Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: That I have loyal followers that read because they care & are okay when life has so many twists & turns I don't post until later in the day. This hoosier sunrise photo just omits the humidity of the day & the day had only just begun. Yes, a hoosier sunrise means a trip to my dear hoosierland. And a trip to hoosierland means pieces of self care with lunch, tea, & catch-up dates with long time friends. A trip to hoosierland also meant a meet & greet with new babies in the family! A trip to hoosierland also meant being woken up at the crack of dawn by an excited MG, always ready to greet the day & wake everybody else up. Thanks to MG's energy & an early morning walk I got this great no-filter used photo of the hoosier sun rising above the trees.

BAD: In the last week I have felt emotions that left me feeling numb, as if the wind had been knocked out of me, & plain dumbfounded. Mix a little bit of anger & hope in there & you have grief! Anybody else remember learning DABDA in health class way back when? This past week I was gifted a couple different things that I wanted eventually, but I didn't know how I wanted them. I do know I didn't want them to go down as they did. However, that's that & tomorrow is a new day. We each believe the pieces we choose to believe to get by & take care of ourselves & that's the best we can do.

AWESOME: The peace that passes all understanding & the way in envelopes one when you most need it. I have prayed for this peace for others on so many occasions & hope they have been overwhelmed with it as I have in the last week. Last week I was pleading with God for this peace at one point & by the end of the day there it was. I stood in the hallway wondering how I could be so calm & the only explanation was an answered prayer & a gift of the presence of the Spirit within me.

WORD: Today the Good News was that Jesus doesn't put us in boxes & he doesn't call us to be box monitors. Jesus pulls us out of our boxes & together we disassemble the boxes we put others in & therefore there is no need for box monitors. Jesus has it all in control folks!

coming up: One foot in front of the other with Life, Spirit, & Sparkle! Head Up. Heart Out. Move to the Beat!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Oh what a week! That doesn't even capture the cray cray, but such is life as of late. One of the good things is the amazing news about same sex marriage rights. Not only am I in favor of this, I also know that the world has so many other things worth worrying about that aren't anti-love rights. Another great piece of this last week that totally worth sharing with all who love a feel-good movie is Paddington. Check it out!

BAD: Feelings of disbelief & people saying the world is coming to an end because of recent governmental & other happenings. Really people? I believe there'll be other happenings that'll be the end of the world. But do we really want to go there?

AWESOME: All the heart finds that have popped up out of everything amidst the chaos.

WORD: Lamentations 3:22-33 is one of my favorite pieces of scripture. Everything about it is poignant. As the commentator says, this is not the end of the laments for this poet & it isn't the end of our laments. But have hope that Easter comes & comes again.

coming up: work & meetings & gorgeous Pure MI summer weather & a celebration of 4 years as JZ. Love, Life, Spirit, & Sparkle to all!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: The best part of this past week was brunch on the back patio. It was the start of a sunshine day that eventually turned rather gray. The food & company were great & that's all I needed. There were lots of other great moments in the week too, but this was that moment that continue to bring peace in to life. A start with a flu bug, a continuing education event, meetings, & VBS made for a very VERY full week.

BAD: The challenges of 2015 continue, both personally & out in our communities. To be totally honest, I haven't been certain what to say about the murders in SC. This shooting was a little too close to home for my liking. And yes, it is a race issue. An issue that is SO much more than words can put around that the silence many of us have kept for so long is screaming out as inappropriate & not fair. I firmly believe that we are truly better together, no matter our skin color, our family background, or our religion. So we struggle forward to know how to act so that we can all live better together.

AWESOME: The support of life long friends & friends we've only known for a while in hard times. One colleague reminded me that while we are in the storm, the scripture is clear that Jesus is in the storm with us. We are not alone. It is one thing to know this & another to hear it from those who know you need it.

WORD: Mark 4:35-41 on this day. It's been done & the calm will come.

coming up: The calm after the storm of VBS & as always a touch of Life, Spirit, & Sparkle.

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Check out this orange fuzz!?!?! This is the lint from my dryer after drying the ELCA Youth Gathering Proclaim Justice Day t-shirts. It's the little things folks, the little things that bring good in each week. This week we celebrated birthdays again - as talked about in Friday Favorites - & the new birth of my cousin BH becoming a grandma to LEO. She was a good sized baby verging on being large, but just right for her mama & papa. I may have to make a road trip to IN sooner than anticipated to meet this little one. Bah! Also fun in the last week was conversations had while out & about for Z's birthday with church members & total strangers. There's a lot goin' on around here in Chebooboo!

