lightening up

after the fairly "heavy" posts of the last couple of days, i bring you this:

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatics: Only 1; hands are already in the air.

Pentecostals: 10; One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None; Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholics: None; candles only

Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken

Episcopalians: 10; One to change the bulb, and nine to talk about how much better the old one was.

Methodists: Uncertain. A committee must be appointed to study the question.

Lutherans: None. Lutherans don't believe in change.

Unitarians : We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, 3-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

TV evangelists: One, but for the message of light to continue, send in your donation today.

truly, i say to thee...

don't listen to everything you were taught in college.

seriously. every wednesday night, when i go to The Truth Project, i am stunned and amazed by what the video moderator calls the "pernicious lies" that exist in many of our worldviews. stuff that we as christians just naturally buy and take to heart. without really thinking.

last night was anthropology night. we looked at who man is, what his essence is, what his moral state is, and what his need is. of course, the biblical world view says that man (who is made in the image of God) WAS innocent, IS fallen (in him resides a sinful nature), and needs redemption (Jesus on the cross).

the biggest opposition to this belief, the pernicious lie, comes from abraham maslow. i used to think he was a good guy, i studied about him quite a bit. he says that as people, we "have no intrinsic instinct for evil." hhhhhhmmmmmm. where do you suppose it comes from then, if not man himself? maslow says that sick people are made by a sick culture. he does NOT say how the culture got sick, if not for the actions of the people in it. crap. i cannot believe i fell for that one, it's a dead-end lie.

oh. and the biggest lie of all. maslow's "hierarchy of needs." take a look at em, a good hard look. the highest need we can have is SELF ACTUALIZATION? hmmmmmm. really? if that is so, with an oprah on every corner selling self-help books while the world falls apart, why are things worse and not better? where is this evil coming from? why is SELF at the top? is it really all about us? how come this theory doesn't match with the REAL world?

Lord. help us, this stuff just proves how much we need it.

the tug - part two

went to the homeless conference yesterday. whew. today i am paying for the 3 missed meetings, 27 emails and 11 voicemails.

still, glad i went.

not sure what my part will be, but i signed up for an email list to have a more focused gathering next month, to make an action plan. 665 homeless in sioux falls. over 100 churches. if you do the math, this thing is DOABLE. we need to get at it.

anyway, couple of nuggets i took away:


The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

Matthew 26:11 was brought to new light for me. i never heard it described this way before. Bill Hackett said that in the context of the scripture, Jesus is assuming that his disciples will ALWAYS spend their lives dining with/serving/helping the poor.

not that they will get a good job, nice car, go to church on sunday, and forget about the poor 99.7% of the time.

this one got me good.


also, Bill mentioned the book Making Room by christine pohl. i ordered it today from amazon. he talked about how christians (ie, ME) have twisted the meaning of hospitality to mostly entertaining EACH OTHER instead of the needy.

um. yeah. when is the last time i made treats for someone / anyone who was a stranger? yet just on monday i had the "girls" over for worship and coffee and cookies.

hospitality is what Jesus was all about. we need to return there in our hearts.


k. that's it for now. more to come, i am sure.

woo hoo!!!!!!!!

c'mon over to my house and we can all drive together :)))

what the?

take a look at the extended forecast for my town this week! i am kind of wishing i had not seen that, i might be enjoying the beautiful spring-like weather we are having more!

gotta love it here in KELOland....


:)

jacked up

thanks to cassie, my veins are flowing with the good stuff this morning. after her lovely afternoon espresso date last weekend, i have been thinking entirely too much about coffee.

so, i went to world market yesterday, and got the little coffee pot and espresso cups shown here.

yum.

what's even worse, i ALSO dug out my espresso machine from the basement (yes, my basement contains everything), and brought it over to phil's apartment yesterday... we made the most DELISH cappacino last night. thankfully he'll have the machine at his house so i won't overindulge too much ;)


see what you did to me, cass? and i had given up caffeine! well. everything in moderation, they say. wish me luck with that.

the tug

this morning, as i was perusing the daily paper online, i felt the "tug."

usually when this happens, i get a little bit afraid. because usually it means i am being called into something i know nothing about. and that always scares me, because i tend to like to be in control of things.

usually also, when i feel the tug, there is sacrifice involved. i don't love sacrifice so much. i kind of like comfort, and easiness, and to be brutally honest, i tend to like things that are mostly about me.

doh. i think you know what i'm getting at when i describe the tug. that is what i am calling it when God taps you on the shoulder, and tells you that he has something in mind for you.

this time, i'm not sure what to do about the tug. it came from a front page story in today's argus leader. the gist of the story is a pilot program in sioux falls that helps get homeless people off the streets by giving them shelter, and a case manager to come and visit them, to see how they are doing. the man in the pic is one man in the program. last year, it cost taxpayers' $31,000 in emergency care for him because he is severely alcoholic.

