Thankful Thursday 7-28

Today I am thankful for:
1. This week I am actually thankful for my job. I know i complain about it a lot but I am thankful that i was able to get more hours this week and that I have a pay check.

2. The Wollan Family, they will be leaving our church next week and they will be missed. their family has been a huge blessing to our church. I'm also thankful that Rich has found a church to pastor he and his family will be as much a blessing there as they have been here.

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High

Ps 7:17

Roman Catholic Church: A Respect

My mother was never an Angry Ex-Catholic. we have all met angry Ex-Catholics who like to focus on everything that the church does wrong, how they have been hurt by priests. My mom wasn't like that, not that she doesn't carry wounds but neither does she have what could be called convert zeal. You know the type of people who move from one of the major branches of the church to one of the others, like Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodoxy to Protestantism or the reverse. they talk about how everyone in the church they left is not really christian and everyone should join their particular branch. That was not how my mom acted.

This is not to say that she didn't point out the faults. which is one of the reasons I don't think I could ever be RC (Roman Catholic Church). she told me a story about how in her childhood she saw a woman who loved the church be deigned Communion because she had gotten a divorce; even though the divorce had happened because her husband had committed Adultery. 

But growing up one of the things I do remember (and this may have become more prevalent when we moved to Buffalo because there is a large RC presents there) that she always said that there are good Born-Again Priests. that just because someone is RC doesn't mean that they are evil heretics who are bound for hell. So I never judged the priests and nuns I would see as anything more then people who had dedicated their lives to the service of God. I have met and heard enough stories about bad ministers in the protestant church so it at the time it seemed to me that everywhere in the church (meaning the entirety of the body of Christ) that there were good pastors; priests; bishops; deacons; deaconesses; nuns; monks; and popes, and there were bad ones.  though i think that in my mind because I knew that the priest and nuns in the RC had to be celibate in order to serve God made me see them as something different and almost other. 

There also was an  important conversation that my mom and I had when I was in high school. It was about the saints. It started with talking about how the Roman Catholics don't worship the saints, and that yeah some times people misinterpret what they are supposed to do and things are misinterpreted but really they just hold up the saints as examples for us to live by. Interestingly we both agreed that it was a shame that our church didn't have any teaching about the saints because they where our history. At least the Roman Catholics know their history. 

There are probably some other influences here, but they are fairly minor. For example I don't feel the need to force everyone to abstain from Alcohol.

Simple women's day book 8

For Today: July 25 2011

You can find more day books at Simple woman's daybook

Outside my window: Sun rise shining thought dew covered gossamer 

I am Thinking: About today's to-do list, and how gossamer is one of my favorite words. 

.

I am Thankful For: The new bed Greg and I got (10$ oh yeah)

From the Kitchen: A mess, that is about all. 

I am wearing: My favorite pajamas. 

I am Creating: I made some head way on the Icon, and I need to start a new knitting project today. 

I am Going:  To work, then latter to a friends house for pizza and games. 

I am Reading: Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, and The Starter by Scott Sigler

I am Hoping: That I have a good day at work

 

I am Hearing: Ancient Faith radio podcast, I'm not sure which one. 

Around the House:  Mostly a mess. 

One of my favorite things: Well defiantly not mornings. 

A Picture I Feel Like Sharing:  One big happy family

Lf to Rt:: Tomato Cat, Sasquatsh, Felix, Eeyore, Toothless, Valcor 

World of Women

I love the women in Sense and Sensibility. there are so many different shades of women in this book more then in the others I have read. They form a diverse tapestry that is the world of women. or at least a world of women. there are Heroins who are unjustly treated, used who come out brighter, smarter, and happier The Antagonists get what they deserve. the thing i like about Jane Austins books is that they really put on display how women interact with each other. at the heart of the book is the ways women say things with out saying anything, and how with a simple minor glance the back biting and fight for superiority in the room can be won without anyone not involved in the Skirmish will not have any idea of what is going on. Men may fight on the football field but women fight at the tea party.

