Word of the day: -Caffeine-Induced-Jittery . Read on to find out why
Ok, so the last time I (being Julie) wrote
on here, Sarah and I did a little blog switch-a-roo, because she had
been busy being in love...and she had BIG news :)... Getting Married!!!
Now, I've overtaken her blog again to fill you guys in because it's
about a month away from the big day! Sarah and her fiance Stephen have
been planning and getting set for the wedding and it's continued to be
fun to watch them as they have grown closer together in this time. They
are such a fun couple and whether it is their laughter in person or the
pictures you see of them together..(check out her sister's blog for some sweet engagement pics:) ), you can tell they are a great pair.
Before I started this post, I asked Sarah to give me a random
word. It's not Friday yet but I love Five Minute Fridays writing prompts
because it helps focus my ideas. Instead, I thought I'd go off of what
Sarah gave me. She said jittery..caffeine induced jittery. Actually,
first she said coffee, which made me laugh. So..I'll write for just a
couple minutes on these thoughts.
**When I think of coffee and caffeine induced jitters, I think of
Sarah and her inability to sit still when she drinks coffee. I think of
her need to talk fast and eat as many pita slices as possible, in small
bites mind you.
No one likes caffeine induced jitters, but now, with this
fiance by her side, I think...bring on the coffee! It will allow her
more time to stay up til the wee hours of the evening talking..and
laughing too, I am sure.
Enjoy this time, Sarah:)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
in real life . . .
Linking with Gypsy Mama for another Five Minute Friday of unedited bliss. This week I'm switching it up by letting my friend Julie of Mercy Notes post below while I will post on her blog. Aren't we daring?! ;-)
OK, Julie. Go:
As much as media helps us keep track of life, and we all know it does (ie: blogging, other forms of writing, even, shall I say, speaking on video??), sometimes real life is a bit sweeter. In real life, you lose track of the weeks you haven't blogged because you are planning a wedding (if your name is Sarah-the-editor), and you have been busy falling in love that you can't even use the word "fictitiously" anymore, on tape. It just doesn't work. Real life just makes more sense, it's better than fiction.
As Ms. Sarah has been spending limited time on her blog, myself and her sis decided that it might be good to change that. Well, what do you say, Sarah, is this a good start? Soon, it'll be time to get back to blogging. But, it's okay to have a little break - we know you've been a little preoccupied.
That's right folks...Sarah is getting married!!!! Paper, blog posts, and videos can't do justice to happy faces and excitement..we're all thrilled for ya!:)
Stop.
OK, Julie. Go:
As much as media helps us keep track of life, and we all know it does (ie: blogging, other forms of writing, even, shall I say, speaking on video??), sometimes real life is a bit sweeter. In real life, you lose track of the weeks you haven't blogged because you are planning a wedding (if your name is Sarah-the-editor), and you have been busy falling in love that you can't even use the word "fictitiously" anymore, on tape. It just doesn't work. Real life just makes more sense, it's better than fiction.
As Ms. Sarah has been spending limited time on her blog, myself and her sis decided that it might be good to change that. Well, what do you say, Sarah, is this a good start? Soon, it'll be time to get back to blogging. But, it's okay to have a little break - we know you've been a little preoccupied.
That's right folks...Sarah is getting married!!!! Paper, blog posts, and videos can't do justice to happy faces and excitement..we're all thrilled for ya!:)
Stop.
Friday, August 19, 2011
New . . .
After another absence, I'm linking up with the lovely Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday. The prompt is "New". Ready?
Go:
I love vintage, thrift, consignment, hand-me-down type things. "Old" becomes "new-to-me" when I inherit, find, buy, or etc. something that was someone else's "old".
But, there is another kind of "new" that is really exciting. Real new. Not new material items: you know, with the tags still on, but NEW.
New life: a baby being born, or just born, if you don't want to think about the labor.
New friends: meeting new people and connecting in new ways.
New love: this involves that pleasant emotion (being twitterpated), but more importantly it includes the decision to commit. The decision and the commitment free up the heart to embrace the emotion. Does that make any sense?
Um, that last one is especially wonderful and particularly on my mind as of late. Can you say "big sigh"? When did this happen??? Sometime in the last three months. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but a man has wooed me and swept me off my feet. And through this process I have felt a new kind of outpouring of God's love in my life. I feel intensely aware of His blessing, and am attempting to constantly remind myself that I must turn it back to praise (from the song, "Blessed Be the Name").
Stop.
Go:
I love vintage, thrift, consignment, hand-me-down type things. "Old" becomes "new-to-me" when I inherit, find, buy, or etc. something that was someone else's "old".
