Oh goodness, it's funny cuz it's true!! Happy Advent.
Dec 12, 2007
three Wise Women
Someone sent this to me and I just had to share...
Oh goodness, it's funny cuz it's true!! Happy Advent.
Oh goodness, it's funny cuz it's true!! Happy Advent.
Nov 29, 2007
Funny Jesus videos
I was looking for videos to use in church during Advent, and I came across these. I don't think I'll suggest using them in church, but I wanted to share, so here ya go.
Nov 21, 2007
Dog-sitting
Below are some pictures I took of Kayla and Bailey. This one couldn't have been better if I had tried to pose them like this myself, although it is a little blurry....
Here is Kayla helping herself to Bailey's bed.
Share and share alike...Bailey helping herself to Kayla's toys.
We're getting to the point where the dogs are comfortable with the other one being around. Kayla is seeming less like a puppy (hard to believe she's almost 5!) in comparison to 2-ish Bailey.
Nov 19, 2007
Two dog house (night)
Yesterday afternoon Jeff and I drove across to Tinley Park, IL, to pick up Bailey. She is my cousin Kellie and Dustin's dog. Bailey is also a beagle, but she and Kayla look very different. I have pictures at home I'll post of the two of them this morning. Anyway, we are dog-sitting for Bailey while her people house-hunt in Texas. We took Kayla with us to Tinley since she typically does better meeting other dogs on their turf instead of hers. The initial meeting went pretty well, and we got to have a nice visit with Kellie and Dustin. We both also got some good hold time with 7-month-old Maisie. So big! But I digress.
So we got the two of them home, pretty much both of them worn out in the back seat. After leaving for part of youth group, I attempted what I thought was the impossible while Jeff finished up youth group: taking the two dogs outside at the same time. Really, it went pretty well. I thought with all the pulling and switching directions that Kayla does that either they or I would be tangled in the leashes, but not so! I think we'll both be on "duty duty" at the same time for the week, though.
Bed time last night was interesting. Pretty much, Kayla usually sleeps curled against me, between Jeff and I, but Bailey thought she wanted to be there. So there was a little time for establishing who was curling up where. It ended up that I had a dog on either side of me, and I pretty much didn't move the whole night, for fear of shifting the balance of the universe. (Really, it wasn't that bad.)
Although Kayla has been around other dogs before, this is her first experience with a younger dog. It's fun to watch. Kayla plays with Bailey the same way we play with Kayla when she wants to play and we don't: taking a couple lunging steps toward her, watching her run off expecting to be followed, returning to what you were already doing, and repeating when the dog comes back. Not a great description, it would be better in video but we don't have one.
It's been fun, and we're glad to help out family!
So we got the two of them home, pretty much both of them worn out in the back seat. After leaving for part of youth group, I attempted what I thought was the impossible while Jeff finished up youth group: taking the two dogs outside at the same time. Really, it went pretty well. I thought with all the pulling and switching directions that Kayla does that either they or I would be tangled in the leashes, but not so! I think we'll both be on "duty duty" at the same time for the week, though.
Bed time last night was interesting. Pretty much, Kayla usually sleeps curled against me, between Jeff and I, but Bailey thought she wanted to be there. So there was a little time for establishing who was curling up where. It ended up that I had a dog on either side of me, and I pretty much didn't move the whole night, for fear of shifting the balance of the universe. (Really, it wasn't that bad.)
Although Kayla has been around other dogs before, this is her first experience with a younger dog. It's fun to watch. Kayla plays with Bailey the same way we play with Kayla when she wants to play and we don't: taking a couple lunging steps toward her, watching her run off expecting to be followed, returning to what you were already doing, and repeating when the dog comes back. Not a great description, it would be better in video but we don't have one.
It's been fun, and we're glad to help out family!
Nov 12, 2007
Early Advent
This month, Jeff and Steve are focusing their sermons on Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. It's a kind of early Advent. Last week Steve preached on Hope, and yesterday Jeff preached on Joy. I think today I experienced my own early Advent....
I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, doing some thinking about and planning for Advent, I picked up the book "Searching for Shalom: Resources for Creative Worship" by Ann Weems. I have used poems from "Kneeling in Bethlehem" for Advent candle lightings the past few years, and again this year. I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the book. Maybe I felt like I needed some inspiration. In any case, I read the first poem, "Searching for Shalom" and started wondering what exactly shalom means. I started with the Preface and I guess you could say I found myself in it.
"Shalom is much more than my own personal prosperity...It's much more than a sense of well-being. It's much more than quiet and calmness, much more than the absence of stress. It's much more than the 'peace' you and I wish each other, much more than no war, no conflict, no violence, no arguing, no loud voices and no red faces. It certainly is a peace that passes my own understanding. Shalom is something that won't come from wishing on a star or keeping the rules. It's nothing I can buy with wealth or power or prestige. It's a gift, a gift that was promised. It's something I keep searching for and hoping for, but something I know I can't have if you don't have it, you and all the yous out there in the world."
For a while in college and seminary I struggled with depression. The thing that made it hard was that I felt like my life really had been pretty good, and I didn't understand why I was feeling depressed, that I should be more joyful. And that led to a downward spiral of guilt and bad feelings. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way I didn't feel depressed anymore. I still struggle with feelings of guilt and depression, but it doesn't get in the way of other things like before. But I still felt like I was "this close" to happiness...close, but not quite there. It was like I knew there was this feeling, but I wasn't quite feeling it. Sometimes in this time of year when the dark part of the day gets longer, I get this almost restless feeling, like I'm waiting for something, or waiting to get something that isn't coming soon.
