No 'V' in 'Kitchen'

Anyone who knows me even a little knows this about me: I don't cook. There are many half-way coherent excuses for this (tomboy, emotional scarring from Target food-court job, work outside the home most of the week, Ed likes the kitchen, etc.)... but no reasons that have ever helped me to feel justified in utterly scorning/ignoring this area of 'normal' human existence. There is no 'V' in kitchen yet... but reality is quickly nudging me in that direction and I am approaching readiness to take baby steps.

But if I need to start preparing meals, I want to like it... or at least not loathe it. Know what I mean? (I'm well aware that most women don't). So... I'm wondering if you can help. What do I need? FAST, EASY, NON-THREATENING, HIGH-SENSE-OF-REWARD, MOSTLY HEALTHY meals (not just recipes) that will, ultimately, interest me enough to lure me closer to the kitchen. If someone can actually accomplish this, you will earn renown from my relatives and friend-circle, AND surprised delight from moi. Here are the rules:

Submit one meal idea (main course and sides), with prep instructions, via comments or email...

1. Has to take 20 minutes or less to prepare. EASY.
2. Doesn't have ingredients I won't use often or can't pronounce.
3. Will taste really super good to me, my toddler and husband.
4. Doesn't contain obscene amounts of unhealthy junk.
5. Allows the option to freeze left-overs for future use.

Ed and I will soon sit down to organize current recipes. Ones that don't meet this criteria will be filed in the very back of our new family cookbook. If your recipe is the first one to 'lure me in', (in addition to the aforementioned renown) I will, at some point during 2008, have you over to share it with us (with me preparing it - not you). :-) Remember, "EASY" for me means: you could do it blind-folded with one hand tied behind your back the first time you ever tried to cook anything.

Thanks for your help, friends! Who will put the 'V' in 'Kitchen'? Ultimately, 'V' will. But I'll post results soon on the most alluring meal idea... :-)

3 Feet Tall

We got a fun email from the nursery last night with answers to some questions we'd asked about Eva. Here are some (shareable) quotes:




1. "We have formed a list of the words that are used which we will give to you when you get here to get her. She came to us with only a few words and now she speaks in sentences but some of the words are not clear yet."

2. "When she is upset the child care worker will take her and ask her her why she is upset and then, holding her, will divert her attention to other things which she likes: [photo] album or toys."

3. "She is very happy with the gifts she got from her parents. She loves to see the album and knows her 'pappa' and 'mammi'. She likes to carry the bag that is sent and it is her favorite. She likes her teddy bear too." (Mom & Dad - this is the one you gave her at the November shower). "...She gets sad if somebody takes or grabs her toys. She does not like to give her album and toys which she got from her parents. She gets angry if some one takes her album bag and teddy bear."

4. She's 3 ft. tall and 28 lbs.

5. "Favorite food is rice, milk, crackers, biscuits and cookies." (Her mama's sighing a big sigh of relief here). ;-)

6. "Favorite toys are bags and dolls. She likes to play with dolls and likes to dress them."

7. "Her favorite person is 'D', her preschool teacher." (Our baby is in pre-school!!!)

8. "She can run fast and is active and social; she likes music and sings. She is a happy child but sometimes she is very stubborn." (Now we know she takes after her mommy AND daddy, respectively...)! :-)

9. "She has seen an eye specialist and has prescription glasses and she loves to wear glasses. She looks cute with her glasses and likes to show off."

10. "There are no dogs in [the nursery] and so she has no interaction with dogs. But when 'E' brought in her pug to get the older kids familiar with dogs, she was scared and started screaming which made all the others cry too. Maybe the pug's face is not to her liking!!!" :-)

11. "The child care workers show her the album and explain the pictures. She likes her home pictures and dogs pictures. She is happy to show the pictures of her family and home and dogs to others. I hope you got a rough idea about her activities I think she likes the pictures of dogs but when they are in living form, she is scared as she is not used to them I believe."


So... all you moms with 3 yr. olds - what clothing size best fits a 3 ft. 30-pounder? Also - those who are praying, I know it's low on the scale of critical issues, but can you join us in praying for a warming of Eva's heart toward canines? We look forward to the day of gently working with her on that too - and most kids come around. But dogs are a big part of life around here and don't want her to feel traumatized at any point... Thanks for praying with us!

V Is To Vegas...

'V' is to Vegas as a fish is to hiking through the desert. Oh wait - it IS the desert. This will be my first exposure to 'Sin City': business trip, leaving early tomorrow. And actually, though I am flying into Vegas, I've since heard that I'll be staying 1/2 hour out of downtown in Henderson, NV - so should be relatively safe. Just need to get myself through the airport. ;-)

Pray for me if you think of it (that I'll be motivated to do more than hide out in my hotel room). Plus, I think I have 'strep'.

Talk to y'all next Thursday or so!

