STay tuned...

On average, a 4 year old child asks 437 questions a day.

~fascinating factoid found at snowy's silly facts

I think the average five year old asks at least five times the 437 questions mentioned above.

...or perhaps my five year old is five times more extraordinary than average.

Either way, I'm exhausted.

Tonite I find that I am too pooped to even blog....

....which is a shame really,

because I have so many good things to share!

Stay tuned.

Good things are coming!

Thursday's Thirteen Unusual Ebay Auctions!

Thirteen Odd Ebay Listings 1) The "Sacred Heart of Jesus Stigmata Potato" is currently up to $109.50. 2) Oh, and don't miss the "Scrotum Potato" auction! Seriously now, would you bid? 3) Ugh! Advertise on this menstral Momma's ample bosom? I think not! 4) Why not be the first to sport this dandy "Severed Ear" on your key ring? 5) Mistress Barbara is selling a high quality leather sleep sack...starting bid, only $274! 6) A Captured Ghost is for sale in Manchester! 7) I don't even know what to say about this one! 54 Animal Skulls for sale... 8) Need a few Deer Feet to spice up your home decor? 9) Want a Buffalo Scrotum Nutholder? Sheesh, who buys this stuff? 10) Spring Cleaning? Why not buy your own "intense" Colon Cleansing Kit? 11) Surely you haven't missed this literary classic, "Boogers Are Blessings"? 12) I LOVE coffee but I think I'll pass on these partially digested beans! 13) Last but not least, a vintage Nutcracker to compliment your buffalo nutsack.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

People eaters

***BEWARE: This couch eats little girls!***

If you were to visit me in my home, for you own safety, you would not be allowed to sit in our living room.

You see, we have people eating sofas. Yes, you read correctly. Our sofas eat people.

Most people have sofas that will support the weight of the individuals who sit upon them. Our sofas on the other hand, tend to swallow unwary visitors whole.

At first, this was a source of embarrassment for our family; but now, it's gotten so darn bad, that our embarrassment has given way to hilarity.

Tonite all that is about to change. You see, we have finally bought ourselves a "new to us" living room set. That is to say, we have just purchased a nice used living room sofa and love seat from an equally nice retired couple.

Truth be told, I'm a little sad to say goodbye to our people eating sofas. They have seen an awful lot over these past fifteen years. Those sofas have supported me through three pregnancies, five years of nursing babies, and many other things that I won't bore you all by mentioning now....

So, it only seems fitting to commemorate their disposal and replacement here in this blog!

Goodbye sofas!

Parting is such sweet (NOT!) sorrow!

blood and light

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.
~excerpt from the Billy Collins poem, "On Turning Ten"

I have the best of both worlds.

I know what it is to bleed upon the sidewalks of life, and I know what it is to believe that my innards are filled with an incandescent light.

There are some days, when I truly believe that my heart pumps this shining light through sparkling, mirror like veins....

....and there are other days when I am all too aware that I am only flesh and blood; that I will bleed the same red, sticky blood that we all bleed when we fall and tear our skin.

Either way, on either day, I would willingly tear this skin for those I love.

I think Christ must have felt this too. Why else would He have allowed himself to be torn asunder?

Christ knew what it was to love. He understood that mysterious intersection where soul meets body and He was not afraid. Christ's love for you, for me, and for all mankind, compelled Him to tear open his own skin, and to release both blood and light.

Somewhere, within each one of us, this light, God's love for us, pulses in rhythm with our own beating hearts.

Yes, I am flesh and blood; but I am also infused with the eternal light of God's love. Cut me and I will most certainly bleed; but don't be surprised if I also blind you with light.

...blood and light

....that mysterious intersection where soul meets body

........we are always and forever, shining in God's love.

Royalty Restored!

I know this is silly, but I have recently begun wearing a gorgeous, hot magenta paper tiara that was handmade and embellished (with faux acrylic gemstones no less) by my five year old daughter.

Now, I haven't always been a devoted tiara aficionado. Quite the contrary! Tiaras were never a part of my childhood and even if they had been I would probably have rejected them as silly pieces of fluff. I am quite certain that as a child, I would have banished tiaras to the girlie realms of Barbies and stuffed unicorns.

So why my sudden change of heart?

Well the other day, in a pique of organizational frustration, I decided to don my tiara while cleaning the studio.

