What Happens Next?

Saving Money : Coupons

2011-10-16T00:39:00.003-04:00

Sunday is upon us and that means the Sunday paper, with all it's inserts and coupons.

I've been thinking a lot about coupons lately. I caught some bits of TLC's "Extreme Couponing" and it both motivated me and repulsed me. I remembered that used wisely, coupons can save money. However, after watching some of this I was dismayed by some of the behaviors I saw on the show. Not every couponer is like that, for sure. But I totally understand how someone could go overboard like that.

I cannot imaging couponing to the point where I have excess that cannot possibly be used within a few months.

I want to save money. I am about to embark on a financial educational program that I hope will be habit and life-changing. There are big ways to save money and small ways. Couponing to me, is a small way.

I want to figure out a way to coupon effectively with the following conditions
1) It doesn't take over my life
2) it doesn't take over more than one hour of my week to coupon and plan my shopping wisely (ok maybe a couple of hours)
3) it doesn't make me or my family crazy
4) I don't start buying stuff I would never want or normally consume just because I can get one free, or for a few cents off.
5) I want to pursue healthy eating, and prefer to avoid processed foods (which negates many coupons)

I would love to cut my grocery bill by at least 1/3, and by wise shopping, including a sensible couponing strategy, I think I could do it.

I think there is also savings strength in numbers, so I hope a few friends might want to either swap coupons or do some bulk purchasing and splitting larger orders from warehouse stores.

I have created a coupon binder and I am clipping again. So far I have used a few coupons, and I hope I will become more effective in matching the coupon with the weekly store ad to get a bigger bargain. I don't expect to become a Coupon Queen with $500 worth of groceries going for $10.

Yet I think many of my food values and ideals are diametrically opposed to coupon culture (big name brands, processed foods).

I like the idea of participating in food co-ops and CSA programs, baking more of my own breads and sweet treats, buying and consuming much more fresh produce, and eating free range meat. As much as I want to, I don't do most of those things yet, and of course much of that type of eating is more expensive.

I personally think there are a number of effective strategies that enable shoppers to save money. Couponing is only part of a bigger picture that includes developing a menu plan, shopping the sales, determining what can and can't be compromised on, and a judicious use of coupons.

I thought different

2011-10-05T22:41:00.001-04:00

I came to be an Apple fan very late in the game. In fact, it wasn't until last year that I even owned an Apple product. We've had iMacs in the office for several years for my graphic designers to use. For a long time I was really intimidated by them.

But in 2010, I bought an iPad, after several months of internal debate. Should I buy one early on, or wait to see if it proves to be a good thing? Should I wait til the inevitable iPad2 comes on the scene?

My rationale was that I wanted a tablet to create art with. Why buy a little Wacom tablet that would have to attach to a laptop, when I could buy a 10" portable tablet that could not only be used to create art, but do ALL those other nifty things with its gazillion apps? When our laptop started having a battery meltdown a year ago, I crossed the line and got the iPad.

The iPad is one of the best things I've ever purchased.

Ever.

When my phone started to malfunction this spring, I decided it was time for a smart phone. I had 6 months of experience with my wi-fi only iPad, and the thought of having a 3G phone with this same capability sealed the deal.

iPhone. iPad. iCantlivewithouthem.

When the time comes to get a new laptop, it will be a Mac. I guess I joined the Apple tribe in a backwards fashion. Yeah, I'm now one of those people who waits for Apple product rollouts with great anticipation. I get it now.

Only a genius could create a line of technology that inspires such a devoted fan base.

Steve Jobs, we will miss you and your genius.

I saw this video online this evening, and thought it was a nice tribute to the man who revolutionized the way we do so many things. And if you have never seen the original Think Different ads this video was based on, take a look here.

Coney Island

2011-10-04T00:12:00.000-04:00

I have noticed Coney Island cropping up more and more in popular imagery. This is gratifying. I hope there is something left of the old Coney Island after the developers have their way with the place.

photo by Will Kottman

If it weren't for the recession it would all be changed already.

And some of the change is good, such as the new Luna Park amusement park. (despite the Scary Clowns for Halloween).

I don't like that businesses that have thrived on the boardwalk for decades have been evicted in an effort to make Coney "cleaner" and more "family friendly." I cannot, and don't want to, imagine a sanitized Coney Island.

Coney Island beach and Fishing Pier at dawn, June 2010. photo by Will Kottman

Website Wednesday! Mira's List

2011-09-28T23:38:00.000-04:00

Since it's *still* Wednesday here, I still have time to post a favorite website.

It's a blog, actually. But it's such a useful read I've got to share it.

Mira Bartok is an expert on grants, residencies and many other opportunities for artists of all kinds. Visual arts, musicians, writers, poets, can all find some neat info on Mira's List.

She has also recently released a book called the Memory Palace. I have not yet read it but heard an extensive interview she did on Fresh Air back in the winter, and it was fascinating. She has quite a story to tell.

Mira posts about various upcoming creative opportunities world wide.Sometimes she will post about her book related activities, other times she will post interviews with other creatives. She also maintains a very useful link list on the right side of the page.

Check it out, maybe you will find an artistic adventure to pursue!

On Curating

2011-09-25T23:20:00.003-04:00

"Curating" has become a hot term in the church these days. The job of Worship Curator has appeared. Is it the same as a worship leader? What does curating worship actually mean?

"Curator", "curating" and "Curate" all come from the Latin word "curare" which means to care for. I looked up these words on Wikipedia.

A curator is someone who oversees the care of artifacts or art, usually in a museum setting. In some countries, it is another term for a chief of a government office. A curator curates exhibitions and collections, meaning they care for and interpret the items in their care for other people to experience, understand and learn.

In my first career out of college, I worked as an assistant curator at two different history museums.

When I worked as a curator, my goal was to create an exhibition that would use artifacts from the past to educate visitors. The exhibition would provide an interpretation of the artifacts and historical information in a way they could relate to. My hope was that they would leave the exhibition with a greater understanding about the past through the careful interpretation of these artifacts. Their interpreted experience of the artifact would enrich their understanding.

Interestingly, when I looked up the word "curate" I found it wasn't a verb relating to what a museum curator does. Rather, it's a noun. In the Anglican Church, it means an assistant parish priest or deacon. But it's more than just a middle manager. A curate, literally, is the person on a church's staff who is charge of the care (or cure) of souls. They are caring for souls.

I think that the term "worship curator" alludes to something similar. A worship curator, in my opinion, is a person who takes elements of worship (song, spoken word, visuals, art, dance, video, audio...etc) and carefully interprets them to create an experience for worshipers, in a way that will enrich their understanding of and relation to God. This is both a broader and deeper definition than the familiar term worship leader. It speaks to the attention of detail that those in this pastoral role are called to.

A worship curator creates an atmosphere, using a careful mix of creative elements, where souls can connect to the divine. They are caring for souls.

Thanks, Tim

2011-09-22T23:01:00.002-04:00

I don't know Tim Schraeder personally, though I wish I did. He's a church communications professional, and co-director of the Center for Church Communication, among other things.

He has a very nicely designed site, with lots of content on a variety of communication issues.

And he is The Man when it comes to taking notes at conferences and sharing them out with the rest of us in Pretty Much Real Time, by blogging his notes and publishing them continuously. He goes to lots of church conferences, and many of us who don't attend are able to live vicariously and learn a great deal through Tim's careful note taking. I've followed a bunch of conferences through his blog, most recently Story 11. You can see his note sets from various recent conferences on his site, and learn from them too.

Thank you Tim, for doing such a great service for the rest of us. Some day soon I will get to one of those conferences and shake your hand.

Relaunch

2011-09-20T23:57:00.002-04:00

I am relaunching this blog. It's been over a year since I posted here. I'm ready. I have stuff to say, and am working on being more focused and consistent about it. .

I may take it a little slow at first. I am working through a pithy little book about about getting your blogging mojo back. Yeah, like Austin Powers.

I'm blogging, baby.

On Miracles

2010-06-24T01:07:00.000-04:00

1 Peter 1:6-8 (New International Version)

⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

A dear friend reminded me of this verse a few weeks ago. This spring has been one of those seasons of "refining by fire." Four days after I last posted on this blog, my dad passed away. Other family relationship issues ensued over the past month or so...and it's like I underwent a massive tectonic shift that has left me reeling, with continuing aftershocks.

I wish I could say that through all of this I've been refined and that things are great and I'm energized and ready to tackle things the way I used to. But I'm not. I'm still very much in the middle of this process, and it's exhausting.

I am suffering burnout. Some days its enough to just get going and keep going and be even a percentage of the person I am when I've been at my best. I've put on weight. My anxiety level is very high and if I'm not careful I can be reactive instead of responsive. I'm struggling to hang in there.

Sadly, my creative energy, my artistic drive and imaginative spark is close to nil. What I have left I pour into thinking creatively for my job...and then the bucket is dry at the end of the day. I had great plans for myself as an artist this year. Yet, just to motivate myself to make the time and space to create is overwhelming. So I have let it go, for now.

Yet, sometimes, I sense I'm in the middle of an unfolding miracle, and I try to rest on the promise that this is so. That in the end, things will be better than I can imagine. I am optimistic, even though I am so very tired.

One thing I have realized is miracles aren't pretty and neat, and aren't necessarily easy to endure. They can be very messy. God's miracles also require us to act in response, to fulfill God's purpose of the miracle. Some examples:

God parted the Red Sea so that the Hebrews could escape Egypt. It was a miracle. God did His part, and then the Hebrews had to do their part to fulfill it. Crossing the Red Sea was probably very muddy, scary and difficult for the Hebrews, but by taking part in the miracle, they got away from Egypt safely. (Exodus Ch 14)

When Jesus prayed over five loaves and two fish, and the food multiplied to feed thousands of people, it was a miracle. Yet, this miracle required hard work on the part of the disciples. God provided, but the disciples had to get out to the crowd and hand out the food. Then they had to gather up the leftovers. But what a miracle! People were fed both physically and spiritually, and the disciples had an opportunity to grow in their faith and servanthood. (Matthew 14:13-21)

A group of men made a tremendous mess and tore away a rooftop of a crowded house to bring their friend to be healed by Jesus. Their response to Jesus made a miracle possible in their friend's life. (Mark 2:1-5)

Zaccheus, the corrupt tax collector, climbed a tree to simply see Him, and Jesus chose to eat at his home. His words during dinner changed Zaccheus' life... and all who knew him saw the miracle of a changed heart in a man who had cheated each of them. (Luke 19:1-10)

A woman with a chronic and embarrassing condition dove into a crowd and risked ridicule to simply touch the hem of Jesus' clothing because she knew to do so would bring a miracle of healing. (Luke 8:43-47)

Jesus healed many people during His time on earth. Sometimes these healings were messy affairs, such as when He spit on mud and smeared it on the blind beggar's eyes. He then had the beggar participate in the process and wash away the mud; after doing so the man could see. (John 9:1-11) Jesus also touched and healed lepers, sick people, dying people, dead people. He didn't worry about getting messy or what it might take to deliver people from messy lives. Whether it was the miracle of a physical healing, or the miracle of a changed life, Jesus stepped into the messy situation and transformed it.

God works, humans respond to His work in faithfulness to Him and by doing so, make the miracle complete. Humans pray or act in faith, and God works in faithfulness to them, to make the miracle complete.

Miracles refine God's creation. Miracles refine individuals. They can be big, like parting the sea so a million people can pass through and a nation can be saved. They can be small, intimate, and almost obscure, like the fleeting moment of a woman touching the hem of Jesus' garment so her body and her life can be made whole again.

I take a lot of comfort in knowing that miracles are not clean, clear cut affairs. Miracles can be messy, uncomfortable, even terrifying as they happen. So as I go through a messy, uncomfortable and disorienting season of life, it makes sense to me that I may just, in fact, be in the middle of a miracle. And by holding on to that faith through my trials, I allow Him to refine me.

NYC

2010-04-14T23:30:00.000-04:00

I've taken three trips to NYC in the past 4 months, after staying away from the city for many years. I'd ventured there in late 2001, and in 2007. Before that, it had been a long long time.

I've been up there to visit my dad. While there, I've been around the Upper West Side, the Financial District, Times Square, and the home of my youth, Coney Island. We trekked up and down 5th Avenue at Christmas and marveled at the tree. We ate cheesecake from Juniors, pizza at Rays and at Lombardi's in Little Italy. Chowed down in Chinatown. Munched Nathan's hot dogs in the only place where they taste right, near the seashore.

I left NYC in 1985, thoroughly sick of it. NYC suffered through many terrible years in the 70s and 80s and I was burned out and done with garbage strikes, subway strikes, elevator repairmen strikes (that was the last straw, not fun when one lives on the 19th floor). I had discovered rural upstate NY and wanted to live in the country, where it was green. Later, I wanted to live in a smaller scale, more human scale, city, and I picked Richmond, VA.

After Richmond time #1, we moved back to upstate NY and lived there for 14 years. Tired of the snow, and with my newly minted master's degree, I landed a job and came home to the Richmond area. We had missed it all those years. And I'm glad to be here.

But lately, my original home is having a pull on me. NYC is not like it was 30 years ago. It's cleaner, and seemingly safer (?). The psyche of the city seems permanently altered after the tragedy of 9/11. New Yorkers are still grumbly, but the hardness has worn and people have mellowed a bit. They seem more polite, more forgiving and maybe a little more patient with eachother.

NYC is incredibly diverse in any way you can imagine. The arts reign supreme. The food is legendary. The subway system still feels and smells the same as it did when I was a kid (it just costs a lot more and you don't use the little bronze tokens with the Y cut outs anymore to get into the stations). I have to admit, the Republican mayors of the past decade have done a lot to make NYC livable again.

The energy of the city is overwhelming and unique. Brooklyn is booming. Even my Coney Island, which has been in the throes of a dramatic development saga for the past several years, seems to be emerging from the ashes in a positive way, thanks to some new Italian developers who seem to actually care about what they are building.

I find myself feeling a bit restless about it. And a bit wistful. There's nothing like New York City in the spring.

But there's nothing like Virginia in the spring either.

Open Eye, Remove Plank

2010-02-18T00:38:00.000-05:00

Day 1 of Lent and already God's shown me what a hypocrite I am.

My 16 year old son and I were driving over the the local Y this evening and listening to the classic rock station on the radio. "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed came on. I had always liked that song from way back in the 70s, so I enjoyed hearing it. I did, however, feel a bit uncomfortable as Lou recounted the stories of his friends who came to the big city, became transvestites, prostitutes and junkies. (what was I saying yesterday about letting God invade my space?). But then, I ignored that holy nudge. I just let this lascivious song play to the end, where "the colored girls go 'doo-doo-doo-doo..'." Because I liked it.

Little did I realize that my slack attitude toward something I knew was glorifying sin would come around and hit me like a plank in the eye, just a couple of hours later.

I pick Will up at the YMCA, and we go to get his younger brother from youth group. Will is driving home, and he suddenly states, "I want to hear some RAP music.And mom, just understand, it may get bad" As in "you won't like it." At the stop sign he fiddles with the radio, lands on an R&B/ hip hop station and we continue to drive home. As we get to our neighborhood, a song comes on where the singer is inviting several women to leave the club with him to go back to his place...it gets worse...by the time we get to the driveway he's suggesting attire for his lady friends and I completely lose it. I bang on the off button and rant about how disgusting that song is. How it glorifies sin! Will protests "It's JUST a song" and I rail back, "But it MATTERS! It's not JUST a song. Don't fill your head with this stuff!!" He storms into the house.

My younger son informs me that this is a really popular song by Usher. Usher? The clean cut guy who looks like he drives his grandma to church? Or at least used to? My 13 year old knows this X rated song???

I send Will a nagging text about guarding his heart and mind from bad influences a few minutes later, to which he replies, "It's music not life."

I post something about it on Facebook., about how, as a teenager, I used to drive my parents crazy with punk rock music by the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones, and the Clash. Iggy Pop. Lou Reed. Then it comes back to me..."DOO, doo, doo, doo doo, doo doo" Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side...

OUCH. That plank hurt when I pulled it out.

Now, I don't think Will is right to listen to music that glorifies wanton sex. He's got a splinter in his eye, by not taking it seriously, because I do firmly believe what Paul exhorts us to do in Colossians 3:3:

Put to death....whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

And the best way to guard our hearts is by doing this, as described in Phillipians 4:8.

...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Those are God's standards, and they are high. And if I want my sons to live according to these standards, then I'd better darn well live them as well. And change the radio station if I hear an objectionable song that I liked when I was 16 years old.

I'm sorry, Will. I've climbed off my high horse.

