This morning at our services, our Executive Pastor, Jonathan, spoke about safe places and being able to find things there. At the last part of his sermon, Pastor Jonathan spoke about our church mission statement - the focus of what a group wants to do - or at least the first part. (Do I sense the sermon series outline here?)
The first thing our leaders want to see our church to be is a safe place to find faith. Pastor Jonathan broke that into three ways our church body strives for that. And yes, that is going to be the outline for my post tonight.
The first and hopefully most visible thing about our church is that we intend to be friendly and welcoming. We are encouraged to say hello and introduce ourselves to "new" faces we see. I use the quotations because a person can't be sure the other person truly is there for the first time or if the other has been coming for awhile and the two just haven't crossed paths yet. I am a person who goes into unfamiliar situations with hesitation and can feel on the outside looking in. When I'm put into those 'new kid in class' situations - you know, stand in front of the big group and introduce yourself - I shut into myself. When I am welcomed on a smaller, one-on-one situation, I feel noticed and included. I so greatly appreciate it happening for me, I go out and do it for someone else. I'm glad many others do it, too. This is how friendship begins.
The second part he mentioned is that we will ask questions of each other sincerely. I'm guessing many people have had that "How you doing" question that sounded more like a statement and reinforced by the asker barely breaking stride passing you. When I ask you, I would like to know. You are a valuable person and should be treated that way, not blown off. Also, when statements and grand declarations are made, they can give the idea that others' opinions don't matter because they already know everything. Asking questions encourages connections and builds community. It shows other people's opinions are to be respected and valued.
The third part is that we give the gift of time. Pastor Jonathan only brought one description of how that looks (probably from time restraints) but I would like to offer two. I see this as something we do to support and be there for each other. We are given only 24 hours in a day. Hopefully 8 of that is claimed by sleep. So, if someone chose to give one of those 16 hours to spending time with me, I hope to show the person I appreciate the investment of wisdom and friendship into my life. I appreciate them being there to answer questions I have. There is also the avenue of the gift of time as in space. When working through questions or big life decisions, we try to let the person have the time and space to make these decisions without the stress and pressure of having to make that decision now. If there are questions or struggles, feel free to take the space to contemplate them. We are here when you want time for discussion.
I wish I could say that every church was like this or that anyone is 100% perfect at doing it. I can say there are many that are like that in their individual ways. People are capable of mistakes but we are all part of the one body that is the Church Jesus spoke about. And I definitely know He is big on forgiveness and giving another try.
Please allow me the opportunity to say welcome to my blog and discuss things with you by stepping forward to comment. If you would like time to think about what I said, that's good, too. I'm here if you'd like to talk.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Consistency Writing
It is the first day of the month and that's kind of like a mini-New Year's. The old month is in the past -- the big scribbled on page is gone and a new, clean page awaits. Soon it will begin filling up with the routine things that life brings. But before that happens too much, I take a little inventory of what I've learned in the past month and what ways I've applied the lesson to my life. I try to do that on the last day of the month but with life as it is, I usually end up looking back during the First.
I looked back on October today and realize I've had encounter after encounter about the subject of consistency. I don't mean like whether you like your ramen noodles as a soup or not. I mean doing something habitually. I want to commit to writing a post to this blog at least once a week. If I have something I want to share. If I have a clever thought others should think about, too. I'm coming here to share it.
Today my thoughts have been toward consistency and the places I have it and the places I don't. Unfortunately, it is easier to create the list of all the places I keep falling down. It's part of human nature I think. I am getting better about recognizing and celebrating those places. It usually is a first of the month small froyo from Wegmans ice cream freezer section cheering for the things I've done right the past month.
Then I try to get to the task of why I had the slips over the month. Am I over booked? Am I trying to accomplish the task at a bad time? Is this even something I want to do? I know the last one sounds childish but if I really don't want the task accomplished, it becomes easier to accept the other two. If I'm not committed to something changing, I won't see it as any priority in my calendar. If it is something I really do want to see accomplished but still have schedule issues, I have to examine the details of it. Through years of wrestling with it, I now realize there just are certain times of day I CANNOT sit down, close my eyes, and expect to accomplish much praying. I WILL fall asleep. I want to pray, but 5 am, 2 pm, nor 11 pm are the times for me to do it. I know several people that find praying at 5 in the morning works for them, just doesn't for me.
