Whoopsie!  Friday Five

Wow, how is it that it is the second Friday of October, already??
I don't know about you, but this fall has been incredibly FULL, and time is flying faster than I can keep track of it!

So, first things first. 
Take a moment, and take 5 deep slow breaths...
One....
Two...
Three...
Four...
Five....

Well, I feel more centered now.
So, let's get on with a Random Friday Five.

1. Tell us a moment of blessing that you have experienced in the past week.


I have two...... I was able to meet for the first time with a group of clergy women in my presbytery.  Yea!

Pedernal Mountain seen from Ghost Ranch NM

I was at Ghost Ranch, NM for study leave this time last week.    

2. Share the first thing/story that comes to mind when you read "When I was a child..."

^{I Corinthians 13:11}
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.

Seriously.

3 , 4, and 5. If you were the host of a t.v. talk show, what three people would you like to interview on your first show, and what would you ask them.

Barack Obama - I would ask his advice for raising bi-racial children in our country today.  (since I have two of my own).

Brian McLaren - How can we learn to respond to people who understand Christianity differently than we do in a more gracious manner?

Hillary Clinton - what advice do you have for women leaders in today's world?

 Thanks, revkjarla - this was fun!

 

Helping Hands

Today at Friday Five, Martha says:

I hate to ask for help. I love to give it. You may identify with these feelings.

So, for this Friday Five, please list four ways you have been helped when you didn't want to ask for it and one way you had a chance to help that meant a lot to you.


So here goes!

Four ways I have been helped:

• When I was a young teacher barely out of college, a friend and I went to Big Bend National Park to camp over spring break.  While there, we drove a VERY primitive road in my car and knocked a hole in the transmission case, thereby rendering us totally immobile.  Big Bend is VERY isolated, so there was no way to get it fixed there (which took weeks anyway).  So I had to call my dad, who borrowed a truck, rented a trailer, drove almost 600 miles to the park, loaded up us and my car, and drove us home.  It was a wonderful gift, but you can be assured that I have never heard the end of it!! :)

•  Almost twenty years ago, I tore up a knee while on a presbytery youth ski trip.  Needed LOTS of help - the ski patrol who got me down the mountain, the youth, the other adult advisors.  One of the most meaningful was my colleague in ministry making the two hour drive to our drop-off point with my Dear Husband so DH could pick up our car and drive me home!

•  We had a house fire several years ago, while I was serving two small mountain congregations.  While the insurance took care of the big items, there are things that you don't think of.  When we moved back into our house, they gave us a "pounding" and completely restocked our pantry and kitchen supplies!  {A pounding is an old fashioned type of wedding shower or house warming.  In frontier times (and since), people brought a pound of a kitchen staple (beans, flour, sugar, etc.)  to stock the pantry.

• I have had so much help over the years, it is hard to pick just one more.  My mom and dad, in more ways than can be counted.  Parishioners who have brought meals when sick; prayed us through our adoptions; celebrated milestones with us.  Good friends who have come when called.

 One way I had a chance to help that meant a lot to yme.

• When my father-in-law was dying, my DH and I took a week off and went to visit.  While we were there, my father-in-law's sisters came from out of state for what was to be a final visit.  Tom and I did the cooking and took care of details so both my in-laws could enjoy the visit. 

Over the years, I have had many opportunities to help, and it is always meaningful to me.  There are those times when it seems like it will be drudgery, but it always turns out to be a blessing.

Friday Five: Next Five Months

 Jan at RevGalBlogPals writes:

The summer is whizzing by and soon it will be August! That means that there are five months left in this year 2012. What do you look forward to in the next five months; or what is scheduled? What is meaningful for you in each of these months? Or memories you have of these months? You decide what to write about for each month!


So here goes............

August - 50th Birthday and I'm looking forward to it.  Expecting my fifties to be grand!  Also, our wedding anniversary - 21 years.

September - Boys settling into school and starting new activities....... start new study at church........ football........... September has been about new beginnings for me - I guess because of the beginning of the school year.

October - fall weather and color ................. maybe some study leave/continuing ed.............. Halloween, which my boys LOVE............One of my favorite months of the year!

November - family visits.............. prep for Advent/Christmas/Epiphany.................... hoping that we get to spend Thanksgiving in Indiana with family.

December - first holiday season in new church........... old traditions and new.

Grateful

 We were invited today to "share with us five things that cause you to be grateful."  That's the reason I started this blog, so that on days when it wasn't so obvious, I would be intentionally looking for things for which to be grateful, moments of God's grace in the world.  Since I've been absent for a while now, this seems a good time to resume the blogging!  So here goes:

1. My boys - the Dear Husband who puts up with me, and the two boys who call me mom.
2. My extended family and friends.
3. Vacation - coming next week!
4. The joy of work and vocation being one and the same.
5. Aches, pains, fatigue, etc. - I'm alive and I can do what I want!

Breath Prayer

Last night,
the eldest boy and I had a fight about going to bed. 
It is a fight that happens regularly in our house, 
but last night we were both out of sorts. 
He wasn't feeling well, and I was stressed, 
and it escalated until we were both really unhappy.  
He finally went to bed,and I readied myself for bed,
a new breath prayer burst into my mind:

Child of God, beloved and forgiven.
Child of God, loving and forgiving.

I am often too hard on him, as I am often too hard on myself, so this prayer seems to fit.  

Thank you, God, for a new prayer.

A Happy Boy

After school yesterday, my 5 year-old said "I'm a happy boy, momma!"
When I asked him why, he responded:
"Because it's Friday, and that means I have two days off to relax!"

School for my little one is hard.  He has Sensory Processing Dysfunction, which means that it's hard for him to interpret information coming into his body through sensory channels and make appropriate responses.  For him in particular, it means that many aspects of school are a lot of work.  Sitting still is hard.  Paying attention is hard.  Playing well with others is hard.  Doing what the teachers wants and expects is hard.  Learning is hard.  Things sometimes don't make sense visually or auditorily.  He is sensory seeking, which means he needs a lot of physical activity.

He does pretty well.  Writing is developmentally on target.  He has adapted to the routine, and found ways to cope.  He loves his teachers and his friends, and they love him.  He enjoys being read to, and has good comprehension.  But some things are hard, and will get harder.  Like reading, or even learning his letters and their sounds.

So when he says he is a happy boy because he can relax, he really means it.  And he appreciates the gift of that time in a way that points to grace.

For him, the weekends are grace.  He know that he needs to work during the week.  Sometimes going to school is okay, but on other days there is a lot of resistance.  But weekends - those are a gift.  He doesn't earn them.  He doesn't have to make appropriate progress to receive them.  To paraphrase Buechner: there's nothing he has to DO; there is nothing he HAS to do; there's nothing HE has to do.  Weekends are gift.

I think he probably "gets" grace better than most.  I think he also understands sabbath rest better than most.  And because of him, I, too, can relax and lean into those gifts a bit more often.

Friday Five

Thinking of movie-watching, what do you prefer?

1. At home or at a theater?






We watch most of our movies at home, but I definitely PREFER going to the movie theatre!


2. With whom?


I enjoy going to the movie with almost anyone, but right now I would love to go to a movie with husband - a grown-up move with dinner before.

3. Movie you look forward to seeing?



Red Tails

4. Movie you like to see repeatedly?


At Christmas - The Santa Claus, It's a Wonderful Life

Anytime - favorite kids movies - Disney, Pixar

5. Food with a movie?   Popcorn and a soft drink, of course!