On my morning walk, I found among the flowers by the Green Mountain Estates sign a lone sunflower.
A couple of days later I saw that she has a friend.
I think in the end, there will be many sunflower friends from that one plant. I'll keep checking on it.
I saw these Anthurium (Flamingo flowers) in the vestibule of a nearby business building.
Outside of the same building were more pretty flowers to enjoy.
A Cool Experience....
This weekend, I perused the annual yard sale at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. There was an overabundance of fabric but nothing that complemented any of my current projects. However, they have a fun contest called "Honor the Maker." Along with the fabric, books, etc. are unfinished projects. The contest works like this: a quilter chooses an unfinished project, finishes it however he/she chooses, and photographs it for entrance into the contest. Top prize gets a free membership to the museum. We have until May to finish, so I'll start after Christmas. What called to me was a set of 12 Dresden plate appliques. I've not tried applique yet, so these little beauties will give me a fun challenge for the new year. I'll update the progress on my craft blog.
Favorite quote(s) of the week...
Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated
throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God's overriding
governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of
circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In
short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring
(John 10:10). - Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 263.
Xcel - Your electric bill is trending higher this billing cycle. Me - Have you paid attention to the weather? It's 86,000
degrees outside Xcel - Your highest usage is between 12-6 pm. Me - Really? You mean during the hottest part of the day? Look, unless you're showing up with an iced coffee and a significant Amazon gift card to compensate for the higher bill that you're more worried about that I am, leave me alone! - Auntie's musings
Sugar sweetens green fruit and in ripe fruit corrects whatever is crude and unwholesome. Now devotion is true spiritual sugar for it removes bitterness from discipline and everything harmful from our consolation. Francis de Sales, Quoted in Devotional Classics (Edited by Foster & Smith), p. 29.
I'm thinking about...
Leaning in vs. giving in: As some of you are aware, I am in a weird season right now. After getting a great report from my doctor last year, everything is pretty much at a stand still. I'm glad to still be in this good place, but the needle isn't moving and I'm not at the end of the course. At first, I thought it was mental: grief over my friend Chris dying suddenly the day before Thanksgiving (she was the leader of the weight loss accountability group I'm in) mixed with SAD. I'd been having a few mild symptoms of perimenopause for more than a year, but nothing too serious. However, things suddenly got more intense. I experienced months of bone-crushing pain, mixed with exhaustion, mixed with having perpetual marshmallow brain. My workout schedule went to crap since it was all I could do to get up, put on clothes, and walk the few paces to my home office and work. I was frustrated and tried to talk to my mentor about it, who pretty much said I was "making the choice" to be lazy.
Apparently he didn't ready my blog post. And no, he doesn't get a pass for being male; he's old enough to know better.
For the past couple of weeks, my energy has returned, I've been taking walks to get my workout mojo cranked back up, and my mind has been clear. But will it last? Are the symptoms cyclical, or are they in different phases until "SHE" goes on permanent vacation?
Sorry to the fellas who read my blog, but this is important.
I don't really have an exemplar for this. I truly believe that my mom was just ornery enough to simply will herself well through menopause.
I will talk to my physician during my annual check up next month. Because of my body's weird reactions to things, I need a solution other than hormone replacement therapy. Who knows what that will do to me. My question for those who've already made it to the end of the tunnel is: how do you handle the swift changes? Do you lean in and fight it tooth and nail, or do you just give in, take a sick day (or three), and go to bed?
What I've read since my last digest...
Eugenics and Other Evils by G. K. Chesterton ✮✮✮
A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift ✮✮✮
Devotional Classics by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith (Editors)✮✮✮✮
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald ✮✮✮✮(Categories: Kiddie Lit and My Inklings Summer)
I'm currently reading...
The Courage to Create by Rollo May
Unspoken Sermons: Series 1 by George MacDonald
My current "crock pot" reads (slow and steady reads that will take a while):
Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers
Recent blog posts...
My previous digest, "Somewhere Over the Wishlist" is here.
My latest book review (revisited) of The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell is here.
I caught the shot of this rainbow on my way back from Arvada this weekend.
Enjoyed seeing the thriving flower beds while I was out and about this week. All these gorgeous flowers make me happy.
Favorite quote(s) of the week...
To live a spiritual life does not mean that we must leave our
families, give up our jobs, or change our ways of working; it does not
mean that we have to withdraw from social or political activities, or
lose interest in literature and art; it does not require severe forms of
asceticism or long hours of prayer. Changes such as these may in fact
grow out of our spiritual life, and for some people radical decisions
may be necessary. But the spiritual life can be lived in as many ways as
there are people. What is new is that we have moved from the many
things to the kingdom of God. What is new is that we are set free from
the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only
necessary thing. What is new is that we no longer experience the many
things, people, and events as endless causes for worry, but begin to
experience them as the rich variety of ways in which God makes his
presence known to us. - Henri Nouwen, Making All Things New, 00:43:27 in the audiobook version.
Dear God, I need your silences like I need physical food. I dedicate myself to them. May I resolve to cut my physical food each time I cut my spiritual intake. Thus, soul and body will go up and down together. For I am resolved to employ this practice and to pay the price to do so. Amen. E. Stanley Jones, How to Pray, 00:58:31 in the audiobook version.
You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if You have only loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing You have loved us first many times and every day and our whole life through. - Soren Kierkegaard, Quoted in Devotional Classics (Edited by Foster & Smith), p. 351.
I'm thinking about...
Wish Lists: I've had the fun privilege of being able to bless some of my friends, family, and charities I support through their wish lists: birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, back to school, and helping stock teacher classrooms. I really enjoy helping out that way because it guarantees that people get what they truly need or want. So my question is, would it be annoying, tacky or wrong to put out wish lists of my own? Understand, no one is under any obligation to purchase anything.
Why the consternation? Because I feel like those who put out their lists have earned the right to do so: they have families, have a supportive circle of friends, and/or have a noble cause for the list (teachers for example). I'm not sure I've earned that right. I've been considering putting a link to my Amazon wish list on my Auntie's Workshop blog of items that would help upgrade my supplies and equipment so I can make more and better art. I thought this might be a fun alternative for those who haven't yet seen any art pieces they wish to purchase for themselves, but want to support what I do. Just a thought.
What y'all think?
What I've read since my last digest...
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton ✮✮
Making All Things New by Henri Nouwen✮✮✮✮
Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton ✮1/2
The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero ✮1/2
Reading the Sermon on the Mount with John Stott by John Stott✮✮✮1/2
How to Pray by E. Stanley Jones ✮✮
Wandering Thoughts by John Wesley ✮✮
Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss, et al. ✮✮✮✮ (Category: Kiddie Lit)
Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge ✮✮✮✮
I'm currently reading...
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Courage to Create by Rollo May
Eugenics and Other Evils by G. K. Chesterton
My current "crock pot" reads (slow and steady reads that will take a while):
Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
Devotional Classics by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith (Editors)
