- Seeing the very beginning colors of the sunrise as I waited for the bus
- A bus that arrived on time
- Catching a later glimpse of brilliant sunrise orange
- pomegranate green trea
- being good at my job
- finding time to make a nagging phone call
- A very full and busy day that had joy in it
- pork and mango tacos
- Hanging a Jesse tree ornament
- yoga two days in a row
- a hot shower
- getting a ride home
- dipping into my dwindling stash and enjoying a mini almond joy bar
- my neck pillow
- curling up with a mug of tea and candle light
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 114
Today's Daily 5:
Reverb 10: Day 7 - Community
Today's Reverb 10 Prompt:
December 7 – Community
Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
(Author: Cali Harris)
A little over a year ago I started attending a house church. It was unexpected. I sort of fell into it.
When I started easing back into a church, after a year away, recovering from the fallout of a mission trip that didn't go as planned, and too many years of expectations and the pressure of being a pastor's kid, I picked the biggest church in the city. Someplace where I could slip in and out anonymously. Where I'd never be noticed, and no one would know if I was there week to week.
One week I heard a pastor speak, and something about what he said made me curious. He was in charge of a church plant, but a non-traditional one. A group of house churches. Something in the things he said caught my attention - it caught the part of my heart that had been hunting for a place where God was moving in surprising ways, and it caught my attention because it was particularly unusual coming from the stage of our local version of a mega church.
I sent an email.
It took a while for a response to come, and by the time the response came, life had gotten crazy again, and I ignored it.
A month or two later, the pastor emailed me again, asking if I was still interested, and would I like to meet for lunch. God seemed to be prompting, I said, yes, met with him, shared a bit of my story, and accepted an invitation to attend a particular house church the following week.
It was this time last year that I went for the first time.
For the first several months, I made myself go, every week, hoping that the "new person in a small group of people who've been together for a while" thing would pass. I knew it was the right place for me, but it took a long time for it to feel like home.
But it does feel like home, now. That is the community of people who came around me when I fell down the stairs, totaled my car, lost my job, spent the summer studying, and as I've navigated the ins and outs of an incredibly tricky living situation this year. They are the people I laugh with, and that I've cried with, and on the Thursday nights when I'm not with them, I really miss them.
They've taught me what it is to be there in the good times and the bad. We've navigated a lot of ins and outs of each others lives, and I'm so thankful that that pastor followed up and sent a second email, and that somehow I said yes to a lunch meeting, and ended up with a church community that God confirms over and over again is the right place for me in this season.
Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
(Author: Cali Harris)
A little over a year ago I started attending a house church. It was unexpected. I sort of fell into it.
When I started easing back into a church, after a year away, recovering from the fallout of a mission trip that didn't go as planned, and too many years of expectations and the pressure of being a pastor's kid, I picked the biggest church in the city. Someplace where I could slip in and out anonymously. Where I'd never be noticed, and no one would know if I was there week to week.
One week I heard a pastor speak, and something about what he said made me curious. He was in charge of a church plant, but a non-traditional one. A group of house churches. Something in the things he said caught my attention - it caught the part of my heart that had been hunting for a place where God was moving in surprising ways, and it caught my attention because it was particularly unusual coming from the stage of our local version of a mega church.
I sent an email.
It took a while for a response to come, and by the time the response came, life had gotten crazy again, and I ignored it.
A month or two later, the pastor emailed me again, asking if I was still interested, and would I like to meet for lunch. God seemed to be prompting, I said, yes, met with him, shared a bit of my story, and accepted an invitation to attend a particular house church the following week.
It was this time last year that I went for the first time.
For the first several months, I made myself go, every week, hoping that the "new person in a small group of people who've been together for a while" thing would pass. I knew it was the right place for me, but it took a long time for it to feel like home.
But it does feel like home, now. That is the community of people who came around me when I fell down the stairs, totaled my car, lost my job, spent the summer studying, and as I've navigated the ins and outs of an incredibly tricky living situation this year. They are the people I laugh with, and that I've cried with, and on the Thursday nights when I'm not with them, I really miss them.
They've taught me what it is to be there in the good times and the bad. We've navigated a lot of ins and outs of each others lives, and I'm so thankful that that pastor followed up and sent a second email, and that somehow I said yes to a lunch meeting, and ended up with a church community that God confirms over and over again is the right place for me in this season.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 113
Today's Daily 5:
- 3500 posts. It's somehow fitting that reaching this posting milestone would be one of these "regularly scheduled" daily 5 posts.
- Thankful that when I slipped and fell on some ice this morning, it was very minor.
