Posts
2 hours ago
3.29.2011
3.27.2011
While Waiting for Coffee…
Everyone is still asleep and it’s snowing outside here in DC! Yes, snowing!! So, I’m down on the bottom floor of the hotel in a quiet nook waiting for coffee to brew and playing around with Photoshop.
I loved the photo of Mary in the cupcake shop I took yesterday, so I “Andy Warhol-ed” it after watching this short YouTube tutorial. I think she’ll like it! And now the coffee is ready…
3.26.2011
Greetings from DC!
Hi, friends! We've had a great day in DC and I just wanted to post a few photos for you:
1. First, I enjoyed coffee in the lobby with hubby while letting the girls sleep in. Matt booked a great hotel! We're in Embassy Row and right across from the Indonesian Embassy.
2. Once everyone was up and at it, we caught the Metro to AU and hung out there for a bit. We made the requisite stop at the bookstore to buy AU parent trinkets. Oh - we also ate at the main cafeteria for breakfast/lunch. Cafeteria food has changed since I was in college!
3. Then we split up and while Mary and I walked over to Georgetown to visit Georgetown Cupcakes and wait in the line you see above.... (This is our view from the back of the line that we waited two - yes, I said TWO - hours in!)
4. Matt and E were looking for prom dresses. Here you see him sipping champagne at BCBG! What a Dad, huh? Toughing it out for his darling daughter!!
5. Mary and I finally made it through the door and bought a dozen cupcakes. 12 different types, actually.
Peanut Butter Fudge, Coconut, Chocolate Squared, Chocolate Cubed, Milk Chocolate Birthday Party, Vanilla Squared, Vanilla Birthday, Red Velvet, Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate & Vanilla, Vanilla & Chocolate
6. So, after dinner we walked back to the hotel and gorged ourselves on cupcakes! Red Velvet and Peanut Butter Fudge were my favorites!! Now we're laying around the hotel room in a sugar-induced coma...
Home tomorrow!
3.25.2011
Friday Seven
Hello, there! Boy, March has been a slack blogging month for me, huh? I've had lots of things come up that I'll say to myself, "You need to blog about that!" Then, of course, I don't write it down and this 42-year-old brain fog I've got keeps me from ever pulling it up again! Ay yi yi! Anyway, here's a quick "Seven" while their still in my head:
1. I'm reading this right now. Pretty good. It's on my fiction TBR list!
2. From a more serious perspective, I'm reading this and it's very, very good. Surprisingly humorous! (My copy was NOT $179 by the way!)
3. And still from a studious perspective, here are two great resources for digging deeper into the Word: Covenant Seminary Worldwide Classroom and DTS iTunes U. All free. (And, yes, I recognize I've got two different theological views going here.... I think that's a GOOD thing!)
4. I had an anonymous comment on an old post from 2007 which made me go back and read this quote from Eugene Peterson. It was good for me and gave me an attitude adjustment, too. Thanks for the reminder, Anonymous! (This is why I keep plugging along with this blog... It's a wonderful way to look back and see where God has taken you, family, and friends through the years.)
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us... Ps. 123:3aThe prayer is not an attempt to get God to do what he is unwilling otherwise to do, but a reaching out to what we know that he does do, an expressed longing to receive what God is doing in and for us in Jesus Christ. In obedience we pray "Mercy!" instead of "Give us what we want." We pray "Mercy!" and not "Reward us for our goodness so our neighbors will acknowledge our superiority." We pray "Mercy!" and not "Punish us for our badness so we will feel better." We pray "Mercy!" and not "Be nice to us because we have been such good people."
5. A very small sneak peek above of a nursery gift I've finished and must get framed because the babies (yes, two of them!) are coming any day now!! :-)
6. I am ab-so-lute-ly LOVING this combination of thread and watercolor from artist Sarajo Frieden.
7. I'm signed up for this and am super, super excited about it. I'm taking "The Telling Detail" with fiction writer Tracy O Connor in the morning and "The Worst Things Ever: Metaphors, Similes, and Beautiful Dangerous Images" with poet Joseph Mills.
