The Coming of the Lord is Near

Christine Sine's blog is here.
ht: jonnybaker

The time of waiting has arrived

Like many people, I'm in a time of waiting in my life:

Waiting for a job
Waiting for my nephew's visit
Waiting for direction
Waiting to see the family I've missed for so long
Waiting for my Ukrainian friends to arrive in The States
Waiting for the new baby in my extended family

All of these things I'm waiting for are good things, things I'm looking forward to having happen and will celebrate when they do.

Advent, the time christians begin the new year, is also a time of waiting.  It's a season of remembering how the world waited for so long for a saviour and of looking forward to his return.   Millions of Christians all over the world celebrate this time together. This year, I'll be joining them by posting here daily.

In an effort to slow down enough to pay attention, I'll be making daily postings of images, links, songs, and texts. Hopefully, you'll take some time each day away from the hustle and bustle that is Christmas, to be absorbed into the story in a real way.


Prayer:
Intimate God,
we yearn for the light of your coming
and the warmth of your embrace;
focus our hearts on the truly important
and keep us centered on that still point, Jesus our Emmanuel,
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.


Readings for the day:
Psalms 50:1-6
Zechariah 14:4-9
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-31

There is no "more" to read....

I decided a few weeks ago to get a new template on my blog so I searched around online until I found one I liked. Loaded it up and 1/2 of it was in spanish!
Trying to get back to a "normal" template was ummm interesting. Many versions later, I've got this simple form from Blogger and it's working pretty well.

Except....

for the "read more" line on EVERY post. I can not figure out how to remove it. So, in the meantime, my apologies to anyone who wanders by here and clicks on it only to find there's no "more" there to read.

I'll remove it as soon as I figure out how.

Jump Start on Change

Most people write resolutions for New Year's. I do mine on my birthday, which is coming up in the next couple weeks. I figure it's a new year for me, so why not?!

This year, I'm getting a bit of a jump start and joining up with a bunch of other folks over at Ragamuffin Soul on the 30 day holiday health challenge.

For the next 30 days my goals are:
Physically - loose 10 pounds and get back on my daily meds (hate them!)
Spritually- do a study on the word "hope" and then memorize a verse a week about that topic
Relationally - Hand write christmas cards (should have mentioned I'm also going to actually mail them this year too)and ask 2 people I don't know very well out for coffee.

I'll be keeping track of my progress here.

Muppets sing Bohemian Rhapsody

This is all over the internet this week so I figured it ought to be here as well.
Good fun....

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody @ Yahoo! Video

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I have much to be thankful for:

• A renewed relationship with "family" I hadn't seen in 10 years.  Now they are part of my daily life again and a huge hole in my heart has healed.
• Although we lost an aunt I dearly loved, the rest of us have been healthy this year.
• New friends in England and Ukraine from my trip out there.
• A great visit with old UK friends this summer
• Not just one, but 2 places to worship where I feel loved and accepted
• A break from work and yet I've been ok financially
• Had a fantastic time taking art classes.  Was pleasantly surprised when my instructor said I would have gotten an "A" if I'd chosen to take the class for credit. 
• Great friends both online and in the 3D world
• Fantastic time with my brothers and their wives this fall
• My nephew is in college and having a great time

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Tilt Shift

This looks like a fun way to shoot.  I'm not great with tools and making things, but I bet even I could do this one.  May have to give it a go and see what kind of images I can get out of it.




ht to gozmodo.com

R.I.P. Governor King

Today New Mexico is saying goodbye to 3 term governor Bruce King.   He was one of my personal heroes.
My dad was in the NM Mounted Patrol which meant he worked alot of public events.  Whenever Bruce King was around, my dad would take me up to say hello and shake his hand. 
Governor King always said the same thing "and who's this pretty little girl?"...every time!
He had a way of making every person that he met feel special and welcomed.
Former president Clinton spoke the eulogy today and did a good job summarizing the Governor's wit, charm and hospitality. 
New Mexico was lucky to have such a good leader for so long.

Thanks for all your years of service Governor!

Project365 on Flickr

This is today's Project365 entry on Flickr. 
The idea is to take one photo a day and upload it on Flickr.
It's a pretty fun project so far.
I like the way that the ShakeIt application on my iphone captures neon.
This Fat Tire sign is hanging up at the local pizza place where I had lunch today.
More here

Quotable Quotes

“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” - Annie Dillard

Global Fund for Women

Global organization that distubutes grants to women all over the world. So far has given out more than $71 million.
More info here

Letting Go

Spiritual life is always about letting go of unnecessary baggage so that we’re prepared for death’s final letting go. That can only happen if we’re willing to know that our protected self-image is not the deepest me. Our passing personas are important and a good part of the journey and they even help us to taste moments of the Great I Am that is God. But there’s so much more.

Finally, like the great Paul, we can all say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Galatians 2:20). My deepest me is always God.


Richard Rohr

TEDLive India

Watching the first ever live streaming of a major TED event from India.
You can watch it here for the next couple days

http://ted.indiatimes.com/

Quotable Quotes

Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. But fear itself?? Fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. - Max Lucado

iphone phun

Shot this image of a local bank building with the "shakeit" application, then tweaked it with the new Photoshop Mobile from Adobe. Used the saturation and Vintage blur effects. Really like the graphical feel of this image.