Sunday Selah

For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Luke 22:27

Maybe it's because He was a carpenter and appreciated woodcraft.  Maybe it's because He enjoyed tasting the textures and flavors of food, a novelty of His human life.

But we often find Jesus reclining at a table.




Reclining at a dinner table...or turning over tables in the Temple Court.


The dining table was the family room, the fireside, the lounge of the ancient Middle Eastern world.  It was here that fellowship and stories and wisdom and debate would take place. Nourishment would be shared, both physical and spiritual.  There were no uncomfortable ladder back chairs, only couches and cushions on which to recline.


We find Jesus reclining at the table at least nine times recorded in Scripture, eating with sinners, challenging Pharisees.


At the table.


This season ushers in a lot of table dwelling for us as a culture as well.  Business holiday dinners, traditional meals with extended family, buffets, gatherings, we come together to share food and laughter and memories of the past year.  There's networking to be done, office politics to be fed, neighborhood alliances to be forged.  Appetizers, drinks, cookies, baked goods.  


But there is one dish Jesus always brought to the dinner parties He attended, one warm, comforting recipe that forever changed the tablescape where He reclined.


Service.  He brought a heart of service. 


He washed feet, taught redemption, broke the bread, passed the cup.  He comforted, taught, and encouraged at the table.  He set an etiquette of stewardship.


We get caught up in this table season, what dish we are to bring, what dessert might impress the boss, which recipe will garner us praise.  We fret about keeping all the dishes warm, keeping the napkins pressed and the centerpieces fresh.  We change outfits multiple times, put on one more bracelet, take it off.  We paste on a smile for our guests and snap at our spouses.


We call it 'entertaining'.


What if we changed it to 'serving'?  Serving that difficult associate's wife with patience and kindness.  Serving that challenging family member with warmth.  Serving that stressful, materialistic, demanding culture with a big slice of peace.


What if?


What if serving could become the recipe I'm known for, the one people can always count on me to bring?


It might just mean that Jesus would be there with me at the dinner party.


Selah.

JPEG of the Week

~I Love This Man~

(I may have mentioned that before...)

{Oh, and I am thrilled to be guest posting at 5 Minutes for Parenting: A Dose of Humor...}

Of Trees, Leaves and Armadillos...

Sharing a few more clicks of the camera with you as we all try to digest the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and dressing and green bean casserole and stuffed eggs and rolls and jello salad (who knew that a gelatin by-product could be considered a 'salad'?) and four kinds of pie. We'll be lolling on the couch if you need us....

~Hanging by a Root~

~Pinto~

~Reaching~

~Crab Apple Green~

~Drift Wood~

~Vista~







~Critter~







~Water Colors~








Still Washing the Dishes,

Chasing Fall, Embracing Blessings...

Our recent weekend away was such a blessing for us--and part of the visual blessing of that time was seeing the signs of Autumn all around us, my very favorite time of year. Over the next two days, I'll share more of those photographs with you.

It is my prayer that you, my Dear Readers, have a wonderful time at the Thanksgiving table. And to my Dear Readers who are not in the States, may you also see the blessings of this harvest season. You all bless me so much.

May the gracious Lord of the harvest bless you indeed,

Ode to Pumpkin Bread...and Giveaway Winner

Others may find their joy in turkey, tom and hen

But I will not willingly follow them

My love is too pure, my taste too refined

There is only one Autumn flavor, sublime

Containing just 1 3/4 cup of flour

Should one wish to bake for an hour

Just a 1/2 cup each of brown and white sugar

Stirring to make a batter merger

And spices, oh delightful spices!

Bringing your sweet aromas, innocent vices

A teaspoon of cinnamon, a half teaspoon of ginger

Skip across our tongues and linger

A half teaspoon of nutmeg, another of cloves

Bring children running to the kitchen in droves

The leavening magic of a teaspoon of baking soda,

A quarter of baking powder, almost to the coda

A teaspoon of salt, 2 eggs, a half cup melted butter

Render me helpless, bringing a delighted shudder

And then the crowning glory, one cup pumpkin

Six ounces butterscotch chips, appetite a'workin'

So to you, my Pumpkin Bread

I choose you instead

Over all the hype and turkey mania

Of the Thanksgiving table paraphenailia

And congrats to CC at If I Only Had Superpowers--she's our Designs on Heaven Giveaway Winner!  Congrats, CC, and shoot me an email so I can give you the skinny on picking up your loot!



