communion

I recently tried to explain to a Moslem friend of mine who was visiting my church what communion is for Christians. I had a hard time putting into words what this represents to followers of Christ. I have no words to describe what it means to me personally. Then last night I was reading The Dead Don’t Dance for probably the tenth time and found the perfect words for it. Though they are not mine (they belong to Charles Martin) I thought I would share them. (This is a scene from the book that takes place in church. The person speaking is the pastor)

“Before you strut up here, remember what waits. You all face a choice. You can rise from your seat, follow the person in front of you, stroll down the aisle, critique somebody else’s Sunday best which they happened to wear on a Wednesday night, think about how hungry you are or where, when and what you are going to eat when you leave here, and then kneel, nod, nip and sip, and return to your seat, having thought the bread stale and the wine cheap . . .OR you can slide from your seat, limp to the rail, reach down, grab these splintery timbers, fall, rest your baggage against it, extend your hands, take tenderly, place the body on your tongue, taste the grit, swallow, and feel the hunger build in your stomach. Then you can grasp the cup, tremble, sip violently, feel the burn, taste the acrid smell, feel the splinters pierce your elbows, lean more heavily, and then look upon this cross.”

“You can reach up and place your trembling hands on callused, blood soaked feet, let the red, slippery liquid run down your fingers, underneath your watchband, and come to rest in the crack of your elbow. You can lean your forehead against His shin, notice the crude and rusted nail, the shake and strain in His arms and legs, stick your hand in the hole of His side, notice the dried blood on His face, the thorns poking through the skin, smell the vinegar, feel the raw skin on His back and hear the gurgle drowning out His breathing.

“Lastly, you can raise your head and feel the breath of God. And in that instant, if you so choose, you can see your own reflections. With all your zits, warts, blemishes, and scars. And there, amongst the scar tissue, are your demons. People, that space between your pew and this altar, between the red velvet cushions and these splintery timbers. Whether it’s twenty feet or a million miles, it’s not a question of distance. It’s one of position.”

Charles Martin is one of my favorite authors. If you enjoy reading and wish to be convicted and inspired, check him out.

bloggers block?

hmmm. . .i appear to be suffering from a bit of blogger's block currently! promise to post a real blog entry asap but in the meantime, please comment on current blogs as this will help me to determine which topics are most fun to read about. . .from your end of things!

geographical hodgepodge. . .if that's even a phrase

i work with a large team of people. recently i began to take notice of how many different nationalities/cultures are represented at my work-place.

there is N. who is from Ethiopia

there is M. who is from Africa.

there is another M. who is from Iran.

there is K and her two sons who are Turkish but from Russia.

there is B and her one son who are also Turkish but from Russia.

there is also F who is from Turkey.

and then there is Y. who is from Egypt.

of these, each is in a different place in their role as immigrants in our country trying to learn the language.

M from Africa is fluent in French.

M from Iran speaks Farsi.

K and B speak Russian and Turkish.

And I actually am not quite sure what language Y speaks? So far we mainly nod at each other and smile but it goes a long way.

I am slowly trying to get to know each of my team members. The language barrier is rocky at times but the conversation is extremely rewarding. K from Russia for example is the mother of two grown boys and recently shared that she met her husband (of 23 years) on their wedding day. I am fascinated by this. There are so many questions I want to ask! K is shy though so the going is slow. In her former life back in Russia she lived in a rural area with chickens and cows and lots of space. Now she lives with her family in a little apartment close to my work place. I asked her what she likes most about the United States and she said that Americans treat her and her family well. I am not exactly sure what this means in comparison with how she has been treated formerly and I hope to learn more eventually.

Needless to say I am getting a whole new education in geography as well as in advanced hand motions as I communicate with and learn about my new team members. I am continually amazed by how much they love this crazy country and how often I take my birth place for granted. Sometimes is it good (and humbling) to see your surroundings through someone else's eyes.

All this to say, what an amazing country we live in. To realize that for so many people, to be in America is their life's dream actualized.

garden gnomes, i am a FAN!

my husband had a birthday very recently. being the sweet and wonderful wife that i am, we celebrated by going out to dinner on his birthday eve, having a family dinner on his actual birthday, and a date night on the day after. i figure, if you are going to celebrate why limit yourself to one day only. . .in fact if you can have a week-long celebration, i highly recommend going that route!

i am a big fan of presents. not so much receiving them (don't misunderstand me here, it's great to do so but that's not for this entry) but the actual shopping for them. the process of figuring out the perfect gift is something i really enjoy.

with it being football season and as i am part of a football-loving family, i decided to shop for football themed gifts. my husband's college team is UVA and his pro team is the REDSKINS.

so i found him a UVA fleece blanket for those cozy saturday game days. this seemed a safe bet as if thrown accross the room (we are talking about UVA here. . .) it has minimum potential for catastrophe.

with a little help (insert shout out here to LP/AP and TBatt) i also produced a UVA flag for our house. it remains in the bag as my husband refuses to fly it until they win so hopefully soon???

anyway, the best (BY FAR, i think) gift i found is a REDSKINS garden gnome! that's right. it's 18 inches of bearded gnome holding a staff in one hand and a football in the other. it's got the redsins cheif on it's pointy little hat and it just rocks! it is also wearing gold shoes and burgandy overalls. it currently resides upon our mantel in the company of hogskin (our redskins build-a-bear who is actually a monkey), all of our redskins and uva hats and various other peices of football memorabilia/collectables that will remain on the mantel until the end of football season.

so, now i need a name for our redskins garden gnome. . .any suggestions?!

a tribute to the undomestic goddess

If you see yourself in more than one of the following, welcome to my world!

