perspective, pimento & pentecost

-Rearranging my room to put my bed at an angle.  It's funny how your whole perspective changes.  I really like it and, oddly enough, it makes my room feel bigger.  Also, it would seem I'm quite strong. :)

 -Being given a stunning quilt by Linda from church.  She is so talented.  I love the vibrant colors and it even has a little tag saying "To Whitney, Pastor of Cameron Presbyterian Church from Linda."  What a thoughtful thing to do.  It's such a work of art that I should hang it on a wall, but I think it's better being used.  She joked that if I wear it out, she'll just make me another one.

-A quiet reprieve in a hectic day found in a homemade pimento cheese sandwich on homemade rye bread at a little bakery.  

-The fun and power of Pentecost Sunday, where everyone wore red (I even had red heels and nails) and we decked out the sanctuary with vibrant color.  I also had the chance to preach on a text I've been wanting to preach on: the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel.  It's such a poetic passage (fancy a read?  Here ya go!).

relax, we'll be here a while

-My precious pup in his prayer pose.

-Drenching rain that meant Mary and I were forced to stay in our lunch restaurant and relax with a cup of coffee until it passed.  Perhaps it's God's way of reminding me to slow down.

-The gift of spontaneous laughter, especially where it's least expected.

salmon fishing in the shire

-Adding a whimsical touch to my living room.  This is the opening line of The Hobbit.  Tolkien was a tired professor grading exams and, for some reason, turned one over and wrote this sentence on it.  Thus began that great series.

-A squirrel inching higher and higher up a tree, darting its fluffy tail back and forth.

-Seeing a really wonderful movie: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

gratitude for green things

-Being brought freshly-cut broccoli from my neighbor's garden (in 
addition to the lettuce and spinach earlier in the week). 




-Running into church folk (2 different people) at the post office and 
chatting a while in the parking lot. 




-Drenching rain that makes vibrant green trees glow through every 
window of my house.

Hush puppies & Hobbits

Hi y'all! I want to share some pictures from the fun Cameron Antique Fair this past Saturday. I helped with frying hush puppies and we had the best time. (Perhaps the most fun was shouting 'thanks be to God!' whenever the servers yelled for more hush puppies.). Tons and tons of people come as vendors and shoppers for this event twice a year (Texans, think Round Top). Events like this not only raise funds for the mission efforts of our church, they bring folks together through hard work.

Having worked all day Saturday, I took today off and have enjoyed relaxing with Hayden. I went to a bakery for a cappuccino and breakfast enjoyed while reading The Hobbit outside. Then I put Hayden in my bag and he just loved being toted around from shop to shop. There are so many areas around here I haven't yet explored, so today I wandered around downtown Aberdeen, enjoying the shops, painted brick and train depot. Now it's about time for some coffee ice cream and more Hobbit. Back to work for a meeting tonight, but until then, I shall relax. Hope y'all are having a fabulous Monday.

where thou art

-Finishing my mixed media painting for the Arts Council fundraiser.  The show itself is anonymous (probably so everyone doesn't just buy the recognizable artists' art and leave us amateurs' work alone), but I'm sharing it here anyway.   It was so much fun to work on.  I really should do things like this more often.

-Taking Hayden to go visit some folks from the church and having him get really excited as we pulled onto their street.  He loves this work as much as I do.

-Driving with my windows down as warm, flower-fragrant breeze wafted in.