Elle Pyke

(from the 1 minute mark to the 2 minute mark)

VS



I would love to send this to Perry, but since he doesn't respond to bloggers, I guess I am out of luck ;)

PS: I think Stanley wins!

Do you ever wait on God?

Really the question should be, do you wait for anything at all anymore?

It's no new revelation that our society moves at break neck speed.

From fast food to fast life and everything in between, we rarely have to wait for anything.

We want it, we go out and get it. We miss it, another one comes in a few minutes. We get what we want, when we want it. And something tells me that must play havoc on our sense of God's presence, our sacred space and our practices of spirituality.

Often times, those in the Christian world have to spend intentional time working to slow ourselves down. And on top of that then feeling the need to announce it to the world. Like somehow our "unplugging" and blocking out times of waiting on God and "giving up" our communication tools is so profound, surely we must tell the world!

Don't get me wrong, I think that slowing down, disconnecting and waiting are vitally important, but isn't it strange that we live in a society, and a Christendom, that somehow has waiting and slowing down the exception and not the norm?

I think it is important to distinguish waiting on God and passivity. I often hear that people get away, to do nothing, to wait on God. I have often pondered that perhaps we have separated our waiting incorrectly, and that it is within the complex facets of our life that we need to grapple with waiting. A spiritual discipline of sorts, when all of life suggest to wait for no one, we practice an active waiting on God.

I liken this phenomenon of waiting = doing nothing, with the Youth Retreats of my younger years. "Get away from the everyday to get alone with God" when really I needed patience and disciple to wait on God in the everyday of my normal life. It seemed I could never pick up the practice of silence or waiting at home when other demands were weighing heavily.

Today, Mr Nouwen shed some much needed light on this subject, and with words more eloquent than mine, here are his thoughts on waiting:

Daily Meditations
Written by Henri Nouwen

Waiting with Patience

How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But
patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not
like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the
sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the
present moment to the full in order to find there the signs
of the One we are waiting for.

The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior
which means "to suffer." Waiting patiently is suffering
through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and
letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we
stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always
means paying attention to what is happening right before our
eyes and seeing there the first rays of God's glorious
coming.

Is my lifestyle a channel for God’s love?

The Jewish prophets had one foot in Israel and one foot outside and beyond. So must you have one foot in your faith community and one foot in the world; one foot in your historical denomination and one foot in your emerging world of service, study, prayer, or what I call “lifestyle Christianity,” moving beyond belief systems to actual practices and decisions about how you live your daily life and how you give it away.

As the 12th Step recognizes in Alcoholics Anonymous, we do not really appropriate things ourselves until we actively hand them on to others.

Always we have to find the Love, and then give the Love away; and it is amazing how the two events do not always happen within the same group. I think they are both training grounds, one for the other. One is the spring and well, the other is the channel that keeps the well from becoming brackish and stagnant.

I am constantly being challenged by my community of faith, The Meeting House. From the emphasis on subversive spirituality, to being relentlessly relational, to being a "Christ-follower" not just a "Christian", to living simply so other might simply live...the past 3 years have been life changing.

Our church is endeavoring to raise millions of dollars to double the capacity of our partner, Mennonite Central Committee as they address HIV & AIDS and extreme poverty in southern Afirca.

This Christmas our church is challenging us to put together AIDS care kits for the thousands of home care volunteers who provide comfort every day to people living with HIV and AIDS.

An AIDS care kit consists of: Contents (NEW items only)

* 1 bar bath soap (110-140g / 4-5oz; in wrapper)
* 1 bath towel (medium weight, bright color)
* 1 washcloth (bright color)
* 2 flat bed sheets (twin-size)
* 2 pillowcases (standard size)
* 2 yards fabric (poly-cotton, bright color)
* 1 pair rubber gloves (large size, for household cleaning)
* 1 container petroleum jelly (approx. 368g / 13oz; sealed in plastic bag)
* 1 container medicated body powder (e.g., Gold Bond; approx 283g / 10oz)
* $100 to purchase medicines and Bibles for people living with AIDS, to train volunteers in home health care, and to provide food and travel allowances for volunteers.

Even if The Meeting House is not your home, why not take up the challenge? Gather together friends, family, co-workers and put together a kit! You can find out more information on the MCC Website, and find out where you can get involved!

As we navigate the waters of our culture and it's narcissistic tendencies, and of course the beginning of the season where we often overspend, just not our money, but ourselves...get back to what counts, to what matters.

I will leave you with this quote from Bono, and hope that it reminds you of the chance we have to write a better story for our world:

"It's an amazing thing to think that ours is the first generation in history that really can end extreme poverty, the kind that means a child dies for lack of food in its belly. That should be seen as the most incredible, historic opportunity but instead it's become a millstone around our necks. We let our own pathetic excuses about how it's "difficult" justify our own inaction. Be honest. We have the science, the technology, and the wealth. What we don't have is the will, and that's not a reason that history will accept."

- Bono, U2

If you love Grey's Anatomy like I do, then you would have undoubtedly heard the haunting and undeniably fabulous last song of tonight's episode. The song is called "Poison and Wine" by a little band named "The Civil Wars" headed up by Joy Williams and John Paul White.

This is a band to watch out for.
Enjoy!

I wasn't going to review a cook book on my blog.

Not that my blog is popular, or fancy, or likely even all that relevant (send in the violins), but I thought it was at least a step about cook books.

I was wrong.

I am reviewing a cook book.

And surprisingly enough, it was a really good cook book.

I thought it was fast and frugal and fabulous.

For each recipe that is highlighted, Dawn Hall gives a supply list along with a grocery list. I found that very handy. Being a rather busy young lady, I am often quite reliant on my slow cooker to cook for me. This was a nice surprise to see some rather simple recipes.

The Greek scramble was very good and the Potato pancakes were my favorite.

Overall if you are looking for a cookbook to give as youngin, or an old fogey who is out of creative ideas for meals, I really and honestly recommend the book.

Two happy thumbs up!

I found "Find Your Strongest Life", by Marcus Buckingham, a hard read. Not due to the content, but because I felt it in a way it lacked...chutzpah.

Being apart of the Thomas Nelson Blogger Review program gives us the chance to read books and review them, regardless of our opinions of the book. This so far was the least engaging book I've read for the program. I found it somewhat disappointing as I had found previous books of Mr Buckinghams to be engaging and relevant. I was waiting for the drums to roll, or the trumpet to sound, or a town crier to walk out and announce "The book is about to begin." But alas it didn't happen, and my pom-poms I was ready to bring out, are still dusty and sitting on a shelf.

I found Buckingham painted a grim and grey portrait of what it means to be a women. I almost got depressed reading it. Perhaps it was a "create conflict" tactic, but the first portion of the book was dreary. God forgive me if women around the world ask themselves "How happy am I with the things I own" but something tells only women like Anna Wintour ever pondered those conundrums.

I scrunch my nose up when books seem to promise attaining happiness and success. Perhaps I don't know Thomas Nelson Publishers enough, but I thought the book teetered on somewhat new-agey.
Secret-ish.
Eckhart Tolle minus the weird stuff.

It just didn't seem as "Christian" as I had thought it might be, coming from a Christian publisher.

A quote that stuck out to me, and a few other reviews was:

“This moment, and the emotions you feel as you relive it in your mind, is you, in truth.”

Hmmm....?

I can take away a few positives from the book, like identifying our strengths as women, playing to your strengths, and being positive. I didn't need to read a whole book to glean that truth, but was thankful I was reminded of it.

Overall not a book I would recommend. Anyone want my copy?