If I had multiple lives to live I would like to :
- be a writer
- be a full-time artist
- be a college art teacher - medium = clay
- be a marine biologist, wildlife biologist, or wildlife veterinarian/rehabilitationalist
- be The Dog Whisperer
- have a llama or alpaca farm
- be a fiber artist who is also a llama farmer. You know, the whole A-Z process of raising it, sheering it, spinning it, dying it, and then weaving with it.
- be an archaeologist
- be a missionary
- have a small Alaskan lodge
- have our own gift shop in a log cabin, full of all our creative endeavors from music to writing, ceramics to wood creations, jewelry to knitting, quilting to photography!
- have a piece of property and run a no-kill animal shelter/farm
- have a ministry like L'Abri where people come and stay for varied lengths of time to learn about God, get specific soul questions and theological questions answered and work the property as part of their boarding.
- have a prayer day-retreat ministry in the woods where we'd have prayer cabins set up along the lines of Open Door Fellowship's Sacred Space
Some of these are dreams that are actual possibilities yet in my life, desires that are on the list of ""serious dreams". Others are ones I seem to be well past the crossroad of opportunity for.
What other "lives" do you think you would have liked to experience? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Showing posts with label Dreams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dreams. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
HAPPENINGS OF NOTE
AN AFTERNOON OF INSPIRATION
I recently spent an afternoon in one of my favorite art districts, downtown Flagstaff. I stopped off there on my way to a women's retreat last month. I visited my favorite galleries and shops, walked the quaint old streets, enjoyed the eclectic-ness of the architecture, merchandise, and people. I soaked up the rich textures and creativity around me. I took several photos, but I am not able to post them now. Poor planning; I'm in the valley and forgot to bring with me my camera from which to extract them.
WOMEN'S RETREAT
I went to a wonderful Women's Retreat about two weeks ago. It was held at Lost Canyon, a Young Life camp in Williams, AZ. I became a Christian through Young Life and it holds a special place in my heart. The camp is beautiful and definitely not rustic. Boy, camp was NOT like this when I was in high school! The speaker was Diane Andrews, a pastor's wife, women's ministries leader, and retreat organizer/speaker. It was VERY good. She spoke about four women of the Bible: The Samaritan Woman, The Hemorrhaging Woman, and Mary and Martha. All the messages were good. They were simple and direct; I took away one important thing from each one. Diane used a lot of visual aids, videos, and music to complement her messages. The most impacting message for me was on the Hemorrhaging Woman...about how she has been known to us - and probably in her community - simply as the Hemorrhaging Woman. In her culture, she was unclean and untouchable, an outcast...for 12 years. Imagine her loneliness. Imagine her sense of self worth. Twelve years. Not only did Jesus heal her physically, He gave her a new "name"; He called her Daughter. What healing that must have brought to her soul. Diane brought a powerful visual aid project to accompany this message. It was a really good weekend. It was great to get away, see friends, share in a small group of open, honest women, and be met by God over the lessons.
DEER FARM
Every time I travel I-40 to Williams, I see the Deer Farm and wish I could stop. When I drove past it on my way to the retreat I decidedly declared to myself, "I'm going to the Deer Farm on Sunday afternoon." And I did. It was a lot of fun. I was disappointed in the aesthetics of the place; it was, well, OK, I'll just say it. It was downright ugly. No grass. Nothing but dirt, rocks, fencing, and enclosures. The center area was open and that's where all the deer were. Despite the ugliness of the place, the deer were awesome. As soon as I entered the gate, they saw me coming with my cup of food and started making their way toward me. Soon I was crowded around by small Fallow Deer. I loved it. I'll write more later when I can post photos.
THE VALLEY
I went directly from the women's retreat to the valley for a few days. I was busy helping my brother with my Mom's estate. He has all the responsibility but no time. Time I have. I'm going down to help get whatever done that I can. While there I ended up going to two of my 12 year old niece's volleyball games. It was fun watching her play well and seeing her team win. I also was pleased to fix my brother's family dinner one night. They are so gracious and giving when I come down and stay with them. They always feed me, let me do laundry, and make me feel welcome and at home. I was glad to give a little back by fixing them my chicken chili which they all seem to like so much. I also got a good start on what help I can be regarding Mom's stuff.