BAD: A few weeks ago it came up that Chebooboo wasn't appreciated by all. This complaint didn't ask for the story of where the term comes from. It is not meant to be derogatory to the town or any people or person, it is simply a 'you had to be there' sorta endearing term I use. This is the struggle with inside jokes. Though, it is not an inside joke. It just isn't as funny for people not familiar with my home area & the seriousness that was behind the person who asked if I had said Chebooboo when I clearly had not. Each of us have some sort of little name we may use to refer to our home & this is mine. Take it or leave it. I do love this place.

AWESOME: Mt. Everest for VBS is awesome! I'm so excited in the assurance the Holy Spirit has provided for how great this week is going to be from VBS to continuing ed. opportunities to appointments.

WORD: Mark 4:26-34 Is this weeks Gospel lesson. I was originally slotted to preach, but with recent transitions I willingly gave this one to Z. What stands out to me is how simple it seems it is to grow mustard seeds, despite their size, & their perseverance. This stands out because no matter what I try, I don't seem to have much of a green thumb. So what sort of good news is this parable for me? Maybe if we stick to the basics & trust that God has already taken care of it - which God has & does - then there not much else for us to do other than try & try again. And to grant & show yourself much grace in this trying & trying again. Grace is a beautiful thing!

coming up: VBS! You Matter event! VBS! and LIFE SPIRIT SPARKLE!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: A start to a new week is much welcomed this week. This past week was filled with LOTS of hard conversations & surrounded by LOTS of Holy Spirit presence. If it weren't for the obvious presence of the Spirit with us, it would've been an ugly week. AND we finally got around to making the freezer breakfast burritos that we had when we visited friends last month. They are a tad time consuming to put together, but well worth it for a heartier breakfast on the fly. We were also blessed to have lunch with colleagues who couldn't have been much more complimentary of our crock-pot cooking. AND it's still chilly at night, but pleasantly up North sorta warm during the day which makes for good grillin', fire-pit hanging around, & outside adventures. We had our first Friday Fire-Pit time of the summer & it was as pleasantly laid back & chill as we had hoped it would be.

BAD: Coming from a time in our culture where we want a quick fix & we want what we want when we want it, does anything but make waiting for something easy. My greatest great Uncle D always said that God wouldn't grant us patience, but he would grant us experiences to teach us patience. *sigh* Isn't that the truth? Currently as JZ Nelson we are waiting for a new normal as 2015 has been quite rocky on many levels. A season of change...

AWESOME: The most wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit was brought to me through colleagues & camp counselors & other camp staff in conversation this past week. I lead my colleagues in a session of Practice Discipleship titled 'Story of Faith Community.' We all are striving for a greater open to all wherever we come from & wherever we are sorta church. Then I had the privilege of leading 'Story of Adolescence' & 'Story of Self & Other' with camp staff at Stony Lake Lutheran Camp & was blown away with how the Spirit moved people to share & speak up & speak out for the good of each other. This all entwined with other great conversations with long-time friends & lengthy walks through the beauty of MI fill my heart with peace.

WORD: Mark 3:20-35 is a text that makes many uncomfortable to preach on. We do not want to acknowledge the ways in which we, the church, have been divided amongst our own people. However, this happens all the time. We put our trust in our leaders & while we trust them, we have to be careful to remember that they are human & fully sinner & saint. While all of our sins have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus' death & resurrection, this does not take away the seriously heavy matters that lie on some congregations. In this scripture we learn that no matter how painful it might be we have to cut ourselves free from anything or anyone who is against us being about anything other than the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have to let Jesus lead the way & not any one human.

coming up: The calm before the storm of VBS!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: While May is generally my favorite month of the year for all it's celebrations, I'm alright with a start to June being just a day away. May has come to a peaceful nice close. Another year older, more fabulous people graduated from all sorts of different education programs, at least one (though I'm sure there are more) friends was ordained, & amidst any struggle there was always a touch of laughter & love each day.

BAD: The ugly face of mental illness. And society's failed attempts to normalize mental illness. The exhaustion mental illness causes those living with the illness & those they live with. I have seen this play itself out in my life through friends & family for years.

