Memories of Mondays Gone By...Thanksgiving Edition

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the food...the turkey, the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, the pumpkin pie.  I don't like the cranberry jelly but other than that... I even like the green beans.  I remember a Thanksgiving when I was about three, my mother asked me how many green beans I wanted. I answered "6."  That's a big number to a 3-year old.  My 5-year old cousin David overheard my answer and got all excited and proclaimed that he would take 6 green beans as well.  I also remember several Thanksgiving poker games where we used the vegetable tray instead of chips..."I'll see your radish and raise you an olive."

I love the football...Grandpa was very big on team loyalty.  My cousin Brent was the only one who ever dared to oppose him.  He was a die-hard Raiders fan in a Seahawk family.  I remember my mother cheering during the game.  Whenever her team was doing poorly she would yell, "Dang!"  Whenever her team was doing well she would yell, "Hot Dang!"

And I love the friends and family.  I love the hugs, the laughter, the memories (or exaggerated stories), and all the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make a family...yours.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  And I am very grateful indeed.

A Positive Outcome

I had to leave early tonight.  I just couldn't take it any longer.  If I had stayed...well...it wouldn't have been pretty.  But I am happy to report that no "yoots" were smacked upside the head during the making of this evening.

However, the positive outcome is this:



I am extremely thankful for my upbringing.  I'm not sure that I can adequately communicate just how grateful I am for the way I was raised.  So, I am going to just list some of the highlights.

I am thankful...

1. I was not given everything I wanted
2. we did not replace the TV when it broke
3. we took our vacations in the woods
4. that sometimes we were awakened in the middle of the night to witness the northern lights and meteor showers
5. that I was spanked when I was disobedient
6. I was required to do my homework...myself
7. laughing was strongly encouraged
8. I did not ALWAYS get presents for my birthday or Christmas
9. my mother taught me to be creative and resourceful
10. my father taught me to be diligent and perseverant
11. I was taught to value books
12. that striving for mediocrity was not an option
13. I wasn't allowed to blame other people or situations for my own actions
14. that disrespect (toward anyone) was not tolerated
15. I was taught the importance of empathy

I am thankful that my parents loved me enough to see that I grew up...well.

Moments from Mondays Gone by...

I know that it has been a while since I've shared a Moment from Mondays Gone by but I was thinking about youth trips today.  Working with the youth at my church is the part time job that I am giving up to go back to school so I realized that I will not be going on a youth trip...at least for a while.  So...I am sharing one of my favorite youth trip moments as previously shared in another blog post.


We Were Making Great Time Until…




I went to Virginia this last weekend with our high school youth group. We took 3 vehicles…the van (an 11-seater), the bus (a 15-seater), and my personal car. We left the church at 5:30ish so had to make our way through DC traffic. Once we got off the beltway the van and the bus moved into the HOV lane. I, however, only had one individual in my car and was unable to do anything but watch them leave me sitting in traffic.



About an hour and a half later, while eating dinner, one of the youth leaders says, “Hey, where’s Janet?”



Meanwhile, back in my car, my co-director calls as says, “Where are you?” and I’m thinking, “uh…not very far from where you left me…” (skipping ahead…) I pull over at this scary gas station to wait for them. After going inside for my own dinner (Coke and Cheetos) I go back outside to sit in my car. I realize that the scary gas station is seriously in the middle of nowhere. It is pitch black out, it is late enough that there is very little traffic, I look over my left shoulder and notice that there is a creepy motel on the hill above the scary gas station and suddenly realize that no one would be able to hear me scream…



Half hour later I have a passenger and I am the caboose once again. And after one more bathroom break we started to make great time until…









…we hit the…







…tree.





Yes…all three vehicles.





Yes…the same tree.



The tree happened to be hanging over the highway. The van driver saw the tree at the last moment, swerved slightly and only ended up with a cracked windshield and a bent antenna. The bus driver didn’t see the tree until it was trying to get on the bus and ended up with a cracked windshield, a missing antenna, broken running lights and a completely sheared off side mirror. The bus was large enough that it bent the tree as it went by so it snapped back into place just in time for me to drive through it. I muttered a soft “ooew. I shouldn’t’ve hit that.” Thankfully, my car suffered no damage…because she’s short.



All in all, no one was hurt, we got to our destination and we all had a great weekend!

The Beginning of Change...

I quit.






Just one of my jobs...the part time one...





So I could go back to school.





Well, sort of.  See, I've actually been enrolled in seminary for the last eight years but for the last four years I've been able to say, "I only have 6 classes left."  Meaning--"I haven't done anything in four years."  Seriously.  It is time to change that.  Especially since I've already paid for it...completely.  In fact, I've already paid for the 6 classes I need to finish my Bachelor's degree AND the classes needed for my Master's degree.

This is step one.

One Down...Three to Go

That's right.  1st quarter of school done.  I still have some grading to do... And I have to compile the report cards... But still.

Fog

Yesterday, while working on my photography blog, I took some time to look through some of the other photography blogs that I follow and I saw this great image of a motorcycle and road sign in the fog.  As I admired the image I started thinking about fog and I realized that that is where I am.  In a fog.

See, everything is muted in the fog.  Colors are muted.  Sounds are muted.  Even time seems muted.  And visibility.  Sometimes your visibility is so muted that you feel like you are the only one on earth.

Now, ever notice that when you are trying to see through the fog your instincts are to shine some light on it...but the light only illuminates the fog.  And the brighter the light...the brighter the fog. 

Ok.  So here's the thing.  I'm in a fog.  Everything is muted.  My joy is muted.  My worship is muted.  My passion is muted.  And my visibility is definitely muted to the point of feeling very disconnected...from everything.  And everytime I add a new ministry or activity or job all I succeed in doing is lighting up more fog. 

Yesterday I shared about change coming.  I still don't know what it is but I know that getting out of this fog is an absolute necessity.  And yet I'm hesitating.  I don't know if it is because I am afraid of what is outside the fog or if I am just worried about what people will say when I start shutting down some of the activities, ministries and jobs...  Or maybe I do know and I'm just afraid to be that transparent and vunerable here.  Possibly more on that later...

Has Anyone Seen October?

I don't even know where to begin.  Seriously.  This is actually my third attempt at this post.  I woke up this morning realizing that it was November.  It seems like yesterday was September.  And yet October didn't just slip quietly by...in fact, it camped out on my front porch and even punched me in the face a couple of times.  First, there was the accident.  Thankfully I was not injured but Ursula Sinead Popodopolis did not fare so well.  29 days and 1300 (my cost) dollars later we were finally reunited.  Then, my house flooded.  This happens enough times that it is pretty much routine, but still.  At the same time that my house flooded, I got a major head cold that lasted a week but had a lingering cough.  October is, of course, a lovely time of the year for allergy sufferers (sarcasm alert).  And we had a spelling bee, all-day-out-of-town field trip and a leadership conference at school.

And among all this activity there has been some internal drama as well.  I don't know what God is doing in me (of course, I rarely do...I rather enjoy that about Him) but change is coming.  And it's big.  And deep.  Lately I have been feeling very strong yearnings.  For what, I don't know...yet.  But there is this sense of urgency as well.  Yeah. It sounds strange to me, too.  A strong, urgent yearning for...?

But, whatever it is, my life is in need of some altercations.  More on that later.