Advent Beginnings

We begin again.
It's time to look forward.
It's waiting time, planning time, preparation time.
I love this season and its mix of preparation and waiting.

Navigating the balance between preparing our hearts and lives and doing some real, authentic waiting is a very, very difficult thing.

Gunilla Norris frames waiting like this:

What do we do when we wait? Plan? Fidget? Fret? Dream? Rest? Pace? Why is it so hard to do nothing? The simplest, easiest thing to do is to let things be. Why not "be" in the sun this little moment? Perhaps when we do nothing we see how naked we feel without plans? Perhaps we feel useless without goals? To be without agenda-- is that not the most lovingly present and accepting anyone can be?

There is so much waiting that we do, and so much preparing.
May these days be ones of faithful balance as we open our hearts to the coming of the Christ Child, who embodies love and healing.
Gunilla Norris, A Mystic Garden, p. 16.

Yet more reasons for thanksgiving...

I will long remember the day I met my first blog friend.

When I learned from a post on her blog that Diane would be in Chicago for Thanksgiving, I commented "How about coffee?" and she accepted the offer.
It turns out that Diane has family in the town next door to mine, so we had our choice of five or more coffee shops at which to meet. We chose one right in the thick of a neighboring town's Holiday Walk. I should have said, "You'll recognize me because I'll be the only one who isn't fourteen."

We had no problem spotting each other when we met yestreday afternoon. Neither one of us is anonymous on our blogs, so it was easy. I knew right away that Scout's mom was in the house! Diane's personable and talented spouse joined us, too, and it was a delight to compare notes on our three different church settings, our families, and our our impressions of all that Chicago has to offer.

It was a joy to meet Diane and her beloved, J., and a further reminder of the reason I love blogging. It is fun to get one's thoughts out there, but for me, the real fun is the connections made, the bonds formed, the relationships launched thanks to technology. It's caramel syrup on the ice cream sundae to have the fun of meeting in person!

Five People....or twenty five?

Philippians 1:3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.


Singing Owl offers this as the Friday Five on the RevGals blog:

I'm musing about giving thanks for people today, partly because Americans celebrated our annual Thanksgiving holiday yesterday (I try not to just make this holiday "turkey day" even though its main feature seems to be eating till one is nearly comatose) and partly because I read the above verse this morning. It started me thinking about individuals in my life for whom I give thanks. For this post-Thanksgiving Day Friday Five, share with us "Five People For Whom You Give Thanks to God" and maybe tell us why they are significant.

This is easy for me (although I will be cheating, by grouping folks,thereby making more room to give more thanks.)

1. Every member of my family of origin. They were strikingly interesting, smart, complicated women.Remarkable women, all members of the Church Triumphant now. I give thanks for them.

2. Every member of my family by covenant. DH and his family are all wonderful people. They've allowed me to be myself and embraced me as part of the family since Reagan was in office.

3. FBC and SBC. I give thanks to God for them every day. I still marvel that I gave birth to them. They are funny, messy, interesting people and they love me back. No one could ask for more.

4. The Godfamily. They are an outstanding assortment of kindness, gusto for living, values I respect and seek to emulate, cuteness, talent, and humor. Really. This is all true.

5. The siblings I never had. You know who you are.

Happy Thanksgiving

Peace to you, and quiet pleasures.














Turkey Chef

We gather together

Soon it will be time to gather together.

DH and FBC will arrive home tonight from a business trip and college, respectively.

Tomorrow night we're having an joint service with a neighboring Presbyterian Church.
Lots of voices, lots of reasons to be thankful for our connections, new-found and greatly celebrated. They've invited our congregation to their long-standing tradition of breakfast on Thursday morning. We'll be donating a massive amount of food to area food pantries.

My family's hosting three guests, perhaps more, for T Day.

And then, the Advent fun begins. We have a lot going on that truly makes preparing for the Christ child a great joy. More on that later.

Gathering, gathering. Our president-elect is gathering a cadre of advisors and nominees to key White House posts. People who are grieving are gathering up emotions that would threaten to undo them at this time of year. Many are trying to identify and gather resources to face an uncertain future.

As individuals, as neighbors, as citizens of a nation and global citizens as well, I pray that we can gather together so that no one feels alone or bereft; so that there can be quiet peace in the hearts of all people.

Mojo? Mojo?

Yesterday was a full, full day, with Commitment Sunday, Reign of Christ, teaching a class called "Growing Generous Kids", helping with confirmation, and leading an adult education class in the evening. For the evening class we use excerpts from the PBS show Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. We've found it to be rich with conversation starters.

I have finished grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. We'll have friends and family and will have all the traditional fare. I'd like to get a jump on the sermon for Advent 1 so that the weekend could be more fun. It will be great to have FBC home from college. I miss her so much!

I think I'm going to try to accomplish just a little at a time, because the mojo appears to be lost.

Bucket List

This morning I'm attending the last installment of a quilt class I've been attending this fall. It's been fun to drive to my local quilt store and learn for one hour prior to the shop's opening. I've learned some new techniques and am a slightly more confident beginner.

Turns out that although the class was billed as being for beginners, I think I'm the only true beginner in the class. It's ok, becasue I've still learned a great deal.
I've learned quite a bit about techniques that I imagine using down the road-- how to adapt a pattern, and how to choose different colors than the ones suggested.
Learning to quilt has been one of the things on my "bucket list" (good movie!), and as much as anything, I'm pleased that I followed through and took this class, just because I wanted to. I might take another class, just because it's been fun!

What are some of the things that are on your "fun things you've always wanted to do or try..." list?

Fiber Artists of San Antonio's cool website includes this beautiful quilt by Susie Monday (Earth Angel Kuan Yin).