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Sunday, September 29, 2002
Well, I made it back from Cincinnati safe and sound. I had a very good time at the Celtic Festival. This year I approached things a little differently, since I was by myself. Usually, I spend a lot of time taking pictures and listening to the music and end up not doing as much shopping as I'd like. This year I focused on going around to all the different booths, looking at all the merchandise and talking to the vendors. I really only listened to whatever music happened to drift by. It was a decent strategy for me, as I made a few contacts, learned a good deal about art in general and calligraphy in particular, and collected quite a few business cards with websites on them to visit in the future. Some of the highlights: --I had a good long talk with a young man from Midnight Muse, a store that sells a lot of the type of art that I like to adorn my apartment with; artists such as Waterhouse, Leighton, and Morris, who painted around the turn of the (last) century portraying Arthurian and medieval subjects. Be warned, if you visit the site, that they also sell pagan and occultic items. Going to the site put me onto a link for a poster I've been looking for for a couple of years, though, so it was worth it to me. I just didn't visit that part of the site that deals with the occult stuff. --I talked for about 15 minutes or so with Michael Carroll, who does wonderful Celtic designs on calfskin vellum with real goose quills and ground pigments, something I've wanted to try for a while. He gave me some links for suppliers of the vellum and other calligraphic supplies, and some good tips on how to get started. He was a very personable guy and I appreciate his patience with my questions. BTW, if any of you have geese or know where they congregate so I can pick up some good feathers, let me know. :^) --I attended an interesting lecture on the concept of anam cara (check out The Vine for the full account of that lecture). --I stopped at a table for an organization called The Ulster Project. Anyone interested, as I am, in helping promote peace in Northern Ireland through youth projects should check this site out. Basically what they do is arrange for both Protestant and Catholic teens from Northern Ireland to come to the States (what they call a "neutral ground"), live with host families for four weeks, and interact with one another without the pressures of their "home turf". If you are the parent of a teen and live in the Cincinnati/Northern KY area, think about hosting an Irish teen. Apparently there are host sites in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin, also. Needless to say, I am very excited about this organization. It almost makes me want to move to Cincinnati to volunteer with them, even though I don't have kids. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day for me. Even though I spent only about 4 hours there (not counting the 1 1/2 hour drive each way), I was very tired when I got home. posted by #Debi at 6:00 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Saturday, September 28, 2002 I'm sitting here, procrastinating as usual, but rejoicing a little because I don't have to work today. We had thought we would be working overtime today, which I'm generally all for, due to the fact that I have this line of people with their hands out, wanting me to put money in them. This weekend, however, is the Cincinnati Celtic Music and Cultural Festival, which I have attended every year for the last three years, and I really didn't want to miss it. I couldn't find anyone to go with me, though, so I'm going out on a limb and going by myself this year. It would be nice to have someone with me to say, "Oh, cool! Look at that!" to, but I'm actually looking forward to having some alone time this year. Maybe I'll treat it as a very loud, crowded retreat. Anyway, I need to start getting my stuff together, so I should sign off and stop procrastinating now. Or maybe in a few minutes........ posted by #Debi at 7:37 AM | permalink |
0 comments | My apologies to Iggie (see note in comments on previous blog). Due to my dyslexia, which seems to come on from time to time, usually when I'm stressed or tired or not wearing my reading glasses, I mistyped the title of Andrew Jones' entry in his blog, which should read, "15 Trials of a Postmodern Apostle". Check out Iggie's site, which lists 15 Traits of a Postmodern Apostle--also an excellent read, and more serious-minded. posted by #Debi at 7:28 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, September 22, 2002 Here's insanity for you (to steal a phrase from Laura Ogle): I just read Andrew Jones' 1st five of his "15 Traits of a Postmodern Apostle", and it actually makes me want to be one! Read more here. posted by #Debi at 10:45 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Saturday, September 21, 2002 Hey, Alan! Here's a little trivia for you from the Beer Church (which you oughta check out--thanks to Andrew Careaga). "Guinness is considered an aphrodisiac in some African countries, and is marketed under the slogan - a baby in every bottle." posted by #Debi at 4:14 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Here we go again with the quiz addiction--I saw this one on David Hopkins' blog . Is anyone truly surprised at the outcome of this one?  What revolution are You? Made by  altern_activeI don't know about LSD, but "idealism" could definitely be a keyword for me. Look at all the pretty colors........ posted by #Debi at 3:38 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Again it's been nearly a week since the last post. I've been busy lately getting ready for this singing thing I'm doing the first Saturday in October, going to Georgetown twice a week to practice with Tim on the duets we're planning to do. Things are starting to come together--we have our "program" mapped out (song list order) and are beginning to get more confident in singing with each other. I'm used to solos these days, so I don't have to worry much usually about things like unity of artistic vision or blending, etc. This has been a great object lesson in humility and community for me. At some point I'll try and put together the things God has been teaching me through this experience. Of course, one of the best things has been getting to hang out more with Tim's wife, Tina. She's one of my favorite people and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with her these days. What actually inspired me to post just now is reading other people's blogs. In particular, Water's Edge--in very particular, Joel McClure's September 9th post. Here's the quote I found so inspiring/intriguing: "(Disciples) are to make a radical break with security and possessions, with the customs and habits of everyday life, for no other purpose than to share in his ministry of preaching the repentance needed to become part of the kingdom.... Discipleship is quite simply extended training in being dispossessed. To become followers of Jesus means that we must, like him, be dispossessed of all that we think gives us power over our own lives and the lives of others. Unless we learn to relinquish our presumption that we can ensure the significance of our lives, we are not capable of the peace of God's kingdom." I'm in a place right now where this is resonating with me very strongly. I'm so tired of--well, frankly, the upkeep of all the stuff we think we need to live comfortably. I feel like I'm one of those guys you used to see on Ed Sullivan or Johnny Carson--the guys with the spinning plates going at the top of long poles. The guy would be constantly going from one to the next, trying to keep them all spinning at the same rate. The difference is that those guys pretty well kept all their plates spinning, whereas I think a bunch of mine are about to come crashing down. Some of them need to come down, whether by crashing or by me just disassembling them. I'd like to have no more than two or three "plates" in the air at a time. I guess what I'm saying is that my heart cry right now is to simplify my life. Part of this is the ongoing frustration with all the stuff in my apartment that needs to be simply chucked; part of it is the stack of bills on my counter that God is going to have to pay because I can't; part of it is trying to maintain too many "intimate" friendships with people of wildly diverse viewpoints of life (I mean, Jesus had His twelve, but only three were really intimate friendships). I feel very "pulled" sometimes. I'd like to be able to make room in my life for a relationship with someone of the opposite sex, but I'm not sure I have the energy for that right now. (Besides, the guys are not exactly lining up outside my door, if you know what I mean. ;^) ) This is starting to sound like a pity party, I know; it's actually more of an inventory of what I need to sort out in my life. I'm actually fairly content with most of it--there's just some spiritual "housecleaning" that needs to happen here. I realize that most of it's up to me, and I'm making a commitment this weekend to get started. So, I'm gonna quit feeling guilty about not posting in here constantly, for example. If you don't hear from me for a while, hopefully I'm doing some housecleaning, either temporal or spiritual. Ack, pray for me!!
posted by #Debi at 9:13 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, September 15, 2002 I see it's been a while since I last posted. Time to catch up, I guess. It's been a very crazy week, trying to get things ready for a very exciting, very busy weekend. Here it is nearly 4 in the afternoon, and I'm still trying to decompress from it all. This weekend those of us from Vine & Branches who were able trekked up to Cincinnati, OH, to attend/help facilitate their quarterly AllGroup, which ended up being a regional event with us and churches from all over Ohio (I think we were the only Kentucky church). I drove up with Matt McDonald, another member of our group whose "motivational gift" seems to be taking up Brian's slack in messing with my head and keeping me humble, if necessary. :^) Actually, we had a good time talking on the way up. We got to Cincy about 6PM on Friday, ate a great potluck dinner, then went to the church to set up the worship stations and get everything ready for Saturday. I had time to do a little relationship-building with several of the Vineyard Central gang, get my picture taken scrubbing floors (that would never happen at home--the scrubbing floors, I mean), and generally get things spic and span, as they say (who says that?!). Then, at about 10PM, I was guided to the house where I was to stay, the home of Mike and Heidi Helm (see more about Mike here). They were very gracious hosts and I thank them very much for opening their home to me at the last minute. I slept great, except that I was so keyed up about being there and all the stuff on tap for Saturday, that I kept waking up like a kid, thinking it was Christmas morning and isn't it time to get up yet?! (OK, so I need to get out more.)Anyway, finally it was Saturday! I hung out at the Helms' house for a while in the morning, watching Mike tune his guitars and Heidi paint, all the while having good conversation about art, God, and house renovation. Then I went on over to the church to see if there were any last-minute things that needed to be done to prepare for the day. There really wasn't much left to be done, so I went around taking photos of the church and the grounds. If you haven't visited Vineyard Central either in person or online, the church building is this beautiful old, formerly-Catholic "cathedral" with the most interesting archtectural elements that make great fodder for one practicing photography (I say practicing because I'm still trying to figure a lot of it out). I took 3 rolls of film with me, and by the end of the day they were all used. I hope to get them all developed this week, and maybe I'll figure out how to get them up in here. Anyway, there was a very interesting seminar by Jim Henderson from Off The Map, and then we broke into several round-table discussions. Then there was time for everyone to visit all the worship stations, hang out with