"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."  Genesis 1:31

Reading this today in the book, Sabbath, by Wayne Muller,  "Our willingness to rest depends on what we believe we will find there.  At rest, we come face to face with the essence of life.  If we believe life is fundamentally good, we will seek out rest as a taste of that goodness.  If we believe life is fundamentally bad or flawed, we will be reluctant to quiet ourselves, afraid of meeting the darkness that resides in things - or in ourselves."

I have found this true in my life many times....that I am afraid to be quiet, or be restful, and just "be".  I may not like what I find in myself or in my life, if I slow down and rest and think.  At the same time, I am always refreshed by taking time off, sitting back, looking at myself and listening to God.  I think that Satan loves to keep us busy and going a hundred miles an hour......  If we're busy, we have no time to listen....to what God has to whisper to us............

"At rest our souls are restored.  This is the only commandment that begins with the word "remember," as if it refers to something we already know, but have forgotten.  It is good.  It is whole.  It is beautiful.  In our hurry and worry and acquiring and working, we forget."  Rest, take delight in the goodness of God.  This goodness always waits for us to discover it, if we will only be patient and listen.

I read this today:

I need wide spaces in my heart
Where faith and I can go apart
And grow serene.

Life gets so choked by busy living,
Kindness so lost in fussy giving,
That love slips by unseen.

I want to make a quietplace
Where those I love can see God's face,
Can stretch their hearts across the earth,
Can understand what spring is worth.
Can count the stars,
Watch violets grow,
And learn what birds and children know.
-Selected.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
Little we see in nature that is ours;
We have given our souls away, a sordid boon.

My goal for the next few months is to have a rest.....a Sabbath rest or a Sabbatical.  This is a new adventure to me.  I am not good at resting, but I really believe this is something I need to do.  It goes completely counter to what I usually do.  When I finished working at Old Faithful and finished with the holiday season, I was very tired.  I don't think I am unusual at all.  I think most people go through life weary and tired and many of us don't know it.  We know we have to "keep going" so we ignore the exhaustion.  This works for awhile, maybe days, months or even years, but eventually it will catch up with us.  Like an avalanche it gains momentum and if not stopped will completely overwhelm and bury us.  In the past year I have read a couple of books on rest and particularly the Sabbath.  What does "sabbath" mean, why is it important, why does God ask us to rest?  And why did Jesus take the time to rest.  There is more to this than meets the eye, there is even more to this than just being tired and needing to rest.  I don't know what it means really, but I'm willing to take a few hours every day to explore this.  I am re-reading the book, Sabbath by Wayne Muller.  I will be re-reading other books during this time also.  I find it interesting that as Christians we spend hours telling each other how to find our ministry, or our mission in life.  There are classes in everything imaginable, but I know of none that teach us how to "rest" or "keep Sabbath."  Being busy is where we get our worth....having things to do is how we feel we are important.  I know this, because this is how I am.  It has already been a struggle to slow down, I start feeling panicky after several hours of reading and resting.  There are hundreds of things calling my name.............this will not be easy, but good things usually aren't that easy.

Yesterday I went to Goodwill.  I had fun finding books to read and give away. I took my time, when I started feeling guilty and panicky for being in the store "too long", I told myself it was okay, I could relax and enjoy going through the books.  It would be alright, the world wouldn't come to an end if I spent an hour or so enjoying myself!   I found four "Carl" books and I will enjoy "reading" them to Daniel.  They are largely wordless books, but the pictures are beautiful and at .59 each (and another 30% off with my Senior discount), they were quite the bargain!  Speaking of books I also found a gorgeous Tuscany cookbook (someone will be getting that as a gift!), and a book, Country Weekends by Lee Bailey.  I can't resist books with gorgeous photography and when you add recipes they are almost irresistible! 

So here's to more "happy reading, resting and enjoying the quiet of life."  May you find some "sabbath rest" today..........

My paperwork for Old Faithful is officially finished as of today.  I tallied up the inventory that I donated to two thriftstores and it added up to over $5,000.00 in items.  The total number of  items was 1491!  And I'm sure that it wasn't totally complete, but it was the best I could do.

I went to the dentist today, I am getting a bridge put in and today I got just the temporary one.  It wasn't very fun, I hate dentists anyway, and getting a shot in my mouth and then having him dig around in my mouth just adds to the discomfort.  In two weeks he will put in the permanent one.  I'll be glad when that's over.  After I finished with that, I climbed in my van and the battery was dead.  Thank goodness Doyle was close and he came over and started it for me.  I was going to walk at the mall, but I was still feeling jittery from the shot, so I came home, ate lunch and watched a DVD all afternoon.  It was a perfect afternoon for relaxing (other than finishing paperwork and doing laundry), as it alternately, snowed, hailed and rained.  Our dirt road is the biggest mess we've ever seen it and we've lived out here for almost 30 years, it's like soup!

Sunday morning Doyle went in to the garage and came back in the house with the sad news that our kitty, "Paws" had died sometime in the night.  I knew she wouldn't last the winter, she was very thin and had a bad cough, or rather labored breathing.  She had a good, long life though, we figure she was close to 14 years old, if not older.  That leaves her litter mate, Blondie, who is now alone and not doing so well either.  Death is always sad, even with an animal.

I wish I felt more like writing, but alas, not today.............

  Warning........This is a pretty random post.