LENT

2010-02-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

Prayer

I don't pray enough. I mean, a lot of days I don't pray at all. I pray a sort-of prayer. What am I doing? I know better than this. Some days I can throw myself deep into prayer. I feel God changing me for the better, equipping me for whatever I'm facing in life. He speaks to me, and draws me closer to Himself during prayer.

Lent begins Feb 17, and stretches 40 days into the warmth and sunshine of Easter.. I haven't observed Lent since I walked away from the Catholic Church. But you know, it's a good season. It's a chance to let God invade your life and make you, yet again, into a new creation.

Lent works. One year I gave up sugar and lost 7 pounds. Hey, great! Those chocolate bunnies and eggs sure tasted good on Easter morning...

But that's not really what Lent is about. It's really not about deprivation of material things. It could be. But not deprivation for the sake of deprivation. You can be a Pharisee and do that. It means NOTHING.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

If you want to deprive yourself, go ahead. But do it because you are LETTING GO of the attitude, the habit, the addiction to the thing you are depriving yourself of. It's not about letting go of sugar, losing 7 pounds, and then going back to eating every tasty sweet that comes along. It's about LOVE , life-changing surrender to God, allowing God to invade your life.

And, guess what, it's not really supposed to end after 40 days. After 40 days, we should be able to say, "hey, I really don't need that crutch anymore." And we throw away the crutch. We take up our mat and walk.

Lent is about letting go and disciplining yourself. Why do I discipline myself? To be a better disciple.

I have plenty of bad habits (I won't go into them here). I mulled over which bad habit could I possibly give up for Lent. And I realized all of what I wrote about above this line.

So, this year, I am going to re-embrace Lent as a season of discipline. But rather than depriving myself of something and getting caught up in the legalism of that, I am going to let go of my prayer-apathy. And go back to living a prayer-filled life.

Last Sunday, Brian exhorted us, as a church and as individuals to PRAY. He cited the example of Nehemiah, who before he took action on a big project, spent many days fasting and praying to be sure he was in God's will before moving forward.

Over the past week, I've gotten several confirmations that for me, this is a time of prayer and I need to get serious about it. Blog posts about prayer. An offer in the mail for free downloadable prayer resources. The start up of our small group. Many people close to me in need of prayer.

It's just turned 12:02 am, Feb 17. I pray your Lenten observance, if you're doing one, will truly allow God to invade your space, and 40 days from now, you and I will be a little more like Jesus because of what we were able to let go of.

what you think about when you peel an orange

2010-02-04T22:23:00.001-05:00

Part of me always wanted to be the "live off the land," homeschooling mama, with a bunch of kids, a large garden, a compost pile and a wind turbine powering our "off the grid" lifestyle. We used to live in a more rural area, and when the kids were very young, I attempted a vegetable garden. But it was always a struggle and I got kind of obsessed with weeding it. After a few less than glorious seasons, I gave up and decided I'd rather spend my time growing kids than tomatoes.

Pretty early on I realized I didn't have the patience for homeschooling. And then economics forced me back into the workforce. Which led to grad school. Which led me to Virginia. Where I live in the ex-urbs and work in the city.

Another part of me has longed to be a real urbanite. I grew up in New York City but fled after 20 years because I was sick of it. This was in the early 80s. Things have changed. I just watched "Fame" the other night, the original movie, which was filmed in 1980. One scene showed a subway car, with graffiti tagged literally all over the whole interior. And I remembered riding those kinds of subway cars. But that New York doesn't really exist anymore and sometimes I long to go back and sort of live there. Though I wouldn't trade my life here, I would like to spend more time getting into the culture and arts that city life in general (yes, even RVA) affords. I would be an artist. I would do artsy things. I would go to concerts, museums, galleries, shows, interesting eateries. Wouldn't that be grand?

This is just based on a rumination I had while peeling an orange this evening and thinking about the compost pile I still don't have.

Thoughts on God's Word

2010-01-24T23:26:00.000-05:00

Today, I heard two messages at church. During the weekend service, Brian spoke about getting unstuck. His scriptural reference was 2 Kings 22. It's the story of King Josiah, whose family and people at the time of his reign had totally forgotten about God. They didn't even have a copy of the scriptures, and had fallen into practicing pagan idol worship. Josiah knew that he and his people were disconnected from God, but he had no idea how to reconnect. At age 26, he ordered the Temple to be repaired, and in the midst of the work, the Book of the Law was rediscovered. Long story short, after realizing what had been found, Josiah read the entire Scripture to the people of Judah. They rededicated themselves to living by God's commandments and Law, threw out their pagan worship practices, and turned back to God. They got unstuck.

Later, at our monthly youth service, Sammy, our associate pastor, spoke about being fishers of men. He placed this in the context of how during Jesus' time, students between the ages of 6 and 10 would memorize the entire Law - those first 5 books of the Bible. Those who succeeded and showed promise of becoming scholars after that moved on in their schooling and eventually the "best of the best" would become disciples of a rabbi - a Jewish teacher - who would invite them to follow him. Those who didn't make the cut early on would go and practice a trade, such as carpentry or fishing. Of course, Jesus turned that practice on its head when He called several fishermen, guys who obviously didn't have scholarly chops, to follow him and become his disciples.

The contrast of the Israelites completely forgetting God and His Word with the same people of later generations memorizing every word of that same scripture has given me food for thought.

Brian's point was that God's Word is a treasure, and by reading it, wrestling with it, digesting it and letting it become part of your daily life, you will grow closer to God and allow Him to work on you and in you. You will get unstuck.

Sammy's point was that God's Word is a treasure, something so wonderful and sweet (as an example, it was compared to honey, a rare treat in biblical times). He asked the group if anyone considered the Bible in such a way. None of us answered yes.

I thought about the continuum we, as modern Americans Christians, sit on. We may say we treasure God's word, but perhaps we are really more like the folks in Josiah's day, where God's Word has been there all along, but we've gotten so filled up with distractions (idols) that we've allowed it to be lost in our lives, just as it had been lost and forgotten in the Temple. Hidden in the dust. We run to God and his Word when we are in trouble. We forget about His instruction and try to deal with situations in our own way. Instead, we should hunger after God's Word like it's the most wonderful of treats.

Travels

2010-01-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

In 2009 I traveled to:

Anderson, SC for a day, to the Unleash 2009 conference, along with some of my favorite people. It was a long ride down I-85 and a long ride back. The conference was neat, and the company was even better.

Virginia Beach, a couple of times. Enjoyed the hospitality of Christina's boyfriend's family and a much needed break.

Mathews County, VA, for a weekend on the Chesapeake Bay, with the awesome folks in our small group. It was hard to get away. I painted watercolors and enjoyed being on and near the water, my favorite environment.

Harrisonburg, VA, several times, to James Madison University. At first it was an overwhelming adventure, to take my daughter to college. Then came the missing her for several weeks, and the difficult adjusting to a new family dynamic. Now, when I visit JMU it feels familiar. I love the place. I love her choice of college. My daughter and my money go to JMU. And it's all good.

Mechanicsville, VA, to the Leadership Summit. Will joined me, and we worked at the registration table.

New York City, to visit my dad. Christina joined me, and we met up with my sister. Besides visiting my dad, Christina and I took a half a day to go to 5th Avenue to take in the sights, sounds and smells of Christmastime in New York.

In 2010, I hope to get to:

Anderson, SC for Unleash 2010. This time I plan to have Will join me. Though maybe I'd better warn the lunch folks that he's a vegetarian and needs an alternative to Chick-fil-a.

Virginia Beach, and any place beachy that presents itself. I will paint. Alot. If you are a friend of mine, and you invite me to your beach house, I will paint you something awesome.

New York City will become a routine every 6-8 weeks, as my dad's health is not great.

While I am there visiting, maybe I can get to some artsy places. I particularly would like to attend the Surtex exhibition in May. It's a vast event geared to the art licensing industry, something I want to take a closer look at as I ramp up my activities as a working artist (that is, an artist who makes money from her art...)

I would love to go to some more church leadership or arts conferences, if the opportunities present themselves. Willow Creek, anyone?

My Big Dream is to visit London a year from now. Both JMU's and Powhatan's marching bands will be attending the London New Year's Day Parade one year from today. It would be a dream come true for this band mom to go see her kids perform in this international event. I went in 2005, when Christina was a freshman, and vowed I would return in 5 years. Except it's about $3000 per person to go. And I don't have such money available. Fundraising ideas welcome. Deposits are due in February.

I'll let you in on a secret. Someday, God willing, I hope to spend a significant amount of time in London...like a year or more...I know it will happen, but I don't know when, or how, or why.

Not sure where else I may journey to. Right now, I'm focusing on the journey our staff at work has just taken this past week from one side of campus to the other, to our sparkling new gym and offices.

2009-09-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

OK, Beth did this personality pattern quiz, and I was intrigued. So I did it too. Here's my answers. Whatcha think?

Warm

You have a genuine interest in other people. You're a natural host, and are always thinking about how you can increase the happiness of those around you. When friends have problems or are in trouble, you're usually the first person they turn to for aid and comfort. Scoring high on the "warm" trait suggests that you are among those who enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.

You don't always say exactly what you're thinking; you don't like the idea of causing anyone pain because of your criticism.

Understanding

You are willing to take the time to find out what's going on with other people, especially if they're in distress. You're a good listener, you don't criticize, and you offer unbiased, respectful, honest advice when it's requested. With a high score on the "understanding" trait, it is likely that you are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.

You don't feel the need to impose your standards on others or say things that, even though true, cause pain.

Empathetic

You are in touch with your own feelings, which helps put you in touch with the feelings of others.

You don't buy the logic that your happiness comes ahead of everyone else's because unless you're happy you're incapable of making anyone else happy.

Aesthetic

You appreciate art, beauty, and design; you know that they are not superficial but absolutely crucial to living the good life. You have good taste, and you're proud of it. Those with a high score on the "aesthetic" trait are often employed in literary or artistic professions, enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about the arts, reading, and travel.

You don't think it's pretentious to be moved by art and beauty. You're not one of those who believe it doesn't matter what something looks like as long as it does its job.

Intellectual

You are thoughtful, rational, and comfortable in the world of ideas. People find you interesting to talk to. You're the living embodiment of the saying "You learn something new every day." In general, those with a high score on the "intellectual" trait are employed in such fields as teaching and research, and are enthusiastic about reading, foreign films, and classical music.

You do not avoid abstract conversation, experimenting with new ideas, or studying new things. It bores you to stick to the straight and narrow of what you already know.

Friendly

You would rather hang out with others than spend time alone, and you'd far rather be doing something with your friends than just sitting around. You're happy in a crowded room, club, stadium, or auditorium.

You're not a private person who is ill at ease in a group; you don't view excessive socializing as a waste of time.

Scrupulous

You are an honest, fair person. You don't lie or cheat to get ahead. You treat others with respect and hope for the same in return.

You do not feel that you are above the rules that everyone else follows; you are definitely not willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

Upbeat

You enjoy being around others and others enjoy being around you. You have a "live and let live" attitude; because you know that no one's perfect, you are forgiving and happy to give the benefit of the doubt.

You don't feel the need to be controversial or express contrary opinions all the time. You see no reason to go around rubbing people the wrong way.

Innovative

You come up with a lot of ideas; if one doesn't work out, there's always another waiting in the wings. You often have interesting solutions to difficult problems. You're practically a one-person brainstorming session.

You are less interested changing the world than in dealing with things as they are. Unlike those who spend all their time trying to solve problems, you prefer to zero in on things that work and stick with them.

Astute

You are a quick study. You generally don't need to have things explained to you more than once. When presented with a problem, you will often have an instant understanding of where to look for the solution.

You do not take your sweet time when presented with a new task to complete or problem to solve. You don't avoid assignments that require you to learn new skills.

2009-09-14T04:43:00.000-04:00

Up very early, fighting off cold symptoms. What to do? Thought I’d spend some time with God, and figured I’d pull out my journal that’s collecting dust and go into Colossians and write about it.

At church yesterday, Brian covered Colossians 3:15 – 17:

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I pulled out my journal and checked out my last entry. May 30 (ok, I hadn’t done real well with this discipline over the summer). I discovered the verse I had last written about was Colossians 3:17…hmm, well if I already wrote about it, and since what I said in May still holds true today, I figured, well, I’ll share my thoughts from May...

¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This statement wraps up Paul’s advice on living a holy life. We a re to put off all evil desires, bad talk, rage and malice. We are to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love. We are to forgive as Jesus forgave us.

Wow, this is HARD. I may talk a good talk, but against this short list of do’s and don’ts (starting in Col 3:5), I fall very very short. Every day. I get so wrapped up in ME. So wrapped up in my to do list. I’m not consistent. I don’t have my heart on things above. I don’t have my mind on thing above. Life, especially right now, is full of problems and issues. And my reaction is not Christlike. I don’t see anything or anybody from an eternal perspective.

I have to step back and examine each situation, and look at it from God’s perspective. How would He have me act? What decisions should I make? What honors Him? How do I need to die to self? How do I honor the other person I’m dealing with in a Godly way, and not just appeasing or tolerating?

This is HARD WORK. I’m already exhausted. Yet, God tells me, in His small voice, that if I do this I will end up less exhausted. Refreshed, energized and empowered.

Lord, show me how to stop doing things and facing life in my own wisdom. Help me to put off my selfishness and put on your compassion. To die to myself and live for you in whatever I do.

Looking back on a summer full of challenges, I think I did take this to heart, at least a bit. It’s a continual effort to follow Jesus and live for Him in whatever I do. It’s challenging. But as I look back over a summer full of transitions, I think I did grasp this a little bit better. It is liberating.

What I'm reading

2009-09-10T22:29:00.000-04:00

Was inspired by Brian's quick review of David Gergen's "Eyewitness to Power." So I thought I'd tell you what I'm up to.

I'm actually reading a book too.

It's called "My Life In France" by Julia Child. She was interviewed extensively by her grandnephew Alex Prud'homme shortly before she died in 2004.

I'm working through it very slowly. I'm only on page 49 and it's 302 pages. I've already renewed it from the library. I only get to read it in short bits, but that's OK.

My interest in Julia Child was sparked by the movie "Julie and Julia" which is lovely. Especially the Julia parts, mostly due to Meryl Streep's spot on portrayal. Plus it lovingly depicts the passion of creativity. I won't go into a movie review-- If you get a chance, see it. When it goes into second-runs, or comes out on DVD, see it.

Anyway, the movie sparked a renewed interest in good cooking, and a desire in my younger son to give cooking a try. We went to the library and got out Julia's "The Way to Cook" which is a little less daunting than her all French cookbook. We have made variations of two recipes so far. Nobody in my family is going to go through the book in a year and blog about it. We just find recipes that seem remotely do-able, adapt the ingredients to what's readily available,cheap, and palatable, and give them a try. I did go to Sam's Club and buy the bulk package of butter, which is a must for Julia Child recipes. Maybe my creations are not authentic, but they are a whole lot better than the stuff I usually cook, and my family appreciates it.

While at the library, I spotted "My Life in France." This book, plus Julia's and her husband's letters, formed the storyline for the "Julia" part of the movie. I borrowed it, and as I said, I'm slowly "digesting" it. Her narration is wonderful. If she hadn't been a great chef she could have become a terrific novelist. I was amazed to find out that her husband Paul (who in the movie is portrayed as some sort of middle level diplomat) actually worked in a job very similar to my own. He was in charge of exhibits and promotion (propaganda, really) for the US embassy in post war France. His job was to market the Marshall Plan to the French through artistic means. He was an artist, photographer and lover of good things.

I haven't even gotten to the part in the book where Julia enrolls in Le Cordon Bleu, and she finds her calling. That starts on page 57.

Usually I devour good books, can't wait to finish them. This one, I am enjoying like a delicious meal.

Jesus the Artist

2009-08-07T06:27:00.000-04:00

Why hadn’t I ever seen or understood this before? I guess because I have asked God to show me how I can be fully yielded to Him in my life, my art and ministry, and this is what He’s shown me as the first step on that path:

Jesus, during most of His time on earth, was an artist.

Jesus worked as a craftsman, an artisan, with his hands, by his dad’s side, for most of His life, until his Father called him into the ministry of proclaiming the Good News and revealing Himself as messiah to the nation of Israel.

He spent nearly 30 years working in carpentry. From the time he could walk and carry materials around Joseph’s woodshop to the time that God called him down to the Jordan River to be baptized. Then, as now, carpentry is a skilled trade. You have to know what you are doing in order for the things you build to successfully hold together and be useful. But even beyond that, carpenters are craftsmen, and that means they are artists. Our distinction between “fine arts” and “crafts” is a modern concept and also pretty much meaningless, because both art and craft involve having a vision for a piece of creative work and then using a specialized skill to bring that vision into existence.

