Advent 3 2020

Slowly, but surely, I am making my way through the Advent 2020 posts.  My goal is to get them done so I can then work on the Lent 2021 posts and get them posted DURING the Lenten season.  Then I will be caught up. Woo hoo!  Then I can write about other things that are going on and in my heart, mind, and soul.  

 Here are the words for Advent 3: joy, grace, promise, hospitality, healing, community, journey.

December 13. Today's word is joy. Where do you find joy? How have you experienced joy this Advent season? How do you share joy with others? Share your thoughts on joy and any photo or drawing. #joy #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Today's word is joy. Rocks and water bring me joy. The bottom two were already there. I added the rest. I sat on a large rock by the water. Being in creation helps me remember who and whose I am. #joy #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

December 14. Today's word is grace. Grace is one of the best gifts I received. I wouldn't be here without grace. Grace continues to play an important role in my life's journey. As you reflect on today's word, what comes to mind? How does grace fit with your Advent season this year? What does grace mean to/for you? Share your thoughts and a photo or drawing. #grace #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Today's word is grace. There was much grace for this retired language professor in learning Greek (and later Hebrew). Grace is an ongoing part of my life and faith journey. Though learning Greek is a bit different than other ways grace has played out, when you look at all we had to learn in one semester... whew. This was my study guide for the final from 9 years ago. Grace has brought me through many other situations and continues to be a great teacher. The hymn comes to mind with the refrain: "grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within". I have much learning, growing, and transforming to do. Therefore, I hold on to grace. #grace #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

December 15. Today's word is promise. As you reflect on today's word, what meaning does it have for you this Advent season? Is there any particular promise you hope is fulfilled? What does the promised birth of the Christ child mean to you? Share your thoughts and any photo or drawing. #promise #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Yesterday's Advent word was promise. I didn't post because I got stuck. Today, on my way to the office, I passed this sign. This sign is a promise of good coffee. In my opinion, it lives up to its promise. Others may see it differently. We don't all see things the same nor do we all respond the same. Because I am not promised more than the moment in which I live and breathe, I attempt to be present, to offer the best of me. That's my promise, though I know I will miss the mark. That's where the promise of grace comes in. #promise #adventphoto #saintelmoumc #madpriestcoffee

December 16. Today's word is hospitality. How does hospitality play a role in your Advent, in your faith journey? What is hospitality to you? How do you express today's word in a photo or drawing? #hospitality #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Today's word is hospitality. "Love and acceptance practiced here" is hospitality. The other sign shows hospitality too, reminding people they are loved. How do you show people hospitality, especially during a pandemic? How can we offer hospitality in this moment of time in a safe and healthy way? It may look different, but it's possible. #hospitality #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

December 17. Today's word is healing. What healing have you experienced this Advent season? Or maybe the question is: what healing do you need this Advent season? As you reflect on today's word, what surfaces? How do you visualize today's word in a photo or drawing? #healing #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Today's word is healing. Seeing and finding hearts is healing. Hearts remind me that I am loved. This heart tonight was by the car, on the asphalt, as we were finishing some errands. Today marks one year of a special day in our family. I am grateful for that day, the healing, the support, the love. #healing #adventphoto #saintelmoumc #seeaheartshareaheart

December 18. Today's word is community. What does community mean to you? In this Advent season when we are still in a pandemic, how is community different for you? Do walls or buildings define community for you? How do you stay connected with community during these times, during this Advent season? As you reflect on today's word, you are invited to share your reflections and any photo(s) or drawing(s) that depict community. #community #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Today's word is community. This is one of many murals in our community. Community supports one another. It seeks the best for one another. It rejoices with one another. It weeps with one another. It is an honor and privilege to walk with and serve among others in community. Since mid-March we have been stretched in many ways. I have been encouraged how we have found ways to support one another, to encourage one another, to love one another. May we continue to grow together in community to be the best we can be. #community #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

