Tuck and Roll

This morning I behaved badly in church. That’s difficult for an old preacher’s kid to admit, but there it is. I got kind of huffy with a “difficult” person in Sunday School. You may know the kind—the one who wants to hijack the group discussion and allow no opinions to be aired that disagree with theirs. Now, normally I do not roll my eyes at people—not visibly, but –well, to make a long story short, I made sure my opinion WAS heard.

Then service started, with my praise team singing a few hymns. Then the pastor came up to make a few announcements, and we were just standing there behind him. I was all for going and sitting down. I was tired, we looked silly, etc. But the other singer said something about waiting until after the announcements, when we would be doing greetings, then we could get down discreetly when attention would be elsewhere. FINE. Stand here and look silly, leave the platform discreetly. As you can see, my mood was a little off. Plus, I’ve been rethinking church anyway. Why does it have to be this big production? Does everything HAVE to be perfect and smooth? Can’t we just leave the platform when we’re done singing? Can it just be about believers getting together to learn from each other so we have steam to go out and be salt and light for the rest of the week? Yes, I was actually thinking all that while the pastor was talking about upcoming donut sales and such.

So then it was time for greetings. Our church has this greeting thing—lots of churches do it. It’s where you go around and shake hands with everyone around you. The “shake and howdy.” My church’s shake & howdy used to be this stilted affair where you shook hands with someone close by, mumbled something polite, then moved on to the next person. A few people later and your duty was done and you could sit down. Nowadays we hug, laugh, chat a little, and it’s hard to get us to stop. We’ve come a long way. Still not exactly meaningful relationship, but at least we loosen up, enjoy each other, the single people get a hug to help out with that touch deprivation problem, and it’s really a good thing.

So it came time to go shake some hands. I warmly greeted my fellow praise teamers, and headed for the rest of the flock.

Maybe it’s because I was really tired this morning. Maybe I was anxious to go say howdy to some fellow believers. For whatever reason, I stepped to the edge of the platform, fully expecting another step before I got to the stairs. I was quite wrong. I stepped out with full confidence and planted my feet firmly on—air.

In that split second I had a decision to make. The most dignified route would be to catch myself as quickly as possible, maybe turn an ankle in the catching, risk an injury but the service would receive only the very mildest of interruptions.

The other choice was to put dignity behind me, tuck and roll into the fall. And that’s what I did. I tucked my head in, curled up and took all four steps completely without the benefit of feet. At the bottom I landed on my shoulder, rolled through my back, rear, and came to a stop (finally) in this fetal position type thing. Not a dignified choice, but a necessary choice, since another injury to the cartilage-torn ankle could have been devastating.

I slowly stood up, surprised to be okay, and got a good laugh out of it. It was one ridiculous little tumble, and somewhere between my shoulder and the final roll to a stop, I decided that church wasn’t meant to be a big show. It’s meant to be us together, encouraging each other, teaching, exhorting, and really getting charged up before we head out there into a tough world. If a singer wants to go sit down, go sit down. If he/she wants to go pray, maybe that’s okay too. If you fall, don’t worry about what you look like. Extricate yourself as necessary.

Most of my life I’ve been stuck thinking that church is supposed to be this big production every week, where somebody has planned everything out, and somebody executes the plan, people are entertained, or learn something, or whatever, then everybody goes home and discusses the service over fried chicken. Right now I’m trying to figure out if that’s what we’re supposed to do. I mean, it brings a degree of order, right?

But maybe we need to make room for the people there who are going through a messy fall. Maybe we don’t need to be glossing over those kinds of things for the sake of a smooth service. Maybe if you’re in a bad situation, your fellow believers should have the grace to let you tuck and roll.

Organizing & Costumes

This last week I have embarked on a massive cleaning and organizing spree. Last Friday one of my friends came over to chat and I mentioned how I have been wanting to reorganize the playroom, someday. My friend said, "let's get started!" Ummmm... OK. As previously mentioned I am not that good with cleaning. Or more accurately, I just don't like to do it. So it took a little cajoling, but we got started and a few hours of sorting, tossing and putting away later we had a clean playroom.