While I was there, I was really busy. when I got home I realized I could have been even busier had I remembered some things I had really wanted to do but thought I wouldn't be able to get to town for. One was a free Ravi Zacharias speaking engagement. Ravi Z. is a Christian apologist, one who intellectually "defends" the Bible and Christianity. He is a wonderful speaker and teacher. I would have loved to hear and see him. The other event was a reception for the release of the book, Bo's Cafe, written by three church friends/pastors, John Lynch, Bill Thrall, and Bruce McNicol of Leadership Catalyst/True Faced. The book was pre-read by Wm. Paul Young, the author of The Shack. As I understand it, he liked it so much he not only endorsed it with these words on the front cover, "Bo's Cafe is a treasure for all of us who harbor a longing to be authentic," he also wanted to publish it at Windblown Media. I would have loved to attend this reception, to encourage the trio of authors as well as get to meet Paul Young. (I'm not sure if he goes by William, Bill, or Paul, but I've heard him referred to recently as Paul, so that's what I'm going with.)
SNOW
We got our first snow around the 27th-28th of October, while I was gone. I missed seeing it come down but seeing it on the sides of the highway on the way back up brought a smile to both my face and heart. Though I hate driving in it, I really do love snow.
A DAY OF MAD CLEANING
I got home Thursday night. The house was still rather cluttered because, no, we still haven't gotten all the boxes unpacked and removed. But we were expecting friends up for the weekend and that's the best motivation for cleaning the house. I got a ton done on Friday, mostly moving boxes from the middle of the living room downstairs to every nook and cranny of our loft upstairs. I even UNPACKED a couple boxes AND put the contents away! Woohoo! It felt so good to have at least a semblance of my house back. I must have gone up and down the stairs about 40 times. I was whupped, but felt good in all ways.
FRIENDS UP FOR THE WEEKEND
Some good friends came up Friday night. I was pleased to have the dining room table cleared out from under all the photography stuff (and more) that had commandeered it for so long. It felt good to put candles on the table and sit down for a meal. We had a really nice weekend with our friends. It was beautiful outside but we never really even went out. We spent all our time engaged in wonderful conversations about dreams, the Bible, churches, ministry and ministry dreams, country dreams, Alaska dreams. We are beginning to dream together about something on our land in Alaska. We enjoyed sitting in the dark watching the fire and continuing our conversations. Saturday night we watched a movie. Sunday they came with us to the church we've been steadily visiting and we went to Mexican food afterwards. Mexican food after church: they just go together. (And yes, we ran into people we know in the restaurant. I do like that about a small town; you can count on running into friends and acquaintances around town on Sundays after church.)
BACK IN THE VALLEY
I'm back down in the valley for a couple days to see what I can get done to help my brother. Poor guy only has one day off a week in which to run his own business and try to be the executor of Mom's estate, which it turns out is a lot of work. I hope to accomplish some organizing, some phone calls, and getting necessary info to various people.
I hope to get back to blogging more regularly. I miss it.
I recently spent an afternoon in one of my favorite art districts, downtown Flagstaff. I stopped off there on my way to a women's retreat last month. I visited my favorite galleries and shops, walked the quaint old streets, enjoyed the eclectic-ness of the architecture, merchandise, and people. I soaked up the rich textures and creativity around me. I took several photos, but I am not able to post them now. Poor planning; I'm in the valley and forgot to bring with me my camera from which to extract them.
