Party day

What makes you feel like throwing a party?

Cultures differ on what they celebrate. When we moved to the States from Canada over 25 years ago, we were surprised by all the partying going on. Canadians may close shop to watch the Grey Cup or Hockey Night in Canada, but everything felt like a celebration here.

Snacks and cakes, decorations, gifts.  They were everywhere. And the shop window themes. Don't get me started! Here, a job promotion or the relocation to another house could bring up party ideas. How about milestone decade birthdays, kindergarten graduation (WHAT? that kid has a long way to go!), and reaching goals at work? It initially felt weird and uncomfortable to be surrounded by people who thought everything was remarkable and worth a party.

Mind you, my mom made a big deal of birthdays and Christmas, so I copied her when I got married. However, I quickly noticed that my husband's family celebrated birthdays with a homemade cake and quiet conversation around the dinner table. Christmas was not an over-the-top event. I toned my expectations down for birthdays and Christmas at the in-law's.

When our kids were young, I hosted astronaut, "backward-everything," and Barbie-themed birthday parties. I confess I was thrilled when the kids got older and I didn't have to stress over their upcoming days.

I asked if they wanted high school grad parties. We agreed to celebrate when they got done with college. (Actually three didn't finish high school and one was ambivalent since she was ill.) And when the time came for college grad, they wandered over to friends' parties. They ended up being more Kowalski than Daher. At home, I cooked a celebratory family dinner. They got a few gifts along with congratulations from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and siblings.

We have friends over often. Our annual Christmas dinner is a highlight at year's end. And we like having people at our place to mark achievements and special days.

I notice that in Scripture, celebrations centered on God's work and His presence. I wonder what we've lost by making life all about us. By honoring peers' accomplishments more than the wonders and benefits of knowing the Most High.

When I reflect on what God has done, every day could be a party day. I could stand on the rooftop and shout His goodness every morning. Every milestone we reach is a gift from our Heavenly Father. Party, anyone?!

Read more:
*God is with you in all that you do. Genesis 21:22

*Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters in the presence of the LORD our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters. After the festival was over, Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the LORD had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel. 1 Kings 8:65–66

*Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” Isaiah 12:2-6 NIV

*The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 1 Thessalonians 5:28

Moravian Prayer: Loving God, forgive us when we seek to take control forgetting that you are our Creator and Father. You watch over us and shower us with your grace through the blood of Jesus. Thank you for your faithful promises. Amen.

What's in your head?

After 6 months of waking with an empty mind and no agenda, my head is full again. This morning, it was full with:

• The calendar is packed this week. Do I have the gifts ready for my friends, the material studied for the discussion, the appetizer ingredients ready to prep for the party? Bzzz.
• Are my workout clothes clean and laid out for the morning session? Bzzz.
• Our daughter comes home today. How will her body respond to Seattle weather? Is the bed made up? What else can we do to make the room comfy? Bzzz.
• A daughter-in-law, our daughter, and I visit the spa tomorrow. Are our Groupons in hand? Bzzz.
• Husband's work party? Do I need to do anything but show up?
• Next Monday's turkey dinner? When to set up tables? How shall I decorate them? Are the serving dishes washed? When to thaw out the 22 lb. turkey? When to make the stuffing? Bzzz.
• Are the gifts wrapped for Sunday's family Christmas? Bzzz.
• Oh yeah, I'm a writer and speaker. Are the presentations close to edited so I can send them off before conference deadlines? Bzzz.
• I babysit our 1 yr old granddaughter Fridays. We have to move the crib from Kirsten's bedroom to another room before K arrives today.
• etc.

There's a lot of buzzing in my brain.

I'm sure your head is as full as mine is, spilling ideas into the day. How can we manage the details that flood us in such seasons of celebration and change?

• Schedule quiet time - at least 15 minutes of reflection and prayer - each morning before the whirlwind begins. This settling of the heart allows us to align ourselves with God no matter what the tugging and pulling of obligations throughout the day.
• Watch and listen to how wise and godly friends and coworkers handle the pressures. Copy what is good and ask for advice if you're getting overwhelmed.
• Take time with your calendar to sort and prioritize. Write detailed agendas for items that require advance preparation. Schedule NO more than 3 evenings out per week, say the experts.
• Cut cut cut! anything and everything that doesn't serve your priorities. Some years require intense focus, while others let us drift through holidays at a measured pace. (Last year's journal, while I was in the thick of writing my dissertation, reports many more no's than yes'ses. That was the only way to stay sane and keep moving forward. Everyone survived and I got the work done.) 
• Give away stuff that doesn't serve you as you clear and declutter. Got old cameras? Clothes that don't fit? Seattlites, the www.bigbuetruck.org (or 800 - 992-2060) will come to pick it up from your porch. Maybe your kids have been eying a favorite teapot or piece of furniture. Do you really need it? Give it away with a smile. (See, you feel lighter already!)
• Enjoy the pleasures of the season. The meaning and blessings of Christmas - God with us! The visitors! The lights! The decor! The ribbons and wrappings! The clean house in which guests feel welcome! They all require effort ... but nothing is free (according to my mother). Since we work so hard, let's relish the results.
• Focus on the good things. Peace on earth, goodwill to those around you. Share God's love in every way that comes to hand. Forgive those who have hurt you as God forgave you when you hurt Him. Hug and kiss your family. 
• End each day with a prayer of gratitude. God is good. He gives us the night and rest. Let's not squander it in worry and sleeplessness. Morning is coming and your head may but full again.

