Mission: Flagpole

All I need is a flagpole.  A simple flagpole.  

I have this great Pirate flag from a choir kiddo, 

and now I just need to fly it from a pole.  

Easier said than done.  

The best laid plans are ALWAYS on a napkin, are they not?

We did a little scheming, and I set off in search of my supplies.  

Too wooden.

Too big.

Too metal.  

The pole I eventually ended up finding is about 200 feet tall, which thanks to my incredible depth perception skills, was a complete joy to purchase.  Nothing like smacking every single sign on my way to the register.  Had I not exited on my own, I'm pretty sure the security guards (what security guards!?) at Home Depot would have escorted me right out the door.  

I was also busy painting this weekend.  

We're going to be a colorful Pirate Choir, I tell ya.  

Here's a sneak peek...

Wood you happen to know what this might be?

I know you'll treasure this.

Back to the flagpole.  And the power drill.  

All good flagpoles need power drills, do they not?

Hey!  This might actually work!

Hooray for napkins!

Please Don't Eat Me

I can't even believe these two THINGS are getting space on the blog, but alas, I must chronicle the good and the bad.  The very bad.  The very VERY bad.  Here goes.

Yes, the above is exactly what it looks like.  I may give him photo space, but I ain't typin' his name.  UGH.  All I needed on Friday was a nice, calm walk with a friend.  It had been a terribly long and trying day, and a nice walk sounded wonderful.  Sunshine, baby stroller, and then THIS.  UGH again.  

This was the second, yes SECOND, sn*** of the day.  The first was at school.  What kind of sn*** comes to a school!?  I'll tell you what kind - a creepy kind.  Eeew.  And that was AFTER the spider decided to visit our school, too, and took a field trip down my shirt, but I digress...

Mind you, I reacted in a completely calm and respectable fashion.  NOT.  I stood there shrieking on the sidewalk.  The toddler and my friend remained calm, I just shrieked.   My toes curled up.  My fingers clenched.  And I shrieked.  Loud and long enough for my voice to hurt.  Very helpful.

SECOND creature of the week that tried to ruin my day - this huge thing.  I had parked along the side of my school (hmm...school again...perhaps there is a pattern developing...) ANYWAY, I had just parked my car and was about to exit when this BEAST starts ferociously barking on the other side of my car window.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Should have just died of fright right there in the driver's seat.  

I did the only LOGICAL thing I could do in this kind of situation:  took a photo of the beast and texted a friend to come rescue me ASAP (and she would have)!  As I debated how to get myself out of this one, he just CIRCLED my car, like a big dog-headed vulture.  This thing was bigger than my Hyundai.  No, REALLY.  Cracked the window and tried to shoo him.  Yeah, that worked.  

He eventually wandered off, as if terrorizing me was his only point, and now he had better things to do.  I grabbed everything I could hold in one arm, and literally made a run for it, chanting "Please don't eat me!  Please don't eat me!" the entire way.  I'm hoping the neighbors (the ones who did NOT come help when this frothing beast was licking his chops) weren't watching this entire scene, chuckling at the terrified blonde running from her car.  

Not once while the dog was barking did it occur to me that I could have simply DRIVEN AWAY. 

Alive in the Spirit!

May 23, 2010:  Pentecost was an arm-raising, dove-flying, balloon-floating, ball-throwing, beanbag-tossing, spirit-filled Sunday at Bethany Lutheran Church here in Denver!  Here's a link to Pr Ruth Ann's spirited sermon.  The Spirit was everywhere!

Fifteen doves (3 for the Trinity and 12 more for either the Apostles or the 12 tribes or...you take your Biblical pick) were released from our main entrance on Hampden Ave.  Jeremiah, Charlotte, and I took a sneak peek at the doves before we opened the cage door and let them fly.  And fly they did.  Almost directly into the windshield of the car that happened to be turning at that exact moment into the church!    (No animals and/or vehicles were harmed in the releasing of these doves.)

Love that little Charlotte!

Carole specifically did NOT wear RED on May 23...so she could save her RED outfit for Pentecost...which she thought was May 30.  :o)  We found her some red toothpicks and a red stir stick so she could join the red fun!

A bouncy church.  At church.  Unreal!

Release the doves, part 2.  

We watched from a safe distance this time...

Fly!  Fly away!  Be free!

This is Stacie.  

This is Stacie innocently planning to take pictures of doves.

This is Stacie realizing she may 

have stood a bit too close to the doves.

This is Stacie ducking for cover as 

the incoming doves approach.  HA!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Sarah, who TAKES all the pictures, 

finally having her picture TAKEN!

The entire Carnival part of the morning was held to raise money for the upcoming high school trip to Washington.  This included, oh yes, a dunk tank.  I love my church.

Here's Joni, taking one for the team.  LOVE the goggles.  

Long-time choir member Joyce taking her turn at 

dunking Dan Grace, the choir director.   Way to go, Joyce! 

Well, if JOYCE could dunk him, so could I!  This would be the last-minute pleading, dare I say, begging, from Dan Grace for me not to dunk him.  Actually, the conversation went more like this:

Me:  You're going down.

DG:  Now, Brenda, there's this saying...payback is...

