It's no secret that I'm a little bit of an idealist...and perhaps a tad sappy. But after a miserable last hour at work, seeing Wagon Wheel's closing summer show, "I Love a Piano" was just what a I needed. (Btw: check out Paul's review here later tonight!)
It's Americana through and through, set to the sound track of Irving Berlin's best songs. And I loved that it showed triumph and tragedy, the balance of life as it really is. (Well, as much as can be shown on stage at any rate.) But it was such a classic feel of American history, and as we drove up to our hundred year old house, with our puppies and cozy red kitchen I got so excited about my life in...well, a week or so.
I've been undoing myself at work...packing up extra stuff in my desk, taking down my pictures, adding notes to files for the next person so they won't be confused. It's odd after two and a half years to slowly be working my way out. I was feeling a little sentimental, but then an incredibly stressful, demeaning incident took place today, and I remembered how sweet freedom tastes!
I am So.Stoked. about the KP position. I want to work with lesson plans, and kiddos, and teach them about Jesus. I want the freedom of loose hours, working with people I respect. And have TIME and energy again to do things.
I can't believe how shabby parts of my home have gotten, but I only have enough TLC left to care for myself and our immediate needs after work and very little creative influence. And working part time from home just allows for space and freedom. Not that any job doesn't have its own hiccups, and I'm sure there will be days I just need to get out, but I am going to enjoy this home-ness as long as possible!
Despite the initial financial challenge of a new job, God has always provided, and I know He will. He has blessed me with a beautiful home, husband, fur balls, church family, friends, and GOOD work to do. I really couldn't ask for more. Revelling in the beauty of this.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
For every season....
...turn, turn, turn....
Bad reference to a 90's song aside, I feel like I've been caught in a tailspin, lately! A good tailspin, but it has left me slightly disoriented.
I've been felt called away from my day job for a bit now. The environment has been increasingly stressier, and the sheer energy it takes to maintain working there has left me physically exhausted, and cost me the time and energy to be involved in other things I feel are more important.
Paul and I have been praying for a while now for an answer to this question....and God answered in the most surprising way. It wasn't at all what I was looking for, and Paul had to talk me into applying....and then three panic stricken weaks of realizing that this was EXACTLY what I wanted, but of course there were other applicants for the position!
Long story short, I am stepping into the director position of Kidz Point, our children's ministry at Mission Point. It's a part time gig at the moment....which leaves plenty of time for helping out with Sights and Soundz and DaiseyBelle and keeping up my home (which will probably be less Martha Stewartish...but I would love to have time to walk my dogs, and bake, and sew...because yes, I was born in 1950. I look really good for my age!).
I am so excited to get to be a part of this, I can't even begin to explain. The next month will be busy...last 2 weeks at work, while I start training for this new position. Then, actually STARTING to lead Kidz Point - eek!!! But I think as God makes his strength evident in my intense weakness, and we transition through this time, that the space created in my life, and Paul's too!, will be much needed, desired, and prayed for.
There might not be much posting for the next couple weeks, just like there hasn't been for a bit, but hopefully, once things smooth out, I'll some more time to devote to this, too!
Bad reference to a 90's song aside, I feel like I've been caught in a tailspin, lately! A good tailspin, but it has left me slightly disoriented.
I've been felt called away from my day job for a bit now. The environment has been increasingly stressier, and the sheer energy it takes to maintain working there has left me physically exhausted, and cost me the time and energy to be involved in other things I feel are more important.
Paul and I have been praying for a while now for an answer to this question....and God answered in the most surprising way. It wasn't at all what I was looking for, and Paul had to talk me into applying....and then three panic stricken weaks of realizing that this was EXACTLY what I wanted, but of course there were other applicants for the position!
Long story short, I am stepping into the director position of Kidz Point, our children's ministry at Mission Point. It's a part time gig at the moment....which leaves plenty of time for helping out with Sights and Soundz and DaiseyBelle and keeping up my home (which will probably be less Martha Stewartish...but I would love to have time to walk my dogs, and bake, and sew...because yes, I was born in 1950. I look really good for my age!).
I am so excited to get to be a part of this, I can't even begin to explain. The next month will be busy...last 2 weeks at work, while I start training for this new position. Then, actually STARTING to lead Kidz Point - eek!!! But I think as God makes his strength evident in my intense weakness, and we transition through this time, that the space created in my life, and Paul's too!, will be much needed, desired, and prayed for.
