New Family Member: Hatteras

I owned one cat, Indy and one dog, Blaze.  To me, this was an ideal number as they had each other to play with.  Once Indy was declawed in the front, he was a good playmate for Blaze.  Blaze is always welcoming to other animals, as long as he still gets his ears scratched regularly.

My cousin had several kittens on her farm that were needing a family.  I had resisted taking one home until the kittens had slowly been killed off by assorted farm accidents and tomcats.

I visited her on a Friday, and by the next Wednesday, another cat had disappeared.  So, my kind heart decided to take in another cat.  He's quite a character and seems to be fitting in with the other two.

Hatteras, as I've named him after one of my favorite places, was very gentle with my niece and nephew, despite being carried around a couple times by his tail and neck!

Now we are working on a few words like "No" and "Off."  I decided to lock him in the basement at night as he tends to wake me up too often to play.  He keeps Indy quite entertained, and Indy has learned to put Haty in his place when he's tired.

I realized today that I am already going through cat litter and food at a quicker rate, and I fear a moving water bowl is on the horizon.  But, for now, everyone is settling in quite easily.

Overnight Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal

I made this recipe out of the November Prevention for my family over Christmas.  They loved it.  I love it because it is so easy.

1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup chopped dried apples
3 Tablespoons sugar (or granular sugar substitute)
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup fat free milk (I use Almond milk)

Put in a slow cooker rubbed with 1 Tablespoon trans-free margarine.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

I put it on the last thing before I go to bed and in the morning the house smells great!

Leap of Faith

Instead of a New Year's Resolution, I try to find a new thing to try or learn each year.  I've taken classes on creating pottery from clay, simple plumbing and electrical fix-it classes,  guitar lessons, and Spanish lessons (to refresh my high school learnings).  I've gone on vacations by myself across the country (thereby learning to be independent, read maps and entertain myself).  My "new things" over the years have included writing novels in 30 days as a challenge and walking a 5K race.  On my list of things yet to do are learn to scuba dive, complete at least a 10K or a half-marathon, and learn to drive a motorcycle.

One thing I had always wanted to do is to learn to read Greek and Hebrew, specifically the Greek and Hebrew in the Bible.  A weird dream, but something that had been in the back of my mind for a long time.  So a couple years ago, I decided to investigate learning both ancient languages.

After looking into classes at the college level, I realized what I really needed or wanted to learn was available primarily through seminaries.  I had not considered going and did not want to go to seminary.  So, I decided to spend some time (a year) to decide whether this was something God wanted me to do or if this was just a whim that would pass with time.  

After the year, I had determined my real objections to going to seminary were the cost and the time it would take.  I knew that the sacrifice of my personal time would be high and that I would likely have to give up a lot of the activities and events I enjoyed doing.

But, after a year, I also was certain that this was something God was calling me to accomplish.  So, taking a leap of faith, I enrolled in seminary, and have spent the past year and a half taking classes online through Bethel Seminary in St. Paul.

The question I am asked most often when people find out I'm taking seminary classes is "What do you plan to do with it?"  The answer: I have no idea.  It has not been revealed to me, and I don't have plans to change careers.

But, the benefits to taking the classes have been enormous: new friends, a closer relationship with God, a firmer understanding of our faith, a clarification of ideas, and learning Hebrew.  While there have been costs as well, such as all of my vacations spent at school or lack of time to do things other than homework, the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.   I am certain that God wants me there, if for no other reason than to broaden my perspective.  Although, I suspect there is much more to it than that.



For more on this topic, click through the Women of Faith blog hop.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas experience today and are able to continue the celebration through the New Year.

I have been spending time with family.  It has been great to see many of my aunts & uncles as well as my cousins.  My pets have been hugged, pet and cuddled to death.  My newest addition has been nearly strangled two or three times by zealous toddlers picking the cat up by the neck.  Fortunately, he is very patient and has not scratched or bitten anyone.

Kinect

I considered buying a Wii, but neer could justify doing it.  Would I really play it? Did I have time to play it if I got it.  Plus, some of the games I thought I'd like, were not available on it.

This Christmas, I decided to buy Kinect for Xbox 360.

Worth every penny.

I have been playing it this week with my parents and brother's family.  My 4 year old nephew has a ball playing the river rafting game, and my mother loves the bowling game.  I'm always amazed how much energy it requires to play and how quickly I get into the games.

I bought the fitness Kinect, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet.  The idea of doing yoga as a game is intriguing to me.  We'll see how it goes.

da Vinci Exhibit

I went to the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines today.  The premier exhibit was one about Leonardo da Vinci.  I learned a lot about da Vinci through the exhibit.

First, he was an illegitimate, and thus not able to attain as much of the education he would have been able to get as a legitimate son.  However, this did not prevent him from taking apprenticeships with various people, learning a variety of trades.

