Rachel Held Evans' interview and blog post links

My priest sent me this article to see what I thought about it. I loved it!! It sums up my feelings, and wraps them up in a concise, nice, neat, and funny package with a bow on top.

Another great thing about that article is taht it linked to another article (this one) that is an interview with Rachel Held Evans that I read about a week ago and loved, and I've been looking for it ever since. It explains much of what I love about the Episcopal church as well.

My reason for posting the here is that anyone who is wondering more about why I'm going to an Episcopal church can read the articles - especially the interview. My views are very similar to hers. Also, I want to be able to go back and read them later; I never lose things on my blog (like the addresses of articles I want to re-read) like I do in real life! ;)

♥ Melody

Mirroring God's Light.

Today, I watched a video from the "#Lent 2015 It's time to...." series that I found on The Episcopal Church facebook page. This was the one:

What’s your identity? What are you to be about? Why don’t you be a lover: to presume that why God has extended your life into this day, is for the cause of love. To receive God’s love in every way into your being and then to reflect that love outward. Hildegard of Bingen, the great medieval abbess, said we should be mirrors. We should be mirrors, mirroring God’s light and God’s love with great generosity everywhere we go. Love: love is of our essence.

-Br. Curtis Almquist
http://ssje.org/word/?p=10787&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=love-3-identity

It reminded me of a story from Robert Fulghum that I read many years ago in his book, It Was On Fire When I Laid Down On It. (I found a portion of the story here.

What is the Meaning of Life?
by Robert Fulghum

A Greek philosopher and teacher ended a lecture asking, “Are there any questions?” In the audience was Robert Fulghum who asked, “Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

Fulghum relates: “The usual laughter followed, and people started to go. Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was. ‘I will answer your question,’ he said. Then taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into it and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter. Then he said, ‘When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found several broken pieces of a mirror from a wrecked German motorcycle. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would not shine – in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light – truth, understanding, knowledge – is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

‘I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world – into the black places in the hearts of men – and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.’

“And then he took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face and onto my hands folded on the desk.”

I hope that I can be a mirror, shining the Light exactly where I'm supposed to, every single day.
♥ Melody

John 9:35-38

John 9:35-38 (New Living Translation (NLT)) (After Jesus had healed the blind man, and the Jews had cast the blind man out after questioning him about who had healed his blindness)

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Different scriptures affect people differently. The kind of faith like the blind man had is the kind of faith that I strive for: I may be told that TRUTH looks one way, but when it comes looking differently than I expected, I recognize it for what it is, because I'm feeling (and discerning) with my heart and spirit. The Jews, though they had physical sight, were blind to who Jesus was.

My hope is that I can always have faith and discernment like that. The Jews entirely missed the Messiah that they had been waiting and watching for because he wasn't who they expected him to be. I hope that my heart will always be sensitive enough to hear and know the Lord.
♥ Melody

Corned Beef Hash::St Patrick's Day

About corned beef hash:

So, last night I tried my hand at corned beef hash. It is the first time in our marriage that Steve has ever come into the house when I've been cooking and said, "Hmmm.... it smells... interesting in here." ROFLOL

A friend I was talking to on the phone said that her husband was making homemade corned beef and cabbage, "So I'm eating donuts for dinner."

It wasn't terrible! It looks like cat food, smells like cat food, but it tastes pretty good! (Who knows, maybe cat food tastes good too! LOL) The dogs and the cat were going crazy as I was cooking it - they usually stay out of the kitchen, but there was no keeping them out last night; they kept giving me those puppy dog/begging eyes - they were very hopeful!
♥ Melody

11/52::On the Trampoline

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2015

Michael has a hard time with little kids. It started with Aiden; he called him a "stinky little baby". :) He doesn't like crying, whining, or bickering. So usually, when the grandkids come to visit, Michael hides in the basement and asks several times when Josh is going home or when Karen is coming to get the kids. ;)

Lately, though, I've noticed that he has started hanging out a little bit more when the kids come. He even teased Aiden the other day, telling him that he was going to play his game (on the Xbox). Aiden, at first, was concerned and then just laughed and played along.

I don't know if it is that the grandkiddos are getting older, or if Michael is just getting more used to them, but when I saw him playing with them on the trampoline on purpose, it made my heart happy and I wanted to capture on film forever.

This is another of Michael's milestones. <3

♥ Melody

Around the Lake::"Fishing on the Lake"

We took a Sunday drive around the lake. It was a gorgeous day!! This was one of the pics I took.
♥ Melody

Around the Lake::"Ducks in the Reeds"

Yesterday we took a Sunday drive around the lake. It was a gorgeous day!! This was one of the pics I took.
♥ Melody

Forward Day by Day::March 6

The Episcopalians have a little booklet called, "Forward Day by Day". A new one comes out each season. Today I took a long look at the February, March, April 2015 booklet, and the message / prayer on the opening page really touched my heart this morning:

I will try this day to live a simple, sincere, and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.

In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating, and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.

And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, this. Amen.
♥ Melody

8/52::A few of his favorite things

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2015

There is a lot happening in this picture besides Michael sitting in the chair.

First off was the lighting. The morning light was shining in from the dining room window, casting the perfect light and shadows on Michael's face as he sat in the chair, so of course I had to capture that! (I haven't done as much capturing of the light lately. I need to regain my photography mojo.) I was glad that he sat still long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few shots.

Second, the other stuff in the picture are a few of his favorite things:

Under the stool you'll see the handle of the back massager that I gave to Steve for Christmas a few years ago; Michael likes it more than Steve does and has even tried giving others a back massage. I wouldn't recommend it. ;)

The blue thing in front of the couch is a pool noodle, which is a new love. He uses them for booby traps - he places them above the door, one end on the open door, the other end on the top of the door trim; then he waits for someone to move the door and have it crash on their head. He is a fan of slap stick humor, for sure ;)

The red is the food cooler that we use when we go camping. I'm not sure why he loves it so much, but he feels that he needs to know where it is at all times.

The green thing on top of the cooler is a Hulk toy that used to light up when you press a button. We only bought that toy to replace the batteries in a similar Sponge Bob toy that he has - a new toy (the Hulk) for $4 or just replacing the batteries for $18. I detest watch battery toys - all toys need standard size batteries. Give me AA battery toys or give me death!! Okay, maybe I don't have that much passion for standard size battery toys. Maybe.

The yellow thing to the side of the couch is a talking Sponge Bob toy that Josh gave him for Christmas. It is a hit with everyone, not just Michael, so it gets a lot of use. :)

I'm not sure which VHS movie that is on the stool, but Michael loves the thought of VHS movies. In reality, they are just hard plastic boxes, though, because none of our VHS video players work. He loves them anyway :)

Oh, the last thing is the red throw on the couch. That's mine :)

♫ These are a few of his favorite things! ♪
♥ Melody