Hopeful

The Charlotte Chronicles: I

The Charlotte Chronicles:  a moving story.

Once upon a time, a boy and a girl decided that they were tired of living in the land of the ice and snow.  They wanted an adventure!  And they wanted it to take place somewhere subtropical.

In the bleakest of winters - you know, that one with all the polar vortexes - they packed a truck with furniture and boxes of belongings.

  

At 7:00 am, they departed from Pennsylvania.  It was 2 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

They drove and drove... and drove.  The truck roared and roared.

It was a boring journey.

But the destination was worth it!  In North Carolina, they stayed with gracious friends; and the next day received moving help from several hospitable strangers.

It was 65 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

That's more like it.

We made it!

They gave us a brand new stove!

Same ol' boxes; different place.

Celebration

The story continues...

Pursuing Peace

I love reading TIME magazine.  They cover news from all around the globe, illustrate figures with infographics (oh, how I love looking at them!), and provide a bit of humor, too (thanks, Joel Stein).

This week, TIME's article, "2014 User's Guide" has some exciting predictions for this year:

• The U.S. Capitol building will begin a two-year restoration process.
• Google Glass will reach national levels of distribution.
• El Nino (Spanish for... "the Nino") will warm the Pacific to record temperatures.
• Kohlrabi will replace kale as the trendy, hipster vegetable of the year.
• More states will legalize recreational marijuana (OR, CA, AZ, and RI, in particular).
• Private space exploration companies will continue to probe the cosmos.
• Girls born in 2014 will have names ending in "-lyn, as in Marilyn or Madilyn."  Children born this year may, for the first time in history, have a shorter life expectancy than their parents... due to obesity.
• Skype will replace non-emergency doctor visits.  Doctors can asses symptoms and diagnose illnesses through "telemedicine" - a technology that's actually been used for years to serve remote fishermen along the Gulf of Maine, by the nurses of the Maine Seacoast Mission.

Besides all these global happenings...  What will you do this year?

It's a question I have been asking myself.

I've been pondering a statement that TIME quoted, from Pope Francis:  "True peace is not... a lovely 'facade' which conceals conflicts and divisions.  Peace calls for daily commitment."

Pope Francis echoes the words of Psalm 34:14:  "Seek peace and pursue it."  As I consider my goals for 2014, a life of peace seems a worthy endeavor.  More than that, a daily commitment to prayer and seeking Christ's peace will be my goal for the year.

Scripture calls us to live peaceably with our neighbor.  Again, peace isn't merely the absence of conflict, but a daily commitment to support and love one another.

Romans 12:17-18 - "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."
II Corinthians 13:11 - "Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you."

God reconciles His people to Himself; and He also wants His people to be reconciled to one another.  This can take place at the family level... and at a global level.  A huge part of living a wise, peaceful life is praying for our neighbors and our leaders.

"I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way."  (I Timothy 2:1-2)  This year, I will pray for those in need of reconciliation, and will work toward restoration with those in my own life.  Won't you join me?

Pray for peace in places like Sudan (where civil war rages) and Uganda (whose government has enacted violent land grabs from its agrarian citizens - see SolidarityUganda.com for more info).  Pray for the U.S. government to end its reckless policing of countries around the globe.  Pray for local communities to join in unity, strangers joining as friends supporting one another. Pray for the end of oppression and exploitation.  Pray for missionaries and churches to reach out, love those around them, and bring the peace of Christ to many.

My prayer is that God will change me, giving me more compassion for His people and endurance in prayer. Not only is prayer necessary for peacemaking, but prayer can indeed lead to a deep, godly inner peace. Philippians 4 tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I pray that God gives me the wisdom to work toward peace. As I enter a new season in a new place, it will be essential to lean upon the Lord and His wisdom as I seek peaceable relationships with new friends, co-workers, and neighbors. In the fall, I'll begin grad school - academically studying the Word of God. I pray that this new wisdom will bring me a softened heart and hands prepared to work toward reconciliation.