What an exciting day........I thought for sure I was back in the 1970's when I walked down the mall.  As I neared the food court, the noise got louder and louder.  I remembered thinking that it was really noisy even with the high school lunch crowd and as I got nearer I realized why it was so loud........I saw a white streak running down the food court, weaving in and out of all the kids.........really, it couldn't be.......but it WAS!  Yes, it definitely WAS!  It was a skinny, long haired, blond male (carefully holding his hand in front of his "nether" lands (is that really a word?).......very strategically, holding that hand, and he was running, sprinting actually, through all those now enlightened teens.........).Ummmm....the roar was like a wave.......a roar of laughter and incredulousness.........it was actually a "streaker!"  Gosh, I lived through the 70's (or was it the 80's, now I don't remember!) without seeing one streaker and here I was an old lady...........seeing my first streaker!  (Hmm....it wasn't really that exciting, I have to admit....)   It's only taken  20 -30 years for "streaking" to catch on in our little old cowpoke town......  Hopefully, it won't catch on too much......one skinny little butt streaking through the food court was enough to make me thankful I hadn't spent money on my  lunch there!

The other exciting part of the day was that I went to Walden Books.  Today is their last day of being in business and even though I went in for a cookbook, I came out with anything but a cookbook.  The cookbooks were all gone.........So, thinking of the next few months and hopefully having lots of time to read, I bought these books.  See if you can make ANY sense out of my choices (other than they were cheap!).....Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom; Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman; Cherries in Winter by Susan Colon; The gift of an ordinary day by Katrina Kenison; The Gospel According to COCO Chanel by Karen Karbo; Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich; Coop by Michael Perry; and A Breeze Swept Through by Luci Tapahonso.   Any one want to guess why I was interested in these books?    (Besides the fact that I can't pass up a good deal, I am looking forward to reading these).

Here is a question I've been thinking of lately.....why are companies so mis-managed?  I am not a "rocket scientist" and don't even have an MBA, but I'll bet I could use common sense and manage some companies better than some of these nitwits.......I mean really, a work day without scheduled lunch breaks or "breaks" in general..........I mean that's not even legal!  And don't tell me it doesn't happen, cause I know it does.....

  The snow is still coming down.  I really should be working on my Old Faithful inventory and I will start soon.......really, but it's so nice sitting by the fire and feeling all snug as a bug in a rug.  My cousin, Wendy, asked me if I thought I could get used to staying at home and the answer is yes.  I have so many projects that it will take months (if not years) to do them all.  I was wailing to Heather the other day that there are so many books I want to read that I doubted if I would get them all read before I die, and she laughed and then said I could read in Heaven!  Yes, thank goodness, I will!  Heaven wouldn't be Heaven without books, would it? 

Christopher asked me how my sabbatical" was going, and I had to confess I can't really start it until February, because for the month of January I'm on Jury duty and I have taxes and inventory to do.....but I plan on starting soon..............but until then, back to my inventory..........and taxes!  Oh the joy of being self-employed!

Jonathan's 3rd birthday was a "hat raising" success!  Yes, the BIG birthday boy received 11 hats for his birthday.  My friend Mary (in the red hat) found a children's book called "The hat book" held by Doyle, and it inspired her gift and mine...........HATS!  As Jonathan picked each hat out of the gift bag he ran around the room and had each person put it on.  I gave my hat to his other grandma, "Nana" so I could take some pictures.  We expect he will have many fun hours trying on his many different hat personalities. 

And for those who don't know Jonathan, the picture of  himself with his birthday hat on (Thomas the Train, wouldn't ya know?) is very "typical" of a Jonathan pose.  When he grows up, he will smile......for the camera, he promises!    Until then, he's just "not old enough" yet! 

It's time to rest.

I thought I'd better post something or everyone would think I had died!  So, this small post is just to say that I'm alive and kicking...........well not so much kicking.......
The holidays were great, especially seeing friends and family we don't get to see very often.  Of course the best was seeing Christopher and Megan (who live in Virginia) and Erin and Nathan who live in Santa Fe.  We were kept busy eating, talking and opening presents and talking and eating! 

Jonathan decided he was terrified of our angel candelabra that he has loved the in the past, so the last few days I had to hide it.  Little kids are funny sometimes!

Besides the Christmas festivities (a Christmas caroling party at our house on the 23rd), our Christmas with our family on the 24th at our house, and Christmas dinner at our house for some family and friends, Mary and I had the last few days of sales at our store Old Faithful.  Oh, and a party at our house on New Year's Day!

Our store, Old Faithful officially had it's last day on December 31.  With all our prices at 75% off, we still made $1700.00.  Not bad for our little old store, and this after six weeks of mostly 50% off.  We are exhausted and are now in the throes of packing up and getting rid of the extra stuff we didn't sell.  We hope to be totally out of the store on January 15.  We are very proud of our little venture and believe it was successful, especially when in the last few days we've had to talk to former customers who are so sad we are quitting.

My next adventure is............NOTHING!!  For awhile, I will be taking a much needed break from "things".   However, I will keep posting!

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year, especially seen through the eyes of a child.  Besides Christmas though, Jonathan and I have a party to have!  Today  I got my braces off and I promised Jonathan that when he gets his casts off and I get my braces off, we will celebrate............and tomorrow is the DAY!!!    We are having a Christmas Caroling party at our house, and also a "YEAH" for Jonathan and me that we endured the casts and braces!

Snow is forecast for today and the next few days.  I hope Erin and Nathan arrive safely, and am thankful that Christopher and Megan got here safely from the snow filled East coast last night.  Tomorrow Heather is coming over with the boys and we are baking, baking, baking!  I intend to enjoy my time with my family immensely as only a "feeler" can! 

Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone!  May you find yourself blessed by God, friends and family...........