The Pumpkin Poet Laureate,

Capturing the Elusive Couple Photo...

To look at the photographic record, one would assume that M and I are most likely married to other people and that I myself am a fleeting figure, a quarry to only be photographed during labor and immediately, exhaustedly postpartum. Combing through our huge collection of photographs crammed in boxes and external hard drives, you would be hard pressed to find many more than a handful of images in which M and I appear in the same frame.

I aerobically decided to change that trend on our little getaway.

While hiking on Saturday, I opted to use the self-timer on that great new camera M found out he bought for me surprised me with and put that extra ten-second frame delay to good use.

But it is more dangerous than it looks.

I precariously balanced that expensive new camera on rickety fence posts, propped at hopeful angles, pressed the shutter and then ran like the dickens to meet M several yards down the path...



...and almost knocked us both down as I skidded into M on the leaf-strewn path.

Then there's the danger of reversing the flow on one of the sinus cavities by trying to act all vogue and contemplative while holding in snorting giggles...



Now if I remember correctly, M may have told me something very romantic when I set the timer and ran down the path for this shot...something romantic like, "You're so weird.."...or was it 'odd'?




After putting my camera on rickety fence posts, I decided I hadn't been innovative enough...so I placed my sweet Canon baby on the forest floor, angled the lens with a branch and scurried toward M, hoping I would get something for my trouble.



So there you have it- photographic proof that M and I can occasionally appear in pictures together and that we even can appear in a photograph without Christmas paraphernalia or silly hats on or with multiple other people...provided I am willing to risk camera and limb to get the shot.

Ever the Wildlife Photographer,

Monday Musings...Nature Renewal

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you...
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

John Muir

M and I sneaked off for a weekend together...and by sneaked off, I mean, did laundry for days and pulled together meals and hauled my in-laws down to help with the kids and talked through all the soccer tournament schedule and Saturday rehearsals for dance and laid out clothes and snacks and then....we absconded to a beautiful resort.

If you've commented over the last few days and you haven't heard from me yet, it's because I've been hanging out with this guy to whom I am apparently happily married.  He is pretty cute, seems really nice, and I'm delighted to discover that we are legally and religiously allowed to run off on a little rendezvous every so often.

We have engaged in actual conversations.  No one has interrupted us to ask if they can watch a mindless cartoon or to inquire as to where they might find their latest set of shin guards or to tattle on a errant sibling.

Conversation is good.

The resort where we have stayed shares access to a beautiful hiking preserve.  M and I have spent several hours traversing the long trails, drinking in vistas, listening to the river pour over boulders, admiring cardinals conducting sky wars and small creatures grocery shopping in the underbrush.

And we find ourselves renewed.

We find our cups refilled.

Drinking in the clean autumn air, the dazzling foliage framing our views, has soothed some of life's most recent bruises and has infused us with a quiet joy.  

Healing through hiking.

Nurturing through nature. 

Allowing a wild place to tame our busy life, our frenetic pace, our complicated calendar.

And to remember how to again breathe deeply, the green scent of the river, the smoky dust of the forest, the sharp crispness of the fall air, perfuming our rest, perfuming our renewal.

And from our treed cathedral, we return refreshed.

So what renews you?  Is it the bustle of a new city, the cadence of waves on the shore, the new vistas of travel?  What brings you a chance to breath and rest and refresh?  What is the balm that infuses your soul with more fuel for the journey?  Feel free to leave a comment or to write your own post on this topic and put your name and the url of your post in the Mister Linky's box below.  Give us a little insight into your soul sanctuary! 

Sunday Selah

~As for man, his days are like grass~

Psalm 103:15

It was the sound of a lawnmower that brought me comfort, the low rumble of the small motor, the steady note of its utilitarian song reaching my ears as it hummed a couple of backyards away.


Comforting because of its nod to routine, the weekly cadence of the landscaping company tending to my neighbor's yard.


Comforting because it speaks to things continuing, grass continuing to grow, routines continuing to be kept.


Comforting.