For example we see Fanny go out of her way to get her husband out of any responciblity towards his sisters and step mother. She is now the women in control of the Dashwood house hold and she will not reliquish this hold for anything. there is a great scene in one of the movies in where Edward has just shown up, both Mrs. Dashwood and Fanny at the same time invight him to have a seat. Mrs. Dashwood is used to being the mistress and hostess of the house, Fanny is now the Mistress and Hostess. 

this is also the reason why Lucy Steele is the most hated of the 'villens' of Austen's works. she has mastered the art of feminan fighting. she knows that the way to get any mother to think she is a perfectly amiable maiden is to give the children large amounts of attention. she lets the children get away with many things they shouldn't and Lady Middleton, Mrs. Palmer, Fanny, and Mrs. Ferris can't help but think she is a perfectly amiable, and worthy of all their attention. At the same time she figured out that Elinor is a threat to her secret engagement with mr. Edward Ferris.  So under the guise of friendship she reviles this truth to Elinor under the strictest confidence and by using that as a means for friendship she continually talks about how she doesn't doubt his loyalty. both making her own love seem stronger then it is and deconstructing the love between Edward and Elinor. She is able to maneuver herself into the confidence of Fanny and Mrs. Ferris to the point where if she had been in love with a man of hire fortune then Edward they would have encouraged the match, but not for their own son or brother. 

This of course is one of my favorite points of this book. By their own attempts to thwart an attachment between Edward and an 'unworthy' mate Mrs. Ferris and Fanny encourage the attachment of another girl of low means. there is a scene in the book where Mrs. Ferris hosts a gathering where most of our characters are together. the most important are the Miss Steeles, Miss Dashwoods, Fanny, Robert Ferris, and of course Mrs. Ferris. When drawing by Elinor is shown to the group Fanny and Mrs. Ferris criticize the piece once they know that Elinor is the artist. they also constantly encourage Lucy. This of course is done to say that they will give no praise to the girl they know might be trying to get into their good graces. however by doing so they make Lucy think she is in their good graces which of course turns out to be their undoing when Lucy thinks that they like her enough to consider her worthy to be part of their family. 

Something else that is note worthy in this scene is the reactions of Elinor and Maryanne. Elinor laughs to herself because she knows exactly what is going on. yes it might have hurt her if she had been hoping to be on good terms with the Ferris family but sense she had already mourned her love for Edward, instead she secretly laughs how the women are setting themselves up to have a daughter-in-law who has very few amiable qualities.

Maryanne upon hearing the women unjustly criticize her sister's work she rally's to point out all the good qualities of the art. not because it was done by her sister but because Elinor's art work is very good. She doesn't know that they are rejecting Elinor as a suitor for Edward, thou if she had known that she probably would have said much more about their character, she just knows that they are treating her sister unfairly. So while the women who 'control' the destiny of Elinor's happiness reject her, at least her sister will always think the world of her and defend her.

It is the other thing that I love both in Sense and Sensibility and in Pride and Prejudice, the love of sisterhood and genuine affection the sisters have for each other.  whether it is the care Elinor gives to Maryanne when she is ill, or the way Lizzie refuses Darcy on the bases that he separated Jane from Mr. Bingley. but then i love stories about familial ties. 

I would love to talk about the witty good-natured valgarity of Mrs. Jennings, how Eliza, and her mother, are both examples of how the world can use and abuse innocent naivety. Or how Fanny controls her husband and how she and her mother try to control Edward and Robert. Or about how motherhood is dealt with and understood through the different mothers. but it has taken me to long to get this post out. Tune in next week for a discussion on the theme: widows and orphans.

