Thursday Thoughts - It's Springtime! And I am singing!

During the Advent season I learned a new praise song by Chris Tomlin called "It's Christmas Medley."  It's such a great song and even now, months after December, it still pops in my head from time to time and it makes me happy to hear it.

But, it's now Spring Time.  And, I've found myself thinking of that song while making up words about Spring Time.  Instead of "It's Christmas.  The Angels are singing..." I'm thinking "It's Spring Time...and I am singing!" (thus my title for this blog entry).

With Sun in front of the Dogwood Tree (4/26/2021)

For a lot of people, spring tends to mean allergy agony.  And sometimes I wake that way too.  But the beauty of spring that God presents overpowers the problems.  There is just something about the sun shining on a nice warm day that is different than a cold day or even a hot day.  Even rain on a spring day is a nice change from rain on a very cold fall or winter day.  There is sometime about how the sun reflects off of trees that are starting to show leaves.  Or, like the picture above, how the sun shines as our dogwood tree starts to bloom with its pretty flowers.

There is just something about spring that makes me sing...or at least sing more than normal I guess...since I've been singing a lot for awhile now.

Spring just really seems to make me happy. Through the winter we wait anxiously for spring.  Or maybe some of us wait impatiently.  I admit, I have done both - mostly because I'm not a fan of ice.  Or driving in snow (not that anyone is).  But, Spring always comes.  And when it does, I know I need to stop and take the time to appreciate it.  Because before we know it, the heat of summer will be here.  

In Spring, everything comes alive.  Grass starts growing again (sometimes faster than in other places).  The flowers pop out of the ground and bloom.  Or you can plant flowers to brighten up the yard.  The tree leaves start coming back.  We have this tree in Sparkle's yard that got cut down a number of years back, but every year it finds a way to grow leaves and now it is a small tree in her yard that provides shade.  I've been admiring the leaves and how they grow day by day - and how they look in the sun and the rain, at day and at night.

So I will continue to appreciate the spring season and all that it brings.  And thank God that we have this time to spend in appreciation of His Creation.

Merging is a New Journey - 1st Experience in Months

I had I very different experience at church yesterday.  For the first time since February 7th, I got to sit and enjoy worship as a congregant.

My sister and I before worship 4/25/2021

It's kind of funny the cycles one goes through.  I went from doing SO MUCH at Wappingers.  Then the pandemic hit right before we were to merge and I went from doing SO MUCH to nothing at all.  For months!  First watching virtual services week after week.  Then attending church in person but not doing anything aside from attending.  To being asked to participate in Laity Sunday.  Then starting to be part of the rotating worship team.  Learning tech.  Preaching.  Training others on tech.  Before I knew it...there was something for me to do in church every Sunday since the start of February.  That's a lot!

So yesterday was the first worship service where I got to sit in my spare chair (that lives in my car so Sparkle doesn't eat it!) with my sister and enjoy worship.  Even when it started to rain, I enjoyed worship.  It was good that it was a bit on the rainy side because I didn't feel like I was blocking anyone when I stood up and started moving around to the music.  It felt great to worship with others along the row of people there.  It was what I needed, I guess.  To get into a different routine - being in church every week, but sometimes as a singer, sometimes as a tech person, and the rest of the time as a congregant.  But always enjoying the music...and the preaching...and the lessons learned.

Thursday Thoughts - Flowers at Night

This is going to be a brief one, but it allows me to share a picture I haven't shared online yet.

White Daffodils at night

Flowers are beautiful.  I love when they all bloom in the springtime and those that come out in the summer like wildflowers.  It seemed our flowers were so far behind everyone else's but they all finally showed up.

Flowers have a particular look in the daytime with the sun shining.  They even look great when it is grey and cloudy and rainy.

But I am always amazed at how flowers look so beautiful at night.  There is just something about seeing them bloomed and open at night that gets me.  I'm not sure what it is.  They look so spectacular and sometimes even better than during the sunlight hours.  I think I've taken just as many photos of the flowers at night as I have during the day!

Maybe it has something to do with warmer weather coming and just seeing flowers in a nice evening makes them that much more beautiful.

When my sister and I were growing up, mom used to cut some of the daffodils and we would bring them in to our teacher in elementary school.  She'd wrap them with a wet paper towel and then aluminum foil and we'd just bring them in.  Now I can't even imagine cutting the daffodils because I think once you cut them, they don't grow back.  (Unlike pansies that as long as you keep them watered and pick them, they keep growing back.  I just picked my 2nd bouquet of pansies last night before I covered them with a sheet to protect them from the cold.)

Anyway, I just wanted to share that thought - because I'm not sure I ever told anyone that before.

Merging is a New Journey - Revisiting "Outside Looking In"

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog entry for this series with the subtitle, "Outside Looking In."  It briefly talked about how, though I was becoming familiar with names online and shared videos, I would hopefully soon be in my place of vulnerability, an introvert having to become part of a family once again.