Read more:

*One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, 'Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys.

... Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, 'Let's go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!'

But the servant said, 'I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.' 1 Samuel 9:3, 5–6

*Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Psalm 84:3

*But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 NIV

*So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God. Hebrews 4:9

Moravian Prayer: O God, when we are weary, you invite us to rest. In our anxiety and busyness, let us take your invitation seriously today. Make us stop. Let us rest in your embrace from our labors and be renewed. Amen.

Putting up the New Year tree. Oh wait, trees.

A Christmas tree. Of course. Everyone has one. A New Year tree? Not so much. Two NY trees? Say again? What's going on?

Today I woke up happy, planning a project that wraps up an event we decorated a few years ago. I'd painted 12 5'X12' banners to fill the enormous foyer. We cleared out a nursery, hauling 60 firs (or was it 80? 12'-16' tall@$6 each, burlapped) to soften the corners of the banquet hall.

I smiled this morning, waking to thank God for the wonderful women who roped their husbands into helping unload those tall monsters off the truck. We had borrowed endless white lights and gauze from a church, and helpers wound them around clumps of tree bases.

The table decor cost less than $2 each. How? As we looked around the institution's storage closet, the wheels started turning. Candles. Mirror tiles aplenty (cliche, or...) 

W and I went to the river and loaded up 2 buckets of rock. Rinse, scrub. Ready. We were due to dig the moss off our garden path anyway. The morning of the event, I got out a trusty metal spatula and scraped three big baking sheets full of lovely, green mosses. Our shopping list was short: 

• 2 contractor sacks of small round pebbles from Home Depot @4 each
• Several packages of wild-looking mushrooms from Uwagimaya
• 10 bunches of orchids (Trader Joes, a dozen stems@$5)

On each table, volunteers put down a mirror tile ("water"), piled a few rocks at one end, hid the other edges of the tile with pebbles, and surrounded it with moss. We placed mushrooms in the moss, draped a few orchids, and put the candles between. It looked very "Northwest." (Wish I had asked the photographer to take pictures for my file.

I brought two banners home after the event. They lay rolled up for nearly a year until this morning. 

W, who hates heights, crawled up the ladder to mount them in the living room. With his laser level, they're, well, perfectly level, and at the right height (5" below the drapes, which looks like the same height due to viewing perspective.)

Thanks, hon. If I can dream it, he can build it! What fun to share happy memories and art on one day.

What do you think? And what's on your weekend "to-do" list?

Read more:

*He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 8:11 NIV

*Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,   and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 The Message

*Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5 NLT

Forest view

Our house was built for Christian hospitality. We're always looking for ways to make our home more useful and beautiful. 


Crate and Barrel was selling off Christmas stuff, just like other retailers. We picked up a Christmas display unit. I intend to re-purpose the four customizable shelves as greenhouse trays this spring. 


Rarely one to think within a plexiglass box, I've temporarily reinvented it for vegetable and fruit storage. It's an easy step from the kitchen door to glance at what is available for juicing and cooking. 


Waldemar may be a theologian and academic but he is rare among peers because he's also skilled in practical things. He's great at building things I design. But he has good ideas of his own, too. 


The sun porch emerged this fall. W was getting ready to replace rotting cedar on the back deck again. He priced hardwood decking and figured he could enclose the space for about the same price.


W worked evenings and weekends, tearing up the old decking before laying down a new sub-floor. He installed insulated greenhouse roofing and built frames around double-paned windows salvaged from patio sliders. Then he sliced 2"X10" boards for 1" pine flooring, which will be stained medium brown to match the house flooring when it warms up.


W finished the initial phase the Sunday before Christmas. The sofas from the LR were placed in the space for December, and we immediately used the sunroom for overflow Christmas entertaining.


After the holidays, we took our chaises, a patio table, and two chairs from storage. With a few blankets and a space heater,  we are enjoying the forest views even though it's winter outside.


I'm so proud of my husband's work! Isn't it beautiful? 


Read more:

*Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:1-5 NIV

*Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV

*Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:1-2 NEV