I just found an hour.

I just found an hour.  Well, I have wasted about half of it, already, but still--you know when you think a meeting is at a certain time, and then you check your calendar and realize it's an hour later.  Sometimes this is good.  

So, I ordered candles for the Advent Taize service. 

I ate some jellybellies.  Yum.

My desk is a wreck, but I didn't straighten it.  

I filled out some receipts. 

I wished I had my new toy, a ukelele, so I could practice Christmas Carols.  No, really, for real.

And now, I think I will simply sit in the rocking chair in my office, and be still for 15 minutes. 
Because I can.

Carry on!

this past Sunday...

you know, you have those Sundays...
when you think you have a pretty good sermon,
feeling good about it, and then as you are preaching it,
your realize it pretty much sucks?

yep.  had one those this past Sunday. 

which is fine, we all have those, right? 

but you see, I don't preach every week, so I always want to nail it--knowing of course this isn't about me at all--but I want to be faithful to the writing and the preparing and praying and musing--and so I kind of went into a tailspin about it. 

oh, we are so hard on ourselves sometimes....well, at least I can be hard on myself. 

sigh.

onward.  

so this dream I had last night....

This is my last night's dream:

I started a part-time temporary job steps away from the T-stop in Davis square (that looked nothing like Davis Square, I might add.)

I was wandering around gathering information, names, phone numbers, and apparently this was quite helpful.   My therapist  had her office on the second floor, mine was on the third, although I had to visit the top floor.   The company nurse came in to show me how to take blood pressures, and I said, I would be happy to learn, but I need to go and introduce myself to Heidi.  This was the second day of work, and Heidi was the CEO.   I ran down to her office, and she was this elegant, quirky, artsy person who had three women in wheelchairs in her office, who were also quirky and artsy and the first floor was like a beautiful library....

We had a staff meeting, where everyone read bits of poetry for their reports.  Then we all took out our clay and started creating.    Everyone left whenever they were finished...and there was clay art and jewelry and fabrics in the "store" for sale.  Musicians started showing up to play for a 5:00 wine and cheese gig....one played the harp amazingly.  

I didn't have anything for the show, but I had a lot of pots to glaze that were pretty stunning.

They offered me a salary package of 80,000 to become permanent.  It wasn't ministry, but I was so happy and relaxed and empowered there.   When I awoke, I was in the process of discerning this possibility.  

The End. 

Friday Five: FiveFreeGifts

Over at RevGals, Sally writes:  "Following on from Thanksgiving, and picking up the "Black Friday" theme of boycotting the Christmas rush for bargains I thought it would be good to set a simple Friday Five yet one to get you thinking. I am sure that you'll agree that some of the best gifts we receive do not come in fancy wrapping paper but might be the gift of an unexpected afternoon with a friend or coming across a long forgotten photograph, or- well the list is endless...

So take a bit of time to think back over the last year and ponder the gifts it has offered to you, then list five of those gifts, in no particular order- there is only one rule- all of these gifts must have been free, neither you nor anyone else should have spent money on them"

So here is my play.  If I could figure out how to place photos in my post which seems to be impossible, this would be so much more interesting.   

1.  Watching the sunset from my lanai on the Big Island of Hawaii for 6 nights in a row. 

2.  Swimming with wild dolphins on the Big Island

3.  The momma and litter of kittens we fostered this fall.  They were so much work, and yet so much fun. 

4.  Deepening friendships that will last a lifetime (you all know who you are!)

5.  Middle-aging which has offered me the ability to to settle into my bones and self in a gentler, more loving way. 

PreHoliday Prayer

Oh dear sweet Jesus,

the holiday blitz in on,

even before I  relish the day upon which to be thankful.

That crazy blonde lady Target ad,

who drools over the Black Friday flier, and works out in her pumps to get ready for the big shopping extravaganza (have you seen that commercial?)--it makes my stomach sick.

Even the UCC online store has a 25 Days of Shopping Specials, and each day I get an email highlighting the deal of the day.  Really?  UCC?   That is sinful.  

Now don't get me wrong,

I like me some UCC bling and I have had a love affair with Target since I was about 12,

but to overload

on the shopping commercials...

it's too much right now.

It's too much.

Oh dear sweet Jesus,

Forgive us,

forgive me.

Help me offer your peace, your hope, your quiet redeeming grace

in the midst of all the lights and glitter and show.

Amen.

just some random thoughts, cause it's Tuesday morning.....

It's Thanksgiving Week,
which means that the bulletin is already printed for Sunday,
and my colleague is away for the week,
and my other colleague will not be in the office after today,
and my beloved is on staycation all week,
which means that things are a little relaxed right now.