There might not be much posting for the next couple weeks, just like there hasn't been for a bit, but hopefully, once things smooth out, I'll some more time to devote to this, too!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Beautiful berries
 I did tell you I had a couple of pints of gorgeous summer berries - this week, I put them to good use! I had seen a couple of homemade turnover recipes online, and decided to sort of compile them all and make my own. |
I decided to cook my cherries down in my itsy bitsy crockpot. I added enough water to cover them, and some sugar.
Once cooked (for about 6 hours...could have gone a bit longer) I ladled them into egg role wrappers.
Folded my wrappers up...the cherry mixture was moist enough that I didn't need any water to seal them.
I used the nasoya wrappers...which baked up beautifully!
400 degrees for about 12 minutes.
These made lovely little breakfast treats - always looking for something a little sweet first thing in the morning. But these are full of good fruit, not overly processed sugar. So they're like poptarts, but better. And they're actually filling!
The only thing I might change next time is the way I prepare the filling. Peaches are on sale this week, so I'd love to try to make peach filling. I will probably look up a legit pie filling recipe, and just cut back on the sugar. The cherries weren't quite as sweet as I hoped once cooked, and while I like tart, I'm not such a fan first thing in the morning! I did put a few chocolate chips in one of the pockets, and that really hit the spot!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Adapting part 2...
...or how Barbie got it wrong.
Did anyone else ever notice that Barbie never drives a junker car, or wears blue jeans with holes in them? Or works at McDonalds?
Paul and I were talking last night about the great need for Americans to "arrive" at something. Whatever our idea of the good life is, we feel that enough persistance and hard work will get us to that place, at which time, we will feel content and whole.
And persistence and hard work will get you a lot of places. You want to build your own house? Work at it. Want to be a doctor? Hard work. But hard work never gets us to contentment. And we've trained our kids this way! Barbie starts in a state of arrival, video games level up to some point of completion. T
his idea is ingrained in the fabric of being American. But it just doesn't measure up to that Higher Reality. I feel discontent because my house isn't done, my career isn't at it's final happy point. I haven't learned to make bread, or sauder jewelry wires. I obviously am missing something. (Yes, my version of the American dream is a little...hippie-fied? I want financial security, but I want to create, and have babies, and love my dogs....oh, and world peace. Yes.)
And my very clever husband pulled a very overused, but true, cliche on me last night. The journey is the destination. Because what I really want is shalom. That utter state of contentment when your whole world is put right...only to be found in Christ. And while we get glimpses of that now, we will only fully know that on the other side of glory. I do have a destination to arrive at....I just can't get to it from here.
So I might as well enjoy my journey, and stop seeking "arrival." I think God is present in our journeys, in our learning and growing. And if He is in it, it is good. Regardless of the state of completion.
Did anyone else ever notice that Barbie never drives a junker car, or wears blue jeans with holes in them? Or works at McDonalds?
Paul and I were talking last night about the great need for Americans to "arrive" at something. Whatever our idea of the good life is, we feel that enough persistance and hard work will get us to that place, at which time, we will feel content and whole.
And persistence and hard work will get you a lot of places. You want to build your own house? Work at it. Want to be a doctor? Hard work. But hard work never gets us to contentment. And we've trained our kids this way! Barbie starts in a state of arrival, video games level up to some point of completion. T
his idea is ingrained in the fabric of being American. But it just doesn't measure up to that Higher Reality. I feel discontent because my house isn't done, my career isn't at it's final happy point. I haven't learned to make bread, or sauder jewelry wires. I obviously am missing something. (Yes, my version of the American dream is a little...hippie-fied? I want financial security, but I want to create, and have babies, and love my dogs....oh, and world peace. Yes.)
And my very clever husband pulled a very overused, but true, cliche on me last night. The journey is the destination. Because what I really want is shalom. That utter state of contentment when your whole world is put right...only to be found in Christ. And while we get glimpses of that now, we will only fully know that on the other side of glory. I do have a destination to arrive at....I just can't get to it from here.
So I might as well enjoy my journey, and stop seeking "arrival." I think God is present in our journeys, in our learning and growing. And if He is in it, it is good. Regardless of the state of completion.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Adapting to the American Dream....
...or the benefits of being broke.
I'm having a bit of a mental freak out. I bought an Ipad yesterday. Actually, I charged an Ipad yesterday. And I'm a good Dave Ramsey graduate...we don't buy things if we can't pay cash!
Not to mention that our income has increased...which puts us from broke-college-students to really-low-middle-class. Having been raised by good missionary parents, I can do a lot with broke. And there is a certain freedom in learning to be comfortable with what you have and making it work. Knowing that big expenditures are outside your reality, and learning to make do.