it makes me think of kevin, my alcoholic "friend" who walks the alley by my house year-round to go to the liquor store, and someday may not make it back home if his life doesn't change.

it makes me think of marty, and that hits really close to home for me, because marty is phillip's dad. we don't know where marty is right now, but chances are he is without a home. he's a wonderful man – smart, and kind and well-educated. the last time i saw him and had dinner with him, he was telling me about reading all of the works of Homer (finally! he said :)) and i was amazed as always at how bright and full of potential he is.

so anyway, on tuesday there is a seminar about this program. it's for ministries in the community, and i'm not exactly a ministry (or am i?). plus, i have 3 meetings during the same time period, so there is a good chance that i will not be able to attend.

but please, if you get a chance to pray for me, pray i will not ignore the tug. that in fact it will grow stronger in the next couple of days, so that i cannot let it slip away. i have a feeling it might be important.


ps. here is the guy who is speaking at the seminar, his name is bill hackett, and he is from seattle, where they have a ministry for the homeless.

http://itfhomeless.org/default_files/Page429.html

floater

karen asked me to post a new pic. not sure this one is much better, but here ya go.

all week long, i've been thinking that andre the betta fish is ready to head for fish heaven. i know from having aquariums when i was a kid that when a fish starts to act a little bit sick, they are good as dead. usually means a day, maybe two.

now just take a look at andre. he is laying in his bowl halfway facing up! NOT good. funny thing is that he has been doing this ALL WEEK LONG. he still eats, and moves when siesta tries to bat him around the water. obviously though, he either lost his balance and is half floating, or just playing a mean trick on me.

NOT good. i wish i didn't worry about a fish, but i do.

too bad i can't lay hands on him to pray for him :)

kinda sad

well, the news that heath ledger has died makes me kind of sad. i admit i didn't really know who he was, although i have seen a couple of his flicks. no, not brokeback mountain, i never got to that one. i think his appearance sort of reminds me of a guy i used to work with. carey, can you guess who?

anyway, what i DID SEE is the upcoming trailer for batman. i've been telling everybody i know about that one. the movie looks great, but heath ledger's portrayal of the joker looks AMAZING. better than jack nicholson, that is what i am expecting.

i think knowing he died a sad death will take away a bit of the fun of seeing batman when it comes out. sigh.

work related

i don't usually talk about work stuff, so if you happen to be a client of mine, just know this is the exception to the rule :)

anywho, a couple of months ago, i did a quickie project for the american institute of architects - south dakota chapter. one of the principals of a local architecture firm is a fellow christian, and an artist, and she hit me up for the project.

i was busy and did not really have time to think too deeply about the project (a magazine layout for the group). what i DO remember, is that when it came time to get paid, i had to go downtown and speak to a nice older man named ward. he was very gracious and kind, asked me lots of questions about me, and paid me very very promptly. even left a message to make sure i got his check.

so, long story short, TODAY i finally started the layouts for the project. yeah. i'm behind. anyway, to my surprise, i just found out that the nice little man who seemed like the secretary for the group is really a VERY HUGE STAR!

ward is the man who designed these great teepees that if you have passed through south dakota, you MUST have at least noticed, if not admired. i currently possess his original drawings from 1968. wow. i am humbled. i don't know about you, but i think he must have been WAY ahead of his time, and perhaps a little crazy to suggest such a modern design for a farmer state like sd. and from the time i was very little, and headed out onto the highway on family vacations, i have thought they were very beautiful and cool.


yep. he's my new hero.

every time...

...i think i'm having the worst possible day of all my days on the planet,

God gives me a little sun action.



works WONDERS. guess that is why He is the God of Wonders, huh?

let the games begin

wow, my brain works like clockwork.

in early DECEMBER, the seed catalogues started rolling in. and i thought "that is just plain nuts" and filed them away.

now that january is nearly history, i am playing a different tune. last night i got out all the catalogues, and a rush of excitement went through me! oh. so. pretty.

and hopeful too. especially with the thermometer registering -7 degrees this morning. but, like any good marathon runner, i know that this last painful stretch is right BEFORE the sweet finish line.

this year, the boy and i will quite likely be very busy. but i hope not too busy to plant a beautiful vegetable garden, and perhaps modify the side gardens, which are kind of losing their glamour.

oh. and i want a tree. many trees actually, but a big new tree for the boulevard, and maybe a small fruit tree of some sort for the back yard.



tingle tingle tingle.

that's me, just thinking about it :)

throwdown!

well, my friend lisa in seattle has just challenged vanna the acrylic yarn queen to a throwdown.