everyone, and later on, eat some hot dogs at the Neighborhood Cookout. After that, we all gathered in the sanctuary for the worship service, and I and 2 of the "Creechers" got ourselves baptised. I think I've told the baptism thing before, about why someone who has been trying to follow Christ for 11 or 12 years would get baptised. Basically, I've been baptised before, when I was in high school, but subsequently went off to live like a heathen for the next 10 or so years afterward. Once I came back to Christ, I was told that I really didn't need to be rebaptised, but for the last couple of years I have wanted to, sort of as a "vow renewal" thing. So here were these 2 "little people" and me. When I heard there was to be a time of baptism at this worship service, I thought, "Who better to share this moment with than these folks who are beginning to mean so much to me?" It was wonderful, funny, exciting--everything a celebration of "marriage" ought to be. Thanks again to everyone at VC for giving me the opportunity to accomplish a dream. After it was all over and we were all packed and had the goodbyes said, we headed on back to Lexington. I made Matt drive back, because I was just toasted. Even coffee and breakfast at Perkins didn't help much. But it was, as they say, a good kind of tired. I see that I have rambled on for far too long--I think I'll sign off for now and get some of that housework I've been putting off done. posted by #Debi at 4:36 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Monday, September 09, 2002 After posting last night, I went to bed and read the evening office, as I like to do. It's funny how often something from the hours directly hits on something you've been dealing with on that particular day. Here's the intercession from last night's evening office: The world was created by the Word of God, re-created by his redemption, and it is continually renewed by his love. Rejoicing in Him we call out: Amen! posted by #Debi at 6:33 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, September 08, 2002 I spent the better part of this morning weeping. I watched "CBS Sunday Morning", as I usually do on Sunday mornings, and it was a special on the one-year anniversary of 9/11. I don't even like to call what happened "9/11", because for some reason it makes it sound like the date is the important thing. I mean, we don't usually call the bombing of Pearl Harbor "12/7". It sounds so impersonal, somehow, to refer to the loss of some 3000 people by a set of numbers. I thought it would be OK to watch the tribute on "Sunday Morning", as I generally consider Charles Curalt to be a journalist with sensitivity and one who doesn't go for sensatonalism. I was correct in that assumption, even though he was not hosting today--the show was very sensitive and tasteful. It struck me, though, as if it was only yesterday that the WTC came down. I cried a lot, then, as well. I'm not exactly sure why; I didn't know anyone who died that day or anything. It was just all so senseless. I was OK until they talked about the people who took back the plane that went down in Pennsylvania, and the fact that those people consciously sacrificed their lives to keep the terrorists from taking out another building full of people. I don't know how I would have responded in a similar situation. I hope never to have to find out. I made myself watch all of the show, and all of "Access Hollywood", which also was a tribute show and which I had taped from last night. I always hit "record" when "Saturday Night Live" comes on and let the machine record until the tape runs out. "Access Hollywood" mentioned a website that I visited called Here Is New York, which is an exhibit of photos of that day from both New York and the Pentagon, mostly taken by amateurs who donated them to the project. It is a cathartic to visit and see the photos. They have a schedule of sites around the country where the exhibit will be shown, one of which is Louisville, KY. I have thought of going there, but will probably end up just visiting the site. All proceeds from the sale of prints, books, etc., go to the Childrens Aid Society WTC Relief Fund, in case anyone is interested. I'm off track here--the reason I made myself watch all of both shows is that I wanted to know that I could still feel grief for those strangers. I don't want to become unfeeling to the tragedy and mourning of others. The Bible says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. I've not always been the best at that. I have a tendency, like so many of us, to get all wrapped up in my own deal and forget that there are other people out there besides me who are dealing with far greater issues than I am. I probably will not watch everything that comes on this week, because I'm not sure I can deal with all that rehashing--I know that, as much as the networks may have good intentions, there will be some sensationalism. On a happier note (maybe), I joined the FlyLady thing that Liz Creech mentioned on her blog--it's supposed to be some kind of system to help you get your house cleaning life organized. Boy, do I need that! I'm hopeful that this will help. Now if I can just step away from the computer long enough to implement some of the tips, we'll be doing good! I'm looking forward to next weekend and the regional gathering at Vineyard Central. I'm planning to be baptised, and was hoping to get to finally meet Laura Ogle, but it's looking like she won't be able to make it. Pray for her dad and her family. It's getting very late by my standards, and I'm beginning to ramble, so I'll sign off for now. posted by #Debi at 11:40 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Friday, September 06, 2002 OK, it's been a while since I found a good quiz to take, so here's the latest. I found it on a blog I found listed on Blogger when I signed in, called Forgiving Adam. My results are hopefully not as sad a commentary on me as I think:
The results also said that if I weren't beer, I would be coffee. Hmmmm, almost kinda schizophrenic, huh? (OK, I went to coffee, and it fits me so well, I'll put it here also.)