1. It is not unusual for the smoke detector in your home to go off when you are whipping up something in the kitchen. . .

2. When friends pop in for a visit, they bring their own food. . .

3. The main time you clean your house is when you know you have company coming. . .

4. At some point in time, you have had a fire in your home due to poor fire-place management. . .
5. You require a leaf-blower to remove leaves from your porch or deck. . .

6. You occasionally sweep the debris from your floors either into a corner or underneath a rug and then "forget" to grab the dust pan and dispose of it properly. . .

7. It would be unwise to open any of your hall closets for safety reasons. . .

8. Recently you have had to use "traveling" toilet paper. This happens when you are down to only one role for the whole house so then have to go change it from bathroom to bathroom until reinforcements are purchased. . .

9. There is makeup in your bathroom you believe may have been purchased more than 5 years ago. . .

10. Instead of removing old nail polish, you fill in the gap at the nail bed and simply paint on another layer. . .

the pursuit of happiness. . .grrrrr

so my husband and i have very different tastes in movies. this is mainly becuase i only like very light, funny movies. what about bob, when harry met sally, the burbs, bull durham, these are great movies. . .groundhog day! yayyyy! (i know, its very narrow of me but i figure i can see sad things and events everyday easily enough. so paying to watch them be acted out seems counterproductive to me)

for a while now there has been friendly contention over his desire to see the pursuit of happiness. now there are many reasons i cringe at the very idea of this movie. at the top of my list is the fact that i know the main character in the movie ends up homeless and penniless while trying to work at just surviving. now i realize this is all a part of his story which is to many people inspiring and hopeful. at the end of the day though, i am just not one of these people. . .i find it depressing, i know it's horrible of me but hey, all i am looking for in a movie is fun and entertainment. i don't desire to be sitting on the edge of my seat. i don't want to cry or have my heart strings pulled. . .i would much prefer to laugh and laugh loudly!

so last night it's on television. i have no good excuse as to why i can't watch it. . .it's FREE. it's ON and there is just no reasonable explanation for my complete and utter aversion to watching it. and so I succomb. afterall, how bad can it be, right? i mean everyone i know who has seen it says, "you have to see this movie, it's so amazing. . ."

5 minutes into the movie i am thinking yikes, this was a mistake. 25 minutes in i am trying to covertly check my facebook account. 45 minutes in and will smith and his son are sleeping in a subway station. at one point i started drinking water just so i could take a bathroom break. i kid you not, i was getting claustraphobic watching this movie. . .

and the whole time i am thinking----- this is soooooo depressing.

when the end finally came (as an aside, if you have not seen this movie and you plan to do so, stop reading now!) and he secures the job at the firm i was completely underwhelmed. . .

and so i have come to the conclusion that when it comes to movies i am just not at all versatile. if it makes me laugh, great! otherwise, i will be honest and say i just don't care for it. . .

on the bright side though, my husband liked it and so that was good:) and hopefully i earned some wife points for the next time i say "hey can we watch sex in the city again. . ."

easy breezy beautiful. . .covergirl?

my hair has been growing. . .as hair tends to do, obviously. and yesterday i finally called a local salon and made an appointment.

as an aside, i tend to dream big as to the outcome of these occasions. i picture hair perfection - a simple style that is classic yet sexy. . .able to be fixed in less than 10 minutes. . .easy, breezy perfection every morning without fail. . .that's not unrealistic, right?

so i go into the salon, meet with my stylist for 10 minutes or so before the shampooing commences and dare to dream. she nods her head throughout and smiles enigmatically. . .a smile that communicates the intended fulfillment of all my hair dreams. . .

an hour later i am amazed. she has done the impossible. she has DELIVERED! i hardly recongnized my unruly locks. what had been heavy, long, red, wavy hair was now light and layered with side-swept bangs. i could run my fingers through it and it swung silkily with the movement of my head. perfection.

Fast forward to this morning about 10 minutes after I begin trying to blow it out myself. The layers that just yesterday had been falling gently on the sides of my face are now bushily protruding from my skull. . .my bangs have curled up and are hanging limply and as i gaze brokenly into the mirror it occurs to me that i have discovered something new. . .hair heartbreak.

There is nothing to do but try again tomorrow. . .and perhaps things will go my way. . .easy breezy? At this point i would happily settle for simply adequate:)