Because the Gospels focus on the last three years of Jesus’ life on earth and his public ministry, we lose sight of the fact that Jesus indeed had a livelihood to support His family, one that involved creativity and hard work. This is only fitting for His nature. God, after all, is the Creator of all things. Creativity also involves work. We can be as creative as we want in our minds, but it’s meaningless unless we do the work of actually bringing our vision into being.

God worked at Creation for six days, which in human terms it means he worked hard and relentlessly at it. Then He rested from all that creative work. Humanity was created in His image, which means that our human nature reflects His divine nature. We love because He is love. We are creative because He is creative. Then, millennia later, God the Son – Jesus-- came down into our existence to do the great work of humanity’s redemption.

Jesus spent approximately 27 of His 33 short years on earth making useful things out of wood. I’ll bet the things Jesus made with wood were not only useful, but very beautiful and made with excellence. Why not? The Lord of the universe commanded the artisans building the Ark of the Covenant and later, Solomon’s Temple, to create beautiful decorative carvings out of wood to adorn these holy things. Why would He not do the same while He had hands to work with? It only makes sense.

Jesus could have been anything He wanted to be before His ministry. A scholar. A fisherman. A temple priest or scribe. An earthly king, as people expected their messiah to be. Instead, He chose to be a carpenter, an artisan.

Jesus chose to be an artist.

I can Blog!

2009-07-28T00:06:00.000-04:00

Remember that song in Disney's Peter Pan? "You Can Fly?" Remember the tune? Think of that tune to the following words:

I can blog
I can blog
I can blog
I can blog
I can blog!

ok...end of song.

I am sitting in my son's bedroom while he's been playing video games and I am using this laptop wirelessly, thanks to my smart daughter and boyfriend who know how to plug things in and make them work.

Unlike me, who kills computer hard drives.

Anyway, this is liberating.

Off to show James a youtube video and time for bed.

Laptops!

2009-07-26T23:04:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Christina got a new laptop in preparation for college.
Tom got a new laptop in preparation for grad school. I have to teach him how to use it.

We are installing a wireless router this week. When that's up and running, things will be sweeeeet. Like, all of a sudden, it will be the 21st century.

The old laptop, which is still in fine shape when coupled with my old 19" LCD screen (the laptop screen no longer works, so the machine serves as a desktop replacement) will go in Will's room. We still have a 3 generations old computer that just sits there. You have to unplug it to turn it off. I have to get data off it so we can send it to the great computer recycler in the sky. And then there's the desktop that I killed last year when trying to recover windows using linux and pressed the wrong command. It works. With linux. Which I don't know how to use, and keep typing it linus. I need my security blanket.

Tonight, we had the old laptop on with a MS word project going, the two new laptops and the sweet LCD TV that she won at prom all going on in her room at once. She skyped with her boyfriend while I puttered on the other puter.

There were a lot of electrons flying around the room.

And I was amazed at the lack of manuals and documentation that came with these machines and software. I figured I'd have to spend 1/2 a day at least getting things set up, like in the old days.

I got my first personal computer, a Tandy 1000 in 1986. It didn't even have a hard drive, but ran on two 5 1/4" floppy disks. One was the data disk where you saved your work, and one was the program disk. This was pre-Windows, in MS-DOS time, when everything was typed in little white letters on a black screen.

In 1983, I did a summer internship at IBM in White Plains, NY. I used the IBM System/36, the hottest new computer at the time.

In college, I took a class in computer programming using...Punch Cards.

Going further back in time, in the early 1970s, I remember visiting my brother in law's work at the Museum of Natural History, where he let me tinker around with a computer called PDP8, which had a little black and white analog screen and ran on tapes.

Amazing.

He helped her up

2009-05-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

Mark 1:29-31 (NIV) As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand, and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

I used to be troubled by this story because I focused on the fact that as soon as Simon's mother-in-law was healed, she began waiting on the men. I viewed this situation through self-centered, modern eyes. But I came to understand that as the mother of the household, it would have been her responsibility and her joy to serve her guests, and as soon as she was well, she would have immediately tended to this task.

However, and more importantly, this week I learned a deeper spiritual truth about this story.

A week ago (on Saturday evening, while out on a date, yet) I came down with a bad cold. I didn't develop a fever, and somehow I managed to get through 5 days of my normal activities...attending meetings at work, getting family members where they needed to go, etc.

On Monday, while I was still feeling kind of OK, I had two awesome Kingdom encounters with people who are serving God in unique ways. One meeting was planned - Beth and I had a promising meeting with Tyler and Robb, creative arts leaders at HOPE Church. The other meeting was one of those God's timing things...a minister who is planning to come to Richmond and do student outreach. I literally ran into him at the corner when I was heading into work. Both of these meetings were answers to prayers and I hope to have more to say about both later on.

After the lunch meeting with Tyler and Robb, though, any energy I had left quickly dissipated and I struggled through the rest of the day. I went through the motions all week, and had no motivation. If I could have stayed in bed, I would have, but I simply could not. My usual flame of enthusiasm for life, for God and His work, was turned down to a low pilot light.

On Friday, I began to feel a bit better, but was still very tired and unfocused. I attended PCC's CORE Leadership meeting with that pilot light level of enthusiasm. The meeting was filled with lots of nuts and bolts information, and while necessary, it was a bit overwhelming to process.

Towards the end of the meeting, Brian reminded us of our vision. He talked about the impact that JESUS - through our church - was having on people's lives. He gave example after example of Jesus touching people. Helping them up. I began to feel His touch as well. I felt "helped up." The pilot light began to strengthen into a healthy flame again. After the meeting, when I got home, all I could think about was somewhere in the Gospels is the story of Jesus healing Simon's mother-in-law, and when He strengthened her, she got up and immediately served Him.

Jesus strengthened her.

She immediately got up and served Jesus.

It suddenly made sense!

Being just a few sentences long, it was initially hard for me to locate the passage, but I found it. It's such an important story it's not only in Mark, but in Matthew and Luke as well.

Jesus touched me, He helped me up, He gave me healing, strength and motivation. My immediate and natural response is my desire to serve Him and help others be touched by Him.

Breathe

2009-04-27T15:46:00.000-04:00

One of my all time favorite songs is "Breathe."

I first heard it on Michael W. Smith's "Worship" CD. It's incredibly moving. I've listened to that CD numerous times, imagining the incredible worship experience that the folks in that room had the night the CD was recorded. Smitty, along with many other talented musicians and backup singers, moves ever more deeply into worship that for me, culminates with "Breathe." By the end, I can just feel the deep longing of those singing "I'm desperate for you...I'm lost without you."

This weekend, I got to experience this song peronally among friends. No, Smitty was not in the house. But on Saturday and then on Sunday, some people very dear to me led two different groups of people through "Breathe" and each time it was profound.

Saturday night was PCC's 3rd Annual Randy Lawson concert. I could go on about the concert as a whole, and I hope Ms. Beth will post a set list at some point. There was an incredible range of talent and many highlights to the program. There were some worship songs and many secular songs...some serious rock oldies that were only recognizable to those of us over 35, some great alternative and hip hop songs, a truly outstanding bluegrass and country segment. I could go on.

But "Breathe" stands out. Kevin Salyer was with us for the concert. I think his several weeks as a teaching pastor at a sister church has strengthened his gifts as a worship leader...I noticed this throughout the night with each song he sang. He has a God-given ability to interpret a song and pull out every ounce of its meaning, and this was evident as he began singing "Breathe."

The stage was chockful of instruments and singers, and then the audience joined in. I stood there, in the midst of this, thinking, "this is BETTER than that Smitty CD! This is really happening and the folks up there are just as gifted as the folks on that recording!" It was awesome. Occasionally I will be in the midst of a worship experience and it will feel like a little reflection of Heaven. This was one of those moments.

On Sunday morning, Brian gave a moving message about depression focused on the story of the prophet Elijah, and he shared of his own story. At the end of the message, he spoke of a song that he would often play on his guitar and sing when he was struggling through a dark time. That song was "Breathe."

Brian, who rarely leads a worship song on stage, led us through the song. He sang the song simply, and there were fewer instruments and back up vocals. It felt like he was praying the song, the words coming from his heart. It was a very different experience from the night before. Same song, different vibe, and equally as moving. This time, not a corporate worship song, not so much a slice of Heaven, but the reality of earthbound people whe are gasping for the breath of God in their lives. I couldn't sing it out loud, just pray it.

I just love this song.

God's Economy

2009-03-20T20:01:00.000-04:00

Was thinking I ought to write about God's economy...then found I had written some notes with this very heading two months ago. I was reading Craig Groeschel's book, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It, at the time. He talks about churches that have Kingdom thinking, in which churches realize they don't need to compete, but rather can share resources, because ultimately, the Kingdom of God is built up: A kingdom minded ministry is more about what God is doing everywhere than what God is doing in your own ministry.

This got me thinking about God's economy (at least that was the next thing I scribbled on my paper back in January).

-- Give, because He freely gives to us.
-- What we give, we will receive back, though the blessings returned may or may not be monetary.
-- It's our job to trust God, to do our part and allow God to do His part, and to follow God's lead.
-- We are to fit into God's plan and act on it. If we do, He will multiply our efforts in ways we never even dreamed of.
-- We need to see past our current circumstances.

GOD'S ECONOMY IS NEVER IN A DOWNTURN.

-- God has purposes for us through these situations.
-- We may not always understand His purposes for us at the time.

Blog boldly

2009-03-17T22:58:00.001-04:00

I have a lot to say.

I'm gonna start saying it. Usually I hold myself back.

Last week I was inspired by someone who has a lot to say and says it like it is, the way he sees it.

Time is short. Life is fragile and constantly changing. Things have to be said.

It's time to speak from the heart.

What Happens Next?

2009-03-16T14:27:00.000-04:00

I named this blog What Happens Next because I liked the lines in two Switchfoot songs:

I've got my heart set on what happens next (This is Home)

What happens next? What happens next? Dare you to move... (Dare you to move)

It was sort of random at the time, but it resonated with me. However, in the past few weeks, this question is looming larger for me.

In our "Experiencing God" study, there's a whole chapter devoted to this. When seeking God's will and how He is going to work through us, we are to pray, wait on God and see what happens next.

Last week, at Unleashed 09, Perry Noble talked about having a "what's next" orientation, in terms of looking forward, not being constrained by how we did things in the past, and continually improving.

I'm very excited about this question. Most areas of my life are tied up with this issue.

Big Next's that are coming up in my life:

Work: We are moving across campus to a totally renovated facility within the next year. We are changing the way we do communication - no more print. Going to video. This opens up amazing opportunities for me in terms of learning motion graphics, and maybe doing some more with video promotion. Two of my graphic designers are graduating and I'm taking the other one along on an exciting ride. I am hoping to learn Adobe AfterEffects and start using it. There's a learning curve but it's exciting to do something new.

Church: new facility by fall. Wow. Riding the change that this will involve. Doing more and more with communication, which I LOVE. Working with some others to grow an arts ministry.

Art: Here's an area that I have laid down, and am waiting on God to lead me. Truly asking the WHNXT question here, but I've learned to be patient. Think I will scan in all my art and get it online to share. This is a project.

Writing: A couple of people have told me this week that I can write well, and I'm grateful. This is something I have been wanting to do beyond promotional writing, but had been trying to do in my own wisdom (I've collected a bunch of books on how to write, how to publish, etc). I have very close relatives who are published writers and are moving forward in their vocations. But I conciously laid this goal down about a year ago to focus on ministry. Writing is another WHNXT area that I will allow to unfold as God sees fit.

Family: One child going off to college. Another moving up in high school and getting more deeply involved in music and music ministry. The youngest moving to junior high. Spouse awaiting word of acceptance into an educational program. Family life is a continual WHNXT exercise.

Those are the big areas looming in my life. So...what happens next?

Building Relationships at Unleashed 09.

2009-03-13T10:36:00.000-04:00

I had the wonderful opportunity this week to join nearly 20 other PCC staff and volunteer ministry leaders on a trip down to Anderson, SC for Unleash 09, hosted by NewSpring Church.

It was a lot to take in, especially for a one day conference. And I'm not gonna do the usual blogity blog recap of what people said, who I saw, yada yada. It was a one day conference. I was there to learn stuff. I learned stuff. I didn't network with people from other churches, there wasn't time and no formal way to do that. We (all 3000+) swooped in, gathered up some information, ate lunch, had some great worship, were challenged by Perry Noble, were awed by the over 500 volunteers in their "No Perfect People Allowed" T-shirts, had an incredible prayer time for our senior pastors, and went home. So here's what I got out of the experience:

I have a renewed passion for serving Jesus.
And I have to cut out any distracting junk out of my life (like too much Facebook) and
use the time God gave me on this earth
to lead people to Him
in the ways that God has gifted me
and in the activities He wants me to do,
in His timing.

That's what I got out of the conference in a nutshell.

We had 8 hours of conference, a few hours of sleep, and wrapped around it, about 15 hours of travel. For me, the travel was as important as the conference.

Driving down, I learned how to use a GPS. Our GPS guy was named "Tim" and he had a British accent. He sounded kind of like Simon Cowell in a rare good mood. He was generally helpful and didn't get us lost. By the end of the trip, our driver had a crush on him.

I got to know some people from my church family a whole lot better. Particularly Mr. Don Grubb, who has a depth of experience and wisdom that I had never known about. I shared a good portion of the ride down to SC with him, and the whole ride back. There's nothing like spending hours in the car with someone you barely know getting in, and then returning having made a friend.

It was great to spend time with Beth in the car. She loves to crank up the iPod and the speakers and well...if you've seen her on Sunday mornings you know how she gets. Thankfully she doesn't do the foot stomping thing on the gas pedal, but she was taking her hands off the wheel a couple of times. (we HAD to do the "Single Ladies" hand waving, though Don insisted we turn that song off...)

Somewhere along I-29 in NC, just when she was having one of her driving-hands-free moments, we passed one of these billboards:

Then, about 500 yards further down the road, there was a home-made sign that read

PREPARE TO MEET GOD

'nuff said.

Had some good conversation with Susan, Anna and Kim for the second half of the trip down. Roomed with Gail, who has such a wonderful sweet spirit. I had a terrific conversation with Dale over lunch about video production, volunteer development, and excellence.

They served Chick-fil-a for lunch. We went into big tents with rows and rows of tables. At each spot, there was a Chick-fil-a bag, with a HOT chicken sandwich, chips and a cookie. We marveled at the level of organization required to pull this off. I chuckled at the fact that Chick-fil-a is the Default Christian Food, and how even in "Fireproof" the husband brings his wife a bag of Chick-fil-a when she's bedridden with a fever. Does this mean when you get to Heaven, the banquet at the Lord's table will be endless bags of Chick-fil-a? Hm.

The afternoon breakout session was about how NewSpring does video production. Sat with Angie D, and Elijah, who is heading off to college in the fall to learn how to be a worship leader. He's off to a great start, as he is a wonderful musician with a heart for missions. He went to southeast Asia over Christmas with three other high school age guys. After their trip, they hosted a meeting to share their experience. They played the song "Marvelous Light" and explained how despite the language barrier, the song's sense of hope and comfort came through to the people they sang it to, and it ministered to them. A couple of weeks later, he and Will and the rest of the Powerjam (kids' church) band sang "Marvelous Light" again, to a large group of 1st - 5th graders. This time there were hand motions and some jumping around, and the kids loved it. At the time, I was touched by the fact that Elijah could take this song, sing it halfway around the world and back again, and reach two very different groups of people for God. And so, even though we didn't talk a whole lot, it was neat to spend a little time with him. I know he is going to do powerful things for God as he goes through college and beyond.

It was great to spend time with Angie, who has such an incredible get-it-done spirit and sense of creativity. We didn't have much time to talk, but I already enjoy serving along with her, and know we'll do much more of this in the future.

After the conference, we all gathered at a restaurant, ate, debriefed and prayed. It was a great way to wrap up.

On the way home, I had the honor of riding along with Don, Anna and Brian. We talked the entire way (which isn't surprising as it was determined all three of them have words of affirmation as their primary "love language"). We enjoyed nearly 7 hours of great conversation, much of it touching on deep spiritual issues, and some wonderful stories and testimony. Each of us has such a burning passion for God and reaching others in His name...Brian through preaching and pastoral leadership, Anna through teaching and her love of children, Don through music and a pursuit of excellence, and my love of creative expression and communication. It was great sharing, and for me, the best part of the whole trip.

It was good to get away, and then return.

