My morning ritual is simple.
It goes something like this.
I get up, do the obligatory morning potty stop and say "hello" to all the critters under foot. I hug my husband, and smooch whichever child will still allow me to give them morning smooches (this usually means the four year old, the seven year old and sometimes the ten year old).
Then I stumble on through to the kitchen, where I grind the beans (my own special blend) throw on a pot of coffee and I head out the back door to my studio.
Once I'm in the studio, I crank up the computer and read my e-mail. Right around this time, either my husband or one of the children will run me a cup of coffee that has been doctored to perfection with vanilla soy milk. (Oh, the sweet joy of morning coffee is indescribable!)
In between slurps of coffee, I read my favorite web blogs. I always check out Debb's blog first. Debb writes with a tender, thought provoking style that I very much welcome as I begin my day.
After Debb's blog I move on to another favorite, A New Life Emerging. This blog always, always knocks my socks off! It's a Christian blog...but hey, don't let that stop you from at least giving the blog a quick read. I guarantee you will experience a fresh perspective about what it means to live a Christ centered life if your read Rick's musings.
I once e-mailed Rick, the owner of A New Life Emerging, and informed him that I very much enjoyed his writing and considered myself one of his official blog groupies. I think I scared him a bit with that declaration of devotion, as I never did receive a response. LOL!
Anyhow, if you are looking for a great way to start your day, swing by Debb's Little Place Online, and then if you are so inclined, move on to Rick's, A New Life Emerging.
These blogs certainly sweeten my day.
Who knows, maybe they would sweeten yours as well?
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Live your life on purpose.
Mystery.
Life is filled with mystery.
Or perhaps I should say, my life is "mystery filled". There is so much that goes on around and within me that I do not even pretend to understand it all.
On any given day, I see people do things and I ask myself, "Now why in the world are they doing that?"
As I watch my four year old dump Elmer's glue into her sister's ballet bag I wonder, "What in the world is this child thinking to do something like that?" As I read the paper, I wonder "How can people do those awful things to one another?"
Sometimes, I find that the wondering is more personal in nature. For example, why do I always feel as if I am on the outside looking in? Why do I never feel a "part" of things?
Even thought I am a Christ follower, I don't feel as if I am a "part" of the body of Christ. Although I participate and contribute in a variety of team settings, I never feel as if I am a "part" of the team.
Sometimes I wonder if I will I ever feel as if I belong....
I think most of us struggle with these kinds of questions at some point or other. Or at least I like to think we all do.
Mystery.
In the end, we are each left with the mystery filled life.
I don't want to waste too much time trying to figure out the incomprehesible. It's a fruitless endeavor. We can't know what is unknowable.
So, in the end, I choose to embrace the mystery. I live my life on purpose and let the mystery be what it is.
How about you? Do you live your life on purpose?
Life is filled with mystery.
Or perhaps I should say, my life is "mystery filled". There is so much that goes on around and within me that I do not even pretend to understand it all.
On any given day, I see people do things and I ask myself, "Now why in the world are they doing that?"
As I watch my four year old dump Elmer's glue into her sister's ballet bag I wonder, "What in the world is this child thinking to do something like that?" As I read the paper, I wonder "How can people do those awful things to one another?"
Sometimes, I find that the wondering is more personal in nature. For example, why do I always feel as if I am on the outside looking in? Why do I never feel a "part" of things?
Even thought I am a Christ follower, I don't feel as if I am a "part" of the body of Christ. Although I participate and contribute in a variety of team settings, I never feel as if I am a "part" of the team.
Sometimes I wonder if I will I ever feel as if I belong....
I think most of us struggle with these kinds of questions at some point or other. Or at least I like to think we all do.
Mystery.
In the end, we are each left with the mystery filled life.
I don't want to waste too much time trying to figure out the incomprehesible. It's a fruitless endeavor. We can't know what is unknowable.
So, in the end, I choose to embrace the mystery. I live my life on purpose and let the mystery be what it is.
How about you? Do you live your life on purpose?
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Bubble tea
green apple bubble tea
Every now and then, I have to step outside my normal life and try something new and different.
This morning after picking some sweet corn for dinner, I grabbed my husband and said, "Hey, let's go check out that new bubble tea joint downtown."
"Bubble tea?" he asked, "What's that?"
"I don't know." I replied, " It's some new kind of foo-foo drink fad. Let's go and give it a try!"
My husband being the "new experience" lover that he is was more than happy to comply. So off we went to order ourselves some bubble tea.
I ordered a watermelon bubble tea and frankly, I think I would have preferred one made with real tea, milk and perhaps some vanilla flavoring. I wasn't really wowed by the watermelon flavor and sucking up those cranberry sized tapioca pearls took some getting used to on my part. Even so, the experience was worth $2.50!