That's it. Off to DC with the family for a weekend just hanging out... getting E a little more prepared to go to school there in the fall.... visiting a church on Sunday with here... Mary really wants to go to DC Cupcakes. We'll see if she and I can squeeze that in! :-) And maybe a little jaunt to the National Gallery of Art!!
Blessings!
3.20.2011
Book Review: Normal Kingdom Business
Normal Kingdom Business: A Collection of Essays by Andree Seu, 128 pages, God's World Publications; Limited 1st edition (October 26, 2006); ISBN-10: 0977929922
Source: Given by a friend
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
Andree Seu was known to me from her weekly essays in World Magazine. They are always excellent and usually in the very last pages of the magazine. I love World and Andree's essays are like a scrumptious dessert at the end of a great meal. Normal Kingdom Business is a collection of her essays on topics ranging from greeting cards to mentoring. It's just a plain good book. The only negative I have is that each essay is about 800 words and I had to keep myself from devouring too many in one day. Just like a great dessert, you're tempted to eat the whole book in one sitting when instead you really should string out the pleasure over multiple days. She gives much to ponder and enjoy in each essay.
My favorite essay is tittled "Strike Up the Lyre" and is about the "worship wars" that happens in a lot of churches and Christian communities. You know, praise and worship music vs. age-old hymns. In 800 words, Andree summed my feelings on it with much more clarity and grace than I ever could. Here's a snippet:
" Yet we take our orders from Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), which says nothing about 18th-century music being holier than 21st-century, or "thou" being better than "you," or Hammond organs more spiritual than Yamaha guitars. The unflattering truth is that I am a recovering musical snob - some latter day Michal despising David from her latticed window, scruples barely concealing the devil in her heart (2 Samuel 6:16).
...Why not embrace all kinds of reverent and God-honoring song as a way of loving the brethren? As we enlarge our tents to make place for organ, fiddle, lyre, horn, and drum, we acknowledge that God's heart in this age is an evangelizing heart.
Modernity and reverence. No necessary contradiction. "The Little Drummer Boy" sings: "I play my drum for Him" (i.e., it is only a crude and humble thing that I am able to bring). He also sings, "I play my best for Him" (i.e., I don't bring Him sloppiness but only my utmost for His Highest.)"
I thought of these words as we sang "Sanctuary" this morning in church with piano, drums, guitars, and (a new beautiful addition to our praise team!!) sax. The musicians (and I think the congregation, too) were bringing our crude, humble, and best gifts to the King to worship and adore Him on this beautiful Sabbath day in the Sandhills.
So - I highly recommend this little book and know I'll come back to it again sometime to read as part of morning devotions.
Blessings!
Andree Seu was known to me from her weekly essays in World Magazine. They are always excellent and usually in the very last pages of the magazine. I love World and Andree's essays are like a scrumptious dessert at the end of a great meal. Normal Kingdom Business is a collection of her essays on topics ranging from greeting cards to mentoring. It's just a plain good book. The only negative I have is that each essay is about 800 words and I had to keep myself from devouring too many in one day. Just like a great dessert, you're tempted to eat the whole book in one sitting when instead you really should string out the pleasure over multiple days. She gives much to ponder and enjoy in each essay.
My favorite essay is tittled "Strike Up the Lyre" and is about the "worship wars" that happens in a lot of churches and Christian communities. You know, praise and worship music vs. age-old hymns. In 800 words, Andree summed my feelings on it with much more clarity and grace than I ever could. Here's a snippet:
" Yet we take our orders from Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), which says nothing about 18th-century music being holier than 21st-century, or "thou" being better than "you," or Hammond organs more spiritual than Yamaha guitars. The unflattering truth is that I am a recovering musical snob - some latter day Michal despising David from her latticed window, scruples barely concealing the devil in her heart (2 Samuel 6:16).
...Why not embrace all kinds of reverent and God-honoring song as a way of loving the brethren? As we enlarge our tents to make place for organ, fiddle, lyre, horn, and drum, we acknowledge that God's heart in this age is an evangelizing heart.
Modernity and reverence. No necessary contradiction. "The Little Drummer Boy" sings: "I play my drum for Him" (i.e., it is only a crude and humble thing that I am able to bring). He also sings, "I play my best for Him" (i.e., I don't bring Him sloppiness but only my utmost for His Highest.)"
