van will be
running well again.
I've taken my vitamin D, have the article well in hand, the books close by, and the sewing machine at the ready. The greys are snoozing comfortably in their beds and it's a good day to be home. LH went in to the office, so it will be nice and quiet for awhile.
May whatever this day brings be as it needs to be for you.

SNOWY ARCTIC FRIDAY -
Wow, it's winter! First real winter driving on snow covered streets. I had no wait at the bank, found a great parking space at one grocery store and made it through in record time. Most of the elderly folks didn't venture out this morning. The dry cleaner was a quick in and out and the stop at W-mart included a decent parking space, no crowds, and quick check-out. The drive home went better. Now I'll just hunker down for the afternoon. I have two pairs of slacks to shorten and that seems like a good snow day project.
I did shovel some this morning as there was a 1 1/2 foot drift up against the garage door and by the time I came back it was at about 7 inches already. It's not snowing that much but the wind is blowing hard. The greys are not taking long outside as it's only 19 degrees.
I'm sure that attendence will be down at both Sat. evening and Sun. morning services. I suppose I will have to allow extra travel time as well.
Oh, the joys, of winter!
However, we have not yet had to fire up the snowblower!

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - RECOMMENDATION EDITION

1. Recommend a favorite worship resource or devotional book.
A devotional book I enjoy is Joyce Rupp's "May I Have This
Dance?" Also, Gunilla Norris' Gardening for the Soul or Mystic
Garden or something to that effect. It's about the tending of
the garden of our souls.

2. Recommend a blog that you like to read that you think others might find enjoyable.
I enjoy Skewed View, if only she posted a bit more often.

3. Recommend a fiction book that you think people might like.
The Ladies No.1 Dectective Agency series by Alexandar McCall Smith.
What an enjoyable read. And the first season, DVD set is really
nicely done. Too bad they didn't make more.
4. Recommend a favorite recipe website. O.k., if you aren't into cooking or food, then just recommend a random website that you find useful, hilarious, mind numbing or thought provoking.
Often I've gone to the Food Network just to check on some things.
I really don't troll the internet that much for blogs. I do go to
youtube for some fun!
5. And for the last recommendation--it's bloggers' choice! Make a recommendation for anything!
Cashmere blend socks for winter. They are soft and keep your toes/
feet warm without a lot of bulk. They are my absolute favorite thing
in these now turned cold and snowy winter days.

JANUARY BEGINS -
It was a quiet week and a gentle week. I was able to do some reading, take down the Christmas decorations, and even make two visits to nursing home folks on my day in the office. I have so many more visits to go and can only do so many one day a week. Slowly, they are taking place.
Tomorrow is house cleaning day and it needs it since I didn't do it last week. It seems like every time I turn around, it's either time to clean house or write a newsletter article for the church newsletter!!! They both seem to come around more frequently than anything else!
I pray that your new year has started well. That there is room and space for gentleness and quiet.
It has been a strange winter. We are snowless once more after receiving about two-three inches last Sunday/Monday. By Friday and Saturday, with the sun and warm temperatures it was all melted away. On Wed. we are supposed to reach near 50 degrees again. Usually that happens only once sometime during the winter - a tease, a reminder, a promise of what will come again to ease our frozen and cold souls. I have contended that with the harsh winters of the last two years, that we are due for a milder winter. Perhaps, this is that winter. Week two of January and we aren't a frozen wasteland!!! I will savor this. It may not last. There are still 7 weeks until March, but somehow, at the moment, that doesn't seem such a long time.
I do miss the snow covering the lawns, the bushes and trees. I don't miss driving in it and the bitterly cold wind that whips right through you.
I know there will be some of that yet to come. The crocuses, iris, tulips and daffodils need some insulating snow cover.
I'm thinking I should do a pool - how many times will LH have to start up the snowthrower this winter? I'm thinking perhaps two times at most.
Any takers? Any guesses?