Want to try something new and different without having to spend a fortune, or risk life and limb? Well, check out the bubble tea shop in your area and see how you like sucking up some of those tapioca pearls.
Go ahead! I dare ya!
Friday, August 26, 2005
A must read....
Here is a story that will truly warm your heart.
It touched me and it challenged me in surprising ways. (I had to ask myself, "Am I this kind of friend to others?"
Go read it for yourself.
I promise you won't be disappointed!
It touched me and it challenged me in surprising ways. (I had to ask myself, "Am I this kind of friend to others?"
Go read it for yourself.
I promise you won't be disappointed!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Christians follow the Prince of Peace.
So, how is it that Pat Robertson, an avowed Christian, can even utter the following statement suggesting the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez?
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Did Christ ever utter words such as these?
Wake up America!
We can no longer afford to confuse nationalized faith with fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ. The stakes are simply too high.
In Matthew 5:9 Jesus declares: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
Christ is unequivocal. Blessed are those who make peace.
I choose the way of Christ.
I choose to be a peacemaker even in the face this nation's struggle for national security and its thirst for revenge.
I choose to believe that it is the rule of love, not domination, which is truly compatible with the teachings of Christ.
What in heaven's name do you choose?
So, how is it that Pat Robertson, an avowed Christian, can even utter the following statement suggesting the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez?
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Did Christ ever utter words such as these?
Wake up America!
We can no longer afford to confuse nationalized faith with fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ. The stakes are simply too high.
In Matthew 5:9 Jesus declares: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
Christ is unequivocal. Blessed are those who make peace.
I choose the way of Christ.
I choose to be a peacemaker even in the face this nation's struggle for national security and its thirst for revenge.
I choose to believe that it is the rule of love, not domination, which is truly compatible with the teachings of Christ.
What in heaven's name do you choose?
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Why does she write?
Anne Lamott~Chronicle photo
Powell's bookstore is perhaps one of my happiest places to visit.
If you love books, Powells is the closest thing to heaven this side of life and death!
Imagine a building that fills an entire city block, has not one, but three stories and is absolutely jam packed with books...well, that's Powells!
Just a few days ago, I happened upon an interview Powells had with Anne Lamott.
I was especially taken with Lamott's answer to the question, "Why do you write?" I thought I would share this snippet with you all today!
"Why do you write?I write because writing is the gift God has given me to help people in the world. I came with curly hair, green eyes, and the ability to shape and tell stories in a way that a certain kind of person finds helpful, and funny. I love to make people laugh, because nothing is more life giving. I love to help people feel a sense of connection in their lives, by sharing the truth and details of mine — this seems to greatly decrease people's feeling of isolation. I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness — and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine."
Monday, August 22, 2005
A modest proposal
People like to forward all kinds of things to me in their e-mails. Sometimes it's good stuff like a fun link, or a silly joke, or a wise quote.
More often than not, I receive stuff that truly annoys and offends me. I'm cutting and pasting one such e-mail that I received today at the bottom of this post.
The problem I have with the writing below, is that many of the people who forward this kind of thing don't seem to understand that this a form of satirical humor and that it is not meant to be taken literally.
I suppose if Jonathan Swift were alive, his essay, "A Modest Proposal" would also be forwarded in mass e-mailings. I wonder how many people would be willing to adopt the belief that the mass murder and consumption of children in poverty is a feasible solution to reconciling the issues of hunger and poverty?
As I've already stated, I understand the humor in the piece below.
The problem I have with this kind of e-mail forward is two fold. First, underneath the humorous words/ideas I sense a genuine anger, and dare I say, a bias, that reeks of both prejudice and racism. What frightens me however, is that people blindly foward this stuff to everyone they know, saying things like: "This is the best plan I've ever heard!!! We ought to send this to both the Republicans and Democrats."
Doesn't this scare any of you?
Oh just read the essay for Pete's sake and decide for yourself!
You gotta love Robin Williams...... Even if he's nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan.
What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message. Robin William's plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!)
"I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan."
1) "The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good ole boys', we will never "interfere" again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be tho-roughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them are stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH...learn it...or LEAVE...Now, isn't that a winner of a plan? "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?'
If you agree with the above forward it to friends...If not, and I would be amazed, DELETE it!!
More often than not, I receive stuff that truly annoys and offends me. I'm cutting and pasting one such e-mail that I received today at the bottom of this post.
The problem I have with the writing below, is that many of the people who forward this kind of thing don't seem to understand that this a form of satirical humor and that it is not meant to be taken literally.