December 19. Today's word is journey. Advent is a season of journey to the birth of the Christ child, to the manger. How has the journey been for you this year? What have you experienced? What have you learned? How has this year's journey been different from years past? You are invited to share your insights from your reflections and any photo(s) or drawing(s) that depict today's word for you. #journey #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Yesterday's word was journey. I got stuck again for the 2nd time. Seeing as I use "journey" often and in my blog title, one would think yesterday would have not gotten me stuck. But it did. As I reflected on this year's Advent journey, the pilgrimage toward the birth of the Christ child, nothing emerged. This morning, I realized that this Advent has been more difficult to travel through hope, peace, love, and joy because of the added layer of pandemic. At the same time, the pandemic has offered a certain buffer for solitude, if I/we allow it and live into it. This Advent has brought me an online Advent study led by a lay person. That would not have happened, I imagine, in other circumstances. There has been darkness to pass through, grief from death and other losses, just during Advent, not to mention reflection from the entire pandemic path. Like all journeys, there are ups and downs, and rest spots along the way. In the spiritual sense, the journey has its inward and outward parts in which we practice different ways of growing. The photo is one of the more recent hikes on a section of the Cumberland Trail. It is misleading. You see a straight and flat path. It was in sections. However, we traversed up and down too. You don't always see the difficult aspects of a journey or what people have gone through to arrive where they are. The best part of journeys for me? Journeys are adventures. The Advent journey has been no different. #journey #adventphoto #saintelmoumc

Peace on your journey, 

Rev. Deb

Reviewing 2019

Pentecost 2019, me and the retired guy :)

New Year's Eve is a time that allows us to think back over the past year and look forward to the new one.  As I reflect back on 2019, there were lots of celebrations and transitions, new beginnings and adventures.

In the beginning of 2019 I launched the FB page for Bamboo Encounter, preparing for the first service to be held in May.  Bamboo Encounter meets the 4th Saturday of every month and has been a great addition to 2019.

I went to Blue Ridge in February for a girls weekend, though for me it was a one-nighter.  I did my first hike since my hip replacement the previous June and that was a big accomplishment for me.

For Ash Wednesday, I participated with a colleague in doing Ashes to Go / Cenizas para el camino at a local market in Spanish.  That was neat to be able to do.

In March, Riley and I went on our first cruise and celebrated 15 years together.  The cruise was with a childhood friend and her husband, who were celebrating 30 years.  The cruise and the trips were a fun adventure.  We visited Hell in Grand Cayman, a highlight for this pastor. :)

In May, our son Charlie graduated from high school, having earned the John Philip Sousa award in band.  Graduation was a special time marked with family.

During the summer we went to Sinsinawa, Wisconsin for a Wild Church Network retreat/conference.  It was the first of its kind.  It was wonderful for me to meet others connected to the Wild Church Network and to catch up with 2 folks I knew from FUMSDRL/HOF (Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors and Retreat Leaders/Hearts on Fire).

At Annual Conference in June, I was officially appointed to my 2nd appointment, St. Elmo UMC, which I began officially on July 7th, having done a soft start a little earlier to get my feet wet.

I participated in the Honeybee Metric Ride again this past year as a honeybee at a rest stop.  It was my 3rd year to be a honeybee.  I enjoy getting to cheer on the riders.

I went to the Wild Goose Festival for the first time during the summer and gave out hugs as part of the Mama Bear Den and Free Mom Hugs.  I attended some sessions and met lots of great people.  I got fairy hair from "Spark the Fairy" booth on the last day, July 14 and I still have a few pieces of fairy hair left over.  That has been a super conversation starter as folks wonder what the blue things are in my hair. :)

I attended ELMC 2019, a Hispanic training offered by the Episcopal Church at Sewanee in August.  It was a great CEU opportunity, as well as getting to meet like-minded folks who were part of the program.  A highlight was visited El Refugio at Stewart Detention center.  I chose El Refugio as my birthday fund raiser and was able to raise over $500 for them, thanks to friends and church folks.

Charlie began his freshman year at Watkins College in August, right before I headed to Sewanee.  With Charlie at college, we were now empty-nesters, though we still had Cliff.

Charlie had a super first semester at school and I made it through my first semester with him away. :)  A highlight was the Friday we took Cliff to Nashville to visit Charlie and we went to a great dog park.

2019 brought other transitions for me.  I had thought that transitioning from 3 churches and 3 communities to 1 church and 1 community would allow me to slow down a little.  I was wrong.  I haven't slowed down.  I've been pretty busy.  But it has been a good busy.  I'm still getting to know people and the community in which I serve.  I have a long way to go, but having listening sessions early on in the appointment helped. 

I used to post my sermons weekly in my first appointment, but I haven't had as much writing space, though I do post the audio weekly.  I haven't had much time for writing, period.  It takes time and energy and much of my time for writing has been sermon writing. 

