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Making Mad Work
I feel all of my feelings deeply. Whether it is hormones or not, my emotions make their presence known loud and clear. I have a tendency to bottle mine in until I explode. And the outburst is not pretty. And even though we all have emotions, we have vastly different ways of dealing with them. The sermon recap dives into emotions, and the proper way to navigate life with them. Sunday’s sermon was pulled from John 11:38-44. Lazarus, the one Jesus loved, had fallen sick and ultimately died. Mary and Martha sent for Jesus, before Lazarus’ death, to come and heal him. Jesus did not come then. He arrives in…
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The Container
Waves of grief wash over me in the most random moments. I was looking through my Tupperware/random container cabinet to find something to place food in when I saw it. I am sure that you would love to know what “it” is. “It” is a circular container with a bright red lid. Now why would a circular container with a bright red lid stop me in my tracks and make me cry? Good question. Tomica and I fasted for 2 weeks every month in 2020. Life was life-ing, and we both knew that we needed to discipline ourselves and sit in God’s face. To be honest, we had no intention…
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Fresh Manicure
When I was a kid, I was an incessant fingernail biter. Bible Study Mama did not have to worry about keeping my nails trimmed to an acceptable length. NOPE! I took care of my nails all on my own. Now, let me be clear. I was not biting my nails because I did not want them to be trimmed. I bit my nails whenever I was worried. It was a calming mechanism for me. So, my little hands sported some pretty ragged looking fingernails. At the time that I was biting them, I made no correlation to my feelings. That correlation comes with age and wisdom. It was just something…
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2. Regularly attend church services in person.
I have been very lackadaisical about updating my progress on my 39 for 39 list. If you are new around these parts, I will clue you in on what I’m talking about. When I turned 35, I created a list of fun activities that I wanted to complete while I was 35. It was so much fun that I continued the tradition. I unveiled my 39 for 39 list last May and then did not document my journey as I completed the activities. Well, child, I have remembered now, so I am going to do my best to keep you up to date. # 2 on my list was regularly…
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30. Try a new vegetable.
As I browsed my list of 39 activities that I want to complete while I’m 39, I stumbled upon this beauty. Actually, let me back this train up. This part of the adventure started on Sunday. I had just finished a walk with Bible Study Mama. I needed to stop by Trader Joe’s and pick up some oat milk. She was more than happy to tag along. While waiting for her to pick out her produce, I saw fresh artichoke. I am a big fan of a good spinach and artichoke dip; however, I had not ever had fresh artichoke. And I certainly had not had to prepare it at…
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Storyteller
My grandma is not the stereotypical grandma. No. She is different. Upon deeper reflection, her ability to beat to the sound of her own drum probably greatly influenced my ability to do the same. Spending summers with her was magical. We did not play Uno or Go Fish during my childhood. We played Dominoes, and she taught me how to keep score and count bones. We traveled up and down the road at lightning speed. We explored unknown places just because. She listened to my thoughts. And she told the BEST stories at bedtime. After a long day of activity, you know I could go to sleep at the drop…
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Hit Pause
I like routine. I like order. Slowly, but surely, my schedule is filling back up. I have so many responsibilities that I manage. I know that life has a tendency to present obstacles, so I put some padding in my schedule. I wake up earlier on some days to squeeze it all in. But even with that padding…even with the shuffling…I cannot anticipate every shake-up. Neither could Paul. I have dawdled long enough. Let me dig into the sermon recap. Sunday’s sermon finds us back in Acts 20:7-12. Last Sunday, we learned of Eutychus. He went to hear Paul preaching. Eutychus was sitting in the window and at some point…
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A Walk
I took a walk yesterday. Actually, Bible Study Mama and I took a walk yesterday. Walking has been our thing for years. Specifically, Saturday morning walks. For years, Bible Study Mama, Tomica, and I would walk on Saturday mornings. You probably couldn’t tell that by looking at us…then or now…but it’s true. We would roll out of bed on Saturday mornings and meet up by the river to get our exercise on. In later years, more cousins joined us. It was a tradition. A jump start to the weekend and a promise to ourselves to do better and try harder to push away from the plate next week. It was…
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Breathe
Listen, I am in a struggle to get myself together over here. My mind is jumbled with various thoughts. It is not that I do not have anything to say. I have tons to say, but I am having difficulty settling. I am having a hard time focusing and making my point get straight to the point. I typed sentences and erased them several times because they did not feel right. They just were not right for this moment. I got FRUSTATED. Typed some more and erased it all again. Made notes for future blogs and still could not find the right words for this blog. I wanted to quit,…
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Weird
Can I be honest with you? (Even if you just said no, I’m not going to stop. That was the epitome of a rhetorical question.) I’m weird. If this is your first time reading this blog, you might be thinking “how so?”. If you have been around for a while, you probably picked up that gem long ago. I think differently, I process things differently, and I just AM different in lots of ways. While we are now being encouraged to celebrate differences, it is not always a second nature thing for us. Bible Study Cousin spent the early years of my adult friendship with her telling me how weird…