James 3:17-18 - "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

May 2014 be filled with the pursuit of knowledge, compassion, and humility... with much prayer... to better love and serve those around us in peace.

[Be sure to check out other bloggers' aspirations for the coming year at I Don't Have a Clue, but I'm Finding Out!]

The 6 Myths of Christmas

This season, I assisted my mother-in-law to liberally decorate their home with all things Christmas.  I think she owns about four-hundred different incarnations of Santa Claus.  I'm not even exaggerating.  Trimming the tree (and the rest of the house) has led me to a few observations about some inaccurate facets of Americanized Christmas.

6.  Joseph:  husband of Mary, professional shepherd.

  These two nativity scenes (among many others) portray Joseph holding a shepherd's crook.  While shepherds were present that night in Bethlehem, Joseph himself was a carpenter by trade.

5.  Someone received twelve drummers, eleven pipers, etc. for Christmas, and loved it all so much that she wrote a song about it.
  Actually, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is about spiritual gifts, not material presents.  What would you do with those ten lords leaping around your house, anyway?  Read the full story here.

4.  Angels look like either naked babies or winged ladies in dresses.
  I grew up in a home where we placed an angel on top of our Christmas tree.  It was the most beautiful, delicate doll... that I wasn't allowed to play with (too fragile).  She had long, blonde hair; perfect, porcelain skin; and a shiny, white, satin dress.  I'd cluster the other angel ornaments near the top of the tree - cute, glittery angels.
  However, the angels described in scripture seem more like fiery, dangerous warriors.  In many instances of an angel appearing to people, the angel has to calm them down, saying, "Don't be afraid!"  Apparently, angels are pretty terrifying!  Matthew describes the one guarding Jesus' empty tomb as having an "appearance like lightening."  The cherubim in Genesis 3 guard the entrance to Eden with a flaming sword.  The seraphim in Isaiah 6 have six wings each, and fly around shouting about how holy God is.  Wow.  These heavenly creatures sound a lot more exciting than naked-baby cherubs with chubby, pink cheeks!

3.  The Magi showed up the day Jesus was born.
  Matthew 2:1 - "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem."  Verse 11 actually says they went into the house to worship Him - so the Magi never actually hung out in the barn with the holy family)  After this, Herod ordered all male children age two and under to be killed.  (Joseph led his family to Egypt to hide out for a while).

2.  Three Wise Men came to visit baby Jesus.
  The Biblical account's inclusion of the Magi's three gifts for the Christ-child has led us to believe that there were three wise men.  Additionally, the well-known carol "We Three Kings" re-enforces this view by its language:  each man brings one gift.  "Born a King on Bethlehem's plain; gold I bring to crown Him again,"  "Frankincense to offer have I," "Myrrh is mine..."
  However, the Biblical story of Christmas and Epiphany doesn't actually give a number of wise men, only the number of gifts.  It could actually have been two men carrying three gifts, or four men, or twenty.

1.  Santa Claus.

  There's been a myth going around, saying that parents are the ones leaving presents under Christmas trees on December 24th.  Isn't that ridiculous?  I personally think it's just absurd to assume parents would be interested in building dozens of toys, wrapping them all perfectly, and stacking them in the living room in the middle of the night.  Don't you agree?  I can't imagine leaving that great a job of gift-giving to anyone but Santa himself.  You can watch this documentary for more information.

  If you have any additional observations about the holidays, I'd love to hear them - please comment!  I hope your Christmas is joyful, and I leave you to enjoy this video (Michael Caine's finest performance):

Twelve Days of Christmas: Part II

Today is December 20th.  We have decorated our Christmas tree!  It is hard to believe that Christmas is only five days away.  Have you been counting down the twelve days of Christmas?

If so, you may have been led astray by television movie marathons and holiday commercialism!

