Connecting on the Road

I'ts amazing what a better night of sleep will do for us!

After arriving at my sister-in-law's house, yesterday, I called a second cousin who lives close by. I went over for coffee and a chat. Although we met as children, probably at my grandmother's funeral when we were 12, we didn't know each other until three years ago when I ate dinner with her. We're the same age and the same MBTI type. Different paths. Her dad was my father's favorite cousin: my Mick, her Nick. It's interesting how for both of us our fathers were the most admired people in our lives. My father died fifteen years ago on August 4. Her father died about 4-1/2 years ago, shortly after my mother's death. Her mother is still alive, but with Alzheimer's. She has one brother as I do. We both have an awareness that there's not a lot of family left so we need to stay in better contact.

Forgive me, Atkins, for I have sinned. I ate two ears of delicious corn on the cob. Otherwise, I have been doing well resisting the carbs.

Oh, for a good night's sleep!

Three nights on the road thus far. First one was in a bed, but with our son sleeping on an air mattress in the same room. Heard everytime he turned over almost all night. Last two nights on a couch (not a sleep sofa) just wide enough to lay down on.

Even as I write these words of complaint I am aware that I am entirely blessed with so much abundance. There are folks who would think these accomodations were truly palatial, folks who would be grateful for the eggs and bacon at Dig's Diner in Warsaw in the morning. I give thanks for these blessings.

BTW, Dig's is up for auction. We don't know if it will be here next year when we come back.

Travels with Harry

We've had a great trip so far across PA, OH, & IN, listening to Harry Potter the whole way. Jim Dale does an incredible job of making all the characters come alive.

This is a true story of redemption without a sappy moment in it.

On the Road

While 3 of us are on the road, our older son is staying back with a friend whose mom is a member of my church. It's the first time we will have been away from each other for such a long time (2 weeks). I feel like this is a big venture in trust. I know he's in good hands, both human and divine. He's only 16.

I can remember the moment he was placed in my arms when he was just 10 minutes old as the pediatrician said, "He's beautiful, mom." Tears of joy as I carried him into the nursery where his new dad helped give him his first bath.

God truly gives us our children as a trust to love, and in the process learn just how much God loves us and them.

Thanks be to God!

At Long Last!

I was one of those who put Falls Church in first place in pre-ordering Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Wow! What a wrap-up. I won't go into details now so I don't spoil it, but Rowling did herself, and us, proud.

Come, Get a Drink at the Well

As I write, I hear the voices of the children from daycare outside my office window squealing with excitement in their Splash Day. There’s nothing like water for good play times.
I just took our younger son to soccer camp with two water bottles to help him cope with the heat of the day. There’s nothing like water to quench the thirst.
We finally have the kitchen sink and new dishwasher hooked up at home so we can actually clean our dishes in the kitchen rather than in the tiny bathroom sink. There’s nothing like water to get cleaned up.
Our front yard is basically a perennial garden or a meadow, but with the hot dry days some of the newer plants begin to droop. After a rain, or after my husband waters them, they perk right up. Tomatoes are growing larger. There’s nothing like water to keep life going.
A well can be a wonderful source of water, but if it is left idle for too long the well can dry up. During the hot dog days of August, or even during the cold days of winter, and even during the beautiful days of fall and spring, we may have a tendency to neglect the well.
Spending time with God is like drawing water from the well. The water quenches our thirst, keeps us alive, cleans us up, and allows for joy in our life. When we don’t spend time with God, we neglect the source of that life-giving Water and we may well find that we have become dry and parched.
During August, why not use the Psalms as a way of sipping from the well of living water? You’ll find them readily available right smack dab in the middle of your Bible. Or if you like to use the internet, here are some sources for you.
NRSV
Almost any other translation
Upper Room resources for praying the Psalms
Allow the Living Water to drench your spirit so that you may live, quench your thirst, get cleaned up and have joy!
The Peace of Christ be with you

The Boy Who Lived

Yesterday, we saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Not bad. While they left out a lot from the book, some of my favorite scenes, I think they did a good job of getting the overall story across. And Dumbledore's protrayal was not nearly as dismal as it was in The Goblet of Fire, so seemingly plaintive much of the time, twisting his hands in anxiety. That's not Dumbledore by a long shot. Of course, I think they didn't make Umbridge as toadlike as she is in the book. We only really heard her little coughs, ahem, ahem, at Harry's hearing. And we didn't get to hear, in her office, as she complained that the dementors she had ordered to kill Harry had failed.

