I love color

Today I am obsessed with color. The sunshine comes and new green leaves bursting forth on the trees seem to glow. Then a rain cloud comes over and the red tulips seem to pop. The winds starts to blow and I put on my lime green quilted coat and it doesn't seem so dark anymore. As I look at the people gathered together, now off the clock, I notice the grey coats and black sweaters come off to reveal brightly patterned ties. I see a turquoise necklace that makes me think of the color of the sea in the Bahamas. I remember the first time I used the word turquoise to describe an object my dear husband was trying to locate for me, he said, "What is turquoise?" Once we located the objected, I showed him this color and he said, that's blue. Through the years he has learned to see more colors in the world, past the blue, black and grey. Like the lady that just joyously greeted her friend, I love the way her chartreuse bag livens up her steel grey sweater and her sensible brown loafers. It give her more personality, it gives me a hint of who she is or maybe who she wants to be. There are many colors in the world each one beautiful, each one seems to make the world a little less flat to me. Colors give our world depth and texture, dark and light, uniqueness and similarity. What is your favorite color and how does it make you feel?

From couch potato to 5k

I have started this program to get me off the couch. It is hard after a day of work to come home and do anything but turn on the tube and act like a potato. But it can waste an amazing amount of time. I mean before I know it I have made a divet in the couch and the hours have wasted away. So, I am going to try to turn from couch potato into a treadmill turnip, or some other vegetable I should be eating. But, I need your help. Give me encouraging words. Give me advice, what do you do to stay motivated to exercise?

Post-consumerism

I think I am getting older and wiser. I am getting to the point where I don't want many things anymore. When I walk into a store and see clothes I think, "I don't need more to wash". When I see knicknacks I think "I don't need anything to dust." Even when I see books I think, "Once I read that it will sit on the shelf, and I love our new library." So this year, as my husband's birthday is rolling around I feel led not to buy him stuff. I don't feel like I need to give him an object to show my love. I mean, in the end, no physical object can show or tell my husband how much I love him, how much I respect him, how glad I am to be his wife.

So, I am stumped. I want to celebrate his birthday, another year, another marker, but I am looking for new ways to acknowledge his (and next month my) special days. I have struggled with this since Christmas. So, do you have any ideas on how to celebrate a birthday without material things? I am waiting to hear your suggestions or your support in this new phase in my life I am calling post-consumerism.

Sleeping in on Sunday

So I slept in on another Sunday. Two Sunday's in a row and I have heard the alarm, rolled over and gone back to sleep. Sleeping in on Sunday is unusual for a pastor. We have not had regular worship at church due crazy winter weather that has made me forget what color my house used to be other than white. What I have realized is yes, it's nice to be able to sleep an hour longer on Sunday, but Sunday has lost it's "specialness." I like the way Sunday seems to stand out and be set apart from the other days of the week. I feel refreshed, renewed, rejuvenated when I have participated in meaningful worship. I feel centered and ready to face the world anew when I have sung praises to the Lord within the community of believers. Now, I know, church is not perfect. I know there are times when an ugly comment may reach your ears, or your tummy rumbles through the whole sermon, or your questions are not answered. It is the regular routine of worship, adoration, confession and praise that fills my cup. Some Sunday's it may be a quarter of a cup and others my cup overflows. It is not about how much God gives me, but how ready I am to give myself to God. Sunday reminds me that this world is not about me, it is about us and how we give back the love that is given to us. So, I am going to spend some time in the Word today, I will light a candle and pray, and I will recall all the times my voice as joined with yours in prayer and praise. I hope to be with you next Sunday, whether it be in body or only in Spirit.

Doing a whole lot of nothing

Have you ever had so much to do that you don't know where to start, so you don't do anything? I am stuck in neutral. I have so many things I want to get done. But I do not feel like I can prioritize the list. I know I am totally over thinking of this. I have been told I do this all the time. I have organized my day planner. I can hear you clapping but stop it really was just a procrastination tool. I also cleaned out my purse, neither that nor the organizer were on the to-do list. I really want to scrub my house clean but first I need to put away all of the Christmas decorations. I can hear you saying, "What! you still have your decorations up?" I feel the shame. I know the neighbors are talking about me but, I need to get the boxes down from the attic, but it is really cold and dark in the attic, so I turned on the fire place and made a hot cocoa. Then I thought maybe I could clean the bookshelves, but then I looked down and saw the dog was taking a nap on my lap, and how could I move? I mean she needed a lap for her nap. So, now I am blogging, that is doing something, right?

Nor'Easter moment

This picture I took in my back yard is a perfect visual for the Easter moment that has unfolded over the past few days. I had all of these great plans for this week. I had all my lists made and ready to be checked off. I was ready to spread Christmas cheer far and near. And then I learned a new word, Nor'easter, it has nothing to do with the resurrection for most people, but it does for me. A nor'easter is a lot of snow fall. This massive snow fall, for the part of the country I live in, literally stopped everything. It has been quite discombobulating this feeling of not knowing what to do next. At first I enjoyed the snow, the beautiful blanket of white that covered the land. Each snowflake is so small and fragile, but with millions of icy friends they proved to make mountains out of molehills. As I felt myself losing control of my plans, I was angry, I was sad, I was bored, and then I had what I am calling a "nor' Easter moment." God sent millions of little snowflakes to show me who is really in control. God showed me that I do not need to leave my house to experience Christmas. Our church's worship service was cancelled due to the weather, so God taught me that I need more than an hour on Sunday morning to worship my Lord. My DH and I found the quietest place in the house, the guest room, we sat on the floor and we opened our Bibles, we read the Word to each other. We experienced the presence of Emmanuel (God with us). We were not wearing our Sunday best, we were wearing our Saturday worst, we did not sit in a church pew, we worshiped on the floor. It was not fancy, but it was real and we re-committed our steps to follow our Creator. The Lord God Almighty, who can stop the world with millions of tiny snowflakes, who can change the world with a baby in a manger and a well positioned star, who can warm my over-committed heart with his Word, who can even make my to-do list obsolete, is patiently waiting for your time. I pray that you also receive a "Nor'Easter moment" this Christmas.

Warm and Cozy Christmas

My holiday spirits are up this year. We have fully decked the halls at our house. The village is up and all of the minute people are going about their Christmas preparations through a blanket of felt snow and glistening glitter. The lights are up outside twinkling and illuminating the land with green, white and red light. The DH and the dog are warm and snug under a blanket and their cuteness is beyond description.(I have added a poor pic here) Two dear friends joined me last night and I was able to share my tidings of great joy and Christmas cheer with them. We had hot chili, warm spiced cider, roasted marshmallows over a crackling fire, and got cozy and watched A Muppet Christmas carol. A much needed, and much appreciated sabbath rest. This weekend I have realized that when the weather is frightful it is really delightful to just stay home and take time to enjoy my blessings.