Facts

Fact #1: This weekend, after rather violent skirmishes with my vacuum cleaner, some piping hot honey roasted pecans, and a misplaced dresser drawer, I got a black eye, fat lip, and mild limp. Then, while dancing, I tweaked a muscle in my back making it hard to turn my head from side to side. I've decided to buy myself a human-sized bubble.

Fact #2: This morning I was coaxed out of my little bungalo on the hill by the sound of loud machinery. Outside, I found a handyman doing something handy with the property plumbing and septic tank.

"There are three people on this property, and too much water without a place to go, so we're re-routing it," he explained.

Septic tank handiwork makes me nervous, so I was poised and ready when, minutes later, my bathroom sink and toilet started spewing and the floor began to flood with dirty water.

Fact #3: I am waiting for a tree to fall on my house. It just seems like the sort of thing that should happen this week.

Actually, I've not been feeling well the last two days as a result of a flare-up from my illness, which makes dealing with these little inconveniences much more difficult. It also makes it easier to join the Little Red Hen in her refrain: "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!"

My best solution to avoiding this refrain is to think on what is good and true about God and my life. And the truth is, this weekend was fun. It was full of friends, long walks in the sunshine, and a lunch with family.

Here I am with my uncle (dad's little brother), aunt, and a couple of my cousins.

We had lunch at "Wind and Sea," a restaurant situated next to the harbor. The window views and sunshine were glorious.

After lunch, we walked around the harbor, window shopping and taking pictures. It doesn't matter that I've lived down here for ten years; I still can't put my camera down when I'm at the harbor.

At one point we stopped to watch the Parrot Man. He is often hanging out at the harbor showing off his parrots and answering parrot-related questions from passers by. I pulled out my camera to take a photo of him.

"Put your camera in your pocket and come here," he said when he saw me.

So I handed my camera to my cousin, and the next thing I knew I was covered in parrots.

First, he handed me his prized white parrot. She was so soft and docile.

Then, he asked me what country I was from. "Well, um, the, uh, United States, uh, of America?" Unless I am speaking to or teaching crowds, I don't do well in front of them. I forget important things, like what country I'm from.

He responded by setting his red parrot on my shoulder and his blue parrot on my head, to go with his white parrot, of course. It was a very patriotic parrot party. Sorry. Alliteration made me say it.

This is my, "Uuuuuuuh, are these guys potty trained?" face:

They really were fun birds. And there is something about feeling warm weight on your body. Babies, puppies, hot water bottles, parrots. It just feels comforting, man.

The parrot man really wanted to put on a show for the growing crowd, so he started switching things up.

"Put your hands on your hips and look sassy!" he said.

"Keep it up!" he encouraged.

"Now look up in the air!"

"Now go and have yourself a good afternoon!"

Fact #4: We did.

Friends, I hope your Tuesday is full of patriotic parrots that can distract you from spewing toilets, metaphorically speaking of course.

Love,

SJ


© by scj

Autumn tea party

Two years ago something really lovely happened: I met a group of girls who like tea parties as much as I do.

This last Sunday two of these gals threw their annual autumn tea party. It was the perfect excuse to continue speaking in the British accent I'd polished earlier in the week.

Unfortunately, almost every picture I took of the girls who attended is fuzzy. We tried to rectify the problem by capturing photos of ourselves with four different phones, but not a single one of the results was clear. How strange.

It could be that we were having too much fun to hold the phones still...

Yes, that's probably it.

This year the group of girls who attended was rather large, so the party was held in a local clubhouse.

There were goodies galore,

"Sips and Sweets"

cool drinks and hot drinks,

and, of course, tea cups for days. At this point in the photo tour I'd died and gone to heaven.

There was also a craft table, at which we could make little tea "hats."

The girls put so much thought and effort into the details of this party.

It was just the most delightful way to end the weekend, dahling.

© by scj

Across the sky

While hiking in Julian the weekend before last, I walked past this giant tree trunk, uprooted and charred by the most recent forest fire.

When I was a kid I'd draw pictures and write messages across our brick hearth with bits of burnt wood. They reminded me of the charcoal pencils my mom would use to make black and white sketches. There was always so much possibility in those little black sticks.

This blackened trunk looked to me like a giant charcoal pencil, packed with enough "ink" to fill the whole sky with pictures and messages. I found myself imagining God's giant hand picking up that giant pencil and writing me a message across the sky.

What would he say, I wonder?

