It's Monday...

It's Monday and I'm tired of having that political post up so I'm takin it down! I trust ya'll had a good weekend. I made the rather foolish choice to have company for Sunday lunch yesterday, and about wore myself out....but all went well, and I'm glad we did it! Not the smartest thing to do in the midst of getting us ready for this week's trip to Cincinnati. We appreciate your prayers and (while a bit overwhelmed about it all) I am excited to be there and see friends.

I am still enjoying working through the Mitford series...it is such delightful reading. But of course I can't be satisfied with that alone, and must also mix in some highly complicated reading as well! Last night I finished reading Leaving the Saints (Martha Beck)...a memoir examining complex family problems and what it means to leave a very restrictive religious system (the Mormon church.) I definitely recommend this book, but it is a VERY intense, difficult read (and quite uncomfortable~but imo, uncomfortable is sometimes a good place to be). And let me be clear that I don't necessarily agree with all of the final conclusions. Still, I learned so much about that group and it is EXTREMELY interesting!! My already critical assumptions were overwhelmingly confirmed. More than anything, though, I appreciate stories of overcoming trauma and troubles by establishing a relationship with God that is personal ~ not relying only on the constructs established by others. A quote from Beck: "I've learned that the worst pain and fear I've ever experienced has only deepened my ability to experience joy. I feel this even when I'm hurting, because while pain and pleasure are mutually exclusive, pain and joy are not.----Once you're sure that God is waiting in the acceptance of every true thing, even pain, I'm not sure despair is possible." (emphasis mine)

I am grateful that I am sure that God is faithful, merciful, and loving in every situation we face! Blessings on your week!

Houston Pics.....

(a boring title but the gist of this post!)

On our last day in Houston, Mom and I went to the Houston Holocaust Museum. Enjoy is not the right word, but I always like to go there. It is a really well-done museum. There are two special exhibits currently: On Darfur and on the preserved artwork of children from the Nazi ghetto of Terezin, near Prague in the Czech Republic. Over 10,000 children from that town alone were murdered in WWII. The interesting thing is that I saw a similar exhibit when we were in Prague on TLC. It is always important to take the time to examine the emotional impact of that horrible, hateful time. And that wasn't just then....similar atrocities are still occurring in our time. These issues of international justice should be more of a focus in this political season and more significantly, important to us all. This quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. was used in the Darfur exhibit: "In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

I am enjoying learning how to use my new little camera that I finally got for a great deal ($150 total!)

Here are a few pics:

Based on this poem (written by Pavel Friedmann, a young boy held captive in Terezin), the butterfly has become "a symbol of freedom from oppression, intolerance, and hatred."
Mom was also really interested in this moving exhibit and all the beautiful creativity.

At one of our favorite restaurants in Houston, Grotto's.
About to consume a cupcake from a fantastic place: The Dessert Gallery...yummo!

I think this goofy picture shows how fanatically obsessed

I am with a good cupcake

and also how very tired I was feeling!!

A Balance Beam?

I admit to getting a little caught up in Olympic Gymnastics this year...it was great (but stressful) watching! And I got pretty fired up when I thought our girls were getting scored unfairly. Thankfully, it's over now, and I can rest easy knowing Nastia and Shawn came home with golds!:)

I found it all quite emotional...the pressure, the tears, the families, the drama of it all. And I see some applicable truths. Balancing is tough stuff. And, let's just be honest, all things aren't equal. Some balancing acts are more difficult than others. Some life beams are more "narrow", shall we say, than others. And at the end of most days...there are no medals...no cheering crowds, actually no one noticing at all.

I recently read after someone saying that our lives are lived in 30 minute increments. That it's the little decisions along the way (when noone's watching) that accumulate into the larger story of who and what we are. If that's true, I would certainly be in the group that more often than not is found falling, stumbling on the beam....not stepping confidently and clearly in the routine of my life.

But this writer (Beth Coppedge in The High Calling) also adds that "to make life-giving God choices on a daily basis we need the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit." It is only by His spirit that we are motivated to pray, to seek his Heart, to seek the changing of our own hearts, to live in His presence and receive power and strength. These are words I need to hear...to believe...to enact!Feeling successful is nice but not the point. (That can be a problem for some of us!) Probably there will never be medals given for either surviving the practical trials of life or pressing through to spiritual maturity. (And when we make it to the Finish Line I imagine our "rewards" will seem so small and our only desire will be to lay them at the feet of Jesus.) But keeping in step with the Spirit on the journey....that's the only way to maintain gracefulness on life's shaky beam!

(I wrote these thoughts back during the Olympics, but just now getting around to posting them. After the past whirlwind of a week, I feel them even more strongly!)

Mac and Cheese...

This is a Paula Deen recipe...and here is a pic. of the buffet (prominently featuring the Mac and Cheese) from when I visited there in Savannah. Yes, it is a little dysfunctional to take a pic. of a buffet, but that's just the kind of girl I am!:) I wish that dear man in the window wasn't in the pic., but oh well! This recipe is a "hit" whenever I share it and I love it! (The 2nd pic. was sent by my cousin Beth who really did "take care of my man" for me (thanks) ! Isn't that cool....way beyond my editing abilities!!:)

The Lady's Cheesy Mac

(I usually double this recipe)
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces (I use less)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I use skim usually)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot, add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired. (I usually do not.) Enjoy!