I will only tackle one slipping subject at a time. My therapist is fond of reminding me that I'm great at the planner stage; so great, I will forget to get to the do-er stage. If I only focus on one trouble task at a time, less I can get caught up in the analyzing and planning and focus more on the doing of the changes.
Our pastor has been talking about the Holy Spirit the past couple of weeks. That topic always circles around to the Spiritual gifts. I am again reminded that I was given the gift of exhortation. (You can see my October 29, 2015 post of my initial reaction to finding that out.) Everyone in my sphere of influence agrees that I need to write more often and more publicly. No deception. The thought of going out and making my writings public scares the crackers out of me! You will probably never see me speaking to a freshman class at a major university. I am a small group kind of person. I shared a previous post I wrote and it was suggested that it go onto the church's blog. When I asked our executive pastor how to find our church blog, he mentioned that it hadn't been in use for a few years, but asked about this blog. I had to say that I wasn't very consistent about writing for here. That was a little embarrassing. I think no one is reading and I get proven wrong again. So here I commit to writing here consistently.
I looked back on October today and realize I've had encounter after encounter about the subject of consistency. I don't mean like whether you like your ramen noodles as a soup or not. I mean doing something habitually. I want to commit to writing a post to this blog at least once a week. If I have something I want to share. If I have a clever thought others should think about, too. I'm coming here to share it.
Today my thoughts have been toward consistency and the places I have it and the places I don't. Unfortunately, it is easier to create the list of all the places I keep falling down. It's part of human nature I think. I am getting better about recognizing and celebrating those places. It usually is a first of the month small froyo from Wegmans ice cream freezer section cheering for the things I've done right the past month.
Then I try to get to the task of why I had the slips over the month. Am I over booked? Am I trying to accomplish the task at a bad time? Is this even something I want to do? I know the last one sounds childish but if I really don't want the task accomplished, it becomes easier to accept the other two. If I'm not committed to something changing, I won't see it as any priority in my calendar. If it is something I really do want to see accomplished but still have schedule issues, I have to examine the details of it. Through years of wrestling with it, I now realize there just are certain times of day I CANNOT sit down, close my eyes, and expect to accomplish much praying. I WILL fall asleep. I want to pray, but 5 am, 2 pm, nor 11 pm are the times for me to do it. I know several people that find praying at 5 in the morning works for them, just doesn't for me.
I will only tackle one slipping subject at a time. My therapist is fond of reminding me that I'm great at the planner stage; so great, I will forget to get to the do-er stage. If I only focus on one trouble task at a time, less I can get caught up in the analyzing and planning and focus more on the doing of the changes.
Our pastor has been talking about the Holy Spirit the past couple of weeks. That topic always circles around to the Spiritual gifts. I am again reminded that I was given the gift of exhortation. (You can see my October 29, 2015 post of my initial reaction to finding that out.) Everyone in my sphere of influence agrees that I need to write more often and more publicly. No deception. The thought of going out and making my writings public scares the crackers out of me! You will probably never see me speaking to a freshman class at a major university. I am a small group kind of person. I shared a previous post I wrote and it was suggested that it go onto the church's blog. When I asked our executive pastor how to find our church blog, he mentioned that it hadn't been in use for a few years, but asked about this blog. I had to say that I wasn't very consistent about writing for here. That was a little embarrassing. I think no one is reading and I get proven wrong again. So here I commit to writing here consistently.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
The Currents From Currents
On Thursday night, our church held a worship event that we call "Currents." The purpose of the event is to have a night that we get together for two hours (or more) to just worship at the feet of God and praise Him for all he has done and will do.
The next morning I was awoken for some personal time with Jesus. I wrote something and as I looked back over it, I knew I needed to share it with our worship leader, Ben. I photocopied the two sides of the sheet and wrote him a note of encouragement that told him I appreciated all the work he does for our worship time every week, not just at special events and that things like what I'm sharing happen frequently for me. Once he (finally - he's quite social) went into his office and read the note, he came to thank me and through a little conversation asked if he could share it to the church's blog if he posted it anonymously. Of course I said yes as I was already planning to share it here.
So with no further ado, what I wrote yesterday morning after a night of Currents worship:
6:20 am-ish -- I can no longer tell what time it is. I am sitting here in the bathroom waiting upon the Lord. I am an open vessel to be filled.
