Lent and Random Musings

Lent started this week.  Lent is the season leading up to Easter when many Christians fast or give up something in their life.  I've given up something for Lent a couple times before - one year I gave up Facebook, and another year I gave up having crushes on boys. (That happened to be the same spring that I met Jesse... yeah... that went really well...)

So as Lent approached this year, I wondered If I should give up something.  That thought lasted for about 1.5 seconds, and was followed by "Yeah, no".  With the full time job of caring for a newborn, plus working 10 hours a week tutoring, the thought of having something else to think about every day just seemed like too much.  However, as I thought some more, my attention was drawn to something that I have recently been trying to incorporate into my life.  So in a way I am ADDING something to my life for Lent... and the more I thought about that, I also realized that there is something I am trying to give up.  Not just for Lent, but for good.

The basic idea is that I am trying to find a sense of balance in my life, even though there is a baby who wants my attention every waking minute (and most of the sleeping minutes too!).  After the first few weeks of being a new mom, I began to realize that I will have to be very intentional about taking care of myself and doing things that I enjoy and find refreshing.  Thinking about this, I came up with 4 categories: my body, my mind, my heart, and being creative.  Taking care of my body includes things like getting outside for a walk, that workout routine that I AM going to start... someday..., having a nap, and making sure that I eat well. (A surprisingly difficult task - see the last post for an example!)  Engaging my mind is important to me, especially now that I have finished college.  I want to continue learning and growing.  "Feeding my heart" is the phrase I chose for the emotional/spiritual part of my life.  I realize that those aren't necessarily connected for everyone, but they are for me.  This includes spiritual disciplines like prayer, journaling, and Bible reading, well as things that uplift me, like playing music and spending time with a good friend.  I included being creative as its own category because I find great joy and fulfillment in things like writing, trying new recipes, drawing, crocheting, etc.  And I realize that these categories are rather artificial, with lots of overlap (for example, going for a walk does wonders for my emotional and spiritual health, as well as my physical health).

Now, before you make a comment on how that all sounds very overwhelming, it's important to know two things - these are things that I love, and that I spent a significant amount of time doing pre-baby; but more importantly, the idea is to do ONE thing from each category every day.

I still haven't managed it.

But that's not really the point.  The point is to be intentional about caring for myself, as well as caring for the little human that God has given me.  And this leads to what I am trying to give up - I want to give up being hard on myself, trying to be perfect.  At the end of a long day of feedings, burpings, changings, spit up on the floor, and poop on my pants, if all I've managed to do for myself is get out for a walk, that's OK.  There's always tomorrow.  And the next day.  But what I don't want to happen is for months to go by before I realize that I haven't been taking care of myself - or, even worse, to only realize it once I crash, physically or emotionally.

Will you join me, this Lent, in the challenge of caring for yourself?  And the challenge of being ok with not being perfect?

Grapefruit Marmalade

We recently acquired a significant number of grapefruit; however, no one in our household particularly cares for grapefruit.  So I did what I usually do when there is something in my kitchen that I don't know what to do with - I googled new recipes.  In my research I came across the idea of making grapefruit marmalade.  I like marmalade, primarily because when I was a child I was determined to like it, probably because it was "British", and I kept forcing myself to eat it until I actually started liking it.  So I figured that marmalade would be a good thing to try making.  And besides, I needed something that used a significant number of grapefruit.  Here is the recipe that I found: Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit Marmalade

I didn't quite think through the fact that canning becomes a whole new experience when there is a 5-week-old in the house.

So for anyone else out there who is crazy like me, here it is:

How to make grapefruit marmalade (while caring for a baby).

1. Cut 5 grapefruit in half, cover with water in a large pot and boil for two hours.

2. Drain and cool.

3. Try to calm the baby, who is fussing in his bouncy chair.  Apparently watching you work in the kitchen is not entertaining him.

4. Wash and sterilize your jars.

5. The baby is still fussing, so move him to his nap corner, hoping he'll fall asleep.  He does fall asleep - holding your hand.  He's so cute that you feel bad to move your hand, so you sit there for a while with him.

6. You finally get up the motivation to remove your hand and go back to the kitchen.

7. Just as you get going in the kitchen again, the baby wakes up and starts crying.  You go back to check on him and realize he needs a diaper change.

8. You change the baby's diaper, and while you're doing so you realize the load of laundry you had in the wash has finished.

9. You put the baby back in his nap corner and go to deal with the laundry.  While doing so, you realize you still have a basket of laundry that is dry but hasn't been folded yet.  You decide that it can wait.