i forgot to remember that lisa is a big knitter, and she is NOT in favor of fakey fake acrylics to create her craft with. i'll copy her words below, but not before i put in my 2 cents worth too - ya know. cause it's MY blog and all :)

i know exactly where lisa is coming from. and to be truthful, there IS a nagging little part of me that knows i should be putting out for the good stuff when i make my crafts, yarn and otherwise. i admit i'm kind of a fabric snob, i know who heather and anna maria and amy and kaffe are, and still, quite often actually, i shop the bargain bins for that $1.00 fabric treasure that might be hidden there. i also clearly remember my grandma's stiff red heart afghans, probably over a hundred of them in her lifetime, and i am imagining that she never thought about using the good stuff. or maybe she did, but could not afford it.

then there is the whole "yarn shop" issue. see, i like buying yarn at wal mart. or hobby lobby. those are the places that vanna reigns supreme. once i go into a yarn shop and see all the ladies who knit their own clothes, i am overwhelmed. i feel small, and silly, and really really hate to mention that i CROCHET, which is clearly not as cool as knitting. although, i think that is changing somewhat as i can tell crocheters are doing some pretty cool things out here in blogland.

and, as my friend kristie says: "it's nice to be able to go to walmart in the middle of the night on sunday to get what you need to finish up your project."

so, buy whatever you want. here are lisa's recommendations for good quality, reasonably priced yarn made out of natural things instead of plastic. one good thing is that this post might have pushed her a little closer to starting her OWN blog :)

Cascade 220 is about 6-7$ for 220 yards and the selection of colors in huge. Lambs Pride, another great yarn with an enormous selection of colors, is 5.99 per skein and you don't have to wind it. WEBS on line, and Pattons both offer really inexpensive yarn. (BTW, if you ever want to splurge ETSY has many yarns that are beautiful, though a little spendy-you do get about 1800 yards per skein though)
I understand the temptation, truly I do. But, an afghan, which usually takes forever, should be made out of yarn that is a pleasure to work with. My passion for good yarn has been re-fueld by knitting some really cool projects.

rock star

boy oh boy, times change. back in the day, i was a real true rock chick. i loved boys and their bands almost as much as i loved anything. and my parents, who were very old even then, loved wheel of fortune.

but like all tides must, things turn. nowadays i am so excited about vanna white, you would think SHE was a rock star. in case you are wondering where vanna went (actually i think she might still be turning letters too) - she decided to become a queen in the crochet world. her yarn is just like her, glitzy and a little bit on the cheap side, being made of 100% acrylic.

no matter. i am planning my very next afghan already. thanks to vanna of course :)


UPDATE:
oooooooohhhh. as luck would have it, look what the UPS man just dropped off :)

see what happens...

...when you buy a dozen crocus bulbs in september and vow to plant them in a good spot for spring, but then get so busy you kind of throw them in a corner in your kitchen and completely forget you ever bought them until you buy new appliances and naturally decide you need to clean the whole kitchen so it matches how pretty they are and lo and behold FIND the bulbs you hid and they seem to be alive and happy?

and then you think that MAYBE if you buy a bag of dirt the next time you are at walmart, then perhaps you will get to see them bloom at some point even though you really don't deserve it after how you have treated them?

see what happens when you don't really believe that procrastination is always a bad thing?

truthfully speaking

i am so excited today i can hardly stand it!!!!

tonite, phil and i will start attending a teaching of The Truth Project at our church. if you have NOT heard of this project, please go check it out:

http://www.thetruthproject.org/

The whole idea behind this project, is to talk about how christians in our culture are missing out on a biblical worldview, and thusly look alot like non-christians in most ways. so, this study is billed as "the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective." it's a way for christians to take a look at themselves, and see what areas of their lives have a secular view vs. a biblical view. and hopefully to transform them to look more like the Lord.


oh yes! that is what i want! i want to not just walk around and talk about Jesus, but really LOOK different because i understand how the bible applies to life and our world today! i want to know how to DO life with the bible as the core of my life and choices and actions. i want God to change me inside, and bring me closer to what i am meant to be here for.

anyway, i am excited. i'll keep you updated on what i am learning, for sure.

pretty

so, i've had the new appliances for 4 whole days. it took all of day 1 to hook the stove up, day 2 to clean up around it so it looked good, day 3 to get over the fact that if you touch it you mess it up, and day 4 to finally bake a loaf of something in it. i'm not crazy about how the beer bread turned out, it never really browned on top?! hopefully a fluke.

oh. and the refrigerator is nice too. very empty, at the moment. looks like i need to go shopping.

oh. and naturally a day later, my microwave blew up, so back to Sears for a new microwave yesterday!!


craziness. but i am very happy with how pretty everything looks. now, if i could just get new tile, cupboards, lighting and all new accessories, it would be PERFECT.

sounds like time for a lesson in loving what you have!

tie one on

i am a pretty consistent reader of amy karol's "angry chicken" blog....see over at the right for a link.

she's funny, and quite the craftster too.