I'm just going to write what comes to my mind. We had a worship night at church last night. The guy Ben asked to speak was very insightful. I don't know how many others did, but I was really moved. The message was about what the gift of prophesy really was and what it definitely isn't. He concluded with four different ways prophetic word may sound. I think I've been used by God in at least one of them. We were encouraged to sit and listen for the voice of God. I didn't hear a different kind of voice per say. I just had the thought in my head - talking to me rather than the way I 'speak' outwardly. He took the speaker's explanation of how he was just trying to "connect the dots" and with that He proceeded to do just that. All the "little" things I've been learning are connected together to create a bigger picture of who He's created me to be. He has taken the baby steps with me. I see it now. He's been at that for a few years now. I get one bit of information and I got some time to think about it and process the way I fit into it. Then some other thing will come. Sometimes I'll see a connection - like some large and important piece is broken into dots that I see the line bringing them together. Most of the time I don't. Last night brought the "separate" dot clusters together. I still don't see the big picture but last night one last shackle was broken. One of the songs chosen to use last night had a line - "I will look back and see You are faithful" - that I thought was a bit odd using the word 'will' but now I see why they did. When I sang it last night, it was talking about right now. I now really see that He has been, is, and will always be faithful. I can trust Him because He's not let me down and He's not about to start now.
Yes, I sometimes write in my bathroom. It's the only place I get uninterrupted privacy! I am also reminded today that in order to make a 'Connect the Dots' picture, you have to put down what look like random dots before they're numbered. I now really believe I can go through the 'random' dropping of dots because He will be faithful and show the connection between them when He has completed that part of the great big picture in me.
The next morning I was awoken for some personal time with Jesus. I wrote something and as I looked back over it, I knew I needed to share it with our worship leader, Ben. I photocopied the two sides of the sheet and wrote him a note of encouragement that told him I appreciated all the work he does for our worship time every week, not just at special events and that things like what I'm sharing happen frequently for me. Once he (finally - he's quite social) went into his office and read the note, he came to thank me and through a little conversation asked if he could share it to the church's blog if he posted it anonymously. Of course I said yes as I was already planning to share it here.
So with no further ado, what I wrote yesterday morning after a night of Currents worship:
6:20 am-ish -- I can no longer tell what time it is. I am sitting here in the bathroom waiting upon the Lord. I am an open vessel to be filled.
I'm just going to write what comes to my mind. We had a worship night at church last night. The guy Ben asked to speak was very insightful. I don't know how many others did, but I was really moved. The message was about what the gift of prophesy really was and what it definitely isn't. He concluded with four different ways prophetic word may sound. I think I've been used by God in at least one of them. We were encouraged to sit and listen for the voice of God. I didn't hear a different kind of voice per say. I just had the thought in my head - talking to me rather than the way I 'speak' outwardly. He took the speaker's explanation of how he was just trying to "connect the dots" and with that He proceeded to do just that. All the "little" things I've been learning are connected together to create a bigger picture of who He's created me to be. He has taken the baby steps with me. I see it now. He's been at that for a few years now. I get one bit of information and I got some time to think about it and process the way I fit into it. Then some other thing will come. Sometimes I'll see a connection - like some large and important piece is broken into dots that I see the line bringing them together. Most of the time I don't. Last night brought the "separate" dot clusters together. I still don't see the big picture but last night one last shackle was broken. One of the songs chosen to use last night had a line - "I will look back and see You are faithful" - that I thought was a bit odd using the word 'will' but now I see why they did. When I sang it last night, it was talking about right now. I now really see that He has been, is, and will always be faithful. I can trust Him because He's not let me down and He's not about to start now.
Yes, I sometimes write in my bathroom. It's the only place I get uninterrupted privacy! I am also reminded today that in order to make a 'Connect the Dots' picture, you have to put down what look like random dots before they're numbered. I now really believe I can go through the 'random' dropping of dots because He will be faithful and show the connection between them when He has completed that part of the great big picture in me.
Friday, April 15, 2016
How Much Is "Too Much" These Days?
I just realized just how long it's been since I posted something up here. Today's not going to like my recent posts. In fact, the spark for today's post is not something I typically write much about anywhere -- sports.
I am what would be classified as a "passing" fan of most sports. In general, I'm a fan of the whole sport more than any specific team playing it. That is how I am with baseball -- I'm a fan of the New York Mets more by association because of my husband. So, when ESPN's "Outside the Lines" segment earlier today was talking about the front offices of Major League Baseball's off-season suggestion for teams to extend the protective netting out to the dugouts and the four teams who did, it caught my attention. Many changes in MLB trickle down into the lower player development leagues to basically get players used to playing in the situation. This is where I become a bigger baseball fan. I like our city's minor league team and will spend several nights over any given summer watching them play.