Getting outdoors and into creation gives me life.  We learned of a new labyrinth that is part of the Lookout Mountain Conservancy.  That was a neat find.

Being at St. Elmo UMC these past 6 months has been life-giving.  A few of the activities that have been meaningful to me are: getting to participate in a Blessing of the Animals, giving out hugs at the Pride Festival, hosting a UMCNext conversation space at church, serving a Thanksgiving meal and giving out clothes, participating in the Cantata as the narrator, and experiencing my first Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

In the fall I applied to a spiritual direction program and was accepted.  That begins in the fall of 2020. 

As I reflect, I know I am leaving some things out (there were LOTS of things that happened this past year, like getting to visit my cousins Frank and Jonathan in Blue Ridge one day in the Spring, meeting Steve Austin and his family in Birmingham and then them coming here to Chattanooga, ETC.) 

Riley's first full year of retirement went by quickly.  Who knew that life outside of work would be so busy?!?!

I am grateful for all the connections and support, near and far, that have been part of my 2019.  From church folks, family, friends, book club, colleagues, fellow Mama Bears, etc.  THANK YOU for being part of my 2019.

I look forward to new adventures in 2020 in life and ministry.  I know there are more changes and transitions ahead.  I don't know what all the adventures or changes will be, but I hope to continue to "roll with it" as I've learned on Sunday mornings. 

My summer word was "wild" because of Wild Church Network and Wild Goose.  Things have been wild in some ways, but a very good wild.

I haven't picked a word for 2020 nor do I have any set goals yet. 

My plan is to live in the present, to walk with folks, to live, love, and lead like Jesus.

Peace on the adventures of 2020,

Debra

Detours...unexpected blessings

Today is a gorgeous Friday.  Clear blue skies.  It's even going to warm up here in TN some. 

Last Friday was a different story.  It was raining.  There was a wintry storm heading our way.  It was cold.  In fact, there was SNOW in the forecast.  That's not so bad.  But, I was preparing to head out of town for a youth event in Pigeon Forge, Resurrection.

After a meeting at the high school for my kiddo, I went back home to get ready for the trip.  Then I headed out toward Rossville, GA where I planned to work for a little while before getting the van at the rental location.  My first stop was going to be the pharmacy to get a prescription and say hi/bye to my favorite pharmacist.

As I was cresting Boy Scout Road in the cold rain, I noticed someone walking on the left side of the road.  Something told me to slow down and offer them a ride, so I did.  When I offered, she accepted.  I asked where she was heading and she asked where I was going.  I told her I was going to Food City and then to Rossville, GA.  At first she said that was good enough.  I asked again where she needed to go.  She told me that she lived in the highway 58/Washington Hills area.  I told her I could go that way and still make my way to Rossville, GA.  Would that be a detour on my route?  Yes, but nobody needed to be walking in that cold and rainy weather.  The wintry mix could start anytime.  The local school system had just called to let us all know that schools would be letting out early that day.

Together we went to the pharmacy to get my prescription.  I learned that she had taken a taxi to the Hixson area to visit a cousin in order to get some funds to help buy diapers for her little one and didn't want to pay the taxi fare to get back home.  I couldn't blame her.  She could buy quite a few diapers for the taxi fare. 

My new friend is studying vet medicine at Chattanooga State while raising her little one.  She works too.   Life isn't easy, but she is doing the best she can.  We talked some about life and such in our short commute.  I told her about two churches in her area of town, St. John UMC and Washington Hills UMC.  I told her if she needed anything, to go to either one of them.  I also gave her my card and asked her to let me know how things are going for her in school, etc. 

When we got to her house, I asked if I could pray for her and she said yes.
 
What an encouraging detour to my day.  It was a blessing to help someone stay warm and dry on such a cold and wet day.  It was a blessing to meet someone who loves animals and is working her way through school.

My thoughts and prayers are with my friend "T" as she studies, works, and raises her son. 

One never knows what adventures await us when the Holy Spirit nudges us to "stop", do we?!?!

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

A crazy car morning.... yet, peace in the midst of it all.