I am loving this song

2009-02-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

Colored People, by DC Talk

This video is awesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HxLOQ-oo_I

Pardon me, your epidermis is showing, sir
I couldn't help but note your shade of melanin
I tip my hat to the colorful arrangement
Cause I see the beauty in the tones of our skin
We've gotta come together
And thank the Maker of us all

CHORUS:
We're colored people, and we live in a tainted place
We're colored people, and they call us the human race
We've got a history so full of mistakes
And we are colored people who depend on a Holy Grace

A piece of canvas is only the beginning for
It takes on character with every loving stroke
This thing of beauty is the passion of an Artist's heart
By God's design, we are a skin kaleidoscope

We've gotta come together,
Aren't we all human after all?
Ignorance has wronged some races
And vengeance is the Lord's
If we aspire to share this space
Repentance is the cure

Well, just a day in the shoes of a color blind man
Should make it easy for you to see
That these diverse tones do more than cover our bones
As a part of our anatomy

We're colored people, and they call us the human race
[Oh, colored people] We're colored people, and we all gotta share this space
[Yeah we've got to come together somehow] We're colored people, and we live in a tainted world [Red and yellow, black and white] We're colored people, every man, woman, boy, and girl [Colored people, colored people,colored people, colored people, yeah]

V-Day

2009-02-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day 2009.

I spent the day in traffic school at the Days Inn next to the mall. I had gotten a ticket back in the summer, speeding at 68 in a 55 zone. My bad. The judge kindly let me take traffic school, and I needed to get it done before March 09. My only free Saturday was Valentine's Day.

So there I was, 8:30 am at the Day's Inn, with about 20 other folks, mostly under the age of 25, but several of us over 40. I felt like Molly Ringwald walking into Saturday detention at the beginning of "The Breakfast Club." How would the day go? I figured it would be either deathly boring, or, more in line with the movie, scandalous. Thankfully, it was neither.

We had an excellent instructor who had a great sense of humor and didn't take any nonsense from the kids in the room (how DO you rack up 3 speeding tickets by the time you're 20??). He made 8 hours pass pretty quickly. We watched several videos and then mostly did a lot of questions and answers. He got the entire class to participate, and actually made it pretty fun. The videos ranged from a 1940s Walt Disney Goofy public service film, where mild mannered Goofy turned into a road monster when he gets in the car (they had road rage in the 1940s?). Then there was the AAA video on road rage with two guys with bad 90's haircuts. There was the teen drinking video which actually featured some extremely cheesy mid-90's young people rapping, "Just Say No." (yes, Nancy Reagan's sage advice lives on). This one made me want to crawl under the table. As a mom, I certainly agree with the point of the video. But the production! Terrible! Thankfully there was no horrible test at the end. I was commended for taking lots of notes, too (yes, dorky, but in this case it came in handy).

Tom met me afterwards and we got some Chinese food in the mall, hit Sam's for some bulk bargains and headed home. Went home and watched "Fireproof" (which was my gift to him...we had seen it in the theater and couldn't wait to see it again) and ate lots of chocolate kisses. The boys watched it with us and I was gratified by that. They both liked it and it was thought provoking for everyone.

So it was Valentine's Day with a twist. But overall, it was good. And I've paid my debt to society. And yes, I drove home VERY carefully!

Just for the Record

2009-02-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

Beth very kindly gave me some props for the Sunday graphic for our new series. I just wanted to say that this was really a team effort: Angie found the image (which we flipped for better effect). Beth found the original font, which I decided looked good and kept as is. And I did the photoshopping to pull it all together.

It is gratifying to do a project well. It is even more gratifying to see God bring the right people together to each contribute their talents to create something that is better than if just reflects one person's vision. This is what we are called to do, and when you are part of that, it is the most amazing feeling. Even if it's something as simple as a Sunday graphic.

10.6 pounds lost

2009-01-29T15:39:00.000-05:00

Zipped over to WW today for a quick weigh in after a long construction A/V meeting. Thankfully this kept me from snacking all morning and tipping the scale out of my favor.

I got there this week. Hit the 10 lb loss mark. Plus .6 lbs to boot! It's been a struggle, but I'm well down the road toward my healthy weight goal.

Woot! woot!

I celebrated with a coworker by living dangerously and getting 2 slices of my favorite pizza in the whole world, Piccola's.

Back on the wagon. Time to fill my water cup.

Getting creative

2009-01-28T14:59:00.001-05:00

Seth Godin wrote a couple of days ago: .

If you want to be creative, understand that you'll need to get to the edges, even if the edges have moved. Being creative means immediately going to the place the last person left off.

Read the whole post here.

One of my talented design students turned me on to this color palette website today. Not only can you check out other people's palettes and pattersn, you can change them into your own. ooooh! shivers.

I love color. When I go into art supply stores I go immediately to the colored pencil and marker section and play with samples. I would love to own a whole set of prismacolors and just look at them every day. Or those cool markers I had back in design school. Color captivates me in a way similar to hearing incredible music. I sort of become "one" with it, at least momentarily. Hey! I was just a kid in the 60's.

I think all of this is a reaction to the doldrums of winter. I long for warmth and color to return. Maybe that is why I'm ogling and playing around on this color website. Playing at the edges of creativity.

What is God's will for my life?

2009-01-24T12:38:00.000-05:00

Christina and I are currently taking the "Experiencing God" course that's being offered through PCC's iD program. It's 12 weeks, and I thought it would be daunting. Quite the opposite. What I'm already learning, and what God is showing me, is amazing. It's turned my whole perspective on what it means to serve God and to know His will around 180 degrees. Each week, I'm excited to meet with our small group/class. Every morning, I'm eager to do the daily reading and questions. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open, expectantly learning.

I cannot, and won't try to sum up what the course goes into. It's the kind of experience that you have to have for yourself. If you find yourself asking "What is God's will for my life?" then you absolutely need to take this course.

We are only in week 2, and I am looking forward to gaining a fuller understanding of how God wants me to respond to what He is already doing in this world. Because it's not about me and what I think I want to do for God. It's not about asking Him to bless MY efforts. It's about being open to where He wants me to join Him in His work.

It's a totally different approach to what many of us (including well meaning Christ followers, like myself) have practiced all our lives. And it is powerful.

The Power of Money

2009-01-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

First of all, please go read Brian's post about tomorrow's service at Powhatan Community Church.

God's view of money may surprise you. I certainly was surprised when I learned about how much God has to say about money and possessions in His Word.

The Crown Biblical Financial Study that Tom and I took last fall has been life changing. God has changed our attitude and we've become more faithful in taking care of our finances. Still, it's a long process to overcome decade-olds habits. We still have a shortfall of income and cash flow problems. But God has also been faithful to us, providing for us when we were down to our last dime. He's blessed us through generous friends, family and even a secret "Santa." We've been plugging away with our sideline ebay hobby sales, which brings in at least a little bit weekly. And now he's provided Tom with a job, and extra work as well.

Most importantly of all, I have let go of *most of* my fear regarding our finances. I used to lay awake at night worrying. I used to drive to work worrying. I've let that go and put it in His hands, and the more I let go, the more I see His provision.

The only area I still get queasy about is checking my bank accounts online. I always expect bad news or red numbers. Is that silly, or what? Could you please pray for me to overcome this urge to stick my head in the sand and to have the strength to face reality, no matter whether its good news or not?

Overcoming financial dysfunction, like any other dysfunction, takes time. But it certainly goes better when you turn it over to God, who makes all things new. And if we take the steps to start on this journey, we are that much closer to getting things straightened out.

Lastly, we'll have a table at church tomorrow where those of us who have taken the Crown study will be glad to talk with you about our experiences. Please stop by to talk with any of us.

Thanks mom!

2009-01-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Got back into the new routine this morning. James was up and ready to go with me to the Y at 6:40. My goal is to leave at 7, when my high schoolers head out the door. This is the same kid who last semester I could barely rouse out of bed 10 minutes before it was time to leave. I actually slowed us down this morning as I had to print something out last minute. Still, we managed to get to the Y at 7:20 and got in about 25 minutes of cardio.

Today we reaquainted ourselves with the friendly ellipitcal machines. It was a little challenging but I do enjoy it. Suddenly Brian, who is "beast" on the elliptical, came over and asked James if he was on restriction! heh. I explained the Ultimatum (come to the Y or ride the Bus).

We finished our short workout and I told him we'd probably go back tonight as Will wanted to work out and I wouldn't get my workout in tomorrow morning. It was something to look forward to. I got my coffee (no sugar!) from the free grindy coffee machine and we drove to school.

As he got out of the car, he said, "Thanks for taking me to the Y, mom."

I get warm fuzzies just thinking about that. He's careening into teenager-hood and we have many moments of conflict these days. But at least I can carry the thought that maybe I'm doing something right.

Thank you God, for blessing my efforts to "stick to my guns" with my morning workout, stay focused on my health, and giving me the added bonus of a son who is remembering the fun of exercise and is keeping me on track!

Back on the WW Wagon

2009-01-09T12:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's visit to Weight Watchers was good. Could have been better, because I know for a fact that I lost about 3 pounds and then gained 1.5 of it back during my 3 week vacation.

a) I learned that a daily trip the Y really does yield results.

b) falling off the wagon, heading back into old eating habit territory also has its results.

Fortunately a) counteracted b) and I can now report a 7.8 lb total weight loss since early October. Slow, but steady and hopefully slow, but sure.

So I'm recommitting myself to following my WW plan. Working on drinking more glasses of water (as a middle aged woman, this requires special timing skills). I'm portioning out my weekly extra 35 points to 5 per day, since there's thankfully no big eating events coming up. So I can give myself a little more flexibility each day with my points allowance. Yes, this is weight watchers-speak, sorry. Basically I can eat a little more each day and stay within my daily intake allowance.

I'm also eating healthier, but allowing myself small treats. We had birthday cake in the house continually from Dec 17 through Jan 4, which is definitely not conducive to staying on the plan. Maybe next December I'll be able to eat my piece and ignore the leftovers.

I'm keeping up with the Y. I'm committed to going every weekday morning (exc Tuesdays due to a standing meeting). Nighttime is too unpredictable, but if I have an opportunity to go I will. Somehow those 30 lb weights feel a whole lot heavier to me at 8 pm than they do at 8 am.

I gave my son James, who likes a ride to school in the morning, an ultimatum. Be ready to go with me to the Y at 7, and I'll drive you to school. Otherwise, catch the bus. And so far he's taken me up on it! He even got on the treadmill yesterday, and we got him a replacement youth exercise card (he took the class last year but lost his card). So maybeeee...there will be two of us benefiting from this early morning routine.

I can't wait to hit my 10 lb weight loss goal. Next week? And not too far beyond that, my first 10% goal. I think swimsuit season won't be so scary after all!

Christmas Imagined Pt 2

2008-12-25T20:33:00.000-05:00

So, now, to "Imagine Christmas."

It was a wonderful success. People came, about 1700 over the course of two services. God was glorified.

The original Willow Creek production featured aerialists and acrobats and featured two angels who flew over the stage. We didn't have the rigging for this kind of performance so we used scaffolding for the angels and our very talented dancers choreographed some terrific numbers; using our own people, on the stage, put the performance into a format that people in our local community could relate to. The costuming was beautiful. The sets were great and involved hundreds of people-hours to put together.

Even "my" snake...he was more than one person could manage and turned into a real team production. John designed the framing and came up with the solution for creating the head (plan A with chicken wire didn't work). His plan B, of mixing specialized high density foam and carving it, was just the right solution. It took about 6 hours to carve, with 4 people involved. Two of us painted it. Regina did an awesome job painting the snake's head and eyes, and later, giving him a tongue. A number of people told me the snake creeped them out, gave them the chills, etc. which was just the intention. Tom and I painted the 30 foot body, and then Regina, Bill and I connected the framing and body on site before dress rehearsal. Six young guys operated the snake (including my two boys), weaving and bobbing it like a Chinese dragon around the room.

I put together the moon backdrop according to Sandy's specifications and it came out fine. Lots of work. All worth it. I'm still blown away by the tree that Cathy oversaw...another large team effort that involved many people making hand dyed (!) tissue paper flowers, pasting on leaves, plastering the trunk, and making this all come together to look like a real tree.

OK, we aren't supposed to boast, but I gotta say, that tree is even better than the one in the original production. I am just so proud of our set people.

Monday evening. Dress rehearsal. I'm done with the backdrop and the snake. My sons each have parts in the play so I'm there with them and available if anything else needs to be done with props. Not much happening. Then Jon announces that they've lost a person on "follow spot." Is there anyone here without an assignment? Despite my inclination to sink down into my seat until nobody sees me, I know that I'm that person without an assignment. So I raise my hand. "OK, I'll run follow spot!" I declare..."What's a follow spot?"

I felt just like Noah in Bill Cosby's old routine about Noah and God's conversation..."You will make the ark 600 by 700 cubits" "Riiiggght...what's a cubit?"

So like Noah, I do what I'm told even if I have no idea what I'm doing. I go up to the back of the auditorium, way up top, and learn that the follow spot is the spotlight that's used when performers are moving around anywhere in the auditorium or stage and need a spotlight to follow them. Makes sense. They need someone to spotlight the Snake when it winds around the room before going on stage. OK, I want people to see the Snake and my wonderful work on it, lol. Oh yeah, we'll need to spotlight a few other scenes too.

Really it was pretty much fun, and I didn't mess up on it in any egregious way. I got to wear a cool but heavy techie headset and listen to Jon banter nonsensically during dress rehearsal. During performances though, it was pretty much business. The best part was during the first real performance when he told me to throw a green gel on the light and I didn't expect that. ("what's a gel?") I threw down what looked like a green lever, it turned out to be blue, but hey, blue is close enough.

Way up there, I had the best seat in the house. A family that came late ended up right next to me way up there. At the end of the performance, as they hurried out to get their little ones home, their older son (about 9 years old) stopped, turned toward me, and wished me "Merry Christmas." My eyes teared up.

My favorite moment was "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" which had a terrific contemporary arrangement that I cannot get out of my head even now. Paul sang it beautifully accompanied by four dancing "angels" in their flowing white dresses...wow. Very powerful.

The folks attending the services really got into it, enjoyed the humor (it was gratifying to hear laughter to many of the lines that we had heard over and over in rehearsal). They clapped along with the upbeat Irish music during the "Celtic Circus" scene (again, no acrobats, but our female dancers and our teenage male dancers - including my Will- did a great job and brought a lot of energy to the entire room). My son James was a "Scripture Kid," one of the four who recited Luke's telling of the birth in the stable and I was so pleased to see him up there.

Brian wrapped up the performance with a short but very powerful message. He tied the theme of imagining Christmas that we've followed for the past 2 weeks - first from Mary's, then Joseph's - finally to God's perspective together in a very moving way.

And a special thanks to Cathy, who not only worked many hours on that beautiful tree and other props, but organized a buffet for all of us who served that just overwhelmed us. Dozens of homecooked dishes and desserts, coffee and teas...she said she "just called a few people" and made it happen.

Thanks to the folks at Pearson Infinity for helping to make this a reality by providing some much needed funds.

I wish I could name everyone who was involved, but the list is so long, and frankly I don't even know everyone's name. But we were all in it together, for one reason, to bring Jesus to those around us.

God was in this from the start. From His inspiration to the creative folks at Willow Creek who imagined and created the original production, to our own Sandy, who imagined it as a reality at PCC, to Christine who directed so many of the details, to the rest of us who got on board and imagined it along with them, putting in tons of creativity, talent, problem solving, countless hours of time, sweat...we all did it through His power, inspiration, and grace.

Christmas Imagined...

2008-12-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

First, Merry Christmas to everyone!

Second, I'm exhausted. What a week!

Third, I'm profoundly thankful. The week started out where we didn't even know how we were going to pay for groceries. We were taken care of. We were dealing with the fact that Christmas morning was going to be a whole lot leaner than in the past. Some friends and family have been very generous and we now have some funding to take us through for a little while. We are setting aside a little bit of that to get a few things to give and enjoy during the Christmas Season (remember it's not just one day) and that means stretching our dollars by hitting after Christmas sales. We scaled back our wants significantly but this helps to get some needs that we've been putting off. And pay some bills.

Thank you. Help is indeed on the way. And God ALWAYS provides.

Imagine Christmas

2008-12-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

Wednesday December 24 will mark the culmination of many months of planning, designing, rehearsing and well, imagining.

One of our great PCC people, Sandy, attended the Willow Creek Arts Conference last spring and had the opportunity to see "Imagine Christmas." She caught the vision that this would be a wonderful production for Powhatan Community Church. Armed with DVDs and production notes, Sandy got the word out to anyone and everyone around PCC who could contribute their talent and time to this effort. She even was able to fundraise some much needed financial support, since this time around we'd be building sets, props and making costumes, something we haven't done before for Christmas Eve.