To those not familiar with the sport's situation, it may sound odd. What's the big deal about adding netting? Currently, teams have a mandatory mesh netting between the playing area and the fans' seats for an area behind home plate. The big wigs in MLB's offices have suggested to teams that they extend that current netting out to the beginning of each dugout. It is basically a request to make that protected area 70 feet longer each direction away from home plate.
The 'Add More Net' group point out the need for it because two years ago, a news group said there are over 1700 fans hit during games a year. The 'No New Net' group have said all along that netting keeps fans from getting the interactions they want with the players. It prevents fans from catching foul balls. It hinders viewing the game well. The thing is ... I see both sides' point.
I agree, 1700 people getting hurt at a game in a season is terrible news. Steps need to be taken to stop as many of those happening as possible. My discussion to have with them is about paying attention. Like I said, I've spent many evenings at our Field watching our MiLB team play and many more times watching the Mets on television. You can not believe the amount of times I've seen people (unfortunately, many women) more interested in what's going on with their phones or fully looking at each other talking -- here is one time I give it to the guys for their ability to hold whole conversations without ever making eye contact -- than anything happening on the field. The Mets coverage has even shown many each game. I don't mean to say anyone deserves to be hit and I don't victim-blame but there needs to be some level of responsibility for our own safety by actually watching the game you paid to see, some places that's alot. There are signs everywhere about being alert and paying attention for balls and bats possibly coming into the fans' area during play. This trend to off-set responsibility or try to bubble wrap people and everything around us has brought up an attitude of total indifference to observing anything going on around us. God has created a fabulously beautiful world around us. You just have to look at something outside your self.
That isn't to say I am with the 'No Net' group. I think their objection based on player availability is ridiculous. One of my objections to many top-tier sports players is that 'gotta get paid' attitude. I don't have the money to attend MLB games -- I've only been to two, in fact -- but the guys in the minors don't seem to be hanging around where fans can ask them for autographs, netting or not. They're down in the clubhouse doing their thing. Fans typically have to wait for an autograph session -- at a booth in the concourse area -- to get one. The idea that the netting is hindering fans' viewing the game is also silly. There is this fancy little thing that our brain and eyes can do - it's called something like using multi-focal points. Basically, when we want to look at the keyboard in front of us, our brain has our eyes focus on that and things outside the frame of our laptops is fairly out of focus and ignored. When we want to see something 200 or 300 yards away, the things up close become fairly invisible and ignored. This to say, if you want to see the netting, you'll see the netting, but if you're focus is out on the playing field, the netting practically disappears. I know because hockey -- which I am a huge fan of -- put up that netting at the ends of the rink several years ago as a safety precaution and I have the net-disappearing-thing happen. When I focus on the game, the strings of the netting disappear. And I imagine some sports-fan pastor should be able to parallel a sermon out of the idea! I hate to suggest the heart of this complaint is that cameras and camcorders aren't as amazing as our brain and eyes. They get caught up trying to decide on which to focus on, the netting or the player standing 100 feet past it.
My 'No New Net' agreement is with the catching of foul balls. Some of the netting supporters are going to the point of demanding that netting needs to go along the edge of the playing field from foul pole to foul pole. This is the end-game realization some opposed to netting are coming from. While I agree there needs to be the opportunity to get a foul ball at a game -- seriously, how cool would that be? -- there also needs to be recognition of how that has become more dangerous. The players these days are getting bigger and stronger. That translates to hitting harder and that into balls moving faster. That speed is great when it headed for that orange line 370 feet from home plate. It makes for a very quick trip to the fans sitting behind the dugout, though. The reaction time necessary when fully paying attention to the game - note back to my statement earlier about how some aren't - are phenomenal. My source of concern personally is in the increasing amount of bats being broken by these increasingly stronger batters. Pieces of bat, usually that larger barrel end, flying into the seats isn't cool. That really is probably a discussion mechanical engineering trained baseball fans need to have about the wood used in bats or other similar design conversations.
I don't think there really is a right or wrong answer for this topic. I was just interested is what others think about it. I would really love your opinions in the comments below.