Positive Reinforcement

At FCC, weekend services typically include both hymns and contemporary worship songs. Hymns tend to be lyrically rich, with multiple verses to express foundational truths. Worship songs can also have ‘meaty’ lyrics, but most often include a chorus or refrain which helps to reinforce the song’s main message.

In ‘Love the Lord’ (Lincoln Brewster), new for us this coming weekend (4/19 & 20), the themes of loving and serving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength are repeated throughout the chorus and verses – and, in this case, the reinforcement could not be more appropriate. It’s just what God seemed to have in mind for this, and other commandments, as He instructed His children through Moses:

“Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” - Deut. 6: 4-8 –

ALL my heart, ALL my soul, ALL my strength… ALL of me – loving Him. Personally, I’ll be thankful to sing a few repetitions of this as I attempt to even scratch the surface of imagining what ALL looks like here; it will help me worship more truthfully.

One last note: it’s significant that the song moves through the word ‘love’ into the word ‘serve’. To serve God is to obey God – and both express our love for Him. In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” This song is not about our choosing to feel loving toward God (though we can joy in the presence of such feelings as we worship); as we sing, we commit to expressing our love through active obedience. With all that we are. In this, we move toward ‘pursuing His Reign in ALL of life’. This is true worship.

Chickorsage

We TP'ed one anothers' houses, partnered on science projects, signaled truckers from choir-tour bus windows, alternately supported and despised one anothers' boyfriends. We stayed up beyond all reasonable hours at slumber parties, jumped off couches at midnight, passionately 'Pollyanna'-preached to one another the damnable evils of smoking (okay - that was just me), passed notes during chapel, got in 'fights' over ridiculous issues and made up again... cried at one anothers' graduation parties.

We commiserated college roommates, bragged about how far we'd pushed the boundaries, tried to keep our grades up, and kept one anothers' darkest secrets.

We joked about what we would say as we emerged from the bathroom in sexy lingerie on our wedding nights, planned one anothers' wedding showers and had roles in each others' 'big days'. We celebrated together the fun of decorating a first apartment, applauded one anothers' house purchases, compared notes on good car buys - and whose husbands spent more time with the PlayStation.

We sent updates and Christmas cards and pictures of our growing families, we came to understand and accept one anothers' similarities and differences. We watched one another grow up and become more beautiful in confidence and wisdom.

So on Sunday, as these 4 precious, long-time, girlfriends presented me with 'The Chickorsage' (made of toddler socks) lovingly crafted by Yvonne's mother for this anticipated occasion, my eyes flowed over with the weight of bearing such an honor.

As I am the last to join this sacred 'sorority' of motherhood, these sisters showered my daughter with generous gifts... and showered me with the wisdom they've earned through years of being moms. With exhortation to hold to Jesus, to abide in and find my strength in Him. I could not have been more deeply touched.

So many profound nuggets were shared at my shower Sunday, I can't possibly remember them all. But based on their long-time knowledge of who I am, each woman had her own nugget of truth to present. Here are some I'll long cherish:

1. Embrace the pink. She's a girl - there's no getting around it. :-)
2. As an introvert, mothering an extravert is more fun than you might imagine.
3. Cherish every moment. Live in the present and appreciate every stage for its own beauties.
4. It goes fast.
5. Nurturing my daughter is now my ministry, my work.
6. Stay connected. Pick up the phone or send an email; moms need other moms.
7. "Repeat after me: She's THREE." The pain is temporary.
8. Time-outs have worked fine for us.
9. Abide in the Lord. He is the vine - the source. Start each day with Him.
10. 'Have grace on thyself.' I will make mistakes without forever ruining my child.

Thanks, sweet friends for making this long-awaited milestone so memorable. What a gift to still know those who have known my heart through all its transitional shifting of shapes and sizes - and who stuck around through it. I'm realizing these days: much of the shape my heart is in now... He's used you to shape it.

Centrality of The Cross

“No theology is genuinely Christian which does not arise from and focus on the cross.”

- John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 216.-
(As published in 'Of First Importance', link to the right)

Cretaceous Cave: The Cave

If you're lost here, be sure to refer back to Episode 1: The Spiral Staircase. You might get lost anyway, but reading the first segment should, at least, lose you in the right direction. And don't forget: this was a dream.




EPISODE 2: THE CAVE

As we entered the Cretaceous exhibit, the general mood shifted dramatically. We were surrounded by rich beauty, as if peering out from inside a prism; entrancing rays spilling color into all our eyes took in. The diverse assembly of living foliage and small, docile creatures glowed bright and cheery, like a child's array of Easter treats. And the sounds! The room was alive with melodic sounds as each leaf we brushed against on the narrow trail sent chimes of musical tones reverberating all around.

