Today, I am grateful for the Oscars. Best line of the night came from Billy Crystal, who said, "Nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like millionaires presenting each other golden statues." Ohmygosh, I love me some Billy Crystal at the Oscars!
Today, I am grateful for finding a new theme song in church yesterday. A very talented teen sang This Is the Stuff, and I'm learning the song for myself. Not that anyone wants to hear me sing it, but I'd like to get that chorus in my head for times like last night, when I couldn't find the cable remote and OSCAR was on! You can see the official video of the song HERE.
Today, I am grateful for shelf liner, bag clips, and other useful stuff.
Today, I am grateful for sunshine.
What are you grateful for today?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Things on Thursday: Diverse Interests
A reader recommended the newest biography on Martha Washington, and as I'm always open to new things and had just finished reading Water for Elephants, I immediately looked for it out on my Nook Tablet. Sure enough, it was there. I bought it and started reading it. It's really good. Thanks, Mary!
I've been wanting to read Tina Fey's Bossypants for a while. Then I saw this pin on Pinterest, which made me shout Amen, sister!, especially the part about doll tits. Who really has these...without the aid of a plastic surgeon?!?!
Click on the photo to see it bigger.
An elephant (who was smart and vengeful), Martha Washington (who was smart and stacked) and Tina Fey (who is smart and funny).
My world is smartly diverse.
Please share with the internet an example of your diverse interests...in books or other things.
I've been wanting to read Tina Fey's Bossypants for a while. Then I saw this pin on Pinterest, which made me shout Amen, sister!, especially the part about doll tits. Who really has these...without the aid of a plastic surgeon?!?!
Click on the photo to see it bigger.
An elephant (who was smart and vengeful), Martha Washington (who was smart and stacked) and Tina Fey (who is smart and funny).
My world is smartly diverse.
Please share with the internet an example of your diverse interests...in books or other things.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Adding Good
Disclaimer: Today's post is about Lent, and therefore explicitly Christian, unlike many of my other devotional posts that strive for a sort of spiritual inclusivity. I know that many of my readers follow other faiths or no faith at all. It is not my wish to clobber anyone over the head with my religion, so feel free to skip today's post if you want.
Years ago, I heard a church member bitterly remark that no one gives stuff up for Lent anymore. Lent and Easter, she thought, ought to be a Christian's favorite season on the Church calendar, but people get sucked into the commercial celebration of Christmas and ignore Easter, except for the candy and bunny and eggs (which are all pagan anyway, harrumph).
Her point, I think, is that Christ's death and resurrection opened heaven for us, and we are ungrateful wretches about it. The least we can do to acknowledge that enormous debt is give up chocolate for Lent.
Really?
As I study the Bible, I am struck by Jesus' repeated and firm insistence on the importance of inward state of being rather than outward show. Think of the parable of the widow's mite. God values a small gift given out of love higher than a big gift given to impress.
Some people, like the bitter church member, judge other people's inward state of heart by looking at their outward public actions. That judgment involves a pretty big assumption. How many serial killers have neighbors who say, "I'm shocked. He was so nice and quiet and grew beautiful orchids!"
Instead, let's flip the assumption around: our inward state of heart should dictate our actions. What we do for Lent should rise up from inside us, from that place that houses our values and faith.
And because we're all different, our actions will be different.
Instead of worrying about following rules this Lent, rethink Lenten sacrifice. Try doing something personally meaningful to celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus. The outward show of sacrifice isn't what's important. What's important is the inward focus on your relationship with God.
For some of you, it will indeed be giving up something, sacrificing a luxury or treat to remind you daily of another, much bigger, sacrifice. If you are one of the many people who benefit spiritually from Lenten sacrifice, that's wonderful. Stick with it.
I, on the other hand, like the idea of adding something. I preach and whine about busyness, but that makes me all the more certain that keeping my inward eye on God involves refocusing that outward busyness. Adding something to my schedule, something that feels worshipful, makes sense to me. That's why I've started a daily devotional and recommitted myself to sending more cards to people.
When I asked Nick about this, he took it in a different direction entirely and without hesitation decided to strive to be more cheerful even when he doesn't feel like it. That's pretty cool, don't you think?
What's your widow's mite? How will you honor Lent? While telling the world in a blog comment might feel contradictory to the message of inward focus, I do think others benefit from shared ideas. Your idea might spark something meaningful in someone on the other side of the world, so please share.
Years ago, I heard a church member bitterly remark that no one gives stuff up for Lent anymore. Lent and Easter, she thought, ought to be a Christian's favorite season on the Church calendar, but people get sucked into the commercial celebration of Christmas and ignore Easter, except for the candy and bunny and eggs (which are all pagan anyway, harrumph).
Her point, I think, is that Christ's death and resurrection opened heaven for us, and we are ungrateful wretches about it. The least we can do to acknowledge that enormous debt is give up chocolate for Lent.
Really?
As I study the Bible, I am struck by Jesus' repeated and firm insistence on the importance of inward state of being rather than outward show. Think of the parable of the widow's mite. God values a small gift given out of love higher than a big gift given to impress.
Some people, like the bitter church member, judge other people's inward state of heart by looking at their outward public actions. That judgment involves a pretty big assumption. How many serial killers have neighbors who say, "I'm shocked. He was so nice and quiet and grew beautiful orchids!"
Instead, let's flip the assumption around: our inward state of heart should dictate our actions. What we do for Lent should rise up from inside us, from that place that houses our values and faith.
And because we're all different, our actions will be different.
Instead of worrying about following rules this Lent, rethink Lenten sacrifice. Try doing something personally meaningful to celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus. The outward show of sacrifice isn't what's important. What's important is the inward focus on your relationship with God.
