Reformation

Day 338

I am thankful for the power of Worship.  I am joyfully surprised by moments when I am deeply moved during the Service of the Word.  It being Reformation Sunday the service was filled with familiar hymns.  We heard A Mighty Fortress on the organ and sang it as a hymn and as a choir anthem.   As a festival Sunday we had choir, orchestra, a processional and a recessional.  If that wasn't enough the sermon was fully inspired with much to hear.

It was the words of the hymns and of the liturgy that touched me today.  That and being in the new chapel.  I could hear the congregation speaking with one voice.  The entire experience was a testament to meeting God in worship, the faithfulness of the congregation in building, the leadership of our staff, and the power of architecture.  It's not that the building is beautiful.  I'm not so sure if it is or it isn't.  But, I am sure it's designed to inspire and unite those who come and join the service.

Outside, the newest addition:

I've never seen this on a church before and I'm not quite sure I understand it.   It's called a crown of thorns.  Yes, I understand the symbolism but I don't understand it's place on the building.

Saturday, October 30

Day 337

I am thankful for a day with time to sing, time to knit, and time to do a little work.  Recycling is gathered, rehearsal is accomplished, and the shawl I'm working on is another length longer.  I'm also thankful that my Sis noticed there was no post for today.   I must have forgotten the final step since I remember writing something along these lines from yesterday!

Not a big deal

Day 336

I am thankful for night time "aha" moments.  I was seriously annoyed with the night time hot flashes and waking up all the time.   I remembered at some point last night that I used to get up to check on Mom in the middle of the night and fall right back into bed and go to sleep.  If I can do that I can flip off a blanket and go back to sleep.  It doesn't have to be a big deal. 

I woke up once early after I went to bed.  I turned on the fan and went back to sleep.  I know I woke up during the night but I didn't stress about it.  I didn't really wake fully until 5 a.m.  I felt so much more rested!

Tick-a-Dee!

Day 335

I am thankful for cute little kids in Halloween costumes.  We had trick or treat today at school with our three year olds.  Best pronunciation "TickaDee" with "Dit Dee" coming in a close 2nd.  We have very polite children with lots of "Dah Du" to the person giving the treats (thank you).

Doing it all over again tomorrow with 4 year olds!

Autumn

Day 334

I am thankful for the changing of the seasons.  We had a lovely early fall day yet my camera stayed hidden.   It's been cool in the morning and pleasant in the afternoons.

We rehearsed in the new chapel this evening.  It is a glorious place to sing.  We're having to relearn some techniques and are hunting around for our softer dynamics.  We can have such a wider range of dynamics and techniques in this beautiful building.

Enough time

Day 333

I am thankful for oversleeping and not being late for work.  I love that we start 40 minutes later than last year.  I can make my coffee and drink it, too.

Connecting

Day 332

I am thankful for the opportunity to pray.  Sometimes I'm not sure how to pray but God's Word tells that even then the Spirit prays for us.  There is awe, in the oldest sense of the word, in connecting with the God of Creation personally and powerfully.

Busy hands

Day 331

I am thankful for knitting time.  I have not mastered the "big" projects.  I'm making what I hoped would be a prayer shawl for a friend but I think wide scarf is a better description at 10 1/2 inches wide.  But, it is a step closer to a big project.   Another small project presented itself this last week.  A colleague gave birth to premie twins.  I'm going to make a two sets of hats, no booties.

I'm not thrilled with this yarn so I went hunting in my stash for something softer.   Might take a few days to get the small project done.  

Halfway!  This is one skein of Lion Brand Homespun yarn in Montana Sky blue:

Long sleep

Day 330

I am thankful for sleeping in!  I managed to sleep until 9 a.m. today.   ahhhhhhhh.   I am also thankful for my dear sih's surgery going so well and her continuing return to health.

A moment

Day 329

I am thankful for our special moments of hearing God.  Whether it's leaning on God when we lose a loved one to death, preparing for surgery, or making ready for a routine day we slip from a moment of normalcy to a moment with God and we move forward changed.

Zip

Day 328

I am so thankful for the speedy manner in which my dear sil is scheduled to be in surgery.   Prayers for calm hearts and minds, good surgery, skilled hands, relief of pain, and positive outcome will be ongoing through out my day tomorrow.