10. You just get back into the kitchen and the baby starts crying again.  You look at the time and realize that he's probably hungry.

11. That reminds you how hungry you are, so you scour the kitchen for something that would be convenient to eat while breastfeeding.  Meanwhile, the baby continues crying and shows no sign of getting any happier, so you give up trying to think of something healthy and grab a bag of corn chips.

12. You feed baby while trying not to drop corn chip crumbs on his head.

13. The baby is once again happy to sit in his chair, and you try to decide whether folding the laundry or continuing with the marmalade is more important.  Marmalade wins.

14. Cut the grapefruit into chunks, and remove the seeds.

15. Baby is letting you know that once again all is not well with the world, so you check on him and realize that he needs another diaper change.

16. Change the baby's diaper.

17. With baby settled into his chair once again, put the grapefruit, peels and all, into a food processor, and blend until finely chopped.

18. Notice that the daffodil plant on the table has a double-headed flower.  Take pictures of it.

19. Put the grapefruit into a pot, along with lemon juice, sugar, and honey. 

20. Bring to a boil, and taste.  Realize it is still ridiculously bitter, so add more honey.  And more honey.  An embarrassing amount of honey.  Realize that marmalade from the store must have a ridiculous amount of sugar in it.

21. Your husband gets home and you look at the clock and notice that it is already the time that you had planned to leave for supper.  Decide that the marmalade has probably boiled for long enough.

22. Pour into jars and finish the canning process.  Aren't they pretty!

23. Go out for dinner, leaving the kitchen a complete mess!

One Month

It is amazing how a month can go by so quickly and also seem like forever.  It seems like Steven Ray has always been a part of our family, but at the same time it is crazy that he is already a month old and growing out of his infant sized clothes!  While taking care of a baby takes up the majorty of my time (ok, pretty much all of my time!) I am going to try to continue with updates here on my blog, for the benefit of family and friends that are far away.  Here are a few pictures from Steven's first month.

Brand new in the hospital

The cutest little guy you could ever imagine

Cuddles with Mommy - the best view in the world

He already has quite the little personality

A favourite expression

Photo credit - Uncle Andrew

One month old - and getting bigger every day!

Christmas Penguins

I came across this cute project idea, and it immediately got bumped to the front of my projects list!  It's pretty simple, and once again uses normal household items that are otherwise useless - this time, burned out light bulbs!

We happened to have a few lying around.  To start, you paint one side white.  I found that I had to do two coats.

Next, you paint the black, making them look like little penguins.

Then paint the faces.

The winter accessories were a little harder, because I didn't have a pattern.  I just used some yarn scraps, and through trial and error was able to crochet three little toques and scarves.

I used some wire to make it possible to hang these little guys on a Christmas tree.

Then it was just putting the pieces together with a bit of glue.  Meet papa penguin, mama penguin, and baby penguin!

What a cute little family!

Meditation on John 4:1-42

Continuing my series of meditations on John, these are three prayers from reflecting on the story of Jesus and the woman at the well.

“Through Samaria” (v.4)

God, in this life there are many choices to be made.

Some of those choices can be very hard,

Especially when they are between two seemingly good options

Or between two options that both have pros and cons.

But there is one kind of choice that I find very easy to make:

When one option is easy and logical 

And the other is uncomfortable and challenging.

I confess that when I am faced with choices like that,

I rarely even pause to ask your will.

Remind me that there may be times

When the best road is the harder road.

When you are calling me to take the path

Through the land of the people who despise me

Or that I despise.

Where I may not be welcomed,

But have a divine appointment.

“My food” (v. 34)

Buttered bread fresh from the oven

Warm, comforting noodle soup

Strawberries with ice cream

Chocolate chip cookies

Cheesy pizza

Apple pie

God, thank you for food

And give me wisdom

To understand

What truly sustains.

Your word

Your will

Your presence.

“Look on the fields” (v.35)

Busy with their errand,

The disciples missed it -

That the fields were ripe,

That they had an amazing opportunity.

God, give me the eyes to see

When the fields are ripe.

Break through the blindness of my prejudice

My own selfish agenda

My tunnel-visioned hurry

And help me see with your eyes.

Amen.