The exhibit highlighted many of da Vinci's journals by bringing to life the inventions contained within them.  Many of the proposed inventions combined known ideas with da Vinci's observations of the world around him.

It is fascinating to consider the mind of da Vinci and the great works he created as a inventor and a painter. It left me wondering what his spiritual life was like.

Counsel Within

A few years ago, I started dating a man whom I had met at an event.  During our first date, I started asking the important questions, which are really my litmus test: Where do you go to church? Who is Jesus to you?  How do you live out each day with God?

It quickly became apparent that he was at best a marginal Christian.  It also became apparent that he was willing to promise to change for me and do whatever I wanted.  If I wanted him to go to church, he would - where ever I told him to go.  If I wanted him to believe in Jesus, he'd believe in Jesus.

On the second date, I got similar answers.  When I was describing his answers to a friend of mine, she commented "I think you know what you need to do."  And I did.  There were no further dates.

Proverbs 20:5 says, "Knowing what is right is like deep water in the heart; a wise person draws from the well within." (The Message).

While the answer to the situation I was in was already within me, my wise friend was able to articulate and reflect that answer to me.

God provides us his Holy Spirit and the Bible to answer our questions.  Often, the answers are already there inside, waiting.  I sometimes don't want the answer that I know is right.  I'd rather do my own thing than listen to the voice calling me away from my rebellion.

A ship was being guided into the harbor.  The harbor had a tricky entry.  On one side, the water was so shallow that the ship would run aground if the ship did not remain within the narrow channel.  On the other side were rocks that would cause damage to the ship's hull.  If the ship was not kept within the channel, disaster would occur.  The harbor had its own harbor master who would come onto the ship and guide it into the harbor.

The captain asked the harbor master how he knew where to guide the ship.  He replied, "Do you see the lighthouse and those two lights?  Until those three lights line up, I am not in the channel.  But once they line up, then I know it is safe to proceed."

True wisdom is listening.  Listening to God's voice in our hearts, in scripture and in the counsel of others.  We need to "line up" those three lights in our lives before we proceed.

For more on this topic on Women of Faith blog, click here.

A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

I have a love-hate relationship with Shane Claiborne.  At times, I really understand where he is coming from and think he has valid points.  At other times, I would like to thump him up-side the head with the largest Bible I can find.

So, it was with some mixed feelings that I purchased his newest "book," which is really a new take on an  old practice.  Claiborne, along with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro, designed a new liturgy of prayer for the church.  The "old" liturgy was the divine office or common book of prayer depending on denomination.

The books is called "A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals."  As someone who is always looking for a new way to add prayer to my life, I am somewhat excited about this book.  I have used Phyllis Tickle's books for the divine hours and a Benedictine breviary.  Both are helpful, but have limitations.  I'm sure that Claiborne's book will leave me with the same feelings.

I also expect that Claiborne will challenge me with some of his more radical ideas.  Like some of his ideas, I'm sure I will disagree with quite a few. There are a few others, however, that as I think on them, I am finding more and more merit to the idea.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

I attended Mass last night as I was singing with Una Vocis.  It had been a few years since I had attended a Catholic Mass, and I'm still a bit confused on all the things "insiders" know about the liturgy.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  For you Protestants, not that one.  This is the one celebrating Mary's immaculate conception.  Catholic doctrine holds that Mary, by virtue of her selection to be Jesus' Mother was kept pure from all sin, including original sin.  This doctrine is old, but was not official dogma until fairly recently, as far as Christian doctrine goes.

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was promulgated in 1854 by Pope Pius IX.  This doctrine was one debated for centuries.  Luther originally celebrated the feast as a monk, but later rejected the doctrine.

At first, my reaction was that this was a concocted idea, but after some research, it does have some interesting implications.  First, does it imply that Mary did not need a redeemer?  If she was born without sin and was without sin until Jesus' birth, how does that figure into the idea that "All have sinned?"

It makes me think more about Mary - what about her set her apart so that God chose her to carry His Son?  How did a simple girl from the countryside of Israel come to be the most blessed mother ever?

Sense of Style for a 18 month old?

Online today, I found a headline that said "Twins share SJP's sense of Style." The article went on to describe Sarah Jessica Parker's life, including her twin daughters.  What caught my attention was that the article claimed an 18 month old child had a sense of style!

Now, I understand that children develop personality.  But how does an 18 month old who is trying to master language and life skills develop a sense of personal style?  I'd guess her selections are made from a very small pool of things: namely what her parents buy her.  She may have preferences within those parameters, but that is not developing a sense of style.  That is mirroring what Mom's sense of style is.  At some point these children will have preferences and ideas that expand from Mom's selections.  But right now, they aren't even out of diapers and they certainly are not perusing diaper catalogs for the latest styles.