Quick Catch up... gratitude and life

Oh my goodness, life has been coming at me fast and furious!  I seldom have time to breathe let alone blog.  

We had a lovely bridal shower for my future daughter-in-love Sunday.  It kept me busy for about a week getting it all ready but it was fun and we loved doing it for her.  

Now, I'm working on getting caught up on a few of the yucky things in life... you know, budgeting, cleaning and so on but in a attitude of gratitude, I'm so thankful that we have a budget, it means we have an income and I'm so grateful to have a home to clean.

I've been getting back to my love of essential oils and juicing and I'm loving it.  I've been sleeping well and even dreaming again!  This morning I did wake up feeling a bit stiff so I whipped up a juice
I found on Pinterest that is supposed to be good for joints; cucumber, celery, lemon and ginger.  It was pretty good, interesting and surprisingly a little salty.  Weird as there was no salt but really good, and good for me!

Now, I'm off to go work on a sermon on the Letter of James.  I preach the next weeks so I've got to get on top of it all as my life is about to get even crazier!  Recitals, graduation, commissioning, and wedding bells are quickly approaching!

Whew! Life's Been Busy!

What a week!  I've had so much going on that I could barely think.  I've been working on my sermon all week.  This morning I started over from scratch for the third time and I think it is finally finished.  I had too much I wanted to say about too many different points in the Lectionary.  Sometimes it's hard for me to find my focus.  Anyway, it's done.  I have to work on my prayers and a children's sermon but I have time for that.

We've also been on a roller coaster ride with my DS.  The army has never made things easy for us and I don't guess they are going to start now.  I think things are back on track now and I feel like I can breathe again at least until something new comes up.  

I'm taking today off to go Mother of the Groom dress shopping with DD to include lunch and picking up her Bride's Maid dress.  I'm excited and hope it will be fun.  I hate shopping for clothes because the size I want to fit never does!  But I've lost a little weight so maybe it will be more fun today.  :)  Plus we'll have lunch together.  That's always fun.  I'm thinking Panera's new clean pairings menu might be a yummy safe menu for us to try that won't blow my calories too out of the water...  

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and fabulous weekend.  See you next week!

A little dose of James

I've been spending a lot of time in the book of James lately.  It's been my daily dose of scripture and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  I have to say that James is one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Today's verses that have really gotten to me is at the end of chapter 1, verses 26 & 27.  It says...

"Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Wow.  That to me speaks volumes about some of the current rhetoric of today, in both politics and church, though often these days the line between the two blurs a bit.

How often do we hear people talking about the poor in ugly, condescending ways?  How often do we hear hate being spewed out about this group of people or that?  How often do we hear these days, angry words, hate filled words being spat out in the name of religion, any religion, christianity included (and often the worst).

And yet, right here in James, we are told to keep a tight rein on our tongues and to not be polluted by the world.  I read that last part to say that in a perfect world, the one in which we might would find in the garden of Eden, we would all take care of one another and be kind and loving.

I realize we don't live in a perfect world, and that we all have free will to say and do whatever we please but that doesn't mean we should and if we are a religious person we definitely should NOT.

This is what I took away from my daily dose of James today.  I need to hold my tongue and chose my words carefully.  I need to speak words of love and care and I need to back up those words with my actions.

Just my two cents today.

Peace

This week, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed.  It seems I'm stretching myself a bit thin and it's causing me some stress.  Plus, it's kept me from blogging!  So I today, I'm slowing down a bit and trying to breathe more. Here is my breath prayer today as I continue to pray the scriptures.

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."  Isaiah 26:3

Lord of all,

Thank you for your gift of peace.

Help me to lean on you more 

especially when I'm overwhelmed.

Help me to slow down 

and focus 

first on YOU

so that everything else

will fall into perfect place

and your peace will enfold me.

Amen.