I suppose if Jonathan Swift were alive, his essay, "A Modest Proposal" would also be forwarded in mass e-mailings. I wonder how many people would be willing to adopt the belief that the mass murder and consumption of children in poverty is a feasible solution to reconciling the issues of hunger and poverty?
As I've already stated, I understand the humor in the piece below.
The problem I have with this kind of e-mail forward is two fold. First, underneath the humorous words/ideas I sense a genuine anger, and dare I say, a bias, that reeks of both prejudice and racism. What frightens me however, is that people blindly foward this stuff to everyone they know, saying things like: "This is the best plan I've ever heard!!! We ought to send this to both the Republicans and Democrats."
Doesn't this scare any of you?
Oh just read the essay for Pete's sake and decide for yourself!
You gotta love Robin Williams...... Even if he's nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan.
What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message. Robin William's plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!)
"I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan."
1) "The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good ole boys', we will never "interfere" again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be tho-roughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them are stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH...learn it...or LEAVE...Now, isn't that a winner of a plan? "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?'
If you agree with the above forward it to friends...If not, and I would be amazed, DELETE it!!
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Instruments of peace
Yesterday I began my blog with Henry Ward Beecher's quote, "Love is the river of life in the world."
Today, I switch gears to comment upon the rascist group that held a concert this past weekend in the Columbia River Gorge town of Cascade Locks. The Hood River County Sheriff's department, US Forest Service law enforcement agents, Oregon State Police and American Indian tribal police combined their considerable law enforcement resources to handle security for what some observers have described as one of the biggest hate-group gatherings.
I support the right to free speech and I support the right for people of like minds to peacefully gather; but I do not support organized hate.
Why is it so much easier to hate than it is to love?
Why is tolerance such a dirty word?
Ever wonder how many hate groups reside in your state?
What about you? Do you have any hidden bias of which you are unaware? Would you like to know? Want to take an online test(s) to find out?
Hatred sickens me. Violence sickens me. These things do not empower or ennoble. They diminish and degrade.
Just thinking of it all brings me to my knees in prayer and in one aching breath I plead,
"Oh Holy Father, make us instruments of thy peace......."
Today, I switch gears to comment upon the rascist group that held a concert this past weekend in the Columbia River Gorge town of Cascade Locks. The Hood River County Sheriff's department, US Forest Service law enforcement agents, Oregon State Police and American Indian tribal police combined their considerable law enforcement resources to handle security for what some observers have described as one of the biggest hate-group gatherings.
I support the right to free speech and I support the right for people of like minds to peacefully gather; but I do not support organized hate.
Why is it so much easier to hate than it is to love?
Why is tolerance such a dirty word?
Ever wonder how many hate groups reside in your state?
What about you? Do you have any hidden bias of which you are unaware? Would you like to know? Want to take an online test(s) to find out?
Hatred sickens me. Violence sickens me. These things do not empower or ennoble. They diminish and degrade.
Just thinking of it all brings me to my knees in prayer and in one aching breath I plead,
"Oh Holy Father, make us instruments of thy peace......."
The river of life
waxed fabric collage on wood~j. N-L
Love is the river of life in the world.
Henry Ward Beecher
Not too long ago, I decided to paint some unbleached muslin.
Don't ask me why I wanted to hand paint the fabric, but I did.
Then, for some insane reason, I had to embroider on the painted fabric. Just to complicate things a little, I used that metallic embroidery floss. If you haven't used this stuff before, you will just have to trust me when I say that it is a pain in the patooty to use!
Ok, so now I have this pretty piece of fabric that I've hand painted, embroidered and I don't know what to do with the darn thing.
Being the creative woman that I am, I began to assemble a piece of sanded wood board, the embellished fabric piece, more unbleached muslin, beeswax, my clover iron...and well, you guessed it! I decided to bring forth a deliciously sweet smelling beeswax collage made with fabric and mounted on wood.
I'm calling this piece, "The River of Life".
This is the name that spoke itself into being before I had even cut my muslin to begin the painting process.
It speaks to me now, just as it did then.
Would you like to see more of this piece? Check out my other blog! I'll be posting more photos there!
Friday, August 19, 2005
Lost in the dog days of summer....
It never fails.
Whenever relatives come to visit, I am overwhelmed by the daily tasks that inevitably accompany caring for the creature comforts of so many. Bear in mind that I have five children and one husband already. Throw in another two or three people along with back to back 90+ degree days and my skills as a hostess are sorely tested.
I am not a good hostess under the best of circumstances.
I try not to stress about things like the grilled salmon steaks and freshly snapped green beans that I'm preparing for dinner. I try not to worry about the key lime pie that still needs whipped cream embellishment.
