Archive | March, 2013

It’s not going to be easy –

11 Mar

It’s not going to be easy to listen to God’s call.  Your insecurity, your self-doubt, and your great need for affirmation make you lose trust in your inner voice and run away from yourself.  But you know that God speaks to you through your inner voice and that you will find joy and peace only if you follow it.  Yes, your spirit is willing to follow, but your flesh is weak.

You have friends who know that your inner voice speaks the truth and who can affirm what it says.  They offer you the safe space where you can let that voice become clearer and louder.  There will be people who will tell you that you are wasting your time and talents, that you are fleeting from true responsibility, that you fail to use the influence you have.  But don’t let yourself be misled.  They do not speak in God’s name.  Trust the few who know your inner journey and want you to be faithful to it.  They will help you stay faithful to God’s call.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love

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Napkin cards: a tutorial.

10 Mar

[Napkin cards: a tutorial.]  I’m well aware I missed a Friday of favorites.  I’ll be back with double the fun next Friday.  For now, forgive me if I teach you how to make cards out of napkins with supplies you already have at your house?

Judy is a friend of Marilyn’s, the administrative assistant, and she’ll pop by at every major [and minor] holiday with treats and cards for us.  Judy makes her cards out of  napkins.  NAPKINS.  For a year now, I’ve been wondering how in the world she does it and where I could get the special supplies.

Judy brought me a napkin card kit and lovely directions last Thursday.  Turns out I don’t need to rush off to the store to buy anything special.  And if you’re anything like me, sometimes napkins are too pretty to actually wipe your mug with; here’s your solution to making paper napkins multi-functional and awesome.

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Gather your supplies.  You will need the napkins of your choosing [mine are clearance Hanukkah napkins from last year], saran wrap [Judy emphasizes that the cheap, off-brand stuff works best!], card stock, and an iron.  That’s it.

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Begin by peeling the layers of your napkin apart.  Napkins come two- and three-ply.  We just need the one layer with the pretty stuff.  Peel the other layers away but keep them on hand – they’ll help protect your iron later on.

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To the ironing board we go.  Make sure your surface is protected and make a sandwich – napkin, saran wrap, cardstock.  [Above are the bottom two layers of my sandwich – napkin wrong side up and smoothed saran wrap.  The cardstock goes on top!] The saran wrap – when melted by the iron – will be the adhesive that holds the napkin [the outside of your card] to the cardstock [the inside of your card].  Cover the cardstock and any bits of saran wrap that are peeking out with the extra napkins layers.  Make sure your iron makes no direct contact with the saran wrap!  That would be one sticky mess.

Iron away using medium heat and no steam.  Iron, iron, iron.  Whistle while you iron.  Sing a song.  Just don’t scorch your cardstock and take care around the corners and edges to make sure they stick together.

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Check to see if everything is adhered where it needs to be adhered.  Trim the excess napkin/saran wrap/cardstock away.  Fold in half.  Welcome to the world, a card made from napkins.  Write a note on the inside or add some stamps/stickers to the outside.  Just remember – it’s for greeting now.  Not eating.

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I made a couple napkin cards and then, as I stood in my craft room surrounded by fabric, wondered why I couldn’t make a fabric card.  Hmm.  Turns out saran wrap will not adhere to fabric but heat&bond you have in the cabinet will.  I made a couple fabric cards and added a sewn boarder.  It’s a little something – something different.  Next, I think I may experiment making them into books.  Oh, the possibilities of paper and fabric together!

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A story of how I got left at the altar.

5 Mar

[A story of how I got left at the altar.]  It’s a snow day for the local schools.  The custodian came out to church while I was there and brought her kids along.  The youngest – we’ll call her T. – is always my biggest helper when she’s here.  She’s five -ish and eager to do anything.  Today, she helped me finish a bulletin board in the hallway and then she wanted to color on my white board.  Cool.  Go to town, T.

She finished the picture out of my view and then asked me to guess what she had drawn.  There’s no way I could have anticipated this one.  She turned the white board around –

T: That’s you.  (pointing to the purple lady)
Me: Cool.  What’s the red stuff?
T: Roses.  It’s your wedding.
Me: It’s my wedding?!
T: Yup.  And you’re surrounded by roses!
Me: Where’s my husband?
T: Oh.  He didn’t want to come.

