stuff these days

I warn that any of you reading this will quickly realize I am only really just writing this for myself than for anyone who may happen across it!

Beware, reader. 

It's not just a Halloween trick either!

No.  I just realized that I am disgruntled, even now, over a year since I started this occasional and rare blog.  I just started the first "playlist" I have made in like, two years.  And I decided to name it  "broke and disgruntled."  I don't know why I felt like that at the time.  I picked the name before I picked the selection of songs.  Then the songs I selected seemed to be a bit rebellious, wanting to pick a fight, or out of whack with the world.  I have not yet decided what I think of that. 

The songs are all from CDs that I have had for years now.  It occurs to me that some of the recordings which were passed on from my previous computer to this one, do not transfer to an MP3 player, even though I purchased the CD myself.  I wonder why that is?  A lot of the music that does this is from DEVO, interestingly.  I love them, but that frustrates me because I really want to be able to listen to my CD on an MP3 if I happen to be out somewhere, like traveling.

I have been procrastinating and dragging my feet a lot lately.  I have been feeling sorry for myself because my job is interesting but not soul-filling, which is what I have been searching for.  I have applied for chaplaincy positions, as I see the opportunities pop up, but they don't happen very often.  I have been in a Bermuda Triangle of Commitment:  Me and Murl? vs, Me and Pastoral Ministry Career (for which I have been studying for so long) vs Me and New Mexico?  Do they not all point to staying right where I am?  That is the big question of my life... for like 2 years now, and something that will affect my life for at least the next 2 years, and really for the rest of my life.  It's as if I need some whole new vision... and a quest for it would probably be a good idea, if I had the money too.

Where do you want me to be God?  I say that with a great deal of trepidation/self-protection.  I am so connected here.  Help me feel free to accept the things you offer me, without looking at them so critically.  For all that is from you is a gift to appreciate.  Maybe I won't be so picky about things. 

photos to share

the latest

Hello.  I haven't written anything since May and it's already July 1st.  This summer has been an interesting one, far more interesting than last summer, when I struggled with unemployment and discernment of God's call. 

This summer I have continued to work at the same school where I am their receptionist.  I like them and I like my job (most of the time).  It is stressful and challenging for me to remain on task at times with critical things.  I forgot how long it can take a person to truly adjust to a new job (I started in September) and realize how much you continue to learn as time goes on.  They have been grooming me to have a managerial position because I think they realize that I have much more to offer than what I do right now.  I am considering it; I need to be in a position that allows me to do more of my ministry as a pastor/chaplain.  I don't know how that will pan out. 

This summer Marlin and I have been gardening again.  We have 3 types of peppers (jalapenos, Big Jims, serranos), grape tomatoes, green beans, green leaf lettuce and many onions.  I hope for Marlin's sake that all the onions do well because he loves onions!  I really look forward to the tomatoes, beans and peppers maturing.  Right now most of them are still small.  This is my first year with green beans and grape tomatoes.  When I was exploring last weekend I accidentally snapped off a small sprig with two micro-beans on it.  Of course, waste not, want not, I ate the micro-beans and they tasted just like they ought to!  We have a number of other little beans still on the plant.  The tomatoes are small and green still, but I can see quite a few of them and they continue to multiply.  Peppers and lettuce, which we grew last year, are not doing quite as well this time.  We had a really late snow, then massively-high winds, hail storms, all which did some damage to them, but I think they are going to make it through.  I have already been eating the lettuce on my sandwiches at work.  The peppers just have flowers on them now, just in time for the NM monsoon season!

I have been speaking wih a couple of churches about their pastoral needs and whether we might be a good fit for each other.  This has been a blessing because even if we decide we do not fit each other's needs, at least it feels like something is happening on that front.  I have also heard of a couple of other churches in the ABQ area that may begin looking for a pastor soon, so I am going to be getting in touch with their folks somehow. 

I am home from work today.  I am not feeling so great, but I think I will be back tomorrow. 

I get to visit LA very soon!  Marlin and I need to fly out and get his great-aunt Frieda's cadillac and then drive it all the way back to ABQ.  It's going to be an awesome, yet fast, trip.  I will finally get to see the Pacific Ocean because he wants to show me Venice Beach, for all it's sights and sounds.  I haven't actually been to a beach since like, 1996, when I took a trip to Galveston for the day with my Houston relatives.  I plan to post some photos. 

Since we're basically just going there overnight, I won't be packing much either.  I will have a change of clothes, a good book, some knitting and stuff so I can work on my next sermon.  The next one will be July 11th and I'm preaching from Amos 7:7-17.  Here is the passage:

Amos 7:7-17


7. This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said, "Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.' "
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,
15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
16 "Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, "Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.'
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.' "

It sounds like a real downer but I think it can work out to be a good message for that church.  Their pastor will be leaving them soon and I would like to address feelings of judgment that they might have towards themselves or others.  I would also like to remind them that prophets, while gifted people, were also ordinary people.  We are too.  We have gifts of God's presence with us and yet we are quite ordinary.
 
I want to think more on plumb lines and spend some time on the textual criticism as well. 
 