Thankful Thursday 7-21

Today I am thankful for the new life among my friends. we have two beautiful girls who have been born in the last year and one more on the way. it is fascinating to watch them develop and grow so fast. I am the nursery working at another church and babies are pretty amazing things. the go from being so little and unable to do much of anything to learning to walk and talk and well grow up. it is crazy to think that each of these little babies will one day grow up to be adults, and even crazier to think that at one time I and all my friends were once so small. I then also realize that as these little ones grow up I and my friends will all become 'old'. But I just have to sit back and marvel at it all the things that are going on inside those little bodies so they can grow up.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful. My frame was not hidden from you when i was made in the secret place, when i was woven together in the depths of the earth. your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! were i to count them the would outnumber the grains of sand-when I awake, I am still with you. 

Ps 139:13-18

A Starting Point

Every Journey has a starting point. and I suppose if i am going to tell how i have come to move from a Modern Evangelical Protestant Church to an Ancient High liturgical Church.  It would be best to talk about where the journey started.

The truth is that when I look back it is hard to actually say this is where I started on this journey, looking back I can see how things very early on things were already in place that would eventually land me where I am. So let us go back to the beginning.

I was raised and baptized in the Wesleyan Church. This church is a break off of the Methodist Church started by John Wesley, which was a movement in The Anglican Church- The Church of England. Most of the pastors I had were amazing men of God who shaped my Spiritual life. I had teachers who taught me to read God's word, who taught me to learn to listen for God's voice. I owe much of who i am today to these pastors and teachers who poured themselves into my life and the life of my family. and i will talk more about them as we go.

I had a very different Christian up bringing. My father was raised in the Mormon Church. his family is very very Mormon. he had his name taken off their books when I was about 4. I promise to tread lightly on this topic which I will talk about more in a following post, but to think that this did not effect my spiritual journey is silly. If for now other reason then that it brought me in contact with a reason to know and understand what i believe and why very early in my life.

While my father brought me into contact with Mormonism, My mother was raised catholic. her family was not very very catholic. they were catholic because the Strickers had always been catholic. none of my mother's brothers and sisters are still catholic. The influence of Catholicism is harder to see but it is there and I will be exploring this in a latter post.

So that is the Start, next week I will explore how the break grounds of my parents led me on the path I am on.

Simple women's day book 7-19

For Today: July 19, 2011 For more day books

Outside my window... the day is over I am very late getting this blog in so darkness and possibly a few fire flies. 

I am thinking... maybe if I do the day book I will be motivated to get back on my weekly schedule of blogging. 

I am thankful... for my friend Daniel, who once again rescued me when my car started acting crazy like. 

In the kitchen...clean dishes that need to be put away. 

I am wearing...green PJs. 

I am creating...I just finished my lace shrug. pictures soon ish. 

I am going... to bed soon.

I am wondering...if I should use aliases for people i talk about on my blog. 

I am reading... the Simarilian by Tolkien, and the Starter by Scott Sigler. (wow that is a lot of s's

I am hoping... that i find a new job soon (of course I probably need to start seriously looking for a new job first...)

I am looking forward to... spending time with friends this week. 

I am hearing... Greg playing Desgia 2. 

One of my favorite things...writing in a journal.  i just started up again for the first time sense college. 

A few plans for the rest of the week: hang out with one friend tomorrow, hangout and help another friend on Thursday  Feast of Mary of Magdalene on Friday, and a third friend's baby shower on saturday. it is going to be a busy week. 

Trip To WY

So I have been a little MIA recently.  well that is because I got back from WY on Monday and well it just took me this long to get back into blogging. So here is a recap:

July 2: we leave Kentucky
Most of day one was spent driving, and driving. I did a lot of the driving while Greg read to me or we listened to books on tape.  Greg read Sourcery by Terry Pratchett which is book 5 of the Diskworld Series. we love the Disk world books. We Listened to The Game of Thrones by Gorge R R Martin book one of the Song of Ice and fire Saga, and The Starter By Scott Sigler Book two in the GFL Series.  Three really awesome books. any way it got interesting when we found out that I-29 was closed and ended up on a detour that took us on some mostly empty dark hwy through Iowa.  we were going to have to take hwy 54 all the way to MN but we found I-80 and were saved.