When I did so, something amazing happened. All of a sudden, cleaning didn't seem quite so ordinary. In fact, all of my overdue scrubbing and dust bunny annihilation took on a decidedly regal air!

That was when I realized that wearing a hot magenta paper tiara has the power to make even the most ordinary person feel like royalty. I became so caught up in my tiara wearing zeal that yesterday afternoon, I forgot to remove my tiara before collecting the children at school.

Yes, there I was walking down our tree lined boulevard wearing blue jeans, a Harley Davidson tee shirt and my hot magenta paper tiara. Oh, I wondered why the neighbors looked at me rather oddly and yes, I thought it strange that cars were honking as they passed me by; but truly, I was clueless as to why these unusual things were happening.

It wasn't until the crossing guard looked at me quizzically and said, "Nice tiara!" that I realized I had forgotten to remove my royal headdress.

By this time, my tiara had worked a kind of magic. I didn't care that cars were honking and people were staring. Wearing my tiara had made me feel more beautiful, more regal and at least three inches taller.

"Let the people stare!" I thought. After all, that seemed an appropriate response to my royal self!

Now some of you might wonder how my children reacted when they saw me waiting for them. I can only say, that they weren't terribly surprised. I guess they've come to expect extraordinary things from their mother.

Everyone should expect extraordinary things from themselves.

If you have forgotten what it is to feel like a queen/king, and to dream extraordinary dreams, might I suggest something to you?

Make yourself a tiara. Wear it! Allow yourself experience the whimsical world of possibility once again.

C'mon! What do you have to lose?

Thursday's Thirteen: Books!

Thirteen Books I Have Either Recently Read, Or Am Currently Reading! 1) She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb 2) Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 3) Disappointment with God by Philip Yancey 4) Life of Pi by Yann Martel 5) A Tree Full of Angels by Macrina Wiederkehr 6) Waiting for God by Simone Weil 7) The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren 8) The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg 9) The Davinci Code by Dan Brown 10) Jesus Creed by Brian McKnight 11) Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson 12) Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen 13) Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster Can you guess which of these I've enjoyed more than the others?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Keeping it simple

Rotary International.

Do you know anything about this organization?

If you go to their website, the header reads, "Rotary promotes world peace and understanding through local and global service projects."

Until yesterday evening, I had not known much about Rotary International. Last night, I had the opportunity to meet about 20 members of one local chapter. Their chapter was hosting an awards presentation and dessert to honor students completing the tenth grade who have exhibited outstanding achievement and promise in a specific discipline. Our oldest daughter was one of those students.

Seven students had been selected in the areas of: math, science, art, engineering, business, social studies, and English. Teachers in the individual departments selected each student. Out of 561 sophomore students our daughter was selected to receive her award in science. I was especially proud of her accomplishment, since women are frequently underrepresented in the sciences. (The math award went to a young woman as well! Yaaay!)

Anyhow, the dessert was well organized and the presenters were articulate. Each student was called to the front of the awards gathering, asked to introduce their family and then they were asked two questions. The first question was, "What did you like most about your high school experience this year?". The second was, "What do you hope to do with your life in the future?"

Our daughter answered the first question this way.

"This year I've loved participating in athletics. The opportunities to travel, to meet new people and to develop my own skills within the fields of cross country, swimming and track have all been awesome. As students, we are fortunate to have these opportunities and I am very grateful to have experienced, and to have benefited from, the committed coaching here at our school."

She answered the second question this way:

"I don't know what I want to be professionally; but I do know this. Whatever I do, I always want to be a good person first."

I don't think I've ever been more proud of this amazing young woman!

Sometimes I think the world has enough scientists, engineers, politicians and mathematicians. What we do need however, are a few more "good" people. People committed to the welfare of others. People committed to the welfare of our environment. People commtted to peace and equality. Good people.

Does this sound too simplistic?

Maybe it is.

But what's so bad about keeping it simple?

Dear Mr. President

My ten year old adores Pink.

C'mon you know Pink! She's the cool chic who married Corey Hart....

Well, I may not have loved her before, but after listening to Dear Mr. President, I think that I love Pink now!

What are you waiting for? Click the link and listen for yourself!

Dear Mr. President, it's a song that says everything I would say...and more.

