Friday Five: Love the one You're With

Kathrynzj says: "This Friday Five will post while I'm at the beach which for me is more than a vacation destination, it is a trip home. I have found it quite easy to wax nostalgic about the places I used to live (well, except for one) and have begun to wonder what it is I like about the place I'm living now? For instance I sure do love the beach, but this picture was taken about 30 minutes away from my house - not too shabby! "
And so I ask you to please name five things you like about where you are living now... and as your bonus - 1 thing you don't like.

1. I like the size of where I am in that it's small enough to get to know people but not so small that people know everything you're up to.
2. As I may have said a time or two before...there really something about this prairie light.
3. I have made really really good friends in this place as I have in no other. I don't know if that is about the place, the people in the place or the place I was in when I came to the place....but none the less, this is the place where I found them!
4. This is where I found I my true love.
5. It's nice and flat for biking.

The "don't like" is definitely the lack of retail opportunities.  We have two marts and a ko and a wee downtown that's kind of spendy.  Anything significant in the way of shopping is a good two hours from here.  It gets kind of old  to have to make what is basically a day trip for retail therapy.  But the good has outweighed the bad for nigh on eight years now, and for a place that I thought of as somewhere I was coming to "do my time" to get my loans paid back....well it's been far more, far better and a great trip so far.

Friday Five: Decisions, Decisions

Songbird says: "Since I've been in the midst of a discernment process, I've done a lot of reflecting on how we make decisions. But don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to reveal a dark story about a poor decision, or a self-flagellating story about an embarrassing one. Let's keep it simple and go with five word pairs. Tell us which word in the pair appeals to you most, and after you've done all five, give us the reason why for one of them. Here they are:"
1) Cake or Pie
2) Train or Airplane
3) Mac or PC
4) Univocal or Equivocal
5) Peter or Paul
Funny....I don't have strong preferences for any of the pairs, and probably could just have easily gone the other way....hmmm....equivocating I guess . But as for #1...since meeting my husband, it's cake for sure. His are hands down the best I have ever eaten. In fact, they are so good he must be discouraged from making them too often!

Friday Five: Forgetful Jones Edition

Songbird  (humbly) says: "No, it wasn't my turn to do the Friday Five, but it was my job to confirm the new person whose job it is, so herewith, the Forgetful Jones Friday Five:"
a) What's the last thing you forgot? Well we "sort of" forgot to go to an open house this week...but really it wasn't so much we forgot as that we went on the wrong night due to the fact that we were relying on information passed on by a friend rather than doing the responsible thing and digging out the invite.

e) How do you keep track of appointments? In the phone.  Used to haul around a big ol' planner. Now it's all in the tiny Razor...much lighter and it has an alarm to notify me as far in advance as I need to know where I am supposed to be and what I need to be doing there!

i) Do you keep a running grocery list? Sort of.  We do menus (usually) on Sundays after church and then shop for the week after scouring the house for what's low...but if something shows up in-between there is a "place" for a note to add it....if we remember and it gets there. But it seems that one or the other of us is always off to the store for something during the week...and there's usually an "oh by the way, while you are there would you get..." too.

o) When forced to improvise by circumstances, do you enjoy it or panic? Yes.

u) What's a memory you hope you will never forget? Walking up the aisle at the wedding....the moment my hand just sort of "came up" and reached out to R....I literally felt like I could not take one more step unless I grabbed that man and held on for dear life.

Saved-the Scratchy Edition

I am thinking this morning about discomfort and being saved from it.  It's hard not to think about it....I'm itching! A lot. I apparently have something that is rather inelegantly called "lake itch" which I seem to have acquired from my little kayaking adventure on Monday with the Soul Sisters. Apparently some of the lovely little creatures that live in the lake like to also like to camp out with us, and if you don't quit yourself of them quickly enough after leaving with the water they get..... er...under your skin and create little bumpies and all manner of itchiness.  My resident expert who has spent a whole lot more time on and in the water than I have tells me cool showers and calamine and time are the remedies of choice. So I have been freezing and slathering myself as directed. Dosing with Benedryl last night helped too...it either calmed then down or knocked me out enough so that I slept through them.  But I am grateful for whatever little salvation comes from the itch.  They don't all itch all the time, but seem to take turns.  It's distracting and annoying and I am happy for moments when they all seem to "sleep" at once. R says it will all pass in a few days.  It cannot come too soon.

So as I sit with the folks whose discomfort will not pass so easily, those whose pain is not assuaged by a cool shower and some topical analgesics, I think about being saved from our various pain.  How we save ourselves and one another, how we are called to this.  That Samaritan heard the call. Heard it enough to go and reach out and offer help to someone who probably thought he was about as attractive as one of my little biters.

Saving Myself from Things I Should be Doing

Yes this is procrastination blog post.  There are things I could and should be doing.  I could tie up a couple work-related things in the last few minutes of the day.  Or I could slog along some more on the half-finished sermon for the nursing home service for Sunday. I have energy for neither of those things.  Nor do I have any deep thoughts about the topic of "Saved" or any other topic for that matter.  I am way more tired than I should be for a Tuesday....especially one that was the first day of the work week. 

There seems to be a lot of what my friends across the pond refer to as whingeing going on around here. Both R and I seem to be dealing with a lot of folks who can't quite seem to get their stuff together, make messes of things, don't seem to want to take responsibility for the fact, and want to blame others....loudly and at length for it.  It's making us both a bit cranky with these folks.

Are they my neighbors, too? Oh bother.  I just hate it when the Gospel refuses to leave me alone, even when I want to leave it.