AWESOME: Knowing that I am rooted & grounded in love & so are you. While I took this photo the other day in attempts to capture my great new leggings & just the fun color splash of my newish sandals against the very green grass, it represents this groundedness - literally & figuratively - we have with the world around us. I've been reassured of this through conversations the caring words of jibberish when we have no actual words to share with one another.

WORD: Romans 8:12-17 I am so very glad that is not by my own doing, but by the acts of God in Christ Jesus & through the Spirit that we know of this redeeming power for all people through adoption.

coming up: June! and so much fun!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week was a blur, but a good one at that. After a business trip I got to spend some quality time with some of my favorites (including little miss E & her owl). It's a blessing to have people who take you in, shower you with love, & let you decompress from the every day chaos on only a few days notice. I am forever grateful for the friendship of miss E & her parents (& our parents!). I could've never dreamed of having such rich relationship that started at birth & carries on. Speaking of carrying on, it's the end of the month, it's graduation day for many in the area, & it's my birthday week! There's so much good in that sentence it's crazy. There's many reasons to celebrate!

BAD: Realizing at the end of the day, when all steam was gone, that I had not kept my rhythm of blogging this last week. It made it more real & y'all got to travel with me a bit more that way. In the news this week we continue to hear about murder, sex offenders, victims, hunger, & other illness. You don't have to look far.

AWESOME: Spending a few days decompressing from life's recent happenings that are out of my control & being met where I was with good company, baby snuggles & laughter (& snot & poo), & sunshine & food & a quick lunch with family for my bday is all pretty fabulous in my book.

WORD: Commentary on Acts 2:1-21 because it's Pentecost & the Holy Spirit is here.

coming up: so much Life, Spirit, Sparkle, I don't even know which end is up!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It's Sunday & if I choose to spend it well than clearly my week will be filled with content! The quote says so, but it doesn't say who said it. So it's Sunday, start the week off right! Start the week off with what is right for you & benefits others around you. A week of content is not a week all about you, but you in the midst of others. No matter how isolated we may feel at times or like to think we are - due to introversion, space, or other factors - we are anything but unconnected from all of humanity or creation. This last week was a week well spent with a touch of content. We laughed a lot this past week - about the shopping cart that was ditched on our property, the chocolate display that we knocked over & tried to pick up, & the fact that I tried to make an appointment I've been putting off making, but turned out the number I had dialed was for an organization in FL. We started out the week with crazy & ended with a little less crazy thankfully, but nonetheless crazy.

BAD: There is no one way to rightly pursue life. While we want that right way & we want to figure it out & have a quick fix for every bug & bother, it doesn't exist. Just as my friend & colleague TS wrote in an article titled Spinning Round & Round I think many of us find ourselves in these places. The more we read & educate ourselves, the more the world spins & the more our heads float & the more we become aware of how small we truly are. Small isn't always bad, we can do mighty things no matter our size - literal or figurative - & persevere through the spinning & spinning. The slightly bad is that the spinning will always be because of the endless possibilities we bring to the table. We have to work with a balance.

AWESOME: Friends having funny dreams, involving you, that spark great conversation & might be true, but only time will tell. Also ending the week with the chance to hike, explore, sit around a blazing fire, dig into scripture, & wake up to a good rain storm.

WORD: If you find your Sunday being the start of your week or any other day, muster up what you have to make it well spent & the rest will be content.

coming up: A touch of excitement & preparation as we gear up for this coming weekend's Celebration Weekend with Jonathan Rundman & continuing to figure out & live with #LifeSpiritSparkle

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It's May! The Lusty Month of May! I wait all year to share this music & the time is finally here. As much as I love a good piece of music - I've never seen the full musical it comes from - I love getting lost in the woods too. That is, I love getting lost in the woods when there is a clear path to follow. This past week during a few days away we got to spend some time getting lost in the woods of Pokagon State Park not too far away from where I grew up. I absolutely loved finding these old tree stumps & finding the new pieces of life making their way through the forest with Spring warmth in the air. It was even warm enough to wear sandals!

BAD: Do I need to point it out? The country of Nepal is picking up the pieces they're able to recover after earthquake. Baltimore is trying to pick up the pieces after complete riots. And the world is full of broken people. At this past week's retreat we heard about a study regarding Flourishing in Ministry & it was quite evident what a true challenge this was for many people.