The Twelve Days of Christmas are actually those days following December 25th.  Traditionally, Christmas was celebrated for twelve whole days, leading up to Epiphany (the day the church commemorates the Wise Men's arrival to visit the Christ-child) on January 6th.

Sadly, Christmas - in America - has turned into an entire month of shopping, busyness, decorating, baking, and anticipation... all for just one day!  As soon as Boxing Day rolls around, the Christmas music is cut off the radio stations, decor is boxed up once more, and we head into the boring part of the winter season.

It makes me sad!  Why don't we have twelve days of celebration?  Why not give people a break from work or school for twelve days of family time and relaxation?  Certainly, the birth of God Himself in humblest human form is worth more than one day of celebration per year.

Well, I know the real reason we don't celebrate Christmas for twelve days.  It's because no one would make any extra money off of it.  All the corporations just want everyone to stress out and buy as much as they can in the month leading up to one day of blowout gift-giving and feasting.

I'd rather we feast for twelve days straight.  I'd love it!  Turkeys, hams, prime rib, duck, goose...

...and the cookies!!  THE COOKIES!!!

Anyways...  I challenge myself (and you, dear reader) to consider Christmas a twelve day-long festival, rather than a twenty-four hour holiday.  Contemplate and worship our wonderful Savior, who "though He was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."  (Philippians 2:6-7).  Compare Philippians 2 and Psalm 8, and be blown away by the awesome power AND complete humility of God.  The all-powerful Creator of the entire universe... was born a helpless baby in a barn... to show that He cares for us.

On the other hand... if you prefer the less Jesus-y, more Santa Claus-y side of Christmas... let's live out twelve beautiful days of gratitude, expressing thankfulness and love to our family and friends; as well as giving generously to those around us.  Merry Christmas, friends!

Now Presenting....

Welcome to "Pearls of Wisdom!"

After - like - seven years.... I have changed the name of this blog.

"Deterioration of the fight or flight response" sounded cool (it's the name of an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which I watched religiously in my post-college years), but it was kind of long.  It also wasn't very concise.  I think I had written one or two posts in particular on the ideal of striving to act kindly, rationally, and considerately, rather than brashly and instinctually.

I think that topic fits into the broader scope of wisdom in general.  As I tend to write equal amounts of anecdotes, life lessons, and stuff learnt whilst reading... I decided to "officially" change the title and refine the purpose of my blog.

Therefore... Welcome, readers!  I'm looking forward to discussing and sharing tidbits of knowledge, and having some fun along the way.

Cheers!

Twelve Days of Christmas: Part I

What in the WORLD am I going to do with these ten lords who are leaping all over the house??  Why, oh why did my husband hire these guys to jump around?  And they expect to be fed, too!  I am going to have to buy a whole 'nother ham and a goose just for Christmas dinner!

Praise the Lord... I am just kidding.

But who in their right mind wrote a song about getting all sorts of crazy gifts during each day of the Christmas Feast?  Okay, animals can make nice gifts, if you're prepared to care for them.  I wouldn't mind receiving all that poultry.  But... people?  People!  Why would you give dancing ladies as a gift?

Plus, don't all these things combined sound a little expensive?

What does the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song really mean?

As it turns out, that famous song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is about spiritual gifts, not material presents.  What would you do with twelve drummers, anyway?  Start a marching band with them and the eleven pipers?

The story goes like this:  during the sixteenth century, Roman Catholics were facing persecution in England, so they came up with a cheerful holiday tune to secretly teach their children about the tenants of the faith.  Think about this the next time you sing it:

"On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love" (God) "gave to me"
"Twelve drummers drumming," (the Apostles Creed's points of doctrine)
"Eleven pipers piping," (the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus)
"Ten lords a'leaping," (Ten Commandments)
"Nine ladies dancing," (nine fruits of the Spirit)
"Eight maids a'milking," (the eight Beatitudes Jesus taught)

"Seven swans a'swimming," (the seven gifts of the Spirit)

"Six geese a'laying," (the six days of Creation)

"Five gold rings," (the Torah/Pentateuch)

"Four calling birds," (the four Gospels)

"Three French hens," (the three Persons of the Trinity)

"Two turtle doves," (Old and New Testaments)

"and a partridge" (Jesus) "in a pear tree." (the cross)

Read the full story here.

