psalm nineteen

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowle
dge.”

Today, this very day, is pouring forth speech — bearing witness, declaring testimony, sharing stories — of the glory of God.

Listen closely, soul. Watch carefully. See that raindrop? The sun breaking through that cloud? The thirsty earth, responding to heaven’s refreshment, soaking it all in? Listen; there’s a story of glory being told.

seven random things [about me]

Okay. Here we go (and I apologize if none of these are a surprise to you. I probably don’t have that many secrets):

1. After compulsively eating ice cubes for 11 years, the urgent need to do so suddenly and without warning vanished when Jameson was born.

2. On that note, I’ve never had a cavity.

3. I bite my fingernails and clip my toenails constantly. I don’t like any of the white part to show.

4. If I could live anywhere in the whole wide world, it would be on a solitary stretch of New England seashore. Actually, make that a farm in Kentucky with rolling green hills and huge sprawling oak trees and miles of white fence. Or, hmm, I might like to try a Manhattan brownstone, just a short walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And that’s only on this continent. (Maybe I don’t really know where I’d live if I had my druthers.)

5. The author I’ve read the most of: hands down, Carolyn Keene. (Of course, I don’t think such a person ever existed, but you get the idea.)

6. I’m a craft blog junkie.

7. I never did decide what I wanted to be when I grew up — but I have a feeling God wasn’t too thrown off by that. I think He’d already made up His mind, anyway.

*****

Here are the rules for the game:
*Link to the person that tagged you
*Post the rules on your blog.
*Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
*Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
*Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

I am tagging Jackie, Heather, Carina, Liana, Camilla, Sarah, and Michelle.

miscellany

Thank you so much for all of the feedback — and keep it coming! I have a feeling that we’re all taking notes and are getting good ideas.

Of course, it’s going to take me forever to actually buy something. From the way I agonize over such things, you’d think I was spending my last dollar, and that this was my last album purchase for the rest of forever. Goodness.

While I continue to enjoy researching and finding new [to me] music, I’m starting the morning out right:

Andras Schiff playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

Now that is good music.

*****

Jameson has begun telling jokes. He will jabber away, with all of these funny intonations, come to an end (I can tell by the cadence, not because I understand a single syllable), and burst out laughing — and by his conspiratorial look, I can tell he wants me to laugh, too.

It’s pretty funny. And needless to say, we do a lot of laughing these days!

*****

Our magnolia tree is full of great big buds, ready to burst.

Isn’t it mid-January? Shouldn’t I be getting a break from weeding the garden?

feedback requested: music

I’m writing this post in the hopes that not all of my audience is in the same predicament I find myself in (getting old and out of touch):

So, Ryan bought me the nano for Christmas. Up until this amazing present, I had kind of just given up listening to music, because I didn’t have a good set up, wasn’t allowed to buy CDs (how archaic), etc. Anyways, I now find myself totally out of the loop. I’m fighting the urge to just buy all of my old favorites (how on earth is it that I don’t own those??), and instead, get up to speed.

Just to show how not up to speed I am: I still think that Imogen Heap is, like, totally new.

So help me out here. What albums/artists are you loving? Have any worship albums come out that I absolutely need to hear? Where do I start?

church.

This has been an unusual Sunday.

Yesterday our car broke down two towns away. Ryan and Jameson had gone to the Goodwill drop-off (we’d spent the day cleaning and tossing), and just short of their destination, the van quit. I’m just really glad it happened with Ryan, and not with me.

So, with no car, getting to our church posed a bit of a problem. Or, rather, an impossibility. We were so bummed! Fortunately, though, there are several church option within walking distance. After getting dressed up in our Sunday best, we put Jameson in his stroller and headed off to a church we’ve wanted to visit since moving here. The style of worship isn’t our favorite, and there are several foundational things we disagree on — which is why it was never “in the running” — but we’ve heard great things about the pastor.

Soaring ceilings, massive wooden beams, beautiful stained glass windows: I understand why my mother wishes for such things on Sunday morning. If you’re lucky enough to attach only positive implications to such surroundings, then you may find it beautiful and deeply worshipful.

We weren’t sure of what to expect. How much not our style would this end up being? Would the sermon even be something we could agree with? Looking around: How many of these people do we suppose are saved? (Go ahead, criticize my smallness of thought.)

Well, the songs were good, but calling it contemporary worship is a stretch. (Think Vineyard crossed with sit-kneel-stand-repeatafterme.) The announcements were… impressive (testimonies of millions raised come to mind), but canned. The baby on my lap was… squirming and starting to make a bit too much noise, so we quickly vacated the premises. Ryan would have to fill me in on the sermon.

And fill me in he did — with tears in his eyes. Some of the best preaching he’s heard, he said. Deeply, deeply moving. What stories! what transparency! what insight! How amazing, we said, as we walked away amidst the stream of church-goers that floods little Menlo Park two times every Sunday — how amazing that such an amazingly influential cross-section of this amazingly influential area are our brothers and sisters. Maybe it’s not where we’ll commit ourselves, and maybe there are things we don’t quite understand, and maybe there are things we completely disagree with — but still. There is life and growth and Kingdom perspective happening right down the road. And that’s awesome to know.

I have to agree: I like church.