Friday, May 29, 2009

My Ordination

After ten years, from beginning candidacy to now, my ordination was last Wednesday evening. (As you might guess from my countdown clock to the right.)

You might imagine that I was awestruck...that would be the understatement of all time. If you want to hear more about it, you can listen to my sermon from May 31, 2009.

I cannot describe how wonderful and meaningful this experience was. I only hope that there is something in your life that allows you to feel the presence of God the way I did that evening.

May you be blessed in many ways.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Waiting

Sermon May 24, 2009 on the text Acts 1:1-11. Also on this recording is the choir singing, "Peace, Perfect Peace."

Monday, May 18, 2009

Interview with MomPriest

An interview with mompriest at revgalblogpals...

1. Where do you blog? If you are asking about my geographic location, in Oklahoma. If you are asking where I sit to blog, generally in my bed propped up on pillows with my laptop. I know, it seems lazy, but hey, my desk is too cluttered.


2. What are your favorite non-revgal blog pal blogs? Well here are a few:
Life Must Go on in Gaza and Sderot a blog by two friends, one who lives in Gaza and one who lives right across the border in Sderot, Israel. They do not post often, but it is interesting to see their perspective of the situation in which they live.

Tablescaping a blog about tablescaping. What can I say, I love the dishes.

Pressing On a blog by my favorite author, CurtissAnn Matlock on the personal side of her life.

Hacking Christianity a blog by a young(er) colleague in ministry who has a different take and perspective on things.

The MethoBlog
a blog with UM blogger feeds.

3. What gives you joy? Not tough to answer this one, my family. Next in line, my calling.

4. What is your favorite sound? The three beeps that signals that the coffe maker is finished. I also love the sounds of outside on my back porch...nature, birds, insects, the train going by...

5. What do you hope to hear once you enter the pearly gates? "Welcome home my good and faithful servant." What do I not want to hear? "You're working in the kitchen."

6. You have up to 15 words, what would you put on your tombstone? "She tried." Ha! Seriously - I would probably like to replace the dash between the date of my birth and the date of my death with daughter, sister, wife, mother, pastor, friend, lover of God and God's children."

7. Write the first sentence of your own great American novel. "It was a dry, hot, windy day as she gazed into the blinding sun." I do live in Oklahoma, it's what I know.

8. What color do you prefer your pen? Black, gel pen or preverably an ultra fine Sharpie.

9. What magazines do you subscribe to? The Interpreter (but that is a given), Circuit Rider (also a given), Birds and Blooms, Woman's Day, Biblical Archeology Review.

10. What is something you want to achieve in this decade? Possibly my Doctorate.

11. Why are you cool? Because my daughters and their friends think I am. Also, because my husband must sleep with a fan.

12. What is one of your favorite memories? One - too difficult to do. I think soon it will be of my trip to Israel, but of the things that has already occured, my memories involve things like my daughter kissing me on the cheek, looking into my husband's eyes, seeing a planet for the first time through a telescope, wondering at nature.

13. Anything else you've always wanted to be asked? Sure, I have always wanted to be asked my opinion on how to fix the world, and as soon as I have an answer, then I'll let you know. I've also always wanted to be asked to tell you about my children.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Chosen

Sermon May 17, 2009 on the text John 15:9-17. We recognized the seniors in the service this Sunday.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Five Friends

Jan at RevGalsBlogPals wrote "Ever since I found out I could be the hostess for the third Friday Five of each month, I have not been able to get the thought of friends out of my mind. Being an only child (all growed up) who moved around a lot in my lifetime, friends have always been very important to me. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "The way to have a friend is to be a friend."

So today let's write about the different kinds of friends we have, like childhood friends, lost friends, tennis friends, work friends, and the list goes on. List 5 different types of friends you have had in your life and what they were/are like."

So for today's post, I am writing about the 5 different types of friends in my life.

Friend Type #1 - The Childhood Friend - I really do not have any childhood friends that I am still in contact with, but I must say that my friends in my childhood were very important to me. I was the baby of the family - by a long shot - and the friends I had then were like siblings to me. I was a tomboy so, when I was younger my friends tended to be boys. I liked playing G.I. Joes and getting muddy in the creek by our house. I did have girlfriends as I got older, but many of them turned out to be 'fair-weather' friends. I still tend to have more male friends than female friends.

Friend Type #2 - High School Friends - I do have a few of these friends with which I am keeping contact. My friends in high school tended to be those with whom I worked through the angst of adolescence - for better or worse. We got into our fair share of trouble, and those things no one found out about. We probably keep up with each other to make sure we keep our mouths shut! Even if we don't talk much anymore, some of my best memories come from the friends I ran with in high school.

Friend Type #3 - Job's Friends - We all have friends who are not the most helpful. These friends seem to be more toxic than helpful. But even these friends have a purpose and place. Quite often these friends can help us shore up our self-understanding. By explaining or defending our self, we can define who we are, as Job did. They can also have the opposite effect of tearing down your confidence if allowed.

Friend Type #4 - Family Friends - My family are my friends; my sister and niece, my children, my husband - I consider them friends. As my daughters become adult young women, our relationship has adapted for this transition. I think we have handled this well, and I am proud of our relationship. My sister and niece are close friends, and I enjoy getting together with them to do things. Although we don't live close anymore, the internet and telephone make the miles disappear. My husband began as my friend, and we have maintained that close friendship in our marriage. In our family, sometimes saying "I like you" can mean as much or more as "I love you."


Friend Type #5 - Proverbs 18:24 Friends - Those who are as close or closer than a sibling. I have friends that are friends in the good and the really bad. You know those times when you need chicken soup, or Imodium. Those who are there and you can relate in ways no one else can. Those you may not see very often, but when you are together you can pick back up where you left off like there was no time in between. Friends that are your surrogate family and love you just as unconditionally.

These are five of the types of friends I have had in my life. I am now entering into a new type of relationship with those who I meet in our blogging. Some I know personally, and some I only know through meeting them in their writings in their blog. I cherish these new friendships as well.

Sunday, May 10, 2009