I stumbled across this on a friend's blog and loved it.  The guy is Tony Campolo who is one of my heros.  I gave a couple books by him as gifts this Christmas.  And I came across this in the midst of my own questioning about how the church can miss something so basic and central to the message of the scripture.  But whether or not the church "gets it" has little impact on whether or not I do as an individual.  So I guess I should just say that I'm paying attention and wondering what all this means for me.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

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I woke up feeling tired with an overall sense that something isn’t quite right physically, but I can’t put my finger on it.  I guess it’s just a tired thing, plus it’s all overcast and yucky here – this does not help.  And the bakery called.  No work this week as things stand.  Where are the superbowl orders?  Don’t people eat cake at football time?  Does anyone get together to celebrate Ground Hog Day?  I’m sure the orders will come in and I’ll have some work, but it’s going to be a long winter if I can’t get some money in my pocket again soon.  But that's the bakery business - it is highly cyclical. 

Hubby and I went to a church leadership council meeting last night.  It just underscored to me that our congregation has no local ministry done by church members into our community.  Our missions budget is a whopping 15 percent of budget though, which is pretty exceptional for a church and that is great.  When it comes down to it, the highest percentage of that money is going out of the country and a very small portion of it is being invested right here in the town where the church is located. 

I happen to be fully persuaded that a congregation’s first ministry is to the local region that it calls home.  Everything else is gravy.  Picture an ideal world where all the congregations in a town split up the map so that each church took care of the region between itself and the next church building in all directions.  If each church worked to meet the needs in their little geographic neighborhood that is home to their building – there would be no need for the welfare state.  And quite frankly – that is exactly what I believe the scripture calls the church to be.  But that is most certainly not the American way of doing church.  I’ve led mercy ministries, done work in kindness evangelism and a variety of outreach ministries of the church.  I know that the portion of people who attend a congregation who are actually actively engaged in outreach is pretty small.  And of all the priorities and financial considerations for a congregation, sometimes there isn't much left over.

Another model for congregational outreach is the idea that each member is a minister at their place of business each week.  But unfortunately the same thing is also true in this case.  Very few people view their work as a ministry.  I certainly did when I had the gallery, but now that I’m back in the employment market most of my mission mindedness has flown the coop.  So I’m certainly no example of this mission mindedness that I espouse.  So I wonder where this leaves me.  I think the biggest problem I see with this is the idea that if we only minister in our marketplace ministries then we will miss the portion of society that would never appear in our businesses.  We’ll miss the unemployed and the underemployed.  We’ll get little contact with the poor and our scriptural mandate to help the widow and the fatherless will go unheeded.  I think the church is held to account for not looking after those that society casts off.  There clearly are flaws in the system.

I guess it leaves me in the same place as usual.  I go to a church that is not perfect, that falls short of the ideal I have in my mind.  But we are a group of good and well intentioned people who are trying to live out our faith according to our understanding.  The fact that I’m dissatisfied and see an empty place that needs filling is nothing new in my life.  I’ve always had a certain amount of dissatisfaction and disillusionment about/with church.  At times I’ve worked really hard to see those empty places filled, spoken at length and worked to create an atmosphere where such things could flourish.  And I guess over the years I’ve seen that that work counted, at least for sowing seed in the heart of a congregation if nothing else.

But I come back to one fundamental question.  Where do I spend my energy?  To work for change in the church?  How long does one focus on an immobile, ineffective and engrained system before moving on?  I guess my theory in recent years has been to skip the church completely and set about working for change in my own circle of influence.  In some ways I feel that work in the church is wasted because there are so many hoops to jump and so much legal garbage and so many ways that one voice gets lost in a crowd.  Plus, the segment of society that would darken the church door on a Sunday morning is a small demographic.  On the other hand, if the work within the congregation becomes effective, then the potential to mobilize a significant group of people into active service is pretty amazing.  There are people who have been very successful in doing exactly that and communities are greatly helped and influenced by such things.  I have personal heroes who have been very successful in doing this.  However, if I go back to the marketplace ministry that is so close to my heart and pour my limited energies into that front, then maybe I’ll get a chance to see real change happen in the lives of people that I care about deeply.  I guess in some sense I want both. 