So when my friend left, I brushed off my hands and decided that I was done with that. phew. Ummmmm..... no not quite. A week later here I am sitting in a clean office the boys are playing in a clean playroom and not only can I see the carpet, but it is freshly vacuumed. (Thank you to another friend who gave us a vacuum that she wasn't using. - Everything in our house is in the process of breaking, but that's another story) Not perfect, but a lot better than it used to be.

Sometimes it takes a little encouragement from a friend to get where you should be going. Whether it is a massive (yes) cleaning and reorganizing. Or completely overhauling your life. I wouldn't have been able to do either without my friends.

This week was Halloween. We were invited to a couple of costume parties. This was the first time since jr high that I actually dressed up. It was fun to pretend to be someone else for a couple hours. At the first party I was a nurse and at the second I was Becky Sawyer - overalls, freckles and straw hat.

Sometimes as a Christian I feel like I'm at a costume party. Some of us are pretending to be someone. In high school, when I was a new Christian, there were so many things that I turned from, that it really was like pretending that I was someone I was not. A lot of people were confused. Twelve years later, I feel like I've really grown and changed a lot. Jesus is continuing to work on making me more like him.

My husband and I lead a young married couples class, and a comment that I've heard twice this fall is "I don't know how seriously you will take us as new Christians." What? I feel like a new Christian a lot of the time myself. Don't they know the struggles I went through to be here? I guess all the cleaning and reorganizing that I've done has disguised who I was. I need to let the real me peek through a little more.

Happy Feet

Okay, so for a very long time now, I’ve had this dance that I’ve wanted to do. It’s not a dance I’ve ever seen anywhere—well, not quite. It’s a step dance, and I started wanting to do this dance when I was a kid in Tennessee and the old timers would do their buck dances and their clogging, and it was all totally hokey and corney to me. And yet….. they were having so much fun. I wished for the fun.

Then when I grew up and moved to the Midwest I studied for a long time at this dance studio run by these Christian African American ladies. I learned some of the roots steps, and it started to mix inside of me with what I remembered. I kind of wished I could put it together and just dance it. I wished.

I’ve been in church services where they had cleared a big area for people to go dance, and that seemed like a great idea, but as soon as you got out there somebodywould look at you, and you’d get all self-conscious, and that would ruin it.

It’s not that I was a rotten dancer. I spent a lot of time and money studying ballet, mime, jazz and modern, and it was exhilarating to grow and do my best to excel in those disciplines. And I would sometimes dance up a storm in a choreographed frenzy, and it almost felt like flying.

And yet there was this other dance inside of me; a very free dance. It kind of grew as I grew. It’s a step dance, that much I knew; maybe a little Irish, a little southern, more than a little African. All floating around in there; and sometimes I would hear just the right kind of music, and I wanted so badly to dance it. Once I went to this outdoor African American gospel music festival. At one point in one song, my feet were really itching to do that dance. I almost did it, too. But, I mean, you would have to get up out of your seat, and people would see you, and that self-conscious thing would mess you up, and…..I still wish I had done that dance that day.

I couldn’t really capture it when I was alone at home, either. It’s one of those things where you had to be in the moment, with the right people, with the right energy, and together you would be creating something. I do wish I had known how to capture it at home.

Then I came back to my Baptist roots, which pretty much ended the whole dance thing. And even while I was dreaming of still finding a way to dance some more, I totally trashed my ankle. I mean, torn ligaments, torn cartilage, and a healing process measured, not in weeks, but in months and even years. And that pretty much ended the whole thing with that dance inside me. I do wish I had done it just once before I did my ankle job. I wish.

That brings me to this week, and the frustration of near-burnout. See, I’m producing this musical at the school where I teach music. Next Friday is the big performance, and here I am trying to pull all this stuff out of my kids that’s not quite there yet. I’m busy, tired and frustrated, and yesterday I never left the building after school. I stayed and painted the set, grabbed supper in the lunchroom and went upstairs to the sanctuary to practice with my praise team for church Sunday.

And they were all burned out too. The other guitarist was a mess of spiritual warfare. One of the vocalists didn’t even want to be there. The pianist was exhausted from her harvest. We were a mess, and it didn’t bode well.

Practice went HORRIBLY. The bassist and drummer were missing, the pennywhistler looked tired, and at one point two of the singers were arguing over who sang what part. The guitarists (including me) were making mistakes all over the place.