Yesterday, Jeff preached about Joy. He talked about how Joy isn't a feeling of perpetual happiness. He said Joy isn't putting on a smiley face for the person who asks how you are when you're really struggling and in agony inside.
I think hearing what Jeff had to say yesterday and reading the Preface to this book today, I realize that maybe Joy isn't those fleeting, happy moments, or trying to preserve those feelings. Maybe it's knowing that we're all searching for, trying to create, and trying to hold onto those joy-filled moments, hoping for a time when they don't go away, when everyone experiences the same Shalom. And until then, we have to experience those low times to appreciate and long for and truly yearn for the true Peace and Joy.
I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, doing some thinking about and planning for Advent, I picked up the book "Searching for Shalom: Resources for Creative Worship" by Ann Weems. I have used poems from "Kneeling in Bethlehem" for Advent candle lightings the past few years, and again this year. I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the book. Maybe I felt like I needed some inspiration. In any case, I read the first poem, "Searching for Shalom" and started wondering what exactly shalom means. I started with the Preface and I guess you could say I found myself in it.
"Shalom is much more than my own personal prosperity...It's much more than a sense of well-being. It's much more than quiet and calmness, much more than the absence of stress. It's much more than the 'peace' you and I wish each other, much more than no war, no conflict, no violence, no arguing, no loud voices and no red faces. It certainly is a peace that passes my own understanding. Shalom is something that won't come from wishing on a star or keeping the rules. It's nothing I can buy with wealth or power or prestige. It's a gift, a gift that was promised. It's something I keep searching for and hoping for, but something I know I can't have if you don't have it, you and all the yous out there in the world."
For a while in college and seminary I struggled with depression. The thing that made it hard was that I felt like my life really had been pretty good, and I didn't understand why I was feeling depressed, that I should be more joyful. And that led to a downward spiral of guilt and bad feelings. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way I didn't feel depressed anymore. I still struggle with feelings of guilt and depression, but it doesn't get in the way of other things like before. But I still felt like I was "this close" to happiness...close, but not quite there. It was like I knew there was this feeling, but I wasn't quite feeling it. Sometimes in this time of year when the dark part of the day gets longer, I get this almost restless feeling, like I'm waiting for something, or waiting to get something that isn't coming soon.
Yesterday, Jeff preached about Joy. He talked about how Joy isn't a feeling of perpetual happiness. He said Joy isn't putting on a smiley face for the person who asks how you are when you're really struggling and in agony inside.
I think hearing what Jeff had to say yesterday and reading the Preface to this book today, I realize that maybe Joy isn't those fleeting, happy moments, or trying to preserve those feelings. Maybe it's knowing that we're all searching for, trying to create, and trying to hold onto those joy-filled moments, hoping for a time when they don't go away, when everyone experiences the same Shalom. And until then, we have to experience those low times to appreciate and long for and truly yearn for the true Peace and Joy.
Oct 22, 2007
Dial-a-story
Jeff has an entry on his blog about Dial-a-story, which you should read. You should also call the number, just so you get some perspective. It's definitely one of those things that will make you go "hmmm......"
Oct 16, 2007
Changes
It seems I have done it again. Somehow I get on these dry spells of blogging. It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about...workshops in Kansas City and ideas from that, the Clinger 5k, Christmas in September (what!?!), Chicago Marathon, blah blah blah. I just haven't found a good way to share about it all.
So I'm thinking today about fall. It very much looks like fall outside my window, but it didn't so much feel like fall when I left the house this morning. It looks like I should wear pants and a light sweater, but it feels like I should wear capris and a short-sleeved shirt. So today I wear what feels right.
When Jeff and I ran yesterday, I saw a tree right across the street from our house that has turned a beautiful shade of dark dark red. It was the first time I had seen the tree, not because it changed all of a sudden, but because we have had our blinds closed to the gray of outside. Many times at work, I find myself gazing out the window, and have noticed the brown, orange, and yellow leaves on the ground all of a sudden this week.
It's almost as if fall is playing hide and seek, showing some glimpses of itself every now and then, and quickly ducking back behind summer. It makes me think about how we need those times in our lives of transition, when we are aware that things are changing, but we can't yet see the change or what is to come. It's not quite the heat of summer, and it is not yet the cold of winter. May you find comfort in the midst of your changing season, however you find yourself.
So I'm thinking today about fall. It very much looks like fall outside my window, but it didn't so much feel like fall when I left the house this morning. It looks like I should wear pants and a light sweater, but it feels like I should wear capris and a short-sleeved shirt. So today I wear what feels right.
When Jeff and I ran yesterday, I saw a tree right across the street from our house that has turned a beautiful shade of dark dark red. It was the first time I had seen the tree, not because it changed all of a sudden, but because we have had our blinds closed to the gray of outside. Many times at work, I find myself gazing out the window, and have noticed the brown, orange, and yellow leaves on the ground all of a sudden this week.
It's almost as if fall is playing hide and seek, showing some glimpses of itself every now and then, and quickly ducking back behind summer. It makes me think about how we need those times in our lives of transition, when we are aware that things are changing, but we can't yet see the change or what is to come. It's not quite the heat of summer, and it is not yet the cold of winter. May you find comfort in the midst of your changing season, however you find yourself.
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