cheering for my dad in his recovery after his rock climbing accident earlier this month...
"Nothing is impossible, the
word itself says, 'I’m Possible!'" - Audrey Hepburn
".....Cairns are far more than
ornamental. On more than one occasion, they have rescued this
directionally-challenged fellow from a cold, dark night stranded only
God-knows-where. On our walk through the Scottish Highlands a couple years
ago, cairns dotted the way, granite fingers pointing us through
eerie, moss-covered forest. Last summer hiking down Cadillac Mountain in Acadia
National Park, the route cut across vast slabs of slick rock with no trail
markers other than cairns, like lighthouses, guiding the way.
Cairns tell us that we are not alone,
that others have walked this lonesome path and that if we’ll just keep putting
one foot in front of the other, we’ll make it – do not fear, we’ll make it. Cairns appear
along the trail only enough to keep us from getting entirely lost; they
are scattered, keeping us watchful, curious, a little uncertain, always
scanning for signs of hope. Cairns don’t remove the struggle or the adventure;
they certainly don’t map out the miles ahead. But they do tell us to keep on
trudging. They give us signs from those who’ve gone before us, and they invite
us to leave signs for still others who will follow. Cairns tell us the
night will not devour us. Cairns lead us home.
At
our old house, we have a small cairn beside both our front door and our
back door, our beacon of hope. One more step, friends. One more tiny bit, sons
we love. One more act of courage, weary souls. You can make it. You’re almost
home." -Winn Collier http://winncollier.com/cairn/
welcoming our Kenyan friends to Seattle
"As we
reflect on every aspect of the day—waking, showering and dressing, eating,
commuting, relating with others, difficulties and challenges at work, moments
of pleasure and pain, consolation and desolation, decision-making, interacting
with the news and needs of the world, returning home, the evening spent with
friends or family, working late, crawling into bed—we can ask God, “Show me
where you were present, making the ordinary extraordinary.” In my
experience, God always uses this prayer to heighten my awareness of divine
presence in the ordinary moments of my life. When we incorporate
this simple practice into our daily routine, Ordinary Time
becomes anything but ordinary!"
-Ruth
Haley Barton
telling stories about our summer in Kenya at our church
“The incredible gift of the ordinary! Glory comes streaming from the table of daily life.”
- Macrina Wiederkehr
"I believe the most spiritual
things we do are the least spiritual. It isn’t the amount of great
inspirational books we consume, or the amount of prayer circles in which we
engage that most effectively develop our spiritual eyes. It is when we engage
in the most ordinary things in life that we learn to see God. What is it that has felt the least
spiritual to you today and yet may be the very most spiritual? You may have
only thrown a ball with your son, but you made a memory that will shape his
life. You may have taken your daughter to the movie, but it impacted her
because you gave her the gift of time. The conversation you had with your
spouse between soccer games and the grocery store may have felt mundane to you
but it meant the world to them. It is those things for which we live. Not the
big ministry opportunity, or the great epiphany on the hillside with the
guru......
Let’s not waste them and learn to see God in our reality."
Let’s not waste them and learn to see God in our reality."
-David
Hampton
"Whenever Jesus wanted to
encourage his friends to keep praying and to not lose heart, he told them a
story. It was a strange story, I’ll grant you: a tenacious widow who
badgered a louse of a judge until the scoundrel relented and handed her a legal
verdict, though only to get her off his back. Nonetheless, the odd story did
the necessary work. We need stories to help us remember that all is not lost,
that what we see in this dire moment is not all there is to see, that God is
not nearly so far away as it may appear. People of faith have always told one
another stories in order to keep the fire burning. When I was young, we
called these stories testimonies. We knew we needed to bear witness to the
faithful love that carries us even through the howling night. We needed to
receive one another’s faith in those weary stretches where our faith was weak
and faltering. God knows, it’s the easiest thing in the world to lose heart.
It’s the easiest thing in the world to sink into despair or cynicism. And so Jesus told a story and
said, Keep praying. Don’t lose heart. I think this is one
good way to describe prayer: the refusal to lose heart, the refusal to
relinquish our hope in God. So hear these words today: Do
not lose heart. I know our world is in the thick of it, ripping at the
seams – but do not lose heart. I know your family may be buckling
under the crush – but do not lose heart. I know you may feel you
are alone without any true friend who knows the deepest parts of you –
but do not lose heart. I know you may be tired of holding on, tired of
playing your fiddle while the boat sinks – but do not lose heart. I
know the questions and the fears claw at your soul – but do not lose
heart. I’ll keep telling my stories, and
you keep telling yours. When one of us lags or buckles, we’ll pick each
other up, knock off the dust, keep walking toward the dawn. Together, we’ll
stand up bold, even if a bit wobbly, and we’ll refuse to relinquish our faith
or our hope or our love. Somehow, we’ll make it through."
-Winn Collier http://winncollier.com/dont-lose-heart/
Bonus pictures:
Halloween pictures below:
best comments from tonight when I was running around dressed up like Elmer's Glue
and trying to keep up with Anna and Taylor who were dressed up as shadows:
1) She's becoming unglued.
2) The glue is running all over.
3) She's the social glue.
2) The glue is running all over.
3) She's the social glue.
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