seeds, and 'who moved my button thingie!'

a couple of weeks ago, I snapped some photos in our Sunday morning class. look at these preciouses.

stony.  book, chapter, and verse, please.

what what??

check it!

nom nom.

it was C's first time sitting up at the table with us by himself!

welcome, friend!

exploring the Messiah's birth and telephone rattles.

Bible class is tasty fun!

our friends.

it's been a busy time.  busy good, but busy nonetheless.  I should be resting - I woke up at 2:30a and couldn't sleep, which will no doubt violently come back to haunt me later in the day.  I would go into the kitchen and do dishes, pick up the baby's things that are strung all over the house, something useful if I weren't afraid of waking the other two people in my family, who need all the sleep they can get.  so, after perusing the internet for awhile I'm forced to blog.  grandma said I should blog more anyway.  :)

various trains of thought:

I'm so amused by the way everyone freaks out every time facebook makes changes.  I think it just highlights the fact that humans so easily become creatures of comfort and habit, and we just balk at change.  fb only serves to remind us that nothing ever stays the same... especially when your industry is all about new technologies, new features, new interfaces, and the constant 'update' to stay faster, better, and more relevant than the other guy.

there's some language here, but this bit from Louis CK on Conan had some pretty funny and zingy truths to it...  'everything's awesome, and nobody's happy.'

I'm astounded to see posts like, 'I'm cheating on fb with google+!  it's sooo much better.'  who has time to explore all of this?  I have a personal and professional page on fb, and can barely find the oomph to crawl over to my actor page once in a blue moon to apologize for never going there.  between facebook, and google+, and farmville, and twitter, and words with friends, and hanging with friends, and angry birds, and rdio, and RSS feeds, and blog posts, and on and on I wonder that anyone ever works, or speaks to the people they live with.  that last part is aimed at myself, as generally I'm words with friendsing before I turn out the light.  deep, late night conversations with mgb, solving the world's problems?  no no hold on, honey, I've got an X I have to get rid of.

I jest.  some.

I'm sure there's some merit to it... like maybe it'll keep our brains in tip top shape as we age, like those archaic paper crossword puzzles are reported to do.  I'm also pretty sure I waste a colossal amount of time on this stuff, and that I just do it because I can.  they're like little smoke breaks throughout the day, minus the gross smoking part... and better because I don't have to get up and walk outside for anyone to see I'm stepping away from life/work for five (or forty-five?) minutes all day long.

remember when I asked about your technology habits a few posts ago?  and didn't even have the courtesy to post my own?  mmm-hmm.

oh my, I just heard husby's alarm go off.  he has a pretty early call.

I'm going to be a goofy mess later today.  but I'm off the whole day!!

the nap will be incredible.

-m.y.

glorious saturday glories

it's so beautiful outside. we're in the middle of a draught and half of Texas is aflame so we're in desperate need of rain, but it's been so hot this summer that I still have to celebrate the cooler temperatures and beautiful sunshine that doesn't seem to want to bake me like a potato.

daddy bought magz a sesame street coloring book. it's one of her favorite things to look at and 'read' right now.

it's also interesting to actually color in.

daddy is giving pointers.
his professional opinion is that outlining everything really makes the picture come to life.

will she be a lefty?  I read that most kids this age are sort of ambidextrous...

bedtime butterfly stories

who wouldn't want to kick back in a cushy basket full of soft things?

getting out isn't as easy as getting in.

this morning... glorious outside glories

have a lovely day, everyone. -m.y.

playing receptionist and bathroom photographer

the end of last week was epic. Thursday morning began with a commute to Grapevine for a few hours, then over to Richardson for a few more hours, then down to Austin to stay the night at the Ramada just off 35 (the same one we stayed at when I was shooting Fiesta, mom & lindabell). that Ramada has a great breakfast, fyi. I lazed around a little that morning then headed about 45 minutes northeast to Thrall, where a movie called Abel's Field is shooting. I was just a day player, playing a receptionist at the bank where the young male lead has come to try to get a loan. we had a really lovely little scene, and it was a good day. I then hopped back into my car and headed home, pulling into the driveway in Houston around 9p. here's me as The Best Receptionist Ever:

my hair was totally shellacked.

after trips like that, I generally just want to hibernate for awhile. we had a nice weekend, culminating with an encouraging Sunday. we were blessed to have 2 new families attend our small group, and I'm struck by how much of a shot in the arm that is. new blood. growth. welcoming and serving. last night, at our Wednesday gathering, one of those families was there as well as another woman with three children I'd not met before. I pray for the encouragement of more individuals and families at our church, more opportunities to serve and share the journey. mgb was sharing stories about the kids he gets to work with on Wednesday nights... some of them have experienced so much, and even though they may have no other family present they show up at our church and eat as much fruit, sandwiches, and veggie chips as they want. I know we're not the right fit for everyone and God plants people where He will, and I know we face challenges. but it's invigorating and I'm hopeful.

and now let's get on to photos of the magpie.

books are mostly stashed here, on the lower bookshelves, and in her room. she spends a lot of her day bringing them to us and plainly communicating that she would like you to read it to her, please.

like this.

asking teddy if he wants to talk on mama's phone:

sleepyface.

