Daily 5 - Day 92

Today's Daily 5 (or more):

1. Getting a blog award - very fun! (see my previous post)
2. The smell of the roses on my desk at work
3. really good roasted baby potatoes and yam, green beans and "tuscan chicken sausage" from the farmer's market for supper tonight
4. finishing day 4 of yoga/exercise - week 2
5. accomplishing a number of things on my to do list tonight
6. daily dose of a trivia game at lunch hour with a coworker
7. sorting through photos, ordering a few to be printed, some for me, and some to send to some friends
8. a long hot shower tonight after yoga
9. knowing that tomorrow is Friday - this is a very good thought right now
10. magic bag draped across my cold feet in bed.
    

Honest Scrap Award

Susan at Weaving a Life presented me with the Honest Scrap blog award today! I think that might be the first time I've ever gotten a blog award!

These are the rules apparently:

1. Tell 10 honest things about myself

2. Pick 10 honest bloggers to pass it on to

3. Tell who gave you the award in the first place

Well, I've got number three covered about with the link to Susan.

Ten Honest Things About Myself...

1. If you had asked anyone who knew me, even two years ago, if my preference for health treatments would be the most natural products available, they'd have laughed at you. It still makes me laugh to think about it almost every day as I'm swallowing one of the myriad (I think it's close to 15 pills - a variety of about six supplements) of pills that I take at any given meal.
2. I love my nose piercing, even two years on. I got it to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of my healing from depression, and that's still what it reminds me of every time I look in the mirror.
3. I'm not so keen on my latest piercing - a navel one I got about 4-5 months ago. I love the way it looks, but it's taking forever to heal, and is kind of getting annoying. If it's still like this at the one year mark, I'll probably get rid of it. (I actually think about taking it out probably at least twice a week.)
4. Mental illness doesn't scare me in other people, but is a terrifying thing in me. Every time things are a bit out of whack with me, I start freaking out, wondering if depression is returning.
5. I'm very slowly learning that God's gift of healing is a constant thing - that I don't need to freak out about the depression.
6. I'm also learning that that healing is not an excuse to not take proper care of myself. Thus the recent changes in diet and exercise habits, the attempt to sleep, and the myriad of supplements that I'm using to try and bring a restoration of the physical health that stress has totally trashed over the last two years.
7. I've made two "mission" trips in my life - both to countries that start with M. (Mexico and Malta). Both trips had a very shaping impact on my life. If you ask me if I'll ever make another "mission" trip, I'll probably tell you that it's unlikely. I do still love the idea of traveling and praying with friends though, and am dreaming of several trips like that still to come. (I've also learned to ask LOTS of questions about the trip before making it.)
8. I place an immensely high value on hugs. I really appreciate the friends who can get past the sort of distant, non-touchy north american thing, and express affection with a hug. I've also quite literally gotten on a plane and flown across the country just to collect a hug from a dear friend. (It was totally worth it.)
   
9. I pick almost all music based on the lyrics. Words are my thing, and if the lyrics don't move me in some way - if they don't make me laugh or cry, or deeply touch my heart, then I'm probably not all that interested in the song.
10. Email is one of my favorite forms of communication. But I've recently been feeling the limitations of it a bit as well.
    

Ten Honest Bloggers (really just some of my favorites - since most of the blogs I read are very honest - that's why I love them! In no particular order, and keeping in mind that a lot of my favorite honest bloggers are not exactly known for blogging on any kind of regular basis, but there's great stuff in their archives if you're willing to look!)...

1. LP/CA (a private blog, but one of my favorites)
2. Ian at Shallowfrozenwater
3. Dana at Ofwoolandwater
4. Alliedearest at The Grey Albatross
5. Hootenannie
6. Claudia Mair Burney at The Ragamuffin Diva
7. Hope
8. Renee
9. Faye
10. Lisa at Let's Put the Kettle On
    

It Kind of Feels Like Monday

Having a holiday in the middle of the week was great yesterday while it was still the holiday.

It's still great today, but today does feel slightly like a monday as a result.

I'm feeling discombobulated, and not sure what to tell you.

I'm still loving the roses on my desk - a gift from a co-worker earlier this week.

I can't quite figure out how to describe how I'm feeling today, other than weird. Slighty jumpy and very adrenaliney but not panicky. A doable feeling in the middle of the day, not so much a doable feeling while I was trying to sleep last night.

As a result, I'm yawning a lot today.

It kind of feels like a Monday. I'm glad it's really a Thursday, and that the weekend is coming soon.

More on the Communion of Saints from Henri

A few more thoughts from Henri Nouwen on the communion of saints...

The Large Network of God's People

The saints are God's holy people. The apostle Paul speaks about all those who belong to Christ as "holy people" or "saints." He directs his letters to "those who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be God's holy people" (1 Corinthians 1:2; see also Ephesians 1:1). This sanctity is the work of the Spirit of Jesus. Paul again says: "All of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As saints we belong to that huge network of God's people that shines like a multitude of stars in the dark sky of the universe.

In Memory of Jesus and the Saints

Belonging to the communion of saints means being connected with all people transformed by the Spirit of Jesus. This connection is deep and intimate. Those who have lived as brothers and sisters of Jesus continue to live within us, even though they have died, just as Jesus continues to live within us, even though he has died.

We live our lives in memory of Jesus and the saints, and this memory is a real presence. Jesus and his saints are part of our most intimate and spiritual knowledge of God. They inspire us, guide us, encourage us, and give us hope. They are the source of our constant transformation. Yes, we carry them in our bodies and thus keep them alive for all with whom we live and work.