I joined up to work with sets and props. We have some brilliantly talented and devoted folks who volunteer massive amounts of time and effort in this area. My friend Cathy and a cohort of people have spent about a zillion hours creating a tree...what a tree it is...there are over 400 handmade paper flowers on this tree and leaves and it is just about the most beautiful set item I've ever seen.

You should come just to see this tree. But there's more. There's a snake.

I never thought I'd be out at midnight on the Saturday before Christmas, painting a snake body for a Christmas play. But there I was, last night at PCC's office (currently a double wide trailer as we are not yet in our new building). Had to spray paint the last of the snakeskin on sheets, so was outside next to the church bus, under the single large outside light, painting a whimsical snake pattern. Wednesday and Thursday nights found a crew of us working on the snake head from special high density foam. It took alot of carving.

Friday I painted Mr. Snake's head with white primer and Saturday my friend Regina painted him beautifully to match his body. Today, we put the frame of the body together according to the directions our friend John gave us, as he had created the frame from PVC pipe. Then, a group of teen boys who are dancing in the production gave the snake body a tryout around the auditorium. Since they needed another warm body with legs to man one of the frames, I was recruited. They ripped around the room and on the stage, dipping and turning and zooming as fast as they could. I could barely keep up, it was like riding a roller coaster (going fast, crazy turns and holding on for dear life). My son Will, who was another snake-ee, said he was imagining flying a fighter jet. Okay, glad that he has a healthy imagination...

Why is there a snake in a Christmas production, you ask? Well, here's another reason to come see "Imagine Christmas"!

Besides an awesome tree, and an awesome snake, there's also some awesome backdrops (I did the moon, just in case you are truly awed by it). There is also awesome live music, dancing, humorous acting, video elements and awesome kids dressed as animals.

All of these awesome components come together to tell the most awesome story of all.

I've had the privilege of taking vacation time this week and have spent a good bit of that time working on these props. My friends, people who are even more involved than I am, have been working at their day jobs this past week plus pulling things together for this production. People have made tremendous sacrifices to be a part of this, and it is gratifying to see it all come together. The talent, creativity, boundless energy and willingness to give all to tell this story for our community on Christmas Eve is truly something to marvel at and be thankful for.

Please join us for "Imagine Christmas" on Wednesday, Dec 24 at 5 pm or 7:30 pm at Powhatan High School. Childcare will be provided.

Christmas Without Credit Cards

2008-12-19T23:03:00.000-05:00

This year, Christmas is very small at our house. We have a tree. It's beautifully decorated. There won't be much under it.

There were years, I'm embarrased to say, where Christmas present-opening could start around 10 am, break for lunch, and continue into the early afternoon. It was excessive, and exhausting, and not much fun after awhile. Much of this excess was financed through credit cards. We are still paying for Christmas 2006, I guess, and so there isn't much of anything left for 2008. All of our kids' birthdays are right around the holidays as well, so the expectation to have presents is high all through the season, not just on December 25.

We are currently living on one income, and are over mortgaged. This is the hard truth of our lives right now. While the rest of the world is just starting to face dipping into their savings to stay afloat...well, we went down that road a while back, when our NY house didn't sell for 19 months and then we sold it at a loss.

Facing change and cutting back is hard. Especially when you've already cut back, and now face the prospect of cutting back again. The credit cards were cut up a year ago, but we are paying on the balances. Some creditors have been very flexible, while others have not. No matter how flexible they are, they are still managing to get their cut. Still we do what we have to do.

We recently completed the Crown Biblical Financial Study. It was attitude changing and life changing. We still have much to do in terms of putting every principle into practice. In fact, even the Crown folks acknowledge in their small group video that this is a process, for some people it can easily take 3 years. Not a quick fix solution but an attitude change in which you line up your financial perspective with God's. And believe me, God's perspective on finance is about 180 degrees opposite 21st century America's perspective.

Our way of handling money has been dysfunctional. I have to remind myself of this fact going forward. Understanding God's perspective on managing money is the first step. Adopting this perspective is step two. The rest of the steps are the practical application of this attitude change, and that is challenging. I am still resistant to budgeting. It's a chore. There's accountability.

However, I know there is still hope for change. My eating had been dysfunctional, and so I finally got in with Weight Watchers and have lost 9 lbs. Slow progress...still a good way to go. till I reach my goal..but I'm seeing tangible results of my discipline and small sacrifices. So I know that approach does work. Just as with weight loss, fiscal discipline will lead to great results, even if it's slow.

Coach Louis Mulkey and Summerville SC Basketball...

2008-12-13T23:18:00.000-05:00

My son James showed me this video, an ESPN report on a remarkable story that took place earlier this year. It's in two parts. Please take a few minutes to watch. I have two things to say about this:

1) I dare you not to cry

2) Someone should tell this story in a movie.

Too Much

2008-12-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

December is...frantic.

I picked up a book at the library called "Women Who Do Too Much: How to Stop Doing it All and Start Enjoying Your Life" by Particia Sprinkle. It's written from a Christian perspective and so far it's waving all kinds of red flags for me personally. I've been trying to get past the first chapter.

Problem is, that lately I've been so tired from doing too much that by the time I lay down in bed to read a few pages I literally fall asleep. It feels like graduate school all over again.

I will not bore you with a litany of all the things I've got my hands in right now. Suffice it to say there's a lot going on, and most of it is not work related (that happens in August). Being a mom at Christmas time is enough.

Anyway, I'm looking at changing some of my responsibilities in 2009. Reading this book and acting on at least some of the advice in it rose to the top of my end of 2008 priority list.

Must go. Bedtime. Maybe I'll catch a few pages before I conk out.

Thanksgiving thoughts

2008-11-26T17:57:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving. I should be attending to my ebay stuff, or cleaning the house, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to think about Thanksgiving.

This is the first year I will cook a vegetarian dish (lasagna) along with The Turkey, for my son Will who has maintained his vegginess for several months. He's a lean, mean, carrot eating machine. I admire his steadfastness in this area. I was a veggie once for several months, and caved when I started dating my carnivore boyfriend. Since he eventually became my carnivore husband, I never returned to veg-hood. Now that we're older, though, he's pretty much lost his taste for red meat. He'll eat it if I serve it, but that is getting to be more of a rarity as I have concerns about price and safety. I'm thankful that we are generally eating healthier these days.

We do have wonderful friend who raise organic cattle and will often pass on some hamburger or nice steaks and roasts. We enjoyed some of that last night in fact. Well, I'm thankful for their generosity.

This will also be the first year that I brave the "it's too early to even be awake" crowds at the electronics stores on Black Friday. I guess it's called Black Friday because you get up in the dark, drive to the store in the dark, and for some people shop all day till it's dark again outside. I plan to get in, get out and get home early and enjoy the day in non-shopping mode.

Happy Thanksgiving! Time to make dinner, or vacuum or something.

Star Spangled Banner

2008-11-17T12:27:00.000-05:00

Friday night 11/14, regional semi finals football game. I'm working concession. Pouring rain when I arrive at 5:15. Our players are suited up. The Tabb players and cheerleaders have arrived. This game is happening.

6:30 pm the rain stops. People arrive. We prepare for a light crowd tonight, but stay busy working.

7:15 The stands fill up on both sides with whomever is willing to brave the return of the rain to cheer on their team. While it's not a packed house, there are plenty of people there. And more coming down the stairs into the stadium area. People are milling around talking, buying food, getting ready for an exciting game.

7:20 Suddenly I notice there's silence outside of the concession booth. People are at a standstill. I hear a lone trumpet from down the other end of the field. Although I can't see him, I can tell it's my daughter's boyfriend Richy, a senior, playing the National Anthem.

Solo.

Everyone, EVERYONE in the stadium is at attention. I have never seen this before. Normally, the full band plays, and while many at that moment, will pay their proper respects to our nation and flag, many others will continue their business of arriving, buying or selling food, and socializing. At first we concession workers don't realize what's going on and continue our work. But very quickly, we realize, one by one, that something unusual is happening outside. It's because of that "lone bugler."

In front of the concession people have stopped chatting. On the huge entrance stairway, people in mid-descent are standing still on the steps. In the concession, we slowly stop what we are doing, one parent shushes another, and we join the silent crowd in paying respect to our national symbol and what it stands for.

Thank you Richy, for grabbing and holding our collective attention to something we should never take for granted.

My Redeemer Lives

2008-11-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

I had a powerful God Moment this morning as I drove in to work. It's been a challenging week. Some very deep lows, both personally and in our faith community, and some wonderful moments. And the more I cling to God through these moments, the greater His blessing is on me through all of it.

I heard these songs on the radio this morning, pretty much in succession. Radio time driving to work is my worship time, it keeps me grounded during the period between Tuesday 9 am and Sunday morning, when I'm not doing small group or doing church related stuff.

Today, God wanted me to remember that he LIVES.

This morning, my friend Jenny on the Love Station encouraged all of us listening to pass on something encouraging to others today as well, and the music I heard during my drive was a powerful encouragement to me. So I'm passing them on to you.

You are probably familiar with the first song, it's been high on radio playlists for a number of years, and one of my favorites. The Hillsong United song is an good ol' worship tune that you normally don't hear on the radio, but Jim felt moved to play it after his morning on air devotion. The last one, Work it Out, is something I had never heard before, I "just happened" to turn to Praise 104 just to see what was going on. God knew what was going on and wanted me to hear it. Please watch that video. The song's message is very powerful and comforting and the video is pretty neat.

God bless you and remember despite all our difficulties in this world, our Redeemer LIVES. Today and always.

The songs:

Redeemer, by Nicole C. Mullen

My Redeember Lives, by Hillsong (I couldn't get a live video of Hillsong, but a pastor kindly posted his song slides on youtube...so give it a listen and you can learn the words too, lol)

Redeemer (I tuned to PER and the song came on AGAIN...wow)

Grace Like Rain, by Todd Agnew (this youtube video is of his performance at KingsFest 2007, which I saw, and I even got to meet him after his performance...so that's cool)

and then this one, Work it Out, by Bonafide Praisers...the message of the song just hit me so powerfully.

Yes We Pray

2008-11-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

This phrase came to me a couple of days after the election. I felt moved to draw a silhouette of Barack Obama, and fill in the outline with little script words: "Change. Hope. Yes We Can. Yes We Did. 2008" over and over, filling in the whole shape of this man's back. I rarely get an image right the first time, and usually use pencil to make sure it is right, but this time I just took my fine point pen and got it spot on.

(Usually, though, I am drawing pictures of the Lord, and want to make sure the image is just as I see Him in my mind's eye. Drawing the back of the president-elect perfectly isn't so critical for me, so I winged it).

Anyway, after writing Yes We Can over and over, the idea of Yes We Pray hit me. Because I resolved I was going to pray for Barack Obama, his family and his administration daily. We all need prayer. He especially needs prayer. What a daunting task lies ahead of him.

Now, President Bush needs prayer too. I hate to admit it, but it's been hard for me to pray for him. A long time ago I joined the Presidential Prayer Team and joined them in their prayer efforts. And then Iraq happened and I didn't agree with his policies at all. And lots more stuff out of Washington that I didn't like. If you haven't already figured it out I'm not big on W. No matter what the outcome was Nov 4, I would have been happy. I'm a democrat who has become increasingly moderate as I get older. John McCain is a good man who deserved to be president at some point and I'm sorry he didn't have that opportunity to serve in the highest office earlier.

Back to prayer. I am sorry, George W., that I gave up on praying for you. I made a commitment to do this and I didn't follow through. I wasn't obedient to my commitment. My faith wasn't particularly strong then, and I have only recently grown to understand the deep importance of prayer. I will pray for you to be able to finish out your term with dignity, and that you will be effective in your final months in office. I am heartened by your willingness and apparent openness to the incoming administration. I can see you are tired and ready for a break. We've all been there. Some of these issues you've had to deal with were foisted on you. Some of them are consequences of choices you made that I don't agree with. I've made plenty of unwise decisions too and it will be years before my consequences get resolved. So I'm not going to judge you any more. Instead I am going to rehonor my commitment to pray for you and Laura.

And for Mr. Obama I will pray. I am heartened by the commitment of many friends who I know did not vote for him, and who are concerned about the direction he might take this nation, to pray for him. I have witnessed this myself, having prayed with others who I know are on the "other side of the fence" politically, and I feel blessed by that. We are all on the same side spiritually, and that is what really matters. Together we can ask God to guide Barack Obama, a fellow Christian, and pray that his heart and mind will stay continually open to God's leading.

It is time for us to pray often and sincerely, turn our hearts toward God, and turn our ears to listen to Him. We must pray for our leaders, whether we agree with all of their policies or not.

Yes, we pray.

R.I.P. Indy

2008-11-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

Our little Indy, whom I wrote about a little while back, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last night, Nov 8.

It's a long story...he had dislocated a hip a couple of weeks back and subsequently we chose to have him operated on rather than having to grow up with a bad leg. He went through the surgery well and was recuperating properly. In the past couple of days he was even gaining enough strength to run and pounce around the house like his old self.

Saturday was a busy day. I was gone all day on a college visit. My husband and sons were home, and reported that Indy was acting just fine all day. Then we all went out to an event for the evening. When I returned home around 8:30, I puttered around on the computer for an hour. At that time I realized I hadn't seen him since I'd come home, which was unusual as he was very social.

I went into my son's room and saw Indy curled up on his blanket on the floor, sleeping. But he didn't respond to me. And then I noticed he wasn't breathing. At this point I began to panic, called Tom into the room...Tom put the kitty on his lap and we tried to see if we could revive him, to no avail. I called the emergeny vet (this was around 10 pm) and they said he might have gone into a coma. We decided to bring him in to determine if anything could be done...As it turned out, he had passed away.

He had lived in our home for just two months. During that time, he became part of our family, bonding with our three dogs and peacefully co-existing with our other two cats. He was a funny cat who cheered us up with his sweet and loving personality. He loved belly rubs and pouncing on feet. He would meow loudly at the water bowl when it was empty in the morning. You wouldn't even have to pet him to get him to purr -- just seeing one of us got him purring, which certainly was a great expression of love. We were just getting to know him, and looked forward to enjoying the next ten or so years with him, when suddenly he was gone.

His loss has been especially hard on Tom, who brought him home, and James, who became very close to him.

Indy, we love you and will miss you.

My thoughts on the historic election of Barack Obama

2008-11-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

History was made last night. I'm still taking it in, with joy. The sight of a dream fulfilled was overwhelming. Many thoughts fill my head and tumble out on the keyboard....

I haven't lived nearly as long as that 106 year old lady that President-Elect Obama talked about last night. She's got 60 years on me. But I do remember JFK. I remember Dr. King. My dad went to the March on Washington in 1963, and I remember my family talking about that small act of support for people who deserved equal rights. I remember that terrible day in 1968...well, two terrible days that year where we lost men of vision. I remember the nightly news reports from a faraway jungle where our boys fought and died. I remember Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, the day Nixon resigned, and Jimmy Carter, the man of faith from Plains, Georgia who wasn't afraid to speak the truth even though it made him terribly unpopular...I remember the day Reagan took office and the hostages were freed. I remember "solidarnosc" in Poland, "perestroika" in the Soviet Union, and finally the Berlin Wall coming down and the end of the Soviet regime. I remember voting for Bill Clinton, from Hope, Arkansas. I remember the painfully protracted election of 2000. And I remember 9/11...and Katrina. So I've lived through a good bit of history.

Yesterday, I voted for Barack Obama, with the hope of making history. Last night, I watched in awe as it unfolded before us on TV. History really happened...and I'm still processing it.

John McCain is a man of integrity. If he had won last night, I would have been disappointed, but I would have been relieved because I never believed the talk about him bringing 4 more years of Bush-style politics. He would have changed things...not as much as I feel our country needs, but he would have moved us in a better direction. I am sorry he did not have the chance to serve as president earlier on, as I think he would have served well and we would not be in so many difficult situations now if he had been in charge for the past 8 years. Enough about that. I admire him for his gracious speech last night, and even for his ability to take himself lightly during his appearances on Saturday Night Live. That's a small thing, I know, but not everyone in his position would be willing to get on national TV and poke fun at his own campaign. He is a good man.

Barack Obama has my support and my prayers as he heads to the White House. He enters this job with overwhelming responsibilities and challenges and all of us need to give him support, prayer and good will.

I have many more thoughts swirling around in my head right now -- a dream fulfilled, a mandate for change, a good man and his family in need of many many prayers. Whatever our political persuasion, whether we are jubiliant or disappointed...let us put aside fear and do what we can to bring our country together. There is too much at stake to be divisive. Fear and division is not of God.

Hiatus

2008-10-29T10:49:00.001-04:00

Sorry...it's been too long.

