Category Archives: Faith

7 Quick Takes: Ruminations from My Hurting Brain

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Update on my fast. I’m still loving pita and hummus (and usually some carrots) for lunch and I’ve been doing tofu dogs and tater tots for dinner the last few days. I think the biggest thing is reminding myself that I could totally cheat when nobody is looking and have a frappucino but… I’m doing this to draw nearer to God at a time when I’ve got a lot of hard things going on in my personal life and said frappucino will still be there on Sunday. 🙂 I’ve fallen a couple times and had a few M&M’s (also known as “Daniel’s bribe to take his meds”) but that has been it.

— 2 —

CDC study in my backyard. OK… Palo Alto isn’t quite my backyard but… I knew some students at Palo Alto High School and Gunn so I feel like I can weigh in on the fact that the CDC is doing a study on teen suicides in Palo Alto. I could probably tell the CDC something that will save it money: I would put money on some of the suicides being caused by the insane pressure to succeed at both schools. Stanford University is local, it’s a wealthy school district so these kids have all the advantages in the world (hence, no reason why they don’t achieve magnificent things), and there are stories in the local paper about some student who gets a perfect score on the index for admission to the engineering program at Cal. They make my suburban high school (which is similarly high-pressure and which sends usually 10-20% of each graduating class to Cal) look like a bunch of slackers.

— 3 —

*facepalm* Maybe it’s just me but… WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSES PEOPLE TO TAKE A BABY DOLPHIN OUT OF THE OCEAN AND PASS IT AROUND FOR SELFIES?!?!?!?!?!? My brain hurts now…

— 4 —

Dying. If you don’t follow Honest Toddler on Facebook, you’re missing out on gems like this. I’m dying of laughter only because THIS IS MY KID AND IT’S ALL TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— 5 —

Bravo, Apple. Considering that I am a PC person and the only Apple product I own is an elderly iPod Nano, I’m kind of shocked that I’m praising them but I love that they are saying “no” to the FBI request to create a backdoor into the iPhone. It shows a commitment to their customers and their privacy.

— 6 —

THIS. I’m loving the 8 signs that you love legalism more than Jesus and I’m seeing myself in my early convert days in this piece.

— 7 —

A thought on the debate over who should replace Justice Scalia. Maybe we should wait, out of respect for his family and loved ones, until AFTER the funeral and burial before we descend on his Supreme Court seat like a pack of hyenas?

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favorites}: Things I’m Missing During Lent

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#5Faves

For those of you who missed it, I’m doing a modified Coptic fast for Lent this year. It has been a good thing for me but here are the five things I’m missing during this Lent.

One

Tuna fish sandwiches. One of my go-to Lenten meals on the go is tuna fish sandwiches from Subway with American cheese, salt, pepper, and a couple decent handfuls of pickles. If I was out and about on a Sunday this year, I might consider it. For Fridays however, it’s no bueno.

Two

Pizza. There’s a lot of house repair and painting going on around here and on nights after a day that includes a lot of work, the go-to meal is pizza. If I were celebrating a normal western Lent, I could do vegetarian pizza on Fridays or Hawaiian pizza on other days. Not so much right now although I’m pretty sure Round Table would make a vegan pie for me if I asked.

Three

Whole milk in my coffee. I think it was Jessica of Housewifespice who talked about how her coffee needed to taste like ice cream. I concur. I can put coconut milk in my morning/afternoon latté but it’s not the same.

Four

Ice cream. I could probably get coconut milk ice cream but I’m choosing to forgo that at this point. Still, I miss Magnum Bars and stuff like that.

Five

Samoas. I know Thin Mints are vegan but Samoas are my comfort cookie. 🙁

Go love up Ashley and Posted in Daily Life, Faith, Food/Drink, Lent 2016, Memes and Link-Ups

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 15, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 15, 2016

Outside my window… dusk. According to Weather Underground, it was 77F today. I’m sure people on the east coast will throw things at me for saying this but… I miss rain and cold. It’s freaking February!