Next time, in "Twelve Days of Christmas:  Part II,"  we'll discover why there are twelve days of Christmas in the first place... and why we don't celebrate them all anymore.

This month:

October will be spent traveling.  My husband and I concluded our summer of directing a camp (three months of s'mores, energizers, crazy college students and curious children) and are very minimally employed.  We still live at the camp.  We serve retreat groups on the weekends, but our weekdays are completely unscheduled.

As much as we enjoy hiking the grounds of our camp, we have seen it all - so we are seeking new places to explore.  In September, we went up to Maine (as usual) and got to check out the towns of Eastport and Winter Harbor (not the usual).  Last week, we did a spontaneous excursion to Niagara Falls and Toronto.  Let me tell you, that was THRILLING.  I have never been to Canada before; it was the second time I've used my passport.  All the Canadian stereotypes you've heard ("Have a donut, eh!") are true! Oh, and Niagara Falls was pretty awesome/beautiful/impressive/marvelous, too.

Anyways, as we're looking to what to do next with our lives, the prospect of grad school keeps appearing faintly on the horizon.  School!  Again!!  I so loved the academic life.  Even though I did fine arts for my bachelor's degree, what I truly loved were history classes, and specifically, art history classes.  The thought of sitting through lectures, scribbling furiously - as I had done for so many years of my life before! - is rather titilating. Arouse my intellect once more, o' university!

So this leads us to October.  We will spend three weeks traveling throughout the southeast, visiting as many schools as we can.  Many of these are in the Charlotte area.  The thought of dedicating myself once more to study - in an even warmer environment (more outdoor playtime!  longer garden growing season!  grits!  barbecue!)  is very, very intriguing.  I am not sure whether it's feasible financially, whether it will make a difference on the future of our careers (maybe each of us will actually acquire a career along the way?)... but I will find out soon!

Tomatoes

It is tomato time in the Mid-Atlantic.  Yes, they're everywhere!  We have made and eaten so much salsa in the past week, it seems like an overdose.  Bruschetta salad is a great alternative (swap the lime & cilantro for balsamic vinegar & basil - plus LOTS of garlic), but I am running out of ideas to keep fresh tomato recipes ... fresh.  Is there anything new under the sun?

We have loved growing our own food this year.  I've pored over cookbooks looking for new things to do with vegetables, but I seem to keep returning to the same stuff.  Salsa.  Bruschetta salad.  Warmed tomatoes over pasta.  Grilled zucchini.  Sauteed zucchini.  Baked zucchini.

Eggplant parmesan
Eggplant parmesan
Eggplant parmesan!!

When in need of kitchen inspiration, I often turn to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  However, all her veggie recipes are as follows:  "Steam.  Add butter."

Are there any new, fresh, obscure-ethnic-type recipes out there for standard North American vegetables?

March

It's Spring!  It's felt like Spring since mid-February.  The trees began budding a week before the Vernal Equinox, and now the smell of cherry blossoms is flooding the streets of Kutztown.  Glorious!!

Weddings comprised most of the excitement of 2011.  My own eleven-month engagement took prime focus for most of the year, in addition to serving as a bridesmaid (or rather, matron?) for dear friend Bridget in November and enjoying Adam & Kate's wedding on 12/30/2011.  2012 will bring high school friend Lauren's wedding in March, Monica's Hawaiian elopement in May and Jake's wedding in June (with Greg serving as Best Man), as well as plans for my sister Sarah's wedding to take place on 4/13/2013.

Is this the time of life during which a lot of folks wed, naturally?  Mid-twenties seems to be all the rage for matrimony, nowadays.  However, our parents' generation may have exchanged their vows from age 19 to 30.  Do young people nowadays just consider 24-27 to be the best time to settle down with someone? 



