Buttercups in Bloom

The holidays are an interesting thing.  They create stress and joy all at the same time. They bring persons together that might not otherwise have the opportunity to come together.  In the midst of it all, there is always the pressure to meet, greet and be a part of the holiday cheer. While the holidays are officially over, the visits to friends and family continue for many.  The visits bring about what a good friend calls "grouping up".  "Grouping up" consist of family (or friends) coming together and piling into a space and existing together.  The interesting thing that occurs in 'grouping up' is that everyone's personal space is stretched just a bit.  We live in a culture in which persons have their own rooms and in some cases even their own bathrooms.  We are a custom to thinking of our selves in terms of bedtime schedules, food schedules (as well as likes and dislikes), where we want to go or what we want to do. It challenges our own family tradit

Each day as we make our way to school we come up and over a hill before turning onto "Vietnam Veterans Blvd".  Over the past several years we have had our share of Contributor  vendors.  With each vendor that we have formed sort of  bond with them. Often giving them a dollar donation without taking the paper. There have been plenty of times that we have not had the dollar bill to purchase a paper and usually Emma has something to say about us not stopping. Our most recent vendors name is Andrew.  He is a younger gentlemen that is friendly, willing to strike up a conversation and takes great pride in himself and the way he speaks to everyone.  One day I simply realized that he was probably hungry so I took the snack I had packed for the day and simply handed it to him.   Since then Emma has commented about packing extra snacks for him. We have both commented about him needing something warm to drink. It has been so deep in Emma's mind that asked me repeatedly to purcha

I haven't journaled about my trip to the Holy Lands but one of the things that happened was a sense of prayer.  It actually started a little over a month before I left.  I had three different 'events' that occurred that were all leading to the same conclusion, that I had to find a way to come to God.  I had to find a way of reconnecting to the Holiness that awaits me every single day.  I also knew that I had to bring the community of faith together, to lift up our leaders....the people within our community.....lift up the hurt and brokenness....the worries....fears and anxieties.....to celebrate and proclaim the joys...the moments of healing that are upon us and given to us. I knew that was what I being asked to do.  I have been a part of prayer services in the past and I simply didn't want to settle for going through the list of names on the back of the bulletin.  I wanted to be real, I wanted to meet the needs and speak them out loud! As we walked through the holi