Plastic Bag Doormat (part 1)

This is a project I have been wanting to do for a while now, ever since I found this pattern for a doormat that is made of plastic bags: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/12/26/plastic-bag-doormat-rug/

We generally use plastic bags in our garbage cans, but half the time they have holes in them that would make a messy leak.  So I thought this would be a great way to use those otherwise useless bags!  Here's how it works:

You start by taking the plastic bags and making them into a kind of plastic yarn, otherwise known as "plarn". (Get it? Pl-arn, plastic yarn)

Flatten the bags and fold them in half a couple of times.

Then cut the bag into one inch strips, discarding the handles and the very bottom of the bag.

When you unfold the strips of bag, they make large loops.

Then you link all of the loops together to make a long chain.

Roll it up into balls, and your "plarn" is ready to use!  I decided to keep the different colours of plastic in separate balls.

The pattern I found online was a fairly simple crochet pattern, but you could probably knit it too.  I found the "plarn" to be surprisingly easy to work with, although it takes a bit more wrestling than normal yarn does.

Having different colours of plastic makes it possible to make a bit of a design.

Finding this recycling symbol made me smile.  Yes, yes I am recycling this bag, but perhaps not quite in the way you were expecting me to!

Here is the mat in its current state.  It is about half of the finished size I would like, and has taken 14 bags so far.  But sadly I have run out of bags!  Our door may have to remain mat-less for a little longer.

I find that the crocheted "plarn" has a very interesting feel, and looks much better than I expected!  I will post a picture of the completed mat once I have the materials to finish it.

Brownie points to anyone who can guess the 5 stores that are represented by the bags I have used so far!

Remembering

Last week I had the opportunity to teach a class at my college as a part of my internship as a teacher’s assistant.  I am a TA for a class called Spiritual Formation and Discipleship, which focuses on the spiritual disciplines.  Each week a different spiritual discipline is the focus.  I was given the opportunity to prepare a full 75-minute lesson on a topic of my choice, provided it fit into the context of spiritual disciplines.  I chose the topic “Remembering”.  It seemed appropriate, considering that it was shortly before Remembrance Day weekend, but I also wanted to expand on the idea of remembering and its importance to our spiritual lives as Christians.  The following is an abbreviated form of my lesson. (Sorry that it's still kind of long...)

Remembering may seem like an unusual topic in a class on the spiritual disciplines.  It’s not something that you usually find in lists next to things like fasting and service.  However, I would like to challenge you today that remembering is in fact an important part of our spirituality.   

To begin, it is important to clarify what we mean by remembering.  According to the dictionary, to remember is “To bring to one’s mind an awareness of…”.  However, the Hebrew word for remember expands on this definition: “To remember, recall, call to mind, usually as affecting present feeling, thought, or action”.  So the biblical concept of remembrance does not just involve the mind; it also involves feelings and action.

When remembering is mentioned in the Bible, it is generally in connection with some kind of response or action.  One example is Genesis 30:22, when God remembers Rachel and allows her to conceive.  Another example is in Deuteronomy 5:12-15, when the Israelites are commanded to keep the Sabbath.  They were to remember that they used to be slaves in Egypt and that God saved them, so they should no longer work like slaves but instead should take time to rest.

So today our working definition of remembering is: “Knowledge accompanied by appropriate action”.  We have not actually remembered something unless it affects us in some way.  Remembering is very practical.

Today we will be focusing in on three different areas in which it is very important for us to remember.  The first is remembering the heroes of faith.  This weekend our country will be remembering and honouring the heroes who fought and died for our country.  As Christians, we have our own set of heroes – people who have gone before us in our faith, who worked, struggled, and often died, to pass their faith on to us.  These heroes of faith include people we read about in the Bible as well as people throughout history, and include the great and powerful as well as the simple people who were faithful in small, day-to-day-ways.

Remembering the heroes of faith can inspire us to live lives of faith ourselves.  An example of this is found in the book of Hebrews.  Hebrews 11 lists many heroes of our faith in what could be called the “Faith Hall of Fame”.  Reading this passage, you get the feeling that the list could continue, through the Old Testament, into the New, and then right through church history, up to this present day.  In class we took the time to make our own “Faith Hall of Fame”, writing down the names of people that we find inspiring and that have encouraged us in our faith.

The writer of Hebrews carries on to say:  “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1).  Our heroes of faith can inspire us and encourage us.  As we remember their stories, we can be encouraged in our own story, and challenged to press on in our own walk of faith.  It is so important to remember them.