Remembering, in faith

Day 327

I am thankful for songs that are hard to sing.  We are revisiting "On Faith Alone".   I'm making it through the first page and coming back in about page 8 or 9.   It will always be Mom's anthem to me.   It is such a testimony to a life of faith.   I couldn't not remember Mom's life of faith if I tried.

The things you learn

Day 326

I am thankful for staff meetings.   Well, ok, today's staff meeting.  I can't say I'm thankful for all of them.  We were discussing student success and how all children can learn at a high level and how teachers working together can make this happen.   There was a question I had difficulty with, "can all children learn at a high level?"  Well, I have to answer that with a strong No.  But that's not the way the discussion went.  There had been a part of the presentation that talked about who is included in "all" and some of my former students would have to have been excluded but no one was talking about that.

As the discussion continued I felt very anxious and was thinking a lot about my previous assignment.  I realized how that position was a soul killer for me.  I realized today that the knowledge that my students were not going to be successful in their lives and that many of them had very little in the way of safety nets did not make me a better teacher.   My emotions colored everything I did and not always in a good and beneficial way.

So, I am thankful to have the change to work that suits me, my heart and my soul.  I am grateful that there are special ed. teachers who can do my previous job and be energized and joyful in the work.  

Listen to the rain

Day 325

I am thankful for the rain.  We're working on learning about our senses in our current unit.  One of the storybooks is about listening to the rain.  We managed to get eight 4 year olds to tip toe quietly outside when it started raining to listen to the drops hitting the ground.  Then we walked to the covered walkway and listened to the rain falling from the roof into tiny puddles along the sidewalk.  Then we discovered that if you let the rain falling from the roof splat into your hand it makes yet another sound.  Such fun.   I love my job.

It's Autumn!

Day 324

I am thankful for a day to rest.  I felt like we were in someone else's church today but we'll get used to the new digs.  I've had a little sinus infection but I think it got bigger today.  I've been more tired and dizzy.  Doc tomorrow.  I'm thankful for that, too.

It's cooler today and a storm system is blowing through.   It feels like Autumn.  The neighbors are starting to put up Halloween decorations.   Leaves are blowing off trees.   And, sadly, it's getting dark earlier.  With the cloud cover it felt more like December than October. 

Early today:

Really cool clouds this afternoon:

The loss of a love

Day 323

I am thankful for the life of a friend's husband.  He recently died and the memorial service was this morning.  He had been in his life a navy sonar operator, a pastor, and a special ed. teacher, a husband, and a father.   His passion was to pray for people and specifically to pray people to a close walk with our Savior.   My friend is bereft and feels lost.  Her family and friends are close but she's having such a hard time.  I'm glad her husband loved her so well.   I pray for her peace and comfort.

Boron, not the town

Day 322

I am thankful for searches on the internet.  Being the age I am....I'm getting hot flashes.  I learned that phyto-estrogens, flax seed, and boron rich foods can help.  Since I already drink soy milk and have family history of breast cancer I don't want to add more phyto-estrogens so I'm going to work on flax seed and boron rich foods.  I've somewhat inconsistently been adding ground flax seed at breakfast so I'm partway there.  Foods rich in boron include raisins, dried apricots, and avocados.  I like all of those so hopefully in the 1-2 months of adding these to my diet I'll have fewer hot flashes.  Range/dosage to add can be between 1 mg and 6 mg/day. 

An additional benefit of boron is that it plays well with calcium and magnesium to build strong bones and that it helps with osteoarthritis.   Also, it is well tolerated and side effects were difficult to find.   Am I just a font of information today?

Update: Sis reminds me that Vitamin D taken in the afternoon can help with night sweats.  Thanks!

It's about relationships

Day 321

I am thankful for building relationships with both children and colleagues.   One of my kids didn't want to come to my table so I went to hers this morning.  We had a couple other "moments" throughout the day.   She's pretty much ignored that I'm in her world so this was a fun development.

This afternoon I had fun helping develop an IEP with a newish special ed. person.  I'm so glad I can share what I know rather than let it collect under my hair.

More newness

Day 320

I am thankful for acoustics.  New experiences at church keep on coming.  We have a music room!  It's very, very tall and surfaces are all hard.  'Cept for us!   We sound amazing in there, hehehe.

Pieces in place.