Comforting in the midst of a hard, hard week.


I've been holding out on you.  We have been through a tough, tough time this last week.  I have retreated to my little blog world, hoping to make you smile, hoping to give you a little food for thought, hoping to encourage you.


And now I need to come clean.


Her name is Amber.. She was 25.  And a week ago today, she passed away after an intense and short four week battle with an aggressive form of leukemia.  She was the wife of an incredible and adoring young man. She was my friend.  Her mother is one of my dearest friends.


And I have no explanation, I have no words wise enough or strong enough or comforting enough.  We prayed, we fasted, we begged, we bargained, we beseeched.


And the Lord chose to take her anyway.


It's not that we haven't experienced difficult things before, events that defy explanation and reason.  It's just that this one seems to bring an even heavier sense of loss.


When I made the discovery years ago that it was time for me to let God out of the little box I had constructed for Him, when I learned that He was more than a distant inventor, passively watching the comings and goings of His little creations,  I thought the scariest part about that recognition was that now God, in my new understanding, could be supernatural.  He could swoop in and do anything, at any time.  I found this to be thrilling and vaguely alarming, this involved, active Creator.  I quickly grew to love this new side of God I had finally opened my eyes to.  And I have seen Him do mighty things.


But I had only expanded my box a bit.


And it is events like this that show me I still need to abolish my box once and for all.


Because the only confines in which the Lord can be contained are within the borders called Trust.


Trusting when reason isn't enough.  Trusting when it all looks and feels wrong.  Trusting when the hurt is too great.  Trust.


So I let the sound of the lawnmower wash over me as I sat in the floor of the bathroom, thinking of Amber, thinking of her husband, her family, her dreams, her life.  The lawnmower hummed on.  And then I heard that whisper.

For He knows how we are formed,

He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the
field;
the wind blows over it and it is
gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord's love is with those who fear Him.

.

We started out in a garden.  We are the Lord's garden still.  And as such, He has the right to rearrange and trim and plant and mulch.  Even when I think that flower bed looked just fine, even when I liked the way things were, it is still His garden.  We are all like grass.  And what is everlasting in the garden of our hearts, what is eternal, is His love for us.


The lawnmower will be part of our experience in this temporal garden.  Sometimes it will come when in our estimation a life has been fully lived, fully walked, fully experienced.  And through tears we can rejoice for the cadence of life.  Other times the lawnmower will sound and it will seem too soon, too early.


But that sound of the lawnmower is the clarion call to eternity.  Eternity.


And that signal sound to eternity, heard through the filter of trust, should be the most comforting sound of all.


Selah.

JPEG of the Week

~The Soccer Fields Lay Fallow~

Designs on Heaven Giveaway

I am absolutely delighted to let you all in on a little gem of a website (pardon the pun), a fantastic jewelry ministry created by my amazing friend Thea. How can a jewelry designer make a ministry out of her craft, you wonder?

I'm glad you asked.



Thea designs and creates incredible pieces of jewelry art, and then takes all the proceeds from the sales of those pieces and contributes them to Christian organizations that are dedicated to spreading the gospel, feeling the hungry and helping the needy. Many of her pieces have biblical application and she has generously allowed me to give away one of those pieces to one of you.







This is her design known as 'The Gemstones of the Bible', representing the 12 stones listed in Revelation and their associated symbolism for the Apostles, with the mother of pearl cross representing Christ, the gate into heaven. I have this piece myself and have given it to several friends, so appreciating the reminder.



So here's the deal for the Designs on Heaven Giveaway. Head over to Thea's, take a look at all her amazing creations, do a little Christmas shopping if you like, tell me your favorite and check back on Wednesday to see if you've won!


Best of luck!

You'll Find Me...

....guest posting today over at Rocks In My Dryer for her great Thursday column called What I'd Like For You To Know. So do me a solid and come on by to see what I have to say. And be sure and check here tomorrow for a new giveaway you're going to love!!

Delightedly Guest Posting,

Sweet Friendship...and the Giveaway Winner!

1 of 8 has been blessed to have had a life-long best friend. These two girls have known each other since birth and decided they were the ultimate buddies when they were seven years old.





And now they are eighteen.