For some of you, it will indeed be giving up something, sacrificing a luxury or treat to remind you daily of another, much bigger, sacrifice. If you are one of the many people who benefit spiritually from Lenten sacrifice, that's wonderful. Stick with it.
I, on the other hand, like the idea of adding something. I preach and whine about busyness, but that makes me all the more certain that keeping my inward eye on God involves refocusing that outward busyness. Adding something to my schedule, something that feels worshipful, makes sense to me. That's why I've started a daily devotional and recommitted myself to sending more cards to people.
When I asked Nick about this, he took it in a different direction entirely and without hesitation decided to strive to be more cheerful even when he doesn't feel like it. That's pretty cool, don't you think?
What's your widow's mite? How will you honor Lent? While telling the world in a blog comment might feel contradictory to the message of inward focus, I do think others benefit from shared ideas. Your idea might spark something meaningful in someone on the other side of the world, so please share.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Gratitude Journal #126
Today, I am grateful for presidents and most especially for George Washington, who rejected the offer to be king. Washington was a gentleman cut from the finest cloth. Following the battle of Georgetown in early October 1777, a dog with a name tag on its collar identifying it as the property of British General William Howe, fell into American hands. General Washington found out, dictated a letter to Howe via his aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton, and sent the dog back to its owner under a white flag of truce. A copy of the letter resides with George Washington's papers. Washington loved animals of all kinds, especially dogs. While a love of dogs isn't a prerequisite for being president, it's interesting how many presidents--good and bad--were suckers for pairs of big brown eyes and furry wagging tails.
And yes, I could carry that last line into jokedom, but I won't out of respect for Mr. Washington.
Today, I am grateful for the weather that has brought us sun and warmth, at least for today.
Today, I am grateful for coffee.
Today, I am grateful for friends on the internet who send me nice notes when I need them most.
Today, I am grateful for ink.
Today, I am grateful for this lamp, which now lives in my library.
What are you grateful for today?
And yes, I could carry that last line into jokedom, but I won't out of respect for Mr. Washington.
Today, I am grateful for the weather that has brought us sun and warmth, at least for today.
Today, I am grateful for coffee.
Today, I am grateful for friends on the internet who send me nice notes when I need them most.
Today, I am grateful for ink.
Today, I am grateful for this lamp, which now lives in my library.
What are you grateful for today?
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Things on Thursday: Furniture and a Mess
We had a buyer for our new house for a few days, and then they skedaddled over a (to us) rather stupidly insignificant thing. The builder of our new home has to buy our old one if it doesn't sell by April 9th, so it doesn't bother us too much.
It just bothers the builder.
Yesterday, the news of the skedaddling came just an hour after I took delivery of this furniture.
Yes, that is my Nook Tablet resting on the table. I still love it, too.
The library, when it is finished, will be my favorite room in the whole house...even more than my craft room. My craft room isn't perfect and right now has carpet ripped up and holes cut in drywall following a leaky toilet incident. See?
This mess will require at least a week to get straightened out. Probably two. But even without the mess, the craft room isn't ideal. It's too isolated from the family. I don't like the fact that I can't hear what's going on in other parts of the house when I am in there. It's not a problem during the day, when I'm here with the dog. Just in the afternoons and on weekends when I feel like I'm ostracizing myself in there. I'm considering moving all this stuff to the alcove of the basement with the sliding glass door. Then I'll be "part of things" while stamping my art out.
Even so, as you can see, the craft room's decor is dominated by plastic storage. It's not pretty. Functional, yes. Pretty, no. And not the sort of thing you want to lay eyes on when you walk down the stairs and into the basement rec room. It's a dilemma.
The library, on the other hand, will contain not single plastic storage bin, drawer, or basket. Our desks may arrive as early as today...they are the mission desks from LLBean. We still need chairs for the desks and bookshelves for the, um, books, and accessories, such as a Tiffany-style lamp for the table between the chairs, curtains for the windows, etc.
I'm in love. So is George. It's sort of sad that we bought this whole big house and will spend most of our time quite happily in a 14' x 13' room.
I exaggerate. But only a little.
It just bothers the builder.
Yesterday, the news of the skedaddling came just an hour after I took delivery of this furniture.
Yes, that is my Nook Tablet resting on the table. I still love it, too.
The library, when it is finished, will be my favorite room in the whole house...even more than my craft room. My craft room isn't perfect and right now has carpet ripped up and holes cut in drywall following a leaky toilet incident. See?
This mess will require at least a week to get straightened out. Probably two. But even without the mess, the craft room isn't ideal. It's too isolated from the family. I don't like the fact that I can't hear what's going on in other parts of the house when I am in there. It's not a problem during the day, when I'm here with the dog. Just in the afternoons and on weekends when I feel like I'm ostracizing myself in there. I'm considering moving all this stuff to the alcove of the basement with the sliding glass door. Then I'll be "part of things" while stamping my art out.
Even so, as you can see, the craft room's decor is dominated by plastic storage. It's not pretty. Functional, yes. Pretty, no. And not the sort of thing you want to lay eyes on when you walk down the stairs and into the basement rec room. It's a dilemma.
The library, on the other hand, will contain not single plastic storage bin, drawer, or basket. Our desks may arrive as early as today...they are the mission desks from LLBean. We still need chairs for the desks and bookshelves for the, um, books, and accessories, such as a Tiffany-style lamp for the table between the chairs, curtains for the windows, etc.
I'm in love. So is George. It's sort of sad that we bought this whole big house and will spend most of our time quite happily in a 14' x 13' room.
I exaggerate. But only a little.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)