Prayers…for those who have to spiral inward or outward this holiday
Holy Spirit, breathe into us your light, your life, stir up hope in us. We confess that we go in circles, trying to find our own way to God, help us to ask for directions, move us on the path towards you Lord, God. Lead us into a spiral, instead of in circles! we pray this in your most Holy Name. Amen
hmmm….art in action
What I gave: flowers and chocolate for free
What I received: $30 in two hours, a bullet (yes, a bullet from a gun), a cookie, a bottle of water, really great compliments, questions about purpose.
What I’ve learned: People are really nice sometimes. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that people actually gave me money for standing still and giving out flowers and chocolate. Someone gave me a ten dollar bill. Someone bought a cookie and water and gave it to me.
I have to wonder if the “service” I was providing was worth the money I got.
Maybe I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
If people think what you’re doing is worth it, they’ll let you know.
And if they think what you’re doing is not worth it…you bet your ass they’ll let you know about that also.
Maybe it was enough…
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Favorites that “speak” to my child
My middle child Westley has a severe delay in speech and probably has some other diagnoses as well.
However, he loves! loves! loves! Nonverbal characters.
Favorites include
Nutcracker ballet: yes he will sit through the entire 2hr dance show 
Pingu: babbling Claymation characters who (in the tradition of them being claymation) don’t talk
Knuffle Bunny: “Not so long ago before she could speak words…” Picture book about the difficulties of not having words yet……” This is totally a speech book
Curious George: Where the Show especially is the world as interpreted by a nonverbal, babbling, monkey 
Elsa: who doesn’t get to talk to anyone and has to work out thing through her powers
Blues Clues: Puppy Dog must leave clues to get message across
Our Current Favorite: It has dogs AND monsters that don’t speak normally (usually) and its all about figuring out why. Plus its SPOOKY!…
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Chocolate is always a good tip 🙂
Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week for those of us in the (non-Orthodox) Christian world. Today we remember Jesus’ pageantry as he rode into Jerusalem, and from here we re-tell the stories of a last meal and new commandment, betrayal, denial, and commitment, as we journey to the cross, the tomb, and Easter. It is a holy week indeed.
It is also a generally extremely busy and often stressful week for pastors, perhaps more than any other in the liturgical year. However, people often overlook this, which just adds to the stress. (My theory is that unlike Advent/Christmas, the wider society is not aware of or involved in preparing for Easter other than getting baskets ready and hiding eggs, so people simply forget–even those that go to church!).
So, as we head into Holy Week 2015, here are five suggestions for ways to care for the pastors…
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Thoughts on busy messiness and messy busy-ness
You should see my kitchen table. That’s right. I’m saying you *should be able* to see my kitchen table — yet it is buried beneath piles of clutter that unashamedly proclaim the reality of my preoccupied life.
Unpaid bills, school forms requiring my signature, ingredients for this week’s dessert baking, adventures, half-eaten lollipops, broken crayons, Cheerios, crushed cheezits, AA batteries & LEGO pieces aplenty decorate my kitchen table. There are muddy sneakers by the door with muddy footprints on the floor [that I just swept last night] — evidence of the boys’ muddy-puddle-jumping after preschool this morning.
AND I am a multi-tasking, type-A, to-do-list-lovin’ Mama who highly values being “productive.” I’ll quickly confess I love that oh-so-fleeting feeling of satisfaction —triumphantly crossing an item off that ever-pressing, never-ending to-do-list.
Sigh. How wonderful. Truly. I love those moments.
And yet — Motherhood — being a mama “in-the-trenches” — often feels like…
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credit : bottleofink on tumblr inspired by tisalmostfairytime on tumblr
Inhale the Holy Spirit, Exhale Love
“A Love We Can Grasp”
**Originally preached at the Jazz service at Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago on March 22, 2015. This sermon is part of a Lenten series called “Were You There?” which follows particular characters that Jesus encounters on his way to the cross.
Matthew 26: 14-16, 47-50
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.’ At once…
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Annointing Hearts
Hello all,
So I blog about Christianity, being a millennial, structural things, science fiction and fantasy (Christ and Culture), my small revitalized church and (when time permits) books. This is my personal blog, so I share my opinions which are in no way universal or foolproof. I have too many new followers to follow back everyone without feeling overwhelmed, but I will be keeping an eye out and trying to add to my reader list.
Thanks
Katy 🙂
katyandtheword 