Things Saved

Thinking about this July theme....and my junk drawers...yes drawers plural.  I have three, at least, that actually have that designation.  one in the kitchen that has the usual assortment of keys that no longer belong to locks, twist ties, and other miscellaneous stuff that really has no home elsewhere.  The other two are the top "mini-drawers" of my dresser.  Too small to really be useful for much else, they have come to be the homes of all the stuff I don't really know what else to do with.  Things I probably don't really need, am not sure I want but can't really bring myself to part with.  For example the extra buttons that come with things. Those always present a little dilemma for me....to keep or not to?  I rarely ever use them, or if I need them, can find them, and yet, it seems "wasteful" to just pitch them in the trash with the tags when I bring something home from the store.  So, they often go into those drawers.  Also in there is broken jewelry.  I have trouble parting with that, too.  Now we are not talking about valuable stuff here, but the likes of broken chains beaded bracelets that have come unbeaded. Also in there are old wallets, key chains, hair accessories that my hair will never use again, some cards from old friends, a few keys that haven't made their way to the "other" junk drawer, pens,  miscellaneous receipts and other pieces of paper.  I try halfheartedly now and again to purge these drawers, but there is always stuff that comes out that I look at for a time, have some conversation with myself about along the lines of, "Kate, why on earth are you keeping this?" and then back it goes to be saved for another day.

I don't know what any of this says about me, if anything.  There was a point in my life that I got kind of ruthless in purging "excess" things from my life, in getting neat and tidy and organized.  I had labels on my pantry and fridge shelves and woe betide anyone who put the mustard in the dairy area. Seriously!  I know now that I was a little over the top with all that.  I was trying to assume some control over what felt very much out of it.  Our fridge and pantry are now in glorious disarray and the rest of the house looks pretty lived in most of the time. But my purge never made it to the junk drawers somehow, and even if it had, somehow I think they might have been immune.  My little savings corner somehow...who knows.  But there will likely be a move in our future at some point.  And that is good motivation for clearing out.  When it costs good money to move it, sometimes the definition of what is a "keeper" changes.  But for now..."saved" stays on that particular odd collection.

Friday Five: I Want to be a Church That.....

Sally says: "This has been a good week for British Methodism, The Annual Conference has discussed and debated many things and not shied away from some difficult stuff. New Ministers have been Ordained and received into Full Connexion. Add to that the fact that two amazing ladies; Alison Tomlin and Eunice Attwood have taken up their posts as President and Vice-President for 2010/2011- and that they have both inspired us in their speeches and preaching , and you begin to get the picture.In the Vice- Presidents Address Eunice gave an inspiring account of the type of church she wants to be a part of, almost poetic she said: I want to be part of a church that is prayer-filled -
A church that is resourced and sustained by the Bible,
A church that can offer hope even in a credit crunch,
A church that can live well with difference and diversity.
I want to be part of a church that welcomes the wealthy, those who have power and influence -
A church that knows how to party and celebrate life,
A church that acknowledges death and speaks boldly of resurrection,
A church that doesn’t pretend to have all the answers but encourages all the questions.
I want to be part of a church that throws parties for prostitutes -
A church that welcomes those who seek asylum,
A church that longs and yearns for justice,
A church that listens to those no-one else wants to listen to.
I want to be part of a church that believes in transformation not preservation -
A church where all who are lost can be found,
A church where people can discover friendship,
A church where every person takes responsibility in sharing the good news.
I want to be part of a church whose hope is placed securely and confidently in the transforming love of God -
A church that engages faith in its communities,
A church that makes and nurtures disciples of Jesus.
A church where the story of God’s love is at the centre.
I want to be part of a church that offers outrageous grace, reckless generosity, transforming love and engaging faith.
This is God’s story Transforming Love: Engaging Faith.
My prayer is that by the power of the Spirit of God at work amongst us, it will increasingly be our story.
I want to be part of that church to, and at the danger of trying to add to such a wonderful litany of dreams/ visions and prayers I wonder which five things would you echo from or add to this. What kind of church do you want to be a part of in the 21st Century?"
Simply list the five, and as an added bonus is there a hymn of a Bible passage that you would make your inspiration?

Blessings upon the heads of the British Methodists! If this is any example...you are in good hands.
Now...to the task of dreaming of the church I want to be part of ...

I want my church to....
Include more than it excludes
Ask more than it answers,
Challenge more than it soothes,
Send out more than it keeps, and
above all......never forget that it does not exist to be a church.

As far as some Biblical inspiration....I'd like a church where this is the general order of things, too......"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.....Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." ( Luke 6:27-32,37-39)

July Here!

Apparently June sneaked off somewhere while I wasn't looking and left July behind.  NaBloPoMo tells me there is a new theme for the month and I'm tempted...again....to try this posting every day business. Partially because in my efforts to restore some spiritual and other disciplines to my life, daily writing might be a good one to add to my newly re-born yoga/morning prayer routine.  Plus I like the theme. "Saved."    Indeed...I could write a bit about things I've "....kept, rescued, or otherwise prevented from being lost forever,"  but I could also write about how the same has been true for me. About all the ways that I have wandered off, gotten lost, strayed and stranded in the wilderness of my own creation time and time again, and how I just keep getting....SAVED. The strange ways in which that has happened, how I have resisted it and resist it still...and the puzzlement in my mind about just why it is I do so.  I get saved myself about once a day I think and maybe on a good day....I wonder I might be doing some saving for someone else.

So I may give it a go....this NaBloPoMo.  Every day?  Oh who knows? Perhaps.  Or maybe just a little more.