Instead, I seek to melt into the poolside frenzy of water and laughter that my children faithfully generate every hot summer afternoon. I sip tall glasses of iced wild sweet orange tea and blissfully slip into the forgetfulness that I always find in the long afternoons of hot August days.
Only then do I remember that the salmon steaks, the green beans and the key lime pie will meet with our loud lip smacking and groans of contentment when it is their time.
For now, I am lost in the dog days of summer, sipping my Tazo tea.
Whenever relatives come to visit, I am overwhelmed by the daily tasks that inevitably accompany caring for the creature comforts of so many. Bear in mind that I have five children and one husband already. Throw in another two or three people along with back to back 90+ degree days and my skills as a hostess are sorely tested.
I am not a good hostess under the best of circumstances.
I try not to stress about things like the grilled salmon steaks and freshly snapped green beans that I'm preparing for dinner. I try not to worry about the key lime pie that still needs whipped cream embellishment.
Instead, I seek to melt into the poolside frenzy of water and laughter that my children faithfully generate every hot summer afternoon. I sip tall glasses of iced wild sweet orange tea and blissfully slip into the forgetfulness that I always find in the long afternoons of hot August days.
Only then do I remember that the salmon steaks, the green beans and the key lime pie will meet with our loud lip smacking and groans of contentment when it is their time.
For now, I am lost in the dog days of summer, sipping my Tazo tea.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Entertaining...
For the past week, I've been busy entertaining relatives from out of state.
I'll be posting again when my life returns to its "normal" rhythm once again!
Please check back after the 18th!
Until then, peace!
I'll be posting again when my life returns to its "normal" rhythm once again!
Please check back after the 18th!
Until then, peace!
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Bee Happy, Bee Free, Bee all that you can be!
bottle cap art~j. N-L
I think this blog has become waaay too heavy over the past few days.
Yesterday's post even creeped ME out!
So, in an effort to lighten the mood of "Living Out Loud", I'm posting a photo of the bottle cap that I recently made for my four year old daughter.
My motto for today is, "Bee Happy! Bee Free! Bee all that you can be!"
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Keep the promise
Some days I read the news and I vaccilate between despair and hope.
Today I despair because representatives of this great nation are allegedly raping children and applying scalpels to genitals in places like Abu Ghraib and the "ghost prisons" of Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay.
At the same time, even in the midst of this kind of madness, I am also able to find some semblance of hope in things like the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
To know that there are still good people in the world today, who are committed to equality, the eradication of poverty and to peace, is enormously comforting to me.
Even so, just knowing is not enough. I also believe that we are each called to action. In whatever ways we are able, we must rise up and require the truth and integrity of all people, for all people.
For me, this is as simple as striving to be as honest, as accountable, and as authentic in my relationship with God, with the world around me, and with myself, as I am able to be. This is no easy task however; as I have found that living this life requires vigilance, effort, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to extend and to receive forgiveness.
I believe that true change has humble beginnings.
I also believe that world change is possible and that it begins with me.
Today I despair because representatives of this great nation are allegedly raping children and applying scalpels to genitals in places like Abu Ghraib and the "ghost prisons" of Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay.
At the same time, even in the midst of this kind of madness, I am also able to find some semblance of hope in things like the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
To know that there are still good people in the world today, who are committed to equality, the eradication of poverty and to peace, is enormously comforting to me.
Even so, just knowing is not enough. I also believe that we are each called to action. In whatever ways we are able, we must rise up and require the truth and integrity of all people, for all people.
For me, this is as simple as striving to be as honest, as accountable, and as authentic in my relationship with God, with the world around me, and with myself, as I am able to be. This is no easy task however; as I have found that living this life requires vigilance, effort, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to extend and to receive forgiveness.
I believe that true change has humble beginnings.
I also believe that world change is possible and that it begins with me.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Expiration dates
Yesterday I shared the death bed haiku of Zen teacher Kozan Ichikyo.
Today I want to talk about expiration dates.
Check out the expiration date on the bag of Safeway Crinkle Cut french fries!
Do you see October 3006; or do you read October 30, 2006?
When I first looked at it, I read October 3006.
3006?
Now that's an expiration date!
Monday, August 01, 2005
Entangled
Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going --
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
Kozan Ichikyo
On February 12, 1360, at the ripe old age of 77, Kozan Ichikyo sat up in his bed, wrote this poem and then died while the brush was still in his hand.
This is how I hope to meet death.
I want my eyes to be wide open, still drinking in this world that I've loved so well. I want to write glorious death bed poems, and to greet death with gentle whispers of the all love that I've known over these years.
I want my life to be a poem of love...a simple, one word summa for my life!
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