AWESOME: Maybe the challenge of flourishing isn't all bad, but simply real. We came home later in the week & I found a random chunk of sidewalk chalk on our back patio. It makes me wonder who was on our back patio & what they were going to draw before being scared off. I think this summer I will have to get some sidewalk chalk!

WORD: "The Bloom Comes From Abiding, From Letting the Root Do What It Does."

coming up: Lots of #LifeSpiritSparkle with the #LustyMonthofMay!!!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Finding new ways to do something creative every day & allowing that creativity to be as simple or as complex as the day calls for. While I have always loved being artsy, I've never spent too much time learning new techniques. After seeing a friend post her new purchase of an Adult Coloring Book, I decided to use some gift money to purchase my own. So while I'm eagerly waiting for that creative outlet to come in the mail, I've also been using my sketch pad & colored pencils to doodle & draw this or that to release some energy. This past week was apparently all about releasing said energy as I even woke up early one morning totally on my own & did a 30 Minute Yoga Flow. It's much safer to try some of these yoga routines at home than in front of other people some days, if ya know what I mean. There's a reason my middle name isn't "grace."

BAD: Realizing the dwindling of a family. At the recent death of my Uncle it has become more apparent to a few of us in the family who is left & who has gone before us. It's not so much bad, just sorta sad & weird. Life is weird. Death is real. Birth is better? *mer mer* Also, along the line of things outside of our control, prayers for those affected by the earthquake in Nepal. Many lives & landmarks have been taken at a moment's notice. Be on the lookout for ways you can help the efforts for Nepal to start to recover!

AWESOME: Keeping in touch & being able to use goofy means like Google Hangouts that allow you to wear cat masks & draw on your friends your in conversation with. Very entertaining!

WORD: This week, little by little, I've been reading pieces from Dr. Andrew Root's Children of Divorce. So far I've taken away that everybody has a secret & families take work (which I hope everybody knows).

coming up: A little work & a little play in the land of Hoosiers!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: A few days away with the sights of Northern MI in the Spring is good for the soul. The cherry trees have yet to blossom, but there's beauty in the promise of their blooms in the coming weeks. Here you see this beauty on the peninsula looking out onto the West Bay in Traverse City. The West Bay was far from being unfrozen, yet the East Bay seemed ice free to the eye & ear. It was also fun to hear & see the buzz of the locals preparing for the tourist season. There were many painting, repairing, & patching jobs going on around the city. As a former vacationer to the area, I highly appreciate all this work that goes to making the place a romantic piece of Northern MI. Here in Traverse City you can spend your days on the beach or shopping down town & evenings around the camp fire at the local state park. There's miles of trails to hike, ride bikes, roller skate or whatever you desire to do for fun or to equal out all the goodies that you're sure to try while you're shopping. A perfect place for a girl like me & I didn't even mention the dozens of delicious cherry delicacies that one can find here. I was given a taste of the award winning Moomers ice cream, but of course they have SO many options I don't remember which kind of cherry ice cream it actually was. I'm pretty sure you can't go too wrong with ice cream.

BAD: Taking a week off only to realize it's been almost a year, if not a year, since you last took a full week off. This is not good self care, but we're working on that.

AWESOME: Playing princess & king on a train to see Michi with our niece via FaceTime. 

WORD: Today we read that the risen Lord Jesus eats fish. What's that all about? See Luke 24:36-48

coming up: A little of this, that, & a whole lot of Life, Spirit, & Sparkle as we blaze into the end of April.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week was filled with great conversations & genuine check-ins with good friends. The best part is that none of it was planned except for maybe one check-in & that was due to a significant time difference. I read somewhere recently that one way to better your day is to simply call a friend. You may not get a hold of them, but the practice of calling a friend let's that friend know you're thinking about them & shares the day with them & with you. This past week was also very busy with lots of little this & thats work related as I realized if I'm ever going to take time off I need to over work to get ahead a touch. That's just how life roles some times.

BAD: Barometric pressure changes that mess with headaches & attitudes.

AWESOME: A random Easter card from seminary friends that have an adorable daughter & another little one on the way soon. Thank you Guthridges! A return letter will be written soon! Speaking of letters I refreshed my ribbon board the other day 7 recycled some old cards so that I could put new up. The fun part was reading the progression throughout the year from a few friends of where life has taken them.

