Worship into the Week-Fulfilled

 Worship into the Week-

 Luke 4:21
Lectionary C

"Today the Scripture has been 

fulfilled in your hearing."

Jesus in the synagogue teaching as he usually did. 

Reading the verses from Isaiah 61:1-2.

Good News for the Oppressed

61 

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

for the Lord has anointed me

    to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted

    and to proclaim that captives will be released

    and prisoners will be freed.

He has sent me to tell those who mourn

that the time of the Lord's favor has come, 

and with it,

the day of God's anger against their enemies."

And they marveled at what he said to them. 

They KNEW the Old Testament. 

It was clear that the implication of the fulfillment

was standing right in front of them.

Then they swung viciously from marvel to anger

 as they understood who he was condemning.

Themselves. 

For no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

This was right at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. 

He had finished his temptation by Satan.

He taught regularly in the synagogues. 

and word spread quickly about him.

 He was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then he returned to his boyhood home. 

Sometimes we just don't want

 to see the truth right before us.

Lord, give me eyes that see you

 no matter what obscures my vision.

Amen.

Supplies-

Visual Church Year Printables
sermon-notes-like 421-12719
sermon-notes-nehemiah-88-by-katie-helmreich-12719
magazine cutouts
washi tape

Doors into Prayer - Paper Bag Journal

 Back in September I led a retreat and met Sherry.

She is a friend of my friend, Pat.

So now we are friends.

Sherry is on a cancer journey right now.

Back in December, Pat and I made 

this Prayer Journal for Sherry

 that gathered the offerings from the retreat

 in a way to revisit them.

Right in a paper bag journal.

So I will share the layouts here- 

in a photo heavy post 

so that you can see them all.

I am not sure just how many paper bags

 we have here since we gave the project to Sherry.

 So this may not have all the 

fundamental documentation for precise instructions-

but hope these photos will help you to get the idea.

 We used a hymn page from a "crafting Hymnal".

Recycled Greeting cards are the basic material

 used with the print out from the retreat.

 Brads secure parts of the paper bag 

to make tuck-in spots.

 Scripture verses create

 "landing spots" for prayer.

 Embellished tags work for adding 

verses and prayer thoughts.

Washi tape is fun to use also.

 You can see here there were at least

 2 regular size lunch bags

 and 2 medium and one small.

These are secured in the center 

with ribbon through punched holes.

  

 Always good to have 

an Eugene Peterson prayer quote. 

 A small envelope works to tuck in 

with washi tape for private journaling.

A place for Sherry's own journaling.

Yes, we just don't know what doors 

we will have to walk through in our earthly journey 

and I pray for healing and recovery for Sherry.

But, most importantly- 

we know she walks with the Lord-

 every step of the way.

I wish I had the time to make one 

of these for each and every one of my friends

 on a cancer journey.

Who might you bless with such a treasured booklet?

When the End is a New Beginning

 I came to the end of a journal

 at the end of 2018. 

Full- no pages left.

2,770 days of counting gifts.

Started in August 2011.

That was to be the one year experiment.

Imagine my surprise-

when something is so far off your horizon,

you can't even picture what 2, 4, 7 years of 

a spiritual discipline practice might look like.

 Another journal has been the gathering of 

Prayers by the Month.

Actually that began in Feb 2011

 and has included a couple of different journals.

So I sat them on the shelf-

these old friends.

I have made another journal

 to start 2019 and combine 
both practices in one journal.

This was the solution that a team of

 Millennials came up with for a retreat awhile back.

Sounds good to me.

Think I would have started out

 that way but hadn't designed the 

Prayers by the Month as a practice

 that worked for ME yet.

 I will keep these old journals close by--

 for within the pages of Living Eucharisteo

are the highs and lows and blessings

 right in the middle of messy life living.

Since I have a diagnosis of Spiritual Amnesia 

and forget the gifts from the Father- 

one week or one month ago,

pretty sure I can't remember 5 years ago.

But, the testimony will be there.

For that I GIVE THANKS.

So time with those journals has ended,

but I look forward to the new beginning.
Even though I might need
 to revisit them once in awhile.

Worship into the Week-WHATEVER!

Worship Into the Week

Lectionary C
The Wedding at Cana

Gospel Reading of John 2:1-12
Jesus Begins His Ministry

"Whatever"

Pretty declarative instructions

 from the mother of Jesus.