But in a season of my life when I find myself struggling and making excuses for my own lack of engagement, is it reasonable to expect that I’m going to be effecting any sort of change anywhere?  I don’t know.  Perhaps the first step is the dissatisfaction, the feeling that something is really missing.  Perhaps that is just a hallmark of my life – that I’m always discontent and that it is little more than my personal failure to find contentment in a dark world.  I just don’t know.

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Ok, I’m sick of my hair.  And ready for a change.  It’s long (at least for me) and while I love long hair on other people, I know that long hair on me A) takes too long to style which leads to B) generally going the lazy route to wear it up in a clip.  And C) it doesn’t stay looking good, it just goes rather sad/flat unless I got to lots of trouble.  Hubby prefers longer hair, but also prefers that it doesn’t take me very long to get ready.  But the truth is that longer hair just weighs me down. 

So I’m considering my choices.

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COLOR:

First, I’m wearing my hair in a light brown with a hit of red, not because it’s my best color choice but more because it was an easy change to make after wearing it lighter for a long time. 

 As I’ve stated before – my hair is naturally a musty rodent color.  So I dye it with gusto.  For a long time I wore my natural color with bleached streaks in the front and that worked for me. 

I’ve also worn a lot of blonde and super bleached blonde.  The blondes all work, though my mom thinks the really light bleached colors are too severe for me.

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  I’ve also briefly worn red.  However, my wardrobe of fuchsia, purple and turquoise will not support me in red hair even though it semi-works with my fair skin.  I won’t go darker than the color I’m wearing at the moment, because I’m very fair skinned, but I’d certainly consider lighter.  Even much lighter.  And streaks of some sort are an option though I think everyone is doing streaks which makes it much less interesting.  I have often said that when I turn fifty – I’ll cut it super short and dye it blue.  But that is not something I’m going to do right now.  Not yet.  Sooo… light blonde, medium blonde or dark blonde? 

Super shorty

CUT:

I’m considering a variety of things – but the common theme is: short!  Or at least shorter!

So how short?

Short flippin

This short?  It looks good on me, but it is a style I’ve had.  It is a style that takes about four seconds to do and that’s really nice.  I wore this style for a number of years.  So do I really want to repeat that or go for something new? 

Fringes

A little longer and messy? 

Cute.  I doubt it would be that hard to get this look or to keep it for the day.

How about a bit longer with a little flip?

  Ok, I’ve been there and done this and it works for me because more fullness in my hair looks good on me. 

Short flip out

 As long as it is pretty short it is easy to get the look and maintain it.  Nothing new there.

How about a modified bob with a straight fringe in front?  I had this style as a child for a very long time.  It’s easy and cute in a childlike sort of way.  Maybe I could spice it up with a little messiness. 

Short flip

Sarah jessica curly bob

I have seen a cut similar to this done in curls and that is really cute.  So maybe that would be a fun variation.

Bob

Then there is the bob that is long in front with a slant to longer hair at the chin.  Again, I’ve had that style for years and felt like it was easy to maintain and generally looked pretty good on me. 

Short bob

I’ve had it in a variety of lengths and really long in front and that worked.  I wore it before everyone had it and that made it kind of cool.  Now a “spice girl” is wearing it which makes it less interesting to me.  I have a few friends who have recently gotten this cut so I’m not real interested in being a copy cat. 

Posh bob

So let me know what you think, what color and what cut?

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Yeah, it's that time of year.  Saturday is Ground Hog Day.  These are chocolate cup cakes with white buttercream frosting dusted with oreo crumb "dirt" and green buttercream grass.  The little groundhogs are chocolate and he's sporting a bow tie and she has a ribbon in her hair.  If you don't want them to see their shadows, then just gobble them up in a big hurry!  Yummmm!

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Chocolate cake cut in the shape of a guitar, iced in buttercream on the top and chocolate on the sides.  The fret board, head, bridge and tuning pegs are all of fondant.  Was fun to create.  Client loved it.