Feasting

Easter Dinner Menu

baked spiral sliced ham
glorified grits*
cajun corn*
baked sweet potato fries with two dipping sauces (cumin/lime and ranch)*
veggie tray
whole wheat dinner rolls baked from scratch

dutch apple pie
vanilla ice cream

Glorified Grits

1 1/2 cups of quick-cooking grits

6 ounces coarsly shredded sharp cheddar (we use a mexican blend)

2 tbls worcestershire sause ( less to taste)

1 tbls tabasco ( more or less to taste)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 stick of butter or margarine

1 beaten egg

Cook the grits according to the package, (I add a boullion cube for flavor to the H2O), add the other ingredients. Place in a 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes

4-6 servings

Cajun Corn

3 cans of shoepeg corn

1 small can of jalapeno pepper

1 8 oz brick of cream cheese

1 stick of butter or margarine

2 tbls flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour to thicken. Pour over the drained corn, peppers and put into a casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until brown.

Cumin sweet potato fries

1-½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground curry

1 tsp paprika

2 Tbls vegetable oil

kosher salt/ fresh pepper to taste

4 sweet potatoes

1 pint plain yogurt (non- or low-fat is fine)

juice of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash well and slice the sweet potatoes in half, and each half into 6 wedges.

In a mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with the vegetable oil until lightly coated. Add 1 tsp ground cumin, the curry, ½ tsp of the paprika, salt to taste and ground pepper to taste. Toss until evenly coated.

On a baking sheet, lay the potato wedges out in a single layer. Bake on the middle rack for 15 min, flip, and bake another 15 min.

While the potatoes are baking, prepare the dipping sauce. Squeeze the lime into the yogurt, add ½ tsp cumin and ½ tsp paprika. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

serves 8

**********************

~We will be serving dinner at 5:30 pm! Stop on by and celebrate the Risen Christ with some good, old fashioned, down home cooking!

Any and all are welcome at our table, just as God welcomes us to His!

Holy Work

I am now well into day two of a three day fast.

Yesterday, as hunger gnawed in my belly, I thought of Christ . I imagined Him being betrayed. I imagined the chaos of the moment when He was taken in the garden of Gethsemane; and as my inner eye imagined the bloodied Christ silent before his accusers, my own rumbling innards quieted.

This was a miracle of sorts, for me anyway.

Several friends know that I am fasting over this holy weekend, and they have given me prayer requests.

I cannot help but feel that these requests are like precious gems. They are priceless bits of each persons hurt and hope. They burn in my heart, and I find myself taking each one out, one by one, over and over. As I do, I cradle each request gently in my shaking hands. I whisper words of love and then I hold it up in the light of God's grace and I offer it all to Him.

This is not a contest to see how long I can deny myself food before cracking. Nor is my prayer a contest to see how many intercessory prayers I can rack up and breathe out into the universe. No, I think for the very first time, I sense that this process of self-emptying and praying is holy work.

Holy work in which I am more tool than master.

It is a mystery to which I say "Yes!"

"Yes Lord, use me!"

This is the same cry I imagine Christ offering God that awful morning when the weight of all that He was about to undertake nearly crushed Him.

"Take this cup from me" Christ pleaded.

....and as He anguished and sweat drops of blood, Christ prayed.

.......and then Christ, the living mystery of love incarnate, whispered "Yes!"

He said yes to God's holy work.

....and the rest is history.

God's history. An eternal, timeless history that includes all that has ever been and all that ever will be.

And through it all, Christ has been there and is still there, pursuing each one of us with His relentless love....

And so now I must ask you, what's stopping you from saying "yes" to God's holy love?