I thought of these words as we sang "Sanctuary" this morning in church with piano, drums, guitars, and (a new beautiful addition to our praise team!!) sax. The musicians (and I think the congregation, too) were bringing our crude, humble, and best gifts to the King to worship and adore Him on this beautiful Sabbath day in the Sandhills.
So - I highly recommend this little book and know I'll come back to it again sometime to read as part of morning devotions.
Blessings!
3.17.2011
Hello! Hello!
Somehow this week has turned into a whirlwind with little time for blogging! But, it's all good! Here's "seven" for you:
1. So Sunday was our official 25th wedding anniversary! Matt and I had already gone away for a weekend to Charleston, so we didn't really have anything planned for the actual day... just a normal Sunday. But Sunday night, he surprised me with a beautifully wrapped gift: A painting by a sweet friend that I had greatly admired called "Memories of Eden." It's an abstract painting which is not usually what I'm drawn to, but I loved, loved, loved it as soon as I saw it. It just spoke to me, I guess. And I love my friend. It was such a perfect gift! I've given you just a little close-up snippet of it below. It's really lovely. Drop by for coffee and I'll show it off!
 |
| "Memories of Eden" |
3. Sweet picture, huh? You can view the whole photo essay here.
5. I'm finding this artist's tutorial on her process of "growing trees" very interesting.
6. I've picked up the supplies to make this sweet little garland of birds. (Tutorial here.) I think it might turn into a gift.... :-)
7. During Lent this year I'm trying to listen to sermons or praise music (or praying!) during my 30 minute commute to and from work. I've settled in with some free sermons offered by Redeemer Church in NYC. This one on worship by Tim Keller was especially helpful to me and I thought I'd recommend it to you, too!
Have a thunderous Thursday! And, oh, Happy St. Pat's day, too!
Have a thunderous Thursday! And, oh, Happy St. Pat's day, too!
3.12.2011
Book Review: Unbroken
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, Format: Kindle Edition, File Size: 2140 KB, Print Length: 496 pages, Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1400064163, Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (November 16, 2010)
Source: Church Book Club Selection
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
This book is being raved about all over the place. I'm sure there's a movie forthcoming, too. The author of Seabiscuit has definitely done it again! What an amazing story. And inspirational.
Bare bones: It's the story of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic runner who, during WWII, survives a plane crash in the Pacific, floats in a raft for some 47 days only to be captured by the Japanese and made a POW for over two years in unspeakably cruel conditions. But it's more than just a story of the resilience of "human mind, body, and spirit" as one reviewer said. It's the story of God's redemption of one man and how He went on to use him to further the Kingdom of God.
Here's the first of four videos on Zamperini that are worth watching. The book is even more worth the time, though.
Here's the first of four videos on Zamperini that are worth watching. The book is even more worth the time, though.
Kindle Update: This is the second non-fiction book I've read on the Kindle. I said I didn't really like reading the first book, mainly because I couldn't get to the notes. Unbroken, however, allowed me to click on reference and go straight to the note then right back to the text. It was *much* better. So, I'm not ready to rule out Kindle non-fiction yet after all.
Finally, here's a quick excerpt from Unbroken that really spoke to me. It's from a period when Louie and his friend are floating in the Pacific with not much hope that they would survive:
Louie and Phil had found the doldrums, the eerie pause of wind and water that lingers around the equator. They were, as Coleridge wrote, "as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean."
It was an experience of transcendence. Phil watched the sky, whispering that it looked like a pearl. The water looked so solid that it seemed they could walk across it. When a fish broke the surface far away, the sound carried to the men with absolute clarity. They watched as pristine ringlets of water circled outward around the place where the fish had passed, then faded to stillness.
For a while they spoke, sharing their wonder. Then they fell into reverent silence. Their suffering was suspended. They weren't hungry or thirsty. They were unaware of the approach of death.
As he watched this beautiful, still world, Louie played with a thought that had come to him before. He had thought it as he had watched hunting seabirds, marveling at their ability to adjust their dives to compensate for the refraction of light in water. He had thought it as he had considered the pleasing geometry of the sharks, their gradation of color, their slide through the sea....Such beauty, he thought, was too perfect to have come about by mere chance. That day in the center of the Pacific was, to him, a gift crafted deliberately, compassionately, for him and Phil.