What I hoped he'd say came to me quickly. It must have hovering on the surface of my secret heart. And you know, thinking about what I'd hope God would write to me across the sky has changed my prayer life this week. It's revealed a deep, aching desire in which I'd like God to be intimately involved.

So maybe, before you rush off to finish plowing through your day, you could stop and consider what you'd hope God would write across the sky for you. It might change the way you pray today, which might make your day lovelier.


© by scj

Girlfriend getaway

I can go a week without chocolate, sunshine, ocean waves, tea and scones, and even deep belly laughter. But I cannot go a week without spending time with my girls. I love them, and I need them, and I am so thankful for them.

Which is why the weekend before last's girlfriend getaway to a cabin up in Julian was lovely, delightful, marvelous.

Guess how many nights we were away?

One.

Yes, we have a problem. Well, I have a problem. Mine is the giant, green suitcase to the right. Hey, give a girl a break: I needed to be sure to have several sets of sweatpants to choose from. You never know when you'll need an extra set of sweatpants.

On our way there, we stopped at a little roadside country store with fresh farm produce. I found the cutest little green duck just waiting for someone to take him home.

The air in Julian is clean, the colors are autumnal, and the pace is slow.

It was the perfect place to lay around talking. And talking. And talking. That's pretty much all we did.

We didn't even get all the luggage into the cabin before we were all lounging on the swing trying to solve the world's problems.

We are a psychology-loving group who cares about emotional health and loves talking about spiritual formation and relational dynamics. Our conversations turn into wonderful adventures traversing further up and further in to each other's minds and hearts.

We did eventually leave the porch for a sunset hike into the woods,

where we found a clear-water creek,

and tromped across large clearings glowing with dusky light.

We like each other.

Gosh, I love these girls. They are vibrant, intelligent, kind and fun. They fill the empty nooks and crannies in my secret soul places.

After our hike we made ourselves a yummy dinner and a roaring fire. And then we curled up by the fire and talked.

Then we went to bed, and talked some more. Talking into the dark, long past bedtime is one of my most favorite things.

The next morning we made breakfast, and talked until the sun was high in the sky and it was time to head home.

And by that time we really had solved the world's problems. Until next time, anyway.


© by scj

Just a spoonful of sugar

The last month has been hard. Okay, the last year has been hard. Okay, the last three years have been hard. I've been hard-pressed to figure out how to deal with all this continued hardship. What I wouldn't give for some rest, I tell ya. 

But for now, respite from the hard stuff doesn't seem to be God's plan for my life. So I've been learning to press on. The best way I've found to do this is to recenter my heart on God's goodness and involvement in my life. I'm learning to do this by noticing and celebrating the ways God daily shows me his love and grace. 

Awhile back my mom suggested that I also consider building things into my life that I can look forward to.

I think Mary Poppins would would agree with a resounding, "Yes! Do it! A spoonful of sugar always helps the medicine go down."

Mary Poppins' advice is practically perfect in every way.

And then, this week, as per the suggestion of a friend, I decided to be Mary Poppins for a friend's Halloween costume party.

When I was a kid I loved the creative challenge of making my own Halloween costumes. My favorites include a bumblebee who sold honey from a portable honey stand, a half a sandwich (a friend was the other half), and a bag of jelly beans.

I also just generally liked dressing up.

Left to right: honorary sister Annie, Me, little brother Aaron

Honorary sister Elizabeth, sister Rebecca, and me

My childhood friend Lauren and I had some of the best dress up get-ups I've ever seen

The ol' tape-the-nose-trick.

So you can imagine that dressing up as one of the main ladies from my childhood was a delightful prospect. Very delightful indeed.

And glory of glories, it was something new to look forward to!

Boy, you would have thought I was 9 years old the way I grinned with anticipation while sewing my bow tie and and putting the finishing touches on my felt hat.

The finished product did make feel like I was nine years old all over again.

And really, who doesn't love an excuse to talk with a British accent for a night? Also, I've discovered an interesting phenomenon: if one person is speaking with a British accent, then everyone around that person will also begin to speak with a British accent. It is truly wonderful.

This tall frappucino needed a spoonful of sugar.

A friend had the actual Mary Poppins umbrella and let me borrow it. Isn't it perfect?!

Mary Poppins is the perfect party costume for introverts... ;)

We had lots of fun taking pictures.

All in all, it was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious kind of evening!

Just exactly the spoonful of sugar I needed.




© by scj