WOMEN'S RETREAT
I went to a wonderful Women's Retreat about two weeks ago. It was held at Lost Canyon, a Young Life camp in Williams, AZ. I became a Christian through Young Life and it holds a special place in my heart. The camp is beautiful and definitely not rustic. Boy, camp was NOT like this when I was in high school! The speaker was Diane Andrews, a pastor's wife, women's ministries leader, and retreat organizer/speaker. It was VERY good. She spoke about four women of the Bible: The Samaritan Woman, The Hemorrhaging Woman, and Mary and Martha. All the messages were good. They were simple and direct; I took away one important thing from each one. Diane used a lot of visual aids, videos, and music to complement her messages. The most impacting message for me was on the Hemorrhaging Woman...about how she has been known to us - and probably in her community - simply as the Hemorrhaging Woman. In her culture, she was unclean and untouchable, an outcast...for 12 years. Imagine her loneliness. Imagine her sense of self worth. Twelve years. Not only did Jesus heal her physically, He gave her a new "name"; He called her Daughter. What healing that must have brought to her soul. Diane brought a powerful visual aid project to accompany this message. It was a really good weekend. It was great to get away, see friends, share in a small group of open, honest women, and be met by God over the lessons.
DEER FARM
Every time I travel I-40 to Williams, I see the Deer Farm and wish I could stop. When I drove past it on my way to the retreat I decidedly declared to myself, "I'm going to the Deer Farm on Sunday afternoon." And I did. It was a lot of fun. I was disappointed in the aesthetics of the place; it was, well, OK, I'll just say it. It was downright ugly. No grass. Nothing but dirt, rocks, fencing, and enclosures. The center area was open and that's where all the deer were. Despite the ugliness of the place, the deer were awesome. As soon as I entered the gate, they saw me coming with my cup of food and started making their way toward me. Soon I was crowded around by small Fallow Deer. I loved it. I'll write more later when I can post photos.
THE VALLEY
I went directly from the women's retreat to the valley for a few days. I was busy helping my brother with my Mom's estate. He has all the responsibility but no time. Time I have. I'm going down to help get whatever done that I can. While there I ended up going to two of my 12 year old niece's volleyball games. It was fun watching her play well and seeing her team win. I also was pleased to fix my brother's family dinner one night. They are so gracious and giving when I come down and stay with them. They always feed me, let me do laundry, and make me feel welcome and at home. I was glad to give a little back by fixing them my chicken chili which they all seem to like so much. I also got a good start on what help I can be regarding Mom's stuff.
While I was there, I was really busy. when I got home I realized I could have been even busier had I remembered some things I had really wanted to do but thought I wouldn't be able to get to town for. One was a free Ravi Zacharias speaking engagement. Ravi Z. is a Christian apologist, one who intellectually "defends" the Bible and Christianity. He is a wonderful speaker and teacher. I would have loved to hear and see him. The other event was a reception for the release of the book, Bo's Cafe, written by three church friends/pastors, John Lynch, Bill Thrall, and Bruce McNicol of Leadership Catalyst/True Faced. The book was pre-read by Wm. Paul Young, the author of The Shack. As I understand it, he liked it so much he not only endorsed it with these words on the front cover, "Bo's Cafe is a treasure for all of us who harbor a longing to be authentic," he also wanted to publish it at Windblown Media. I would have loved to attend this reception, to encourage the trio of authors as well as get to meet Paul Young. (I'm not sure if he goes by William, Bill, or Paul, but I've heard him referred to recently as Paul, so that's what I'm going with.)
SNOW
We got our first snow around the 27th-28th of October, while I was gone. I missed seeing it come down but seeing it on the sides of the highway on the way back up brought a smile to both my face and heart. Though I hate driving in it, I really do love snow.
A DAY OF MAD CLEANING
I got home Thursday night. The house was still rather cluttered because, no, we still haven't gotten all the boxes unpacked and removed. But we were expecting friends up for the weekend and that's the best motivation for cleaning the house. I got a ton done on Friday, mostly moving boxes from the middle of the living room downstairs to every nook and cranny of our loft upstairs. I even UNPACKED a couple boxes AND put the contents away! Woohoo! It felt so good to have at least a semblance of my house back. I must have gone up and down the stairs about 40 times. I was whupped, but felt good in all ways.
