What an honor!

Erin just tipped me off to a precious gift this morning. One of my blog posts *blushes* has been listed in the "Emerging Women Best of 2008" - thank you Sonja! I am so honored.

Emerging Women - Best of 2008

Merry Christmas from the Turners!

MMMMMMM.... Can you smell that? Our home is full of fragrance and warmth. Today's menu included Maple Sausage and Cranberry Bread French Toast for brunch. And on the dinner menu this evening we are offering Prime Rib, Coconut Shrimp, Baked Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower and Splenda Coconut Chess Pie.

Hope your day is merry, merry! Wish you were here!

I want you Art!!

thank you andrea!

Art Attack - PLAY!!

Kel has an Art Attack challenge up using the word play - this is about as creative as I can get today - but it's two times I have had so much fun with my kids - Jacob always is a prompt for play in our house - here he's taken two old couch cushions and a headband of his sister's and made himself a funny hat. Alinea is in our tent - which we set up in the meeting room at our church so that I could host a sleep over for her and some friends. We had a great night - the highlight was having nerf gun wars as we set up the chairs as barricades and ran for cover.

Word for 2008 - Complete

Each year I ask God for a word for the year. 2007 was "centered", 2008 was "complete" - I have been praying about what 2009 might be.

I was reading through my posts on my anonymous blog about "complete" and a post that I wrote on a recovery anniversary popped up - and it had this Psalm in it - I hadn't made the connection to "complete" when I wrote it originally, but today it just jumped out at me. In our small group we've spent this past year talking about different Psalms and this one is one of my favorites - especially in the hands of Eugene Peterson. I just love these verses, they are very 12 steps:

Psalm 18:20-24
GOD made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I'm alert to GOD's ways;
I don't take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I'm watching my step.
GOD rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

This past year I have felt very "put back together" - it is the first time I've truly felt comfortable in my own skin. I can't wait to hear what 2009's word will be.

To my daughter at 15

I am so relieved not to be at this place in parenting Alinea just yet, so I am saving this here until then. I have read Gordon's blog for years and his writing touches me deeply. I can't imagine having a father pour words like these into a daughters soul.

My favorite part is:

Now, my young woman. Now have come the days of your choosing. You are both discovering and deciding what kind of woman you will be. You are deciding what of your life will be hidden and what you will show. Choose carefully, for what shames you now may serve you one day. And what serves you now may one day make you ashamed. Many girls will lose themselves in this time. They may find themselves again someday, but many years will be lost.

Read the whole piece here: Real Live Preacher - To My daughter at 15

Myth & Divine Therapy

I was up far too early this morning, but it gave me time to catch up with some of my dearest blogger friends. They have given me much to ponder.

My Anj, my dear Friend Anj - she is such a deep well has me thinking about the myth that creeps into our lives and exists as an overarching story we believe in without really ever understanding it is a myth. I had never considered this idea before, so I have lots to unpack here.

And my bestest Hope, she of the northern sky, so very far away I don't know that we'll ever have a chance to meet, but she knows me like the back of my hand - she spoke today of Divine Therapy - spending time in silence, being present to God. I have so much to do today that I realized that if I don't take that time I will never get it all done.

Falling like rain

Some days there are just well-timed gifts waiting to be opened. A few days ago I was at the thrift store and was peeking through the books. Tucked in and amongst the childrens books was Good Goats by the Linns. I have had that book in my Amazon wish list for over a year - it was like a tiny little Christmas present from God.

Today I was clearing out my inbox and found this - from back in July - from the StoryPeople:

There are days I drop words of comfort
on myself like falling rain &
remember it is enough to be taken care of by myself.

It was exactly what I needed to read today. Today I can comfort myself with words. Thank you!

Merry Christmas from the Turners!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Oh Come Oh Come

 

I took this picture in one of my favorite places on earth. St. Saviour's Church in Bar Harbor, Maine. It is a Tiffany stained glass - one of very few left in the world. I felt like I was standing in one of the famous art museums of the world. Keith and I had the place to ourselves and we spent hours there. We stumbled upon it, not knowing the beauty it held within its walls.

It is where I would choose as my happy place. This image transports me back there. I know it's so anglo - and that Jesus & Mary looked nothing like this - but it is oh so breath-taking. The rapture on her face, the knowing look of the child. It is my most favorite Madonna & Child in the world and I share it with you this advent season.