"Do WHATEVER he tells you."

Then, doubt there was a side-long glance

 to His disciples with a "Watch This!"

This first miracle becomes a life-long 

demonstration of scarcity to abundance.

Jesus is this- he embodies this.

Running head-on into  

True God True Man illustrated.
Think I have to be a bit more aware
 of the WHATEVER part
 in listening to Jesus.

Old Testament- Isaiah 62:3

A new day of being renewed and refreshed.

"You shall be a crown of beauty

 in the hand of the Lord.
That brings a bit of clarity
 to the start of a week.

Supplies:
Visual Church Year Project
isaiah-6:23-by-katie-helmreich
John 2:5
Colored pencils
Alpha letters
Junk mail cut outs

Scripture Writing Plan

 Doing a mid-month check-in with 

the Scripture Writing Plan 

that I started the first of this month.

Good news?   

I am still on the plan.  

That's always a good thing for me as all things

 start as an experiment to see if "this works for me"

 and "if this works for me- this way."

I downloaded the plan from
Sweet Blessings. 
january-scripture-writing-plan-psalms

I decided that it was working for me in the

 Traveler's notebook format 

and I would use this set up

 since it travels with me easily.

 I have not done a Scripture Writing Plan 

before with a theme like this- 

a look at the I WILL statements in the book of Psalms.

I think it is meant to be the 

study of Our response to God

rather than the I WILL statements of God. 

 There might be a couple on the list 

that would lean more to God's actions rather than ours.

But, overall I am happy with the focus

 this is arranging for me.

I have had to use multiple translations

 to format the I WILL phrases but Bible Gateway

 has been helpful with that part of the process.

I decided in the beginning 

to use one color of colored pencil

 for the date, one for the Psalm reference 

and then another for the I WILL statements. 

 This has helped me to keep my place.

Then I felt for "my best learning plan"

 I also needed something 

to help all of these statements- stand out a bit.

So a small piece of scrapbook cardstock 

with the I WILL statement

 written out keeps the impact focus for me.

Always good to evaluate 

how a time of connection 

is working in my spiritual journey.

Mid-month thought?

 I need to pay attention to these- 

I WILL-responses. 

There are many and varied responses

 to all that the Lord has done for me.

He always initiates.

We respond.

And even that has to be 

with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Worship Into the Week- Beloved!

Worship into the Week---

Lectionary C

The Baptism of Our Lord

Seeing Jesus as the BELOVED of the Father.

At the beginning of his formal ministry start.

Though he had been living it out

 already in his daily life.

 His Father was pleased with his being.

Before there was the track record of his doing.
Time for me to remember 
that I am the Father's beloved.
Time for me to remember my own baptism.
Do you know your Baptism Date?
Maybe search that out if you don't...
It is the start for this amazing relationship.
The Lord LIVES in ME.
Oh, I give thanks for this.
I want to be like a tree 
that is planted by the rivers of water-
to be fed and grow.
Bless this journey.

Clean Slate

 The most snowfall in two years 

fell softly here in Northern Virginia.

Grinding expectations 

and stuffed calendars slid off the immediate pile.

You can hear the hush.

Less traffic out on the Parkway.

Less of everything in the 

moreness of the snow.

 Branches burdened by the weight-
settle closer to the earth.

Didn't go out to measure 

but the tabletop gives perspective.

Delighted that we still had the Christmas lights

 up to turn on and they dazzled in the glistening dark.

And on these white, white days I am reminded:

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”

 says the Lord. 

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

 they shall be as white as snow;

 though they are red as crimson,

 they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:8

May Snow Days always be

 such a reminder.

Worship into the Week-Behold!

Matthew 2:10

The Gospel reading for Epiphany.

Reflecting on the Journey,

the Finding and the Knowing.

The trip home- 

 how could their lives not have changed?

What would you tell your family?

How could you explain what you saw?

 What about that young babe you brought gifts to?

May that wonder move

 right into this new year-

that I may cling to the King

 who gave up all for me.

Supplies:

 Visual Church Year Printable
matthew-210-1619
sermon-notes-matthew-210

Colored pencils

Junk Mail

Stamps 

Epiphany Blessing Printable
epiphany-blessing

New Year- Clean Spaces

 It started simple enough last weekend.

 Hubby was home, house was quiet.