Their friendship has not only endured but flourished over the years and even though we moved away from our shared hometown 4 1/2 years ago, the girls have continued on, cell phones and Facebook and texting over the miles, giggling and being silly and sharing secrets and giving support.





They recently got to celebrate their birthdays together and, as always, it was simply a joy to see them talk, see them finish each other's sentences, see them hug and giggle and discuss.


And I was so touched to watch them, to think of the precious moments of shared childhood they have had. I am so grateful to reflect on the foundation of friendship they have provided each other through their teenagehoods.


And it is incredible to see them become young women.





Silly, giggly, adorable young women.


Young women, nonetheless.


*****************************************************************************


Now, it seems I promised you a little something last week...hmmm, what was that? Oh, yes! A giveaway! It is my pleasure to announce that the winner of the Homeschool Boutique Giveaway is.....(drumroll, please...)

Mamajil at M is for Mommy

Congratulations!  Be sure and email me for the info about contacting Tracy at

Homeschool Boutique!

But not to worry, Gentle, Wishful Readers.  I have an another amazing giveaway coming up this Friday, one that is a thing of beauty and helps others to boot!  Be sure to come check it out!

Buying Friends One Giveaway at a Time,

The Rebuttal

I was flush with the success of the Lego Cast Shim design utilized last week post surgery on 4 of 8 when I received this little thesis nailed to the virtual door of my email....






At first I thought it was a copy of the chore lists I enjoyed as a child. Then I realized it was a rebuttal to the design of my medical device featured here last week on the blog. It seems the Rocket Scientist, aka the Octamom Paternal Unit, had decided to critique the structural application which had effectively relieved the pressure swelling of his granddaughter's cast.


I glanced carefully read over his concerns and formulas and end notes and blew off considered his implied statement of structural failure. After all, one of the first hallmarks of the scientific mind is to consider new possibilities and options.


Realizing that the codified language of the above document was possibly designed as a psychosomatic stunning agent, used to render a novice Lego Medical Device Designer feeling a little dizzy and out of her league, I chose to do what any good blogger would do...I searched my virtual friends database and found gold...Problem Solvin' Mom.


Problem Solvin' Mom is also an engineer. For real. She actually holds down an engineering day job in addition to the parenting and cooking and wife-ing and blogging. She gets math. She develops formulas. I asked her to review my Lego design and then to read the Rocket Scientist dossier and to let me know her findings. I received this email in response:

"The Problem Solvin Mom is impressed by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Octamom! The materials and design, while perhaps not ideal for long term use, appear adequate for providing pressure relief for the duration of the program."

I then contacted the Lego Corporation with the information about my design. And here is what they had to say:

"Thank you for your interest in LEGO® brand toys. We are always delighted to hear from a loyal LEGO enthusiast.

How amazing! We hear from so many avid LEGO builders who take time to contact us. LEGO Products are used in so many different ways. We see architects using them for primary models, doctors and psychologists for play therapy, teachers for school curriculum - you name it! Here is just another example! Our fans continue to confirm the fact that we, as a Company, are succeeding in providing a high-quality product that you value and enjoy.

Once again, thank you for your letter and your positive comments. We wish your family many creative hours of building fun with LEGO brand construction toys.

Dawn
LEGO Direct Consumer Services"

And then was the true litmus test...our follow-up visit to the orthopedic surgeon who performed 4 of 8's surgery.  We went to his office late last week to have 4's cast wrapped in fiber glass and to have x-rays done to check on the progress of her healing.  Her surgeon is a rather quiet man, unassuming, calm.  As we unwrapped the bandages covering her primary cast, I explained to him that he was going to witness a little invention on my part, a little Lego leverage for pressure relief from swelling.


The bandages fell away.


Dr. Orthopedic Surgeon beheld my design.


And words like "awesome" and "genius" were used.


And then he went and got his camera.


And he took pictures.


And he used the words "awesome" and "genius" again.


And I suspect he has a little crush on me now.


So, in conclusion, I believe I have gathered enough field evidence to defend the Lego Shim Splint.  While I realize the materials and design are anomalous to traditional modalities, experientially we can show that the Lego Shim Splint has received endorsement from professionals in the engineering, materials, and medical fields.


I guess that's why they're not called Rocket Surgeons, Dad.