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A friend asked me to come to the hospital to drive home behind her car.  Her daughter was having tubes put in her ears for about the forth time and apparently the hospital asks everyone leaving to have someone follow them home.  Ok, sounds strange to me but I said I’d be happy to. 

I may have mentioned this before, but I hate phones, finding one little room in really big hospitals and complicated driving directions.  But I especially hate phones.

Phone rings at about 11:15:

Hello?  Yeah, I am still in town, I got hung up with some stuff but I’ll be there shortly.

Ok thanks

(click)

I’m late, dang it!

11:35 I call hubby:

Hey, I’m trying to get to AMC and this doesn’t look right, can you help me figure out where I am?

What?  Wrong road?  I’ve been driving for ages and I’m going the wrong way?  

Ok, how do I get to the right road?

Go all the way back to town and start over?

Can’t get there from here?

Ok thanks

(click)

11:40 I call friend:

Hi, I’ve taken a wrong turn and I’m going to figure out how to get where you are and I’ll be there shortly.

K, bye

(click) STINK!

11:45 I call hubby:

Hey, I’ve pulled over.  I'm sitting here in front of a bunch of signs for two different interstates going four different directions.  Which one do I take?

(not-so-muffled laughter)

Ok, thanks

(click) mumble mumble

I’m high tailing it down the interstate when the car starts to shake.  It really put up a fuss.

Note to God - please don't let this be a flat tire. 

Note to self – have someone look at the tires and alignment.

She told me it was exit #609.  I see exit 91 and that’s not remotely similar to 609, am I even on the right road?  Oh great, a friend with a sick kid has been sitting there at the hospital waiting on me and I may be on the wrong road again.  Then I found the sign that said Exit 91 TO route 609. 

I consider calling someone again as I look at the directions hastily scribbled on a bit of paper I never actually intended to use.  (But seeing where the Yahoo directions got me, this was all I had.)

Ok, there’s the Medical Center, directions don’t say which entrance to use

12:02 Phone rings:

Hi, I’m at the patient entrance by the cancer center is that right?  Good.  Now where are you?  2^nd floor?  I’ll be right there.

Ok Thanks

(click)

12:09 Phone rings:

Hi, I’m on the second floor getting directions to your room from the receptionist.  Great.  Where are you?  Coming out of your room?  I’ll be right there.

Ok Thanks

(click)

12:12 Phone rings:

Hi, I’m outside your room.  Where are you?  At the entrance on the first floor?  Great.  I’ll be right there.

Ok Thanks

(click)

12:15 Phone rings:

Hi, I’m at the patient entrance on the first floor.  Where are you?  In the parking lot?  Great.  Would you stay put?  Great.  I’ll be right there.

About that time I see her on her cell phone by a car at the curb.

That’s her.

(click!)

I pull over and roll down my window.

I paste on a smile and act like it’s funny that I spent an hour on a wild goose chase.

Hey girl!  How are ya?  How’s the little one?  Great!  Ok, I’ll follow you.

12:20 So I followed her. 

12:25  Right back to town.

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What are 10 things you've done that other people probably haven't? 
Submitted by Janette.   

• I wrote and directed a drama.
• Hiked into the wilderness with a pack, spent the night in the wild all by myself.  Tried to catch a baby black snake - it got away.
• Wrote and seminar along with the manual from scratch. Participants gave good feedback.
• Lead singer in a band, and played keyboard on a float in a parade, played to over 30,000 people. 
• Opened and managed a successful small business.
• Won best in show for a collage/mixed media piece in an art show. 
• Won third place in an international jewelry design competition, the winning designs were then featured in industry publications.
• Coordinated a marketing cooperative of local businesses
• Held a kit drive and made 100 household kits to take to Katrina Victims.
• Made and decorated a cake that was all Styrofoam inside.  LOL!
• Drove a really big red fire truck.  Ok, for only six feet.  But it was all me baby!

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Kitchen before

Ha ha!  I won't actually be showing you how to do your own kitchen - you are on your own there.  But the work we’ve done on our kitchen looks really nice.  There is more work to be done of course, but it is really nice to see it come this far!  We bought a “fixer upper” in December of 06 and basically there was no kitchen.  Which was fine with me, because I wanted the chance to start from scratch again.