But, there is another kind of "new" that is really exciting. Real new. Not new material items: you know, with the tags still on, but NEW.
New life: a baby being born, or just born, if you don't want to think about the labor.
New friends: meeting new people and connecting in new ways.
New love: this involves that pleasant emotion (being twitterpated), but more importantly it includes the decision to commit. The decision and the commitment free up the heart to embrace the emotion. Does that make any sense?
Um, that last one is especially wonderful and particularly on my mind as of late. Can you say "big sigh"? When did this happen??? Sometime in the last three months. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but a man has wooed me and swept me off my feet. And through this process I have felt a new kind of outpouring of God's love in my life. I feel intensely aware of His blessing, and am attempting to constantly remind myself that I must turn it back to praise (from the song, "Blessed Be the Name").
Stop.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Full . . .
After a 2 week disappearance, I'm once again joining Gypsy Mama and her Five Minute Friday crew.
Go:
Full.
The first thing that comes to mind is the feeling you get when you've just eaten. Sometimes it's too much, and that feeling is unpleasant. "Oh, why did I eat that second helping!?"
I tutor a teenage boy who has high functioning autism, and he would call that gluttony. When I offer him food I'm not planning on eating, his response is something like, "No. Nope. I'm not going to be a glutton. Sarah, are you trying to trick me?"
"Of course, I'm not trying to trick you. It isn't gluttony if I offer it to you and you're still hungry."
"Oh. OK, Sarah."
This interaction usually draws a smile on my face, but he brings up a good point. He sees things differently than most people. He has a good sense of humor, but he tends to see things in black and white. If I try to give him an example so that he can understand a concept more easily, he tends to focus on the example as if it were reality and he misses the point. This fact is most often frustrating to me, because I function on examples, but it has been a good lesson for me. He has drawn me out of my own style of learning and communicating. We are far from "arriving" in our communication with one another, but it's a process and we continue in our efforts.
In the meantime, I will try to stop eating when I'm full and I'll clarify that my offer is not to tempt him to gluttony.
Stop.
Go:
Full.
The first thing that comes to mind is the feeling you get when you've just eaten. Sometimes it's too much, and that feeling is unpleasant. "Oh, why did I eat that second helping!?"
I tutor a teenage boy who has high functioning autism, and he would call that gluttony. When I offer him food I'm not planning on eating, his response is something like, "No. Nope. I'm not going to be a glutton. Sarah, are you trying to trick me?"
"Of course, I'm not trying to trick you. It isn't gluttony if I offer it to you and you're still hungry."
"Oh. OK, Sarah."
This interaction usually draws a smile on my face, but he brings up a good point. He sees things differently than most people. He has a good sense of humor, but he tends to see things in black and white. If I try to give him an example so that he can understand a concept more easily, he tends to focus on the example as if it were reality and he misses the point. This fact is most often frustrating to me, because I function on examples, but it has been a good lesson for me. He has drawn me out of my own style of learning and communicating. We are far from "arriving" in our communication with one another, but it's a process and we continue in our efforts.
In the meantime, I will try to stop eating when I'm full and I'll clarify that my offer is not to tempt him to gluttony.
Stop.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Welcome . . .
It's the opposite of receiving the "cold shoulder". It's when a person feels included and even loved.
It's the response we give to "Thank you," which implies, "come again" or "anytime."
It's on our front door mats. "Welcome into my home."
It's an open door . . . open arms.
Like Jesus' arms on the cross.
Yeah, I went there. I know, I know. It's a little over-played. But seriously: What else demonstrates the kind of loving, open-armed welcome of the One and Only Son of the Creator of the universe? He gave up His rights--rights of the all-powerful, eternal, Creator God--to enter this world as a vulnerable infant, live as a poor carpenter's son, hang out with sinners, and be scorned by the "important" and influential, and then to die a cruel death even though He was innocent of the charges.
He didn't do that for nothing. He didn't lose track of the goal, or get cornered as if He were trapped. Our heavenly Father offered up His Son for the sake of restoring relationship with His image-bearers. That's right: us. As undeserving as we are, Jesus took our punishment--and that is far more than the physical pain of the crucifixion that is emphasized. He bore His Father's wrath. He experienced separation . . . that "cold shoulder" that is so opposite of "welcome." For us.
And, praise God, He rose again. And He imparted the privilege of being welcomers on His behalf. He instructed His followers to "go" (Matthew 28:18-20), in order to spread the good news of the reconciliation that Jesus Christ made available to us.
That's it at it's best.
Welcome . . .
Another Five Minute Friday with Gypsy Mama.