"Mysteries"

I am learning more and more that there really are no "easy answers" in life. But what I am disliking more and more is when neat little answers are given. I know I probably suffer from the malady of making everything harder than it needs to be...perhaps I should accept some of the easy answers and jump headfirst into popular cliches. I don't know...that seems boring to me, and ultimately a betrayal of my own personality....and a sense of false security. At any rate, it was spiritually refreshing to be greeted by this devotional from Michael Card in my inbox this morning. Some mystery is fine....in fact, appropriate.

• Mysteries (Michael Card)
  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
  I used to think that mysteries existed only to be solved. When I heard someone refer to the mystery of Christ, I assumed that Christ was a mystery only to nonbelievers. I have since learned that the mystery of Christ is to realize that it is indeed just that, a mystery.
  To represent faith in Jesus merely as something we come to understand and accept is to rob it of the mystery of being in relationship with something infinitely bigger and wiser than we are. His ways are not our ways, the prophet Isaiah tells us.
  Mystery is not a category only for the spiritually elite, secret knowledge reserved for the members of the deeper life club. The mysteries of faith in Christ are for everyone who claims to be in relationship with him. The basic truths of Christianity are mysteries, not understandable, not “our ways”: the virgin birth of Jesus, the Trinity, grace, prayer, the union of the believer with Christ, the cross, and perhaps most mysterious, and key to them all, the incarnation.
  

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Feeling inspired by our friend Jenny to start sharing recipes again, I have labeled past posts that contain recipes. (there is a label link on the side.) I am disturbed that most of the ones I've posted have been desserts...I do cook other things!! For now, I will just link to the post where I shared this wonderful dish......Pear Buckle...I have been the lucky recipent of fresh pears recently and have been making this dessert again...it is soooo good!

Diversions...

I've been enjoying North and South : My cousin Ruthanne recommended it to me and I am so glad she did!! (at first I was quite confused why in the world she would be recommending the civil war series!) This is a wonderful production and deals with all kinds of complicated issues...definitely not fluff...but it doesn't hurt that it's also very romantic! I've only recently discovered Elizabeth Gaskell but her work has been a welcome discovery (thanks to Rhonda). The BBC productions of Wives and Daughters and Cranford are also really, really good!

Just to clarify....this is NOT the miniseries that came out years ago about the American Civil War...it is set in England in the Industrial Period and is based on a Gaskell novel!

[this movie was difficult to find..I wound up joining a 2 week trial of one of those mail services so I could see it. I also rented Bella (awesome!). I am keeping up with the Olympics, the crazy situation in Georgia/Russia, and a host of "issues" here including car troubles!...but these DVDs are worthwhile diversions!]

Walmart....

Tonight was another night shopping at Walmart. Not necessarily my favorite place to be...but unavoidable if I want some badly needed savings. Walmart is on the other side of town so I try to wait until I'm over in that direction, often on my way home from playing Mass. It can be an infuriating experience...our Walmart has been termed one of the worst by out of town visitors. And when I moved here, I was quickly told by some folks that they "don't shop" at this Walmart, but at the one in the next town over (the richer community.) (Of course, innocent enough words sometimes are "code" for prejudice.) But I can understand that sentiment a little...our Walmart is quite the circus, never enough people working and filled with every imaginable sad, pathetic looking person known to man. It's even sometimes a little scary...and I do take the trouble to park close to a door if it's after dark.

I can lose alot of time in my quest for bargains....last visit was the last ice-cream freezer in the store on clearance!(Yay...we've been "needing" one all summer!:) That took talking to 3 different sales persons! Tonight it was finding the DCamera I've been watching marked down $50!!...awesome! (i sadly must report that the great camera purchase has fallen through...something was broken on it:(...the hunt will continue...)

I tend to carry around a weight of responsibility in the store....like somehow if I'm friendly to the groups of migrant workers I can calm the storm of the immigration debate....or if I strike up a conversation with a person of African heritage I can make up for all the trauma of racism. Yes, that's a little too much pressure...WHY do I carry around more burdens than I can possibly handle?! (I know I'm a little nuts!) But I do enjoy all these interactions...I hate how separate our worlds usually are even though I know there are no quick fixes for any of these issues. I also struggle with the awareness of how easily I can fall into "snobbishness"....condescension.

I think about the reasons our Walmart can seem a little crazy....the rampant poverty in this community, a culture still suffering the results of an enslavement of a people and the breakdown of family structure, a region continuing to reel from that terrible hurricane not too long ago. And (not unique) a mix of people from every social strata who (wherever they fall) need the Lord....are needy of love and forgiveness. I make myself remember these things as I stand in line....tired, frustrated, and worried about the amount of money I'm fixing to spend.

Yes, it's a world away from the "cultured" Art Museum I visited today. This is not suburbia....not a yuppie in sight! But this is where I am. These are mostly good people. Most of them are alot like me, whether we look anything alike or not. I think about Fr. Hank's sermon tonight on the virtue of patriotism versus the vice of nationalism. This is one place where the reality of that truth can play out in my life. Who is my brother? How much do I show (even in small interactions) that I value every person I meet? How will I treat the overworked person in the checkout line? Will I have an "attitude" or somehow maintain calm and peace in this place?

I walk out into the hot night.....the air is quiet, the sky is beautifully shadowed with pink, and a half-moon is rising. I hear the strains of Hank Williams singing "Melt Your Cold, Cold Heart" coming from the van parked next to my car. I am determined to have a warm heart.....