Daddy bought Magz her first set of crayons. behold:

before church:

shoehands!! (a favorite game of hers)

wearing the pretty necklace marmee gave her:

passed out in the car, looking ever so much like mgb.

this next series is titled 'Scenes from a Bathroom'

'talking' on the dental floss phone

yes, that's my headband she's using as a necklace.

hope everyone is having a good week. peace, my people.

-m.y.

quickly, while the baby sleeps...

I was at the Y earlier and whilst traversing the treadmill Alastair Begg addressed the topic of our culture as it relates to the Christ-follower. I'd read a blog post about this topic last weekend that stuck with me, and I'm prompted to share. Alastair was speaking specifically of Starbucks, and how easy it is now to walk into one, pull your laptop alongside a stranger, and pretty much start up a philosophical conversation about anything. The phrase that sticks in my head was that he said we should be 'one foot in the Bible, one foot in the culture'... my paraphrase is that in order to share our stories and let the love of God pour out we need to be sure we're not cloistered away. Share the goods with the world around us, engage where we're able.

A couple of excerpts from the blog linked to above:

"It is implied that Christians should be counter cultural regardless of what values are upheld by the culture. But acting in that way only encourages pride, stunts the growth of the Church, and ignores the Spirit of God at work among all peoples. In fact, the Church can learn a lot from nonChristians, and if nonChristians agree en masse about something, that's called culture. And sometimes nonChristian culture is right. Many cultures without the influence of the Church, for instance, are right about the importance of respect for their elders. Other cultures are right about personal liberty in the face of oppression. So to be blindly counter cultural ignores the image of God emblazoned on each and every culture. Somewhere in each culture, He's there. We must learn to recognize those aspects, learn from them, and use them as inroads for the Gospel."

I really like that last part about finding common good, worthy aspects of culture, learning from one another, and using them as inroads for relationship.

and this point:

"So the problem with our view of the disease of culture is not that it exists, but where it exists. The Church should be made up of people who point to themselves and say, "Me. It's me. I am the problem with the world." When Christians, as His representatives on Earth, fail to recognize the sin in our own hearts, even the cultural sin, we mar His image and bring ill repute to His name. Yes, there is sin in the world that we should fight. But we must always look to find the sin in ourselves first. When pastors, authors, and teachers encourage us to counter contemporary culture without regard for the broken cultures within the Church, we look like a bunch of finger-pointing hypocrites."

no time to elaborate, baby stirring. just food for thought. would be happy to hear any thoughts you have about the church vs. culture (how do YOU define 'culture'?), being 'in the world but not of it', etc.

-m.y.

mid to late august. really?

so here are a few glimpses into recent life.

I was feeling like we needed to lighten up around here, literally. our old brown sofa had sprung a few holes that magz enjoyed sticking her fingers into to triumphantly pull out tufts of stuffing, so we decided to gift Old Brown to brother J and hit craigslist for a replacement. we found a super-cool sofa/chair set for a great price, and voila! I really like the color and the clean, modern vibe of them. here's mgb and the baby demonstrating the sofa's napping capability:

can we talk about the most dramatic plant ever? these coleus plants have positively thrived in our front bed, crowding out other flora friends and behaving in a rather flamboyant manner. this was how they looked when we got home one afternoon... droopy, sad, parched, someone help us this is a dire situation gasp!

close up of sad, dramatic coleus.

two - count 'em - TWO hours later after a little watering and a brief, freak rain shower:

REFRESHED! BOOOIIIIINGGGGG!

woohoo!! look alive, everybody!!

the DRAMA.

this was taken after church last Sunday. you can't see it much, but this is a dress mgb bought me as a surprise, and I love it so much.

iphone photos of naps.

iphone photos of storytime. goodnight, moon!

back to the whole 'lightening up' idea. we gave away our old dining room table and chairs and sold our antique buffet on craigslist. you can sort of see that we're using the other table to eat at in the sunroom, which feels really nice. we still have to move that light fixture that hung down over the table, but I think we're going to leave the space clear. the open space is sooo nice! we're calling it the 'dance floor'. we've finally finished all of the carpentry work on the shelving and replaced our huge television with a sleek version that swivels out to watch and fits nice and flush against the wall when we want to put it away. all in all, the house just feels a lot bigger and it was a nice, emotional boost to switch things up a bit. plus it's easier to clean.

