A Heritage of Faith

June 2017

A new iPad from work has me reconsidering the blog.

This is a test run with the iPad app...

This photo was taken in Iowa this past week end.  My aunt June is 88 years old and going strong.  My cousin Mark and his wife Lynn are some of my favorites...the salt of the earth sort.

When in Buffalo Center, Iowa, I miss my uncle Herb, June's husband.  And his brother, my daddy.  And when in Iowa I remember and thank God for a heritage of faith.  This is where it all began... both my parents were born nearby, and now are buried nearby.

Psalms 16:6

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Testing

I'm convinced that posting from my ipad will be easy some day.  Is it today?  This is a test.

And... HELLO!  Hoping all is well with you.  I'm having a productive Monday at home, including some journaling.

So far so good on my test.  Let's see how this works...  If photos upload easily, I will be very excited. Ciao!

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?

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!)

Friday again!

I'm already in bed with my corn pillow (I'll tell you about it another time...think heating pad...) but thought I'd tap a quick note on my iPad before snoozing.

This week...

I traveled Monday through Wednesday, covering a thousand Wisconsin And Minnesota miles. The hotel the first night was on Lake Superior. I'm pretty sure that's somewhere near the North Pole. My coworker had the stomach flu. Thankfully I didn't and don't!

We saw a bald eagle...within ten feet...he was pulling apart a deer carcass...WHAT a majestic bird.

I saw my sister from Vancouver, Canada at my brother's house in Minneapolis. We had a good, though brief, evening together.

Then the next evening that same brother had a heart attack. By then my sister and I were both gone. He had two stents placed and is doing well. He'll go home from the hospital tomorrow. He needs some major diet and lifestyle changes. Kind of wakes me up too.

Today my husband flew to Dubai for two weeks. And another brother flew here to visit for a long week end. Kind of a revolving family these days.

There is a turkey thawing. Cooking a twenty pound bird tomorrow. Family dinner, plus a boyfriend and a girlfriend.

The art journal is getting better and better and more and more natural and therapeutic. Photos soon.

Our Saturday A.M. bible study finishes our DAVID study tomorrow. I will miss him.

Wore me out. Good night.

Friday recap...a little late

Last week...

• was SNOWY. One official SNOW DAY, and I ended up working at home most of the week. I'm guessing all told we got close to two feet, with drifts over five feet. Thankfully my husband was IN TOWN and could do all that shoveling and snow blowing. :)

• the house was decorated for Valentine's Day. [and I put away lingering Christmas items...]

• was the annual Snow Ball. Jake and Anna both had fun. :)

Anna and Tyler (both seniors)

Shannon and Jake (both freshmen)

(is it just me, or does she look a lot older than that?!?)

• Saturday overnight to Sunday was savored at Sweet Sue's. Loved every relaxing minute.

• coffee was enjoyed at The Gingerbread House with a favorite friend and mentor, Susan. Isn't it a gift to have friends who share parts of your journey? Just to listen and nod and empathasize...makes you feel like you're not alone on the journey, you know?

• I was readying for this coming week ...I'll put a thousand miles on in the next 3 days. Thankfully I'm traveling with a wonderful coworker who likes to drive.

• the art journal continued. This unfinished page is spray painting glimmer mist over doilies...

• I ordered our next Bible Study: Preparing My Heart for Easter by Ann Marie Stewart. We finish Beth Moore's David: 90 Days with a Heart Like His this coming Saturday. I will miss David. :(

• We studied the Second Great Awakening in my seminary class. Since I've never had an American History class, I find this all fascinating. [I grew up in Canada]

• the rotten sinus cold might have ended. Whew. It was a stubborn one.

Have a great week!

Stream of Consciousness

There are so many blog posts rolling around in me as I journal, and yet of course my to do list is longer than my day, preventing me from pouring them onto my keyboard. But, what the heck, I'll write a little here and there.

HELLO!

Our Anna Grace is 18 today. Amazing: another child brought to adulthood. One to go. It is one of life's pleasures to see your children grow into delightful people. Many times recently I've questioned if I was cut out for four children [I'm not good with chaos] [I totally melt down at times in chaos] but truly the benefits outweigh the exhaustion. [I'm in the exhaustion stage of life] Happy Birthday Anna Grace. We can't imagine a more well rounded, sweet Christian daughter than you.

What I love about Anna is that she grabs all of life - enjoys so many different activities and people, and is so content in her own skin. It's a joy to watch. [She's starkly different than her mother was at 18] [thank God] And yes, we definitely have our mother daughter face to face conflicts, but those are so a part of the normal process of gaining independence that I'm thankful for them too. We have a very honest relationship. I love my Anna Grace.