The Beautiful Good

I Have Turned My Face to the Roots

Obviously or consciously, we are all pilgrims, searching this world over for the Lost Thing---that which the early Desert Fathers called philokalia, the 'Beautiful-Good.' In all the Celtic affairs, soul-yearning seems as much the stuff of life as breathing. In our time it is a more haphazard affair, for we are constantly grasping at the moon. The cure is a kind of open secret, a turning around, a shifting of the gaze from what is far to what is near, to the stillness of beginnings, to the simple secret place where the soul gathers its nourishment: a knowing of the roots. A knowing of the roots. This is a quality of Traditional People---those drum beaters and dancers and firelight storytellers who chose to dwell outside the walls of the empire.

Source: Michael Green, December, 2008, Celtic Blessings Calendar
As always via inward/outward

That's MY hubby! :D

Went with Keith to Saint John on Monday as he presented before a task force on mental health issues in the Province. He made the paper! I'm so proud of him!

Telegraph Herald - New Approach Advocated

World AIDS Day 2008

I received this in my email today - and loved it's thoughtful encouragement for all of us as we face World AIDS Day on December 1st.

Dear Heidi,

My name is Lt. Colonel Shane Kimbrough and I am on the International Space Station orbiting 200 miles above the earth.

During the 90 minutes it takes us to circle the earth, we do not see borders or boundaries. From up here, the task of solving the world’s biggest problems seems less daunting. But when our shuttle lands next Sunday, we will return to a world where border disputes and financial crises lead the nightly news. Those challenges define our world and their solutions will define our future.

That’s why I joined ONE. I believe with my voice and yours and millions of others taking on the challenges of extreme poverty and preventable diseases, these problems become less daunting and more solvable.

I wouldn’t be here today if President Kennedy hadn’t called on America to make space exploration a priority. In 1961 he said, “We face an extraordinary challenge. Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed upon this nation the role of leader in freedom’s cause.” He called on America to marshal its courage and creativity, its intelligence and determination to put a man on the moon.

There were skeptics. Some said it wasn’t possible. Some thought we should instead focus on other concerns here at home. But President Kennedy – and the American people – would not be deterred. We set a goal; we made a plan; we put a man on the moon; we changed the way we saw our world.

President Kennedy’s vision forced us to look to the moon and raise our expectations of what is possible. Looking back at the earth with the same perspective as those early astronauts, Kennedy’s philosophy about our own planet is with me today: “Our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures, and we are all mortal.”

Today, a renewed courage is sweeping the world. People are dreaming boldly and, more importantly, they are ready to turn those dreams into actions.

On World AIDS Day, December 1st, we are celebrating our success in helping to bring lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment to 3 million people globally, including 2 million Africans. But there are 7 million more people who are in critical need of AIDS drugs and don't have them. There are also millions at risk of becoming infected with HIV.

We can drastically reduce poverty and preventable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, on our planet. But it will take all of us working together as one to achieve that goal. As Bono has said, ending extreme poverty could be our generation’s moonshot. This could be our new frontier. We should focus our attention to those on our planet who need help the most.

That’s what I believe. That’s my story. And that’s why I am a member of ONE.

What about you? Why are you ONE in the fight against global poverty and preventable diseases? Share your story at:

http://www.one.org/shareyourstory?id=766-821571-bs1n9rx&t=2

ONE plans to feature what we have to say on its website, to inspire more people to add their voices to ours, and to make a real difference for those who are fighting hard to break free from extreme poverty. Use your webcam or your keyboard. Send in pictures. And spread the word.

Up here, we see one world, one home we all inhabit.

I’ll check in again when I’m back from orbit.

From the International Space Station,

Lt. Colonel Shane Kimbrough
Mission Specialist, Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126)

Now I become myself

What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been. How often in the process we mask ourselves in faces that are not our own. How much dissolving and shaking of the ego we must endure before we discover our deep identity---the true self within every human being that is the seed of authentic vocation.

I first learned about vocation growing up in the church. I value much about the religious tradition in which I was raised: its humility about its own convictions, its respect for the world's diversity, its concern for justice. But the idea of vocation I picked up in those circles created distortion until I grew strong enough to discard it. I mean the idea that vocation, or calling, comes from a voice external to ourselves, a voice of moral demand that asks us to become someone we are not yet---someone different, someone better, someone just beyond our reach.

Today I understand vocation quite differently---not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice 'out there' calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice 'in here' calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God....
Parker Palmer

again from inward/outward

The wonder years...

Maybe my growing up on the bar-room floor wasn't so strange in Wisconsin?

