For those who don’t run in evangelical circles, author Max Lucado (whose works are accessible and useful for Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians) had an online prayer gathering for ISIS and ebola (among other things) at 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT today. If you didn’t get to participate, you can watch the video below and pray along — our God is outside of time and your prayers are just as useful, necessary, and welcome now as they were during the live recording.
I know there are a few non-Christians who read this blog and I’m sharing all this for the purpose of disseminating information and calming false panic. One of my Facebook friends posted an image which reminds us that more people have been married to Kim Kardashian than have died of Ebola in the US.
Outside my window… dark. It was in the mid 80’s today which is so wonderful compared to the triple digit temps of a week or so ago.
I am thinking… about all I need to do before leaving for San Jose on Wednesday morning.
I am thankful… for a fun day: singing with the contemporary worship team at church this morning (“contemporary” in that everything we sang was written in the 20th century — the “contemporary” period in classical music) and heading to the birthday party of Jon’s best friend’s oldest daughter who turned 6 today. Her mom was in labor with her when I found out that I was pregnant with Daniel. It was a Frozen-themed party (surprise surprise) and they had a bouncy castle. Daniel enjoyed himself and I even got to bounce a little bit in the bouncer under the guise of making sure Daniel was OK in there. Other moms were looking at me and telling me that I was brave for going in it. I shrugged and told them about how much fun I was having.
In the kitchen… cleaned up after making my dinner (black bean and jack burrito from Trader Joe’s).
I am wearing… gray v-neck and capri sweats.
I am praying for… travel mercies for my drive on Wednesday, some special intentions, and a call for Jon.
I am going… to see if I can’t get some more CD’s at a heavily discounted price at the Office Depot which is going out of business.
I am reading…Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans.
I am hoping… to get some decent sleep tonight.
I am looking forward to… seeing my parents on Wednesday.
A favorite quote for today… “I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… listening to good music.
A few plans for the rest of the week: dental work tomorrow, various things on Tuesday, and driving to San Jose on Wednesday.
A peek into my day…
It was Contemporary Sunday today so I ditched some of my prettier clothes in favor of a simple v-neck shirt and my faded denim skirt.
(Ignore the smudgy prints on the mirror. I have a small child who is entranced by his own image.)
Shirt: Foot Locker Skirt: Hand-me-down from my sister-in-law who probably thrifted it. Flip-flops: Old Navy
Here’s a picture showing how long my skirt actually is:
REAL public health challenges. Here are 6 diseases that should worry you more than Ebola. I’m thankful that I’m current on my vaccines for 3-4 of them (measles, pertussis, and influenza/pneumonia). I can attest to the scariness of RSV though — Daniel has had it twice (nearly killed him the first time) and had to be vaccinated for it during his first year of life because the fatality risk was so high.
Vote early! Vote often! I just got my absentee ballot in the mail. The gubernatorial race here isn’t even close (Jerry Brown has a 20-point lead over his challenger) and neither of our senators are up for re-election so I think the only tight races are the ones for the various House seats and maybe for some of the propositions? I don’t have access to TV so I haven’t been forced to watch all the political ads.
An interesting argument. One of Jon’s seminary classmates linked a blog post about how a growing church is a dying church. I’m inclined to agree. We get asked frequently in call interviews how we would grow the church and “attract young people” but very rarely is the congregation doing anything themselves to actually make their church a welcoming place. (I’m not talking about doing things like replacing the organ with a rock band and watering down the theology — I’m talking about being actually friendly to outsiders and making people feel like it’s a place where they’d like to belong.)
Cynthia Jeub speaks out. I remember watching Kids by the Dozen on either TLC or the Discovery Channel and seeing the Jeub family of Colorado. Apparently, things weren’t so rosy in that household and daughter #3 Cynthia is speaking out. I’m watching the blogs on this one to see how this all turns out. I’m saddened to hear what Cynthia is saying because I hate seeing abuse or hearing about it in any form.
New blog. I’m starting a blog separate from this one that is related to health issues and my journey to develop healthier habits. If you want the URL, email me (jen at grace-filled dot net).