WORD: Working ahead leads me to next week's Gospel at the end of Luke.

coming up: no screen time!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: With the weather being sunny & then gray & then sunny & then snowy & all the time cold still, I've had an itch to get to the gym more often. While getting to the gym is one thing, the itch is crazy & the high after the workout is wonderful! I've seen a number of friends post that they're doing the 21 Day Fix lately. I totally am inspired by this, but haven't quite gotten to this trend yet. So keep being awesome & inspiring friends! In other good news, this week was a mix of a little down time & then full swing back into the go, go, go.

BAD: If you haven't heard Indiana politics have been a little crazy this past week. As somebody who will always find home in IN, this piece of our history is purely embarrassing. Are people going to be carded by their sexuality & race & religion & anything else we can think that can not only bring us together, but separate us from all those who are different than us? Not only could this identity judging be done, but then service entirely denied. GROSS INDIANA!

AWESOME: There is always room for change & a better tomorrow. <--- i="" in="" reference="" said="" style="font-weight: bold;" that="" to="">BAD
. In other awesome news is all the continuous good food we've had lately. We've been inspired to try new recipes & so far so good. I find that new recipes bring new life into a kitchen.
WORD: Today's Gospel lesson is a little long. But guess what, it's the start to Holy Week! In fact it's Palm Sunday. A day of celebration followed by a week of realizing what our sins have brought to this world. Mark 14-15, check out the entirety of it for the full picture.

coming up: April & Easter & hopefully warmer temps!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Any week with a free ice cream cone is a good week, right? While many places had free cone day on Monday or Tuesday, we had to wait till Friday to have our free cone. It was well worth the wait as the week was not without treats & the weather was not any warmer at the end of the week than the beginning of the week. Ice cream was only a piece of this goodness though as the week was filled with great conversations, my first official yoga class in many years, more good food, a clean house (mostly), & naturally more really great food. We waited all week to make our Irish meal in honor of St Patrick's day & man alive, it was delicious! Iowa girl eats & I could be friends no doubt! Check out the Wine-Braised Beef Shepherd's Pie recipe, definitely worth your time!

BAD: While there plenty of eye catching & head tilting news pieces out there to report on, they've already been reported on. My idea of bad is when life is so heavy, you can't seem to take one more step. This past week a colleague posted about one event after another after another of heavy life pieces mostly, if not entirely, out of her control. Despite it all, with the help of others, she continued to put one foot in front of the other & be there for those pieces  of her life that needed her AND she was still able to celebrate another piece of life. Way to turn bad into...

AWESOME: Watching an old favorite of a movie, still being able to quote along with the lines, & still thinking it's pretty much one of the best movies ever. 10 Things I Hate About You is that movie for me.

WORD: Reading pieces of Mark & essays from Mindy.

coming up: Love, Life, Spirit, & Sparkle!

Sunday Snippits:good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Time has been filled with so much good stuff lately that it seems to be flying by & it's hard to recap what happened a week ago because often it feels just like yesterday. On the other hand it often feels like it was much longer than a week ago because so much life has been lived since. That's where we are today with Sunday Snippits! A dose of good Spring Cleaning seems to be the medicine for Spring Fever. Piece by piece we've been working on a little cleaning at home, a little cleaning at work, a little cleaning metaphorically & a little cleaning literally. Just after feeling as if we hadn't left town much at all lately for anything, this past week we were both hopping around the state for one work related thing or another. We're moving through life remembering that while it is good to plan ahead & we often do just that, it is also good to sit in the moment at hand. Plus life is often MUCH easier lived day-by-day with a pinch of forward thinking & planning.

BAD: Jumping into one project it is easy to find more project & more project & more project. While we could get grumpy about why people have left so much stuff laying around & made a trail, we all do it. The trick is to take a set amount of time on a set day with company of other people &/or music & work at picking up these trails little-by-little. The bad part is, if we're all leaving our trail then we're constantly not only cleaning up after one another, but expecting others to clean up after us! So maybe this a goofy bad, but that's what you get this week.

AWESOME: I mentioned in Friday Favorites it's the little things. I realized recently my joy for reading for pleasure is returning! I knew it was there, somewhere. For Pete's sake I took part in a reading lock-in & loved it in elementary school. It's a matter of pacing oneself & balancing heavy topic books with light topic books & books that are most obviously continuing education with books that are simple fiction & imagination. It's a piece of me that has been missing & as many friends will be delighted to know - especially after all the books they've gifted me throughout the years - I am a reader. Don't be ambitious in the book giving though, this may only be a phase for now.