anyhoo, she has a flickr group called "tie one on" that features aprons that people have sewn. i always look and admire, but THIS time, i'm entering one i made awhile back...

the theme is "polka dots" - love those! the aprons should be unveiled in february, but here is a sneak peek :)

3 days

well, finally, i think i can say i am relaxed. after a 2 week christmas vacation in which i relaxed very little if at all, it feels good that i had another little break this week (i missed you guys, but really, i always do enjoy stepping away from the computer).

highlights of the time spent, you ask? well, really only one highlight that matters. spent the whole time with my phillip, we just have so much fun together. i am amazed at how God pairs people up. we have many things in common, but the differences are interesting too. he is just such a unique man. i still cannot quite believe that someone exists who can love jackie chan (crap!) and kahlil gibran (cool!) at the same time. thankfully he loves flea markets and lowes and home cooking as well.

anyway, back to the semi real world today, as phillip went back to work, and i cleaned house. i am sometimes amazed at the joy in the regular stuff. we got a book at the thrift store (actually HE found it and bought it, but i quickly stole it) called "peace with God" by billy graham. i just started it, but he talks in the beginning about America being a culture of more boredom than any other on earth, measured by the volume of "artificial amusements" that we indulge in. hhhhhmmmmm. there is something to that, eh? how many of us can just "be" and be okay? i think that might be a good thing to meditate on with the Lord, and see if He has anything to say on the topic :)) will let you know what He says.

we DID also go see 3 movies in 3 days, not because of boredom, but because we have had a serious lack of such entertainment for a very long time. we saw (in order of enjoyment, probably) "michael clayton," "the bucket list," and "dan in real life." they were all good, but i did fend off seeing "i am legend," which was phillip's first choice. i am too afraid of that one!! i may succomb at some point, we'll see.

oh. and we did pick out the wedding rings (still no wedding date, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?) and ended up going with Saundra Messinger as the artist. her stuff is really better in person than in the pics, but these pics give you an idea. we haven't ordered them yet, waiting on pricing, but they are oh-so-cool. luckily, we agreed on that point as well. now if some magic wedding fairy could just come and do the rest of the stuff, and i could just show up and be as happy as i am right now, all would be well......

Yhwh

i am loving a new song lately. i just love this band of boys from south carolina (led by brothers bo and bear, no kidding) called need to breathe. i think more than the band, tho, is the word Yahweh. this hebrew name for the Lord is just SO wonderful to me. it makes me happy to call out to the Lord with this name. i didn't know why, so i looked it up and found this definition. so cool. apparently the vowels were added later, so the real spelling is Yhwh....

Yhwh

This designation is generally represented by its four consonants.

It was apparently regularly pronounced with its vowels until the destruction of the First Temple. But its pronunciation was avoided from the third century BCE. From then on the Hebrew word consisting of the consonants Yhwh was pronounced 'Adonay' and translated as 'the Lord' although 'Adonay' means 'my Lords'. Hence Yhwh is being translated as 'the Lord'. {1}

The true pronunciation of Yhwh was apparently 'Yahweh', meaning 'He causes to be, He brings into existence'. In the Middle Ages vowel points were added to the consonantal form of the Bible. 'Those used for Yhwh produced the form YeHoVaH and Christian scholars then introduced the name Jehovah.' {1}.

So Yhwh, regardless of how you pronounce it, means 'He causes to be'.

bling, bling

so i was over at a client's store today, and i accidentally got to looking at the wedding rings. my client made me try some on!!

i. am. in. love.

with the rings, that is. this artist uses a combination of raw diamonds that have been mined and not cut (ie, rocks) combined with diamonds he finds at estate sales. aaaarrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh! i can not handle how pretty they are! so "me!"

now, if i can just print out an ad and place it so the husband-to-be thinks they are his idea!!


:)

sewing for dummies

oh my. i am catching up on some craft blogs, and about died when i read this poor woman's account of sewing a lining in a purse. having just come off a bunch of christmas crafts, i could somehow relate. i'd like to know who said art was easier than rocket science????

Step 2: The inner bag should be inner right side out (flannel facing in). So inner right side out, flannel facing, flannel facing, inner right side out. So flannel touching flannel. The outer bag should be right sides touching (inside out). I tucked in the inner bag (so right sides of the inner and outer bag touching, flannel facing in the middle touching) and put the handles between the outer fabric and inner fabric. Then I sewed around the bag (leaving a turning hole) and pulled out the flannel facing and then turned my bag through the hole.

cute pic of the moment

"would you like some ironing with your paperwork, ma'am?"

happy new year to me ;)

say a prayer for good ole ernie!!

trouble

not that i made any new year's resolutions this year (see previous post) - but if i did, i might think about working on some better closet organization skills.

let's hope we don't get an earthquake here anytime soon, siesta would be in some serious danger.