Let's just say I've been busy being a Marching Band Mom. And a mom to a cat with dislocated hip. And a mom to a senior who has been applying to colleges and filling out scholarship applications and experiencing stress. And a Working Mom. And a Mom Who Goes to Political Rallies just for the heck of it. And a Church Lady (but a cool church lady). And just overall busy mom.

So no time to write. But I will soon.

Compare and Contrast: U2 and Linkin Park

2008-10-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

I don't pretend to be an expert on either band. I've listened to U2 for years and years on the radio, and I like them, but I'm not a "fan." They are one of the great bands of the past 25 years. I hear Linkin Park on the radio (when my son has his station on) and so far I like their music (even their nihilist-screamo "Given Up").

I have a long musical memory, having been exposed to pop music waaaay back in the early 60s, when my sister was a young teen and I was a tot. I remember seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. The only modern musical epoch I missed out on was most of the 1990s, as I was busy raising little kids of my own. We listened to a lot of Raffi. They didn't grow up on Nirvana. Around 2002, as my kids got older, I started hearing and paying attention to current music.

In the past couple of years, I've heard tunes that directly harken back to older songs. I'm not talking about mash-ups, remixes, clips mixed into other songs or outright ripoffs. I'm referring to seriously composed music that grabs musical themes from older influences.

Anyway, every time I hear Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day" I want to start humming U2's "With or Without You." Click on the links and let me know what you think (warning, the Linkin Park video contains street riot scenes) (and warning to female readers, the U2 video features Bono when he was young and hot...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_eEE12R8Gw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEfSnjL0pd8

Sometime I'll pontificate on why Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" reminds me of the Beatle's "Nowhere Man"

Accountability

2008-09-25T16:41:00.001-04:00

As I've written about before, our family financial situation is going through a time of accountability. What we've learned in the first couple of weeks of our Crown small group study has been life changing...even though my behaviors haven't changed significantly YET (I can burn through a $20 bill in a week on coffee, a lunch out, more coffee), I have learned a tremendous amount about my broken relationship with money and how it impacts my relationship with God. This is more than I can write about in one post, and I will return to it.

Basically I am learning...no...accepting...that "it's all God's." Not my money, but God's. I get to use it, and I need to learn how to be discerning with it, and pray about how to save it and spend it.

Accountability is good. And necessary. Today I took another step on this road. I joined Weight Watchers, for the first time in my life.

God put me on this earth to do His work. I'd better take good care of myself.

Just as with our money, I felt I didn't need help with managing my weight. I avoided weight loss groups like the plague. At one point, I joined a TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group, because a friend was leading it. It was useful and I lost a little weight, but I didn't stick with it. Their newsletters always showed a lot of septegenarians celebrating 30 years with TOPS...I just wasn't inspired.

Well, the Lone Ranger approach isn't working anymore. I eat fairly healthily. I get some exercise (not enough). But I'm 46 years old, and the metabolism, along with general sleep deprivation, is causing me to just not lose, and to very slowly gain. Not good.

A coworker has recently lost 100 lbs on Weight Watchers. A dear friend has just lost 50 lbs. They both look terrific and are really pleased with the program. As a state worker, I also have a great deal, a 50% reimbursement once I prove I have attended 15 sessions through our workplace Weight Watchers group. So today I decided it was time. I don't have anything to lose. But weight.

I couldn't believe how terrified I was when I actually filled out the paperwork. I had no idea I would react that way.

Please pray for me as I embark on this journey.

Something's Happening

2008-09-15T22:56:00.001-04:00

We had our first ever Crown Financial Ministries small group for a PCC group tonight, led by Russ and Anna. This is a big step in the life of our church...it's a much needed ministry, especially in these troubled financial times. Russ and Anna recently completed the Crown training, and I feel confident that they will be capable leaders.

There's a lot of accountability in this process. Lots of homework. Scripture memorization. Working together as a couple--whoa--on finances. Learning to manage our finances God's way, instead of obeying the world. I wrote about this whole issue back in July, you may want to check out my personal experience with debt and worldly handling of money. Someone at the group this evening told me that this post was a great encouragement to her...I was humbled.

Everyone in our group of ten is very enthusiastic and ready to go through the course. I think we are all expectant of some serious growth, both in our understanding of stewardship and spiritually. Not just expectant, but hungry. Which is what God wants us to be for Him.

Anyway, this group is an answer to prayer. We also had another answer to prayer this evening relating to my husband's job situation. It's God's timing. A couple of little things happened this evening on the way to small group that showed me that God was in this situation.

The final evidence of God's timing was when I put on the radio on the drive home. Sanctus Real is one of my favorite groups, and their song came on the radio. Here are the lyrics to "Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)". I was pretty choked up by the time I reached the driveway. I think this is what God is about to do for us and our relationship to money through this course...change us...

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

[Chorus]Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Revaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your
just climbing aimlessly over these hills

So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...To...

[ Chorus]

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to to release all my held back tears
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Something heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out

My friend Ray

2008-09-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

...has a blog going now and he's off to a great start.

It's called, "The Tick" which sort of has to do with the ticking of a clock, and also the comic book character. I personally don't like ticks, but I do like Ray a whole lot, and he's a good writer.

We were in small group with him and his wife Daleen for about a year. They are great people. Ray is now my "coach" now that I'm also a small group leader. He loves digging into his Bible reference books when a tough question comes up. His love for God's Word is an inspiration to me.

Indy!!!

2008-09-13T10:39:00.000-04:00

Here he is, cuter than cute. We are trying to get him to respond to his name, and when he gets better at that I will allow him outdoors to hang with the other kitties.

Cool beans!

2008-09-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

I got a "guest blogger" spot on Powhatan Community Church's blog! Check it out.

Beth asked me to write something up after I made some passing comments about my experience. Being that I was home sick yesterday, and made a decision not to do housework, not to deal with bills or paperwork, not to watch TV, etc, I literally spent the entire day on the computer, mostly working on this essay.

I really like to write. And draw. And paint. And help the church communicate truth in interesting ways. More on that later though.

Please enjoy my thoughts in a slightly different venue...and please post a comment! thanks!

Praying

2008-09-11T17:29:00.001-04:00

I'm praying for Neil Landini, prayers of thanks that he survived a major fall and didn't suffer major injuries to his head, neck or spine. Praying for quick and uncomplicated recovery.

Praying for Nick Fox who has been in a coma but is struggling to come out of it. And for his family and friends who have been by his bedside for over a month helping him.

For several babies who have just been born recently, and one preborn who is going through some medical trials. For strength for their families and their good health.

For a toddler who lost some limbs to meningitis, who is now receving top of the line medical treatment.

For my friend who lost her firefighter brother on 9/11/01. In thankfulness for his sacrifice.

For our troops everywhere.

For our citizenry to make wise, informed decisions and listen for the truth through the hype and spin.

I'm also praying for myself because right now my cold symptoms are getting worse and I have to go drive around. For alertness and safety.

thank you God. Amen.

Trading Pop Beads for Pearls

2008-09-11T08:59:00.000-04:00

Home for a sick day today...resting and using the time to do some things I never have time to do...

This morning, for instance, I've been listening to Mark Beeson, senior pastor at Granger Community Church. GCC took part in the Reveal survey back in January, just as our church did. What Granger (f0unded 1986) learned from their survery results shook them to the core.

If you have some time, Mark's July 3, 2008 message is worth a listen or view. The message is entitled "Trading Pop Beads for Pearls." (it's at the bottom of the page).

The good news for GCC: they found their church had a healthy mix of mature Christ followers and seekers attending. But they also found out things that that caused them to greatly change how they "do church." For instance, many respondents, who consider themselves Christ followers, did not have a sound basis in Biblical teaching on God, grace, or salvation. Something wasn't being communicated effectively. Faith was not being developed.

So, this July, Granger transformed their services, programs and ways of doing things to speak to current needs. They are framing this change as moving from Chapter 1 of their church life into Chapter 2. Change happens. How do we deal with it, respond to it, and embrace it?

It's fascinating. Worth watching...you'll need about an hour.

Note to my PCC readers...I'm not suggesting we do anything the way they do. They are in different stage in the life of their church. Each church is unique. But this message did drive home to me that we cannot and never should take the way we "do church" for granted. We have to do as God leads. While it's easy and comforting to hold on to the "pop beads, " ultimately we have to trade them in for "pearls " if we are to live out Christ's Great Commission.

The Kitten

2008-09-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

We adopted a new kitten last Thursday.

After several days of debate, his name is now "Indy" (as in Indiana Jones, or as my daughter suggested, the element Indium - don't ask why because I can't explain that except to say she's in AP Chemistry this year). He's rather adventurous, willing to scale heights and take on nosy dogs 20 times his size. So Indy, he is.

I didn't want another cat. We have two kitties now, from our all time high of six back in upstate NY. We also have 3 big labradors and I am just not into having more pets. I've got 3 kids to put through college after all.

I called home on Thursday night after working hard at football concession all evening, under the heat lamps. It was 10:10 pm, I smelled like french fries and just wanted to go home, shower and go to bed. James answered the phone.

"Mom? You need to talk to dad about something when you get home. But Christina told me not to tell you."

I got a knot in my stomach. My imagination started running wild with the possibilities.

"WHAT did she tell you not to tell me about? I have to know, I won't be able to concentrate on driving home if you don't tell me!"

"Well...Dad brought home a cat...the guy at work told him if he couldn't take the cat it was going to the SPCA..." (insert ominous movie music here) "...it's really cute! And dad says he'll take care of it!"

Riiiight.

I grumbled all the way home. "I can barely afford the pets I do have, and he wants another cat." grumble grumble. I was all ready to hate this cat.

I tried to give him away immediately. Via text messaging, on my way home. This happened to be during John McCain's acceptance speech at the RNC. Half the USA is watching our possible next president at that moment, and I'm trying to give away a cat.

True Twitter conversation:

conniek: Anybody want a kitten?
bethb: Kitten???? It's politics time!

Well, obviously nobody else wanted a cat. At least not Beth.

So I got home, rescued him from the confines of our downstairs bathroom, and there he was...little...and orange...and white...and stripey. With big amber and black eyes. And a really loud purrrr.

His adorableness washed over me. When I finally went to sleep about 3 hours later he was laying on my chest, purring happily and loudly. I am his mama cat.

Purr.

Sarah Palin

2008-09-04T13:53:00.000-04:00

Her speech was worth watching. But she owes me an hour of sleep. Even though the speech wasn't particularly late into the night, I was dead tired and stayed up longer than I should have to watch her and today I'm both tired and caffienated and cant concentrate at all....

back to Sarah...

She comes off as very down to earth. I was fairly impressed. No, she's not a great orator, but she gets her point across clearly.

I don't agree with her party and really dislilked the attacking rhetoric against Obama, though I realize that's just part of the political landscape. I wish negative campaigning would just go away. She's preaching to the choir there, she should have spent more time talking about policy, and less on the attack. I realize this is the traditional campaign role of the VP, but I'm just tired of it. We need real, thoughtful answers to problems from our candidates, not a lot of trash talk.

I only heard one real policy statement from her, which was to say that she will support programs for special needs children. I'm all for that. Of course, it's too soon for her to say much of anything else.

If the Republicans win, hers will be the most attractive looking executive family to grace DC since Jack, Jackie, Caroline and John John.

My big question for her is: if she has more excutive experience than either Sens. Obama or Biden, as she so proudly stated last night, then does also mean she have more executive experience than Sen. McCain?

She also mentioned a lot of the bad economic conditions we have right now, saying the Democrats will make it worse. Well, many of these problems developed in the last 8 years with corporations given a green light to do whatever they wanted...under whose watch???

I get tired thinking about the next two months...

All in all, I've decided that though I'd greatly prefer a Democratic win in November, if we end up with McCain and Palin, it will be better than Bush-Cheney. It absolutely has to be. They have to take very quick action to bolster this economy and help the millions of middle class people like me who are struggling just to make ends meet. Or else they will be out in 2012...

I was also just informed that last night Cindy McCain was wearing clothing and jewelery worth approximately $300,000...perhaps she'd like to pay off my mortgage?

Well, I'm off to be a Band Mom tonight. Powhatan Football home opener has been moved up due to impending Hanna-ness. Perhaps I will get to catch McCain's acceptance speech when I get home. But I'm not losing any more sleep...

What's the difference between a Pit Bull and a Band Mom? Pit Bulls aren't allowed to work in the concession stand...

Summer 08

2008-09-02T12:18:00.000-04:00

Wow. Summer's over. The kids are back at school.

Summer flew by.

Started off with a bee sting on my hand while I was attempting to leaf blow an area that had a hidden nest. This necessitated a trip to the ER. A couple of weeks later it was a bladder infection. My kids also had some upper respiratory and ear situations that took us to the good doctor. Late summer saw some dental issues - with Will going for an orthodontic eval, and Christina getting her wisdom teeth out just last week. Whew!

My minivan also saw it's share of visits to the "doctor" - early in the summer it got whacked in the front passenger door and fender while parked, and I drove with an non working door for about 2 weeks until the insurance money came through to repair it. A few days after the repair, a tire blew as we were driving on Rt. 60, fortunately I was able to pull off in a parking lot and my boys and I got some assistance from the gentleman living nearby. Then the brakes started going, so back in the shop. Now Tom is working on using body filler on the little dings that have accumulated over the years...one of these days the van will look real good again but for now it's sort of speckled. It's got over 178,000 miles on it and I'm hoping I can get a couple more years out of it...maybe it can hold on till James graduates from college in 2019!

Christina attended the VCU Summer Arts Intensive, and so lived on campus for 3 weeks (not including weekends, she opted to come home to work and see her boyfriend). It was an interesting experience, not as college-y as she had hoped as much of it was like camp. Being a senior, she's anxious to move on and hit campus - somewhere- and being under the watchful eye of undergrads for three weeks was a little more than she had bargained for. Still, she learned some photography techniques and had the experience of living in the dorms.

Will attended Passways in Wingate, NC with a group of wonderful youth and adult leaders from our church. It was an awesome experience all around for him, and has helped him mature greatly.

James attended the first Engineering Camp held in Powhatan, it was very well run and they did a lot of interesting things (including 2 field trips) in the 7 half-days and one full day that it was held. The price was low, too, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a middle or junior high schooler who even has a slight inkling of an interest in engineering.

I stayed very busy at work...July and August are not slow times around VCU's Division of Student Affairs. We were running info tables every day during orientation, and then there was all the publication and promotional work I and my student employees churn out in preparation for move in and Welcome Week. I'm glad it's done for yet another year, and everyone is back in class and the hoopla has died down. Welcome Week had a big firey kick off a block away from my office, which added another element of chaos to my week...

We got to Virginia Beach 3 times, and that was the closest thing to a vacation we managed to do this year. Had some get togethers with friends; didn't get up to DC to see my family at all (mutual busy-ness and the price of gas contributed to this). Went to Busch Gardens twice. Spent a lot of time at the YMCA pool. Got out to Holliday Lake State Park near Appomatox a couple of weeks back when I was so sick of being home I just had to go someplace we'd never been before that was within an hour's drive. Nice lake. At their concession stand, you can attempt to eat a 24-inch steak sandwich called "the General Grant." No kidding. If you finish it, you get a T-shirt that says "I surrendered to General Grant - Holliday Lake State Park - Appomatox, VA" and get your picture on the wall of fame.

My home computer ailed, and I inadventently killed it off completely by not following instructions. I'm very thankful for my niece and nephew stepping in and helping out with this situation; she contributed her old laptop with a non working screen, and he updated it for our use. Now it's connected to my monitor and at least we are becoming functional again.

Pretty much there was one eventful thing going on each week, whether medical, technological or travel-related. I'm thankful everyone stayed healthy overall, we had no injuries.

Summer unofficially ended for me last Monday, when at 6:55 pm we rode the final ride on the "Loch Ness Monster" at Busch Gardens. After that, it rained for several days and felt like fall. Now, the weather has returned for the moment to being hot and sunny. Still, school is on again and we are collectively turning our thoughts to an extremely busy fall. Marching Band competitions...football games...new church series...Christmas production preparations...the list goes on...

Happy Fall!

I survived Welcome Week 08!

2008-08-25T00:25:00.001-04:00

VCU Welcome Week started off in grand style, with a 3 alarm fire just a block away from my office. It was a biggie. We stood outside watching it, some of us old timers comparing it to the fire of "ought-five" when the under construction RAMZ Hall went up in blazes that jumped across Broad Street (the biggest one in 30 years, they said, though I had wished it had been the biggest since Richmond burned in 1865). Anyway, fires are always an interesting way to start a semester. About an hour into the event, the power was cut off within a six block radius, so Siegel Center was shut down. My office was pitch black. There was no telling when power would be restored so I went home.