FRIENDS UP FOR THE WEEKEND
Some good friends came up Friday night. I was pleased to have the dining room table cleared out from under all the photography stuff (and more) that had commandeered it for so long. It felt good to put candles on the table and sit down for a meal. We had a really nice weekend with our friends. It was beautiful outside but we never really even went out. We spent all our time engaged in wonderful conversations about dreams, the Bible, churches, ministry and ministry dreams, country dreams, Alaska dreams. We are beginning to dream together about something on our land in Alaska. We enjoyed sitting in the dark watching the fire and continuing our conversations. Saturday night we watched a movie. Sunday they came with us to the church we've been steadily visiting and we went to Mexican food afterwards. Mexican food after church: they just go together. (And yes, we ran into people we know in the restaurant. I do like that about a small town; you can count on running into friends and acquaintances around town on Sundays after church.)
BACK IN THE VALLEY
I'm back down in the valley for a couple days to see what I can get done to help my brother. Poor guy only has one day off a week in which to run his own business and try to be the executor of Mom's estate, which it turns out is a lot of work. I hope to accomplish some organizing, some phone calls, and getting necessary info to various people.
I hope to get back to blogging more regularly. I miss it.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Moving Out, Back, and On
Through some sad circumstances my brothers and I are having to move us out much sooner than we'd hoped from the house Mom and I have been living in . I will be fully out by the time The Fisherman and I head for Alaska on May 8th. I'll help pack up Mom's stuff as much as possible before I leave but the guys will have some more time to finish up while I'm gone. That's one of the reasons I've been taking pictures around the house so much. And I'm glad I have been doing so. It is becoming a nice collection of images of Mom, snapshots of who she was.
So, I am moving out. Quickly and soon. I will be moving back to the mountains and my rural life. It's a mixed bag of emotions. I'm excited to return to living with my husband and in our rural mountain setting. But it is hard to leave this house where Mom and I lived together for three years. Hard to abruptly leave dear friends, a church I love and that has been a family to me for nearly 30 years. It is hard that this house will no longer be "ours" by the time I get back from Alaska. We're being denied the opportunity to linger in our sentimentality and whatever part it plays in our individual grief processes. It's hard for all of us. But I trust that God knows our hearts and our needs, and that we will be OK. More than that: that this stressful hardship will work for good in each of our lives. I think of a current song on KLOVE Christian radio that says:
"For I'll be by your side, wherever you fall
In the dead of night, whenever you call, and
Please don't fight, these Hands that are holding you.
My Hands are holding you."
I'm not fighting the Hands that are holding me. I have often done that in the past. I'm learning how to let them hold me even though hard things have passed through their permission to come to me.
As for moving on? Well, that will come more slowly as I settle in back home and as we figure out what shape our reunited life will take on as our future unfolds. We have dreams. We have visions and hopes. We're just not certain how they will emerge and develop. One day at a time we will see. I am uncertain what this mysterious "grieving process" will bring to me as well. I only know I haven't had much chance to even deal with it, being so busy with demands that have plagued me since Mom's death. I guess one day at a time we shall see about this, too.
So, I am moving out. Quickly and soon. I will be moving back to the mountains and my rural life. It's a mixed bag of emotions. I'm excited to return to living with my husband and in our rural mountain setting. But it is hard to leave this house where Mom and I lived together for three years. Hard to abruptly leave dear friends, a church I love and that has been a family to me for nearly 30 years. It is hard that this house will no longer be "ours" by the time I get back from Alaska. We're being denied the opportunity to linger in our sentimentality and whatever part it plays in our individual grief processes. It's hard for all of us. But I trust that God knows our hearts and our needs, and that we will be OK. More than that: that this stressful hardship will work for good in each of our lives. I think of a current song on KLOVE Christian radio that says:
"For I'll be by your side, wherever you fall
In the dead of night, whenever you call, and
Please don't fight, these Hands that are holding you.
My Hands are holding you."
I'm not fighting the Hands that are holding me. I have often done that in the past. I'm learning how to let them hold me even though hard things have passed through their permission to come to me.
As for moving on? Well, that will come more slowly as I settle in back home and as we figure out what shape our reunited life will take on as our future unfolds. We have dreams. We have visions and hopes. We're just not certain how they will emerge and develop. One day at a time we will see. I am uncertain what this mysterious "grieving process" will bring to me as well. I only know I haven't had much chance to even deal with it, being so busy with demands that have plagued me since Mom's death. I guess one day at a time we shall see about this, too.
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