Archive for December, 2007

Little Blessings

{ December 28, 2007 @ 9:06 am } · { Life }
{ } · { Comments (1) }

I am so happy and am going to reveal what a geek I am. I used to have Quickbooks on my computer because of a job I once had and then had to give it up when I  quit. I must admit I left the program on my laptop however I did delete all of that churches financial records. I had gotten used to using it for our personal finances for over 2 years and just couldn’t delete our personal financial records and I didn’t have the money to purchase it for us. Well, then my hard drive crashed and I lost the program :( I began using the free version of Quickbooks which is great if you don’t use anything but the ole pen and paper ledger, but after using the Premier version it was less than impressive. I had resigned myself to it and it was working so I couldn’t complain.

Well…last week we were at my friends, who took over my job, and she mentioned the church had bought a new version of Quickbooks and so she gave me the old one :) I am so happy. I did get a bit nervous because you must register the product however when I went to register it I hoped I had registered it with my personal info…I used to work from home…I entered my home phone and zip code it recognized me and allowed me to continue using the product. Whew!  I spent about 2 hours yesterday and got it all set-up. My favorite feature is I can download my transactions directly from the web; a feature not available with the free version. I also have budgeting features and when I get a business checking I can print invoices and track client fees! I know, I know I am such a geek but I am a happy geek!

Christmas 2007

{ December 26, 2007 @ 9:48 pm } · { Life }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

So it’s the day after Christmas and I am sitting in a coffee shop in Astoria with Tom. It’s hailing like crazy and then suddenly stops and the sun shines through. I have resigned myself to a mixed Christmas. I had a great and reflective time at the Evergreen Christmas Eve service. It has been very enjoyable the last two years to spend a portion of Christmas with my church community. In years past we would spend Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas day with Tom’s. We would go to Christmas Eve services at my parent’s church, the one I grew up in. Which ends up being a mini-reunion of my past classmates…not too spiritual.

Well, this year we ended up at my parents for Christmas because one of my sisters turned 50 on Christmas day…always a touchy day. It ended up being okay. I have made a commitment to do what I encourage others to do. That is I refuse triangulate anyone anymore. If I have a problem with someone I will talk to them only. If I don’t have the jam to talk to that person than I have no right blabbing to anyone else…I do reserve the right to seek counsel from a third neutral party. I also am choosing not to try to decipher what I think someone else means by their action or lack there of. If someone has an issue with me and they do not have the jam to talk directly to me as adults do than I should not feel compelled to spend any energy worrying. All this I have been choosing to do with my family for several months now and this holiday was the first where we were all together. I felt much better and I felt the freedom to be less transparent. I love my family I really do however there are ways of behaving and being that are unhealthy in my family and I simply am choosing to not play the game. I hope in the long run what ends up happening is my children learn a better way of being in relationship.

All in all a good Christmas. We’ll see how my chosen path will play out in 2008…I hope well or at least a tad bit less dysfunctional!  I guess I can call that my New Year’s resolution…one I am more likely to keep.

Mom…how can a curse be a blessing?

{ December 10, 2007 @ 11:53 pm } · { Spiritual Musings, parenting }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

The last two Sundays I have been hanging out with the older kids at Evergreen. They have a table in the adult area where they have crafts and stuff to do. I haven’t been too sure how much the kids glean from the message. Well last week at least, Ryan was paying attention. Bob was leading an advent discussion focusing around the story of Zecharias and Elizabeth. He said something that perked Ryan’s ears. Ryan leans over to me and asks “How can a curse be a blessing?” So we whispered and talked…and then he went on with the project, went outside played with the snow, and then sat with his dad. If I asked Ryan what the whole message was about he probably wouldn’t say much however he did catch this phrase and we had a beneficial conversation.

I think often in life, we look for these epiphanies or as we say in psycho babble catharsis but I am learning that many little things strung together make one big thing.  As I reflect on the Scripture I see many little things adding up. Often I wonder why didn’t God simply introduce the incarnate Christ into the story right in Genesis…get to the cross. Why did he have to spend thousands of years giving us bits and pieces of the story? I wonder if humanity could have even begun to understand the enormity of the cross if there had not been all the “bread crumbs” leading up to it. The cathartic moment for the 1st century Christ followers was possible because they saw how it all added up.

As I parent and guide my children through this maze of spiritual discovery I am reminded to be patient.  I often want them to get it and make a decision for Christ however I know that the enormity of the cross is not to be taken lightly. I want them to grasp what they are committing to. I love that we, at Evergreen, are creating… a space for kids to glean, to ask questions, to give answers. There are volunteers that take them aside and facilitate a directed discussion, too.  They also have fun and do crafts during church. At times they serve with the younger kids. All these little things added together lay the groundwork for an epiphany…a cathartic moment of Faith.

It’s funny ever since Ryan asked me that question I have been pondering it. And actually repeated it to someone as a point for them to ponder…the curse is the blessing.  If he had not caught that one I would not have left Sunday with that concept in my brain and repeated it. The big things are really made up of a series of little things.