NYT - Some See Big Problem in Wisconsin Drinking

Crack....crack...crack...

What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open.

Source: Muriel Rukeyser,From Cries of the Spirit, edited by Marilyn Sewell

via inward/outward

Surrendering her green

Slowly she celebrated the sacrament of letting go.
First she surrendered her green,
then the orange, yellow, and red
finally she let go of her brown.
Shedding her last leaf
she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.
Leaning against the winter sky
she began her vigil of trust.

Shedding her last leaf
she watched its journey to the ground.
She stood in silence
wearing the color of emptiness,
her branches wondering;
How do you give shade with so much gone?

And then,
the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.
Clothing her with silhouettes
they kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that
her vulnerability,
her dependence and need,
her emptiness,
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening they stood in silence
and celebrated together
the sacrament of waiting.

Macrina Wiederkehr

via inward/outward

Alice Walker's words of wisdom

I just read an essay posted on a blog I frequent: Useful Perhaps: From Alice Walker, with Love, to the President-elect and it is rich and beautiful in the wholeness of leadership it represents. I pray that the president elect reads these words of wisdom and lives them for all of us to see. What a world this could be.

Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist. In 1983, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her book The Color Purple. She has written many other bestselling books, including In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens and Possessing the Secret of Joy. Her most recent is We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. She recently wrote an open letter to Barack Obama posted online at TheRoot.com.

My favorite part:

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

Rock band meme

In an effort to do something mindless that totally ignores all of the work I have to do today I am participating in a meme from Renee via Marko - I have started a band. No, really. Just kidding, just a game - first, generate a random wikipedia entry to get your band name, followed by random quote - take the last 4 words from the first random quote, that is the name of your hit song, and finally, a random flicker image, the cover of your first album.

Here's my band's debut:

Bataka Squad

and our hit song:

The road, take it (from Yogi Berra's famous fork in the road quote)

and our album cover - extraordinarily beautiful!



major props to niccodeamus

Want to play along? Tag yourself and post in the comments and I'll link to your blog post.

Story People Ornaments!!!!

Oh my, such joy - look at these beautiful works of art!

They just arrived in my inbox and I had to share them with you. This email came along to explain them:

We don't know about you, but now that the election is over, we can't wait for the world to be fun again. For a long while there, the only thing that came to mind was that we were a little like pinatas at a party of politicians & all of them had way too much sugar.

We thought it was just our problem, since we have a high fun requirement. Now it looks like a lot of people had the same trouble. But, just to be sure, we took a quick poll & here's the result: almost a hundred percent of everybody we talked to is looking at the pinata stuff on the floor & thinking it needs a whole lot of cleaning up, but at least we're finally going to do it together.

We think it's a perfect time to fire up some magic to send us on our way...

You know how magic works. You sit down, think gentle thoughts & ask the universe. Then you listen for the answers.

We didn't have long to wait.

Completely out of the blue, we got a call from Lynne Suprock. Who happens to be an artist from Pennsylvania & a maker of delicate & lovely jewelry. It seems that Lynne had been stirring a little of Brian's art work into her handmade jewelry. After watching her for a few months, her friend Carol just about stood over her until she gave us a call. She told us what she'd been cooking up - part StoryPeople print in miniature, part suncatcher, part jewelry & part holiday ornament. It was magic of the highest order...

We know that when you see them you'll be so delighted you'll most likely want to have your very own. (We know because that's just what happened to us when we saw them..)

Now, the only problem is that Lynne makes each one by hand, so she can get the balance of sparkle & light & magic just right.

So, we calculated how much sleep & personal time Lynne needs between now & the holidays in order to make all the ornaments you might want. We wrote it down on a tiny slip of paper & folded it & slid it across the table to her. She took one look & laughed & said she hasn't had that much free time since she was eight. So, we came up with a new plan. Lynne says you can order all the ornaments you want for the next three weeks & she promises she'll get them to you in time for the holidays. How's that for the universe being on your side?

If you're ready to let the magic back into your world, now's the time. You've got three weeks, so don't wait. (OK. Wait a minute. That's not completely true. We hope you know that you can let in magic any time you want. You only get three weeks for this particular bit of magic... :-)) These hand-made ornaments are available to order for the next three weeks (through Thankgiving Day, Nov. 27th to be precise), so get them while you can!

I <3 the StoryPeople. Wish Iowa was that cool when I lived there!

Place your order here: StoryPeople Ornaments