- Thankful for a job that exposes me to wonderful staff and volunteers who really care (each in their own very unique ways) about making a difference for others.
- Having a really productive, and yet peaceful evening that let me catch up on the myriad of things I'd meant to do yesterday, but set aside in favor of sleeping off the migraine I developed.
- Italian Wedding Soup from M&M Meat Shops. I am not a soup person, but that is GOOD soup for something that comes frozen and can be prepared in the microwave. It's better if you have an hour to spend heating it in the oven, but the microwaved version is lovely, and was so much quicker tonight.
- Enjoying writing posts to go with the Reverb 10 prompts each evening
- lit candles.
- hanging Jesse tree ornaments
- a quieter schedule for the week
- the music on Ann Voskamp's blog, playing in the background while I've been writing.
Reverb 10: Day 6 - Made
Today's Reverb 10 prompt:
December 6 – Make.
What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
(Author: Gretchen Rubin)
Well, if microwaving some dinner counts, then the last thing I made was a delicious bowl of Italian Wedding Soup.
Prior to that I made a bed at mom and dad's that I hadn't made when I crawled out of it this morning.
And prior to that I made a "to do" list for the time once work ended, and before bedtime came.
But, if we're talking about things that actually require crafting something by hand, the last thing I made was a set of Jesse Tree ornaments to help mark the days of Advent.
I used these printables that were made available at Ann Voskamp's beautiful blog.
I spent two evenings at the very end of November sitting on my bedroom floor, with a dvd playing in the background, and scraps from various scrapbook projects spread out on the floor around me.
Colorful paper.
Varying fibres and embellishments.
Buttons. I used quite a few buttons. Some purchased for scrapbooking, some recycled from other projects or pieces of clothing.
Many of the bits and pieces were things that had been sitting in boxes of supplies for ages, now finding a use in a way to mark off the days of Advent.
The countdown to the birth of a Savior.
A good reason to spend some creativity, and to give old things a new purpose.
~~~
As a side note, today's prompt was written by Gretchen Rubin, and I just recently finished her book, The Happiness Project, and loved it. It was a truly unique combination of memoir and self-help book, and well worth the read.
What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
(Author: Gretchen Rubin)
Well, if microwaving some dinner counts, then the last thing I made was a delicious bowl of Italian Wedding Soup.
Prior to that I made a bed at mom and dad's that I hadn't made when I crawled out of it this morning.
And prior to that I made a "to do" list for the time once work ended, and before bedtime came.
But, if we're talking about things that actually require crafting something by hand, the last thing I made was a set of Jesse Tree ornaments to help mark the days of Advent.
I used these printables that were made available at Ann Voskamp's beautiful blog.
I spent two evenings at the very end of November sitting on my bedroom floor, with a dvd playing in the background, and scraps from various scrapbook projects spread out on the floor around me.
Colorful paper.
Varying fibres and embellishments.
Buttons. I used quite a few buttons. Some purchased for scrapbooking, some recycled from other projects or pieces of clothing.
Many of the bits and pieces were things that had been sitting in boxes of supplies for ages, now finding a use in a way to mark off the days of Advent.
The countdown to the birth of a Savior.
A good reason to spend some creativity, and to give old things a new purpose.
~~~
As a side note, today's prompt was written by Gretchen Rubin, and I just recently finished her book, The Happiness Project, and loved it. It was a truly unique combination of memoir and self-help book, and well worth the read.
Monday Morning Simplicities
I woke with yesterday's migraine seeming to have dissipated. This is a blessing, since I need to be at work today, and that would be hard to manage if I couldn't open my eyes or be upright for more than 10 minutes at a time.
I slept at mom and dad's again last night, unusual for a Sunday night, a function of how miserable I was feeling. It meant I slept later, and actually saw daylight on my way to work. This is a blessing in a season when the days continue to grow shorter, and I often leave before the sun is fully up, and return home after it's gone down, and spend my days in a windowless office.
I'm thankful for a day that isn't crazy at work, though it will be full. That's a blessing since I'm still not feeling 100%.
I'm thankful for a job I love right now.
I slept at mom and dad's again last night, unusual for a Sunday night, a function of how miserable I was feeling. It meant I slept later, and actually saw daylight on my way to work. This is a blessing in a season when the days continue to grow shorter, and I often leave before the sun is fully up, and return home after it's gone down, and spend my days in a windowless office.
I'm thankful for a day that isn't crazy at work, though it will be full. That's a blessing since I'm still not feeling 100%.
I'm thankful for a job I love right now.
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