Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 115

Today's Daily 5:

1. A restful sleep
2. quiet and space after a people crammed evening yesterday
3. leftover Italian wedding soup
4. knitting quietly
5. a mid-afternoon nap

Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 114

Today's Daily 5:

1. Curling up under a pile of blankets to do some knitting
2. finding a few "must try" ideas on pinterest
3. the continued chance to rest
4. the chance to watch and join in as friends and family partied and celebrated my brother's recent engagement
5. a reminder of family scattered in a moment where it would have been easy to feel out of place

An Advent Prayer

I've still been reading that book of Walter Brueggemann's prayers, and am quite caught by this prayer for the advent season:

The grace and the impatience to wait

In our secret yearnings
we wait for your coming,
and in our grinding despair
we doubt that you will.
And in this privileged place
we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we
and by those who despair more deeply than do we.
Look upon your church and its pastors
in this season of hope
which runs so quickly to fatigue
and this season of yearning
which becomes so easily quarrelsome.
Give us the grace and the impatience
to wait for your coming to the bottom of our toes,
to the edges of our finger tips.
We do not want our several worlds to end.
Come in your power
and come in your weakness
in any case
and make all things new.
Amen.

Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 113

Today's Daily 5:

1. A long hot bath with a good book
2. making a new recipe
3. the look on my brother's face when we delivered all the fabulous food for the kids he works with
4. a really awesome house church gathering, with great discussion and insights as we studied a portion of Mark together
5. a hug goodnight from my favorite little guy as we were leaving

Quiet and Rest

Quiet and rest have been my themes of the week.

For those of you who don't follow me on facebook or twitter, my temp job came to an abrupt end last Friday, three weeks before I expected it to end.

It's a bit bittersweet in that I could definitely use the income.  But it was an incredibly negative work environment, one which I'd ask my friends just the night before it ended, to pray that I would have wisdom to continue navigating.

And so, after two weeks of being quite ill and over three months of working in a tough environment full-time, the themes of this week have been quiet and rest.

I've been spending time in the kitchen, trying new recipes and creating.

I've been putting on television and movies that make me smile, and curling up with some knitting.

I've been browsing pinterest, hunting for inspiration, and gathering supplies and tackling some projects.  (I made the first attempt at some very cute earrings that use paperclips as a base yesterday - with a little tweaking, I'm going to love them!)

Yesterday a friend from house church and I hung out and spent the afternoon catching up, and baking at a leisurely pace, making some decadent treats that I will deliver tonight to the social services agency where my brother works with teenagers who a part of live-in program to help manage their severe mental illnesses and emotional problems.  My brother has challenged me in his work there, in the way he has loved on these kids who quite literally don't have anyone else to love them.  When he texted me a few weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in doing a bit of baking for a Christmas dinner that the staff provide for the kids and some of their family members, and that they wanted to make it a really special dinner, one that might truly be a once in a lifetime opportunity for these kids, I jumped at the chance, and corralled some friends from church who also love to bake.  So, yesterday we baked, and tonight I'll go with my dad to drop off the results.  There are plans under way for my friends and I to bake regularly for these kids in the coming year - providing special treats.

There's something about a chance to minister in that sort of way that makes my heart sing in a way that using my many administrative skills never has.  Yes, I'm good at office work.  I'm quick, efficient, and skilled.  But I don't love it.  It doesn't make me come alive the way creating, caring for people, and feeding anyone who wants to eat does.  And so today, as I continue to rest, enjoy quiet, and create, I'm pondering that, and what it looks like for my future...