Tuesday was fairly uneventful, though my boss and a coworker and I went down to Monroe Park for the first annual Spirit Walk, which led to convocation at the Landmark Theater. I won't say too much about it, except that there's room to grow with this new tradition. Aaron Gilchrist, a VCU grad and local news anchor, gave it his best pep rally talk. I could see him being on the Today Show someday. A bunch of alumni in suits gave some short speeches. The Clover Hill High School marching band was on hand to provide what VCU cannot provide for itself. At least, not yet. nuff said from this band mom.

Wednesday was All Hall Basketball, Dodgeball and Fitness. We had a decent crowd. We gave away 800 shirts. We gave away a whole lotta pizza. People played ball. They played 2 1/2 hours of dodgeball. A bunch of folks exercised. It wasn't as crazy as years past, but still a success. I didn't get out of there till 11 pm.

Thursday was the first day of classes. I get used to having my crew there full time with me during the summer, and suddenly they are back to appearing and disappearing at random times, sorting out their schedules, comparing notes on professors and trying to get the last bit of partying in their evening schedules before serious work begins. Thursday felt like Friday, but there was still a whole day to go.

Friday we had our staff luncheon, which was fine. Free food. Free candy. Saw my old boss who came down for a visit. Stopped at the SOVO fair late in the afternoon...it filled the entire Siegel Center arena. Went home and melted down.

11:30 Friday night, got a text from the VCU alert system: ALL the IT systems were down due to a water main break. This was a first, and an appropriate end to Welcome Week.

Fire and flood. Welcome to campus!

I survived Welcome Week 08!

2008-08-25T00:25:00.000-04:00

Sarah Brawley at Common Groundz

2008-08-16T21:52:00.000-04:00

Tonight I saw a young woman take a step of faith...surrounded by family and a number of her friends, Sarah performed her original music at Common Groundz, a coffehouse in Richmond. She is gifted, and has sung worship songs and even led worship a number of times at church. But this time she was putting herself "out there" in a new environment. Her voice. Her guitar playing. Her songs. Her sisters backing her up on one song. A friend backing her up on guitar for two songs, so she could be free to be more expressive in her performance.

She had been nervous, but really didn't show it. She has great stage presence. Her songs were mostly about love from a young person's perspective...new love, celebration of commitment, uncertainty, and even breakups. Different perspectives on a common experience.

What impresses me most, and inspires me most, is that she is using her God-given gift, responding to the call placed in every artist's heart - to create and share it with the world. I'm really proud of her, and look forward to seeing where this path leads her.

Worship Leaders

2008-08-14T16:37:00.000-04:00

http://churchrelevance.com/top-10-pet-peeves-about-worship-leaders/

A pretty interesting list.

Wish I had time to post more. Still crunch time at work. Time to go home.

Crunch Time!

2008-08-07T09:14:00.000-04:00

It's August. I used to take vacation in August (back when we lived in upstate NY, and by Aug 3 it would be getting into the low 50s at night and leaves were inching toward brown...we'd go south for a week and grab a little more summer). Now I take my vacations in late June or early July. I have to.

It's August, which means, at VCU, that the students are about to descend like locusts (smart, creative and uniquely dressed locusts). Our job is to welcome them in grand style, let them know what services they can take advantage of through Student Affairs, and generally help them adjust to life on campus.

Classes begin August 21. Between now and then are the busiest 3 weeks of my entire year. Personally, after that date, I can tack on two more weeks of busyness as my crew at home gets ready for the start of school. Next year, my eldest will transition into college, plus work, and the start of the public school year. Start praying for me now.

Anyway, I haven't had time to blog. Also very busy with church planning, which I really enjoy. Check out the latest blog post at Powhatan Community Church (the one about "I Cheated") which I sure didn't write but I put in a long comment. I thought about what I'd say as I rode in with my husband to work this morning at --eek -- 5 am. OK, it was written pre-coffee but the thought is sincere. The whole discussion is fascinating. This is what jazzes me while I sort through 61 boxes of promotional T-shirts for college students.

The radio in the fitness room adjacent to my office is playing Green Day's "Wake me up when September ends." How about "Wake me up when August ends?"

Young people I am proud of...and inspired by

2008-07-29T23:26:00.000-04:00

Christina, for honing her photographic talent these past 3 weeks (and creating some great art), getting some further insight into college life, and for her tremendous adaptability.

Will, for the personal and spiritual growth he experienced at camp, and his relentless pursuit of music, skating and anything creative.

James, for exploring a possible career path at engineering camp this month, and for his amazing ability to understand NFL football.

My niece Marina, for writing prolifically, having several articles published, being interviewed on NPR, and publishing a witty I-report on CNN.com, along with her husband Adam...

Adam, who married Marina a year ago (July 28) and during this past year earned his doctorate in molecular biology, writes and does stand up comedy, and got a gig on the new TV show Food Detectives, which debuted this week.

Plus my students...Jordy, who recently got engaged...Brad, who survived a bike-car accident and most recently tamed an attack kitten...Susan, who earned the honor of continuing in VCU's prestigious theater program, and Mark, who spent much of last year slaying the financial aid dragons and getting tougher and wiser in the process.

You guys amaze me.

William

2008-07-26T21:28:00.000-04:00

My son Will got back last night from Passways camp in Wingate NC. He went with a group of youth and chaperones from our church, and met up with about 400 other kids, mostly from VA and NC (some were even from Powhatan, but had come with other church groups).

Long story short, he came back changed. When we send groups out on mission, or to retreats, camps, etc. we pray for them at Sunday service, and at their send off right before they leave. We almost always pray that they will come back changed, that their experience will challenge them and bring them closer to God. This did indeed happen for him over the 6 days he was at Passways, where for part of the time he served by working on house construction in the local community. He had some amazing stories about God's grace in his life. I am very very thankful.

On the final day, he was named Honor Camper of the Day. Wow.

2008-07-25T07:13:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be writing about stewardship for a while in the coming weeks. Here's some random thoughts. I would appreciate your randoms thoughts on the subject, and also any scriptural references you can pass on to me. I would like to have a meaningful conversation on this subject.

We are called to be good stewards of the resources God has placed in our care:

Our souls
Our minds
Our bodies
Our families
Our pets
Our homes
Our money
Our possessions
Our work
Our time
Our natural environment
Our nation

Anything missing from this list?

Roov.com

2008-07-24T23:20:00.000-04:00

I just joined ROOV.com, a new social networking site. Check it out. It's cool and it's Christian.

The Opposite Way

2008-07-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

This is my current favorite song, by Leeland. It is powerful. It is worshipful. It makes you think. It's different. You can get a free download at http://leelandonline.com/oppositeway/. Take a look at their short video explanation on that site as well.

Living in the same town

For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling
You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way

God's Encouragement

2008-07-23T06:56:00.000-04:00

It's only about 5 hours since I posted in the middle of the night. I never really got any sleep, my mind too consumed with heavy duty issues. However, got my Purpose Driven Life daily devotional in my inbox this morning, and it is definitely an answer to what I wrote earlier. You can read it on the web here.

Let the Spirit change your way of thinking. Ephesians 4:23 (CEV)

Stuck in a Deep Hole

2008-07-23T01:10:00.000-04:00

Debt is like a deep dirt hole that you can seemingly never claw your way out of.

Once again have found myself in a situation where I'm over my head. I thought I would have funds to cover something big that I committed to this summer , and then the tax refund was way less than I expected due to an error on my part. The stimulus payment was smaller too. Ding. Now I'm facing some scary financial stuff in the next couple of weeks.

Wow, God is pushing me to deal with this...how...? I asked a family member for help, which he probably cannot do at this point. We even called about one of those "preapproved" offers, that didn't pan out at all. Which, while disappointing on the surface, actually gave me a sense of relief. They won't let me get in more trouble. Credit's dried up.

Like an addict, I began spinning wild thoughts. Yeah, I cut up the credit cards months ago. But I still have the account numbers, and some of the balances have been paid down a little. Why not dip into that? I'm starting to see little tracks on my arms that look like dollar signs and interest rates.

Satan is having a FIELD DAY with me and the money.

And as hard as I try, as many times as I say "It's not my money but your's Lord" I cannot really believe it or live that in the depths of my soul. As much as He's told me I have to be obedient, and lay aside some of my dreams and get this under control, I still rebel. I'm not even sure what obedience and good stewardship means, what it looks like. What it FEELS like.

This is a very painful confession, because I consider myself (and I think others consider me) a very faith-filled person. Yet, despite my major brokeness, God still uses my gifts and talents for His kingdom, sometimes in very powerful ways. This is the extent of his incredible grace...even though I continue to live in sin in this way, He counts me as one of His own and works through me...That is incredibly humbling, in a good way.

But I've also had humbling experiences of a less pleasant sort. I've had people mad at me face to face for letting them down on promises related to money. I've humbled myself to my dad and my in-laws in the past year and have been chastised by them over this. Disappointment. There are the calls from creditors. There are the monthly negotiations with one credit card company or another. For goodness sakes, I haven't gotten this under control and I'm in my mid-forties? This is my addiction...living a lifestyle of "priceless" and "life takes Visa" and "Congratulations we've increased your credit limit" for most of my adult life.

I allowed myself to be conditioned by these messages, allowed them to appeal to my greed. Greed is sin, and sin always has consequences. I could use the excuse that I wasn't taught much about financial management growing up. It's valid. But it gets me nowhere and blame is just another form of denial, which is a typical addict's reaction. And blame is also sin. I have to take responsibility.

So...what would Jesus do? What would He have me do?

I'm up late going over my budget. Visiting the Dave Ramsey website. Downloading a debt snowball calculator and figuring out, yet again, the slow but steady way out of the longer term debt. That stuff however, doesn't scare me, it's manageable even though it's an unpleasant ripoff. What scares me is the horrible cash flow issue my husband and I are facing, where once again we get a grip on some of that dirt and it shakes us loose back to the bottom of the hole.

(Millions of people across this country are facing this same reality. Many have it worse. They can't afford their home anymore because they were sold a "bill of goods" in the form of adjustable rate mortgages. The fact is, the predatory lenders had a field day in the 1990s with us greedy consumers. And now the economy is in recession, largely because of the consequences of this greed-fest. Sin always has consequences, and we are facing this on a national level. I also remind myself that billons of people around the world would love to have my life...a nice comfy house, a good job, clean water, clean and reliable food, a relatively safe environment, vehicles that run, freedom of movement, speech and worship...I am very thankful for my blessings. My self-induced financial problems pale in comparison to the harsh lives others lead, over which they have very little control).

Going through budgets and making plans is all necessary, but I've been doing it for months and things have not improved. I'm not living it. I haven't internalized it. I lack faith.

This is the most challenging frontier of my faith journey so far. There's something, or a number of things, I need to unlock in my faith, differnt types of steps I need to take, to actually climb out of the hole in this difficult terrain. The key is to become a good steward of the money we've been entrusted with. Completely. Totally. Let go of it, give it all back to God wholeheartedly. And then He will bless this seemingly hopeless situtation, and I will be able to accept His blessing without trying to twist it to fit my own ends.

How do I do that? Where do I start?

There's a lot of work to be done. And a big breakthrough to deal with. I cannot sleep. But writing about it is better than lying awake in the dark worrying. And so, I ask for your prayers.

"And they will know we are Christian by our T-shirts"

2008-07-16T10:53:00.000-04:00

I happened across this blog post, about the author, Randy Williams,' visit to the Christian Retail Association trade show.

Amusing. The final couple of sentences really sum it up. Much of what I see in the "Christian" market is just aping the secular market to be cool and sell. But the message is lost. I mean, what does a "Church Girls Gone Wild" shirt really communicate?

We are called to act in this world, but we are not to conform to it. While I could go on about issues of modesty in dress, that's a tangent I'll have to save for another day. My issue here is about the giant market of stuff that has exploded, supposedly to help us bear our witness.

A Christian retailer aimed at millenials has recently opened up in my area. They were running ads on the local Christian rock station that reminded listeners to get their gear so they'd be "prepared" for an upcoming 3 day Christian music festival. This really bugged me. I've been to that music fest, it's at an amusement park. So to be prepared, you need some spending money for food, you need good shoes and lots of water, you need sunscreen. For the concert, you need a flexible attitude about lawn seating, you need a mind and body that is willing to have fun and dance, and most of all you need a heart that is ready to worship. Do you need Christian themed stuff?

What do I know, I'm 46 years old. I only had punk rock T-shirts when I was 16.

Maybe, if you are 16, you do need that stuff. It expresses who you are and what you believe. BUT...in 30 years will that future 46 year old still need Christian stuff to show they are Christian, instead of living a life fully based on God's Word? As Randy Williams says, "They will know we are Christian by our T-shirts. Ugh."

Adding to my struggle over this issue is that I'm a "Christian artist," that is, I draw and paint art that has Biblical themes or relates to the Christian walk in some way. At some point soon I'm going to start selling that art, most likely prints and cards. My hope is that my artwork will bring glory to God in the hearts of those who view(consume) it. Perhaps one day I'll even have a booth at that same trade show, or at a Christian music festival. But I struggle--alot--with intertwining faith and commerce.

This material aspect of American Christian culture is here to stay, and in many ways it's a good thing. Why not have cool stuff that expresses our faith? Better than wearing cool stuff that says nothing or something negative, after all.

However, we MUST strive for excellence in expressing our faith, in any and every medium. We can have fun doing it. We can poke fun at ourselves and our pop culture. We can wear T-shirts that proclaim our faith in creative and witty ways. But there's a fuzzy line out there in the world of stuff, that once it gets stepped over, no longer glorifies God. It's just "schlocky" merchandise. Or music. Or art. Or clothes. And then it's just glorifying someone's pocketbook.

Wordle

2008-07-15T23:12:00.000-04:00

I just discovered Wordle, which creates cloud lists from any text you feed it. I am having some late night amusement with this neato tool, and studying my Bible verses too, by plugging in verses from Biblegateway.com. OK, that doesn't substitute for Bible study. However, Wordle is great. Give it a try.

My art is online

2008-07-15T10:05:00.001-04:00

I promised myself I'd start scanning in my sketches and posting them to flickr. Here are the first ones. Much more to come. Please enjoy and leave comments!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conniekottmann/

Sacrifices

2008-07-15T05:54:00.000-04:00

I Just sent a reply to my pastor's blog entry about his sacrificial act of removing the TV from his bedroom this weekend. I had more to say than belonged there, so here is my full thinking for the moment...

Brian's removal of the TV in his bedroom was prompted by the Sunday message he prepared and delivered on Abraham's sacrifice of Issac in the Old Testament. In this test, Abraham proved that he was fully faithful to God, and was willing to sacrifice his life's dream - his son, who had been promised by God to be the father of a great nation - because God told him to do it. Fortunately at the last moment, the boy was spared, as Abraham had proved his faith.

Brian challenged us to consider what in our life gets in the way of our relationship with God...and then do something about it. In his case, it was that distracting TV in his bedroom, stealing his time away that could be used for deepening his relationship with God and his own family.

So...I'm thinking about what gets between me and God. Same answer that I've had for years: money (or the lack thereof). Usually when we think of people who put money before God, we think of the rich person who works massive overtime to make even more. Or they have so much and are so miserly with their riches. Or they have to have the latest thing, experience, etc...like the folks in those "priceless" commercials, buying "priceless" experiences and all the pricey stuff that goes along with it that you end up putting on the high-price (interet) credit card they are touting.

In my case, it's not the greed for even more riches, but the consequences of very poor financial choices that we've made over the years. Consequences that will continue to take years to overcome. While I won't go into details here, let's just say it ties in directly with poor decisions related to the sale of our former home (we were asking too much in a depressed area, and it ended up on the market for 18 months...goodbye savings), and our flagrant use of credit cards to make up the difference when we had income shortfalls and to help finance our move. This was 5 years ago, and we are still in the middle of it.

So what does this have to do with sacrifice? One of the hardest things I've done was finally cut up the credit cards. That was about 6 months ago, and while I can't charge anything new, I'm still living with payments that will continue for a couple more years at least. I also have a resistant attitude about dealing with money, would rather stick my head in the sand. Yes, I've made budgets, but they are on on an excel spreadsheet, serving more as a theoretical document than an actual roadmap.

This stupidity has to stop. God is telling me it has to stop. I have to detach from money, and not let it get in the way of living for Him. It's His money. I just get to use it. And I haven't been wise about it at all...I think if I had been one of the guys in that parable, I wouldn't have just hid my master's money...I would have spent it stupidly on something "priceless."