NEW YEAR EXCITEMENT -
There we were gathered around the kitchen table with LH's sisters, when LH noticed something furry on the back fence. We all gazed out the sliding glass door and beheld a cat perched on the top of the 4 foot high fence in the wind and the snow flurries.
We had seen that cat around the neighborhood before. It was without collar or tags and went into ours and neighbors front flower beds.
LH opened the door and out ran Renoir, who noticed something different about the fence and gingerly went up to it. The cat hissed and arched its back at least a couple times.
Then LH released Jazz who was all too interested and out of the door he bounded and ran right to the fence and jumped on the fence. There commenced a flurry of hissing, running and a greyhound with a cat in its mouth, and a cat on the ground and I couldn't take the scene. LH ran out and thankfully, the fighting cat ran way up the river clump birch tree and the dogs came in. We thought that the cat would be scared off by two quick dogs that were four times its size. But that cat was a feisty fighter and wasn't going to simply hop off the fence and run away.
The dogs were proud to have chased and run down what they saw as prey.
The poor cat stayed in the tree for a good long time and slowly inched
its way down the tree. It took almost an hour. I'll bet its heart was still pounding and thankful for nine lives, one of which was probably used up that very afternoon.
I doubt that we will see that cat anywhere near our backyard any more. The dogs have settled down with good memories of a winning chase until LH spoiled it. And I am relieved that the cat lives and hopes it has learned its lesson.
To all furry things that would seek to invade our property, be ye warned, the greys are fast and won't tolerate trespassers!!!!(To all bunnies, cats, and various critters) To you, cat owners in the neighborhood, keep you cat indoors for we cannot vouch for its safety once it comes into our yard.
That was enough excitement to last me the long month of January!

NEW YEAR -
Dontcha just love a new year that begins so fresh and clean, so newborn, so full of hope and endless possibilities?
So far, I haven't messed up anything.
Well, except that the Eucharistic Prayer preface in my worship folder was the Easter preface instead of the Christmas preface. But, I doubt that anyone really noticed during worship, except me. Which just goes to show you that perhaps, most people aren't paying that close attention to the Eucharistic Prayer!!
Must remember that the secretary just doesn't know the ins and outs of all the liturgy. But, I never did tell her to change the prayer. Sigh. Just
have to keep working on it and pray that she gets it in time and doesn't see it as criticism of her. She's more sensitive than she lets on. And is the quirkiest church secretary I've ever worked with.
Looks like I've got some work cut out for me in this fresh new year!
After 27 years in ministry, even this low-church Presbyterian does know
a thing or two about liturgy!!
It's going to be an interesting year and I feel an Easter Vigil coming on....
Happy New Year to all. May it glisten and sparkle like fresh fallen snow with hope, possibilities and new adventures in faith!

One Last Lesson of 2011:

Just because a brownie looks delicious, doesn't mean it is.
At our last Advent Potluck at the Church of Another Denomination, there was
an plate of exquisite looking brownies and I couldn't wait to have one. It was THE worst brownie I've ever eaten. Maybe the mix went bad, or it was a cheesy brownie mix to begin with. Then, it had a burnt taste to top it off.
Perhaps, that's why they were frosted so nicely. Yuck!!

END OF YEAR PEEVE -
Why is it that every time LH and I go out to eat in a restaurant the salt and pepper shakers are always overfilled? When you go to shake out pepper you can shake 'til the cows come home and barely get a grain or two. When you unscrew the cap, pepper granules spill out all over the table. I am not a messy person, nor hard to serve or please. However, I do like to add pepper to my veges or meat or potatoes.
To all you restaurant supervisors/managers, please tell your wait staff NOT to overfill the shakers. They should be 3/4 to 2/3 filled, so that diners can shake out what they desire and not leave a mess for the busboy or busgal to clean up.
Thank you very much.

