Friday Five: Sneaky, Sneaky!

How did you sneak in here?

Karla, Karla, Karla.  So, the deadline for putting up the Friday Five sneaked (snuck?) up on you. It's not like you've been away on a serious (enough) study leave. And then there's that blizzard that's bearing down on you. With all of that, you have still managed to put forth a wonderful Friday Five!  And, you have enticed me to play the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five again after far too long. Thank you for some really sneaky, and great, questions.  Here goes:

1) What is sneaking up on you, and what have you been thinking about?
What is really sneaking up on me is income tax time. I know today is only February 8, but that denial of "time flies" is what makes it so sneaky. But I'm not thinking about that at all! I'm thinking about Mardi Gras and what part(s) of that I get to go to this weekend.  Mardi Gras parade: probably.  Crawfish boil: definitely!

2) What will you have for lunch today?
Well, it's after 2:00 p.m. here, and I still don't know.  I'm seriously considering checking out the Thai place across the street. Sadly, there is no sushi bar on this boat.

3)  If you were to get snowed in for two days, and you need to hunker down, what essentials and treats would you store up?

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

OK, sorry. It's a balmy, short-sleeved 65 degrees and cloudy here in New Orleans . . . (ahem) . . .

This would be a serious question for me if I still lived in the house I still own in Pennsylvania, because I know the snow is coming. There. Not here.  For the Two-Day Snowed-In Hunker Down, treats and essentials are hard to tell apart:

• Enchiladas!
• a pot of Amy's turkey noodle soup or some chili
• coffee and half & half
• cocoa & mini-marshmallows
• movies, Netflix (if there is electricity) & books and crochet (my new hobby) 
• comforters & pillows & all kinds of flannel
• wind-up radio/flashlight
• candles and flameless light sources

4)  Tell me a story about one awesome thing you have experienced in the last couple of weeks:

Once upon a time, in the last couple of weeks, I took a 9 hour drive that took me from New Orleans to Jacksonville. My wonderful congregation sent me on a serious (enough) study leave.  So, I got on a great big boat and sailed away.  

I hugged dear friends and met new ones, now dear ones. Faces went with online names of women who had become celebrities to me, and I couldn't help being a starry-eyed fan. (I hope they understand.) 

 

We laughed. And laughed. We wrote and wrote. And wrote some more.  Sometimes we wrote less, as few as six words to tell a story of God's good news breaking through the fog.  

Alfredo flirted with us and danced for us.  

We told supper stories. And late night stories.  

And stories fueled by sushi circles, melting cake dinners, and mojito toasts.  

Then we laughed some more.  

Encouraged by sweet generosity, I picked up crochet again.  

I am still swaying to the music. I'm rolling with the waves. I'm looking for sushi.

And I'm thankful. 

So thankful.

5) What is your favorite office supply to splurge on? (now THAT is random, right?)

 Yes, that IS random, dear Karla!  Markers or pens, definitely!

A Sabbath Sabbath

I am on vacation!  Today is a very different kind of Sunday for me. On summer Sundays, by 8:15 a.m. or so, I am at church puttering around with last-minute details of the 9:00 a.m. worship service and greeting the early arrivers.

Blank frame.  Insert life.

Summer worship starts earlier in the morning, but it is no less of a worship service.  When we say that things are "more relaxed" in the summer, we are not talking about any relaxation of my role in the worship service.  I am fully involved in a full-fledged sermon, a fully-engaged children's conversation, a fully-prayed pastoral prayer, and the usual multi-page worship bulletin.  Other elements of worship take the summer off -- Senior Choir, I'm talking to you -- and the Sunday School program also takes a break.  Many of the regular pews of the regular people are empty.  Yes, I noticed.

Today, I was the one who slept in.  This early riser, who calls getting up at 6:30 a.m. "sleeping in," slept later than that, much later.  The day has already included coffee and reading a novel on the patio and a leisurely stroll with a young loved one through a local mall in the 90+ degree heat leading to my first ever treat from Jamba Juice, a "Pomegranate Pick-Me-Up" to be exact.

Today looks forward to more pleasure reading, more coffee and more goofing off.  I will check in with a couple of other loved ones, including a Skype session with my grandson.  All of this is prelude to the "Wild Rumpus" that my nieces have earned by getting their homework all done.  They get to set the agenda, and they have warned me that our time together will likely involve an enchilada dinner, followed by junk food, movies and a tournament of Wii games that I will surely lose as I laugh myself silly.

Holy Sabbath!  Today, I am in Texas, enjoying big skies, the precious company of my loved ones, breathing deeply, and -- in the nick of time, again -- remembering Whose I am.  And it is good, very good.