author intrusion

happy halloween!

love isn't a deal . . .

I get the Thomas Merton quote of the week. You can too. Just go here.

Here is part of today's quote. How profound.

"[P]sychologists have had some pretty rough things to say about the immaturity and narcissism of love in our marketing society, in which it is reduced to a purely egotistical need that cries out for immediate satisfaction or manipulates others more or less cleverly in order to get what it wants. But the plain truth is this: love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible. To love you have to climb out of the cradle, where everything is "getting," and grow up to the maturity of giving, without concern for getting anything special in return. Love is not a deal, it is a sacrifice. It is not marketing, it is a form of worship."

what the . . . ?

Sabrina Bryan, by far the best dancer, voted off Dancing with the Stars? I'm sick, sick, sick. It makes me wonder if the show isn't rigged. Jane Seymour, bless her prairie doctor heart, is sweet, but she's just not the dancer Bryan is. I mean, it's like comparing a lady making really nice plastic canvas kleenex holders with someone tatting fine lace. Well, yeah, it's both needlework, but . . .

I'm sorry to see you go!! The Samsons loved you, Sabrina!

Drat.

the halloween chili is a cookin' tonight!

Behold my secret ingredient! Can you tell me what it is?

I decided to go with a pork chili since I only buy beef that I know from whence it really came. So, after sweating some garlic and yellow onion, we've got Italian sausage, pork loin, bunches of tomato-y goodness and chili powder as well as some Harp. I used cranberry beans, kidney beans and red beans which I soaked overnight.

Treat or Treat is all I can say!

third annual AI Warm-Up a Refugee . . .

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I'm getting an early start on our annual drive for gloves, scarves, hats and mittens for refugees who Kentucky Refugee Ministries resettle in our area. So many of the refugees that arrive in the US come from warmer climes, so you can imagine what the coming of winter must mean for them. Not only is it a shock to their bodies, but they don't have many, if any, warming items we are usually prepared with.

So if you're interested in helping out this year (last year we had something like twenty sets of gloves, scarves and hats and you all rock) email me or leave a comment and I'll get back to you with my address. We need all kinds of these items for men, women, boys and girls. Gently used is welcomed as well, so if you're doing the 100 bits 'o junk challenge, think about getting rid of some winter items you haven't used in a long time! Don't forget to get the kids involved!

If you don't want to be bothered sending out a box of scarves and such, (if you're like me, it takes an act of God or the IRS to get me to the post office) consider providing such items for the homeless in your area, or find your local refugee ministry. If you live in a college or university town, stop by student services with a box of this stuff. The students from warm climates will appreciate it.

Update: Patty asked when would be a good time to send them in by. Well, anytime is appreciated, but by December would be wonderful.

Thanks friends.

church or book club?

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I was heading home from researching in Eastern KY (thank you, Jarrod Hunt, my tour guide, and his mother, Sharon, who treated me like a queen at their home in Grapevine!) and listening to some Bible teaching CD's, when the priest said something that just jolted me. He was speaking about confessing our sins, and made an off-hand comment about whether we treat church as church or as a literary club. Now that wasn't the main point of the CD at all. But it got me thinking.

Do we treat church as church or as a book club?

Do we go time after time, enjoy what was said, but go home unchanged? I know that happens at book clubs. We sit around, talk about the book, how much we loved it, and then place it on the shelf afterwards, forgetting about it. 

Or maybe all we do is study the book. We read, read, read, going over every inch, and we get to church, and read some more, and hear some more about it, and our life is all about that book. Yet for all that reading of that book, we're still depressed and discontent, we're still doing the same besetting sins, we still hate your boss and take our husband or wife for granted. We still don't do much to love anybody else.

Please don't misunderstand me and say that I think some brands of churches are book clubs and others aren't. Although some may be, I don't know. That's your call. But ask yourself, am I treating my church like a book club? Is my church only about the Bible, learning it, studying it, memorizing it? Or is there the challenge and the opportunity to live it out, really live it out? All of it? Even the parts that put a cross on our back and send us to places we'd rather not go?

I'm not saying the reading and studying of the Word of God isn't important. But I am saying, it doesn't mean much if we don't do something with it, if it doesn't expand our hearts to love more, if it doesn't change us into the image of Christ. And that, of course, goes back to our willingness to let the Spirit move in and through us. As St. Paul said in I Cor. 13, "Though I can fathom all mystery and all knowledge . . . and have not love, I am nothing."

If you are going to a book club every Sunday, maybe God wants you to be the one to provide those opportunities to shine the Light of the World to your community and your world. Being the hands and feet of Jesus is great on your own, but it's even better in the company of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether by ourselves or in full force we're still the singular hands and feet of the Body of Christ. I love how that works. 

Just something to think about. Still have a long way to go on this one myself!

a nerd girl's dream . . .

Jake just left for the Halloween dance at Sts. Peter and Paul. His first school dance ever. This costume was totally put together by Ty, and one for a kid with some serious self-esteem!

Glasses with tape: check.
Crew socks: check.
Short sleeved button down: check.
Pens in pocket: check.
Slicked over hair: check.

Jake, the unflappable Nerd! He said he didn't want to dance and with this get up, I'd say he won't have to worry about that!

Another passage.

one hundred bits o' junk challenge . . .

Anybody up for it?

I'm going to get rid of 100 things I don't need or use in the coming month. So how 'bout it? Anybody want to join me in getting rid of some clutter? Take a picture of your stuff and send it to me and I'll post it just before Thanksgiving. Who'll join me?

Lately I've been so aware of how my stuff weighs me down. We've pared down considerably, but there's more to go!

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Tree Swing Reading: Review of "Hollywood Nobody" by Lisa Samson

Thanks for the great review, Tami!

Link: Tree Swing Reading: Review of "Hollywood Nobody" by Lisa Samson.

I always enjoy Lisa Samson's books and this was no exception. The writing voice was fresh and quirky, like Scotty and the book was a fast read. I was expecting Scotty to find a few more answers about Jesus along the way, but I would guess that her journey will continue throughout the series.  I give this book my sunny day rating!Sunny

Embrace Me preorders

Link: Amazon.com: Embrace Me: Books: Lisa Samson.

You can pre-order Embrace Me now at Amazon.com.  The description of the book makes it sound like a romance and it's not. I'm hoping to get that changed real soon!