July 3 on the road....mostly
day two was disappointing. The passenger side front wheel decided that it wanted to separate from the car and have adventures all by itself. we spent 3 hours in Lexington NE waiting for someone to come and help up fix it, on the Sunday before the fourth of July! it sucked. but we did make it to my parent's house.

July 4 at my folk's house.
a mostly lazy day, Greg discovered the hammock in the trees, and I hung out with my mom. my causing and her husband came over for dinner and we had a good time. sadly no fire works.

July 5 a small trip
I got up and went with my cousin and mom to Sheridan. see where my folks live the closest Walmart is 30 miles away in another town, and most things are at least an hour away. we got pictures, food. then it was back home to get ready for the wedding shower. because I got married here in Kentucky there were a lot of people from my family and friends who couldn't make it, so we had a reception and a shower just for these people. it was a wonderful time with the ladies from the Church I grew up in.

July 6 clean up
with the girls coming in on Thursday, family coming in on Friday, and the reception on Saturday Wednesday was the day to get all the last minuet cleaning done.  Greg and I also went to talk to Pastor Bob about the blessing that was going to happen on Saturday.

July 7 another trip
well we had to go and get the Girls, my lovely sisters flew in from Phoenix for the party on Saturday. Greg came with mom and I. we introduced mom to Terry Pratchett. I got last minuet yarn for a knitting project that was supposed to be done back in January....it still isn't done...sigh... Oh we also stopped to see my Great-Uncle and Aunt who live there. I hadn't see them in a long time.

July 8 Family!!!!
this day was actually awesome because just before Family Showed up there was a crazy rainstorm. Twin 1 and I had fun jumping on the tramp while it was raining. and then in between the regular rain storm and the rainstorm that followed was...wait for it...a DOUBLE RAINBOW ALL THE WAY ACROSS. no joke. then family came and the house was a non stop craziness. #5 of my dad's brothers, who has SIX kids all under 13, was there. he has four boys and two girls and it is insanity. also #2 of my dad's sisters was there with her family she has two grown daughters. so just in case you have lost count that is our family of 6+1 (Greg), #5B's family of 8, #2S's family of 4, 4 dogs (my parents have one, Brother has one, #2S brought her two dogs) 2 Cats, that are staying at out house, for now... my cousin and her husband came out for dinner as well and then stayed for dessert. Dessert was for daddy to make a fire in the old fire pit for the little ones to make s'mores.

Now for a fun story. the youngest daughter of #5B is only 3, and it is quite possible that this was one of her first times roasting marshmallows. so she would stick the marshmallow in the fire and pull it out saying "I did it." now that is really cute... till she starts swinging her stick around. now us older cousins were out and knew it was only a matter of time before she poked someone or worst smacked someone with a flaming marshmallow. So I tried to be proactive and move her away from everyone so she could still have some fun. well that worked like anything else works with a three-year-old. pretty soon she was back in the middle of her brothers and sister. this time my dad was there, and this time the marshmallow was on fire. My dad grabbed her stick and tried to tell her why she couldn't do what she was doing. she went into hysterics saying "but it's mine!" Dad realizing that he could not reason with the three-year-old put her in one of the chairs and did not give her the roasting stick back. Dad has 3 daughters who have all been little terrors (I being the worst) so he has had lots of practice dealing with kids having temper tantrums. he tried one more time to tell her why she couldn't roast marshmallows with the other kids, and she replied with a raspberry. Dad gave her a raspberry back. Poor poor little three-year-old she yelled "I'm going to tell my mommy" and ran back to the house. us older cousins (who were being very nestalgic thinking about all our childhood summers spent together) just laughed.

