Welcome Home, Hungary Mission Team!

Cleaning Out

Clutter

Stuff

Treasures

Memories

Junk

Trash

Boxes, bags, baskets, drawers, closets, shelves

Sort

Throw out

Save

Label

Stack

Store

Rest a minute

Then do it some more.

Dancing in the Aisle

A new little video clip made its way round the media world today. The clip shows guests at a wedding waiting quietly in their church pews for the ceremony to begin. At the expected time, the processional music starts, but as an unexpected surprise - the wedding attendants, groom, and bride burst into exuberant dance to make their way down the aisle.

As I skimmed through various online responses to this unusual wedding march, I caught the gist that some found it to be delightful, fresh, and fun; while others found it to be distasteful, disrespectful, and downright rude.

It made me think about matters of the heart and expressions of spirit. How often do we disrespect the feelings of our heart by holding in our spirit? How often do we put decorum over unbridled delight? Respectability over un-capped joy?

A little dancing in the aisle might just be the way to walk down our road today!

Tree Time

When I was a little girl, I liked to climb trees. I liked to climb up in our apple trees with a book and a shaker of salt. I would sit among the branches, eating salted apples picked fresh from the tree and reading tales of the Bobbsey Twins or the Happy Hollisters or other stories that live in books. I liked to climb in our wisteria vines. If I found just the right one, I could sit and swing as if on the front porch of my very own nature-built house. My favorite tree, though, was our holly tree. This tree was thickly covered with an expansive mantle of spiked, prickly leaves. If I ducked down low, I could just make it under the outer branches without getting too badly pricked by the sharp points. Once past the outer layer, the tree opened up nicely on the inside with plenty of space and smooth bare branches, perfect for a little girl's climbing. I particularly liked being in the holly tree because that prickly outer layer provided excellent cover-up for a little girl who might not want to be found. I couldn't be seen through the thick layering of leaves. Who would think to look for me beyond the needle-point edges? No amount of calling or searching brought me from the holly tree until I deemed the time was right.

Looking back on that memory, several analogies of life occur to me. The one I'm thinking of tonight is this: It's not a bad idea to seek and claim places and times of personal retreat. Maybe we all need some kind of holly-tree place to temporarily shut the world out so that no amount of emailing or texting or phoning or IMing or Facebooking or name-calling can bring us from the tree until we are ready to be found. Those places of hidden quiet are important for thinking and dreaming and listening for The Voice that reminds us who we are and why we are here.

Here's to occasionally getting off the road and getting in a tree.

Living in the Betweens

Once we were young. Soon we are old. A lot of life happens in between.

Celebrating the living we do in the betweens of what has been and what is yet to come.

Shhh

The day has been long.

Time to end this song.

Off to bed where I belong.

Shh...Don't say "peep."

I'm fast asleep.

Friends Take Time to Talk

I sat around a table with a group of friends tonight. "Tell us about something special that has happened in your life since we were last together," I said. The friends replied:

1 - Our baby has been born. I'm a mother now!
2 - I lost part of my little finger in an accident with tools. Among other adjustments, I'm having to learn a new way to type.
3 - I have just been told that I have a job!
4 - My wife and I just bought our first house.
5 - Our family just returned from a 3-week vacation out west. Two parents, three children, one car. All great!
6 - My father had a heart attack.
7 - My fractured life is beginning to settle out. Things are calming down.
8 - I had my first colonoscopy.
9 - My youngest child just finished high school. Empty nesting is upon me.

The group was only 9 people. The time since last meeting was only 2 months. The amount of life that had occurred among us in that short time, tremendous.

It makes me think about how important it is to regularly ask each other, "How are you doing? What has been going on?" There are stories to be told of joy, fear, hurt, celebration, loss, change. Friends ask and friends listen. Friends take time to talk with one another as they travel down the road.

Taking It One Step at a Time

I can feel it coming: A week with too much to do and too little time in which to get it done. The classic signs are there - tense feeling in the chest, crowded thoughts in the brain, building impatience at interruption of tasks, decreased time with family and friends, an overwhelming need to make lists.

Why is it I can't picture Jesus getting caught in the crunch of tasks and time? His tasks were certainly more important and He had much less time on earth to get them done.

So, what did He do when tasks and time were tense?
1. Talked it over with His Father.
2. Reached out for His friends.
3. Identified what was important.
4. Took it one step at a time.

There, I think I'm breathing a little easier even now. Remembering what is important, taking it one step at a time.

Weighing In

We bought some scales today. Oh my. Now it's really time to begin the work.

The kind we bought saves your "last weight measured" in its memory, then gives you a comparison reading the next time you step on.

At last reading, you weighed .......... Now you weigh........That is a plus/minus difference of..........."

