Lent

Having not grown up in a church that celebrated Lent, I need to remind myself to do so.  It is a good daily reminder of the passing of time.  The cycles of the church.

This year I found a video series...posted daily...under 5 minutes each... that I am really enjoying.  A simple reading from the gospel of John.  After a bit of searching I figured out it is read from the CEV ...Contemporary English Version...which is refreshing.

http://www.24-7prayer.com/blog/1717

Walk with us.  Such a relevant plea.  How often do we rush into the day without the basic request for God to walk with us?  As a Christ follower, of course He is always with me.  But for my sake I need to ask Him into the situations.  I need to remember that I am never alone.

Jesus told his disciples,  (including me) "I will be with you always, even until the end of the world." (John 28:20 CEV)

A lovely series as we walk together towards the celebration of Easter.   Do you observe Lent?

The Greatest Love of All

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “ ‘ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ’
38 This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 The second is like it, ‘ You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ’
40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Happy Valentine's Day

This year finds me with a little extra time on my hands, and I was able to use it to spread the love.

Our daughters received these valentines, made from a shrunken (oops) and then felted sweater made of Alpaca wool.  The handwork was so relaxing as I sat by the fire.

One group of us girlfriends calls ourselves the Fireflys (it's a long story which involves candles, tissue paper and flying embers).  Anyhow, for them I drew and then watercolor painted little glowing guys.  They were very fun.  Likely never to be repeated.  Ha.

A few others received some layered collages of stamps and painting, similar to what appears in my art journaling.

There is a big part of me that misses creativity in my normally full-to-overflowing life.  What a gift to sit and putter with some paint.  Yet I also have a tendency to become a bit self focused in the creative process, often due to just wanting to experiment and not worry about the results... so this month I challenged myself to make wee pieces of art with others in mind.  Mail art.

Spread some love today!  xoxo

Catch up

Playing catch up on a blog is pretty much impossible.  So I won't try.  Here's the low down:

• I am in the midst of six weeks of unemployment.  It is a gift.  A gift that came with a steep price.
• I am hoping to get a job offer soon, thus limiting my unemployment to two weeks in January and the month of February.
• Unless of course I come into a lot of money.  Then I'm very contentedly home.
• Having just read 7, a household purge is imminent.
• I'm sitting at a clean desk which is just the beginning of the household miracles.
• I have 9 stitches in my right shoulder blade area.  They are ugly and itchy.
• Three weeks ago I had three moles on my back removed.  Not fun.  And one came back with suspicious cells, thus the further biopsy and seeking of a "margin" this past Wednesday.
• I've joined a gym, and went today.  I hurt.  But it's a good hurt. (and no, no upper body exercise allowed for a few weeks)
• The time I used to spend blogging is now spent in an art journal.  Or at least gazing at others' photos of art journals.  It's an obsession for sure - a mixture of my latent creative bent and my endless outpouring of words.  <3
• Our back yard looks nothing like my header photo.  This is the oddest winter ever, with hardly any snow.  Don't tell anyone, but I miss the snow.
• Class this semester is entitled, "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement," and is simply amazing.  Mind expanding.  What I thought would be a compilation of missionary stories is actually a deep theological look at God's plan for reaching the nations.  It began in Genesis and culminates in Revelation 7:9.  whew.  Check out the class at www.perspectives.org
• We only have one baby at home now.  A sophomore boy, Jake.  Anna is away at college, majoring in nursing.  Emily is living 80 miles away, waitressing and nanny-ing to make ends meet while she looks for full time employment in community health education.  Joey is the globetrotter, secure and happy as a chemist with an international company.
• Frank broke his foot and is hobbling around in a boot.  Accounting is evidently a highly dangerous career.  It happened at work.
• There's the gist of things.
• Have any of you learned to leave comments yet?  (hint!)

Seven

The book 7 by Jen Hatmaker is a life changer.  It's the kind of book that I want to lend to everyone, yet won't let it out of my sight.  The subtitle is, "an experimental mutiny against excess."

This young pastor's wife decided to spend a year examining the excesses in her life.  "7 will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for God's kingdom to break through." (p.4)  The book is hilariously entertaining, as the author is crazy honest during her months of self discovery and self denial.  Yet the message is serious, and I found myself shifting a bit in my chair as she got awfully close to some of my personal habits.

Read it.  It's one of a kind.

I put it on par with Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson, All the Way to Heaven by Elizabeth Sherrill, and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Books to savor and keep on the closest shelf.

Enjoy!