On inspiration I pulled out these stovepipe top hats we’re using for the musical, and gave everybody one. So we were all wearing top hats, playing our songs. We relaxed, laughed at ourselves and tried again, and the air started to clear. This time the set felt really good. God’s presence could be felt.

Then we were pretty much done. We were sitting around in top hats, singing and talking a little. Then the other guitarist started to play, just for fun, the jazz percussion he likes to do. Something was clicking with him, and there he was, sitting there with his top hat on, playing like a house a’fire. And you know…I felt that dance again. I wished my ankle—

And then I snapped; and I was tired of just WISHING. I put down my guitar and hat and started to dance. Part of me knew that people were noticing, but mostly I didn’t care. It was me and God and that dance, and the music. The singers started tapping these water bottle caps on their chairs, and the rhythm was incredible! And the dance came out just like I thought, a step dance with a little Irish, a little southern, a lot of African American roots, and – surprise – some stomp.

So there’s another one down on my list of dreams to fulfill before I die. I keep listening to the audio recording over and over. I can still feel the dance, and for the first time, feeling it is enough. For now.

And the ankle? Nothing a little ice and ibuprofen couldn’t take down. It was well worth the cost.

Now! Here's a link to the song. Listen. YOU tell ME how you could listen to that music and not have happy feet.

Dons Happy Feet Music.mp3


Free file hosting from File Den

It is what it is

I have a saying I coined in high school when I went through a particularly bad part of my life. It's "what a difference a day makes" and that is so true. Most things, if you wait 24 short hours, will change. Or they seem to change.
Unfortunately, my YEAR has been a series of days upon days upon days. I, like A., can only stand back and say "unbelievable" I have seen the highest of highs and had no idea I could be this low. I have always found writing very therapeutic and have posted several things on my friend Lon's blog. He has been kind enough to tolerate my ramblings and allow this kind of pseudo-anonymous group therapy.
To see it go here http://dailybuildup.blogspot.com/
I apparently also like bumper sticker type sayings to help me through some rough spots. Where A. has latched on to "unbelievable", I have grabbed "It is what it is"
You see, I am the complete opposite of A. in many regards. The anti-A if you would. I love neatness, order and purpose. I thrive off of schedules, graphs and charts. Not only does everything have a place but everyone has a particular way they are to behave in that place. Except for this year they didn't.
Nothing is where it should be and it seems no one is acting or reacting in the way in which I think (and expect) them to. It's very hard for me. Sad even. But I am slowly learning this inflexible attitude hurts me as much as it helps. Yes, I set tons of goals and reach them all (before deadline) but I also have a tendency to loose sight of the people and the joy.
In no long flowery definition, no veiled attempt at hiding it, I am hurting and searching for joy. All of a sudden I find myself where everything is out of place and there is no clear cut purpose or goal set before me. At first I was reeling, trying to scramble for a new project or goal or just to put things back in order. Then I stopped.
Simply stopped.
Sometimes to do nothing is to accomplish a great thing.
I know we have a lot of work to do. I know it is good work and that God is with us. I just don't think He wants us to forget to be with each other while the work is being done. I have missed the connection with friends , the laughter, the joy of working together to serve and the caring follow ups when one of us has something go wrong. It is truly the connections to each other that make the work worth doing and not seem like, well, work. As we move forward to accomplish our plans, let us not forget each other.

http://www.stservicemovie.com/

unraveled sweater

Well, I don't have much to say right now, obviously. Nothing too insightful. Nothing too deep and leering about my life or events around me. Life is interesting though. you never know what kinds of twists and turns you will take. This last year has been -borrowing the statement from LaRae Roth - "Unbelievable!" Unbelievable in so many different aspects. Unbelievably amazing. Unbelievably sad. Unbelievably frustrating. Unbelievably exciting. Unbelievably inspiring. Unbelievably unbelievable! Its unbelievable how God has been with me through it all.

He knows what we all need. I needed a period of reflection and testing and then growth. I needed direction. I've been floating through life waiting for something to catch up with me. Unfortunately it did.

It was like wearing your favorite bulky, cuddly sweater. Then noticing a piece of yarn is sticking out awkwardly. You quickly try to tuck it in and hide it. I'm painfully self conscious and will spend a lot of time trying to discreetly tuck away loose threads. This thread was not going to be tucked away. So going against my better judgment, I just pulled it, and pulled and pulled, and pulled....