On another note, my cats are happy I am home sick today.  I think we needed some time together.  I have been so easily distracted lately it has been hard to just focus on the kitties some.  I bought them a live catnip plant that sits on a table in the living room.  I have seen evidence of nibbling on some of the leaves, which makes me happy. 
 
I guess I will sign off and say "so long"  Happy Independence Day!
Amy

graduation time!

It's time to graduate the kids at my work.  There are 4 year olds and Kindergarteners who will received diplomas on Friday night.  We are pretty proud and excited for them. 

As for me, I am super busy lately but things are relatively under control.  I am pretty much in charge of decorating for our graduation ceremony, which is at 7PM Friday night.  I have been planning the decorations, some which we purchased from an online company (Oriental Trading Co.) and some which I myself have made.  Here are some of the decorations that I have made.  I made rocketships out of paper towel tubes.  I am just finishing up foam boards with strings of lights poking through from the back so they look like constellations.  I made UFOs out of pie tins, glitter, paint and packing tape.  I painted styrofoam discs that I cut out myself so that they look like planets.  I made a really neat banner and laminated it, with foil and paper stars.  I don't remember what else I made. 

I hope that nothing falls apart or catches on fire.  Hope the night goes well and that things begin to take shape starting Thursday when I hope to put up a number of things. 

Sorry this is such a quick note, but no one is that interested in reading this anyway!  Whatever! 
Amy

An Evening in Kibwezi

An Evening in Kibwezi


It is popular for a us to say, "Where there's life, there's hope."  I also believe that "Where there's hope, there's life!"  Hope is the thing that keeps us afloat when the storms of life are tossing us about.  It is the thing that helps us not just to survive, it helps us to live fully into our faith in the Resurrection, thus making our lives abundant!  We have hope that we will see a New Day when every tear is wiped away.


Our hope in our Savior Jesus – our Resurrection and our Life - can be reflected in our day-to-day lives.  The vision of our Savior calls for Resurrection living both now and for the not-yet. Thanks be to God that it is just as Paul said in his letter to the Romans (8:38-39) "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  


I saw hope in 1988 when I ventured to Kibwezi with Burke Presbyterian Church.  I was 17 years old.  It was an opportunity to see how people on the other side of the world lived into hope from day to day, such as "Mary," a woman who invited our group over for dinner.  Having at least 10 people over for dinner is stressful for any woman who has to cook and clean and graciously welcome her visitors.  Mary had a humble house with a dirt floor.  She lugged her own firewood to her home and cooked for us all.  In retrospect, I am amazed at her energy and strength to serve us.  Her hospitality bore no signs of annoyance at us bumbling Americans.  I cannot remember what we ate for dinner, or what we talked about, but most importantly it was her show of fellowship, sweetened by the presence of God's Holy Spirit amongst us.  


Mary's hope was a gospel message.  If she had worried about how she would feed us all, I couldn't see any evidence.  I imagine she began her preparations with prayer that the evening would become just what God wanted it to be:  Harambee!  I have many other memories of times during that journey when I experienced that kind of unity, power and hope.  I draw on that evening at Mary's house like a well of refreshment each time my own faith might feel shaky.  Her act of hospitality reminds me of God's unending love for us all.  Thanks be to God for women like her who demonstrate hope in action.  In that, we may be reminded that, where there is hope, there is abundant life!

such a long time

Long time since I last posted something.  Perhaps that is an example of how one most easily keeps a blog while being employed full time!  A lot has happened since my last post, which seemed to have taken place sometime around when I was employed again.

I'm working at a school for pre-schoolers and elementary school kids.  It's okay.  I am learning much however, even when it has been a challenging/angering day.  I have had good days and bad days.  I am not going to tell you the name of the school where I work, but let's just say it's a good place for me to be right now, even though it has its frustrations.  I am so thankful to have a job, and that I can say in the morning with joy: "I have to go to work." 

What else is new?  My cousin and her husband are talking about adoption.  That's so awesome!  I have been thinking about how I might be able to help them out because they are selling stuff so that they can adopt a child.  They need 10,000 bucks. 

Adopting a child is so Biblical.  As a Christian woman, I have thought of myself, and all people, as kind of like adopted children.  We don't deserve what God has done for us.  We don't always know what God know is good for us.  According to Jewish Law, God's choice to adopt gentiles was a "heart-choice" even if it wasn't an ingrown, geneological way that gentiles were created.  At the time, it was believed that the Israelites were the only ones chosen by God, but because God then also called Gentiles, then it must be that God greatly loves all people!

So, whenever I think of someone getting adopted, or desiring adoption, I am reminded of God's salvation offered to all people, in Jesus Christ.  We can be assured that even if we are not special to anyone else, that we are special to God.

I just finished up a course in Spanish 1.  It was a good class and a good teacher.  I haven't signed up for the next course yet but I would like to as soon as it is available.  It starts in late June, I think... I just looked and the class is now open to enrollment.  I just signed up.  It's from June 21 to August 4, or something.  I'm going to tell Lisa and see if she will consider signing up.