But now with two college degrees and two full time incomes between us (and benefits!) I feel the need to be responsible. The Camry needs new tires. The roof needs replaced...sometime...in the next three years. Christmas needs saved for, the dogs need their shots. We're getting close to that ellusive "American Dream" ... bought a house, and a dog (x2), have two cars (that generally run), and we can afford vacations. I suppose I need kids and a college fund now, huh?
Can you see how after a while this all gets really heavy? And now I've added a (gasp!) credit card bill to all this (18 months same as cash, 10% down, used my rewards points, blah blah blah).
And isn't it crazy that my sinful self can totally find ways to discount, regret, and add misery to God's blessings? We've worked so hard, prayed for determination, guidance, provision, and in His time, God has blessed us. And I feel the need to worry about it. Because I forget...that this truly is "my Father's world...and though the wrong (even in me) seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet."
So on this Sunday morning, I'm holding fast to old words...
"And the cares of this world grow blissfully dim in the light of His glory and grace."
"I hear the Savior say, thy faith indeed is small....find in Me thine All in All."
"Jesus, be the Center..."
Because the real reality of this situation is that these are all just details, and I'm simply called to be thankful. And thankfulness doesn't require a bank balance of any size.
I'm having a bit of a mental freak out. I bought an Ipad yesterday. Actually, I charged an Ipad yesterday. And I'm a good Dave Ramsey graduate...we don't buy things if we can't pay cash!
Not to mention that our income has increased...which puts us from broke-college-students to really-low-middle-class. Having been raised by good missionary parents, I can do a lot with broke. And there is a certain freedom in learning to be comfortable with what you have and making it work. Knowing that big expenditures are outside your reality, and learning to make do.
But now with two college degrees and two full time incomes between us (and benefits!) I feel the need to be responsible. The Camry needs new tires. The roof needs replaced...sometime...in the next three years. Christmas needs saved for, the dogs need their shots. We're getting close to that ellusive "American Dream" ... bought a house, and a dog (x2), have two cars (that generally run), and we can afford vacations. I suppose I need kids and a college fund now, huh?
Can you see how after a while this all gets really heavy? And now I've added a (gasp!) credit card bill to all this (18 months same as cash, 10% down, used my rewards points, blah blah blah).
And isn't it crazy that my sinful self can totally find ways to discount, regret, and add misery to God's blessings? We've worked so hard, prayed for determination, guidance, provision, and in His time, God has blessed us. And I feel the need to worry about it. Because I forget...that this truly is "my Father's world...and though the wrong (even in me) seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet."
So on this Sunday morning, I'm holding fast to old words...
"And the cares of this world grow blissfully dim in the light of His glory and grace."
"I hear the Savior say, thy faith indeed is small....find in Me thine All in All."
"Jesus, be the Center..."
Because the real reality of this situation is that these are all just details, and I'm simply called to be thankful. And thankfulness doesn't require a bank balance of any size.
Friday, July 6, 2012
An ode to blue
Whole foods are important. Recognizing, and being able to pronounce the ingredients in the foods we buy at the store is important.
But sometimes, indulgence is important.
So today, I am eating left over, reduced-for-quick-sale, Walmart bakery cupcakes with blue frosting. Blue dye-42 is an ingredient that I can pronounce, and more or less recognize. (Don't tell my mom.)
Did I mention that it is 150 degrees here? Someone set a thick, wet blanket over the cornfields of Indiana, and we're all swealtering. From the time I put my cupcakes in the car, and drove the less than ten minutes home from Walmart, my frosting had melted. It's that hot. It's frosting-melting-hot.
On a happier note: I re-entered Aldis today. Pre-surgery, I only had energy for one activity per day. If that activity was grocery shopping, I only went to one store, when I knew it would be at its emptiest, and I took a buddy. There was no shopping around, no store hopping. So I got to know Owens really well - and I made that work for our budget. But now that I'm feeling better, and happened to be at the mercy of Maribeth (who was driving me around today while I ignored the flat on my car), I went to Aldis.
How did I forget how cheap their groceries were? Now not all groceries are created equal, but they had very happy looking blueberries and bing cherries today - for next to nothing! I got a quart of blueberries and a half pound of cherries for $3.80. (In case you wondered, they are very happily washed, and sitting in a nice, fruit tupperware in my fridge, still looking happy and cheerful.)
I have been beating this heat with fruit (and cupcakes). I seriously don't ever remember enjoying blueberries this much. Maybe you have to be sweating to death to enjoy them. So, I have the dry ingredients for muffins all mixed up, and tomorrow morning, after enjoying my lazy Saturday sleep-in, all I have to do is add my blueberries and egg, and voila! Breakfast! I seriously cannot wait.
What are you doing to beat the heat this week?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)