So suddenly this summer I realized that I had completely undone everything. I was naked and there was a whole mess of yarn around me. Figuratively, not literally, don't worry no indecent exposure. I just realized that I needed to focus my life. I had things and stuff scattered everywhere. I had no goals. And I was unbelievably sad. Luckily, some of our selah sisters where there for me. Thank you.

So I've been reflecting on where I've been and where I'm going. I know what I want to do with my life. Trying to focus on rebuilding things that have come unraveled. Only hopefully better and not leaving the loose threads. So during the process of tearing down and rebuilding I've realized that some really incredible things have happened. I don't want to itemize them here. But things are unbelievable. I can't say that things are great. Or even good. But I think that they are going in the right direction. And I know what God has called me to do. :)

Selah.

Hey, and pray for us - the selah sisters. To be a little bold about it: I don't know what's going on, but there is a rift between some of us. I think we have all been in the process of tearing apart and rebuilding, whether we wanted to or not. God has lead us to this place. But we are all feeling a little disconnected with each other. It seems like when we are wrapped up in reflecting and redefining we lose track of those around us. So Pray for us. I think that as individuals and as a group we need it.

a.

Back In Time

If you make it as far as my profile, you'll learn that one of my favorite movies of all time is "Trip to Bountiful." It's an independent film done on a low budget with wonderful acting, directing and horrible editing.

In that movie an older lady is trying to get back to her childhood home, a town called Bountiful. Her mean daughter-in-law prevents her, forcing the poor woman to stay home with her and her husband in a cramped, two-room apartment. But she escapes--buys a bus ticket, and the rest of the movie revolves around the trip back.

She gets to her beloved hometown to find it dead. No one is left. She looks through her house, and you can feel the eerie feeling you get when you walk through an abandoned homeplace--the memories are there, but the trappings are gone. Cobwebs and dust cover everything. No voices--just crickets, birds and memories.

So that's what it was like when I revisited this old blog. It's been years since I could get on -- I had forgotten my password, even. So -- I ran into A. last week, we talked of the old blog, and I determined to get back. Of course, it had that old, abandoned house feeling. The memories we shared, the voices -- and some rather nasty cobwebs.

In Bountiful, the woman entertains the idea of fixing the old place up and living there, but she knows she's too old and her heart is in bad shape, and so it's a pipe dream. It'll never happen. Well, I have entertained that thought here. I cleaned out the cobwebs--spam by the dozens--and even fixed up the place with a new template, and here I am blogging. Who knows? I haven't given up the idea. I may stay and blog. Ladies, if you still have your emails set to receive notice of a new blog, and if you've made your way here, would you care to join me? We no longer share a Bible study as we did, but we share many of the same things we always shared.

We've all done the things Mamaladybug said we'd do. She warned us that we'd grow up and fly the coop. I think maybe she thought we'd start Bible studies of our own, but instead we've followed our giftings and done some extroardinary things. I think it must have been hard for Mamaladybug to see us go, and yet she's got to be proud when she remembers where we all started. Hey, Mama--good job! Kudos! I'd have never done some of this stuff without the confidence you inspired and the grounding you provided.

If you guys want to report in, maybe we could start it like a family reunion. Where are you in your life? What's going on? How have the Selah Sisters affected you in the ministry you now do? Then, maybe we can take it from there.

I'll do my report in an upcoming blog, but first I'd like to say something to the cobwebs: :~?

Yes, we know we've got a great blog going here. Weird how you came back with such consistency, saying the same things over and over. No, we do not wish to participate in your home-based spamming pyramids. No, we don't want to purchase the various unwholesome products you've touted. And, no, we do not wish to grow back our hairlines. Not at this time, thank you. However, you won't see this little notice. Thanks to new settings you won't make your way in here, and good riddance. Have a nice day.

Okay, back to the Selah Sisters. My apologies to some of the nice blogs we linked to. The new template erased those settings, but I plan to get links back up for the best of them.

Homesick

Here we are again at the end of summer. Sometimes I think that this is the best and the saddest time of the year all wrapped up into one exhilaratingly quick blink of an eye; and then its fall. This is the time of year that we've all spent so much time outside that the outdoors feels like home. You are so used to the emerald greens that when they start to fade you continually tell yourself that it isn't true, your eyesight must be getting bad.

