Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time!

Today in the lusty month of May (have you listened to the wonderful Julie Andrews sing this yet?) we celebrate all the mothers of our lives. Yes, this is in lieu of the observed Mother's Day this past Sunday (in the USA & Germany at least). This was my first Mother's Day as a mom to baby Kaia & my furbaby MG. As women are becoming more empowered to talk about, & act against, the challenges of being a women, with or without children, & the adventures that bring us to our different identities of motherhood, I stand firm in that all who identify as a female have the ability to claim 'mother' as a piece in their life roles.

I shared an article titled 'When You're Not a mom on Mothers Day,' on Facebook the other day, taking no time to write any of my own thoughts or reflections on the article. Throughout the day the article received many comments of people reassuring me of my motherhood & sharing their care for me/women who would still be pregnant if that mysterious day didn't happen as it did 8 weeks ago. The love that continues to be shared is wonderfully overwhelming.

I am a mom. I've been a mom for years, but in a different way. I took care of my cousins children when they were little ones. I even taught the twins to tie their shoes! The twins are now finishing their first year of high school. I was a camp counselor, day camp director, Spoke Folk leader, baby sitter, youth director, pet sitter, & many other roles that taught me to be motherly. 

I was never phased much when that one random doctor told me I may never bear children back in the mid 1990s. I honestly just figured if that was true I'd adopt if having my own children was ever part of my calling. I knew that I'd never know what it felt like to be a mom until I had the chance to feel like that. And as I've mentioned, I've had many experiences to feel motherly about, but of course none of that compares to holding my sweet Kaia Gene against my chest while she breathed life for those 93 minutes she had with us (on Pi Day).

I am a mom, madre, mother, mommy, mama. I am beyond thankful for all the moms that have helped me learn how to be motherly. And I am thankful to all the moms who entrusted me with their children & gave me the time to grow as a mothering being. Mother's Day was different this year, but that's alright. 

Happy Mothers Day today, the other day, & every day to all the mothering type of people.

And if you still have a spot of tea left, or need a refill, hop on over to Stumbling into Faith for a read on Mother's Day in 2016 written by my dear friend MBR. A "new mom" herself, she reflects on the brokenness of Mother's Day.

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!!!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time with Julie Andrews!

Ok, only through photo, but still great.

Inspired by a friend, today a post from the past (even if it means funky alignment for this post).

“How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets of barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin? But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously - take God seriously.” Micah 6:6-8 The Message *emphasis mine*

Last month I wrote that we had a few weeks of snow behind us and maybe we will by the time you receive this newsletter, but as I write it is quite rainy outside. So much for my prediction of the coming weeks! I say this in jest as we often set our personal expectations based on things that we have little control over. I know I often like to do some sort of organizing or cleaning when other things in life are not going as I had hoped or planned.

The trick is we have to a)communicate our plans clearly to others and b)let there be room for God’s Spirit to lead us. And something tells me that really we should allow for ‘b’ before ‘a.’ The Prophet Micah shares some really big ideas of how to please God. All we have to do is bring an armload of offerings, give all of your worldly possessions, and even your firstborn child to God and we’ll be good to go. Here we are 2015! But, wait, Micah doesn’t stop there. Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

Just as I could not predict the snowfall, we cannot predict how each of us will interpret the prophet’s words to “Do what is fair and just for our neighbor” or what exactly we will be drawn to to be “compassionate and loyal in” because we love it. What we can predict though is that God is seriously all about this justice for our neighbors and living out of Jesus’ love through compassion & loyalty. We can predict that we are called to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God and that God is always right there in the thick of it all taking all of us in as seriously as we take all of God in.

So here we are 2015, learning to take ourselves a little less seriously & leaning into God’s seriousness for all of us!

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!

Friday Favorites!

This week one of my favorites is remembering that I have this record album because my husband & best friend is a clever gift giver.

This was part of my wedding present from Z. I sort of forget about it from time to time because it is propped against the wall on top of a 6' tall book shelf. Needless to say I am nowhere close to 6' let alone taller than that to see the record cover.

I post this in honor of celebrating 50 years since the Disney movie Mary Poppins came out. For more on Julie Andrews today, check out this video. And yes, she is as wonderful as she seems. I had the honor of meeting her in person just over 3 years ago with a bunch of ladies from seminary.

Blessings on your Friday & may you share your Favorites!

Friday Favorites x2!

Just in case you aren't aware of the wonderfulness of the Lusty Month of May sung by the one & ony Julie Andrews.