I'll leave you with that, bloggy friends, and say I highly recommend this book.
Finally, here's a quick excerpt from Unbroken that really spoke to me. It's from a period when Louie and his friend are floating in the Pacific with not much hope that they would survive:
Louie and Phil had found the doldrums, the eerie pause of wind and water that lingers around the equator. They were, as Coleridge wrote, "as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean."
It was an experience of transcendence. Phil watched the sky, whispering that it looked like a pearl. The water looked so solid that it seemed they could walk across it. When a fish broke the surface far away, the sound carried to the men with absolute clarity. They watched as pristine ringlets of water circled outward around the place where the fish had passed, then faded to stillness.
For a while they spoke, sharing their wonder. Then they fell into reverent silence. Their suffering was suspended. They weren't hungry or thirsty. They were unaware of the approach of death.
As he watched this beautiful, still world, Louie played with a thought that had come to him before. He had thought it as he had watched hunting seabirds, marveling at their ability to adjust their dives to compensate for the refraction of light in water. He had thought it as he had considered the pleasing geometry of the sharks, their gradation of color, their slide through the sea....Such beauty, he thought, was too perfect to have come about by mere chance. That day in the center of the Pacific was, to him, a gift crafted deliberately, compassionately, for him and Phil.
I'll leave you with that, bloggy friends, and say I highly recommend this book.
3.11.2011
seven
Oh, Happy Friday everyone!!
1. I'm liking the crocheted stool cover above. (From Attic24) CD, think you can figure out how to do this?
2. I've been listening to this album recommended by Challies this week. My favorite is "Gather Them In". Really, you should listen to it.
3. I listened to this seminar from Tim Keller on "Writing from a Christian Worldview." Even if you don't write yourself, but read (especially fiction), you'll enjoy what he has to say. (It's a free download, by the way.)
4. I've added all my "pretty book lists" under the "bookish things" tab above if you want to check it out.
5. I am reading this (Kindle version) and this.
6. Cool, huh? Might want to try it... can't figure out the original source, but saw it here first.
7. That's all, good night!
3.10.2011
Lenten Prayer
Lenten Prayer
These sins, Lord, they seep out of every inch of me -
great pride and small faith,
ignorance and blasphemy-
Living mostly as if
You don’t exist,
I seek other
gods.
My sins mound together, impossibly large.
I fear there is nothing to be done.
The devil is here, too.
He squats and sneers,
points a crooked
finger and
laughs.
But Your Light of Truth cracks the darkness,
shining higher than my mountain of sin.
And I remember there is hope –
You have not left me
nor forsaken me
as I have You.
There is a Savior –
Hallelujah!
3.09.2011
Ash Wednesday
 |
| Job by Julius Hubner |
"Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6)
O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)
What must we do, then, to be saved? To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but if that is all you do, you may remain just an elder brother. To truly become a Christian we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.
It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord—lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness—that you are on the verge of becoming a Christian indeed. When you realize that the antidote to being bad is not just being good, you are on the brink. If you follow through, it will change everything—how you relate to God, self, others, the world, your work, you sins, your virtue. It’s called the new birth because its so radical” - Tim Keller, The Prodigal God
3.08.2011
from faith to faith
 |
| Klondike Days 2011 |
Sunday I was reading in Romans chapter one and these verses seem to have been a bit sticky and adhered themselves to me:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Romans 1:16-17 (NASB)
Mainly, what I've been mulling around is the phrase "from faith to faith." To me, Paul is saying the Gospel, which displays God's righteousness while (amazingly) at the same time provides us humans with a way to salvation, is all of faith.
It is from faith to faith.
We begin with faith when we take that first shaky baby step on the journey of being a Christian, not really sure what it's all about, not sure where it will take us. Then as we lay on our death bed, having walked with Christ for years, having carried our crosses and so close to finding that eternal rest, it is still about faith.
What is faith, though? A favorite author of mine says it is best to think of it as a verb - an action, something you do, a decision. I can see that. But it is more, too. Saying it is only something you "do" makes it seem like it is totally within your power. The same Paul who wrote the verses above tells us faith is a gift from God. So perhaps it is both - it is a gift I have to unwrap and a gift I then have to use.