Of course, we are waiting with bated breath for The Deathly Hallows to come out. Will Harry live or die? Whose side is Snape really on? Do the Malfoys change sides? Will Harry see behind the veil where Sirrius vanished when killed by Bellatrix? Will Fawkes rise from the ashes once again? Is there redemption?

Questions, questions. And soon there will be answers.

Quilting Angels

What fun! Our Sisters in the Spirit group has been working on the design for paraments for the Communion table and the baptismal font for Advent. Tonight, we saw the fabrics we will use to piece together the background and use for the angel appliques. We got the idea and angel designs from Adoration Quilts by Rachel W.N. Brown of Rachel's Quilt Patch in Staunton, VA.

The three angels will be about 15 inches high each. Maybe we can work on other pieces in years to come. After the angels, shepherds? Camels? The Manger?

Not only will we create something of beauty for the sanctuary, we will also have great fellowship in the process, just like the old quilting bees.

Remember Who You Are

In Will Willimon's blog of July 2, he recorded his notes from First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Burkingham and Curt Coffman. The note that caught my eye was: "You succeed by trying to capitalize on who you are, not by trying to fix who you aren’t." In the book, the authors evidently are making the point that the best management style is to go with a person's strengths, not try to retrain their weaknesses.

When I work with people with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I try to emphasize that our dominant function will always be our strongest function. While our inferior function begins to develop more in our middle years, and we may get a real boost of energy using that inferior function, it will never be as strong as our dominant function. So when our life depends on it, always go with our dominant function. In MBTI terms for me, that means while I may get a kick out of using my sensing function, when a matter is really important I need to go with my intuitive function.

Theologically, what does it mean to capitalize on who you are, not try to fix who you are not? Does this mean I stick with my broken self, and not seek wholeness through God's grace? I'm not sure I want to do that, or say that to people. But if I look at the question in terms of my baptism, then who I am is a redeemed child of God covered with grace given certain gifts for sharing that grace experience with others.

Water, Water Reflections, Water Remembrance

My younger son and I went to the pool this afternoon. He played in the huge pool that's for anyone who just wants to play, and went down the big water slides, while I swam laps in the lap pool. I love the play of the water reflections on the bottom of the pool. It is so comforting to me. I can feel the stress easing out of my body as I see the reflections made by the ripples in the water from the stroke of my arms and the kick of my legs.

As far back as I can remember, I have loved water. When I was only 9 months old, I've been told, I made my first trip from TX to AL to my grandparents' lakehouse. I hadn't gotten the shots necessary for swimming in lake or river water since my parents weren't planning on me being in the water at such a young age. Evidently, I put up such a fuss on seeing the water and everyone else in it that they got a galvanized steel tub, filled it with water from the house, and then floated it in the lake with me happily splashing about in it.

As one ordained to the celebration of the sacraments, all the connections with water are so important to me. Not only is this the water in which I swim, it is also the water with which I baptize, the water of my baptism, the water of Jesus' baptism, and the water of creation.

Thanks be to God for glorious water!

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. (Isaiah 43:2).

Camping Out @ Home

Our family likes to camp. Well, 3 of us like to camp. Okay, maybe 2-1/2 of us like to camp (I'm not really up for tent camping anymore). Now, we are getting to camp out at home. It's not as bad as 3 years ago when we truly had to camp out in the basement while the renovation on our home was being completed.

It's the cooking and eating part, this time. We are having a couple of new cabinets, a dishwasher and new countertop installed in our 1950s kitchen. And the old remaining metal cabinets will be refinished/repainted. Since the Fourth of July, we can't even get a glass of water in the kitchen, let alone wash dishes.

