Uphill idealist

This just made me smile. Hope it did the same for you.

Last night at youth group we tie dyed some t-shirts to wind down to the end of summer vacation and to start off the new school year right. Tie dyes are always fun to make, but it's always good to know what kind of design you'd like to create before you start pouring the dye willy nilly. Depending on your choice of pattern( the spiral, the bulls-eye, the crinkle and many more) you need to rubber band the shirt in a particular way and apply the dye carefully so that you saturate the t-shirt enough to create a distinctive pattern. Last evening as we began tie dyeing, Heather decided to go for the spiral pattern (which you can see here) while I made a bulls-eye pattern. All in all I think we both got the balance of pattern and dye saturation down rater well. There have been many times that I've made tie dyes that I either don't think about the pattern or over-saturate the shirt in dye and end up with a muddy brown ugly blend of a mess. Our discussion at youth was about Jesu

Here are my cuties on their first foggy morning back to school... Up in the mornin and out to school The teacher is teachin the golden rule American history and practical math You studyin hard and hopin to pass Workin your fingers right down to the bone And the guy behind you wont leave you alone Ring, ring goes the bell The cook in the lunch rooms ready to sell Youre lucky if you can find a seat Youre fortunate if you have time to eat Back in the classroom, open your books Keep up the teacher dont know how mean she looks Soon as three oclock rolls around You finally lay your burden down Close up your books, get out of your seat Down the halls and into the street Up to the corner and round the bend Right to the juke joint, you go in Drop the coin right into the slot Youre gotta hear somethin thats really hot With the one you love, youre makin romance All day long you been wantin to dance, Feeling the music from head to toe Round and round and round we go Hail, hail rock and roll Delive

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” Don Williams Jr. Mixed media painting by T.L. Eastman - "Embrace the journey" August 09'

Image of Phyllis Tickle from Commercial Appeal.com . It will be interesting to see how this turns out. I'll be staying tuned. Phyllis Tickle is one of the most highly respected authorities and popular speakers on religion in America today.

Donald Miller will be speaking at First Lutheran Church on Saturday October 24th while on his northeast book tour. Ticket details to come very soon! BTW - Here's the link to Donald's new book "A Million Miles in a thousand years."

A Facebook friend tagged me in this meme and I couldn't resist. Here goes my effort to recall the first 15 books that have stuck with me. 1. Circle of Quiet by Madeline L'Engle. This book made me what to go to back to college. 2. Sacred Space - this devotional book is published every year and has been my most consistent companion in my prayer life. 3. The New Moosewood Cookbook - This cookbook offers incredibly tasty vegetarian dishes. Its always fun to cook out of. 4. The Message - Whenever I'm looking for a fresh way of looking at scripture I look in Eugene Peterson's paraphrase version of the Bible. 5. Bird by bird by Anne Lamott. I don't think this book is one a writer is ever "done" with. Just when you think there is no more to write about, Anne pushes you to dig deeper. 6. The Shack by William P. Young - I read this last summer when I had been laid off and was dealing with so many emotions. It helped me make my way through to the other side. 7

"Gray" from Don Perovich's log . In a world where discomfort and pain seem to get the greatest amount of attention, my friend Mary Lue leads the way on her Sleeping with bread host post with words of comfort that rush over me like a warm tide. "You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin" (Job 14:15-16) All week long it seems a series of discomforts were in the works of life. My son's broken wrist, some challenges with allergy asthma and exercise, rain that never seemed it would stop, and a meeting that was so negative that it effected my mood for way too many days of the week. In many ways it was a gray week. Image from China Daily. But then there were many, many comforts that were like beams of sunlight breaking the grayness away. Like having a Greek lunch with my son and having both of us laugh at the challenge of eating soup with his left hand