Baseball. The Giants beat the Nationals to advance to the NLCS and the Cardinals did the same to the Dodgers so I now have my two favorite NL teams playing each other. I’m not going to lie — I’d like it if the Giants won this best-of-seven series and went on to win the World Series but I’ll also root for the Cards if they do the same. I think my greatest joy is the Dodgers being knocked out as I’m married to a Dodger fan and I live among them down here in southern California. Maybe I should start wearing all my Giants gear when I leave the house… (Relax, I only have two pieces.)
Prayer request. I would muchly appreciate it if you could lift up some serious prayers for the Lenaburgs as they are dealing with the reality of Courtney’s last days. Mary (Courtney’s mom) is one of the most amazing people I’ve been blessed to know online and has the same sense of humor that I do (pretty dark given what we both deal with on a daily basis) and I wish I could take the pain from her.
Outside my window… dark. It was near 100F today which I think is hideous, even for October. I miss my -20F temps (not including windchill) in Montana!
I am thinking… about worship today. It was the Blessing of the Animals for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and people brought their pets to church to be blessed. Most people brought their dogs, a few (like me) brought cats, and one family even brought their chickens!
I am thankful… for Edda doing so well at church this morning. I didn’t know if she’d be OK or if I’d have to send her home with Jon partway through or what was going to happen. She was pretty content to stay in her crate and nap. I barely heard a peep out of her.
In the kitchen… lemon ricotta ravioli from Trader Joe’s for dinner tonight.
I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and black capri sweats.
I am praying for… a call for Jon, healing for various people, and some special intentions.
I am going… to have some pretty epic errands to do tomorrow morning on account of Daniel having a surprise three-day weekend.
I am reading…Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. It’s a re-read.
I am hoping… my walk goes well tomorrow morning and resting my foot this weekend has helped.
I am looking forward to… various things this week.
I am hearing… mostly silence given how late it is.
Around the house… again, silence as I’m the only one up.
A favorite quote for today… “Human will becomes truly our own when it is wholly God’s, and this is one of the many senses in which he that loses his soul shall find it.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… my choir director’s face upon finding out that he’d have to play the “arky arky song” during the blessing of the animals. (He hates it.) Given the ferocity with which he was playing the postlude by Mussorgsky, I think he was working out his frustrations on the piano afterwards. (He has a Masters and DMA in piano performance and is a piano professor at Azusa Pacific so we get some pretty amazing preludes and postludes on Sundays.)
A few plans for the rest of the week: errands, Daniel’s IEP on Tuesday, and whatever else comes up.
A peek into my day… Edda being blessed by Rev. Kelli Grace.
The cute story behind this picture: the little boy is Rev. Kelli Grace’s grandson (she so does NOT look old enough to be a grandma) and at the end of the blessing, I heard her say “Do you see the ‘at’? Can you say ‘God bless the ‘at’?'” I looked up and her grandson had his fingers stuck into Edda’s crate and my princess was nuzzling his fingers. His mom told me later on that I had completely made his day because he loves “ats”.
How Contagious Is Ebola? It turns out, not very. Unlike measles or mumps, you have to seriously come into contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. Measles and mumps also have vaccines to prevent them, unlike Ebola and a few of the other diseases mentioned.
Giddy. My boys (the Giants) are in the playoffs after beating Pittsburgh! My other boys (the Cardinals) are playing Jon’s boys (the Dodgers) and of course, I’m rooting for the Cardinals in that one. Ah… I love October — I just wish I had a TV so I could watch all of this.
Girding up my loins. I thought this was an interesting show of what it actually meant to “gird up your loins” back in the day. It satisfies my “history geek” side.
The War on Rosh Hashanah. I’m very thankful that my friend Neil posted this on his Facebook. It should give me something to be self-righteously indignant about until after Thanksgiving when I can obsess about the War on Advent.
The Benefit of Family Dinner. A friend of my bloggy friend Calah wrote this and I absolutely love it. (It’s about how eating dinner as a family saved her.) Calah expounds on it and I can relate. It’s really hard to eat a family dinner because everyone here is on a different schedule with work, medication, and childcare. We do manage it on occasion and it’s something I’ll be making an effort to try when Jon gets into his next parish.
An interesting view on waiting until a later age to date. I love Michelle. I love her blog. I love her family and wish I could be adopted in because they are so insanely cool and they seem to have so much fun! The particular post I’m sharing is on why one should wait until age 16 to date. She’s Mormon so it is written from that perspective but I found a number of her arguments compelling.