WORD: If you haven't guessed by AWESOME that I finished both I am Malala & Stitches this past week. I've now moved on to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? for a piece of humor & I plan to start Children of Divorce this week. SO much to look to forward to! PLUS my good friend wrote an awesome piece about Grace, not Works.

coming up: More Spring Cleaning! Last Fall we had all of the bushes in the front of our house taken out. They were old & ugly. Now it's figuring out what to put in their place. This is totally not our thang so a little research will be in order... happy days till next time!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: We finally made it to a show at the Cheboygan Opera House! This was our first time even entering the building for anything. The high school's Spring (yes, I know we have a few more days officially) musical was The Sound of Music! Naturally as a follow up I decided to watch the movie within a day of seeing the musical on stage. While I was reminiscing of meeting Julie Andrews on one of her book signing tours (hence the group photo with tiaras) a few years back, Z is only focusing on pieces of the movie & reminiscing of a band trip he took in high school thinking he's been to some of the places in the movie. However, he couldn't be sure because he really didn't know who Julie Andrews was before he met me. I'm not sure how you go to Austria on a band trip & don't know that a famous musical was filmed there, but he did. All that to say both the performance & viewing of the movie were great.

BAD:  Having to remember things like Selma to realize that struggle is always real, relevant, & life lasting. It's what we do with this struggle that changes the world.

AWESOME: More often than not, it's the little things, like stickers, random phone calls, quiet afternoons to read by the fire. It's the things that make you realize you're an adult because you get excited about new hampers & recycling bins. Yes, this all happened this past week.

WORD: Catching up with AJO this past week I shared with her that I'm working on finishing Malala again. I've learned to pair the serious books with a slightly less serious book. Stitches is serious in it's own right, but it's not about straight up violent warfare, but rather abstract life warfare. So somehow they go together or I'm just making it work because I've been picking up both to indulge in the last week. Most likely both will be finished soon. Both stories are about great faith gifted from a Spirit outside their control.

coming up: A bit of travel for work & a touch of Life, Spirit, & Sparkle!

Sunday Snippits:good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It's March! My Mammaw always said the first words out of your mouth on the first day of each month should be "white rabbit" for good luck. So silly, but fun to try & remember to let those be the first words of today. While I am aching for Spring, the sunshine has been absolutely blinding & so bright it makes the mind see creation's beauty even when we don't want to. Ah, the power of the Spirit at work! This past week had a couple of fun surprises. One being a 2 hour long catch up session with family & sharing hopes of future travels to see each other. Another is unexpected gifts celebrating my call as Diaconal Minister months after the fact. A surprise box from family friends showed up on our doorstep the other day & naturally I thought it had come to the wrong house as I couldn't find our last name - let alone either of our first names - on it anywhere. Thankfully a card came separately the same day explaining that the gift was coming. So I opened it up & put my new monogrammed canvas tote bag to work immediately.

BAD: A friend who I worked with this past summer is doing research on homesickness - specifically while at camp - & while I have worked with a number of youth & adults who have dealt with homesickness while on overnights or trips to great places like camp, this is such a foreign concept to me. There have been times throughout my travels that I would journal, "maybe I'm homesick," but even in the pieces of time I've been moved by my emotions to journal this, it is almost always a fleeting thing for me. So it's not that the friend is doing the research that is bad - not at all, I find it rather intriguing - it's that homesickness is one of the few things that pops up in my line of work with those I work with & I simply feel at a loss of how to take care of them.

AWESOME: Something somewhere out there inspires us though, to keep creating & keep dancing because as Kid President shared the other day, we gotta! 'You gotta keep creating! You gotta keep dancing!' Just two nights ago I was blown away by the ways in which those I led a 'End Hunger' themed lock-in for middle schoolers showed up & shared their wealth of knowledge & questions & ideas of how to be the church & end hunger. No matter how much sleep we didn't get, or the youth that didn't come, or the ideas that you think of after the fact that would've made part of something that was shared that much more cool...you gotta keep creating, you gotta keep dancing! The 2015 Middle Ground Ministry (Middle School Ministry) End Hunger Lock-In was great thanks to many people, especially all who shared in the event leading up to the night & throughout the night (& no doubt the bit of cleaning up that had to still be done after we left yesterday morning).

