That Good Part

I did it!  For 31 consecutive days I posted something on the topic of enjoyment.  I can't believe that one whole month has past, and this is over as quickly as it began.  I confess when I started this, I really wasn't confident that- 1. I would find 31 things to post and  2. That I would actually post for 31 days. When I started, I was most inspired by what I had been reading in the book of Ecclesiastes, and I thought my posts would take a more spiritual tone, sort of unpacking what the Lord showed me in that book.  Maybe, if you know me, that's what you expected, and instead you got a lot of ramblings about food and other things.  Sorry, but I hope you enjoyed it.  I have really enjoyed pondering enjoyment this past month.  It started out easy, got harder, and even in that, I found an enjoyment in the challenge.  In the ruthless editing.  If you think what you got wasn't very good, you should have read what I deleted.   ...

I love a road trip.  I grew up in a Sunday drive family, with a dad who loved to get out of town.  If there is a back road in San Diego county, chance are I was on it one time or another in my life.  My dad was from Dubuque Iowa, which I imagine today is far different than it was when he was born there 92 years ago. When I was there at as a young kid, it was still fairly small, with the Mississippi River on one side and Iowa corn on the other. The filming of "Field of Dreams" took place not to far from there.  It was a world away from Southern California and I loved my Iowa summers. I loved getting to and from there as well, my dad was Goggle before Google was invented.  If there was a unique, out of the way, off the beaten path place, my dad knew about it.  He was a voracious reader, a lover of facts, and I don't think anyone every had a boring conversation with my dad his whole long life.  Road trips were fun because of where we went, and how we ...

I love the desert.  I don't mind the heat, as long as you don't want me to dig a ditch, and I certainly don't mind that it looks the same for miles and miles and miles.  I love the emptiness.   Of course, the desert isn't really empty, there is plenty there if you get out of the car and look around.  I remember the first time I drove across the Texas Panhandle as an adult and all I could think was "There is so much ROOM out here!"  I loved the vastness of it.  When we crossed into Texas, I had to get out and take a picture of the "Welcome To Texas" sign, which I would have posted but that was in the days when there was a thing called "film" and I can't find it right now.   Which is why I am currently finding enjoyment with less.  I'm really tired of the conversation that begin with "Do you know where....?"  I'm tired of unpacking an entire drawer or closet to find the one thing I need.  Anyone relate?  We are at ...

This is my granddaughter Audrey.  Her parents have two of these ottomans in their living room, one is filled with Audrey's toys, the other has a blanket in it.  Every now and then, Audrey pulls the blanket out and gets in, either with Trader Joe's "O's" cereal or a book.  It is one of her favorite places.   Every one has a favorite place.  My husband and I have a couple, and they are secret, because we don't want to see you there.  We love you, but we don't want to see you there.  I call them En Gedi, the oasis that David went to for rest.  Sometimes, you really need an oasis. Sometimes, you just need a good storage ottoman. I have a fiction series I really enjoy, by Jan Karon.  It centers on a small town in North Carolina, and the main character is an Episcopalian priest in his 60's.  He starts out a bachelor, finds love, and you have to read the series yourself to find out what else happens.  I recommend that you do, you'll e...

"In a very real way, anything we do on earth that brings true joy or delight or fulfillment was made possible by death, by Love's sacrifice on a cross. Discovering what makes you come fully alive isn't the goal of life, but it is  evidence of life.   To be fully alive is impossible without the resurrection work of Christ."  Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways.                            The Empty Tomb, Indio, 2013