"Poor little booger," my oldest is playing with the baby when suddenly starts lamenting. I inquire about this statement. To which he responds, "he has got to be sooo homesick now." What we are at home. Doing our familiar bedtime routines. How could you get more "at home" than that? Well let me tell you, through the eyes of a child. B just pointed up to the ceiling. I look up and the realization of what he meant poured over me like honey - sweet, yet the implications were sticky. I often forget where my true home is. Yet my children who haven't graced this earth as long as I have, haven't taken their eyes from their true home. Some days they are a blessing to me, the unrestrained happiness only a child can know. Their eyes and hearts are still mostly pure and untainted by the world. Yet I know that there will be a time soon when they too will have to have their sins washed away. To regain this purity that is so natural to them now.

Yes, now that you mention it, I'm homesick, too. We all are. Maybe we don't all know it because we fill the void with something else, but all of our hearts are yearning to be clean and pure and for our home in the sky.

This year we are keeping my oldest home to school him here. After long deliberations, we have decided that, for now, this is the best that we can do. We are looking forward to this year, many neat things planned. I do believe that God has lead us to this path for a reason. What exactly I'm not sure yet. It seems like my path in life is meandering, but I know that He leads me down the straight and narrow.

Love,
A.

It has been hot.... real hot. We have all had cabin fever. And have been cranky. Some days the little window air conditioner we have could barely keep up with itself let alone the room it was in. Outside has been worse. But lets not talk about unpleasant things.

Yesterday afternoon the rain came. I don't think that it has rained since June (I can be proven wrong on technicality, but it hasn't rained like it needs to rain.) Today, the coolness of the morning greeted us in such a way that I knew today would be a good day. Not to cool. And thank you God not to hot. Today has been a day for doing things.

However, I had an appointment to keep, well a morning one and then an afternoon one. I took my boys with me. Yup, a little disgruntled about the situation. So afterwards I surprised them by taking them to play and walk around the park and then to get sno cones. Its amazing how one day of great weather soothes the soul. Mends hurt feelings. In the same way reading His word does. I need to work on spending more time outside and with Him.

A look at the head joint. 

Any idea what this is? Someone gave it to me last night. It has six tone holes like a pennywhistle. It holds like a flute, but with a strange little mouthpiece so you don't have to worry about embrouchure. A fife, maybe? 

So much to do, so little...

It's been way too long since my last post. I guess we've all found ourselves in over our heads as far as business. A., I think of you often, even though I don't get to see you so much during the summer.

I've been so busy since I started teaching. And the church I go to has been eagerly creating opportunities for me to use what musical skills I have. Not that they're suffering for musical talent. They have wonderful singers and musicians, great guitarists, and the pianists and organists are topnotch. It's just that they're always looking to plug in new musicians any way they can.

I've rediscovered tin whistle, which is a little-recognized, but much-heard instrument. Most people who enjoy movies have probably heard it played. It's the instrument that makes the theme to Titanic so haunting. Most people think it's a flute played very expressively. It's not. It's a Celtic instrument, kind of an end-blown flute. I played whistle right after I graduated from college, put it away for a long time when I was busy with ballet, then raising a family, and now I'm back at it. I use it as a devotional tool. Sometimes I play to God. Sometimes I laugh or weep with it. And sometimes I play it in church. Our scheduler has put my whistle on the offeratory list. Not long ago we put together an arrangement of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" with violin, tin whistle and piano. I hope it was as devotional to listen to as it was to play.

Only thing is, now I have three instruments (whistle, guitar, keyboard), plus voice, to keep up with and practice each day and still be conscientious about raising the kids and being a good wife and mom. This could never have happened when the kids were younger. And it's my feeble excuse for not keeping up with the blog.

A., I'm praying for you during the busiest part of raising your new boy. You and your family are on my heart often.

I know many of our two or three regular readers are out of the habit of checking back, but if you ever check this way again, please drop a line in the comments. I'd love to hear from you. And I'll try to get busy and write regularly again.

Certain Paths

God never fails to surprise. Certain paths that I thought I was choosing by my own free will. I now know that He was leading me. And for a purpose.