I am not on vacation or leave or anything,
but I am taking advantage of the down time to do what pastors don't get to do at leisure,
which is write and read and wonder....
drink coffee in the morning in pajamas, and
wander over to my office later this morning.  

I will get to deliver Meals on Wheels on Thursday.
Nice.
I will take Bubba to work with me.
(he really still has the stinky butt, though, so I think that is a sacrifice on my part.)
I will make some pastoral visits.
I will go to the Apple Store, and have a lesson on how to use this Mac computer.
(I can't remember a thing from the last time).

I will ponder Big Things,
like my call, and my options,
and will ask God to please let me know what is next.
I really, really want to settle in and down.
This feeling in my stomach makes me sad, a little, this unsettled thing.

I will Pray for My Loved Ones.
For my family,
for my adopted family,
for my sister friends...
and my brothers....
I will pray for them....because many of them are going through so much pain and disease and Big Life Stuff.

I will rest in my God,
and I will know that the heart of Jesus
is with me.
Amen

Friday Five, 11.11.11

Songbird asks us to reflect on 5 ways we go over the top, blast the volume to number 11.....Big. FAT. THANK YOU.  to Songbird for creating this FF!!!!

1.  Animals.  Oh dear.   It's a blessing and a curse to live across the street from a foster/rescue organization.
Both my beloved and I get hooked in at the strangest times.   However,  there are times we just need to, for the sake of the kitties (usually) or doggies (once in a while)

2. Books.  Piles of them in my office, my home, and on my Kindle.  Just waiting to be read.  

3. Shoes.  I don't have a ton of them, but shoes make me happy.

4.  Pizza.  This is unfortunate.

5.  hmmm.  I wish I could say yoga or jogging or something, but I can't.  I can't think of a 5th, which tells me I need to branch out a little more.   Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Do one thing everyday that scares you."   I like that.   Maybe I will try it.

Bubba

I've been spending a lot of time lately with a gorgeous big furry boy pit bull mix, who is in temporary foster care until we can find a forever home for him, or a more permanent foster situation.  

His original name was Jacoby.   Then he was renamed Tristan--a noble name, yes, but doesn't really fit him.   He is the most submissive dog in the universe--he laid down on his back to a lhasa aphsa dog in the park.  Really.   For awhile I have called him Dino.  He is huge.  

He is grey all over, with a little white.  Such a soft luxurious grey.   He is a close sitter.  Right now, he is curled up on my desk chair behind me.  I am hanging off the end to accommodate.  Silly, right? If I move to the chair next mine, he will move there.  He likes to snuggle.  

He smells like fritos and peanut butter, and a faint whiff of cat spray (lots of cats in his foster home--NOT my house however).   He wants to be friends, but they don't like him.  He has the scratches on his nose to prove the kitties' disapproval.  

Oh his nose.  It also is beautiful--sort of a purply grey.   And soft.  and wet.  and cool. 

He snores.  Like right now.  

In the car, he rests his great head on my shoulder.  

I call him Bubba.  At least today. 

I love him.  He makes me laugh.

Praying for some human to come along and fall in love with him too. 
Pray with me, please?

wow, my rhythm is....

...so busy these days, that my blogging has been been on the down low.
or non-existent.  

sigh. not the way I want to live!  

my work is busy--ministry is good.   I am incredibly fortunate to be working with a senior interim that is very collegial, and whose presence I enjoy.   I'm gaining a few tools for my toolbox, which is always good.    I love my congo so much....
and it is a possibility for me to apply for that position.
don't know if I can wait around that long, frankly...
so my heart stays open,
and I just pray for wisdom and discernment.

my dear, dear friend and animal sitter has found out her cancer has returned, and it is inoperable.   I hate this.  I am going with her today for her "teaching appointment"--what to expect when she starts chemotherapy.   please send her love and light....she is a special person.  you would love her, I know.

on the furry family front.
they just all crack me up, and make me laugh.   we have kept the momma kitty of the momma/kitten rescue of late August.   unless we find a really good home--she is a love bug.   the last two kittens went to their furrrever home last weekend....and so now momma is free to roam the house.  she has wrought terror in everyone--not skeered of a thing.   this has produced a few more passive aggressive pee puddles  around the house--hopefully this will fade away, sooner than later.  

ummkay.   I am watching Rocco the chef sing the zero calorie praises of that shiratake (sp?) noodle stuff.
it's made from soy or something weird--that stuff does NOT REPLACE spaghetti, people.   It's gross.   It stinks.  it smells like dirty feet, really.   but go ahead and eat it Rocco.  I am going to do 20 more minutes on the treadmill instead.   jus' saying.

that's enough randomness, bad capitalization and terrible grammar for now.

happy day to you.