It's the response we give to "Thank you," which implies, "come again" or "anytime."
It's on our front door mats. "Welcome into my home."
It's an open door . . . open arms.
Like Jesus' arms on the cross.
Yeah, I went there. I know, I know. It's a little over-played. But seriously: What else demonstrates the kind of loving, open-armed welcome of the One and Only Son of the Creator of the universe? He gave up His rights--rights of the all-powerful, eternal, Creator God--to enter this world as a vulnerable infant, live as a poor carpenter's son, hang out with sinners, and be scorned by the "important" and influential, and then to die a cruel death even though He was innocent of the charges.
He didn't do that for nothing. He didn't lose track of the goal, or get cornered as if He were trapped. Our heavenly Father offered up His Son for the sake of restoring relationship with His image-bearers. That's right: us. As undeserving as we are, Jesus took our punishment--and that is far more than the physical pain of the crucifixion that is emphasized. He bore His Father's wrath. He experienced separation . . . that "cold shoulder" that is so opposite of "welcome." For us.
And, praise God, He rose again. And He imparted the privilege of being welcomers on His behalf. He instructed His followers to "go" (Matthew 28:18-20), in order to spread the good news of the reconciliation that Jesus Christ made available to us.
That's it at it's best.
Welcome . . .
Another Five Minute Friday with Gypsy Mama.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Wonder . . .
In the spirit of the cliche, "better late than never," I'm linking up with Gypsy Mama once again for Five Minute Friday. Forgive my tardiness?
Go:
According to Merriam-Webster, one definition of the noun "wonder" is "rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience."
Even the definition is beautiful! I want to maintain that sense of awe. Awe for the glory God displays in a sunrise and sunset. In a thunderstorm. When a baby is born. The love that is so blatantly expressed when friends and family are reunited after an absence. The love that Christ exampled by laying His own life down in order that we might be reunited with our Creator. Wonder and thankfulness for the fact that Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death when He rose from the grave.
Sure, the sorrows in the world are plentiful, but remember that this is temporary. Remember that He is gracious, that He is patient with us, and that He desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:8-10). He created the universe. He spoke it into existence: Notice how many times "And God said . . . " appears in the first chapter of Genesis! Isn't that wonderful!!! Lord, "Don't Let Me Lose My Wonder!"
Stop. A while ago, actually. But once you start breaking rules . . .
Go:
According to Merriam-Webster, one definition of the noun "wonder" is "rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience."
Even the definition is beautiful! I want to maintain that sense of awe. Awe for the glory God displays in a sunrise and sunset. In a thunderstorm. When a baby is born. The love that is so blatantly expressed when friends and family are reunited after an absence. The love that Christ exampled by laying His own life down in order that we might be reunited with our Creator. Wonder and thankfulness for the fact that Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death when He rose from the grave.
Sure, the sorrows in the world are plentiful, but remember that this is temporary. Remember that He is gracious, that He is patient with us, and that He desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:8-10). He created the universe. He spoke it into existence: Notice how many times "And God said . . . " appears in the first chapter of Genesis! Isn't that wonderful!!! Lord, "Don't Let Me Lose My Wonder!"
Stop. A while ago, actually. But once you start breaking rules . . .
Friday, June 17, 2011
Home . . .
Go:
Home is where the heart is.
Homeward bound.
I wanna go home.
There's no place like home.
Homebird . . .
But, where is home? Really? Beyond that house/apartment/condo/shack/etc? Is it four walls and a roof? Is it physical? Is it an idea? Is home a place?
There are so many quotes, songs, ideas, and such out there. We all have an answer to the question of "home" . . .
Family
A specific place, whether that is a country, city, town, structure, or whatever.
A feeling
Home.
Jesus. It may sound "churchy," but I don't want any home where He isn't. I haven't evaluated it fully--five minutes isn't very long--but I'll claim Him right now. Home is where He is.
Stop.
Thank you Gypsy Mama for another Five Minute Friday.
Home is where the heart is.
Homeward bound.
I wanna go home.
There's no place like home.
Homebird . . .
But, where is home? Really? Beyond that house/apartment/condo/shack/etc? Is it four walls and a roof? Is it physical? Is it an idea? Is home a place?
There are so many quotes, songs, ideas, and such out there. We all have an answer to the question of "home" . . .
Family
A specific place, whether that is a country, city, town, structure, or whatever.
A feeling
Home.
Jesus. It may sound "churchy," but I don't want any home where He isn't. I haven't evaluated it fully--five minutes isn't very long--but I'll claim Him right now. Home is where He is.
Stop.
Thank you Gypsy Mama for another Five Minute Friday.
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