And now I'm running late for work. Gotta go!! posted by #Debi at 6:36 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Tuesday, September 03, 2002 Well, it gets curiouser and curiouser...I have tried to go to entetation's website a couple of times tonight to see what's up with my comments, and each time I get an error message to the effect of, "Address not found--try again." I even looked in Google, clicked on their listing for enetation, and got the same message. Does anybody know what's going on with them? Are they gone forever? Also, I was wondering if anyone has a line on a website for Christian mp3's for accompaniment tracks. I checked Google, but didn't have time to sift through all the results tonight. I'm especially looking for "Charm Is Deceitful" by Kim Hill and "God is Good All the Time" by the Gaithers. (Yes, the Gaithers!) The Kim Hill song is out of print on tape and for the songbook, so it'd be especially nice to get hold of a track of it. posted by #Debi at 10:16 PM | permalink |
0 comments | I see enetation is doing something screwy with the comments again. I'm trying to figure out what's going on--if anyone has any suggestions, e-mail me. I may have to look into a new comments provider. If you want to leave a comment, e-mail me and I'll save it and paste it in when this is all straightened out. (This kinda sucks, BTW.) Back to work today! (Refer to aside above.) I like my job, I guess; I think I've mentioned before how I feel. It's just that vacations are never long enough! Later! posted by #Debi at 6:17 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Monday, September 02, 2002 I just got home a little while ago from Natural Bridge State Park in Eastern Kentucky. I went with Brian and his dad and stepmom. We left about 10AM and got back about 6PM. It was a lot of fun; however, Brian had told me that we weren't going to do any hiking, so I wore shoes not good for lots of walking. Guess what? We did lots of walking! I am so completely out of shape, I felt like an old lady! In fact, I think there were some old ladies out there in better shape than I was. We (Brian and I) rode the Skylift, which is like a ski lift that takes you very slowly up the mountain to the arch. It was OK going up, except that they stopped the cable every few minutes (I guess to let people on at either end), and when that happened, we were just hanging in the air, kinda bouncing and swinging. Very conducive to vertigo, if you're so inclined (I don't think that's a pun). It was fun, though. Less fun going back down, when you're facing out from the mountain and all you can see is sky and the ground way down there! One interesting thing--we got off the skylift at the top, and were entering the trail to the arch, when this woman coming toward the lift stopped me, showed me her hand, and said, "Look, my boyfriend just now proposed to me!" We hit every souvenir shop on the way back to the highway, but (wisely) bought nothing. We also stopped at my parents' house on the way home (they live in Stanton, KY, about 10 miles from Natural Bridge). That was interesting--Dad was on good behavior, so things went smoothly. I'm one tired puppy right now, though, so I'm gonna sign off for now.
posted by #Debi at 7:43 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, September 01, 2002 I was listening to the local Christian radio station the other day (the one that plays contemporary Christian music, not the one that has mostly teaching), and the DJ came on between songs and was talking and mentioned something about being “a precious pearl.” I knew he was referring to the reference in Matthew 13 about the “pearl of great price.” That got me thinking about the previous verses in the passage, where the man finds a treasure in a field and buys it to get the treasure. Here’s the reference: Matthew 13:44-46--”The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all that he had and bought that field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” I had always heard these parables explained as the “pearl” and the “treasure” being salvation, and that we were to be willing to give up all that we own to possess it. While I’m sure that’s a valid interpretation, I began to think, “What if that isn’t the only interpretation? What if we really are the ‘pearl’ and the ‘treasure’?” What if this really is the story of God the Father considering us to be treasures and pearls and His paying the ultimate price, all that He owned, His greatest ‘asset’, His only Son, in order to purchase us? Unlike the previous parable in this passage, Jesus doesn’t go back at the end and say, “The man is so-and-so, the field is such-and-such,” and so on. But, just a few verses previously (Matthew 13:38), when Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower, he says, “The field is the world.” Later, in John 4:35, Jesus again uses the ‘field’ metaphor to describe the world: ”Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” Paul also uses this metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:9 when he says, “You are God’s field.” This may be old news to most of you, but it was very encouraging for me to contemplate God’s attitude towards us and His love for us. Selah! posted by #Debi at 9:16 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Top Ten Things I Want To Do With My Life 1. Go back to school and study/get my degree in Graphic Design. posted by #Debi at 12:06 PM | permalink |
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