At Inkwell Inspirations today...

Talking about a serious subject ... when grief tries to take over. Not a fun topic, but one we must be aware of and able to respond to in healthy ways, whether for ourselves or in ministering to those around us.

Yep, C is for cookie. {a2z take 2}

C? What does C stand for? OK, I can't help myself... C is for cookie.

Yes, this reveals my age.

Think about it...
Fresh cookies and milk after school.
Warm cookies on a snowy afternoon.
A full cookie jar on the kitchen counter.

Never having been much of a baker, I was thrilled when our former next-door neighbor wanted to bake Christmas cookies with my four kiddos and myself. We trekked to her house in our boots and mittens, and settled around her kitchen table. She'd already prepared multiple batches of dough for sugar cookies.


With her help, my kiddos rolled out the dough and cut out shapes. We mixed frosting and food coloring in multiple colors, and set it out in bowls on her waxed paper covered dining room table.

You must understand, at the time, I was a pastor's wife with four small children. My best friend in the world had just moved away and I felt more alone than I ever had in my life. My neighbor's cookie-baking offer was the equivalent of an oasis in a storm.

She offered love and care when I felt bereft, kindness and company when I felt very much alone. We continued the cookie-decorating practice at Valentine's Day, and Easter and Christmas, for several years to come. Long enough that her gift of time given, of compassion released, and of friendship offered, is forever imprinted on the minds of my children. She made an impact on our lives through something as simple as cookies.

You might not have a prophetic gift, or be comfortable teaching a Bible study, or be able to give thousands of dollars to charity, or be a leader of hundreds. Don't fret! Even the ability to bake cookies can been a genuine gift of love and encouragement to another member of Christ's body!

(Don't forget to check out the other A2Z Take 2 posts!)


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Psst... are you listening?

I'm at Inkwell Inspirations sharing the story of the accident my boys were in yesterday. They are all safe and well, although the car is not,  but in the grand scheme of things, things don't matter.
Click the link above or the picture below for (in the words of the esteemed Paul Harvey) "the rest of the story."

Bacon, bacon, bacon {an A2Z take 2 post}

B is for bacon.

 

First off, let it be known that I am not a bacon aficionado. I like bacon all right with eggs and toast, or on a BLT, but I hate to cook it, hate the smell that lingers in my house (and smells to me, for whatever reason, like poverty) for hours, and hate figuring out what to do with the nasty grease that's left behind.

Bacon, is experiencing a dramatic surge in popularity. Maybe not actual bacon, but bacon-flavored products. A quick Google search for "bacon-flavored" turns up vodka, lip gloss (which may turn up on a top-ten list for "how to attract a redneck"), toothpicks, soda, and envelopes. As well as a bacon wallet, bacon Band-aids, bacon toothpaste, bacon soap and bacon-flavored microwave popcorn. Ew.

So what is the history behind this staple of American breakfasts?

Bacon, in some form, has been around since the Roman empire. Which leads me to wonder if the early Christians ate bacon. Did the Romans sacrifice to the bacon god? Was bacon the meat Paul referred to as meat that could be sanctified by prayer and thanksgiving?

Bacon as we know it is often credited to John Harris from Wiltshire, England. Harris opened the first commercial bacon-making business in the 1770s. Bacon as we know it appeared in 1924, thanks to Oscar-Mayer's introduction of pre-packaged, pre-sliced bacon.

While the idea of bacon-flavored breath mints makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth, bacon in its proper place and form is a perfectly fine addition to a menu. But, IMO, when bacon takes over, something is wrong.

What do you think about the current bacon craze? Are you a bacon fan?

Agree. Love. Be. ~ Words You Can Live By

For the first time in YEARS, I'm not following a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program. Instead, I'm just seeking direction each day on what to read, what to study, where to look for my daily supply of spiritual food. It's like coming off a diet where all your meals are preplanned and now, suddenly, you have to figure out what to eat for yourself.

So far in 2012, I've read through Galatians and Ephesians again in The Message (if you don't have a copy of Eugene Peterson's contemporary rendering of the Bible, hie thee to a bookstore at once!). This week I turned to Philippians and fell headlong into verses 1-4 of chapter 2...

"If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care– then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."

Now, just think about what you see on Facebook every day... How many of the "Christian" (including your own) posts are agreeable, loving, friendly and helpful?
No wonder so many folks avoid Facebook altogether. It's often easier to be silent than to follow Paul's directive.
But Paul's words weren't even designed for social media (although they fit). They were designed for LIFE–for living and interacting and responding to the people around us, from our children to our church family to our co-workers to our Facebook friends and Twitter followers. They were designed to give us the kind of life-giving, soul-fulfilling, lasting relationships that human beings need in order to be happy, successful, and satisfied.


Agree.
Love.
Be. 


Agreement requires us to stop trying to change the people around us. It demands that we accept and acknowledge without judgment, without manipulation, without control.

Love, though it sounds simple, is complex. True love casts out fear, obliterates condemnation, and offers unconditional acceptance.

Deep-spirited friendship? That's the kind of communion, companionship, that goes beyond shared likes and common opinions, it's a covenant between souls that extends beyond shared space, shared time, shared feelings, to the deepest hope and belief for the other's greatest good. It's rare, to say the least.

To these things we are called...


 

When they go astray

I live in sheep world. Real sheep, the actual fuzzy critters from which come wool socks and mutton, are raised (or farmed, or shepherded, or whatever it is one does with sheep) in this part of the world.

Raising children is a lot like shepherding sheep. I've seen shepherds roaming the hills, searching for the one that went astray between Point A and Point B. We once had a sheepdog hanging around our house for two or three days, trying to get the attention of the "stupid humans" (us). One of the sheep in the flock had fallen into the ditch, upside down. That dog wasn't willing to leave even one of her charges behind.

At this point in the parenting journey, I am one tired sheepdog. My little flock feels scattered. I empathize with that sheepdog ... desperately wanting to move along with the rest of the flock, but the one or two stragglers hold you back because they keep making stupid choices, and their bad decisions have repercussions you can't avoid or ignore, repercussions that affect you emotionally, relationally, financially ...
*sigh*

Parenting = Licking a frozen flagpole and spending 20+ years separating your tongue from the metal, piece by piece, taste bud by taste bud. Can anybody relate, or is it just me?