I am what would be classified as a "passing" fan of most sports. In general, I'm a fan of the whole sport more than any specific team playing it. That is how I am with baseball -- I'm a fan of the New York Mets more by association because of my husband. So, when ESPN's "Outside the Lines" segment earlier today was talking about the front offices of Major League Baseball's off-season suggestion for teams to extend the protective netting out to the dugouts and the four teams who did, it caught my attention. Many changes in MLB trickle down into the lower player development leagues to basically get players used to playing in the situation. This is where I become a bigger baseball fan. I like our city's minor league team and will spend several nights over any given summer watching them play.
To those not familiar with the sport's situation, it may sound odd. What's the big deal about adding netting? Currently, teams have a mandatory mesh netting between the playing area and the fans' seats for an area behind home plate. The big wigs in MLB's offices have suggested to teams that they extend that current netting out to the beginning of each dugout. It is basically a request to make that protected area 70 feet longer each direction away from home plate.
The 'Add More Net' group point out the need for it because two years ago, a news group said there are over 1700 fans hit during games a year. The 'No New Net' group have said all along that netting keeps fans from getting the interactions they want with the players. It prevents fans from catching foul balls. It hinders viewing the game well. The thing is ... I see both sides' point.
I agree, 1700 people getting hurt at a game in a season is terrible news. Steps need to be taken to stop as many of those happening as possible. My discussion to have with them is about paying attention. Like I said, I've spent many evenings at our Field watching our MiLB team play and many more times watching the Mets on television. You can not believe the amount of times I've seen people (unfortunately, many women) more interested in what's going on with their phones or fully looking at each other talking -- here is one time I give it to the guys for their ability to hold whole conversations without ever making eye contact -- than anything happening on the field. The Mets coverage has even shown many each game. I don't mean to say anyone deserves to be hit and I don't victim-blame but there needs to be some level of responsibility for our own safety by actually watching the game you paid to see, some places that's alot. There are signs everywhere about being alert and paying attention for balls and bats possibly coming into the fans' area during play. This trend to off-set responsibility or try to bubble wrap people and everything around us has brought up an attitude of total indifference to observing anything going on around us. God has created a fabulously beautiful world around us. You just have to look at something outside your self.
That isn't to say I am with the 'No Net' group. I think their objection based on player availability is ridiculous. One of my objections to many top-tier sports players is that 'gotta get paid' attitude. I don't have the money to attend MLB games -- I've only been to two, in fact -- but the guys in the minors don't seem to be hanging around where fans can ask them for autographs, netting or not. They're down in the clubhouse doing their thing. Fans typically have to wait for an autograph session -- at a booth in the concourse area -- to get one. The idea that the netting is hindering fans' viewing the game is also silly. There is this fancy little thing that our brain and eyes can do - it's called something like using multi-focal points. Basically, when we want to look at the keyboard in front of us, our brain has our eyes focus on that and things outside the frame of our laptops is fairly out of focus and ignored. When we want to see something 200 or 300 yards away, the things up close become fairly invisible and ignored. This to say, if you want to see the netting, you'll see the netting, but if you're focus is out on the playing field, the netting practically disappears. I know because hockey -- which I am a huge fan of -- put up that netting at the ends of the rink several years ago as a safety precaution and I have the net-disappearing-thing happen. When I focus on the game, the strings of the netting disappear. And I imagine some sports-fan pastor should be able to parallel a sermon out of the idea! I hate to suggest the heart of this complaint is that cameras and camcorders aren't as amazing as our brain and eyes. They get caught up trying to decide on which to focus on, the netting or the player standing 100 feet past it.
My 'No New Net' agreement is with the catching of foul balls. Some of the netting supporters are going to the point of demanding that netting needs to go along the edge of the playing field from foul pole to foul pole. This is the end-game realization some opposed to netting are coming from. While I agree there needs to be the opportunity to get a foul ball at a game -- seriously, how cool would that be? -- there also needs to be recognition of how that has become more dangerous. The players these days are getting bigger and stronger. That translates to hitting harder and that into balls moving faster. That speed is great when it headed for that orange line 370 feet from home plate. It makes for a very quick trip to the fans sitting behind the dugout, though. The reaction time necessary when fully paying attention to the game - note back to my statement earlier about how some aren't - are phenomenal. My source of concern personally is in the increasing amount of bats being broken by these increasingly stronger batters. Pieces of bat, usually that larger barrel end, flying into the seats isn't cool. That really is probably a discussion mechanical engineering trained baseball fans need to have about the wood used in bats or other similar design conversations.