Sun Through the Window - 4/18/2021

It can be quite the struggle for someone who is normally very shy, reserved, and quiet to become part of a larger unit that is already familiar with each other.  I've talked about this before.  And how I wound up inserting myself into situations and groups and becoming very familiar with people and getting to know my church family even more than I did before.

But what is interesting is that, coming up, is almost a similar "Outside Looking In" situation.

We will be resuming in-person worship service again - first with a couple outdoor services.  Which is awesome!  But, here's the thing.  I've been helping out in services in some way since the first Sunday in February.  This also includes Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.  And though I am definitely comfortable with that, we will be having service together with people I haven't met before because maybe they didn't come out before...and having service with people we haven't seen since the last in-person service towards the end of 2020.  A place of vulnerability for me once again.  But one I welcome and look forward to!

Thursday Thoughts - I forgot how to rest

Haha!  Sounds funny, right?  Or maybe familiar?

I got to thinking about this the other day when, in my Timehop app (shows me things from the past on the day, whether it was a social media post or a photo I took) showed me my blog entry was entitled "Merging Is A New Journey - I Feel Bad For Resting."

That has been on my mind this entire week because, well, I have learned that I am totally not resting any more.

Sparkle, on the other hand, does a great job of resting (and trying to kick me off my own bed).

Sparkle Shows what Rest Is (4/14/2021)

So, I have gone back through some of my old Merging is a New Journey blog series as I was working on compiling them and reflecting on the entries.  For those curious, here is the link to my original post:
https://jennmaristimc17.blogspot.com/2020/04/merging-is-new-journey-i-feel-bad-for.html

And here is what I had to say when I reflected on this post many months later:

"I still can not cut ham to save my life.  Let’s just get that out of the way right now.  I laughed out loud as I re-read this particular entry.  It was very strange not doing anything when I would be so involved in every worship service in some way during Holy Week.  But, as I closed out the entry, I also reflected on the need for rest (Sabbath).  As I’m going through these entries now, I am realizing that it was good for me to rest, so that once I did start getting involved in things, I would do it after having rested and been ready to tackle something new."

I now do the opposite of rest.

Granted, I did have a period of rest.  About 7 months of rest.  But then, I stopped resting and got back to my usual busy self.  At least in terms of church.

I remained busy in other parts of my life.  Like today, I'm post vaccine shot 2 and a lot of people reported having various side effects from it.  Me?  Well, I'm tired and would probably liked to have gone back to bed this morning.  But, I went to work.  Not because I felt like work would implode if I wasn't there.  But because I felt like, aside from being tired, I was okay to work and I should work.

Should it always be like that?  Should we have a mindset of forgetting to rest?  Probably not.  But for many of us, either how we were brought up or taught by a mentor or for some other reason, it is hard to rest.  It is hard to not feel bad about resting.  But it is something we need to do from time to time.

I sometimes joke that I forgot to rest.  But I need to remember how to rest.  In order to be the best I can be instead of being half of what I could be for everyone.

Merging is a New Journey - "Low" Sunday is Anything But

Typically the Sunday after Easter is considered a "Low Sunday" because everything has been pushing towards the previous Sunday, Easter.  And then there is like a "let down" after how Easter was.  I can certainly attest to that.  Easter was such a great day for me, which I wrote about last Monday.  And that feeling carried through most of my week.  Then I started to feel the let down.

Until I walked into church this past Sunday.

Altar on 4/11/2021

The altar was adorned with spring flowers. Okay, maybe they were some leftovers from Easter.  But, spring flowers none the less!  Spring flowers make me happy.  And take me out of that feeling of lowness.

One of our Lay Leaders, Dale, was covering service for the day.  And he really had the participation of those who were doing things in service, like the music.  And though it was a "low Sunday" it certainly had the air of a high one.

Some of the music got me emotional.  And some of it had me standing and clapping.  Or singing in my head.  Or swaying back and forth.

Though it is typically called a "low Sunday," to me it was anything but.  Being able to work with and spend even a couple hours with my family/friends gives me the push I need to get my week started.  I may struggle on Mondays, especially when the weather changes and the barometric pressure fights my head and tries to bring me down.  But no Sunday is low to me anymore.  They are all great ways to start a new week and help me get through the week until the next Sunday.

Thursday Thoughts - Replenished

I wrote up a devotional to be shared at our Church Council meeting last night.  However, a member of the group reached out with a meditation they wished to share.  It was a very needed and quite timely message, and one I was very glad to hear and take in.

But the words from my written devotional were still on my heart, so as seems to be my tradition now, I share them here.

Sparkle Gets Replenished

Replenished

“You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?  You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.  You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.” – Psalm 71:19b-21 (NRSV)

So, last month I wrote about being Depleted.  Because that was how I was feeling and I’m sure others were too.  Maybe even now some are still feeling depleted.  I’m writing this on Monday afternoon and I was sure by now I was going to feel depleted because I was going and going and going all day Sunday starting at 4:30am.  But I’m not.  I may be a bit tired.  But, I feel Replenished.