Farmin' food

There's a lovely, new gallery in Kutztown called The Independent Gallery and Co-op.  They host all sorts of different events, like Storytime for toddlers, Market Mondays (when local famers & bakers bring in their goods), open mic evenings, yoga classes, chess club for kids and of course, art shows.  It's right next door to where I work, so I see that there's a LOT going on, almost all the time.  After work today, I stopped in (Market Monday!) to pick up some produce, and of course I was enticed into purchasing a loaf of French bread.  Ready to leave, food in hand, the ladies there and I realized I looked like I was walking in from a movie set, since I was holding a baguette and a bunch of carrots with an enormous bunch of greens atop.  How amusing!!

Well, I was rather enthralled that they had beets available today.  I'm totally excited to make some Borscht; it's the best soup ever!  Perhaps I'll stop by the meat market next for some beef (or chicken!)  Who knows what I'll receive from my CSA tomorrow!

Yes, Greg and I decided to buy into a CSA share for the season.  Our farmer is a young man I worked with last summer, and he's been doing wonderfully this year.  So far, we've received from him shell peas, snow peas, spring onions, garlic scapes, chard, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, varieties of lettuce and several herbs (thyme, Italian parsley, etc).  We've been eating PLENTY of delicious stir-fry dishes lately.  It's been amazing seeing the "seasonal" difference, merely week-to-week, in what types of vegetables have been harvested.  Some plants have a very long season, some (like strawberries) are ripe only for a few weeks.  Greg and I have been receiving all this fresh produce with much gratitude and appreciation for the farming life.

How refreshing it is to see so much local agriculture happening!  New this year in Kutztown is the Main Street Growers' Market, which happens on Thursday afternoons from 3:00 to 7:00 pm.  Local farmers simply set up with their goods on folding tables in the little alley by Trinity Lutheran Church.  I purchased some delicious blueberries there last week, from Weavers' Orchard.  Berks County is such an amazing place!  Despite the pork-enriched diet of many of the locals, organic vegetable farms seem to be thriving.  Next week, the Kutztown Folk Festival will occur:  a great carnival dedicated to quilting, Hex signs and sausage sandwiches.  Yes, we're living in a land of bacon & baloney here in Berks, but amidst the lard and tripe arise fresh, organic veggies.  I'm quite excited about it, and very glad to see so many new farms & CSAs popping up across the map.  Rock on, farmers!!

Engagement

Greg and I are finally engaged, after having been a'courtin' for the past three years.  Yay!

Family celebrations ensued at the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, with many toasts and much story-telling and support from everyone.  I think the wedding will be a great, fun party with all these excited family members, plus good friends from home, summer camp, church and college.  We are very excited!

Even more exciting is the fact that we have a place booked.  Yes!  In the most difficult month to find an available venue, my parents succeeded in nabbing a catering place with a beautiful hall, great yard with many pine trees and a kind and detail-oriented catering lady.  We're stopping by her open house today to sample cakes.  This will probably be the most fun part of the wedding-preparation process.  Yum.

Besides that, we've got my parents' church reserved for the early afternoon on our special day, which I think will prove just perfect for the size crowd we'll have there.  Next up:  starting pre-marital counseling with our pastor, planning the ceremony with him and our Camp Hill pastor and a church wedding planner, picking out attire and flowers and making invitations and whatnot.  Oh boy!  I'm actually sort of excited to finish our Save-the-Date postcards, and later, make up our lovely printed invites; it's been a long time since I've dedicated myself to a design project of any sort.

What a  busy time!!  I'm glad we still have eight whole months to finish working on all this stuff.

And now, off to brunch and taste cakes!

discontent

Dear friend & college apartmentmate Meghan came to town to hang with me last night.  I rather enjoyed our conversation, catching up on life and ambitions and conquests and dreams.  She kept stating how she missed living in Kutztown, how quaint & quiet it is, how pastoral and friendly.