I am thinking… about my trip to southern California this coming weekend and various logistics associated with it.

I am thankful… for my dad working on mechanical engineering projects with Daniel (translation: playing Legos) while I slept this morning.

In the kitchen… tofu dogs and tater tots for me tonight. #lent #copticfast

I am wearing… burgundy Old Navy shirt and black capris.

I am going… to try and get some serious park time with the kid this week while he’s off of school for Winter Recess. I think it might rain on Wednesday or Thursday so that may not work.

I am wondering… if the kid will sleep through the night tonight. He was up at 6 or 6:30 this morning.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. My Lenten reading is Calmness by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.

I am hoping… for decent sleep tonight.

I am looking forward to… seeing my brother this weekend.

I am hearing… Daniel being whiny. It’s kind of amazing how a largely non-verbal kid can whine!

A Daniel story for today… we ran into my priest at the grocery store today and Daniel charmed the pants off of her.

Around the house… the buzzer just went off for laundry and my dad was doing some stuff in the garage.

A favorite quote for today… “The Son of God did not want to be seen and found in heaven. Therefore he descended from heaven into this humility and came to us in our flesh, laid himself into the womb of his mother and into the manger and went on to the cross. This was the ladder that he placed on earth so that we might ascend to God on it. This is the way you must take.” — Martin Luther

One of my favorite things… getting my taxes done early.

A few plans for the rest of the week: intake appointment for mental health services tomorrow morning, meeting with a therapist on Wednesday morning, psychiatrist appointment for the kid on Thursday, and flying down to southern California to pick up my stuff from my in-laws on Saturday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

My Favorite Passage on Love

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I re-post this almost every year.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
–1 Corinthians 13 (NIV)

(A pastor friend of mine preached on it a few weeks ago and had an unusual twist.)

7 Quick Takes: Pretend This Has A Cool Title, OK?

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Customer service shalom. This is a fabulous article on receiving customer service with grace. (HT:Thomas) I’m wishing that it had been around when I was a barista during the summer of 2000 as there were some pretty nasty customers that came into my Barnes and Noble.

— 2 —

Prayer request. Please keep the family of baby Aiden Hall in prayer. Aiden was the nephew of one of my church kids from Minnesota and was born last month at 29 weeks because of his mom’s preeclampsia and weighed in at 1 lb 14.2 oz. (Does this sound somewhat familiar?) Anyway, baby Aiden started having seizures this morning and passed away this afternoon. Please keep parents DJ and Lisa and big brother Liam in prayer as they deal with this heartbreak.

— 3 —

Celebrating life as well. In better news than the last take, Agnes had her baby!!!!! She is a serious cutie pie too. 🙂

— 4 —

For Ash Wednesday This Week. Rachel Held Evans posted a chapter from Searching for Sunday on ashes. I recommend reading it even though Ash Wednesday was yesterday.

— 5 —

*facepalm* In the “Trending” column on Facebook are articles on how state Medicaids are having to ration Hepatitis C medications because of the cost. Huh. Other first world countries don’t have this problem. Guess why? BECAUSE THEY REGULATE THEIR PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES!!!! Tell me again how deregulation is a good thing. I dare you.

— 6 —

Lent update. We were talking about Jesus being tempted in the desert today at the lectionary Bible study and we got into a big discussion on food. It was a good reminder that my hunger pangs last night were something that Jesus went through when Satan was tempting Him. It also brought to mind Laura’s post on how to fast like a grown up. (A reminder: Laura won the right to pick my Lenten discipline so I’m keeping a cheater version of her fast.)