When I talked last month, I said we replenish our bodies of things they need.  It can be done in many ways, like sleeping or eating or drinking something.  And that is just how to replenish ourselves if we are tired or hungry or thirsty.  We find many different ways to replenish ourselves of other things too.  Sometimes we may want to get outdoors and do something like walking, hiking, biking, or just having a moment of peace to watch the sun set.  (That last one has become my recent weekend practice.)  Maybe it is catching up with an old friend or a family member you haven’t talked to in a while, just to replenish that relationship.  There are so many things that one can do to replenish whatever you need. 

I do feel like, for me, this past season of Lent had me thinking a lot about being depleted and replenished.  In a recent sermon, Pastor Jody said that “Lent provides us space to find self-discovery and to help us grow.”  For me, considering being depleted and replenished has been part of my growth process and self-discovery.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that is the case for me.

The brief selection from Psalm chapter 71 also speaks to being replenished.  We may have many things thrown our way.  The Psalmist talks of many troubles and calamities they have seen.  Maybe we have troubles and calamities.  Maybe there is a lot of stress at our jobs or in our families.  Maybe there are health issues.  Or something else entirely.  But God will always revive us.  God will help us find a way to replenish ourselves.  God will bring us up again.

This happened very recently to me – in fact, it happened on Sunday.  I blogged about it where I listed over 30 reasons why I had, literally, the best Easter ever.  This was after three insanely stressful days at work, including one day where I worked until about 7pm and one day where I was stuck in a building for a long period of time without a break and a way to replenish myself.  God brought me back up again.  God revived me, not only through a day off on Saturday but the many joys that Easter was filled with.

I pray that you all continue to find your replenishment for whatever situation you are in.  Know that God will always revive us, sometimes in ways very obvious to us and sometimes in ways we do not expect.  God will revive us and replenish us, always.

Merging is a New Journey - Amazing Easter!

Holy Week has always been a special time for me.  We go from a celebration of Jesus arrival to Jerusalem, to contemplating the events of the week, considering the last meal Jesus had with his disciples, Jesus being arrested, sentenced, and the crucifixion.   Then, it culminates in another celebration on Easter Sunday as we rejoice in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

Easter Sunday Altar 4/4/2021

Aside from last year, I have been in church for Easter before.  It is always a happy day full of inspiration.  Sure there were a few times, like I talked about before, when I was cleaning up from pancake breakfasts - but you could still hear the celebration even in the kitchen.

But for some reason...this Easter...was probably one of the best Easters I have had in a long time.

Maybe it was because I was at Sunrise Service.  Or singing at Sunrise Service.  Singing new to me songs that sound awesome and have great lyrics.  Hearing the story of finding the tomb empty.  Seeing people I haven't seen in months.  Watching the sun rise and hearing the birds wake up and sing.  Any of those reasons could have been it.

Maybe it was because of being at the regular worship service on Easter.  After already been in worship, just continuing that thread.  Being with great friends.  With great songs to hear and sing along with quietly in the pew.  Familiar worship songs and hymns to start the service.  Lots of G.F. Handel, sung and played on the organ.  Singing along quietly as one could to the Hallelujah Chorus.  Though there were few of us there in the congregation (a soloist, my sister who sang in the anthem, and two tech people, one of which was me) we stood for hymns and the Doxology.  We sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" like it was a "normal" church service.  And I was acolyte.  Some things never change.  We celebrated Christ's Resurrection and that never gets old.  Any of those reasons could have been it.

Maybe it was the time after service, being in fellowship with those there.  Or taking selfies with my church family/friends to celebrate the day.  Taking pictures by the flowered cross outside.  Sharing funny stories.  Any of those reasons could have been it.

Maybe it was getting home to celebrate not only Easter but Anastasia's 9th birthday.  Seeing her joy at all her presents.  Being in my happy place with my iTunes playlist and dinner prep.  Maybe it was the nice day outside.  Maybe it was being able to spend time with my pup inside after dinner, which only seems to happen when there is daylight left outside.  Maybe it was catching the beautiful sunset from my yard.  Any of those reasons could have been it.

Maybe it was just knowing it was a day to celebrate.  Maybe it was the various sun and sky pictures I took that day.  It was like I was seeing things with new eyes.  Maybe it was because I felt pretty that day and wasn't so down on myself.  Maybe it was being around the people I was with.  Maybe it was funny things that happened at home.  Maybe it was the yummy dinner.  Or the birthday cupcakes.  Eating the cherry jelly bean first thing like I do every year.  The cup of coffee my sister bought me.  Being up at 4:30am and doing everything I did without really feeling tired until after 8pm when I tried to take a short nap.  Any of those reasons could have been it.

All I know, is that it was like this was the Easter I needed after so many things.  Not just the pandemic, but other things in my personal life.  It was an amazing Easter and I couldn't be more blessed.

Jesus is Risen.  Hallelujah!  Amen!