"Can we tackle the pile of paper

 on your desk in the office?"

 That morphed to the next pile and the next stack.

And the next dusty shelf.

So edited the bookshelves.

Donating 78 books to the public library.

 Though we have still way too many books,

it helps to delete that many each time.

It ended up being 28 hours of people time efforts.

But, the space breathes 

and welcomes once again.

The closet got it too.

It now smiles back when I open it.

(well, I think I saw a smile)

Then I saw there was a Marie Kondo

 series on Netflix.

I watched all 8 as I was sorting things

 and ironing

 in the family room.

Kondoizing began in the rest of the house......

 So the kitchen was next. I only have 4 drawers

 in the whole room and they have to work hard.

I cringed every time I opened them over Christmas-

 as I threw something else in. 

I would never have posted a

  photo of my junk drawer before clean out.

 Some things are a bit challenging

 for me about her method-

(I don't believe that inanimate things Spark Joy).

I do believe that our living spaces

 create welcome or not, cause frustration or not,

 and can suck time as we hunt for things.

Her method for folding things is brilliant

 and I have been a proponent of standing things

 in drawers- like forever.

But, never thought about it for socks.

This isn't her method for storing socks, 

but hubby NEEDS his like this to find them.

But, she does fold them and stand them up- 

in Containers.

So- even though it bothers my symmetrical system

 when all the containers are not the same- 

this is so helpful.

 It keeps like things together for the long run.

Been doing that for awhile also.

I even had empty spaces in drawers.

So I will continue this as can- 

one drawer and closet at a time.

 This season of "cleaning out" goes rather well

 with the Epiphany New Year's blessing.

Bless this home.

Bless this space.

Lord, make the systems here

 in our homes meet our needs,

 so that we have more time to serve you.

Let us get rid of excess,

 so that we have more time for YOU.

 Amen.

Epiphany Blessings!

 Today- the Wise Men have arrived. 

Epiphany Blessings to all. 

Sometimes Pinterest is a way to 

find things you didn't know about.

I found the practice of chalking the door for Epiphany.

There is a whole liturgy for that available.

Above our front door is brick-

 so that doesn't work really well. 

I decided to use the chalkboard

 in our "carport" as the place to mark the spot.

 This notecard explains

 a bit more about the practice.
(link to printable is below)

Here is a liturgy to use 

for this special day of "chalking the door".

I believe that these resources 

allow a bit more of a reflective time for

ending the Christmas celebration.

A fitting way to end the year

 and begin the new one. 

One that marks a very VISUAL way to say-

May Christ Bless this home.

Here are links to some resources:

Epiphany liturgy

Epiphany-blessing

Soul-Tending Reading 2019

The 2019 Soul-Tending Book Stack.

I thought for awhile today about not sharing

 what the stack looks like for this year-2019.

Then the accountability factor

 goes WAYYYY down.

That can be a very good thing.

It is true that every year I have to move

 books from the stack 

that was to be- right to the next year's.

But, then, this ambitious 

grouping of titles makes it easy

 to always find the next book to read.

They aren't stacked in order 

and I really do depend 

on the nudges of the Holy Spirit

 for the next read.

I average about 30 books a year- 

so this doesn't count in my penchant

 for good ole' mysteries.

 I request them from the public library

 and I must be reading 

what everyone else loves in Fairfax County.

 Sometimes I have to wait 4-6 months

 to get a book that I have placed on HOLD.

That paces them out just about right for the year.

I have read Hinds' Feet On High Places

in a number of other versions 

and this is a lovely new 

Visual Story telling of this classic.

See some that you have read? 

Want to join me for a read to two?
 The lists for previous years can be found Here:
soul-tending-reading
(as well as a couple years of 
really bad photos before I got a new iPhone.)

A New Year's Blessing

New Year's Blessing

Numbers 6:24-26
The Priestly Blessing

 

 The Lord bless you and keep you;
 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
 the Lord lift up his countenance[a] upon you and give you peace.

Thinking about a new year, new start,

 and what we all need.

We need a place to call home-

 a place that calls to our heart and mission.
The blessing of the Lord over all and in all.

Resolutions ready-

a wellness focus for 2019.

And Jesus over all.

Supplies:
Resource from theVisual Church Year Project
numbers-624-26-1119-new-years-day
Junk mail and magazine cut outs