Day 319

I am thankful for thinking time.  Nothing critical but I'm still learning parts of my job and it was good to have time at either end of the work day to think, hunt through paperwork and computer files, and put another piece in place.

Sloggy

Day 318

I am thankful for reruns.    It's been a sloggy day all the way around and I came home this evening to a rerun of the most recent Bones episode.  Yay!

First Sunday in the "big church"

Dad 317

I am thankful for baby holding.  I have a friend who brings her Grandbaby to church when she can.  I usually wrangle a bit of holding.  He's one of those babies who cuddles right in.   Fun to hold.  Happy to return him to Grandma.

We had our first service in our new Worship building today.  The seats were set for 840 and we had at least 100 standing.  The choir gave up seats so people could come forward and participate.  That was a blessing.  The hall and door area where we were standing had fabulous air flow and we were less hot in our cotton/polyester choir shirts.  Singing went well, service went off with no visible hitches.

Skyward

Day 316

I am thankful for the new buildings at church.  We sing a choir anthem that has a line, "we need no tower rising skyward, no house of wood or glass or stone."  It's true, we, the people of God, do not need these things.  We are his church, the people.  But, there is something good for the spirit in a building that lets your voice and your spirit soar skyward.  We are truly and richly blessed with song and a marvelous space in which to sing.

Reconnecting

Day 315

I am thankful for reconnecting with an old friend.  I went to a workshop today and also attending was one of the directors of special ed. in our county.  She and I began our careers in side by side classrooms that for several months were missing a wall between them.  We didn't have much time to chat but discovered that we now live just a few miles from each other. 

Echo of spring, this rose was a gift from my brother and his kids to Mom on Mother's Day a few years ago.  

The county seal, photo taken from the highest tier of the parking lot of the County Schools building:

Rainy Joy

Day 314

I am thankful for the sheer joy of 3 year olds when they run.  We had a rainy morning and couldn't go out to play on the playground.  But, it was dry enough after a while to run around on the grass.  It was so much fun to play and run and then watch them run and run and run.

Remnant clouds on the way home:

Charcoal Scarf

A work post

Day 313

I am thankful for parents coming in for conferences.  I'm learning things about their children that are very helpful.  As much as I don't like doing conferences I do recognize the value.

Stop time

Day 312

I am thankful for dinner and conversation with a good and dear friend.  I want to freeze time so that our lives don't move apart in the next few years.

Next finished pair of fingerless mitts:

Healing of the hands

Day 311

I am thankful for continuing improvement in how my hand is healing.  I don't have a lot of stamina for ringing bells but it's better every week.  I picked up some bass bells for a few minutes this evening and it wasn't too bad.  Couldn't do it for long but the day will come.  Yippee!

Thinking, thinking.

Day 310

I am thankful for much food for thought.  Choir retreat is over and we are left meditation on change.  The question I usually come back to is how to manage change.  I think that in all of our talking prayer seems to be the way most of us in choir do our best with change.

We started the retreat on one tack and our guest speaker was suddenly called away (praying for healing for his father-in-law).  We didn't get to finish his work sheets.  At one point we were working on the idea of setting spiritual growth goals and then the benefit of having an accountability partner.   I'm having some difficulty with both of these concepts and it was good to hear from people who accepted and used these ideas and from those who feel that God works more "organically" in our lives and we grow through our study and our response to our life experiences.    I'm beginning to think I fall more on the side of "organic" growth.   Work on knowing God and the rest will follow.

Another part of all of this for me is the idea that "everyone at church" is doing this.  Nothing makes me want to run for a different study faster.  I need to make sure I'm not resisting some of the ideas of the weekend simply because everyone else is "doing it" rather than exploring to see if this suits me.

Shared memories

Day 309

I am thankful for shared memories in song.  We sang a song today, On Faith Alone, that we sang two years ago.  From the moment I heard it I knew it was the song I wanted the choir to sing at Mom's memorial service.   Today when we brought it out I had just heard the fresh news of the death of a dear friend's husband.  That mingled with memories of singing it before Mom died and hearing the choir sing it for us kept me a bit weepy.  We talked later about pieces that we hold dear because of when we sang them. 

October 1, 2010

Day 308

I am thankful for the easy conversation of old friends and new.  Choir retreat began this evening.  The drive up was lovely and we ate dinner at Todd's BBQ in Oakhurst.   Yum.