I've been blessed with the birth and 9 1/2 weeks of raising my second son. This is so much more than what I imagined. Yes, different. No, not what I would have chosen. But I do know that All things God works together for His good.

I have spent the last several years developing myself spiritually and mentally. Challenging myself to know God more. To read more. To live more. To cook more. To garden more. To be healthier. To be more frugal. God was actually challenging me, not I challenging myself. Its fairly clear now. He knew that in order to raise my next son, that I needed to know many new skills for the challenge ahead. I'm glad I've already stored up that information, because learning on the job would have been a bit harder.

My first son has been his own challenge to raise. And I'm continually learning. I trust that God is steering me in the right directions with him. But, I can't believe how different my second son is. With his own set of challenges already. We have had many dietary issues with him, and after weeks of trial and error, my diet is restricted to meet my sons needs. I now have to read all labels. If I cook from scratch that is best. Which I now know how to do fairly well. I can eat whatever I raise in the garden, so out come the well worn gardening gloves. But most importantly I need to draw from my knowledge of God's love for me to make it through my days. The verses that I have memorized are honey to my soul when I need to be nourished. No I don't have time to dig and ponder over the word. But, I have a wellspring in my soul that will not run dry in times of need.

Follow your heart down the path that God leads it. And surely He will care for you all of your days.

Love,
A.

World Water Day but No Water for Terri

I'm bumping Allthings2All to headline status today. Catez expresses it well on Terri Schaivo's situation.
Allthings2all

Terri to Appear before Senate Health Committee

Will the hospice remove the tube anyway? To do so would mean being held in contempt of Congress.


My Way News: "The Senate Health Committee has requested that Terri Schiavo and her
husband, Michael, appear at an official committee hearing on March 28.
Earlier Friday, a House committee was issuing congressional subpoenas
to stop doctors from disconnecting the tube."

Pray Hard!!

U.S. Congress steps in for Terri Schiavo. Pray that they will succeed in saving her life. Wonder if Michael Schiavo realized what a firestorm he would shake up.
My Way News

Today I found God in....

…..a random act of kindness.

This morning I was really too tired to be a good Godseeker, although I did manage a chapter from Scripture. Good reading, but I found Him elsewhere today. Unexpectedly, I found Him in this "random act of kindness." And the person managed to leave the impression that I was the one doing the favor. Better explain this one, I think.

It really started last night as I tossed, fidgeted and raised my head from time to time to check the clock. From about 10:30 to close to 3:30 I did this--knowing I would have to be up by 5:30.

But I guess I should really go back two weeks to the day I first realized I was coming down with the flu that's been dogging a lot of us around here. And it's been with me for lo these two long, dreary weeks. After about four days on my back, I was able to drag back to work and get on with my life, but it's really still there. Every day I've awakened tired and gone to bed exhausted. Not to complain, but you have to understand how precious my sleep is right now.

Back to last night. After falling asleep around 3:30, I hauled out of bed at the usual time and went in to work. The voice was a bit better, so I downed a disgustingly strong cup of coffee as I prepared and started working on the voice stuff. Oh, did I ever mention that I work part time at a local radio station? Just an hour in the morning. I record some voice liners, weather and public service announcements, as well as a bit of trivia about old 60's tunes. I get done by seven am, hurry home to get the kids ready for school and we all pile in the car and head out. My guy teaches college, I teach music K through high school, and the kids, of course, learn. A bit challenging under normal circumstances, it's been gruelling these past few weeks, and this morning--all I can say is, I was glad to be a coffee drinker.

I went home, this morning, wrestled the kids into their clothes, thrust some breakfast into their hands, and shoved everyone out the door. We got to school, I got my preschooler settled into her classroom, and raced down to my first class. I opened my briefcase, only to find--all my music was back home.

I stared at row upon row of 4th through 6th grade students, realizing that if any one of them had forgotten his or her homework, I would have docked the grade 10%. And here I was with nothing prepared--at least nothing prepared at school.

I grabbed my guitar and we sang a song, talked about phrasing and the structure of songs, then I let them try their hand at composing. I redeemed the situation by turning it into a learning experience.

Next class went better. The jr.-sr. class was having band day. Instruments and voices--they were pretty well self-contained.