It's amazing how knowing a little electronic box is keeping track of an aspect of my life makes a difference in what I might or might not do during the day.

It makes me think about other areas of my life that could use some measuring, too. How's my prayer life? How's my service to others? Bible study? Joy of God's presence? Relationship with Him?

If I had a digital scale tracking my spiritual growth, what kind of progress would I see?

Here's to weighing in - with the goal of LOSING in some areas and GAINING in some others.

Taking Stock

What do you do when you are faced with the news that "someone doesn't like you." Does it hurt at first? Then make you mad? Do you find yourself thinking of all the reasons you should be liked? Do you find yourself considering ways "to change" to meet the likings of the other person?

Wouldn't it be great if we could use those times to be sure we like ourselves? Maybe having complaints brought against us by another person is a good time to take stock in ourselves. Do l like who I am? If so, hurrah, continue on! If not, what might I like to change? Not in an effort to please this person or that, but because of a personal choice about who I want to be.

It's always OK to consider making a change in the way we walk our road. It's just important to know why we want to change. I'm remembering a verse I read this week in Galatians which asked, "Who am I trying to please - men or God?"

When we are hit with the hurt that "someone doesn't like me," here's hoping we remember which questions to ask ourselves in response.

Happy Birthday, David!

My second-born turned 25 years old today. Twenty-five years, how can that be? In celebration of his birth and 25 years of life, I'd like to name "Ten Things that are Special to Me about David":

1. He is a very good listener.
2. He makes friends everywhere he goes.
3. He calls me on a regular basis.
4. He instilled in our family the habit of saying a blessing before every meal – even in restaurants.
5. He listens for God.
6. He takes out the trash without being asked – even now when he just comes home for visits.
7. He makes up his bed and hangs up his towel. (Where did he learn that? Not from me!)
8. He suggests books for me to read.
9. He takes the time to speak to people, to use their name, to hug them.
10. He has a great smile. He has a great heart.

David makes my world a better place.

Roadblocks

We had a change in plans occur today. We have been excited for several weeks about an upcoming adventure, only to hit a roadblock in those plans this morning. It looks like our anticipated adventure will not happen because of a roadblock that has been set in place by a situation outside of our control. What's my honest reaction? Anger. Sadness. A big dose of disappointment. A real need to lay blame somewhere for the situation that is messing up our good plans.

What happens when we are driving down the road and encounter a roadblock? Do we stop? Go around? Back up? Lay on the horn and yell angry words? I'm trying to sort that out tonight. I'm trying to remember that roadblocks may be there to protect us from dangers we can't see. Roadblocks may cause us to back up and try a new road we might not have otherwise noticed. Roadblocks may be a way of reminding us we are never really in control.

Here's the good thing about roads: If one gets blocked, there will still be another one open somewhere. Maybe it's best to lay off the horn and open our eyes to discover the new road to be found. Giving thanks for our world of many roads.

Walking Down the Road

"Name your Blog," the directions said. Hmmm. After some thought, the phrase "Walking down the road" seemed right to me. Thereby, it was so entered and I moved on.

It LOOKED like I had moved on, away from the computer and the blogging page, but all throughout the evening, that phrase continued to play itself over and over again in my mind. "Walking down the road, walking down the road...." Suddenly other words were taking their places behind it. I realized I was remembering a story read long ago to my children at bedtime:

Seven little rabbits walking down the road, walking down the road
To call on old friend Toad...

I wonder if my children remember the story about the rabbits and that walk they took down the road.

I wonder if my children remember being read to at bedtime.

I remember. I remember and cherish it as one of my most special memories along this walking road we call life.

"Walking down the road" may sometimes take me to memories of days gone past, sometimes to days ahead in the future, and sometimes to what's present here and now.

Those little rabbits sometimes walked straight ahead on the path, sometimes turned around and went back, sometimes went down a hole, and sometimes went to sleep. The workings of my brain and my travels through life seem to follow a similar course.

...Seven little rabbits turned around until they found down in the ground a hole built by a mole.
Seven little rabbits went down the hole built by the mole...

Remembering, experiencing, wondering, sharing, dreaming - I'm hoping to find all kinds of moments in this walk down the road.

...The last little rabbit went to sleep - Shhh, don't say "Peep" -
He's tucked in bed and now instead of
walking down the road, walking down the road,
The last little rabbit dreamed a dream
And in that dream, all in a blur, there were
Seven little rabbits walking down the road, walking down the road
To call on old friend Toad.

The rabbits shared their walk with each other and with their friends Toad and Mole. I think the rabbits had it right. Walks down the road are best when shared with someone you love. Here's to sharing some of my walk with you.