July 9 the day of the big party!
And it was a big party. Pastor Bob came out several surprise visitors (the good kind you know the people that you had lost contact with but have some how been reconnected into your life that you had wished you had never lost contact with? those kind of surprise visitors). there were aunts, uncles, friends from all stages of my growing up years. one of those parties that you know there are people who have and will always remember and love you. we had a small blessing ceremony  followed by food, beer, cup cakes, and fellowship. I got to talk to everyone, and see people I haven't see in years, and most importantly I got to ware my dress again. how many people get to ware thier wedding dress twice? yep I did.

I should had that Dad's #3 sister and her family (she has one son who's about 2) came and stayed the night so at this point there are 21 people at the house, 4 dogs, 3 cats...and probably a partridge in a pear tree somewhere.

July 10 our last day in WY
We got up and I mingled with my family for a while as Greg and I tried to get ready to leave. We went to church with my mom to the earliest service which is a liturgical service. We saw some of the people who had come to the party the night before and some other people who couldn't make it for one reason or another. then went home to say good bye to family get everything pact and hit the road. we stopped in Douglas to see bestest friend and her husband at a little league game. Greg got excited when he realized that the pitcher for the opposing team was tipping his pitches.  Then it was back on the road. we were going to push through. so where the 10th actually changes to the 11th is kind of hard to say. so I will just put here that Iowa was mean to us and tried to eat us. the 29 was still closed and well that meant we had to take back roads which were not marked as detour very well.

July 11 we make it home.
we unpack and sleep.

this week regular blogging will resume it's regular programming. thank you for you patient understanding.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Today at work on of the girls said that as an english teacher one of the other girls should assing the Following assignment: Write a 500 word essay about the word Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I said oh that sounds like fun, and easy. So here it is:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a very good word that should be one of the first words any child learns. It is the perfect word to say when the conversation or situation call for something more then words to describe what is going on. Or perhaps when the cat has stolen your tongue. With this one word there is suddenly a lot to say. Now we do have to admit that the sound of it is something very strange, and for some reason the louder a person says it the more intelligent they sound. Any time I hear someone use this word I say to myself, 'self there goes a clever chap.'
Most interestingly it seems that this word has changed people's lives. There is a story of one young man who couldn't seem to say much of anything. He way very very afraid to speak and we can understand why, every time he wouldn't speak his father would give his noise a tweak and tell him he was bad. Of course this would make him even more afraid sense he would be punished if he didn't speak. But then he learned a wonderful word to save his acing noise. Supercalifraglisticexialidocious, it is a perfect marvelous word. He traveled everywhere and met dukes and Maharajas. Everyone he met agreed he was a clever gent. Anyone of any level of nobility when they heard him use is special word they would always ask him to come have tea with them. He be came quite famous actually.
Then there is always the man who met a beautiful girl and couldn't find a way to ask her out. Finely he said, “Supercalifraglisticexpialidocious” and then next thing he new this girl became his wife!
So always be careful about using this word. Who knows what may come of it.
But what does it mean? The word is a construct of several other words all smashed together. Super (above), Cali (Beauty), Fragile (delicate), Expiali (to atone), Docious (educable). Which when it is shoved together we get, “Atoning for educability through delicate beauty.” when you hear some one saying I'm pretty and cleaver surly that can make up for my lack of knowing what to say. Or they could also just be saying well that is what Dick Van Dyke say to say when you don't know of anything else to say.
Lastly there is the question of saying it backwards. A celver gent may say “suercalifraglisticexpialidocious.” but a really cleaver chap will say “Dociousaliexpilisticfragilaclirupus” Yes yes this is not spelling the word backwards which would be: suoicodilaipxecitsilgarfilacrepus, but that is spelling it backwards not saying the collection of words mashed together backwards. And okay for kick super is changed to repus but that just makes the speaker seem that much more precious.

So remember when ever you are in a pickle and don't know what do say just come on out with this word and everyone will be amazed.

Um diddlie diddlie diddlie um diddlie ay