Only a couple minutes passed, however, before a man's voice at the very end of the line shouted, "Hey! Didn't T-Rexes live in the Cretaceous Period?!" Suddenly, our collective senses re-awakened to the reality of grave danger, like trapped flies, aware of the web's gentle sway as the spider approaches...

Once again, the herd was in panicked motion. Toward the back of the line again, I followed feverishly, driven by instinct, adrenaline and the screams of terror immediately behind me. The narrow, foliage-lined trail soon dimmed to a darkened hallway with many rooms on either side. As others ran ahead, I ducked into a side-room followed by one other person from the herd.

The room was dim and sterile - like a vacant science lab; clearly not in use. We began to look for hiding spots beneath desks and cabinets. As we looked through the room, I noticed that the left back wall had bundles of some kind stacked against it. My fellow traveler and I approached the stack, and were amazed to find every kind of material provision we could imagine. Packaged food, pots and pans, tools, weapons, floor-mats. There were many layers of supplies; we peeled through all, taking stock of each type as we pulled its packaging away from the wall and reached for the layer beneath. At last, in peeling back the final layer, we found the greatest provision of all: entrance to a cave of safety.

Peering in, we saw the cavern was large enough for us - and many others - to fit, tall enough for us to stand, and would easily hold our new stash of precious supplies. Yet, thankfully, the opening was too small for the massive, snapping jaws of a T-Rex. There was a strong sense that we were meant to find the cave, that the packaged supplies had been pre-measured with perfect foreknowledge of what we'd need... That we had, somehow, been led to a place of safety and fulfillment, carved out especially for us. The source of security opened itself before us.

All we had to do was enter - and the time was now! We heard nearby roars and turned to see two T-Rexes skidding into a corner of the dark, curved corridor approaching the room. Flinging as many supplies into the cave as we could, (we couldn't save everything), we scurried up through the narrow entrance, nearly losing our feet in the flashing daggers anchored to rancid gums of the red-eyed monsters...


No date estimates this time, but I promise to share Episode 3: The View once it's written down. Thanks for reading!

Office Wisdom

Sorry for false advertising; still working on Episode 2. Might be Friday...

Meanwhile... I love my manager. She's smart, kind, wise in mentoring - and can tend to be somewhat of a workaholic. So I laughed out loud today when she announced, with great intentionality:

"Tomorrow, I'll be in late and will leave early to make up for it."

Ha! Good for you, S! And C'est la vie!

Cretaceous Cave: The Spiral Staircase

Last night's epic 'alternate reality' (which I'm about to share) might be reminiscent of 2007's 'Attack of the Giant Squid', but some key differences are worth mentioning up front. First, not as silly; as far as mediums go, this one is closer to an Xbox game than a cheesy horror flick. Second, it 'stuck around' longer - I was still partially in the reality through lunch today. Finally, sorry - no one I know was in it this time, and embellishing this one might wreck it...

EPISODE 1: THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

The child was obviously upset. Stuck on this never-ending staircase like all of us, hour after hour, she was tired - exhausted, really; the infinity of the spiral drained all hope. I had watched the blondish grade-schooler quietly for the past few minutes as she ran upward out of sight, then downward again, sure there must be an end somewhere. Now she was screaming as if being chased, and hurling herself down the winding steps with no regard for the countless others who blocked her path.

Her terror was contagious; the effect general panic. A grown man screamed, "Did you hear that?!" as pale others threw themselves over the green railing. Some seemed to see and hear tormenters while others, like myself, did not. My own sense of dread had increased steadily, however, as the reality set in: there were no doors, no exits. The shadowed hallways off the staircase had all been searched. Instinctively, we moved en masse - some driven hurriedly by invisible horrors, others just following. Down was the inevitable possibility.

Finally, there was a bottom. A vast, tiled floor that shone, but reflected nothing. It seemed we were in a sort of museum warehouse; the dingy, slatted ceiling panes, inestimable stories above us, did little to illuminate faceted balconies which might once have been elegant.

As the herd of others fanned out around me, I found myself toward the front of a group of 50 or so. We faced a short, flawlessly-groomed man wearing sun-glasses and a freshly-pressed Armani.

"Show us the exit," I asserted. The fear had grown to fever-pitch now; tangible, it encircled us like a pack of hungry wolves.

"Yes, yes - PLEASE!" howled the crowd behind me, moans rising like monastic chants.

The suit-man seemed to hide a twinkle (or perhaps a ruby glow) behind his sun-glasses as he answered with an air of indifference, "There is only one exit." We all saw it now, directly behind him, lined with flashing red bulbs. Beneath the sign was a green, wooden barn-door. He moved toward it with visible affection, cautioning indifferently, "All we have available today is this Cretaceous exhibit. If you are courageous enough, you may enter." He slid it open.