Super Woman. On days I torture myself on my core ball, I usually go for a 1 mile loop around the neighborhood for the purposes of getting some cardio as well as getting in some prayer time. (I pray for people while I walk and usually I’m walking a 5K.) I run into a lot of the same people every morning and one of them is an older man walking a dog. He jokingly asked me which lap I was on and I told him that I was just doing my 1 mile loop because I was going to go do a bunch of core exercises.
Outside my window… dark. I didn’t get onto my laptop today until Daniel was asleep. On the plus side, the weather is 20F cooler than it was last week.
I am thinking… about worship today. We didn’t end up doing the awesome Doxology below (our organist accidentally played the one to the hymn tune “Old 100th” instead) but I’ve got it stuck in my head anyway.
I am thankful… for my incredibly awesome mother-in-law watching Daniel so I could go do choir and church. I have to church-train him one of these days.
In the kitchen… I think my mother-in-law’s stuffed zucchini is still on the counter.
I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and navy running shorts.
I am praying for… a parish for Jon and some special intentions.
I am going… for a long walk tomorrow morning if my foot isn’t flaring too badly.
I am reading…A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. A friend recommended it and I’m having a hard time putting it down.
I am hoping… to have a smooth week without too many major surprises.
I am looking forward to… this coming weekend when I get to go to San Diego with Jon where he is supplying at the church his great-grandfather started.
I am hearing… water going through pipes or something.
Around the house… I think I’m the only one awake.
A favorite quote for today… I found this today while reading A New Kind of Christian and loved it:
“Actually, if there’s one thing I wish I could tell every Christian about evangelism in the postmodern world,” he replied, “it would be about that word [conversation]. I would say to stop counting conversions, because our whole approach to conversion is so, I don’t know, mechanistic and consumeristic and individualistic and controlling. Instead, I’d encourage us to count conversations, because conversation implies a real relationship, and if we make our goal to establish relationships and engage in authentic conversations, I know that conversions will happen. But if we keep trying to convert people, we’ll simply drive them away. They’re stick of our sales pitches and our formulas.”
One of my favorite things… cuddles with Jon.
A few plans for the rest of the week: the only major plan is a lunch date with a family friend on Wednesday.
A peek into my day… So, I decided to use this space for my “What I Wore On Sunday” post again. 🙂
I was going for something that would be cool under my choir robe. I ended up deciding on this:
Here’s a better shot of my pants with the shoes. (Pardon the belly shot. I promise that I’m not pregnant — it’s just the angle of things.)
For those wondering about the foot, it’s one of three things: a strain from overworking it, arthritis, or bursitis. In any case, I’m putting the principles of RICE into action and the compression part is being handled by athletic tape because there’s not a brace on the market that sufficiently covers it.
Scottish independence vote. For those who want to know the result of the Scottish independence vote and don’t want the commentary, here’s your answer. For everyone else, here is commentary and information.
A sign that I’m getting back to “normal”. I don’t know if it’s serious cabin fever from the heat or the fact that my foot is probably sprained (foot injuries make me more peripatetic than usual — perhaps my body not wanting to be told what it cannot do) but I have been *DYING* to go for walks every morning. After not doing it for at least 4 years, I’m covering 2-3 miles without a problem… even in 93F heat! Thankfully, it was only 73F when I went out today. I’m happy that I have a doable course for the Run for the Little Flowers worked out.
Prerequisite baseball take. The Giants are still 2.5 games behind Jon’s boys. They could still take their division… provided Jon’s boys lose a few more. (Of course, I’m also living in Dodger country so my opinion is not popular.)
Two truths and a lie. While I was on my walk this morning, I had a random thought for a Quick Take: play the game “Two Truths and a Lie” which is one of those weird mixer games from college and youth group. The rules are pretty simple: make three statements about yourself and people have to guess which one is not true. Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll let people know which is which next week.
Oh. Em. Gee. My shows start again next week!!!!!! I am so incredibly excited because The Big Bang Theory, and the various NCIS incarnations start again on Monday. I don’t have access to a TV so I have a feeling that I’ll be doing a lot of watching while crocheting on the morning after each show comes out.