POST CHRISTMAS -
Christmas came again this year, as it does each year no matter our circumstances or situations. Christmas finds a way to slip in beside us and settle in the manger of our hearts and lives. Each one uniquely different.
This year was no exception.
The Church of Another Denomination printed a very optimistic multitude of bulletins. There was great expectation and it was unfortunate that we did not come close to 200. 112 was the number. The head usher was a bit flumoxed that the candlelighting would be a bit different with ushers lighting the people at the end of the pew, instead of people picking up a candle and having it lit as they made their way back to their pew seat from
partaking of communion. A sort of dangerous practice and the first ones to commune would have their candles burning for quite some time.
Communion was also a wee different, as I again, had the manger with straw and a loaf of bread wrapped in white linen and offered a true invitation and my own Great Prayer of Thanksgiving which included the singing of "Gloria in excelsi Deo" refrain from Angels We Have Heard on High. The post-communion canticle was sung to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
and the "Lamb of God" was replaced by the fourth verse of "O Little Town of Bethlehem", which made for a festive communion. I intoned the words, "The Bread of Heaven come down for you" as I gave the bread to each one. It was visually and aurally rife and dripping with meaning and symbolism.
I got home about 9:30 pm and was mightily disappointed that the brie LH had bought was no good! There was quite an odor that wasn't obvious the day he bought it, but the rind was darker and not white on the bottom. So, fortunately, LH had bought some Jarlsberg Swiss and that sufficed but didn't go with the Nicolas Feuillatte champagne as well as Brie does. NF is my favorite champagne - bubbly but I never get a headache from it. It's crisp and clean - just like champagne ought to be.
Christmas Day we had a few more in the cavernous sanctuary than I had expected. I tried to do a pool - I came up with 25, one parishioner who helped light candles suggested 10, the assisting minister and organist didn't give an estimate - so I suppose I won since we had 38!!
I focused on the Isaiah passage and read a wonderful story by Norman Vincent Peale called "A Faraway Christmas". It was a very nice, warm service.
Afterwards, I got home earlier since there was no Sunday School and changed, had lunch, fed the greys, LH came home, had lunch then we opened our gifts and promptly went down for our naps. Late afternoon, we made several calls to our families and enjoyed talking with them and thanking them for their wonderful gifts. LH surprised me with a beautiful sterling silver bangle bracelet from the Scottish Jewelry Designer - Sheila Fleet. The three interlocking waved bangles move and change configuration which is evocative of waves. Truly unique and since I'm so intuned to water, it was perfect.
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law in Canada surprised me with a pair of winter olympic Canada mittens - red with a white maple leaf on each hand, just like the Canadian olympic athletes wore!!! They are great!!!
Although, we never did get a tree to put up, I bought a small swag of greens that I placed on a Christmas placemat and added a pine and cedar scented candle and it was lovely.
There was peace, a quiet joy, and a spirit of love that infused this Christmas. And hope was present as well. A quieter, low-key, simple Christmas but beautiful nevertheless.
I pray that Christmas crept in beside you and left you the gifts that your heart and spirit longed for - the Christ child - and a deeper connection and love for the Lord. May His peace be with you all these days of Christmas and throughout the New Year.

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE - TO DO LIST

This Friday we're asked to name 5 items on our To-do List as Christmas
fast approaches and anything we've decided to skip this year. So, here goes:

1. Wrap staff gifts and write their cards.
2. Wrap LH's gifts.
3. Wrap SIL's gifts.
4. Cards and tip for newspaper carrier and mail carrier.
5. Launder white linen and white cotton towels for Christmas Eve
communion.
6. Order bread for Christmas Eve Communion service.(Threw that in extra, just a reminder for me!!!)
This year, I'm skipping baking Christmas cookies, putting up and decorating
a Christmas tree, and our Island Sweet & Sour Meatballs on New Year's Eve, we'll enjoy them New Year's Day instead. Can't stay up too late since we
have services on Christmas Day and New Year's Day! LH has to get the Brie for Christmas Eve. The champagne is already in the basement waiting to get
chilled!

RGBP'S - FRIDAY FIVE - RANDOMNESS
In the thick of Advent, just some random thoughts and goodness:
1. Gifts have been wrapped. packaged and sent. Woohoo!!! Still have
to work on staff gifts and LH.

2. Christmas letters to overseas family and friends have been signed,
sealed and sent! Christmas cards still need to be done.

3. The sausage bread I made for the Advent potluck was a hit, again!
Came home with no left-overs, even though the recipe makes two
loaves and there was a table full of food. Guess who's making it
again this week? Dare I hope to bring some leftovers home?

4. The sermon for Sunday came together fairly well. Still have to work
on the Children's sermon. Cut lots of brightly colored ribbon for
worship so folks can shout out their joy and wave a ribbon. This
congregation needs play a little in the wake of all they've been
through.

5. There was a package that came for me on Tuesday from a parishioner
from the last church I served. What a surprise! It was a green
prayer shawl and I've worn it every evening - enveloped in prayer
and warmed by love! What a wonderful gift to receive out of the blue.