We have gone for a long time since the last potluck meal at church. Today we gathered with all our different varieties of food and ate and visited. It was good.
And I still have a little bit of chicken curry left for someone’s lunch tomorrow.
And I only broke my diet with one piece of Bob’s birthday cake. What can a person do? Bob has turned 65 and that is worth celebrating.
Sharon was walking around taking pictures so I bet she will show a few of all of us over at her blog.
Comments Off on Yep, that was good
Filed under church
Just took out two wisdom teeth on a good friend.
I hope she heals up quickly and with no complications. I hate complainers and since she works here, I will have to sympathize and listen to her. :) Of course she is not the complaining type – at all. So maybe our friendship will remain intact. It did after the last two wisdom teeth. I really do love my friends and hate to hurt them.
Filed under Dental
This just came in my e-mail from the Henri Nouwen Society. It seems to fit what has happened between me and my children. They are my friends. In many ways they have become my equals and yet are still, and always will be, my children.
Becoming Friends of Our Children
Can fathers and mothers become friends of their children? Many children leave their parents to find freedom and independence and return to them only occasionally. When they return they often feel like children again and therefore do not want to stay long. Many parents worry about children’s well-being after they have left home. When their children visit they want to be caring parents again.
But a mother can also become the daughter of her daughter and a father the son of his son. A mother can become the daughter of her son and a father the son of his daughter. Father and mother become brother and sister of their own children, and they all can become friends. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen it is as beautiful to watch as the dawn of a new day.
There is no doubt that every one of my kids is a blessing from God. Of course, a few years ago I would not have said that. It takes time to get some distance from them in order to appreciate their individuality.
But, tonight, I spent almost 90 minutes talking to one of those kids. He commented on my sermon last Sunday. He listened! And then we talked about how God has been present in his life over the past ten or so years and what his personal struggles have taught him about himself, about God and about life.
I just about told him I had to study. The evening was well spent in conversation. Much better than an extra hour on Greek contract verbs!
Filed under Day to Day, Family
when it seemed terribly important to post all sorts of events here in this space.
Somehow it does not seem so urgent anymore. Maybe that means it is time to give this a rest, but I don’t know. Maybe it just means that I need more time to think through the events of the day and reflect on them. It is hard to do that when I am tired or when there are a billion other things I should be doing.
Today was good.
It didn’t start out feeling very good. This was my Sunday to speak and I felt a bit at loose ends with what I had to say. Quite frankly I didn’t feel terribly inspired and, although I know this whole preaching thing involves more than just me being inspired, I felt rather ill prepared and ill fit to speak about anything. Today’s scripture passages were great, not obscure or unrelated so I don’t think it was about not having good resources to draw from. Maybe what I most felt was just plain old inadequate; inadequate to tie things together as I would have liked to and certainly inadequate to say anything challenging or deeply spiritual.
So I guess it was not about me. Which it should not be anyway. The fact that God could use me on a rather mediocre day is frankly a miracle enough for me. I probably ended up being more encouraged than my audience by the end of the morning when Y came up to me and thanked me. He said that what I said was clear – and his English is limited.
Then E and M invited us up for lunch. I brought the yams and green beans and they supplied the deer sausage and wine and did the cooking. It is always fun to get together at their place and a chance to be gifted with one of Kimia’s carefully guarded little smiles.
This afternoon I completed another quiz in Greek so that made me feel good. And tonight I met with my women friends to read another chapter in Scot McKnight’s book.
Today was good.
Now I guess we’ll see what the freezing rain does to my day tomorrow.
Filed under church, Day to Day, Family, grandchildren
is blowing like crazy outside this morning.
Wonder if it is blowing spring in?
Filed under Day to Day
I know I haven’t posted much here this week. I have been incredibly tired, and then in the middle of the night seem to wake and lie there sleepless even when I know that sleep is what I need most.
Last night I did a good workout on the exercise bike and slept like a baby. So, maybe more exercise is what I need most.
There are other things that occupy my mind too. Like retirement and when and how it will happen – soon I hope. This is the downside of owning part of a business I guess. It is not something I can just walk away from. I can’t just quit. Too many staff and patients need me to make a smooth and responsible transition.
So, life goes on. It is good and I still love what I do. But I know that I need to move on to a new phase and this transition is more complicated than just stuff related to the job. It also involves some shifts inside me, I am learning more about myself and who I am and want to become over the last couple of decades of life here on earth. Life never stops being challenging I guess. Actually I hope it will not stop challenging me to grow and change.
Filed under Day to Day, Reflections
via Sojourners
Renewal does not come before mission, but in mission.
– Mortimer Arias,
Protestant church worker in Bolivia
Thought this was particularly interesting in that our church must go through a time of renewal – almost a restart – as our congregation is aging.
Today was like the birthday party hangover around. The kids showed up at church – for the most part. (Except for P and A. And there was much speculation as to what kept them in bed on a Sunday morning by their siblings.) So, everyone headed over to our house for spaghetti and fixings and left overs for lunch.
It is good to have the kids around, the grandkids crawling all over and wanting to play with each other and with me. I love it that the boys are old enough to just crawl up on my lap and ask if they can cuddle. I missed Ronin today because I expect he would have been right in there like the proverbial dirty shirt.
Last night, one of our invited guests gave me a huge compliment. He said that some houses he has gone into are cold and uninviting and others are warm. “You can tell there is a lot of love in this home,” he said.
That is the sort of remark that makes giving and giving and giving love again and again to a family worth all the work and self sacrifice that being a mother calls for.
I think love tends to expand and grow as it is practiced and given away. My children have given me lots of opportunities to practice. Those bumps and difficult times of family life are sometimes where love grows especially strong.
Interesting how God grows love in me at times – both towards himself as I’ve learned to see his goodness through the hard times life sent and towards my children who often took me to those hard places of life.
Filed under Day to Day, Family, Reflections
The party which my family and friends threw for me last night was honestly one of the best parties I have ever been at and certainly the best one ever held in my honor. It was just so much fun.
I think having Dale Nikkel and Kimbal Siebert do their house concert at our house was brilliant. They were so good. I’d do that again any day. And I would recommend it to anyone as well.
Now, I must get to church for practice. The family is getting up and moving and will be coming later.
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