Today Jeff and I went back up to Garrett with a member of Ridge Church. She is looking at starting either there or Asbury in the fall. It was great to be back. We don't think we've been back to campus since graduation. It's crazy how those two and a half years have passed so quickly! Many of the offices have moved, the apartments have been renovated, and they'll be doing more renovations in the fall. But many of the people are still there, and we got a warm welcome. It kind of felt like a home-coming of sorts.
It made me realize that although there has been change, it is still the same place with lots of the same faces. It's kind of like going home. For Jeff and I, going "home" isn't back to the houses where we grew up, but it's going back to the place where the people are, no matter where that is. It's the people that make home "home." And yet, there are so many memories wrapped up in the places.
"That's where our friend Sara used to live."
"And that's Joey's old apartment."
"Lisa used to walk her rabbit Claude in the courtyard on a leash."
"Remember ......?"
"Kim's Kitchen has the best scones...so good!"
I don't miss the work that came with seminary. Many times I struggled with not needing to put myself through some of the agony of grad school in order to do the job and be the person I felt I was called to do and be. I know I'm better at my job (at least I have resources I wouldn't have had) and I know I'm a better person because of the relationships I had and the people I know because of my time there. I miss that tight-knit community and the people who were such a part of our lives and who still are, no matter how long it has been since we've seen each other or talked last.
Dec 20, 2007
New "Twelve Days"
This is probably the best version of the song I have ever heard. It is a group from Indiana University in 1996, "Straight No Chaser." The group still exists, with different members, of course.
I tried to make it appear as the video within my blog, but it was taking forever to load. So follow the link below and enjoy. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8
I tried to make it appear as the video within my blog, but it was taking forever to load. So follow the link below and enjoy. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8
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.
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