In these times of woe and recession,
There once was a girl named BG, 
Well, that was fun. Just got back from Safeway. Being the ever-graceful swan that I am, I slipped on some water in the front entrance, slid sideways on my heels (still wearing them from church), and doubled over backwards ONLY to catch myself just in time, re-gain my balance, twist myself upwards, and congratulate myself on avoiding yet another ER visit.
The beauty of the Catskills in Upper New York - the scene of yet another one of Brad and Dad's grandioso motorcycle journeys around the United States.
The evil weather/radar - I think I'm going to start charging Dad and Brad for those late night "turn on the computer right now, find us the nearest available hotel, what does the radar look like" phone calls. Honestly. They rode from WI to NY in 22 hours of rain so Brad could have "Iron Butt" bragging rights (riding 1,000 miles in less than 24 hours). Pretty sure I've earned "Iron Brenda" status for all the computer/tech support on my end, thank you very much. :)
October 4th was a busy day for movement! The Bethany Team
Pumpkin Man! Here's Pastor Ron Glusenkamp, crossing the finish line at the Maine Marathon. 26.2 miles! Woohoo! Many of us were busy tweeting him during the race - you can read more about his adventures on his blog, REVUP-RTG.
I spent the afternoon and evening of October 4th running
Who knew that watching little capsules dissolve into Halloween characters could reveal such GLEE! We were going to watch just a few of them erupt, but ended up dissolving the entire package of 12! Happy boy! I bet AJ wishes he had his very own Grow-A-Flamingo, too...
Check out Nicola's Bronco boy, John! Game on!
Faith Formation bulletin board BEFORE...
...my loose vision of what I was thinking....
...and here's how it turned out!
Autumn in Castle Rock!
Miss Emma Isabella is 3 months old now!
"Hi-ho the Rattlin' Bog... Now in this bog there was an egg..." I was hoping for more of the in-one-piece, not-split-open, lovely-round-type of Egg, but alas, this was the carnage the kids came up with! Lovely.
Me: Tell me about your clown.
Believe. I believe in signs that God is always near.
Believe. I believe that my Disciple Bible Study group has helped me grow in my faith, has helped me figure out how to go about reading the Bible (I've only begun!), and has allowed me to ask questions I've been wanting to ask for years. Seeing as how faith formation is a life-long challenge, I'm looking forward to what classes and studies await me!
Be Light. I happened to be volunteering in the office this April when Bob Heistand had dropped by, just joyful at the recent progress of his beloved wife, Loretta (pictured above). She was recovering from a stroke, and he shared pictures and stories of her recovery, just beaming with the pride and love of a spouse. He WAS light.
Be Light. I recently sat down in my den, ready to complete my daily study for Disciple, and I'm reading up on the city of Corinth. Reading all about how it's the Vegas of its day, how they worshipped money and other horrible things, how crazy cults and new religions were springing up everywhere. A real hot bed of corruption. An unlikely place for Paul to try and plant a church, much less get these folks under control!
Be Light. A moon-lit view from Bethany.
Be Love. The last word could be benign, as that was the final word from the test results. Recent medical worries turned out to be a wandering lymph node (who knew). My doctor was intrigued by my recent weight loss (just hit the 40 lb mark in a little over 6 months), so we did blood work (stone-cold normal) and fit in a quick visit to the Sally Jobe Clinic (think I'll wait until I'm 40 to do THAT again). I do have to say, whomever thought to physically warm-up the gowns at the clinic was brilliant. A needed touch in such an environment. Same with the flowers above - fake or not, it's the little things when you are terrified and half-clothed and alone.
Be Love. Who could this be? Why Pastor Ruth Ann and Homer, of course! Where, oh where, were THESE two when I was taking confirmation/church-prep classes as a kid? The energy surge and genuine interest my pastors create and nurture is amazing, and watching them cultivate a love of learning about God is inspiring.
Be Love. Ruth Ann and I recently attended a John Michael Talbot concert - he's a Catholic monk (who looks like a cross between Santa, Jesus, and Charles Manson) who travels the country, singing and playing Christian music while accompanying himself on the guitar. Reflective, amusing, full of the Spirit, moments of worship. An evening we both totally needed - what a night!
Pastor Ron (left), Kent and Kathy
Wasn't really trying to make this picture artistic -
LOVE having beautiful flowers in the house!
I don't care how old you are: care packages from your parents are fun at any age! Here are the contents of a recent package from Sheboygan: a fun NYC card, ridiculous cow napkins from Texas, a calendar quote about teaching, my very own pink flamingo lawn ornament, and enough gum to get me to be quiet (chewing instead of talking) during meetings! AWESOME!
Here's my Grow-a-Flamingo.
Mum on her birthday. See, she likes flowers, too!
The Cowboys Nuts. I mean Brad and Dad.
One of my favorite Fall lessons is to introduce Orff's "Carmina Burana" to my 6th graders. They are usually in need of some bombastic music - something loud with crazy text, and lots of gongs and percussion. This totally fits the bill. They eat up the history, love saying the word ORFF, and I have a blast teaching it. This particular batch of 6th graders has been extra amusing.