Thursday Thirteen: a new weekly meme

Thirteen People Who Have Influenced Jerri 1) Mrs. Bronson was my high school English teacher; but she was more than my teacher. She was also my friend and my encourager. In many ways, Mrs. Bronson saved my life. 2) My husband Tom. Tom has taught me more about love than any human being who's ever walked the planet. 3) My sister Mendi. Mendi is just about the coolest chica I know and I want to be just like her when I grow up! 4) Michele, my friend and confidant. She inspires me with her creative spirit. 5) Annie is another friend. Loyal and true, there are few who have loved as deeply or cared as much! 6) Laura is yet another friend of mine! She has a rich, creative spirit and a life story that rivals any epic tale! We share a bond that goes deeper than most.... 7) Patti is both a new friend and a spiritual mentor. She is so incredibly different from me and wise in ways I aspire to learn. 8) Janiss, is my mother in law and she has taught me that a mother's love doesn't have to hurt. 9) Carol is another spiritual mentor of mine. Carol is a brilliant woman, who challenges me to go ever deeper into my spiritual life. She was the first person in my life to suggest that it is possible to hold hands with the creator of our universe! 10) Richard Foster. Ok, so I don't actually know Richard Foster, but his writing has heavily influenced my own spiritual journey. 11) Brennan Manning. Here's another author, one whom I have actually met and was privileged to hear speak in person. Manning's book, "Abba's Child" changed my life by challenging me to risk meeting our risen Lord in the here an now....and trust me, meeting Christ in this life is risky business because this kind of encounter is radical and soul changing. Once you've encountered the incarnate Christ, you will never be the same. 12) My children, who have blessed me with a second childhood. One that has been filled with the wonder of spider webs and mud pies! These dear ones have taught me what it is to laugh, to forgive and to love with abandon! 13) Christ, the risen Lord, whom I have actually met in this life. Without Him none of this would even be possible.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! ***********PS~Many men and women have positively influenced my life. If you do not see your name, please do not feel slighted, you have not been forgotten!

A stolen holiness....

As a child, I lived in an environment of spiritual, emotional and yes, even physical violence. I grew up believing it was a normal thing to suppress my own emotions, to practice invisibility, and to fear not only for my own life but for the lives of my siblings as well.

It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that my family wasn't religious. We didn't go to church, or read the bible, or even talk about a loving God.

I remember being very young and finding my mother's family bible. It was a huge, leather bound monster of a bible.

I loved it immediately.

I loved it because it was a book, and books were my best and most loyal friends. I also loved it because it was a thing of beauty. From the soft ivory leather of the cover/binding, to the slippery onion skin pages, oh my, it was a beautiful thing....and I loved my mother's bible so much, that I stole it from her.

I hid that bible away; and every now and then, I would secretly take it out and simply admire its beauty.

When I moved away from home, I spirited my mother's bible away with me as well. It has traveled with me all these years; and every now and then, I still take it out just to admire the beauty of its ivory leather cover and its slippery onion skin pages. I don't read from it often because it is simply too large, and too awkward for casual reading.

I have other bibles now...smaller bibles with their own black leather covers and onion skin pages that I use regularly for devotional reading and study.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this story today; but I can tell you that my mother always knew I had her bible. She never once tried to take it from me. For all of her faults, I think she understood and respected my need to possess something so breathtaking that it's very beauty could somehow speak to all that was still good and whole within myself.

Sometimes I find myself wondering if my mother ever found the love story written for her between those two beautifully bound covers of her bible. I hope she did. I hope she discovered how much God loves her and it is my prayer that on some level she responded affirmatively to God's invitation to love him in return.

It must have been this very hope which drove Christ to choose death on the cross, just as surely as it is this same hope which drives me to live my life at the foot of His cross.

Me, a woman with her stolen bible, living her life at the foot of the cross.....it all seems fitting somehow, doesn't it?

HOly WEek.

This morning I have risen earlier than usual because I seek the risen Christ and I hope to find him in the early dawn.

Holy week is upon me and I feel neither holy nor connected the holy.

So I rise and I greet the brightening horizon of this new day. In the quiet hush of early morning I ask out loud,

"Where is the risen Christ? Where are you Lord?"

The wind brushes my skin and goosebumps rise.

I ask again, a little more plaintively this time,

"Where is the risen Christ? Where are you Lord?"

The squirrels chatter in reply,

"He is here! He is here!"

I listen quietly and the birds begin to chirp their praise, "He is here! He is here!"

I raise my hands and face to the sky and I ask, "Lord Jesus are you here?"

A gentle mist of rain falls and the birds chirp and the squirrels chatter and my tears begin to well up from within my desolate soulscape.

He is here! The Lord Jesus is here!

My Holy week has begun....

God laughs

The bible says that God knows all about us.

God knows us so intimately that he has even counted the very hairs on our individual and collective heads.

After a marathon tweezing session this morning, I am now convinced that God must be awful busy counting the hairs on my chin as well!

(And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?)

Love is everything.

Today in open court, a woman I know explained to the judge and to the other drug court participants how much she believes she has benefited from her weekly meetings with a drug court mentor.

Here's just a small snippet of what she shared:

"My mentor is more than a mentor. She is my friend. She isn't afraid to speak the truth, and she isn't afraid to care. There are a lot of people who wouldn't risk caring about a woman like me; but my mentor did and I love her for it."