I don't think there really is a right or wrong answer for this topic. I was just interested is what others think about it. I would really love your opinions in the comments below.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Before or After
For the past three Sundays now, our pastor has been unpacking some verses in Matthew. For those not familiar with what has become called "The Lord's Prayer," it is found in a section where Jesus is teaching about praying. The earlier part of the chapter talks about prayers. Jesus says that we aren't to be calling undo attention to ourselves when we pray. He then lays out how we are to pray.
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:9–13, NIV)
The part Pastor discussed today was the last sentence. It has been the basis for jokes for as long as I can remember. I realize, with Pastor's help, that any temptation falls onto one of those 4-way graph things.
One of the arrow bars, say the back and forth one, is for the inside-self / outside-self continuum. Temptations aren't just those 'he made me do it' cop outs we tried to use when squirming out of trouble and blaming it on someone else. There are also those temptations that we bring onto ourselves. No matter how much I claim it has, that candy bar did NOT call out to me and make me eat it.
The up and down arrow bar fits perfectly to represent the fact that temptations come not only from our natural world, but also have roots in the spiritual realm. There are just some things that need prayer to help us stop doing. My thoughts go quickly to my depression. Like I have said many times before ... trust me if I could 'just suck it up and go on' I would! I have also heard shaking drug addictions are like that, too. Pastor listed off 9 strategies the evil one uses to destroy us and cause us to fail. And he said he stopped at 9 because of space! I do agree that there are no new sins - just new ways to do them.
I also want to counter one belief some people hold. God does not set up temptations before us to get us to fail. He doesn't reveal our sins to us because He wants us to feel shame or guilt. Our sins are revealed to bring us closer to Him. One of the takeaways today is that if we spend more of our time praying to avoid temptations, we may be able to spend less time praying for forgiveness for doing them.
Thank you, my friend for spending some of your time here with me. Have a good day and remember to choose JOY!
Happy Kid Inventors Day!
Saturday, January 16, 2016
So, What Have You Been Up To?
My regularly scheduled social life has officially returned from the holiday break. Last night our home-based, small group, Bible study group started getting together again. This morning, I got together with other ladies from our church to knit and crochet prayer shawls. One question that gets asked a lot in these situations (mine no different) and during holiday parties, too, is "What have you been up to?" That question has often been troublesome for me in some situations. Admittedly, those situations are often holiday parties with people who only have a passing acquaintance with me. The question brings up evaluations of transparency. How well do I know the asker? Do they seem truly interested in what interests me or are they making superficial small talk?
Like I said about visibility back on December 26th, I want to be as transparent and authentic as I can. Some situations, regrettably, almost require that I am not. Despite all the work to counter it, there still is a big stigma about mental illness and the people who suffer from it. Unfortunately, some do not understand that the human brain is just like any other organ and can suffer chemical imbalances or deterioration. Just because there is no cast or brace on my body, it doesn't mean I don't also have to deal with big struggles to get to some place. I won't get into it now, though. I have kind of wandered off the trail a little. If you'd like to read more about it, you are welcome to go through my back postings with the links to the right side there.
The people asking me about my activities these past holidays are the ones that are truly interested in what I have been doing and aren't completely unaware of what it sometimes takes for me to make it out to do things. This is particularly true of my Friday night LifeGroup gathering. For two years now, these people have prayed for and with me. I have talked about some of the struggles I have with my Bipolar I and particularly the Major Clinical Depression associated with it. Like I said, some places I should have felt safe enough to talk about my depression have been closed off with prejudices and total disinterest in understanding.
I have been all over the place yet no place so I am going to cut the chaos and head to bed. Today has been International Hot and Spicy Food Day! See you tomorrow! Maybe then I can make sense!
Like I said about visibility back on December 26th, I want to be as transparent and authentic as I can. Some situations, regrettably, almost require that I am not. Despite all the work to counter it, there still is a big stigma about mental illness and the people who suffer from it. Unfortunately, some do not understand that the human brain is just like any other organ and can suffer chemical imbalances or deterioration. Just because there is no cast or brace on my body, it doesn't mean I don't also have to deal with big struggles to get to some place. I won't get into it now, though. I have kind of wandered off the trail a little. If you'd like to read more about it, you are welcome to go through my back postings with the links to the right side there.