This week end my friend Kathi and I were at The Moody Church in Chicago for a 1.5 day seminar on the Middle East Conflict and how it relates to the Bible. Amazing. The featured speaker was Joel Rosenberg. My father so enjoyed his book, "Epicenter" when it was released in 2006, and would have LOVED this conference. We loved this conference, and I wish I had more time to study it. I'm hoping an elective will come along in seminary so that I can spend more time in Prophecy.

One of the speakers was a former driver and sniper who worked for Arafat. He was touched by the love of Jesus through a patron at a restaurant in which he worked, and turned his life around. Now his life is spent spreading Christ's love in the Arab world. What an amazing story of God's grace.

There are so many good options for how to spend time. And there is so much in the Word that I look forward to delving into. I wrote in my journal this morning that the definition of SWEET is when "my ought-to collides with my want-to." Studying the Word is that for me. I ought to. And I want to. Sweet.

Speaking of which, it's time to spend some time with David - a man after God's own heart. And then I need to spend a few hours on Theology - we have our mid term this week. And in between I'll be puttering around, setting the table for the big birthday dinner, making rolls, prepping for the requested chicken shrimp stir fry. The requested angel food cake is in the oven now. There are presents to wrap too. And sunshine to bask in here at the dining room table. Life today is very pleasant.

MARGIN. Kathi loves that word, and we yakked about it on our way to Chicago. What a great concept - to build margin into our days. BALANCE. Another word to chew on. And SIMPLICITY. I'm entering the stage of life where I want less stuff and not more. More beauty. Less stuff. More experiences, less stuff.

I'm singing tomorrow at the funeral of a 70 year old woman. That feels so young to me. She left behind five grand children under the age of 11. Whew. It's hard to ponder.

It's one of those days where there is just a lot swirling about in my head - can you tell? I am thankful beyond words for a Monday off. I am so glad that we have chosen over the years to have me work part time. I likely have the higher earning potential of the two of us, yet I can't express how thankful I am that we have not built a life on two full time incomes. These scattered days off keep me whole. It's my margin, creating balance in a world swirling with options. It's why we could have four children, how we could create and maintain a lovely home, how we can and could take the time to care for aging parents, and why I now can be in seminary. God has allowed me this flexibility, and for that I am extremely grateful. Each of us has different callings, different options, and different definitions of margin. I think of the verse in Psalms 16:6 "The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed my heritage is beautiful to me."

[There is no time to write it now, but it is pure fact that a difficult childhood has greatly contributed to who I am, and what my priorities are. And a marriage that keeps me on my knees is the same one that allows for me to be a part time worker. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?]

Enjoy your Monday. Don't forget to create a moment or two of margin, and count your blessings. Lately I've been back into knitting. I knit and talk aloud to God in the morning, reciting my blessings and concerns. It might only be ten minutes, but it's really helping me to stay focused on prayer. I'll post a photo of the latest project soon...

Well, this post is really all over the place. So is my brain. Welcome. :}

My logical boy. My silly dog.

At Starbucks, loving their free wi-fi while Jake gets a haircut in the shop next door. First day home held some amusement.

Jake wandered in to my room when I got home from work, asking me about the conference and telling me about parts of his week. I told him I met "the lady." "Kay Arthur?" he asked. "Yup!" I explained that I told her about him, and that she had hugged me and signed my Bible. He asked "What kind of person autographs a Bible!? It's not like she wrote it.". Ha. That is pretty logical I guess. I explained that she wrote all the accompanying commentary. Such a kid. That really hit my funny bone since it seemed so perfectly natural to have her sign it for me.

Boomer missed me. A lot. I got home from work and he clung to my ankle. Anna needed me to move my car so she could go to work, and I didn't have the heart to walk out on Boomer, so I brought him out with me. He hates car rides. He jumps in happily, but then howls and whines. I backed into the street, Anna left, and I pulled into the garage. I opened the door, called Boomer, and he would not budge. He even ignored me, staring straight ahead. Whew. I walked into the house, knowing he would scamper after me. No scamper. I got a hot dog, and waved the treat. No movement. I broke up the hotdog and made a path from reachable to out of reach to out of car. Not a muscle moved. He was doggedly intent that I was not leaving without him ever again.

No one else was home. 15 minutes passed without so much as a movement towards the hot dog. This just cracked me up since he so dislikes the car and so loves hot dogs.

Boomer just isn't himself when I'm gone, and I must admit I've abandoned him a lot this year. He was paying me back. Frank and Jake arrived, and Jake hauled him in on his leash, stating that dogs do not have enough reasoning to associate cars and leaving. Hmmmm. I beg to differ. Boomer knew.

It's good to be home with my logical boy and silly dog!