I went downstairs for a short break, knowing that for the youngest classes I had nothing. Nothing. I shared my quandry with a couple of teachers. One even offered to let me use her car to go get my stuff, but I knew with two hours of sleep under my belt, I had no business behind the wheel of her car.

Then the church/school secretary offered to drive me home. Well, I hate to inconvenience anyone--I always have--but I had no choice, really. So I took her up on it.

Here's the part where she left me feeling she was the one receiving the favor. In the course of the trip, she mentioned she had prayed that morning that God would send someone her way who needed help. Well, now, I know from experience that when you make God an offer like that, He could send you someone with a really big, really inconvenient problem just to see what you would do with it. So I guess my coming along wasn't so bad. I don't live that far from school. I guess it got her out of the building for a few minutes. And for me it was kind of nice just to be someone's answer to prayer. Know what I mean?

It got me thinking. You know, since we've started this RealGodseekers blog, we've found God in all kinds of places. In the garden, in big, neat opportunities, in sweet morning walks. And today--well, today I found God in the kindness of a friend.

What about ash Wednesday for the Christian?

Ok ladies- I have been quiet but not forgotten (I hope) Things are my normal crazy busy and God is good. Even in some hard times (and they have really gotten stinky at work) I am given some good. I'm reminder that the Lord gives and takes away. My playground fundraising has paid off and we will see some new equiptment going in this Spring. The ladies Sunday school class idea has taken hold and we will soon see how this progresses. And lastly (for now) the Performing Arts Ministry book study idea has begun with several participating. The best news of all is that I am not leading everything. People are getting plugged in to use their gifts and strengths. I am merely been coreographing. (Which after another class I have been in may be my spiritual gift- administration). Oh I almost forgot, the I- team. Or passion team or whatever we called it. The recommendations were made to the elders. I had a HUGE concern that no one would see the impact. That we would only be successfully at making the I-team more passionately spiritual. Well, wrong. God laid it in the hearts of the men from the team to step up into leadership positions. As a result, all of the men are now elders/deacons or staff members. The women of course continue to be strong supporters. But having the men that went through with us and understand the recommendations be leaders is a big plus.

OK what does this have to do with Ash Wednesday?? Nothing. I was just up dating you before I got to my question. So what about it? I know it signifies the beginning of Lent. But is it biblical?? I tend to think a lot of the Catholic traditions stem from strong politics. So is Ash Wednesday biblical or political?? Can anyone give my reference and verse??

Quiet

God always seems bigger to me in the morning when I take the dog out , and its quiet & cold. On winter mornings, everything is pale and pastel, the pinks and yellows of the sun rising. There is more evidence of God, then of man. On these dreaded winter mornings God always seems to be all around me. I breath fogs up in front of my face, the snow or frost crunches under my feet. Everyone else is still inside sleeping. Sometimes I hear birds singing and squirrels chattering, The dogs tags jingle. But mostly its quiet. Just me (& the dog) and God. This is when I like to pray.

This winter that I was not looking forward to, is passing swiftly. There is still a lot of cold days left. But not many. And there are only 5 weeks until the new baby comes. I am sad and joyous because this time has gone by so fast. I still have lots to get ready, but many things are getting checked off the list.

Love,
A.

Inaugural thoughts

I caught just a bit of the inauguration yesterday. A television played all day in the lunchroom at school and classes were herded in to hear the President's swearing in, speech, and a few musical pieces.

It was nice, I guess. The music was a bit boring. It all seemed subdued for the grandness of the occasion. The President's speech left me uneasy, somehow. He seemed promise us some things that are outside the realm of human possibility. Claims were made about the power of democracy that left me feeling that this concept was almost deified. Democracy will conquer tyranny. Not just in a few countries where we can make a real difference--but worldwide. Ushering in peace on earth everywhere.

Democracy can do great things, and has, but it is not God. I get uneasy when people start talking about achieving peace on earth, since Christian Scripture warns us to beware when we hear such talk. Only Christ is able to achieve some of the goals the President has aspired to reach. The speech seemed to me to be sprinkled generously with humanly unachievable goals. Which is the core of what left me uneasy. Is this what the President really believes? Why?

