Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time Friends! It's good to have you here safely, shining like a star with the tutu girl.

In the wake of the Orlando hate crime, I find myself rather speechless. Our gun laws have to change. We have to listen to each other's stories more intently & show respect to each other for the sheer fact that we're all trying to survive this world.

The Gospel lesson I preached on this past weekend was Luke 7:36 - 8:3. The main focus was the faith shared by the strange woman who was in a home where she was not welcomed. The Gospel news of the story is that it is not up to us to choose who is welcome in our world, but it is up to Jesus, our resurrected Lord & Savior. It is ours then to love like the strange woman, no matter who tells us "no," because Jesus tells us "yes."

So love as best you know how. We don't have to understand or see eye to eye, we just have to love.

We weep with those who weep. For Orlando, for Muslims, for LGBTQ, for individual families mourning tragic loss, we weep.

Because we love.

Love in action, being lived out as the verb that it is, will change this world.

In the words of artist Britta Gene, just love.

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.

Friday Favorites!

Hello Friday!

When I took this picture the other day I didn't think it held much significance for that day other than my #heartfind, but the Spirit has a way of bringing us back to words we need to hear or believe or see or all of the above again & again.

Each day is made new in Christ Jesus.

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Awesome!

Credit given to Wallcoo.net

Happy Easter! Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!

GOOD: This is my favorite holiday of the year by far. There's not the stress of buying just the right gifts for everybody or the money that it takes to buy those gifts. There simply the celebration of our savior Jesus who overcame death so that all people may have life. Plus like most holidays, there's almost certain to be good food to be enjoyed with good company. This past week went by fast as Z & I helped lead & partake in different Holy Week festivities. In the midst of Holy Week we started our prep for the month of May. The next month is going to be one fun even after the next & it's so great to start it out with my favorite holiday! 

BAD: The theme of death is still quite strong. My friend Mike finally entered life eternal with Jesus yesterday morning. My friend Mikey is fighting for his life right now as he has been living with colon cancer for the last 5 years. Mikey asked me if we could have a 1x1 before he left his year of ministry with YE (my 2nd year & we were both on international teams) so that he could ask me how I knew I had cancer when I was 7. The questions he was asking, I knew that he knew he had cancer, but the doctors from 3 different countries had yet to find it in his body. *sigh*

AWESOME: The many people that lift me & others up in life & help me to lift you & others up in life. You are awesome. Here this & believe it. Say it to yourself a few times, in the mirror. Believe that you are worthy & capable of good, because you are. And to top of the topic of 'awesome' what's more awesome than the story of Jesus' life & death & resurrection. No matter if you believe this to be salvation for all people or not, it's still a ridiculous mysterious wonderful story.

WORD: Life's been heavily doused in the Gospel this week. It's a little new & different each time.

coming up: VACATION! Blog posts for the next little while may only be photos or not at all. Sorry folks, but that's the way it is. Gotta unplug every now & again.

Sunday Snippits:

Happy Sunday!

This past week is good, bad, & ugly - as usual. Life is an adventure!

GOOD: The week started with some slightly warmer temps & March is definitely proving to be more sun shine filled than February. Tuesday was a sad & joyful celebration of TE's life. Wednesday was busy preparing to drive to hoosierland for the weekend. While in hoosierland I was spoiled by my family & friends. I enjoyed surprising my life long best friend , BGEG, at the local coffee shop as she & family were carrying in her artwork to set up her show. The baby gender revealing party KZ-S & momma & papa E held was a delight to be at. The revealing came through popping balloons with confetti the "gender appropriate color" inside. It's a girl! Then today I learned another childhood good friend is also having a baby girl. 2014 truly is the year of many babies from my peers. And let me not forget getting to worship with my brother's "praise band" & then go back to a St. Patty's day celebration with family & close friends.

BAD: The further North I drove today the deeper the snow got. While I was gone it rained & snowed. Ah the life of living in the Great North! I'm too tired from travel to remember much of anything else right now.

UGLY: In lieu of the fact that we are currently watching 12 Years a Slave. Modern day slavery & discrimination. While the movie is based on a true story that is over 100 years old, the hatred for people who are different that oneself & a ridiculous sense of entitlement is all too common.

WORD: Last night I heard a version of the story of Paul on the road to Damascus like I've never heard. One thing that struck me was that Paul was never actually mentioned. While the speaker started with a focus on washing the mud from our eyes he turned the focus into shaving & the fact that "Jesus shaves & saves" & we need to put on the "aftershave of life." Yup!

coming up: Prepping for a few different job things, dancing, singing, enjoying the sunshine!

Friday Foto Fun...Jelly Beans & Jesus

 &

photos courtesy of Candy Warehouse & Prague Guide accessed 3/29/13

Jelly beans & Jesus ...  does this confuse anybody else? 

One memory that I left out of Tuesday Tea Time was eating green spiced jelly beans with my Mammaw. They're still my favorite, I just don't have traditional jelly beans around very often. Z really likes Jelly Bellies & there's nothing traditional about those!

So what's the connection between jelly beans & Jesus being hung on a cross (like dozens of other heretics of his time)? The only answer I got was a Jelly Bean Prayer that you can read here! It's pretty hoky, but could be a ministry tool for something.

Maundy-Thursday meals start with joy & end in confusion, so maybe that's what all this commercialized Easter stuff is about. We know how the story ends, we know what's coming in 3 days (or 2 depending on how you count it). It's pretty miraculously incredible & pretty mind blowing.

Is Holy Week supposed to be confusing?