Orange Colored Sky

I was walking along... minding my business..

When out of an orange colored sky... Flash! Bam! Ala-kazam!

Wonder-full you came by...

Last week I was walking along, and yes, I was in fact minding my business. It was after a normal day at work, followed by doing something for a friend. Feeling a little - not low but not buoyant... quiet maybe - I got off the subway at an inconvenient stop. Just a little bit longer to walk home, it was cold, but I knew doing something for my friend was important that night. So I pulled my scarf up a bit, and began hurrying home. When I saw it! The WAFFLE Truck!

A month prior Nic & Vin had been raving about the Belgian Waffle truck that has the best Belgian waffles and was in a new location every day. Read: waffles, Yum! location, inconvenient. But this was Right There! Literally in my path. Of course I stopped. And it was delicious! A little blessing from God, a fun orange-colored (or yellow-colored) truck with lovely delicious Belgian waffles!

But that's not all....

I had been looking for the movie Love Actually, and it was difficult to find, actually. So as I'm munching on my lovely Belgian waffle, served hot on a chilly January night, what should I see but Flash! Bam! a dvd store closing! With tremendous discounts on... that's right. Love Actually.

God gave me little flashes of an Orange Colored Sky that night ~ as I was minding my business doing my best to do the right thing. Here's to a gracious God who delights in the little things.

Walking with Grandma

I had the great pleasure of spending time with Grandma over Christmas. Walking around with Grandma is, well, it's slow. She's 90 years old.

If you know Grandma, you know there are a million reasons to love her. Most recently I love her honesty. She has her mental faculties completely, and doesn't miss a beat. So when she comes out with something it's usually on point, blunt, often funny, and sometimes poignant.

Last week at lunch she said "Yesterday, my legs, they didn't work. I don't know why. Then today, they work. It's a miracle. Today I can walk."
"Well, Grandma, miracles happen..." I began

"But no matter what, you can't make me young again."

"You're right Grandma. Right now, it's your turn to be old. Someday it will be my turn, but right now it's your turn. And that's okay." She smiled a little sheepishly and shrugged.

I'm so comforted that God's plan of salvation is complete, ready for me (and you! and everyone!) to have saving knowledge of Jesus. We'll all leave this world eventually, I'm grateful God is good to give us a preview and a choice about the future. And joy from relationships with Grandma in the meanwhile.

Merry Christmas!

My dear Reader,

Merry Christmas! I'm so grateful for 2009 and if you are reading this, chances are good that you had something to do with that lovely year. Thank you.

..and Thank You, Jesus, for Your many blessings. How appropriate we end the year with a big birthday party in Your honor.

Love,

Laura

Walking around at Christmastime

I happen to live in New York City and walking around the city this time of year, I'm always love how the city comes to life at Christmastime. The shop windows, the evergreen trees, the street lamp poles are all decorated for Christmas. It struck me the other day, that the real reason for all this is Jesus' birthday. Not sure about you, dear reader, but my birthday doesn't bring the whole city to a pause with decorations and lights. It made me smile to think that the whole city, indeed the whole world, is celebrating a very special birthday, whether they know it or not...

Shopping with a Purpose

With a nod & smile to friends over at Travel with a Purpose I found myself this weekend Shopping with a Purpose.

The new apartment is great, and needed very little work, thank God! But the one thing that we did need were chairs around the dining room table. Oh, the wooden folding chairs from Grandma (circa 1964) are good for sitting, but after a bit of sitting you become painfully aware that they are in fact past their prime and not conducive to sitting around after dinner and chatting.

I was hoping for some good solid, timeless chairs. And I was hoping that I wouldn't spend a lot. And I was hoping they would be comfortable. All this is a lot to hope for, as it turns out, especially in the big city. And so off to the suburbs I went!

Mom suggested a couple of thrift stores - on Black Friday we went first to Liberty Thrift & Home Furnishings. The store was remarkably large (to my city eyes, but perhaps normal sized for suburbia) and filled with all sorts of furniture and clothes and home items. And many many chairs!!! Turns out there were three perfect chairs, solid wood, comfortable, and the whole store was 50% off that day. Three chairs for under $40 - I was thrilled! Even better though was when I saw the mission statement posted in the store:

"Liberty Ministries exists to serve offenders in prison and ex-offenders in the community by showing God’s love, providing practical assistance and supporting biblical standards of justice."

Three dining chairs? $40. Five red Christmas wreath bows? $3.50. Supporting a ministry you can believe in while shopping? Priceless.

Parisian Love

This just made my day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

Time Management Scissors

I'm on my own personal "just say 'no'" campaign, and using the time management scissors to cut out unnecessary events. Just checked facebook and had four invitations to four events and proceeded to respond with four "no's".

I hate doing it, but in reality if I say "yes" I'll be only partially there, distracted by all the other things that I'm not doing while I'm at one of four said events.

Recently I was interviewed as a candidate for an industry association award. (It's an honor just to be nominated.) The interviewer asked, "So, you mentioned you're involved with your church, and you are also on the board of the organization. Other than that and work, are you involved with anything else?" "Am I supposed to be?" I thought "No," I said, laughing, "all that - and family and friends - keeps me pretty busy! Well, and the swing dance class on Monday nights I'm a part of..."

Last week as part of our church retreat we discussed virtues; the small group I was a part of discussed the virtue of wisdom. We decided that wisdom is choosing the best thing, at the best time, and pursuing it in the best way. So for right now, as life seems to be heating up (busy at work, industry events, Bible studies, and of course swing dance) the best thing to start doing is scaling back on the "I love to's" and boil it down to the "I need to's" in the schedule. And pray that God will make the "I need to's" super fun while I stay focused and keep the time management scissors handy!