Now, I'm a Bush supporter. I voted for him, support him, and have committed to praying daily for him. The speech has inspired me to redouble those prayers. Which may be a hidden blessing. If others are similarly inspired, that can only be a good thing.

Often when I see President Bush, I see an incongruous face. Often the Bush detractors mistake it as an unintelligent one. No--just incongruous. The eyes, steely and determined. The mouth--embarrassed. That's right. He's not quite comfortable in his own skin.

Understand that although he is from a political family, he was raised as a young boy in a small town, with middle class kids as friends. Leaving him with the impression that he's just a regular guy. And a regular guy that finds himself the leader of the free world might be a bit embarrassed by the success. Hence the incongruous face. And the speech. It does not sync with the regular guy part of him that makes people trust him.

Here's a link to a Peggy Noonan column which is pretty good, especially since she agrees with me. ;-) Also, scroll down half the page to a carricature by Ismael Roldan that captures that incongruous face better than any I've ever seen.
OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan
BTW, to somewhat offset the criticism, I DID appreciate the way the President referred to God throughout the speech. And thank God the prayer of invocation was not taken away from us this year.


-Godseeker

The Ordinary and the Extroardinary

Getting away for the holidays was wonderful. First, though, I had to get over the guilt of spending time playing instead of developing curriculum. I guess it runs with the territory of being a first-year teacher.

Vacation at our parents' houses is always a break from news "junkiehood." First we go to my mom's house, who up until this year didn't have a television. Now she has a TV, but no cable, so we were woefully dependent on network TV for our news. I found I'd just as soon do without.

Then we got to my guy's parents' house, where there's cable, but you just find yourself watching less TV after going without at my mom's. So we felt somewhat sheltered from news from around the world.

The Sunday after Christmas, there was a big ice storm in South Carolina. This in a part of the country where a single snowflake has the power to shut down entire school systems. Lest anyone think I'm making fun, remember, I grew up in that part of the country. We kids lived for the single snowflake.

So that Sunday morning we awoke to the sight of glistening twigs, grass blades and clinging leaves seemingly encased in glass. Beautiful. We channel-surfed to find out if there would be church. My mother-in-law was anxious to show off the girls. As she surfed with annoying speed through channel after channel, switching just as I thought we might be getting to the church closings, I caught a breaking news story about a large earthquake in the Indian Ocean--8.0, I think they said. I remember thinking that this was pretty big, but maybe since it was supposedly out at sea, it wouldn't do too much damage to human structures.

At church we played open chimes and did a Christmas service and generally sheltered ourselves from the world around us. At least that's how I remember it when I look back now, because as we contentedly celebrated Jesus' birth, reports were apparently rolling in of tsunami waves fanning out to devastate an entire region, wiping out a third of the people there. It reminded me of the book of Revelation, and how a third of the earth is going to be wiped out. We just got a glimpse of the caliber of event that would kill a third of the earth, and what it would be like to experience it.

The Tuesday after Christmas we went down to Myrtle Beach on a cold, crisp day. The girls frolicked in their heavy coats and we walked along the beach as I imagined the horror of a thirty foot wave driving in from the sea.

So here we are, back from a relaxing vacation, and I'm already sleep-deprived and fighting a head cold. It's three degrees out as I write. But God continues to do new things in my life. Imagine!

Our first Sunday back, the choir director asked if I would sub for her directing choir. After assuring her I had never done such a thing (at least not for adults), I said sure, I would be glad to do my best, for what it was worth. So now she's taken on the task of teaching me choral conducting! It's already helping with the kids at school, and I've led the church choir once so far, and it's an exciting new thing. Who would have guessed such a neat thing would happen to me?

I don't know why I'm sharing all this. The original idea for the blog was to show ordinary Christian ladies finding God in ordinary things. It seems to have evolved into ordinary Christian ladies facing extraordinary things in their lives. A. with her baby. Heiress seeking new ministry opportunities. Jomama will graduate from Bible college soon. Although this is extraordinary in itself, I'll bet it leads to extraordinary things in her life, too.

I guess I'm finding that extraordinary things can happen in anyone's life if she'll let them. But life happens in seasons, and there are times of ordinariness, such as finding God in your garden, and times for the extraordinary. So if you're going to get a full picture of a Christian woman's life, you might as well see it all. Because when God is allowed to be in it all, it's all extraordinary.