WORD: Professor of Preaching & Professor Emeritus of Homiletics at Luther Seminary wrote in a commentary piece at Working Preacher for today's scripture (Mark 8:31-38), "The “theology of the cross” or “to deny oneself” does not mean a contrived kind of humility. We do not follow Jesus by demeaning ourselves. We are called upon to do the very best we can with the talents and abilities God has given us. To “deny oneself” means to keep one’s priorities in harmony with what Jesus told us in the two “great commandments” -- love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:28-31)."

coming up: More bulletin board work & connecting with awesome people for awesome things like simply saying hi & other awesome things like Practice Discipleship & the ELCA Youth Gathering.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

Family at Epcot

GOOD: Thank you for being my trusty readers! Last Sunday I had intended to edit my blog while traveling & neither device I had along to do this task allowed me to edit. The cool & crazy thing is last Sunday Snippits had over 50 hits. Then it wasn't till Wednesday afternoon that I realized I had actually not finished my Tuesday Tea Time for yall. And really, to be completely honest, for me. I love sharing Tuesday Tea Time. So this past week was a bit off, but hopefully I'm back on track now for a little while anyway. No doubt I'll fall off the grid again. It happens to the best of us! We enjoyed the time away & are thankful to be home now to do all we can to enjoy the end of Winter in Northern MI. I'm really hoping that Easter marks the end of Winter this year, if not sooner.

BAD: The unbelievable bashing & negativity that many of us experienced & possibly heard this past week. I'm referring to many a things, but there seemed to be something in the air. Just before coming here today I was looking at an article regarding Ash Wednesday & while I'm noticing that the only tradition lifted up is Catholic - from around the world - others are writing about how horrible all humans are & that it's not up to one group, but up to individuals to make it a better place. It's so easy to let our heads swim with such negativity of all that isn't right in the world.

AWESOME: I really simply love the little surprises that come each week. This week we received 2 Valentine's cards from different family members & one had included tea stickers on the envelope. Then a few days later while in a bit of a huff from allowing things to stress me out, I notice a large envelope on the couch addressed to me. Inside was a total surprise of a print from Jessica Mingo Designs. A bright colored owl telling me "you're my cup of tea!" Thankfully I recognized the artist's names as she & her husband were both in my cousins wedding 2&1/2 years ago. I called my cousin & we had a wonderful unexpected phone date.

WORD: Since returning home from vacation I attempted to start reading Stitches by Anne Lamott, but the night I tried I faded quickly & none of the words seemed to make sense. SO we'll try again this week & that leads us to...

coming up: LOTS of work related life & love & sparkle

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: Hello & welcome to February! While January was a bit more quiet than usual, it was still very busy. February brings different challenges though simply because it is February. This past week was focused on recovering from being away, getting a sermon written, & trying to plan ahead for the rest of the month. I was given the chance to geek out on teaching others about SMART goals & set an active one into place by working with the teams at our church. My mind is still churning at all of the wonderful ideas that were shared with me about ministry while at the Extravaganza! While I am hoping to be on top of upcoming ministry opportunities, the reality is I am already focused on our next big adventure. More to come on that in a week or so! We enjoyed a snowy Saturday with some reading, granola baking, snow shoveling, & Ever After. It'll always be one of my favorite versions of a Cinderella story & it's now on Netflix!

BAD: It's February & I have connected with more than one person in the last week of how much we dislike February more than any other month in the year. May our disdain not make us weary & lose sight of the hope of Spring!

AWESOME: Dove's #loveyourcurls video! Not only is the music fun & catchy, but it exemplifies the impact that each one of us can & do have on those we live with (at home, work, or play). My curls have definitely been a journey, but I don't ever remember really wanting any other hair. Your hair, curly or straight, is beautiful as it is, so embrace it!

WORD: Today's Gospel is Mark 1:29-39 & I'm preaching, so this has been my focus. This amidst the finishing of the Paraclete Press book on hospitality that I mentioned a few weeks ago. Together these readings are action packed, leave us questioning things we may never know or don't need to know, & assured that there is good in the world.

coming up: A bit more adventure! By the end of the week I will get to see family that I haven't seen in many years (9 years maybe) & introduce Z to them. And all with a touch of Mickey Mouse!