playing with scarfs I brought back from mexico.

a tricked-out version of daddy & magz. thanks, instagram app.

hmmmm, I've got my thinking bowl on...

dear.

she can say mama, dada, elmo, up, dog, I done, I do, no, and hi. she can sign apple, more, please, cereal, eat, drink, hot, banana, and bib. she loves those books of first words, and is getting pretty good at recognizing animals, foods, pieces of clothing, toys, etc. she's also getting good at shaking her head 'no' and communicating with her body, she give lots of kisses, and will hug and pat you. oh, and she's working on saying this:

the power - and boredom? - of repetition, or why your weird prayer is ok

here's something you may or may not know about me - I will read words written by other people, but I really, really want to cite them. in other words, I don't want people to think words I speak are mine if they're not. it's a quibbling thing and is hardly remarkable at all except that I have to address this quibble whenever I'm asked to read something publicly, like prayers written by others. there are many wonderful prayer books and I'll read out of every one of them if I'm asked... but I want you to know they sprung from someone else's inspiration, not mine. it's probably the result of having a hardcore English teacher at some point who seriously impressed upon me the importance of giving credit where it's rightfully due.

I mention this because I've been thinking about prayer. I grew up in churches in which you almost knew what the words were before they fell out of the mouths of the persons uttering them. you know what I mean. I think sometimes we grow bored with the expected and known, or we think that the same words spoken over and over feel dead. I know I've felt that way. then there are the wild card prayers, when you know the person well enough to know there's no telling what's going to come out. will it be 15 minutes long? will it contain something profoundly awkward that I hope the visitor over there can overlook? in light of these prayer possibilities, a scripted prayer certainly offers fresh words for the rote and some sort of approved content for the renegade, not to mention the fact that it can just be a very nice thing on it's own merit, regardless.

for a moment, though, I want to stick up for repetition. my Grandad died recently, and on our last trip home my Grandma offered the prayer before one of our meals. as she started to say the words, my heart and mind joined in, "Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, and our bodies to Thy service to do Thy will. These things we ask in Thy name, Amen." it's what she says. it's what my Grandad said. it's lovely and comforting and holy and I hope it never changes. I feel the same way whenever we say the Lord's prayer at the end of a meeting. there's palpable weight in the same, simple words and thoughts, uttered together by a people who believe there is One with all power to save and change us. I'll use the word again - it's holy.

I'm also feeling a desire to make the case for letting the renegades pray their odd, political, long, who-knows-what prayers. for a really great fleshing out of this idea, please see this post from RHE's blog, 'Blessed are the un-cool'. I can't improve upon it, I can only add that when you're blessed to have a unique church makeup, like mine, and blessed to be a part of a culture that encourages the voices of everyone to be heard, I think I have to accept that sometimes some of those voices will say awkward things, not play by the unspoken 'prayer rules', or not be really good at speaking at all. and that's okay. it's their contribution to the family, and though some awkward moment may make me squirm I'm pretty sure God doesn't give a rip, except for whispering that I should be less critical of my brothers and sisters. on the other hand, we also have people who are such gifted communicators in different ways that we're all blessed teach and learn from one another. I love when S. Walker prays, as happened Sunday. it thrills me. I love to hear my husband pray, because he wasn't always comfortable doing it out loud.

from the blog entry I linked to above, 'the truth is we’re all guilty of thinking we’re too cool for the least of these. Our elitism shows up when we forbid others from contributing art and music because we deem it unworthy of glorifying God, or when we scoot our family an extra foot or two down the pew when the guy with Aspergers sits down. Having helped start a church, I remember hoping that our hip guests wouldn’t be turned off by our less-than-hip guests. For a second I forgot that in church, of all places, those distinctions should disappear.' Letting anyone who will speak, speak their own words, is definitely an exercise in relinquishing control, but where will control lead us?

I have nothing against written prayers. there are loads of great ones that can speak to, minister, comfort, encourage and teach us, and I believe there is definitely space to share them. the Serenity prayer comes to mind. it's really good and every time I say or hear it I wish I said or heard it more often. I do hope, though, that we remember that our prayers are good enough without dressing up or borrowing from others. the authentic prayer of a believer can stand alone.

-m.y.

I rarely ask for feedback...

but would love to hear how my peoples out there manage their media intake. that's the grown up way to ask the question. the blunter version is something like, 'how do you keep social media/the news/etc from sucking up your whole day?'

how do you discipline yourself? or do you?

-m.y.