Redeemed by writing

Oh Henri you thrill my junkie soul!!

Writing to Save the Day

Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.

Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be "redeemed" by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.

Henri Nouwen

Want to be encouged daily by quotes from Nouwen? Visit here.

Lake Geneva Wisconsin is in the record books!

I read this with a smile on my face this morning. I'm sure I know quite a few in the crowd. My hometown bunny hopped it's way into the Guinness World Record book. Very cute!

USATODAY.com - Hundreds strive to bunny hop into record books

Home again, Home again...

This was the view from our hotel room on the Mirimachi River this week. The first glimpse of the sun. We hit a freak storm on our travels north on Wednesday and ended up staying the night in Moncton and heading to Keith's conference the next morning.

Ali and Jake didn't mind - both hotels had pools and they had a ball, not to mention just missing two days of school was exciting enough!

Keith was sick for most of the time away, so that really put a damper on things, but Ali and Jake's enjoyment of the trip was more than enough to carry us through. I just love to see the world through their eyes! All I know is that it's good to be home and now the real work begins (again)...

We're packing up and moving down the street to our semi-permanent (next) home. It is a rental, so we're not placing down deep roots there, but we hope that for the next couple of years we'll have a good place to stay that is affordable and a good fit for our family. Good thing we saved all of the boxes and wrapping papers. Hopefully this one will go as smoothly as the last, and I'm thrilled not to have to be driving for days to get there!

The house in Pennsylvania is back on the market and we are enduring the process once more. If you think about it please pray it sells, it would be such a load of my father's back. Thanks!

Freedom Attracts

When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.

Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.

Henri Nouwen

Receive the Daily Meditation HERE

Congratulations Mr. Kristof!

My favorite columnist Nicholas Kristof has earned a Pulitzer Prize for his stunning work in calling attention to injustice and holding powerful people accountable.

Here, free from the NYT's "iron curtain" (paid subscription) are his honored articles. I highly recommend taking the time to have your world broadened by reading them. This is why we have a First Amendment and he uses it like no one else! Thank you Mr. Kristof!

Pulitzer Prize Winner for Commentary: Nicholas D. Kristof - New York Times

Big thanks to Mike Todd!!

hoppy easter!

ht to dcb myspace

Opportunity Knocks

Well, after riding the good news about the meeting with the town for the market I got another bit of exciting news the other day.

A phone call from the head of the women's ministry at our new church called to tell me that her team had met for prayer that morning and decided that they wanted me to take the teaching time at the next event. Redemption!! YAY! I have always longed for these kind of opportunities and am really excited to get to know the women in our new community in this way. I was given carte blanche (what does that mean anyway??) as to the topic, so I'll be spending some days next week listening for what God speaks into the silence. I could go in so many different directions, I guess I just have to remember that if I do a decent job this won't be my only chance, so I don't have to cram everything into one time, right?

Very excited indeed! Oh, and I posted some pictures we took of our Good Friday celebration of life (being sad just wasn't possible on such an incredible day) - you can find them here:

The Turner Family Blog

Have a blessed Easter!

so much for surprises...

Jake: Mom, you're not gonna believe it - there's 2 new bikes in the garage!

Me: Happy Easter... sigh.

Guess dad didn't hide them as well as he thought he did...

Meeting with the Mayor

How did I get myself into this? My mouth commits to things my mind and body have no desire to do! We're headed to meet with the local mayor tomorrow to pitch an idea for a town market.

When things were so tight financially we thought we were going to have to generate income on our own - so the market was a great outlet for that. Now that Keith is working the need isn't so great, and thus my motivation is vanishing as our need decreases.

This will be a great option for the town, and I want to get it pitched, but my energy level is waning and I should be finishing the proposal instead of this blog post... it's amazing the things we can invent to avoid other obligations isn't it??

Hope your day was as glorious weather wise as our's was today! Enjoy!

UPDATE: Meetings went really well and they said YES... now what? What have I gotten myself into!?!? I know this will be a great way to promote community - so that's what I'm going with. Pray for me!

My cousin Kristi in the news

Charlotte Observer | 04/09/2006 | Memory serve you right?: "Do you remember what you had to eat yesterday for lunch? What about last week? If you are like most adults, you might jokingly excuse memory lapses on your age.

But the question of whether or age has any impact on different types of memory is being looked at right here in our community at Davidson College.

Kristi Multhaup is an associate professor of psychology who oversees projects dealing with memory and aging. Her college students regularly develop thesis projects that involve conducting research with older adults."

Great Op-Ed in the NY Times

Christ Among the Partisans - New York Times

Hat Tip to Will

My very own words in my very own name!

I guess it came about because some of my very dearest friends (many of whom I haven' t yet met face to face) were coming to know me by my MOTHER'S dear name instead of my own!! So I knew I needed to rectify that AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

So, here I am - HEIDI RENEE TURNER - I can't wait to get to know you, and for you to know me too! Welcome to MY blog!

Hi My name is Heidi!

I'm finally blogging under my OWN NAME!! This is a test to see if my template edits worked or not... holding thumbs!