Bon Anniversaire!

Today I celebrated my belated birthday with my parents. We went to Willow Creek to hear my favorite speaker there, Mike Breaux.

Next was a trip to an amazingly tasty & quaint Italian restaurant in Libertyville. We did not talk the entire meal. We were all so engrossed in our meal. The food was amazing. I ordered the Baked Eggplant Parmisagna. Dad ordered something with Italian sausage and vegetables. (He usually orders Fettucine Alfredo, so this was a surprise!) Mom ordered a chicken dish alfredo w/angel hair pasta.

I hope we go back there. It was good food. The problem is though, that my parents don't really like to eat out as much as I do. (Well, maybe it's because they pay for it typically!) And to go more than 15 minutes for dinner, is usually out of the question. So this was very big of my parents to take me there. (I wonder if my dad will read this....)

We came home for dessert -Ice Box cake. A family favorite & birthday tradition. Dan was there albeit exhausted! He works retail, so we hadn't seen him since Black Monday. Cath, did you get a report from G&L?

Willow has some seminars/workshops that I am interested in. I signed up for a solitude retreat that I attended a year ago. It was an amazing experience. Also there is a budgeting class & a spiritual mentoring/growth class that looks interesting.

WC is a friendly place where people are genuinely worshipping Christ and being Jesus to their community. And isn't that what the Christian life is all about?

Compline: bedtime prayers

This is from one of my favorite liturgical prayer websites, Celtic Daily Prayer, at http://www.northumbriacommunity.org.

The compline is the prayer said before one's nightly nap.

CDP opened a whole new world to me, in terms of prayer. Another favorite is the Phyllis Tickle series for the seasons of the year.

Sweet Dreams & Good Night!

In the name of the King of life;
in the name of the Christ of love;
in the name of the Holy Spirit:
the Triune of my strength.

* I love you, O Lord my strength.
The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer.
My God is my rock
in whom I take refuge.

* I will praise the Lord who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

* I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be shaken.

I am placing my soul and my body
under Thy guarding this night, O Christ.
May Thy cross this night be shielding me.

* Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O Lord, the God of Truth.

* The God of life with guarding hold you;
the loving Christ with guarding fold you;
the Holy Spirit, guarding, mould you;
each night of life to aid, enfold you;
each day and night of life uphold you.

May God shield me;
may God fill me;
may God keep me;
may God watch me;
may God bring me this night
to the nearness of His love.

* The peace of the Father of joy,
the peace of the Christ of hope,
the peace of the Spirit of grace,

the peace of all peace
be mine this night
+ in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Interesting...

This was from a commenter on a blog that I frequent. Please discuss.

"Democracy was invented by the humanistic Greeks, and it is humanistic at its core. Millions of unregenerate people tossing their misguided opinions in the ballot box to steer the nation doesn’t seem like God’s plan. Almost all the New Testament references to government sport the “king” model, but always keeping a fire wall between the church and the government.
The church has been hoodwinked into thinking that voting advances the kingdom of God and that America rides with a special anointing from God. And in so doing, Christian men, albeit well intentioned, run for office amidst a system which necessitates compromise, bragadocia, speaking evil of opponents, and obscene amounts of money.

And in the end, the MOST that the evangelical world hopes for is a ban on abortion (too late) and a ban on gay marriage (it's coming). And how did America get to this point? Because the church joined hands with the system called democracy rather than through prayer and fasting becoming so different, so loving, so humanitarian, so non-hedonistic, so gentle, so humble, so accessible, that the people who call themselves Americans were mysteriously drawn to these people.

Instead, we will join hands with a pro-lifer who denies that Jesus has come in the flesh. Somewhere the Bible gives that a name."

The Day After Thanksgiving

I am thankful for....

*The freedom I have in Christ, to live in communion with Him,
and not be tied down from sin and its resulting guilt and grief

*A meaningful job where I have the opportunity to be creative & mentor

*unconditional love from family
*an imperfect home church that is made up of imperfect people,
but is a place where I can get "filled up".

*for people in my life that are "grace-providers": P, N, K, & C

*amazon.com

Visitors, political rant, Lost&Found, Yoga/Requests

Ok.... So....
I have people who come to my blog by way of googling "Brandon Manning". I am honored! I started "The Ragamuffin Gospel", but got sidetracked by another book.

someone also googled "Nancy Lee DeMoss" (finally finished that study by the way)

Don't blame Republican senators & congress members, for the President's overextension of executive power (just thought I'd add that in.) Also... I have changed my mind on Rumsfeld... We need to get him out, and now. We need another direction to lead this operation. And please, all the Democrats do is whine and say, "Send the troops home!". Yeah right. Like THAT would be a good idea.... Leaving Iraq to be overtaken by Iran or who knows who else. Have you ever heard of WWII people??? Democratic candidates: If you can't put up, shut up. Get a freaking plan people. You people are worse than James Dobson is in the whining department.

This is a consumer alert: Do NOT buy Target's Women's daily multivitamin. It is a take off on the "One a day" tablets. The Jewel generic brand is fine, but this generic made me puke, literally.

It was an odd day...

I woke up this morning, tapped on my glasses to make sure my lens was secure, as last night in the middle of Caribou Coffee, in the middle of my order of the new holiday drink Ho, ho, ho or something like that (by the way- not that great), my lens POPPED OUT and flung across the room, and of course my friends were laughing like hyenas (as good friends will do).

Well anyway, this morning -after tapping on the lenses- the lens POPPED OUT again.... But this time it was in my bedroom -which is literally a war-zone, and has been for more than 7 months. I could not find it anywhere. I was getting really pissed, especially at God, like why the heck aren't you helping me find it RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND??@?!?

Finally, I had to call my principal. I said, "I think this is probably the most ridiculous excuse for missing a faculty meeting you have ever heard, but I am going to be late, as my glasses broke, and my lens has gone missing." (She laughed and wished me luck.)

Well, literally 5 minutes later I found it. But................ She did give me permission to arrive late, so I took advantage. Sue me! I had a leisurely breakfast of instant oatmeal (usually it's a Luna Bar -Peanut Butter Cookie flavor in the car) and even did some downward dogs, cat stretch, table pose, & delightful child's pose. Please -I'm no yogi!!

some prayer requests:
for my friend n whose cat just died
for my friend nyuk who is going through some terrible medical problems
for my challenging client -facing in school suspension regarding threats & weapons
(He's only 8!!) :-( Be thankful for your parents, that's all I am going to say. I have been blessed in that department, that's for sure.