The first thing we did was to wash the cigarette smoke residue from every surface and let me tell you, that is one nasty job!

Priming everything

  The walls ran brown with tar every time we got them wet.  That people put that stuff in their lungs is beyond me.  Disgusting! 

After we’d scrubbed and rinsed every square inch, dripping with brown muck – it was finally clean. 

Sanding the floors

 The coat of primer that went on the walls after that really made a

Sanding

huge difference in the look of the place!  And a fresh coat of paint helped even more.  Wowza!

We pulled up multiple layers of flooring and found wood under all that.  So hubby and I set about refinishing the wood. 

After lots of sandpaper and dust we had pretty wood. 

More sanding

And all those layers of flooring had actually preserved the floor from the wear and tear that the rest of the house received, so it actually looked pretty good.  A few layers of floor finish followed and we had a beautiful wood floor for our new kitchen.

Cabinet boxes

My brother designed a custom kitchen for us, which I tweaked only slightly.  The cabinets were installed, maple with black trim.

Cabinet doors

 There are some fun details like the offset of the upper cabinets to the left of the sink and black trim around top, kick board and light rail.  It was fun to watch them put it all in place and make sure everything was straight and level and the measurements were perfect.  I loved it!

Cabinets

Then came the big heavy black counter tops.  The one “L” shaped section took quite a few guys to carry it and my brother and I were chatting away while he was working on the hole where the sink would go.  Well, unfortunately I distracted him with a comment I made about flipping the house.  (Me and my big mouth!) 

Counter top

Well apparently the idea really distracted him and he cut the hole for the sink to go in… only it was too big and the sink fit neatly right down through the hole.  Uh…  OPPS!  So we scoured the internet for a larger size sink to fit in the freshly installed super heavy black new counter.  And we found a few, but the prices were right on up into the stratosphere.  I had no idea people spend $1500 for a sink!  What?  Are you kidding me?  I hate to tell ya this, but your $1500 sink still doesn’t get your dishes any cleaner! 

Sink install

Counter number two

Finally they just took the first counter out, and brought in another.  This time they cut the hole right and the sink went in beautifully. 

The sink and faucet were Christmas gifts from hubby’s parents.  I especially love the faucet and its clean and simple design.  It’s hard to find a really beautiful faucet that isn’t all visually cluttered with lots of fru fru rings and curly cues.  Come on!  The faucet is as much of a design element of a kitchen as anything else and it needed to be right.  It would be straight and clean and beautifully designed as well.  The ones I liked were all really expensive until we ran across this one at a good price. 

Microwave hood

 Hubby and I disagreed over this one because he would have bought a cheaper one (uglier one!) but since it was my Christmas money – I got the one I wanted.  Merry Christmas to me!  I should mention that hubby did all the plumbing work to get that pretty faucet and sink to actually work as they should!  Yeah baby!

Hubby found a great microwave/hood for over the range.  We got it for only $100 even though it is a $400 unit.  Something about the wrong hardware to hang it with and a tiny little broken bit on the handle.  Well we snapped it up for that price.  Hubby got the right hardware to hang it and the broken bit is nothing structural and quite honestly I wouldn’t know it was there if it hadn’t been pointed out to me.  And hubby’s parents had given us $100 to buy ourselves a house warming gift.  Ha ha, our microwave hood is a houseWARMING gift!  LOL!  Again, hubby's electrical work made that hood possible.  Yay!

Cabinet hardware

Finally, I spent an evening on the couch with the catalog and chose the hardware for the cabinets.  Every time I chose one and looked at the price – I had to start all over.  Did you know there are people who pay $35 per piece for hardware?  What?  It’s like jewelry for your kitchen and there are really some beautiful things available for kitchens and bathrooms, etc.  So I chose a very reasonably priced square hardware that I really like.  (Since my Dad and Brother’s company was doing the kitchen – I got an unbelievable deal on all of it!)  My dad and I installed the hardware and I put some at an angle and some are straight.  Love that!  And we considered the kitchen “done” for the moment and moved on to other projects around the house.

