A Keeper of a Quote

Brennan Manning always gets to the bottom of it all... The quote which follows spoke volumes to me. As I'm writing my "Theology of Ministry Leadership" I just keep coming back to the realization that I have so much to learn and feel so incredibly inadequate for the task. And I know that's a good place to be.

So many times I know I make choices, as a leader or a ministry "worker bee," based on what other people would think. So many times I know there is a better choice that would honor God and be a loving response to the people around me. Sometimes... I get it right.

Manning reminds me why it is so easy to get caught in the wrong mindset and response.

Deb

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It is one thing to feel loved by God when our life is together and all our support systems are in place. Then self-acceptance is easy.

...But what happens when life falls through the cracks? What happens when we sin and fail, when our dreams shatter, when our investments crash, when we are regarded with suspicion? What happens when we come face to face with the human condition?

When I relapsed, I had two options: yield once again to guilt, fear, and depression: or rush into the arms of my Heavenly Father - choose to live as a victim of my disease; or choose to trust in Abba's immutable love.

Brennan Manning: Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

A Million Dollar Friday Five

Singing Owl from RevGalBlogPals writes:

Lingering effects of a cold have me watching more television than usual. There appears to be a resurgence of the old daytime staple--the quiz show. Except they are on during prime time, and a great many of them offer the chance of winning one million dollars.

I think it started with Regis Philbin and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" but now we have a half dozen or so.

My husband and I started musing (after watching "Deal or No Deal") about what we could do with a million dollars. I thought I'd just bring that discussion into the Friday Five this week. It's simple. What are five things you would want to do with a million dollar deposit in your bank account?

Oh, the mind boggles. Travel? Charity? Family? Church? Meeeeeee??? First I'd call Mike, our financial planner and say "HELP US!!!" Then, I'd change my phone number. In my heart, I'd like to be holy, but chances are I wouldn't be completely well behaved. The temptations to just blow it are incredible... but here goes...

1. Tithe: AH. Such a dirty word. But $10K goes to God. Period. Probably a lot of it would go locally to our church and then to organizations we already support.

2. Education: Each kid would get $20K into some kind of education fund. The Harpist is a junior in high school, so hers would need to be more liquid. Reedy Girl has 5 more years.

3. Travel: I've been to Europe numerous times. It's time to take the family and go. They, too, need a moment with God in a jacuzzi in the German Alps!!! Let's blow $20K there.

4. Home Improvements: We have some big ticket items we have not done that we need to do. Our kitchen, namely, and some landscaping to keep the driveway and front walk from sliding down the hill. So, that's an easy $20K. Which leaves me with...



5. Mad Money: $10K for some domestic travel we've never done... Hawaii? The Grand Canyon? Colorado Rockies? The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota? (eh... no...)


Here's to dreams... and the money to fund them!

Deb

Addendum...
P.S. Yes - I can't add. Put a zero behind each one of those numbers. Then it will add up to a million.

"Ken Lee"

Oh. My.

OK, first put down your coffee. Or Diet Coke. Or whatever. And swallow.

And then... watch this...



heheheheheheeeeeeeeeee!!!

Deb

Oh Yeah... Bread Recipes

So I admitted on another blog that I bake bread...

If you want to vote for a recipe, click on my poll in the right column and I'll post the winner.

ANYTHING to help procrastinate and avoid the end-of-semester paper writing stress!!!

Deb

remind me why...

Please remind me why I want to do this seminary thing... because I am seriously struggling with any interest or desire to take any more classes...

Sometimes I wonder if those who teach at the graduate level are just getting some kind of twisted "payback" to the next generation of students, as in, "I had to suffer through this class, and so will you."

I guess it is a weird form of Spiritual Prune Juice. Or maybe Theological Cod Liver Oil. It's good for you, probably. It can't hurt you, in all likelihood. No one has ever decided you could still be a good pastor without it. Because in the end, it only produces so much.. uh.. "fertilizer!" (And NO - I won't tell you which class/classes are provoking this rant from me because all I need is for my rebellious, cynical remarks to get back to the prof/profs involved!!!)

sigh...

Deb

Challenged by my cat

I have been tagged by one of our cats, Tiria. (I don't exactly know why I must do this, but she is threatening me with horrible things like midnight hairballs and yak in my slippers if I don't. So I am playing.)

Anyway, friends, it's time for THE MIDDLE NAME GAME!!

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.

2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother's maiden name).

3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person (or blogger of another species) for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged.)

My middle name is pretty cool: Grace. (Though I have to admit, as a kid, I hated it. Mostly because I was not graceful. I now understand the difference between being graceFUL and graceFILLED.) So here's my answers:

G is for Grateful. I was blessed with caring parents, a stable home growing up, everything I needed and most of my "wants." (But my parents never got me a horse. And really, Mom, it's OK.) I had opportunities to learn, to go places and see and do a variety of things, to get a college education. I was given cars -- more than one, in fact. And I married a guy who had many of the same set of blessings. We have two great kids and some pretty wonderful friends. NO, life ain't perfect... but it's good. It's ALL good.

R is for Reading. I love to read. I wish I could read stuff that I WANT to read!! Lately most of my reading has been books for my coursework. I am trying to read more stuff that doesn't require I answer questions, parse a Greek phrase or split theological hairs.

A is for Athletic. I'm not. The only sport I ever did decently in was volleyball. I like to swim, but I'm not a competitive swimmer.

C is for Camp Counselor. My first jobs were spent as a camp counselor. I did it all. The songs with silly motions. S'mores. Dealing with homesick kids. Creating "art" out of sticks, leaves and tempera paint. Hiking. Biking. Canoeing. Backpacking. Tying knots. Starting fires. Lashing. Macrame'. Teaching swimming lessons. It made me realize that I really, really did not want to be a teacher.

