Late-Night Musings

So I'm suffering from a bit of insomnia brought on by the fact that I feel like crud, and if I lay down, I feel even worse. It sucks. So I've been doing some computer-based crafting - mostly for Christmas presents, but also some Christmas greeting cards that will most likely be posted to the Etsy site.

Speaking of the Etsy site... there's a facebook page that more people should like: http://www.facebook.com/ShepherdStringsScrapbookThing

It's my facebook page dedicated to my Etsy store, and I wish more people liked it and would place special orders. I seriously need to make some $... partly to pay off student loans, and partly to pay the tuition for my CPE. I've had a couple of special order items lately... Grandma Doreen had me make her a bunch of crochet-top kitchen towels, and my nail tech's daughter ordered a diaper cake for her cousin's baby shower. And, my nail tech has been ordering jewelry from me, but that's a trade in kind - I make her jewelry, and she does my nails - yay for old school bartering!

Other than all of that crafting business... I've got Ord exams coming up in a little under 2 weeks. The weekend after my birthday. I probably could have studied more, but how much can you -really- study for those exams? I mean, you either know the stuff or you don't. All the cramming in the world is not going to get you any closer to ordination than just winging it. Word choice has a lot to do with whether or not you pass the Ords, and I know that I just need to watch my tone and my word choice when I'm writing these exams this time around.

One last things... so far this summer, I have read 2 novels: "Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart" and "The Time Traveler's Wife." Both were really good, and it was nice to be able to read for the fun of it. I remember when I used to read the entire Little House series and the entire Anne of Green Gables series in a summer. I'd lay on the glider/swing on the front porch and read all day long. Ah, those were the days. Life was so much easier back then!

I think I'm gonna try to get some sleep now. I still feel pretty cruddy, but I'm also feeling pretty tired now, so here's hoping I can get some shut-eye. Take care, everyone!

Lenten Things

So I'm totally procrastinating on finishing my sermon for tomorrow... and I realized that I haven't written here in a really long time. Here are a couple of small "snapshots" from recently that have to do with Lent.

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I'm thankful that I am interning at a church that has a pastor who is quite an artist when it comes to his finger and ashes, and can actually make the cross look like a cross.

I went to the grocery store on my way home from church this evening, with my cross of ashes on my forehead. As I was walking down the soup aisle, I passed a little boy and his mom. As I picked up a can of tomato soup, I heard the little boy ask his mother, "Mommy, why does she have a black cross on her forehead?"

His mother responded, "Probably to remind her of what Jesus did for her."

The little boy then said, "Well, why hasn't she washed them off yet?"

And his mother replied, "So she can remind you."

God bless us all as we journey through Lent together.

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I've decided that I'm going to try for a few different Lenten disciplines. Here goes...

1) I want to make it a habit to write in my prayer journal every day. I don't do well going through the Morning Prayer service in the BCW Daily Prayer book when I'm by myself, so journalling my prayers might be a better way to learn and achieve the habit of daily prayer.

2) I want to make it a habit to translate at least one passage (5 verses or more) per week. I need to be better at this, and I think it's a good way to get back into reading the Bible on my own.

3) I want to finish the baby blanket before Easter. Crafting is one of my greatest, most favorite Sabbath practices, and I want to make sure I have this baby blanket done by Easter as a way of practicing a discipline.

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Speaking of Lenten practices, if you're looking for a community thing to do for Lent, I have a suggestion. Wednesday evenings in Lent, there will be a Soup Supper followed by Spirituality Practices at Redwoods Presbyterian Church. Supper is at 6:30, Spirituality Practices following. It should be a lot of fun!

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I think that's all for now. Off to go try to finish this sermon!