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Monthly Archives: December 2011
Last night I heard an extraordinary story of a single hummingbird. You see there was a huge fire in the forest where the little bird lived. As the trees burned, the animals whose homes were on fire ran towards the river. There were elephants, raccoons, beavers, foxes, bears, and many others who gathered to watching it all burn. As the fire’s destruction raged on, they stood on the banks immobilized
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, Homestead, marriage, Self-Care, spiritual direction, spirituality, Urban Farm, Writing
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I grabbed Sabrina Ward Harrison’s The True and the Questions this morning for permission to delve into a time of reflection. This week makes room for that as people take the rest of their vacation time and relax – or in our case, work on our homestead. (Yes. More planter boxes are going in… stay tuned.) As I paused from the morning routine, I ran across this prompt: “In the
This tenth one is one I thought long and hard about the last of couple days. What should I post so I can put up something prolific on Christmas?…. (A time when I am sure you’re all checking email and Facebook) Then is dawned on me in such a simple way – I don’t want to be on my computer on Christmas. I love connecting with people online, but today
Today I have tale about a Christmas Card that began with this photo: Our first Christmas. What a joy it was. People loved this card because it wasn’t super posed; we weren’t dressed up. We were just ourselves. So we took their lovely compliments and the following year sent out this gem. Our close friends didn’t even know who it was from. It was hilarious – maybe you had to
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, Homestead, Urban Farm, Writing
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Two leaders died this week, both with incredibly different legacies. One nuclear; one Velvet. My context of both is drastically different: My picture, driven by the media, of Kim Jong Il is a crazed, power-hungry, slightly insane man. My picture of Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, is a man of integrity, humor, creativity and passion. This version was shaped by his friend, a fighter pilot from WW2,
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, Peacemaking, spiritual direction, spirituality, the church, transitions, Writing
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“I’m not sure if people know what ‘home’ is anymore,” a fellow church member expressed during a conversation from earlier this year. This comment struck a cord with many as we nodded and contemplated the meaning of home. As the Christmas season is now upon us, I can’t help but consider home once again. Many consider the two to go hand-in-hand this time of year – home and Christmas. Some
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, In-between, perfection, spirituality, transitions, Writing
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The 80s returned last night… in all their glory. My husband’s employer (which will remain nameless to protect those involved) had their first themed Christmas party and it was also the first time spouses were invited. As I crimped and hair-sprayed, I secretly wondered if this was a cruel joke and if we would be the only ones to show up in a full length sweater dress and neon jump
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, creativity, perfection, the church, Writing
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I have reposted the most reprinted letter to the editor in history for number five. It shows that sometimes faith springs up from the most unexpected places. Even though the jolly guy in a red suit gets a bad rap at times for his naughty and nice list and gobs of toys, it is important to consider what this actual man stood for and believed in, so that we too
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, perfection, spirituality, Writing
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My holiday meals have been described as “foo-foo.” Our brussel sprouts with blue cheese and bacon, two kinds of stuffing, a brined organic turkey. The triumph was last year’s Thanksgiving – making 13 dishes from scratch. It was a far cry from Stoffer’s stuffing and green bean casserole. I don’t say this to alienate, segregate, or manipulate. We cook this way because first and foremost, I have a soy intollerence,
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, emotions, food, Homestead, spirituality, Urban Farm, Writing
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Sarah Ban Breathnach writes, “There is a woman still at large – charmed and dangerous. She waves her clever hand over a room and it looks like a page from House Beautiful. She waves her creative hand over the fruits of the earth and a feast appears nightly. Her thumb is green, her herb vinegar is curing, her potpourri recipe is sought, her PTA cupcakes are from scratch, her Halloween
Posted in A Beautiful Mess, Anecdotes
Tagged a beautiful mess, advent, Community, perfection, Self-Care, Writing
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