The Glass is Half-Full

  You, dear reader, kind of know me. My blog title, the glass is half full, gives you a clue into my predisposition. I find the positive in nearly every situation. Or, more accurately, 'found' the positive. I'm struggling. And I know that I'm not alone. There is just so so so so much to struggle with - emotionally, physically, mentally that it's difficult not to get overwhelmed. Know what I mean? I listened to a great sermon last Sunday. I felt uplifted and motivated to be the change - to live like Christ and lean in to the Holy Spirit and to focus on all that is "true, honorable, worthy of respect, right ...brings peace...worthy of praise" (this is a terrible paraphrase of Philippians 4:8 but you get the picture, and I'm sure God won't mind if it's not perfect when I'm trying to concisely communicate the point). John and I were in great moods as we had those words on our minds and we saw a sign that read "Sprinkle goodness like confet...

The world is upside down and back ass-ward. Know what I mean? I was chatting with a cousin the other day and her potential exposure to the corona virus. I wrote, "I'll say prayers for negative results for all. Don't like negativity but these days negative is a positive." Back ass-ward. Remember when we first went in to shut-down mode in mid-March? We were told that it was to flatten the curve of hospital admissions so that our ICU's didn't run out of capacity and to ease the virus' spread. It felt then like we were in this together, all of us were going to help beat this virus and stay home. (Aside from the run on toilet paper!) We were committed, or so it seemed, and our closets were going to be cleaned, our junk drawers were going to be a thing of the past, our garages/basements/and other yucky places were going to gleam. We were going to read "War and Peace" or "Hamilton" or other weighty tomes that we'd always wanted to read. We...

When I was asked to give my testimony for a recent service at our church,  Community Church of Douglas, I didn't hesitate. Maybe I should have or maybe I should have worked on what I was going to say. Because what I said was confusing even to me - and the look on Pastor Beebe's face as I was jabbering showed confusion as well. So, here is what I was trying to say ... I grew up in the Catholic Church where the word testimony was not used - the concept of being 'saved' or 'used' by God is not taught. In that faith tradition, you're baptized and are cleansed of original sin and then as a child taught to serve God through good works. A personal relationship with God was foreign to me until I began Bible studies in my 40s and then "POW" my life was forever changed because I have always felt a call to be in relationship with God. The call was not to be in service or profession, but to live my life like one who has this relationship. That is at ...