Beyond what I can see

sunday school hymn sings, Ethan Flowers, new voices, Lois Kathryn's 90 years of life, Sunday afternoon naps, Roanoke, VA

Freedom

sleeping in, leisurely breakfast and paper, J's much simplified Christmas wreath on my back porch, only 2 chapters of Greek to go, cookies and cream milkshakes

Today's song

Funny that at Bible Study last night, the topic was the discipline of simple living then this morning hearing the bells at Green Memorial toll this tune.

"Simple Gifts" was written by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848. These are the lyrics to his one verse song:

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

'Tis a gift

church bells, no dictation, being there to pray, fresh salad, 2 chapters!

Don't worry! Be happy!

yogurt and fresh berries, good shoes, slow and steady rain, peanut butter, opportunities and sought after advice, being reminded of what is important, considering my life - what it is and what it needs to become, worry vs concern

Hazy, rainy day

shared grief over the shortage of customer care, expressed confidence in my work, can't say it enough - a quiet office, patient and helpful service, left-0ver hobos for lunch and left-over Homeplace fried chicken for dinner, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, iced mocha latte, rain

You can mooch off of us anytime

yogurt and fresh blueberries, self-checkouts that actually work, hobos, fresh corn, Katie and Emily, adoptions

Beautiful

Abbott Lake at the Peaks of Otter, Bedford, VA

Through the cattails

Lush ferns

Sunset over the Blue Ridge

Today's song

In the quiet of the shadow
In the corner of a room
Darkness moves upon you
Like a cloud across the moon

You're a-wearing all the silence
Of a constant that will turn
Like the windmill left deserted
Or the sun forever burn
So don't forget to breathe

Don't forget to breathe
Your whole life is here
No eleventh hour reprieve
So don't forget to breathe
Keep your head above water
But don't forget to breathe

And all the suffering that you've witnessed
And the hand prints on the wall
They remind you how it's endless
How endlessly you fall
And the answer that you're seeking
For the question that you found
Drives you further to confusion
As you lose your sense of ground
So don't forget to breathe

Don't forget to breathe
Your whole life is here
No eleventh hour reprieve
So don't forget to breathe
Keep your head above water
But don't forget to breathe Breathe....

Don't forget to breathe
Don't forget to breathe
You know you are here
But you find you want to leave
So don't forget to... breathe

Just breathe
Just breathe
Just breathe...
Just breathe...
Just breathe...

Breathe, Alexi Murdoch

Don't forget to breathe

lunch on the Market, Peace Rallies, driving alone in silence, speaking my mind, almonds and dates, B's calls

His hand the wonders wrought

Kroger at 8:30 am, Eric, Alec and Annika, cream cheese brownies, Cinnabon apple pie, Diana's slaw and Charlie's venison bbq, Peaks of Otter, Gerald rolling down the hill, Maddie and Reagan, Charlie Tuck, new friends from Indiana, hearing that someone can actually take 7 years to complete a MDiv, deer eating out of Diana's hand and my Blue Ridge Mountains

Just tell them to buy another half a car then they will have a whole!

fresh peaches for breakfast, quiet workplace, vinyard salad with raspberry vinagret dressing, books in the mail, accountability, Sheila, The Homeplace, family dinners, Leah's logic, B's questions, Rob talking

Today's song

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
Ba boo ba ba boo.

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in.
No. Poppa, don't you fence me in

Don't Fence Me In: Cole Porter

It's ok, I could tell it was needed

For Tuesday:

apologizing, baby talk from the back seat, Annika's smile, watching her learn how to eat, rocking a baby again, hearing the "pop" sound of canning jars full of beans sealing, leftovers, dreams

"A pillar is a crawly thing - like a catepillar!"

adjusted glasses and spine, butterflies in my backyard, corn on the cob, macaroni salad and some very rare peaches,

thoughts of how the institution of the church has become comparable to my old chenille blanket or maybe Daddy's Masonic key fob - a man-made entity that brings comfort and familiarity and something that I grieve over losing and yet know that those things it represents are always with me

"We are all on the same journey".... or are we?

driving through Franklin County to a small country church and finding the door open "in case someone needs to get in," almond pound cake, thank you cards, hugs, Bobby asking, "Why do people keep coming back here?" all the while meaning, "Why do WE keep coming back here?" Camp Bethel, church picnics, peanut butter cupcakes, macaroni salad, watermelon, old friends, tandem prayer shawl making