Me:  Good to know.  You're still going down.  

Pretty good form, if I do say so myself!  

(We will not mention the fact that I missed.  Next year, Dan Grace.  Next year.) 

This is Ruth Ann.  

This is Ruth Ann, all nice and dry.

This is Ruth Ann, about to be submerged!

Oh, Henry!  Nice shot!

What was that she had JUST said earlier in the day, during her sermon?  Let us recall...  "If you want to truly get open to the Spirit, lift your hands!  High, not so high, or just a little depending on your comfort level."

Raise 'em high! Come, Holy Spirit, COME!

Well, I wasn't about to let that little incident with DG discourage me from trying again.  I think the gleeful grin on my face tells the tale....2 out of 3 had Ruth Ann under water once again!  :)

All in good fun - she's still speaking to me!

The water wings made one last appearance as Pr Ron took his turn in the tank.  All that more amusing, considering his 8 ft. frame allowed him to just about stand when 'dunked'!

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

Little Faith Formers

I took this photo while traveling along I-25. 

I spend hundreds of miles on this road each week.

The sky has never looked like this before.

Bethany Early Childhood Center (BECC) Spring Sing!  These are the little people I hang out with when I'm off-track - when I need a little playtime.  They were darling, unpredictable, precocious, and so incredibly lovable.  They sang their little hearts out as their moms and dads watched from the pews.  Love these little faith formers!

May 27th was a long, tiring day.  Loooooooong, tiring day.  

This, however, left a smile on in my heart at the end of it all.  

Setting sun.  Children at play.  

All is well.  

A Heart Enlightened

Each day, I receive an e-mail from the ELCA with a daily reading from the Bible.  An excerpt from today's prose:

"...so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,

you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..."

Ephesians 1:18

May 27th is always a calendar date I greet with mixed emotions.  We all celebrate Birth dates.  Well, this is more of a Death date, which I know sounds rather depressing from someone who is usually quite cheerful.  5 years.  I wrote a bit about the surgery last year, "2 mg of Perspective".  FIVE years ago today my life changed forever. 

"...so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,

you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..."

Ephesians 1:18

Today is incredibly packed with appointments, performances, conversations, and a million other details.  Thankfully, just about each of those moments will be spent with two things:  MUSIC and CHILDREN.  Nothing enlightens my heart more than these two joys of my life.  Surgery or no surgery, these are the things that give me the hope to which I have been called,  and allow today to still be a celebration of sorts.  The photo in today's post is from this year's Easter Vigil, and is an awesome reminder to me of the Resurrection - another point of hope for people of Christian faith.  A reminder that our life on Earth isn't all there is, or all there will be.   

"...so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,

you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..."

Ephesians 1:18

Mug.Duck.Bounce.Bling

Odd.  Colorful.  Amusing.  

Some photos about Flagstone:

The yearbook arrived this week!  32 colorful pages of children and smiling faces.  Tons of hours of work and care and detail.  Shout out to Nicola and Annie - we worked super hard, and the book looks great!  Hooray!

AND, who knew a couple of years ago that, someday, the Mission Song I penned would be on a MUG!?  HA!  There it is!  (to the tune of "Alouette")  How fun!

Art and Craft Fair at Flagstone today.

Check out these odd looking soap ducks.

Odd...yet somehow cute enough to make it home with me!

Didn't expect to see THIS in the school library...

Glitter bling!  Super cool combo of some kind of special glitter glue and then a whole bunch of sparkles.  Supposed to last a couple of days, which should be awfully amusing tomorrow, when I'm helping serve Communion at church...!

Just Another Half Mile to Go!

The Faithful Soles walk again!

The Habitat Hustle 5K was today, and we've added

some members to the team! Hooray, Bethany!

Can we say W I N D Y ? ! ? !

Traci and her daughter, Taylor. RUN, Shahans, RUN!

A day at the beach. (You KNOW how much I

miss my water, even if it looks like...this!)

Hang on to your croissants, people,

it's going to be a blustery day!

Sarah catching the corner-rounding of the RTG.

These geese kept following us...

Other than the AMAZING blue beauty, can you spot

the medical helicopter? We had it on standby in

case any of the Faithful Soles needed help. :)

...told you they were following us...

Sarah and the Palm Cross. Off we go!

Helicopter's back. Hmm....

Loving this Saturday morning walk!

They're baaaaaack...

Too bad nobody thought to bring a camera....

Sarah and I and WATER and DENVER! JOY!

RTG offering some encouragement to the peeps

up ahead of us. We tried lapping them. Didn't work.

I may not be afraid of MY shadow...

Palm Cross hand-off from Mark, Amy, and Andrea! (I had run back to them earlier in the race so they could carry it with them for a while, and we ended up passing each other on the double-secret-just-kidding-you-aren't-quite-done-with-the-race-even-though-you've-passed-the-finish-line-and-you-have-to-run-another-half-mile-yet lap.)

LA-CY! LA-CY! Mark finishing the race!

SPRONK right behind...

And Amy and her new shoes!

And....done.

Another day in the life of this Hustler.

(HABITAT HUSTLER, people!)

Click here to learn more about Habitat for Humanity here in Denver!