Out my Window: Beautiful Spring Day, birds chirping
Enjoying: warming temperature, sunshine, flowers blooming, strawberry pound cake candle, twinkle lights, iced tea
Listening to/Watching: I discovered Barna’s churchpulseweekly.org/ because a few people I enjoy were going to be one the podcast. I watched the past two weeks (April 20 and 27). This lead me to listen to Annie F. Downs’ That Sounds Good this week because she had Michael Todd on and his comments in the Church Pulse got me curious about him http://www.anniefdowns.com/2020/04/28/episode-217-michael-todd/ . The beginning had some very inciteful words about this experience we are going through. Holy Post Podcast last week had a great interview about addiction and the church. It is worth the listen https://www.holypost.com/holy-post-podcast/episode/20ef7b98/episode-401-william-wilberforcechristian-hero-and-drug-addict-with-timothy-mcmahan-king and John Branyan’s Podcast. I also watched a Ted Talk on teens that resonated with my heart. I totally recommend it whether anyone has teens, or works with teens, or even just for a better view of them. https://www.brettullman.com/2020/05/01/dear-grown-ups-sincerely-gen-z-kimber-lybbert/?bclid=IwAR00o8Fcaufu3zBhgZtBKdYNIgHsrTH6rBexOjJCnbG7he_pVrv62Nhobf0 Monk and Seinfeld have provided much needed distraction for us in the evenings.
Reading: Still reading Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan and Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference compiled by Timothy Keller and John Inazu.
By my bed: Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund. Ortlund is doing a beautiful, solid job of painting a deeper picture of Jesus in all his humanity and deity.
Rambling Thoughts: “Where there is no vision the people perish”. (Psalm 29:18) Having a vision of just being free from these rules is not enough, or to get back to “normal”. It is a small dream that comes with much disappointment every time it is moved. Dreams and Visions are what sustain us and move us forward. I am pondering what it looks like to dream and what visions do I need to pursue, and what does it look like in this season. I think as we have been in a PAUSE (literally for NY) and there are no definitives of when the next phase is, or what it will look like, I seemed to have put dreams and visions on hold. I have settled for the little goals of just wanting this to be over, but this past week I was challenged by a friend to dream and look at this season and where I want to head again, not as an escape, but as a life line to this time period. In the beginning of this whole thing I had what I thought were dreams and visions of this time period, but really they were just to do lists, not things that would be carving out space in my heart to think about what could be. This past week my husband and I began dreaming of what could be for our church if we are able to do 10 people gatherings, and then 50…, instead of being frustrated by limits and timelines, we are encouraged and empowered by dreaming and thinking about what God could be doing and what is possible. As I got word that our schools were closed until fall, my heart broke. I love my kids and will miss them dearly. I am not sure what the fall looks like for me, or if I am even going to continue with subbing, but dreaming has me thinking of how we can connect with kids this summer, and how can we encourage and provide things in this season. I will continue to pursue God for my more distant future, but He has given me a heart for kids in this season, and this missing of them as increased my vision of my future and how they are involved in it. This gets me excited. It still does not answer many questions I have, but it gets me anticipating, and more open to what might be.
Home Life: basics/baking… did nothing on the project list.
Fitness and Mental Health: PT exercises for my knee/IT band. Walking a bit outside. Decided I needed a tangible goal this month, so started doing my own push up challenge and plank challenge, add another push up each day and 10 seconds more each day for a plank. Mental Health getting outside is important. Taking pictures of sign of life and sharing thoughts on Instagram. Feel free to join me there inkblotlife.com_peggy or just add your own #signsoflife. Putting on the twinkle lights and popping popcorn, lighting candles, and cutting flowers all keep me grounded in what is good beautiful, good, and true.
Giving Thanks: my home, provisions, twinkle lights, playing games with friends online, Bible Study online, laughter, opportunities to serve again, seeing a student from school, playing a game as a family, God’s generous provisions for my son in Seattle and for my son here, for my younger who continues to serve the church in this season, for family and friends, books, good food, flowers blooming, tree buds swelling, for life and hope
Inkblot Life 