Church Choir

My church has put together a choir for Easter and I am so excited! Yesterday was the first practice and it was so much fun! I had forgotten what hard work it is to sing properly, but I've missed it. We did warm ups. We all sang all of the parts for one of the songs. I've never done that before. I chatted with my friends. The hour flew by. We will be performing on Easter Sunday and I can't wait. It'll be a long day since we will be singing at all three gatherings, but that's ok. It'll be great. And in between we'll get to hang out and eat snacks, lol. 

Just when I think I can't love it at my church any more than I already do, they do something unexpected to make me love it more, like put together a choir. We have now attended there seven years and it keeps getting better and I keep getting more involved, which if you know me, is a very good sign. With choir happening on Thursday nights, I will now have church events five out of seven days a week. Is that too much? No! Sundays, Bible study, community group, choir; they're all very different. Mondays involve driving my boys to church for youth, so it's not really an event for me. But, it is still another way that my family connects with our church family. And this is my community, our community. This is where I want to invest my time. 

Be st Fri ends

I send you memes and random Bible study questions. / We discuss what that guy's motive for murder could've been on that show and whether they recast the female lead? / You know some of my passwords and I know yours. / You're a soft place to land and wickedly funny. / We talk about those annoying talkative people who don't seem to know that they'd seem smarter if they kept their mouths closed and ugly mismatched outfits and what happened to her face? / I share how much it hurt to lose my dad and how things are really going. / We plan trips and Bible studies and fitness plans and what flavour of ice cream to buy. / You make me delicious food and I contribute important help doing things like cutting avocado. /  We drink copious amounts of tea. / You love mushrooms and I love tomatoes. / You think details and I think big picture. / We talk. About everything.

"I used to think that all this in-between stuff was the intermission, the rest stops along the way...but lately I've come to realize that all of this small stuff is the stuff. This is it, the main event, the blue plate special, a million little drops of love that fill the whole cup."

Lent

It's Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent on the church calendar. I have done various things over the years to mark the season of Lent. It has always involved giving up something whether shopping, wine, or social media. This year, I have decided to do something a little different. Rather than giving up something, I have decided to focus on what I am filling myself up with and choose my "best yes" each day. My best yes on any given day might look different. Today, it looked like going to an Ash Wednesday service where there was beautiful singing, candlelight, ashes, communion and prayer. I was tired after work and considered staying home. But I knew that I would love the church service and it would be worth going. And I was right. 

In considering what my best yes is, I don't mean to selfishly fill myself with all the things that delight me. On Sunday our church is having an AGM. I have never been and I hate (business) meetings, but my best yes involves doing things I know I should do whether I want to or not. Exercise on the elliptical falls into this category and a variety of other things that I will be doing. Looking forward to the next 40 days til Easter...

loves

They say love is a word that is thrown around too casually, that it has lost some of its depth. But you know what? I really do love potato chips and coffee and chocolate. I love my living room and my couch. I love the pink streaks in my hair and my painted nails. I love flowers. I love my church and my class and my community group. I love my dresses and my ballet flats and my new black jacket. I love conversations with my best friend. I love rain and sunshine and cold mornings. I love the twinkle lights in my classroom. I love my new pink blanket and the fake magnolias in the vase. I love music and the preaching of my pastors and the sound of rain. I love tea with milk and sugar. I love sinking into a new book. I love visiting my neighbour. I love recess and coffee with my coworkers. I don't think my love for these things diminishes my love for all the more important people and things in my life. "As a matter of fact, I am entirely certain that the music swells, time stops and lights twinkle for even our most ordinary, fleeting, Monday-kinda loves."

beauty in winter

I've been teaching my students about adjectives and how to make their writing more interesting. Last week, we talked about beauty. How it is subjective and "in the eye of the beholder". I told them that on our nature walk that day we were going to search for beauty. They protested; "but, it's winter". True. It's harder to find beauty when things are dead. When it's not even snowy, but grey and gross outside. But that just makes it more of a challenge. 

So, we went outside and they found some. Hearty herbs that were still growing in the garden. Birds sitting on a wire. A birds nest. And a heart shape in the trunk of a tree. Beauty is everywhere if you can be bothered to look. And when it's hard to find, that's when you should try especially hard to find it.

Sorry I Can't Come To The Phone Right Now

I saw a poem with this title on Instagram that was really funny, so I decided to borrow the idea and create my own:

Sorry I can't come to the phone right now.

I am sitting on the sofa contemplating life/sipping my latte/staring at the glowing fire/listening to the rain drizzle on my patio/watching videos on Instagram/reading my prayer book/checking Whatsapp/twirling my hair around my finger/listening to husband on a work call/shopping online. I'm wondering whether to take a personal day tomorrow/thinking about my elliptical/remembering the nice jacket I saw at Superstore. I am regretting that it's my turn for school pick up/annoyed that the rain is so misty that an umbrella looks dumb but without one my hair is ruined. I'm upset /my feelings are hurt/I feel ignored. I am being petty/I am not using judgement of charity like RC Sproul taught me yesterday. I am basking in all the hugs I got this morning at Bible study/I am feeling loved. I am staring at the pile of books and wanting to read them all and also none. I am wishing you would text. I hate phone calls. I am busy.

new life motto

I have a new motto for 2023: I'm here to grate fresh parm all over my life and never say "when". This poem, but especially that line made me laugh. To be really honest, I have always said "when" to the waiter much sooner than I've wanted. I've thought about how it will look if I ask for as much cheese as I REALLY want. Well, no more friends....