This morning my husband's car was the one in back and it wouldn't start.  The battery was stone cold dead.  Dead as a door knob.  You get the picture.  There was no juice whatsoever in there.  NADA (nothing).  So, we rushed around to get the battery and planned to plug it in and put it on "jump" mode so we could hopefully get the kid to school on time or slightly late.  We got everything set up and I sat back in the driver's seat and noticed the engine lights were on, so I tried to crank it and it cranked.  My husband was staring at me through the windshield with the clips in his hand saying he hadn't even attached them yet.  ODD!!  The clock showed the battery had been working for 3 minutes.  Very crazy.

I facilitated/taught a Bible Study this morning in downtown Chattanooga.  After it was over, I got back in my car and the ignition wouldn't move.  It has been doing that off and on and we had the ignition replaced once before.(what we thought was a year ago, but turned out to be 4 years and 1 day ago--4/10/09).  I tried for about 30 minutes to get the key to turn over.  I wiggled it.  I tried to feel the key in the ignition and magically move everything to work together, to no avail.  Usually I can get it to work within 5-8 minutes.  Not today.  And today, my friend Kathleen had made it back to Bible Study with me, so she was stuck too.  I was able to contact insurance who contacted a towing company.  Kathleen and I got to walk up and down the block for about 20 minutes.  The towing company came.  My new friend Jeremy got things set up and then told me he needed the key so he could turn it over to put the car into neutral.  I told him that the ignition wouldn't budge and that's why he was there. ☺  Thankfully, Toyotas have a button you can push to put the car in neutral.  I learned something today.  We rode in the cab of the tow truck to Firestone.  If that were on my bucket list, I could cross it off.  I may write it in. ☺  It was a pleasant ride from downtown to Firestone and we had a good conversation.  It was enjoyable.  Why not try to make the most of rough situations?!?!

We got to Firestone.  It was my buddy Bill's day off.  Maybe that's best.  Because he probably would have given me a hard time.  That's when I learned it had been 5 years and a day instead of one year that we had the ignition replaced last.  After making all the arrangements, I went out back to get the key and talk to the tow guy again.

Guess what?!!?  He had gotten the car to start.  And, so did I.  But, I left it there anyway because this has been going on for a while again and there's only so much that graphite can cure.  Besides, what if this was my opportunity to get it fixed before it happened and I was stuck somewhere not so safe?!?!

Firestone called me this afternoon to tell me that they finally got it to lock up.  YEAH!!  There is some concern about whether or not this particular ignition needs to be key-coded or not (a matter of $$) but they are checking into it. 

I am good with whatever needs to happen so that this car that has gotten me many miles can continue to run for at least 5 more years or so (it's a 2000 with about 196,000 miles). 

Kathleen's husband picked us up, we ran through Starbuck's so I could get them an offering of thanks, and they dropped me off at Bi-Lo so I could get my husband's car.  He wasn't there, so I walked to Wendy's to get the keys. 

Whew!  And, how/why HIS car died over night?!?!  He probably left the lights on by mistake or didn't close the door well.  After all, he didn't get home until about 9:45pm due to the robbery at the pharmacy last night.  Yep, you read that correctly.  His pharmacy got robbed last night.  BUT, nobody was hurt and since this guy has done this before locally, they are hopefully going to catch him. 

Crazy stuff happens in life.  I try to see them as adventures and opportunities. 

And, of all days, today is our daughter's 12th birthday. ☺  Happy Birthday!

I took my Jesus Calling devotion to Bible Study with me today to "bless" them with today's message.  I had NO IDEA how much this message would be something I would need to hear and would need to live into today.   I am grateful that I haven't complained and have been able to have peace that flows deeper than I am aware.... even when the adrenaline rush flows.

Here is the devotion for April 11 from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.  Maybe it speaks to where you are today and/or something you have experienced.

"THIS IS THE DAY THAT I HAVE MADE.  Rejoice and be glad in it.  Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life.  Be careful not to complain about anything, even the weather, since I am the Author of your circumstances.  The best way to handle unwanted situations is to thank Me for them.  This act of faith frees you from resentment and frees Me to work My ways into the situation, so that good emerges from it.
     To find joy in this day, you must live within its boundaries.  I knew what I was doing when I divided time into twenty-four-hour segments.  I understand human frailty, and I know that you can bear the weight of only one day at a time.  Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past.  There is abundant Life in my Presence today." (page 106)

Scriptures: Psalm 118:24; Philippians 3:13-14

Handling unwanted situations in thankfulness and continuing onward on this adventurous journey,

May you find joy in this day!

Debra ☺