— 7 —

Valentines for Daniel’s class. As soon as I get these posted, I’m off to create some Valentines for Daniel’s class at school. If I was actually being a cool mom this year, I’d do something from Living Locurto like last year. Instead, I’m putting address labels with hearts onto bags of Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks and calling it good. #slackermom

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

And So It Begins

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Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom won the raffle to pick my Lenten discipline and after some email conversation, it was decided that I would take on the Coptic fast (vegan) with some modifications: I am allowed food and drink before noon due to blood sugar issues and my fast will be suspended on Sundays because those are “mini-Easters” in the Episcopal church. (We’re kind of pansies when it comes to fasting and Lent so we give ourselves a day off.) I also can suspend the fast on St. Patrick’s Day because it’s the feast day of my people. She’ll get a guest post (or two or ten) from me on all of this. 🙂

So… I’m sitting here drinking coffee with coconut milk in it and my breakfast consisted of a banana and some peanut butter. In a few minutes, I’ll be getting dressed (well… at least dressed in my “pretty” clothes) and picking up Rebecca to head to church for Ash Wednesday worship. I’ll probably post a selfie with ashes when I get home.

Tomorrow also begins one of my favorite parts of Lent… LENT MADNESS!!!! Which saint will win the Golden Halo?!?!?!? Surf on over to the Lent Madness site tomorrow to find out!

**UPDATE** I’m back from worship and this is my #ashtag.

My #ashtag

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: Superbowl 2016 Edition

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 7, 2016

Outside my window… dark. It was in the 80’s today which is crazy for February in northern California. The Super Bowl was being played in my area so I have a feeling there were A LOT of prayers being lifted for good weather. The Blue Angels even decided to come party in my neighborhood… TWICE! #flyover #NorthernCaliforniaFTW

I am thinking… about how my week is looking and what I need to add to my planner.

I am thankful… for a relatively chill weekend.

In the kitchen… steak, baked potatoes, and caesar salad for dinner with spumoni and Lofthouse cookies for dessert. I think my parents have caught wind of my Lenten plans this year and are trying to make sure that the lead up to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday is fabulous.

I am wearing… navy shirt and black capri sweats.

I am going… for a walk tomorrow morning if I’m not in too much pain. *shakes fist at fibromyalgia*

I am wondering… about how to best blog on this. I wrote about it in 2012 when the lawsuit was cleared to go to trial. I feel horrible for the woman’s daughter — how awful must it be to know (if nobody has told her yet) that her mother views her as an inconvenience and sued because she didn’t get to abort her? It’s not like the daughter isn’t going to discover all of this later on if she ever googles herself.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I had to put A Lesson in Hope by Phillip Gulley down because it was due at the library and I also wasn’t in a good place mentally to read it. Lenten reading is shaping up to be Calmness by H.H. Pope Shenouda III and Seven Last Words: An Invitation to a Deeper Friendship with Jesus by James Martin, S.J. which just came out in February.

I am hoping… for some direction as to how my life should go.

I am looking forward to… Lent Madness! It is, like, SOOOOOOOOO much cooler than the Super Bowl.

I am hearing… the TV on in my mom’s office.

A Daniel story for today… when the little monster wakes up in the middle of the night (usually when I’m trying to fall asleep), he turns to me and says “hi” before demanding milk/cheese/my credit card.

Around the house… the hall got painted on Friday and I think my parents are painting the hall ceiling on Tuesday.

A favorite quote for today… “But it was true. I was constantly surprised how the storied names of biblical locales popped up in the most familiar of circumstances: on a simple map, on a graffitied street sign, or in everyday conversations. ‘The traffic to Bethlehem was terrible last night!’ said a Jesuit over dinner one night. Which still didn’t beat ‘Gehenna is lovely.'” — James Martin, S.J. in Jesus: A Pilgrimage (which I *HIGHLY* recommend if you need Lenten reading this year)

One of my favorite things… people-watching during worship. Anyone who has ever sat with me in church should not be remotely surprised.

A few plans for the rest of the week: crocheting while watching Super Bowl commercials, making phone calls on Daniel’s behalf, ashes on Wednesday, Bible study/choir on Thursday, and whatever else comes up.

A peek into my day… This is just funny. #HoneyBadgersFTW

Hosted by The Simple Woman.