E is for Energetic. 'Tis true. I am.

OK, Now I tag...
Mindy
Abi
DebD
Mandy
Sarah

I hereby make no threats and I promise not to come yak in your slippers if you choose not to play... but I hope you will anyway. And, if I didn't tag you and you want to play -- please DO!

Deb

Revenge of the Peep Snatchers

Only a few were brave enough to try it at Easter dinner yesterday... But, to mixed reviews I present...

PEEP SALAD!!!!

Conclusion: weird, salty, sweet, crunchy and a smidge of goo.

I tried it... so you don't have to!

Deb

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Oops - sorry - by request, here's the reciPEEP!

15 assorted Peeps
1/2 head of cabbage
1 package of ramen noodles (chicken flavor)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1. coarsely chop the cabbage
2. crush ramen noodles
3. toss together the peeps, cabbage and noodles
4. mix ramen season packet, oil, sugar and vinegar together
5. pour over salad, toss evenly and serve

from Cooking with Peeps

(you think I am so demented I would MAKE this up???)

may I just say...

May I just say...

I am working on our taxes.
I am trying to figure out how to pay for next semester's tuition.
and...
The paperwork for the two is driving me crazy.

There is a reason I did not go into accounting.

gag me.

Deb

Friday Five: Five for Good Friday

RevHRod from RevGalBlogPals writes:

As a child the designation "good" for today confused me. How could we call such a somber day, good? Holy, yes. Blessed, yes. But, good?

As an adult I understand the meaning of good for this day. It is a solemn day of remembrance but it is also a time for us to stop and recall the great gift of love that we received this day. And that is most certainly good.

Our worship today will differ from place to place. Some services will focus on the great litany of prayers. Others will use the seven last words of Jesus. Some of us will walk the stations of the cross. Others will participate in a Tennebrae service of shadows and light.

I hope that this Friday Five will be a meaningful part of your Good Friday. God's blessings to you on your journey.

1. Our prayer concerns are as varied as we are this day. For whom would you like us to pray? Please pray for my co-worker, Richard (he really does need that pill from Dr. McCoy.)
   
2. Are there things you have done or will do today to help the young ones understand this important day in our lives? Mostly, we continue the conversation of life, reality, and Jesus. Our kids are not so "young" any more (16 and 12).
   
3. Music plays an important part in sharing the story of this day. Is there a hymn or piece of music that you have found particularly meaningful to your celebrations of Good Friday? See my previous post... "On My Cross" reminds me that the sacrifice was for me, for the world, for the reconciliation of the Creator with the Creation.
   
4. As you hear the passion narrative, is there a character that you particularly resonate with? Mary Magdalene. Forgiven much. Faithful in spite of fears and worries about what was happening to her Lord. And stayed and watched Him die with a faithful few when many of the men had left. (The picture with this post is of the sculpture by Donatello -- at the Duomo Museum in Florence.)
   
5. Where have you seen the gracious God of love at work lately? In my own life... becoming more aware of His changing love within me. Now if I can just live it.
   

Below is part of Henri Nouwen's Good Friday prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus,

You, “the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for whom all things are created in heaven and on earth, everything visible and everything invisible,” you hang dead on a cross. You have just spoken your last words, “It is fulfilled,” and given up your spirit.

*****

I look at your dead body on the cross. The soldiers, who have broken the legs of the two men crucified with you, do not break your legs, but one of them pierces your side with a lance, and immediately blood and water flow out. Your heart is broken, the heart that did not know hatred, revenge, resentment, jealousy or envy but only love, love so deep and so wide that it embraces your Father in heaven as well as all humanity in time and space. Your broken heart is the source of my salvation, the foundation of my hope, the cause of my love. It is the sacred place where all that was, is and ever shall be is held in unity. There all suffering has been suffered, all anguish lived, all loneliness endured, all abandonment felt and all agony cried out. There, human and divine love have kissed, and there God and all men and women of history are reconciled. All the tears of the human race have been cried there, all pain understood and all despair touched. Together with all people of all times, I look up to you whom they have pierced, and I gradually come to know what it means to be part of your body and your blood, what it means to be human.

*****

As I look, my eyes begin to recognize the anguish and agony of all the people for whom you gave yourself. Your broken heart becomes the heart of all of humanity, the heart of all the world. You carry them all: abandoned children, rejected wives and husbands, broken families, the homeless, refugees, prisoners, the maimed and tortured, and the thousands, yes millions, who are unloved, forgotten and left alone to die. I see their emaciated bodies, their despairing faces, their anguished looks. I see them all there, where your body is pierced and your heart is ripped apart. O compassionate Lord, your heart is broken because of all the love that is not given or received.

*****

Blood and water flowed from your broken heart. Lord Jesus, help me to understand this mystery. So much blood has flowed through the centuries: blood of people who did not even know why they were trampled underfoot, mutilated, tortured, slain, beheaded and left unburied; blood caused by swords, arrows, guns and bombs, tainting the faces of millions of people; blood that comes forth from angry, bitter, jealous, vengeful hearts, and from hearts that are set on hatred, violence and destruction. From the blood of Abel killed by his brother to the blood of the Jews, the Armenians, the Ukrainians, the Irish, the Iranians and Iraqis, the Palestinians, the South Africans and the countless nations and ethnic groups victimized by the evil intentions of their sisters and brothers in the human race, blood has been covering the earth, and cries have gone up to heaven: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?”

*****

Let the blood and water that flow from your heart give me a new heart to live a new life. I know that in this world water and blood will never be separated. There will be peace and anguish, joy and tears, love and agony. They will be there always—together—leading me daily closer to you who give your heart to my heart.

Miserere...

Good Friday: On My Cross

"On My Cross" by FFH

God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
[Romans 3:25-26 CEV]