Faith gives us the ability to believe the Gospel, to believe God used the blood of His Son as the payment of our sins, that His perfect life is now counted as mine. Believing the Gospel gives us salvation. I like what the father said who brought his demon-possessed son to Christ for help:
"Lord, I do believe! (i e, I have faith.) Help me overcome my unbelief. (i e, But please, Lord, give me more faith!)" (See Mark chapter 9)
That's where I'm at... somewhere between "from faith to faith". Prayer has been hard. Reading the Bible has been hard. My heart feels cold to the things of God. I feel a bit like the dog in the picture above, pulling a heavy load that I can't really see... digging in and just trying to move forward. Head down. Straining.
But I believe. I have faith. I need more of it, though. I need faith to believe there is a purpose in some of the suffering I see. I need faith to turn my children over to God. I need faith to trust Him with my marriage. I need faith as I see churches in our community struggling with internal and external relationships that this is truly the Bride of Christ. I need faith to be content to have my needs met just for today and not worry about tomorrow. I need faith to believe that slowly but surely He is changing me to be more like His Son.
Today is Mardi Gras... also known as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. It's a time for Christians to make a special point of self-examination, to seriously ponder the things of which they need to repent, and seek changes that need to be made in their lives to grow closer to God in their daily walk.
I know what I need to repent of this Shrove Tuesday - a lack of faith. Or maybe it would be better to say I have failed to unwrap the gift I've been given and fully use it. I suspect if I look down in the "box" (God's Word) from which it came, there will be more and more... an unending supply. I just have to reach in and pull it out.
Blessings~
3.04.2011
Today...
...I had lunch with The Boy and E today! :-)
And...added a background to my blog from ShabbyBlogs.com. It was ridiculously easy to do!
3.03.2011
2011 TBR Fiction List
 |
| Found here on etsy! |
Finally! I've put together my new Fiction TBR List! This should keep me busy, don't ya think? Ah, well... better to have choices...
1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
3. The Stone Diaries by Shields*
4. A Bell for Adano by Hersey
5. The Sea by John Banville*
6. Disgrace by JM Coetzee*
7. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy*
8. Paris Trout by Pete Dexter
9. Had a Good Time by Robert Olen Butler*
10. Father and Son by Larry Brown*
11. The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin*
12. In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez*
13. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford*
14. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan*
15 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon*
16. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides*
17. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold*
18. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri*
19. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett*
20. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See*
21. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
22. The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow
23. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger*
24. Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye*
25.
*I own a copy!
And here's a little more 'etsy + book = love':
 |
| Found here! |
 |
| love the clouds! |
 |
| etsy love! |
 |
| yes, well, i DO love her... |
3.02.2011
This and That
 |
| illustration by gail page |
1. Did you know about this?? There are times when technology totally thrills me. Today was one of them!
2. Mary cooked these meatballs for us last night. Scrumptious! We used 1 lb of beef and 1 lb of pork. No veal.
3. I was at a coffee shop in town today and came across a note card with the illustration above. Fell in love instantly with her style.
 |
| found on etsy here! |
4. I want to learn how to make these little coin purses. Any ideas?
3.01.2011
Loverly
Hello, friends! Happy March 1st!!
After checking my posts for February I see I posted 25 of 28 days after my resolution to post every day for a month. Not too shabby. I think that's a passing grade. I've enjoyed blogging more... writing more. So, should I try the same for March? Perhaps.
Here's what I worked on today, starting early this morning (around 5:30am!) then leaving him to sit for a while until tonight (around 9:00pm). I think he cured nicely.
Why loverly? Dunno. Hmmm... Maybe because I just came back from a weekend away with my lover of 25 years? Or maybe, and more likely, because it was on the random sheet of paper I tore from my old dictionary. Who knows. Anyway, I'm quite pleased with him. He was drawn in pencil on watercolor paper, clear gesso'd, watercolor painted with this new set of paints I got yesterday, then photoshop'd to enhance colors and add background. Here's some scans in progress and now I'm off to see how he looks printed! Loverly!!
 |
| drawn with pencil then a layer of clear gesso |
 |
| watercolored and inked with a sharpie pen |
 |
| enhanced in photoshop |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
