Friday Five: The Ups, The Downs, and The Cutely

For todays' RevGalBlogPal Friday Five, Sally prompts us to quickly answer these five questions:

What has encouraged you?
Relating to congregational life: A group of people are now having honest and open and reasonably respectful conversations about difficult things.

What has challenged you?
Relating to that same congregational life: The conversations, while honest and open and respectful, are steeped in "logical" misinformation and inability to see around the next corner. Helping to facilitate these conversations and feed them digestible information is challenging. Perhaps most challenging is that it feels important (even essential) to celebrate progress, but that is not in the local culture DNA, where they seem to be stuck in lament and criticism mode.

What has inspired you?
The people who "GET" me!  And they let me know that they get me. And they play along.  That literally has breathed life into me this week.

What has made you smile?
The above video from Amy's blog:  I have smiled every time I watch Daniel, the wonderful grandchild, saying "Happy Birthday, Papa" for his dad's birthday this week.  He also said "Bye Bye YaYa" to me on the phone the other day just as cutely.  Yes, "cutely" is a word, and he's the poster kid!  My own (now grown) kids still show up with the "cutely" on a regular basis.  They are each good for a smile!

What has brought a lump to your throat or a tear to your eye in a good way?
Last week's Confirmation Sunday, definitely.  God's still speaking voice and still-calling Spirit blesses and surprises our best, and worst, attempts at being the church.