1) Do you observe Advent in your church?
Yes. Advent wreath, advent dinner, advent hymns–although by Advent 3 we’re holding people off with a whip and a chair, so a few carols creep in.
2) How about at home?
We light the candles on the advent wreath
3) Do you have a favorite Advent text or hymn?
Oh, I’m full […]

they looked up, and saw a star shining
in the east
beyond them
far—
it hung fat in the sky
and taunted them for days.
when they moved, it slid alongside,
when they stopped and turned, it halted too
and winked like an idiot.
no-
eloquence
in its message: approach.
no-
elegance
in their response: buzz off,
swatting it;
but a few sighed:
all right.
we’ll go that way,
just to get you
off our […]

This started as a comment to the comments on the previous post but it just got too long. Proving that if blogging is good for anything, it’s good for driving a discussion firmly into the ground.
Point the First
Apropos of Songbird’s and Keith’s comments, it seems that real life lies on that great continuum between “perfect” […]

Some of you may have read or are familiar with the Five Love Languages books. In essence, each person has particular ways they prefer to give love and receive love: gifts, acts of service, physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation. These fall on some sort of continuum for each person. The trick is […]

My husband accompanied my brother this morning to stand on line for a Nintendo Wii. They headed out at oh-dark-thirty this morning but were, sadly, thwarted. There were 30 people in line for 6 units. They are trying to be philosophical about it–”That’s the most I was willing to do, so I’m OK with it… […]

It’s Thanksgiving morning and the house is full, with two more at the extended stay motel for reasons of crowding and allergies. R woke up this morning realizing that the turkey was brining in 2x strong solution so he’s taken it out and returned it to the fridge. Now the 20 lb. CostCo Megabird will […]

We are asked to say five things we are thankful for.
The grace and hope that hums below the surface of so much of life
Husband whose company I enjoy after 12+ years and who seems willing to put up with me as well :-*
A network of support that helps make this very full existence possible: MaDear, […]

The divine miss m is TEN months today! Blessed be.
And now…
You wanna see something *really* scary?
1. Do you enjoy a good fright?
I really don’t. I startle *extremely* easily and don’t find it fun. This startle reflex totally short-circuits my rational brain, so that even a haunted house, which I’ve paid for and chosen and know […]

In talking to ChaplainMom tonight I realized I may have given the wrong impression last week. When I said that our costumes growing up were often original and/or homemade, I wasn’t implying that they were all particularly good.
Exhibit A:
In third grade I went as a Rubik’s Cube. (Why yes, I was a nerd, why do […]

I am preaching the world’s most boring sermon tomorrow. Really! It bites. But in the immortal words of my sister Will Smama: “If you got a dog, walk it proud.”
The divine miss m is feeling much, much better. She’s just about back to her normal grinning self–nighttime sleep is not quite back to normal though. […]

From little she-who-is’s Mother’s Day card made at preschool:
How old is your mother? I don’t know.
What does she like to eat? Guacamole.
What does your mother like to do? Play.
I like it when… she brushes my teeth with the Cinderella toothbrush.
If I had a million dollars I would buy my mother… food.
I’ve had a nice morning; […]

Weeping comes for a night,
but joy comes in the morning, O God of power and might.
Death has been defeated
and we shout Alleluia!
Let all that we do today be a prayer of praise.
For many of us,
it is an Easter just like the others,
with Easter bonnets and Sunday best,
with the ringing of bells and hymns of joy,
with […]

O Holy God,
the hosannas have died away,
the palm branches have turned brittle;
the joy of seder meal,
the awkward intimacy of washing feet,
the sharing of bread and cup with one another—
all a memory.
Now, today, there is only this—
each of us,
all of us,
sitting in the darkness,
the echo of hammer and nail in our ears
on this Friday
which we tremble […]

for three hours
the world inside this house
is still—
one child, sprawled in a flowered dress
like petals strewn about the bed;
the other, nursing in thin air,
puffing herself awake,
then drifting again;
while i read, then throw aside,
then read again:
administration
plan
attack
Iran
regimechange
nuclear
option.
Down comes the bouquet, disheveled yet insistent:
I’ve promised her gum.
(Yes, that actually was my afternoon. Here’s the article.)

little miss M
she who is: divine one
loves to talk sleeps sweet
and I listen, and I watch — and
laugh along with you at our great
good fortune, and at the abundant
completeness of this, our family
of […]

Top ten reasons why the reverendbaby did not come on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day:
10. Deference to her Lord and Savior.
9. Mother did not have access to a donkey, or a need to travel to her husband’s town of origin for a census.
8. Decided that Christmas dinner—ham with brown sugar/mustard glaze, wild rice pilaf with […]

…the blog, that is.
This site is 2 years old today. What an auspicious date for milestones! reverendbaby, I’m looking in your direction
My first post was a very strange cataloguing of Christmas songs. In honor of that humble beginning, here is the RevGal Friday Five, similarly themed:
1) If you had to choose CDs as a soundtrack […]

talk to me about the waiting…
mostly I crouch, head bowed, eyes closed
against the soft black, safe in liquid suspense.
but even in the nothing there are constant somethings:
a fluid symphony, simmering, rolling, rushing past;
a metronome beating out the time,
world without end—and a voice:
hushed murmur, burbling laugh,
distant yet irresistible.
and then, at certain times,
I am bathed in […]

survey courtesy of the RevGals:
1) Did you cook/bake anything for Thanksgiving?
I made absolutely nothing, but my brother’s girlfriend made delicious cider and a spinach/goat cheese salad with fruit. My sister made the wonderful green bean casserole and didn’t muck it up with extraneous herbs and junk. Just green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk and […]

PastorG sent this on Friday…
I suck at Halloween. I always have. It was not a good idea to go to the church “Halloween Festival” dressed as Big Ben (yes, I did.) I was around 8, and I covered a box with butcher paper and drew a clock on it. I promise, […]