Music Memories and a Red Velvet Hug

Today was a busy, blessed day. We had a special Thanksgiving service at our church today. The children sang, our Ladies Worship Team sang and I sang. And the roof did not fall in. Amazing.

I sang a song with the Worship Team called "How Great Is Our God". After I sat down I thought how much my voice has changed over the years. When I was in chorus in school I sang either 1st or 2nd soprano, depending on where the director needed more voices for a particular song. Today I sang on the alto side. Not truly alto, more like melody an octave lower with a few harmony notes thrown in for good measure. Kind of "also".
That thought reminded me of my dad. His standard joke was that he sang "solo"- "so low" you couldn't hear him. He was a funny guy but he was right about his singing ability. He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket with the lid nailed shut. It didn't stop him from singing, though. He just made up his own tunes. And his own words. Different every time. He was a funny guy.

After the service we had a potluck fellowship dinner. Lots of food, a chance to visit with friends, some old & some new. And dessert, where God reminded me that He knows me personally and cares about the small things in our lives.
I posted yesterday that it was my mom's birthday. What I didn't mention was that I considered making one of her favorite cakes for thanksgiving but decided not to due to time constraints this week. (the "how many people do you think you are?" consideration) Mom had two favorite cake flavors- carrot and red velvet. Since carrot is also my favorite we usually have it for my birthday, so I thought about making a red velvet cake in honor of her birthday. When I went to the dessert table today, there was a beautiful red velvet cake. What a delicious reminder of God's love & care even in the small things. It felt like a warm hug.

How great is our God.

Food and Memories

Whole Wheat Bread
Cranberry Salad
Sour Cream Cornbread
Tuna Pie
Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies
1 load of laundry
2 dishwasher loads of dishes

This is what I did today.
I would post a picture of my feet but they have gone into hiding.

It was a good day, though. I love it when I feel like I have actually accomplished something at the end of the day. I also love how cooking gives me "thinking time". Today I thought about my mother. She would have been 77 today.

What was really nice is that today, her birthday, wasn't a sad day. I didn't cry or really "miss" her. I just thought about her, and reflected on our relationship. It would be lovely if we had had the kind of relationship that brought warm, fuzzy memories, but we didn't. We loved each other but we didn't really understand each other. Due to several factors, misunderstanding being one, we didn't get along exceptionally well. I didn't grow up enough to truly appreciate her until long after she was gone. Unfortunately, youth was not an available excuse, (I was in my 30's, married with children) I was simply immature (and selfish) when it came to relationships. Not that I am really good at them now, just improved. My children have taught me a lot.
But today was not even about looking back with regret. It was just about simple memories drifting through my mind- mostly about food. As I looked through my favorite recipe book I noted several of her recipes, handed down one at a time, usually through a phone call that started with, "Mom, how do you make... ". There were some things that she never got the hang of cooking well- steaks were an endangered species in her kitchen (I gave up in them years ago- I hated spending all that money to end up with unchewable blackened beef jerky). But nobody could hold a candle to her fried chicken (except maybe Grandma) and her banana pudding (even Grandma).
I know enough today to be grateful for my mom, for the things that that she taught me and the things that she passed on to me. This Thanksgiving we'll be gathering with my siblings and their families and I'll make potato salad to contribute to the feast. Just like Mom taught me.

Which Way Do I Go?

I have been wrestling with some decisions over the last couple of weeks that have come to a head the last few days.

Some decisions are pretty easy- to eat or not to eat? Eating almost always wins and without a lot of angst-filled thought. Some are harder- to get out of bed or to go back to sleep? This one could use a pro/con list but usually the 'get out of bed' comes out the winner... at least eventually.

It is the really hard decisions- you know, the ones that could change the course of your life- that leave me slightly dazed. While I'm constantly praying for God's will and direction in my life, sometimes (often during decision making prayers) He becomes curiously silent. And so I wait.

I'm not a fan of waiting.


Waiting on direction from the Lord is a lot like a plane circling the airport in a holding pattern. You may be moving but you aren't going anywhere. You aren't where you started out but you aren't where you are going either. And being anything but patient and pleasant is simply a waste of time and energy.

I've found that the problem is usually not so much that God isn't ready to talk but that I'm not ready to listen. And usually I'm not ready to listen because I really only want to hear one answer. And that usually isn't the one that He has for me. So even if He tries to speak to me and clearly says "The answer is blue", my mind tries to rearrange (twist?) the answer so that I reply, "Green, right, the answer is green".

No wonder God is silent.

Pickin Em Up and Puttin Em Down

I walked again this morning and can now in good conscience post this photo of me walking. It's one thing to take a photo of what I would look like walking and quite another to actually do it. Just ask my feet!

Provoked to Good Works

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Hebrews 10:24

I've been thinking about this verse a lot since our pastor read it on Wed night. And I've been provoked a lot this week, too. To good works. I love it when I get to watch the Word in action- in my own life! A beautiful and much rarer thing than I would like.

Provocation 1- This Blog

I love to read blogs but I have been rather negligent in posting to my own. I have several blogs that I follow and have found it a bit disappointing when I visit and it's the same post that I read yesterday- and the day before- and the week before- and the month before... you get the idea. Anyway, it occurred to me that that is exactly what my friends and family have been experiencing when they have visited my blog for the last months. So, I have been provoked to the good work of posting to my blog at least weekly and more often if at all possible.

Provocation 2- Walking

It has been brought ot my attention (again) that my health issues have a better chance of being resolved in a favorable manner if I will simply exercise on a REGULAR basis. So, I have actually donned my tennies and walked three- count them- THREE times this week. Twice outside and once inside to a walking tape. In this I have definitely been provoked but it is a good thing.

Provocation 3- Work

I interviewed for a job this week. The reviews on how it went are mixed. Right now I am in a waiting mode since the final decision won't be made for a week or two. In the process of the interview a number of questions were asked that have made me analyze my experience in the workforce and the things that I really enjoyed doing. I also was challenged to consider some skills that are not up to snuff. In the spirit of that provocation I am working on improving my typing skills. Whether I get this job or not the time saved in typing proficiency will be a blessing to me personally in the work that I do for our family and church.

Sometimes being provoked is a blessing. This week has been full of blessings for which I am most grateful.

Sole Journey- The Beginning

A while back I came across a photo blog/journal that really caught my eye. It was a young woman's chronicle of her weight loss journey. Every week she would post a photo of her progress in achieving a new body. I admired her courage, even when she began to regain the weight. (a concept that I could TOTALLY identify with!) Anyway, I tooled around and found other photo journals and thought, cool, maybe I should do something like this on my blog. Well, of course not the weight loss thing- get real! But maybe the photo journal thing. So, I started taking photos of different parts of my day- from a slightly different perspective. Now, I'm not likely to post daily (big surprise there) and maybe not even weekly (no small surprise there) but perhaps periodically.

So here is the beginning of my periodic photo journal of my life. A chance for you to follow in my footsteps, so to speak.

This is how I start my day- with prayer, Bible study and a green drink (affectionately known as Sludge or Swamp Water). Welcome to my world.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD:

and he delighteth in his way.

Psalm 37:23