I don't know how hard it was for Brian to actually pull the plug and move that TV out of his bedroom. I once had a TV in my bedroom for several months and decided it was too annoying, and moved it out without a wince. It didn't have a big place in my life. I think it was considerably harder for him, because it had become part of his lifestyle, a way to "unwind" that he ultimately found was isolating him from what matters most to him.

I have been worrying about money/lack of money/debts for quite a number of years. I have to sacrifice this love of money and start dealing with it the way God intended...a tool to be used to provide for our needs and to serve His purposes. Today and in the days ahead I'll be humbly asking God to strengthen me to sacrifice my obession with money issues, and live the way He wants me to.

Sickness

2008-07-10T17:12:00.000-04:00

I have been walking around with a bladder infection for 10 days without realizing it was as bad as it was. After trying the "cranberry juice cure" and just hoping it was my imagination, I realized this wasn't going away so I got to the doctor. He told me I had a "whopper" of an infection. ew. Well, long story short I'm on two powerful meds. Good news, no appetite (quick weight loss plan?) but bad news, I have to take the meds with food.

I was supposed to go to DC today with the kids. Meet up with my sister, go to some museums, and see my dear friend Emily from Denver who is in the city for a conference and leaves tomorrow. Last night I was in some pain, and realized that driving 2 hours, trooping around the capitol and hanging out for a late dinner was not compatible with resting and healing. So I bailed on my sister. I bailed on Emily. I feel bad. But sometimes you have to make hard choices. Sigh.

What Happens Next?

2008-07-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

I was inspired to change the name of this blog from a line in the new song by Switchfoot, "This is Home." The song is about a person who has left their old life behind and found home in Christ, and a church family. The song conveys a sense of gratitude of finally finding his spiritual home, and expresses his excitement and expectant faith...and then he pops the line, "What happens next?"

I gave my life to Christ 17 years ago, after a long and winding journey to the Cross. As a new Christian I approached my faith with the expectancy of "what happens next." Then for many years, that excitement faded away. Now that experience has returned. My faith has undergone a significant renewal as I move to a deeper level, and serve in new ways. God is moving within me and all around me, in others, in my church, in my community. And I find myself expectantly thinking, wow, God, what happens next?

Funny

2008-07-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

My kid, who will turn 18 in a few months, was rummaging through the "So You're 18...a Handbook on Legal Rights and Responsibilities."

On the section called "How Do I get a Marriage License" (WHAT???) it says "You and your fiance must go to the clerk of the circuit court in the city..."

She read wrong and thought it meant you have to go to Circuit City to get your marriage license. haha. silly kids. now stop reading about marriage licenses...

blogs!

2008-07-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

Just found this neat blog link tool. So I've posted a few of my favorite blogs (out of the many I've got on google reader).

Couple of friends, a couple of inspiring blogs about outreach, and Christian art, and then Tom Wilson, who I'm still grooving on because he's way more than just Biff.

The Challenge

2008-07-06T22:04:00.000-04:00

Wrestling with this.

Living fully for God.
Living obediently in God's leading.
Living sacrificially.
Turning away from a lifestyle that's not fully in line with God's leading.
Am I in God's will in my career?
Am I doing the good but forsaking the great?
How do I know?

Then...
Doing God sized things.
Growing the Kingdom.
Making a difference.
Using my God given gifts fully in His service.

July 4th!

2008-07-04T23:31:00.000-04:00

Had a pretty neat Independence Day. We checked out the first ever Powhatan Patriotic Celebration, which was set on the back lawn of a very large home in a new development called Vista del Lago. We got there just as the ceremony began. There was an orchestra made up of members of both the Richmond and Petersburg Symphonies, set up on the patio under the very large second floor portico. On the portico was a a choir made up of members of 8 local church choirs. These musicians worked hard, besides a very intricately arranged and sung version of the National Anthem, we were treated to patriotic tunes such as "Dixie," "Battle Hymn of the Republic" "God Bless America" and more. Jazzy numbers included a great rendition of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". They ended with the 1812 Overture, which always makes me teary eyed at the end. They even had the cannon effect, and the bells...it was great.

Amazingly, even though I think I know a lot of people in Powhatan, I only recognized about 3 people at this event. There were several hundred in attendance, and everyone was great and polite. There were many veterans in attendance.

We packed a picnic lunch, which was a major effort to pull off, but I felt good about bringing our own food.

The national guard kindly lent a Blackhawk helicopter for the occasion, which visitors could climb into and try out the seats. I didn't climb in but did get a good look.

The highlight of the event for me and my husband, was the flyover of a P51 Mustang WWII era fighter plane. I had never seen one in flight before, and a local gentleman who owns this beauty kindly took it for a ride and ran some maneuvers over us several times. Quite a sight, and sound, and I could imagine that a sky filled with these humming would instill pride or fear, depending upon whose side you were on.

Paul Galanti, a Vietnam vet, former POW and friend of John McCain, gave a speech that reminded us of the deep sacrifices the founders of this country made in order to break free from tyranny. Rep. Lee Ware spoke about the Declaration of Independence, and read from portions of it. I enjoyed his speech, though my husband said he used a lot of "five dollar words."

Lastly, a pipe and drum unit from Richmond performed. They were very good, and fun to watch, but by the time they performed, 3 1/2 hours in the sun and heat, we were done for, and left shortly after their third song.

After a rest at home, I made some dinner, and then it was off to Lake Shawnee where we met up with friends and watched them and others set off numerous fireworks. The show lasted more than an hour, which was fine with me. Fireworks are one of my most favorite things in the world, and that hour or so was pure magic for me.

It's 11:45 and this Independence Day is ready to be history. Every year I enjoy July 4 a little bit more than the year before. There's nothing like it. Happy 232nd birthday, USA...

BTTF III

2008-07-03T14:41:00.001-04:00

Watched Back to the Future III a couple of nights back. Interesting, fun story, but it's my least favorite of the three. Now I'm delving into the bonus stuff on the CDs, how the movies were made, etc. The stuff I never have time to do.

2008-07-01T12:47:00.000-04:00

Best sports story of the year. I dare you not to cry.

Back to the Future

2008-06-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

I've been watching the Back to the Future trilogy over the past few days with my son James. Great fun. Tonight should be Part III, where they go back to the Old West.

Part II is a fascinating intertwining of characters and plots. There are also elements - such as the graveyard scene - that pay homage to one of my other all time favorite movies, "It's a Wonderful Life." Plus, how cool is the hoverboard? OK, folks, it's 2008, and we've only got 7 years to get them to our local skate shops...

My favorite of the three is Part I- it was such a fresh idea and lots of fun. I've always been a fan of Michael J. Fox, and this movie series really showcases his talent. Watching the movies again, though, I realized how impressed I am with Thomas F. Wilson's performances of Biff (in his various incarnations), crazy grandson Griff, and Mad Dog Tannen. This got me wondering "what ever happened to..." so I looked him up online.

Turns out Tom Wilson is now doing stand up comedy, painting nostalgic toys, singing at his church, and blogging, amongst the other typical things that actors do. Very cool! It's neat and inspiring to see creative people investing seriously in their various talents.

Well, I have to make like a tree and get outta here...

Summer

2008-06-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

Summer rushes in...already I've had a bout of poison ivy, and the hornet sting. My hand is much better, swelling way down and a reddish blotch on my index finger.

The end of the spring youth baseball season is upon us. My son's team, the Red Sox, is out of the tournament, but we went down to the field to watch Game 1 of the World Series - between the Orioles and the Cubs (11-12 year olds). Nothing like watching ball on a balmy night, when the sky darkens after 9 pm.

Summer brings with it a whole other schedule - with kids out of school and already bored. What will August be like? Summer crazy schedules, with various work obligations and activities. That's the downside. I am amongst a host of moms wondering how we're going to juggle our schedules and our kids' needs throughout the summer. Camp is getting more and more expensive.

Today was a "rest day" for me, as the doctor wanted my hand to have enough time to heal. But I found myself busier than ever, with a church meeting first thing in the morning, and laundry and papers to organize (I didn't get very far on either). Big art project for church to finalize in the middle of the day as well.

Took James to the library to get some summer reading, as an alternative to his video-centric world. Went for a short walk to the adjacent park, where he insisted on going on (and having me go on) the playground equipment. He's a large 11 year old, and it was a sight to see him on a playground meant for kids half his size. It might be the last time he ventures out there. One minute he's on the brink of the teen years, emulating his brother, and the next minute he's being a little kid again. It was a little bittersweet for me.

Managed to rest in the middle of the afternoon, finally, by forcing myself to watch a video. Was going to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, but the disc didn't seem to work, so I popped in the bonus disc. Interesting stuff - saw what the original Pirates ride looked like at Disneyland 40 years ago. Pretty impressive. I hear nowadays it's all been updated with Jack Sparrow and such. I kind of hope that somewhere they've preserved the original.

Then I visited my next door neighbor, while there the DirecTV guy showed up and told us how to get around the fact that tall trees across the road are blocking our summer access to local channels. A good old set of rabbit ears from Radio Shack should solve the problem. Worthwhile to know.

Then my husband came home, very tired from work and a new schedule that requires he get up at 3:30 am. Not fun. Dinner and bed by 7 pm.

At 7, James and I went down to the ballfield and enjoyed the game. Cubs 7, Orioles 6. Game 2 out of 3 is tomorrow. He's rooting for the Cubbies, and I'm for the O's.

dont mess with da nest...

2008-06-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

typed with one hand...

ok so i stupidly shoved a leaf blower into a pile of leaves on my long neglected deck on saturday, not realizing there was a hornet nest inside! the hornets were like, who's messin' wit our crib, and sent out a hit on me. i got stung on my left index finger. thought it wouldn't be bad asi usually dont react to bee stings. hornets, it turns out, are more poisonous than bees, and by sunday night my whole hand was swollen. by 5 am it was getting numb and very puffy all over the hand. i was seriously concerned the circulation would cut off to my index finger. christina drove me to the er at st francis. they were very nice there, and i ended up with a steriod shot to reduce swelling and meds to fught off infection. also a big ace bandage to keep my hand squished to lower the swelling.

the roids worked amazingly fast. c and i went to grab a light breakfast after i was released, in the hospital cafeteria. while i was eating, i suddenly felt the pressure in my hand abate, and i could wigle my fingers again. my hand is still swollen, but not nearly as much, and it should ease up in the next day or so. fortunately, i had taken my wedding band off last night...

st francis is a lovely hospital, wonderful architectural elements, including a bell tower at the entance that i think is patterned after the one in Assisi. more importantly, the staff was very professional. we were in and out of there in an hour and a half, and that includes breakfast! i was very impressed.

I'm Twittering!

2008-06-13T12:48:00.000-04:00

One of my big goals this summer is to have an Online Presence.

I've had facebook for a couple of years (I don't do apps so dont send me invites). I recently got a myspace - mostly to follow musicians I like and maybe spy on my son. (yes, in technology adoption terms, I'm a laggard, part of the "long tail", my 17 year old daughter gave up on myspace a long time ago). In the past week I've signed up for plaxo, linked in and now twitter. and here i am blogging again. Because I want to be a Serious Blogger.

And I absolutely LOVE Google Reader...though my wonderfully smart nephew is working at Adobe on a rival product that I may need to switch to out of family loyalty.

anyway, I'm now on twitter, and was amazed to find people I never expected to be twittering on there too.

My favorite twitterers right now are Beth, and Paul. Good communicators.

2008-06-05T21:37:00.000-04:00

Just posting so you dont notice my last post was in January.

Taking a break from ebay. Good money but right now too much going on in life.

I am celebrating "Cheap Summer" where we economize and don't go on any biggie vacations. I'm still paying off last years. The credit cards have been cut up long ago.

New Musings.

2008-01-31T07:48:00.000-05:00

OK, I've been gone for 2 months from here and nobody's noticed. Sigh.

I have been busy online though, got an ebay account up and running and making money. Yay.

I have been busy looking for other blogs about personal finance, stewardship, and Christian art.

I was introduced to the nifty tool Google Reader and have been avidly adding links to blogs and such on it. Fun!

I have been getting involved more deeply at church and God is leading me into a new art + ministry direction. I had been praying about this and leaving it open to His leading and He has shown me what He wants me to do.

I have been hard at work trying to reorganize and prioritize our financial situation.

I'm starting up Spanish II at work, es muy interesante. Trying to be a good band mom, baking stuff for bake sales and carting my kid around from practices two nights a week. I'm watching my daughter mature into a young adult with a passion for photography. My 14 year old son is not just a musician, but now his visual artist side is emerging strongly, which is fascinating to see. My youngest is going through the throes of the tween years and is asserting his independence oneminute and back to being the cuddly kid I've known for 11 years the next minute. He loves roller coasters, which is the perfect metaphor for his current stage of life. Hopefully this spring and summer we can ride more actual roller coasters together and maybe that will make the emotional roller coasters a little easier to handle.

I'm watching the little pop up window on my PC tell me I'm low on disk space on my hard drive...how did this happen? Must go investigate.

I promise to make this a blog worth reading. Somehow!

My art

2007-11-27T17:11:00.001-05:00

I'm posting my art.

My favorite magazine reads

2007-11-07T21:12:00.001-05:00

What do I read for fun?

I don't enjoy fiction. My sister, who is a writer, has tried to convince me of the value of fiction. But I have a hard time seeing it. Perhaps in another season of life, it will make more sense to me. Right now, whatever is practical, whatever is useful, whatever is enlightening for living my life better, is what I prefer to read. And I love magazines. Short and sweet and timely.

My favorite magazines include
Outreach - aimed at cutting edge churches and ministries. You can get lots of good ideas of what's going on reaching out to millenials, and innovative and effective ways of communicating the gospel. While they are glad to highlight accomplishments of tiny churches, they put an emphasis on "biggest" and "fastest growing." (Just click on the link and you'll see what I mean) They are an off-shoot of a business that serves the marketing needs of congregations. Still good reading.
Discipleship Journal - I've been reading this for years. Great for deepening your walk with Jesus. Also has a strong emphasis on small group and of course, discipling others. From NavPress.
Pray - also from NavPress. It's an offshoot of DJ...I got it when it first came out in two color format, and now it is a full fledged glossy. So there must be a lot of people out there into prayer!

Yes, I read these for fun.

I also enjoy more traditional fare and vocationally-relevant mom magazines such as Family Circle and Woman's Day. I used to subscribe to them but found year-in/year-out there is a sameness to them. Plus the lucious desserts gracing their covers, coupled with the diet of the month has left me dismayed. Still, they are good reads and convey LOTS of valuable information to anyone who is responsible for a home and family. So I occasionally pick them up at the supermarket. I also enjoy Country Living, which allows me the fantasy of living in a restored farmhouse (I've lived in the real thing and it's not that glamourous).

Nov 2

2007-11-02T14:37:00.000-04:00

Nov 2 always has a spot in my heart. It's my personal David Bowie Day.

I first saw DB in concert at Radio City Music Hall on November 2, 1974. 33 years ago. Wow.

I was 14, and went with my best friend and her mom. This show was part of the latter half of his "Diamond Dogs Tour" where he had scrapped the original staging and incorporated some of the soul music that ended up on his next album "Young Americans." Unfortunately at that time in his life he was pretty coked-out. (Great information found on the Bowie Golden Years site).

Well now I'm 45 and DB is 60; he has long been drug-free and even nicotine free. Which is good. Here's a pic I found of him nowadays, looking very healthy, with his very lovely wife Iman. May he have many more creative years ahead of him.

So happy DB day to all you rock n' rollers.

Just the beginning.

2007-11-01T20:37:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'm starting a new blog. I've got another one, Christian Visual Artists, which is lurking about unnoticed. In the meantime I've found other sites that do what I was trying to do with that one, most notably the Artist's Heart, which I post to once in a while.

My personal problem with blogs is that I think I have to have some really Deep Thoughts before I write. The result is I rarely write anything. Most of my Deep Thoughts show up when I'm not near a computer, and when I am near a computer I'm doing stuff like working, which is hectic and engaging but rarely Deep. Or writing really eloquent emails to friends that aren't meant to be shared with the world. I love writing eloquent emails. I will re-read them lovingly before I send them. Sometimes I'm so proud of them, I will re-read them after they are sent, and think how clever I am to have crafted it.

Since I think I'm so eloquent I've decided I shouldn't keep it to myself, a work-related listserv, or my dearest friends. Maybe I can write blogs that are so wonderful, everyone who sees it will re-read it several times, and think, "Wow, she sure can write. That's is So Well Crafted."

eh.

What I really, really want out of this blog is to make it my home on the net. I've been dabbling in a bunch of nifty web 2.0 applications, and want to pull them all together here so I can share my books, music, websites and whatever else comes along.

So, larger world, here it is. Connie's Deep Thoughts. Lovingly crafted for your consumption.