wanted: your thoughts

what do you all think about how people have been protesting the last few years over places that are using "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas"?

i have some thoughts on the matter, but would also like to hear your thoughts on the matter instead of just telling you all what i think you should think :)

currently reading

Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner
Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas
Walden by Thoreau
The Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen
Every Woman's Battle by Ethridge & Arterburn
Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina

what are you reading? any you recommend picking up next?

amazing race...and tazers

so i was with matthew at a family holiday party tonight. toward the end, my uber-social self got partied out and decided to watch the latest episode of the amazing race. after most people had left, the remaining few got sucked into it too. in between and over watching, we chatted back and forth about the game and about the dynamics it brought out in the players. we talked about how the stresses brought out the best and the worst in people.

james, one of the husbands in the family, is a great guy, a self-proclaimed technological illiterate, avid hunter, and down to earth kind of person. he has a way of dropping those hilarious comments that you don't see coming. as we watched the show, he chimed in with one of these. he says, "you know what would really spice up this show? if they gave them all tazers"

i laughed a lot. you're a funny guy james--thanks for making my evening that much brighter! :)

Streak Runners

So, I read this fascinating article the other day about streak runners like the man in this picture, Robert Kraft. These are runners who have found some motivation within themselves to cause them to run at least 1 continuous mile a day, EVERY day--regardless of health, weather, schedule, or injury.

Here's the article if this sparks your interest:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=streakrun

Although I don't think I'll ever aspire to run every day for years like these streak runners, it did awaken that stirring deep inside me that for some reason loves to run. It's the same stirring that I get about things like digging in the garden, about yoga, about appreciate art & culture, about learning. Like we do so often, I have let the busyness of life draw me away from rhythms of engaging these things I love. Maybe I should start again.

What is your activity that connects with you somewhere deep inside?

keweenaw wilds

yesterday one of my sister's good friends posted pictures of my homeland--the keweenaw. it is such a wild and wonderful place. something resonated with you deep inside. seeing the pictures brought tears to my eyes as something resonated with me deep inside. it feels like coming home.


i was reminded of a post i made several years ago when i was home on a break from college. i thought i would share it with you all to give you just a tiny glimpse into it's wild beauty:


"it snowed today the fluffier flakes that looked like that fake snow you can buy when it was on the ground. I saw lake superior for the first time since coming home. It was breathtaking coming into view all navy blue green and choppy. the sun set beautifully pastel above it and it was rather wild crashing on the rocks...coming into eagle harbor the water no longer crashed, but gently rolled in with the town looking picturesque and the lighthouse slowly flashing from the rocky point. I spotted the first star, bright in the sky. So bright it was probably not a star but a planet or satellite--i am not good about knowing what all those are...it continued so bright it later reminded me of the Christmas star that proclaimed Jesus’ birth...the rest of the stars came out with wilderness beauty in the black sky. There I saw the big dipper for the first time I remember since going to school. For some reason I never seem to spot it in the sky down there in Georgia. It was hung there huge on the horizon. my heart swells..."

seeing the sun rise

i've always been more of a morning person than a night person, but that never meant i actually got up early.

but then you get older and you realize that when you come home from work you don't feel like doing much.

i've also found a wonderful feeling when you crawl out of bed knowing you have hours until you have to leave for work. when the sun is just brushing the sky with gold and pink. when everything is quiet and fresh.

so matt & i decided to try to get up earlier.

yesterday morning i paid bills, read the news, reflected on scripture, ate breakfast, got ready, did dishes, and fed our dogs all before i had to leave for work. and that was getting out of bed later than i wanted to.

maybe friday i'll start running again.

the pathetic part about it is that i start to crash around 9 or 10pm now.

regardless, i'm loving it.

to be a person of gentle grace

what does this mean? i was reading proverbs in The Message this morning--figure i can use some wisdom in my life--and this phrase in 11:16 resonated with me somewhere deep down. somehow the words communicated something beautiful, something that makes me wonder if there's something more than this way i have been living, this way that's watching out for me & mine. somehow i long for this.

so what does this look like when you feel you need to stand up for your rights?

what does this look like when i have been hurt or wronged?

i'd love to hear your thoughts.