The people asking me about my activities these past holidays are the ones that are truly interested in what I have been doing and aren't completely unaware of what it sometimes takes for me to make it out to do things. This is particularly true of my Friday night LifeGroup gathering. For two years now, these people have prayed for and with me. I have talked about some of the struggles I have with my Bipolar I and particularly the Major Clinical Depression associated with it. Like I said, some places I should have felt safe enough to talk about my depression have been closed off with prejudices and total disinterest in understanding.
I have been all over the place yet no place so I am going to cut the chaos and head to bed. Today has been International Hot and Spicy Food Day! See you tomorrow! Maybe then I can make sense!
Friday, January 15, 2016
Happy Obscure Holidays!
I have been very bad about writing here lately. I was noticing that the last blog post I did was back at Christmas. I'm sorry. I have hopefully found an inspiration to post every day. At the end of that post at Christmas I was saying that I have a "Word of the Year" project to actively seek out and express joy this year.
The search engine Google does something for some little-known anniversaries and birthdays of historic proportions. They will redesign their site logo for the day in honor of it. So, a week ago I decided one way I could actively seek and express joy was to find something fun to celebrate every day myself. I came across a website that lists some of the lesser known holidays some people celebrate. I knew of some already. My son (who is left-handed) was born on International Left-Handers Day. Star Wars fans have Star Wars Day on May 4th -- a spoof on one of the movie's most famous lines. August has National Black Cat Day. It turns out this site has something to celebrate every day. In fact, most days have several to choose from! I rolled out this onto my Facebook timeline the next day, on January 8th. The timing was perfect in fact. January 8th is, among a few other things, Joy Germ Day. To celebrate, I used my Office skills and created my first meme. Also on the 8th is Bubble Bath Day.
I posted my meme and changed my profile picture to some bubble bath bubbles. I have only missed one day this week. I figure if I'm doing ok about doing these holidays on Facebook, I can write a post for my blog every day, too.
The two obscure holidays I chose for today are Strawberry Ice Cream Day and Hat Day. I posted a ten year old picture of me in one of my baseball hats and changed my profile picture to a bowl of strawberry ice cream. To celebrate in the real world, I am wearing another of my (many) ball caps. I have a small group study gathering tonight and I was thinking of getting some individual-serving strawberry ice cream bowls to take with us if they make them. I'll share the joy by explaining to them what I'm doing and why I thought to bring ice cream to a group meeting in the middle of January in Western New York! Granted the weather for my little spot in it isn't bad (yet), but ice cream really isn't on most of our minds right now.
I will end this for today. I look forward to sharing insights from tonight's group and another holiday to celebrate tomorrow. See you then!
The search engine Google does something for some little-known anniversaries and birthdays of historic proportions. They will redesign their site logo for the day in honor of it. So, a week ago I decided one way I could actively seek and express joy was to find something fun to celebrate every day myself. I came across a website that lists some of the lesser known holidays some people celebrate. I knew of some already. My son (who is left-handed) was born on International Left-Handers Day. Star Wars fans have Star Wars Day on May 4th -- a spoof on one of the movie's most famous lines. August has National Black Cat Day. It turns out this site has something to celebrate every day. In fact, most days have several to choose from! I rolled out this onto my Facebook timeline the next day, on January 8th. The timing was perfect in fact. January 8th is, among a few other things, Joy Germ Day. To celebrate, I used my Office skills and created my first meme. Also on the 8th is Bubble Bath Day.
I posted my meme and changed my profile picture to some bubble bath bubbles. I have only missed one day this week. I figure if I'm doing ok about doing these holidays on Facebook, I can write a post for my blog every day, too.
The two obscure holidays I chose for today are Strawberry Ice Cream Day and Hat Day. I posted a ten year old picture of me in one of my baseball hats and changed my profile picture to a bowl of strawberry ice cream. To celebrate in the real world, I am wearing another of my (many) ball caps. I have a small group study gathering tonight and I was thinking of getting some individual-serving strawberry ice cream bowls to take with us if they make them. I'll share the joy by explaining to them what I'm doing and why I thought to bring ice cream to a group meeting in the middle of January in Western New York! Granted the weather for my little spot in it isn't bad (yet), but ice cream really isn't on most of our minds right now.
I will end this for today. I look forward to sharing insights from tonight's group and another holiday to celebrate tomorrow. See you then!
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