Secondly, it is important to remember history.  As we remember history, we can learn from it.  One of the interesting things about history is that it often seems to repeat itself.  And in a way, this makes sense.  Even though technology advances, and the context changes, people are not all that different.  We still have the same motivations and needs – for security, love, food and shelter, meaning in life.  It can be possible, through learning about the past, to gain insight into the way our world is today, and we can gain wisdom for how to respond to the events of our time.  When we don’t remember, we can make the same mistakes that others have made in the past.  The philosopher George Santayana once said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  Another way that someone articulated this same message is that “History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time”.

A vivid example of this in the Bible is the story of the Judges.  It becomes almost predictable – the people start worshiping other gods, they become oppressed by the nations around them, they cry out to God, God sends a judge to deliver them, they serve God for a while, but soon turn to other gods and the cycle repeats again and again.  It makes you wonder – would the Israelites ever learn from history?!

Perhaps repetition that is that obvious is not generally evident throughout history.  But while events may not repeat in an exact way, there are remarkable similarities and patterns throughout time.  Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme”.  It is these rhymes, these echoes of the past, that allow us to learn from history in order to live more wisely today.

I gave a couple of examples of this in class, but here I will focus on just one example: War.  On Remembrance Day, we remember those who have been willing to give their lives for their country.  And I think that it is a good thing to honour them.  But have you ever wondered why there keeps on being war after war?  For example, do you know why World War 2 took place?  Yes, Hitler was a significant threat, but why was there a Hitler?  You have to go back a few more years to an event we know of as World War 1; a war that began in 1914 – 100 years ago.  But at that time, that war was not known as World War 1, it was called “The War to End All Wars”.  When it was finally over, many people truly believed that there would never again be a need for war.  However, the result of that war for the countries that lost, particularly Germany, was economic disaster.  Things got so bad in Germany that the German people became desperate, and when someone stood up and claimed that he could change their lives for the better, they followed him willingly – his name was Adolf Hitler.  The “War to End All Wars” simply bred another war; a war that had even more devastating effects, with over 60 million people losing their lives.

And World War 2 – did that bring the final solution?  Was that the “War to End All Wars”?  No – since then there has continued to be war after war: The Cold War, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Gulf War, war in Afganistan, war in Iraq… we see history repeating and repeating and we have to wonder – does war actually help?  Can war stop war from continuing?  History seems to say no.  Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  But we can only learn that lesson if we remember.  And may our remembering also be practical, as we seek for ways to break the cycle of war and violence that is in our world.  In the words of the MCC Remembrance Day pin: To remember is to work for peace.

Finally, it is also important to remember what God has done in our lives.  While remembering the heroes of our faith can encourage us, and remembering history can be insightful, this is remembering at a very personal level.

This concept can be found throughout the Bible.  The Old Testament is full of passages where God’s people are urged to remember what he has done.  Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt.  Remember that God saved you.  Often the Israelites were told to set up visible reminders so that they wouldn’t forget what God had done.  One example of that is in Joshua 3:14 - 4:7.  After the people of Israel crossed the Jordan, God told them to take rocks from the riverbed and make a monument so that they would remember.  The New Testament also contains the instruction to remember.  One famous instance is at the Lord’s Supper: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). 

While it is vitally important to remember what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago, he is also active in our lives now, and it is important to remember that.  We all experience ups and downs; times where everything seems great, and times that are really hard.  When we are in those harder times, one thing that can help us get through is remembering what God has done in our lives.  It can remind us of how God does care for us and how he is present with us, even if it doesn’t feel like it.  It can also give us hope that the future will be better.

Now I want to give a little disclaimer.  When we reflect back over our lives, it can be easy to feel a lot of regret.  We see all of the things that we did that we shouldn’t have done, or that we should have done and didn’t do.  It can be very tempting to beat ourselves up and try to punish ourselves over and over again for those failings.  But that is not healthy remembering.  It is true that just as we can learn from world history, we can also learn from our own personal histories.  It is good to learn from the mistakes that we have made.  But God does not want us to live in shame and regret.  When we dwell on the past, he is inviting us to dwell on what he has done - on his faithfulness to us.

In class we brainstormed different ways to help ourselves remember what God has done in our lives.  Ideas included journaling, talking with close friends, going through old facebook posts, and setting up a pile of rocks like the Israelites.  What ideas do you have?

Remembering is important.

Remembering the Heroes of Faith leads to encouragement in our own faith as we step out to do what God is calling us to.

Remembering History leads to wisdom, and we can engage what is happening in our world in an effort to change things for the better.

Remembering what God has done in our lives leads to hope when we’re going through hard times.

So this Remembrance Day… remember!