Seek and you shall find, ask and you will be given, knock and the door will be opened: it is so easy to say these words and teach that if only we believe - if only we have enough faith - if we only pray, then what we seek and ask for, we will be given. That can be a little like the "secret" - just believe and visualize something enough and it will be manifested. I don't think it is that simple. For me, it is not the belief, the faith or the prayer life that is in question, but that thing we are seeking and asking for. I don't doubt that all things are possible with God. What I doubt is whether my desires are God's desires, whether my self-imposed needs are what God sees as my needs, whether that which I seek and ask for is God's will.

I think that the church fails in this teaching at times. Movies that show good, honest, church-going people suffering, needing who come to a realization that they need God's help, then show these same people healed from their suffering and their needs provided....they do not teach what faith, what being a disciple is all about. They do not teach that those who serve God will indeed suffer, will indeed have needs. They show a life of priviledge one can have just by being "christian." What a farce.

"You get more like your mother all the time."

family in the morning - Rob and I watched (Rob even helped carry trays for) a family reunion group having breakfast together at K & W Cafeteria

family at noon time - lunch with the Ferris/Belcher clan - great grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, babies and more on the way!

family as the sun went down - surprise b-day cookout for Bobby at Susan's - cousins, cousins and more cousins!

Watching Lynsey's face as she sat through the hundreds and hundreds of stories about people she did not and would never know, I have to say that I know how she feels. And yet, it means a great deal to me. Knowing where those who came before actually came from helps me to understand where I have been and where I am. Hopefully it will also help me in finding which way to go. (this probably makes no sense to anyone else, but that's ok - it is, after all, MY blog.)

"OH!"

the Market, Sheila, Eric, Alec and Annika, ordering books, making prayer shawls, the smell of fresh cut grass

Just breathe

a clean desk, chicken durango salad, Holly, iced mocha latte, Frank Kinder's surprising comments, coconut shrimp, hershey brownies, watching friends come to grips with their children's lives, sharing parental love and helplessness

We are family

being in agreement, working in silence...all day, the lack of drama, tea and limeade, running, Trish, Sandra, calm inside when storms are raging outside

Manifestation - the secret

getting lost in work, champagne poppy seed dressing, Williams Memorial women supporting women in ministry, feeling as if my consult and support are wanted and appreciated, knowing where my home really is and not having my heart divided, my chiropractor's massager, running at my own pace in my own place, veggie dinners, moose tracks ice cream, air conditioning

Dream Weaver

Pete's for breakfast, The Market, spinach and tomato pizza, folk singing in the square, beautiful young girls who grow up into beautiful women, my "kids" who aren't "kids" any longer, homeplace weddings, "You're family! Even if we don't see you!"

Boondocks....Coal mines....all the same

I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul
In the boondocks

I can feel that
Muddy water runnin' through my veins
I can hear that lullaby of the midnight train
And it sings to me and sounds familiar
I can taste that honeysuckle
And it's still so sweet
When it grows wild
On the banks down at old Camp Creek
And it calls to me like a warm wind blowin'

It's where I learned about livin'
Its where I learned about love
Its where I learned about working hard,
And having a little was just enough
It's where I learned about Jesus
And knowin' where I stand

You can take it or leave it
This is me
This is who I am
Give me a tin roof, a front porch, and a gravel road
And thats home to me, feels like home to me

You get a line I'll get a pole
We'll go fishin' in the crawfish hole
Five card poker on Saturday night
Church on Sunday morning

Boondocks, Little Big Town

I watched them pluck the feathers off those pigs

sisters in faith who share my concern for others, Bobby and JoJo's history, family dynamics, Lyndsey's expressions of shock and groans of boredom, family - known and unknown

We are so limited, so much so that we don't even recognize it

Maybe, just maybe, some day we will all recognize that the power and grace of God is more than our limited human minds can comprehend...then maybe, just maybe, we can stop acting out of our humanness and make an attempt to live within that unimaginable power and grace with all of God's creation.

prayer, wonderfully intelligent children, trying to figure out what the words I say mean to me, patient husbands, those who pray for reconcilliation in the midst of disagreement, Owen's grace, the striving of the body of Christ, the wonder-full struggle to grasp even a tiny part of that which is God