I just came from the CostPlus World Market and got a bottle of wine (Erath Pinot Noir - an Oregon wine), a big baskety-box that can be a foot rest, a small "desk" when I sit on the couch to do whatever, and a bottle of Orange Bourbon Peppercorn sauce (for meats, etc.). I'm trying the sauce out right now on some salmon fillets, although I have a little concern about their age. I hope that I refroze them just in time. They smell good - although that's pretty much just sauce I smell. I guess that's how they did it in the olden times too with old meat - just dump a bunch of flavorful stuff on there. It smells like the sauce is starting to carmelize a little bit.
I recently got back in touch with an old boyfriend I dated during seminary. We broke up in a really frustrating way (frustrating for both of us, but for different reasons, kind of). I felt the need to contact him just to I guess let him know I'm okay and
to see if he's okay. It was around December 2006, so I think enough time passed since then. I was actually really relieved to break up, but mad because he broke up with me by e-mail, after I had broken up with him twice and agreed to take him back. So I think I felt the need for us to kind of "make up" - although I was also trying to be careful not to make any significantly long-term conversation. I am glad however, to have been able to finally send him a CD of photos from our Middle East trip in Jan 2006, along with a book I thought he might be interested in reading. It's an anthology of various Christian writers since Augustine who talk about theology and animals. (Animals and Christianity) He e-mailed me with much thanks and that felt good. I'm glad we did that. He's off to the Univ of Illinois-Chicago sometime in the next couple of months to study something about history of great autobiographers. I used to worry about him...I just discovered that my Windows Explorer crashes when I try to upload videos, unless I do everything while holding down the Ctrl key. What's up with that? I thought I would share just a tiny bit of the many photos I took on that trip.
Recently I have been hooked on http://www.hulu.com/. Go there and see all the cool stuff you can watch for free. I have thus far watched all but the last season of NewsRadio, all of Arrested Development, and lately I have been watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and WKRP in Cincinnati. Goofy selection of stuff, but then that's me. I have lost some sleep lately since becoming a Hulu fan. http://www.hulu.com/watch/709/the-mary-tyler-moore-show-toulousse-lautrec-is-one-of-my-favorite-artists They have ads but very few and they give me a chance to get up and go to the bathroom!
I preached at a church in Socorro this past weekend while their pastor was away at a CE event. I went off of the lectionary reading selection in favor of preaching from Mark 3:7-19. I preached about the authority that Jesus gives us to do our work in his ministry. I preached about how we get our authority from him, not so much from the authority we think we can come up with on our own. I must say, the longer I do this, the more Calvinist I find that I am. (although what I just said my sermon was about could be based on a number of protestant theologians)
I have another preaching opportunity coming up in June and then in July there. Hopefully I will be able to get the chance to preach at other churches besides this one, although I am grateful that they have been so welcoming. June 14th is when I preach about several Kingdom of God sayings in Mark 4:26-34. I haven't done a lot yet with it, but I am determined to try and have the sermon/outline at least a week in advance. I hope to get into the habit of doing this and haven't been so successful at being ready that far in advance thus far.
Today I also updated my log of the sermons I have preached and the other Biblical passages I have exegeted for sermons or other things. I thought it would be helpful for me to have a place to check before I start to exegete a text and see whether I have done anything with it before. I have yet to go through some of the hard-copy stuff that's not on my PC, like the entire Book of Revelation, just a rough translation, and quite a few selections from Mark. So if I can find where I filed all of that, it would give me a good start on any future sermons or other exegesis opportunities.
Well, I think that I will get going. I think I had other stuff to write, but I'm too tired. I think I'll go to bed now.
Peace,
Amy