Most of the people who enter our drug court program are desperate and unlovely people. They are addicted...usually to meth, but not always. Most have lost their families, their freedom, their physical health and their good looks.

In short, we see the kind of people whom the general public would perceive as scary looking people with a crap load of even scarier behaviors.

The woman who spoke today in court was no exception. She wasn't any more loveable, or any less unlovely than the rest.

And yet, speaking today, she clearly articulated what had made such a crucial difference in her recovery and in her life.

People had dared to care!

The judge, the drug court team, the other drug court participants, and yes, this woman's life mentor, had all dared to believe that there was an amazing, incredible woman hidden beneath all of the meth sores and addicted behaviors.

They had all dared to care and in so doing, they had made a difference in the life of this young woman...and not just any ole difference mind you, but a life or death difference.

So you see, caring isn't just a significant piece of our helping one another along the path to wholeness. It is everything!

I spend a lot of time writing about this kind of experience here in my blog. I feel as if I am always pushing the importance of caring, of loving the unloveable and of reaching out to those who dwell along the fringes of our society.

I recognize that for some of you this topic is trite. I suppose for others, it reeks of christian sentimentality.

All I can say in answer to that, is this.

Everything I write here, is born out of my lived experience.

Whether you understand this or not, Christ has gathered me up. Me, a fringe dweller, a reeking alcoholic, an adulteress, a liar, a foul excuse for womanhood....Me. Christ has pulled Me smack dab into the center of the living, holy God.

Everyday, I claim that sacred place at the center of God's presence.

Everyday, I seek to live out of God's sacred center and I dare to love.

I dare even when conventional wisdom says that I should not; and I don't do this because I am "special" or "extraordinary". I do this because once one's soul has been touched by God, (as I believe mine has), it is impossible to shrink, or to shirk, or to stop caring.

And every now and then, I am privileged as I was today, to hear another person share how love has made all the difference in their life, not just any ole difference either, but a life or death kind of difference.

...and then in a quiet and certain kind of way, I remember once again, that love truly is everything.

Terminally unique?

I'm having problems settling in to my own life.

People around me seem to have no problem settling into their own lives.

They have their careers, their little routines and me?

I feel as if I am always seeking...

Take church for example.

Every week, I see people go to church. They settle in. They nod and they clap, they sing, they pray, and then they go home.

I can never seem to settle in at church. I'll hear something in a sermon and I'll think, "Now how can that be?". And then that one question will begat further questions and then all of those pesky questions will follow me home....

Or sometimes I'll see someone in such obvious pain that I begin to imagine that Christ is sitting next to them, his shoulder is touching theirs, and his hand is holding their hand. Sometimes, on those days, Christ follows me home too....

I guess for me, church just isn't a place I visit and then leave. I suppose this life, isn't something I just "settle in to" either.

I suppose that I will always be plagued by my own inner restlessness and questioning spirit. (Of course, "plagued" might be too strong of a word and too negative in its connotations. If nothing else, my life is rarely boring...ordinary maybe, but rarely boring.)

Doesn't anyone else ever feel this way?

Or am I terminally unique?

Slogan Generators

There are a multitude of slogan generators out there on the net.

I thought this one was especially fun!

The slogan changes every thirty seconds....

Very appropriate for me today, as I am feeling oddly mercurial.

PS~Why not leave me a comment and let me know what the slogan was when you stopped by? C'mon, just for giggles and grins! When I uploaded this post the typed page read, Blissfully Blogging, it's a kind of magic!"

We are all connected.

The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life,

and that in turn another,

until who knows where the trembling stops

or in what far place my touch will be felt.

Frederick Buechner

For me, the unavoidable truth is this.

Our lives are all interconnected.

We do not live in a vacuum.

Our words, both spoken and unspoken, have power.

Our actions, or our inaction, have power.

The things we think, say, and do, impact everything around us.

Today, I choose to walk softly.

Today, I choose to speak gently.

I will drink fair trade coffee and conserve water.

These are simple things and yet, as Buechner says, who knows in what far off place my touch, my words, my choices might be felt by another?

This encourages me...

to do even more,

to be even kinder,

to love even better.

And I will trust that the ripples from my own, humble life

will generate similar ripples

and together,

we,

will create eternal symphonies of love in this universe of life and light.