I find I'm becoming disinterested.

Many folk around here are quite happy and do good in marrying and making babies.  But there are others out there living what I dream about; traveling the country, getting a master's degree, homesteading, having decent full-time jobs.

When will I get there?  Living the dream?

plants

Okay, went to Rodale yesterday to pick up the scraps of what was left of the plant sale.  Parsley, broccoli & some Japanese leafy green that starts with ,M'.  Then poked around in a rack of seed packs & found carrots, turnips, lettuce, leeks, muskmelon & some other stuff.  After that we went to Renningers & the two ladies there had a greater selection of vegetable seedlings [perhaps not usda certified organic, but - ?].  They had at least a dozen breeds of tomatoes for sale, & I'm interested in getting some with a chronological difference in maturity so we'll harvest different sizes & flavours at different times.

AND we've already got a little strawberry plant in a pot [I hope it spreads like a weed & gives us many, many berries] and some thyme & basil growing nicely from seed.  Pesto this summer!

springtime

It is spring in Pennsylvania and green and yellow bleed into my sight everywhere I look.  I drove the back roads betwixt farm & field yesterday on my way to Echo Hill country store and the fields of green were wrecked with dandelion debris.   The pollen floats on the breeze invisibly into every runny nose and itchy eye.  That, I have heard, is at the most ridiculously high levels we've seen in years.  Something like that.

At the present moment, I am searching for a[n additonal] job for the summer.  Parts of my heart long to work at a summer camp, reaching out to kids and spending every moment climbing mountains and searching streams, but I do also feel called to Kutztown and to continuing ministry [hopefully] to the great people I work with at the art stuff store.  They're a beautiful group of women whom I want to love on; I really do enjoy growing into deeper friendships with them and the conversations we have when there are few customers in the store.

Because of this, it seems a 'small' job in town would be the best way to go as far as a little increase in income goes.  I applied for an internship at an organic farm [with professional resume & kickass cover letter], and I'll ask for applications to the little cafes & ice cream shops & boutiques up & down Main Street.  Perhaps I'll market myself for an au pair job.  I'm really looking to work Thursday through Saturday to create a complete work week.  It's nice having more time to work on painting, but the skin on my hands craves clay, and acrylic or oil cannnot satisfy.

Or I'll bake and bake bread, fill a cart & go up & down the street trying to sell my delicious loaves.  Were that a well-paying job, I'd employ myself immediately.

Also, I'm currently accepting ideas for part-time jobs.  Anyone hiring??

day

today at work i met a german lady whose name is Hildegard  [how old skool].

this evening i hung out with grandmotherly types, as i won't have my own for much longer.

i will learn how to purl.  

What's going on?

Things becoming more constant:

• earning some money
• hanging out with youth group kids
• singing
• drinking tea [thank you, autumn]
• obsessively reading SCL
• wondering why the temptation to regret decisions and re-face them again is trying to squeeze into my line of vision
• wakening to some strange dreams. hm.
  

It's time to get excited about sweaters and deliciously comfortable socks. Cool, but not yet slushy cold - fall in PA is a good time.

Working in retail is actually pretty good. When your store is filled with luxury items and your shoppers are pleasant, upper-middle class ladies, people are happy customers. Pier 1 may be the opposite of the DMV. It smells great and makes me want to have a place of my own so I can collect glassware and decorate with incense burners and candlescapes.

Anyways, my rebellious self is grumbling and clunking like the old furnace in the basement of my heart. I should be so content, so joyful, so ecstatic with what God has given me, and yet when I see opportunities to even take a peek at other stuff, it's like I'm camping out in the parking lot at the paper mill, whose odor should make me puke. God's stuff is so much better than any of the crap I'm sniffing.

So He's called me to lead this small group for the girls in my church's youth group. I'm completely inadequate, unprepared, and unqualified to lead them in applicable Bible discussions. Let's see what He does with this...