Immediately, two gigantic green lizards appeared, entwining themselves with the bottom-most part of the curved stairway railing nearby. As others dove toward the opened exit, I found myself hanging by my foot from the tongue of one of the lizards. The blood rushed to my head as they swung me back and forth from railing to railing, enjoying their game - with innumerable onlookers watching from the herd on the never-ending stairs.

Had the lizards been hungrier, perhaps my journey would have ended then and there. But soon, with a firm kick to the jaw of one of the great creatures, I was dropped - and flew to take my place in the last of the mad rush toward the barn-door...


...Stay tuned for Episode 2: The Cave on tomorrow's post.

Fan or Fanatic?

So... I've never watched Oprah before. Not even once. I work during the day... and, admittedly, I'm somewhat naturally suspicious of most people so widely revered. (But, as I said, for no good or well-researched reason in this case).



I've heard the message being portrayed in this video - in SO many places the past 3 years. Not doubting at all that it's becoming prevalent. As I've indicated in previous posts, I'm convinced that tolerance (not in the semi-decent sense of 'live and let live') and diversity (not in the good sense of accepting - but needing to agree with - people from other backgrounds and faiths) have become this culture's gods. Close friends and family may even think I'm somewhat of a fanatic in my 'irrational' block toward these kinds of messages.

However, because I've never watched her show, I'm unqualified to make a call on whether this youtube compilation is actually representative of her message. (Please watch).

Based on what y'all know of 'O' - is this representative? Or fear-based fanaticism? All thoughts are welcome here. Not asking whether you think the message of spirituality the compilation is bashing is true - just whether it's representative of material on her show... Whatchyathink?

Piano Guts

In this age of sophisticated tools and technology, I often wonder at the number of things I use, on a daily basis - yet have no idea how or why they work. TVs, microwaves, CD players, computers, thermostats, cars... the list could go on and on. Someone built them; someone knows how they work - or at least parts of them. But not me - I don't have to. I'm just a 'user'.

My piano is one of those things. Today, as it was dismantled and rough-tuned, I found myself in awe of the masterful complexity of all the parts; the dance of cause and effect that produces melodies and harmonies, and spurs my imagination and creativity. The wood, metal, nuts, bolts, screws, wires, felt, that all work together for one purpose: producing sound.

There are a million metaphors here - and at least 7 good ones. But I'm not going there today; just appreciating piano guts. And to the list of these every-day miracles, I add internet searches. I can look up a random term like 'piano guts' and find a host of appropriate blog pics at my fingertips.

It's the little things.

Window Into Worship

It's official: for me, blog #2 begins today! Thanks to a great idea by Worship Pastor and mentor, Steve, and gorgeous design and techie skills by Brandy, I get the amazing gift of blending two core passions: worship and writing... by writing about worship.



This one will start monthly and, possibly, grow to weekly later in the year - others might contribute as well at times. Please stop by, visit, and share your thoughts!

Lord, this is from you and for your Glory. Please work in the ways you have planned through this small offering - may it be Your Name that's remembered, Your Heart for your people that is more deeply known. And please continue to teach us what it means to worship you in Spirit and in Truth - we want to be those kind of worshippers, the kind that really honor you... every day, every hour. Not just with our lips... draw our hearts close to you. Thanks for this...

Blown Away

Heard a factoid once that we humans lose brain cells every time we blow our noses.

If that is true, I can expect to be institutionalized sometime next week.




Ya know how we all have weird, embarrassing talents we only show off when tipsy (on root beer) or lacking sleep? Mine is an uncannily realistic B-52 bomber impression. With my nose. What's yours?

(Maybe they should go ahead and institutionalize me now).

Hear Us From Heaven

-Psalm 96:1, “Sing to the Lord a new song…”-

I love it when we introduce new songs at FCC: new sounds, new ideas, new ways of articulating truth. This coming weekend is one of those special services; I get to help introduce “Hear Us From Heaven” by Jared Anderson.

For me, the themes in this musical prayer seem to echo Christ’s own prayer as he taught the disciples to pray to the Father, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” In first glance at the title, I had a twinge of concern that the theme phrase, “Hear Us From Heaven,” might lead to unbalanced focus on the gap between us and God; He is there vs. we are here – like we’re begging Him to hear us long-distance.

However, a thorough reading of the lyrics shows the opposite is true. One cry of this song is for God (whose throne is in Heaven) to cause Heavenly things to take place – right here where we are. Phrases like, “Come heal our land,” “Open the blind eyes, unlock the deaf ears” echo Christ’s “Your Kingdom come.”

Even more beautiful though, I think, is the song’s reaching beyond just asking God to do Heavenly things… the true heart’s cry of the song is for God Himself, His presence among us. Phrases like, “Come to your people as we draw near,” and “Would you make this a place for your glory to dwell” articulate the purest desire of our hearts as worshippers: just to be with Him.

For those of you FCC'ers out here, can't wait to worship with you this weekend!