Sometimes, doing things in a more simple way can help remind us how few thing we really need in our lives. I confess that I get overwhelmed by all the stuff and it tends to distract me from what is truly needful. I get in more of a "Martha" mode, while I really need to be more of a "Mary." I also confess that I really like gadgets. I'm writing this on my MacBook Pro, while my newish Treo 755P is charging. I played with the iPhone yesterday at the Apple store. All cool stuff, but does it really help me relate the good news of Jesus in people's lives? While I'm not giving it all up and going back to the stone ages, I do need to keep it all in perspective as I seek the one thing that is truly needful in my life.

Anyone Can Cook!

That's a key phrase in the new movie Ratatouille from Pixar. That was the contention of the famous chef Auguste Gusteau (in the movie). But then he clarifies that by saying that anyone can cook, but only a few are great. It reminds me of something my mother used to say about cooking and sewing: "anyone who can read, can sew (cook)." I took her at her word since she taught me both cooking and sewing. Neither task seemed too difficult to me. Then I met a colleauge who used to sew as a teenager. After a year as an exchange student, mainly speaking French, she said that somehow her brain had changed and she could no longer sew, try as she might.

I think that anyone with a modicum of reading ability, spatial reasoning and a bit of dexterity can "cook" and "sew," but not everyone has the true gift. What does that mean in terms of the spiritual gifts ( 1 Corinthians 12 & Romans 12)? Not everyone has the same gift of healing, preaching, teaching, etc., but there is a greater gift--LOVE. Is this gift of love given to everyone? I would think so, but I'm not sure that everyone opens themself to the full expression of the gift.

The colony of rats in the movie couldn't really cook on their own, but they did discover that led by a "master cook" they did indeed learn to "cook." Maybe we can't love all on our own, but led by the "master lover" we can indeed learn to love!

An Exciting 4th!

Last night, our younger son and I went to see the fireworks at our local high school. We had already set off our own fireworks display in the backyard with the neighbors as an appreciative audience. Fortunately, the wind cooperated and no one outside had the smoke blow over them. The community fireworks were a lot of fun. In a way, I missed the music we had had with the fireworks at Wolftrap the night before Memorial Day, but in another way, I was reminded of simpler celebrations where the audio component was the "oohs" and "ahs" of the crowd. The finale came at about 35 minutes into the display. We all clapped appreciatively. Later, I found out that our older son was also at the display, in the same parking lot! I thought he was off setting of the fireworks he and friends are purchased out of state.
The pictures are from my camera phone.

Evan Almighty

We went to see Evan Almighty the other evening. Some of the comedic bits seemed mighty slapstick and sophomoric, but it was actually an enjoyable film. And the theology was quite good, emphasizing God's love--not anger.

16 years & a GED in hand!

Okay! I know I didn't post anything for 2 months, and now can't stop, it seems.

Our wonderful and challenging 16 year old son, who is totally brilliant but hates school with a passion, now has his GED in hand. Thank God for blessings large and small. Let us pray now for him finding a job, and for patience for his parents who love him more than he can ever imagine.

Our younger son just got home from his first week at away camp. He swam, canoed, gigged for crawfish, and more. He had a great time, but really seems to be enjoying having his Nintendo DS at hand again, and watching videos. Thanks be to God for camp counselors and CITs.

B-Side Project

Sunday evening, I had a wonderful time listening to the B-Side Project: 5 young musicians (trumpet, trombone, keyboard, double bass & drums). They played at the Extra Virgin Restaurant in Shirlington VA. No sleazy lounge music there! They were excellent, especially AnnaMaria Mottola. Wow! Her fingers can really fly over that keyboard! What a joy to witness such a gift!

6 years in ministry together!

This past Sunday was my 6th anniversary with my current congregation. This Annual Conference in June marked 27 years in pastoral ministry (29 since my ordination as a deacon, 26 since my ordination as an elder)! How does time fly so fast!

While I have loved all my congregations, the people here at Christ Crossman have challenged me and kept me on the growing edge. It's an exciting place to be in ministry with God's people. Now don't get me wrong! It's still not easy. We think that the tide has begun to turn, but we can't be sure. In a place with as much transition as Northern VA, we can never know for sure if our leaders will still be here next year, or will move on to a new place in their careers, or in their retirement.

Our prayer is to be a part of what God wants to bless here. Join us in that venture of faith!