What Would I Be?

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.--Epictetus.

And the struggle continues to find the time to create; to be what I feel God is calling me to be. Time is taken up mostly with children and grandchildren, worthy things to invest time in and yet...I can't get to myself. I only see myself at a distance; the things I want in life and the things I want to accomplish are ever elusive.

I feel like I need to set boundaries around some time for myself, yet I don't want to appear selfish to my family. I don't think that's a bad thing to do. I want to please my family, but I'm not pleasing myself. One thing I've discovered about myself which really surprised me. I'm a people pleaser when it comes to my own family. I have a fear of being called selfish by them. But good grief, how much is enough? It's a vortex I can easily get sucked into and never find my way out.

Youngest daughter and I are about as opposite as two people can be. She can't stand being alone and has to be on the go all the time. So I spend an inordinate amount of time running her here and there trying to keep her from being lonely and bored. But I say again, GOOD GRIEF! I'm sick of it.

I'm going to have to create boundaries and have the courage to stick to them even when she thinks she'll die from the silence that is at home. She needs to see that my needs aren't being met and at least meet me in the middle.

Well, that's all I have time for now. I have to go pick her up at the barn where she's been riding her horse for the last three hours.

A Different Kind of Christmas Tree

Isn't this the cutest tree?  And to make it, all I'll have to do is collect all the books already sitting on my floor and stack them in this fashion.  Genius!

The Moral High Ground

COWARDICE asks the question - is it Safe?"

"EXPEDIENCY asks the question - is it Politically Correct?"

"VANITY asks the question - is it Popular?"

"But the CONSCIENCE asks the question - is it Right?"

"And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither, Safe, nor Politically Correct, nor Popular, but one must take it, because its RIGHT!!"

From an e-mail making the rounds.

Holy Work

Like Snow

Suppose we did our work
Like the snow, quietly, quietly,
Leaving nothing out.

Wendell Berry

Little Things

LITTLE THINGS

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand,

Make the mighty ocean

And the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes,

Humble though they be,

Make the mighty ages

Of eternity.

So our little errors

Lead the soul away

From the path of virtue,

Oft in sin to stray.

Little deeds of kindness,

Little words of love,

Make our earth an Eden,

Like the heaven above.

Author Unknown

The Historic Church Calendar

"...the church calendar, if examined briefly, is entirely structured around the Story of Jesus. That is, the church calendar is a gospeling event too.

The church calendar is all about the Story of Jesus, and I know of nothing - other than regular soaking in the Bible - that can "gospelize" our life more than the church calendar. It begins with Advent, then Christmas, the Epiphany, then After Epiphany, the Lent, then the Great Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Paschal Vigil on Saturday evening), Easter, and then After Pentecost - with Ordinary Time shaping the calendar until Advent. Ordinary Time is the time to focus on the life and teachings of Jesus. Anyone who is half aware of the calendar in a church that is consciously devoted to focusing on these events in their theological and biblical contexts will be exposed every year to the whole gospel, to the whole Story of Israel coming to its saving completion in the Story of Jesus."

~ The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight

The Tears of Christ

Makoto Fujimura's beautiful painting The Tears of Christ. Have a blessed Easter tomorrow as we celebrate the resurrection of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah!

Light Comes Into the World

"Arise, shine...for thy light has come. The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

It's Monday morning. Let's make this week better than the last by being kinder and more loving. Let's stand firm against the charms of the world that would lure us in and take our focus off the truly important and holy.

Williamsburg Watercolor

I took this photo at the Powhatan Plantation outside Williamsburg where we usually stay. As ya'll probably already know, I'm a sucker for fog and impressionistic images.

Here I tried re-creating it in watercolors. I haven't viewed them side by side, but as I'm looking at them, I didn't capture the right colors of purple that was in the photograph.

I also felt that I had to make the road more distinct or the whole thing would have been a dark blob. I'm still happy with the outcome. After all, I wasn't striving for photographic realism. It makes for a good excuse, anyway.