Kitchen before adoption photos

Well, when hubby and I started working on the early adoption paper work, they wanted photographs of the rooms of the house.  (so many comments spring to mind...  but moving right along...)  So took a photograph of the kitchen while hubby was doing dishes to see what all would show.  And then after some careful placement of different items I took another photograph. 

Kitchen adoption photos

Needless to say we sent off the second photo, the staged one.  I carefully placed a chair in front of the hole where the dish washer was supposed to be.  And a photograph covered the hole in the wall from an unfinished electrical project.  LOL!  I felt like one of those house staging people, getting everything just right and covering all the flaws.  Te He!  It was actually very fun!

Kitchen dishwasher

Fast forward to Christmas 2007 and we were considering how we wanted to spend our Christmas money from my parents.  Hubby and I put our money together, tossed in a little extra and bought a dish washer.  Our portion of the purchase price was very low.  Hubby installed it and it looks great and finally we no longer need a dish drainer on the counter.  That makes room and I love how much better it looks!  Oh, and it does the dishes.  Yeah!  Love that!

Tile start

I’d been thinking about tiling the kitchen backsplash for some time and spent an hour at Books a Million with a friend looking through kitchen books for ideas. 

Tile grout

I really struggled with what I wanted the backsplash to look like mainly because I didn’t have an idea in mind for how the whole kitchen would look when all the details had come together.  So another evening on the couch and I had it all planned… right down to the last detail.  Finally!  So after I got a feel for the big picture, choosing the tile was much easier. 

Kitchen tile ungrouted

I went to buy tile at Lowe’s and I was able to get it at a great price.  Every 12 inch sheet of tiles had one broken tile.  So I got the tile for about 60% off.  Replacing the one broken tile on each sheet was no problem.  I also made small accent tiles out of polymer clay.  It took a number of evenings to make the needed number of tiles but I was happy with how they turned out.  Finally it was time to tile.  So hubby and I tiled the backsplash, he cut the tiles that needed cutting and I did the rest and it looked so good, I could hardly believe it!

Kitchen knife rack

I’ve added a few accessories from Ikea.  A magnetic knife rack – which I love.  And a pair of rails that are fun.  I have some photos hanging on that plus some linens and utensils.  A few spice containers, and a pepper and salt mill that I found for a great price at TJ Max - and that was it. 

Kitchen rails detail

 I banished the bread machine to the laundry room to free up some counter space.  And I’m really happy with how it looks.  And bread made in the laundry room still makes the whole house smell really good!

Kitchen accessories

I have a few projects left to complete.  I’ll paint the window over the sink and give it a paper screen instead of the blind.  The black dishwasher shows a little bit of white around the edges which kind of annoys me.  I’m going to get hubby to pull it out of the hole and we’ll apply some black electrical tape over the offending parts.  That should do it.  I’ll also make some art glass for the light fixture over the sink and various accessories.  That will be fun.  And I’m coming down home stretch on a vibrant painting to go over the table on the wall. 

Kitchen painting

I think that will be fun as well.  I’m looking for dish towels and an oven mitt in the right color, but that’s hard to find.  So I’ll keep my eyes open to see what is out there.  I have a supplier who offers towels that can be died to the right color.  I may end up doing that.  I already have all the fabric dyes and could easily do that myself.  But they come twelve to a pack.  Do I really need dish towels in twelve different colors?  Hmmm…  *nods vigorously!*  I may put the door back up on the TV cabinet, it looks better when that door is on but we like to work in the kitchen with the TV on sometimes so we generally leave it off.  And finally, the one element that will bring it all together:  Under cabinet lights.  Yeah, now that project will be so cool.  And it’s on hubby’s list of things to do.  So sometime – hopefully before to long – we’ll be experiencing the illuminating glow of another finished project.  Yeah baby! 

Kitchen rails

We will eventually replace the range and fridge with ones that better match the kitchen in black and stainless steel, but I don't really like to replace those kinds of things when the ones we have are still working fine.  That can wait.  No rush. 

I’ve had some good kitchens at other houses in the past.