Is this a prophet in my midst?  Is she telling signs of my future?

Me: He didn’t want to come to his own wedding?
T: Actually it’s not your wedding.  It’s your birthday party.  But he still didn’t want to come.  He doesn’t like roses.

A birthday party for me and I’m the only one who shows up.

At least I bought myself flowers, I guess.

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pancakes.

5 Mar

[pancakes.]  I have pancakes on the brain this week; I’m not sure why.  I do love pancakes; I have a whole pinterest board of pancakes.  However, I eat them rather sparingly.  Ever since my mom said, “If it has cake in its name, it shouldn’t be a breakfast food” I’ve begrudgingly stuck to my oatmeal and hard-baked egg.  [No.  Not really begrudgingly; I love oatmeal and eggs too.]  But then, every once in a while, I’ll splurge for a pancake Saturday.

As kids, my brothers and I would eat pancakes in a very gross fashion.  Our favorite thing to do was take our plate of pancakes and syrup, use our fork, and smash the heck out of those puppies so all that was left on our plate was a pile of sticky, gruel-like pancake mess.  And then we would eat that pile of sticky, gruel-like pancake mess.  I don’t know why we did this but we did it all. the. time.

I think my pancake eating has come a long way from the fork-smashed box-mix pancakes.  I learned how much I loved pancakes once again when I made these a couple years ago – lemon ricotta pancakes with berry sauce.  It just sounds heavenly even saying it.  Lemon ricotta pancakes with berry sauce.  From there, I went to pumpkin pancakes.  Rainbow pancakes.  And banana oatmeal pancakes.  Plain pancakes just sound boring now.

I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about pancakes at this moment.  I sat down at my computer and started typing this; I can’t even remember what the trigger was to begin.  I guess pancakes can distract even –

Did someone say pancakes?

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Weekend update.

3 Mar

[Weekend update.]  After a week of three funerals in Lent, I was ready for a weekend.  I turned off the alarm clock and enjoyed a lazy day and a half [until I had to write my Sunday sermon on Saturday night].  It was wonderful and much needed.

On Friday, I hung out with my favorite three classes of first graders, got a manicure [I had a gift certificate from Christmas to use.], and made potpies with butternut squash and kale.  Yummy.  Since all I ate last week were funeral lunches and bowls of cereal, it was simply super fun to cook again.  Can you smell the garlic sautéing?  So delicious.

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On Saturday, I found time to quilt and sleep and go for walks with Miss Mabel.  Today after church, Paige and I hit up the outlet mall and I came home with new treadmill kicks and pajama pants with rowboats on them.  [I’m anticipating a sleepover this coming weekend with two friends; I needed new pajama pants.  Naturally.]

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A bonus story:  Ever since I’ve moved, my mailbox has received an odd piece of post or two.  Odd because they’re not addressed to me; they’re addressed to my mom.  At my address.  The Scrubs magazine?  Makes sense since my mom is a nurse.  However — Beyond the Bean?  Addressed to my mom?  At this house?  Weird.

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Friday Favorites.

1 Mar

[Friday Favorites.]  I don’t have much for favorites this week.  Instead of being online or finding cools things on pinterest, I’ve been writing sermons and preparing for funerals.  Hopefully, I’ll be back in full force next Friday.  For now, just two things –

First, I went on a search for instrumental music to use during our Wednesday night Lenten service.  Just by happy happenstance, I clicked on this album because of it’s beautiful cover.  In a Time Lapse.  I’m in love.  I ended up buying the whole album and have listened to it a lot in the last couple days.  It’s great for writing sermons.

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Second, I just caught up on Jon Stewart during my breakfast this morning.  This segment on maple syrup in Canada struck me as one of the most funny things I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s great.

Okay.  Just kidding.  One more thing – in my sorrow and self-pity and sleepiness after such a crazy week – I bought this.  I just love colorful things in my kitchen and I think it will come in handy.  I’m already anticipating its glorious arrival early next week.

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