faithuntamed

Tag: nature

  • Season of Quiet Growth

    Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

    3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every [a]purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

    Several months ago, I was asked to do crosswalk duty at work. Just one morning to fill in for an absent coworker.

    I had never done crosswalk duty. I asked what needed to be done and hoped I didn’t break some unknown crosswalk duty etiquette.

    I went out with my neon yellow jacket and stop sign. I had so much fun. Who knew?

    It wasn’t the helping families cross the street (without getting smooshed like bugs) that was fun. It was the greeting of families and trying something new.

    As I was thinking about the small thrill of trying something new, I realized that Hot Stuff and I had gotten into quite a rut.

    We show up for a handful of ministries to serve. We work. We come home and watch entirely too much tv.

    I read A Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, a few years ago. Shonda talks about fighting her introspective and homebody tendencies for a year and saying yes to numerous opportunities. (very paraphrased)

    I decided right there, in my yellow vest with a stop sign, that I would start walking through open doors more often. Or more specifically, I would intentionally try something new weekly.

    Working in a zoo-supported nature school makes this pretty easy. In the past few months I have had several animal encounters. Feeding giraffes, feeding flamingos, feeding lorikeets, playing in mud and (gasp) petting snakes. Yes, that last one terrifies me, but hey, I did it!

    I say “yes” to leading a book club. I haven’t been in a book club in decades(!).

    I will return to our local community orchestra in the Fall.

    I am plotting the formation of a San Antonio area Feral Writer’s Club. A writer’s club for both hobby and proffessional writers to simply help each other find their writing styles. To encourage each other to tell their stories.

    I change my writing habits. Instead of trying to force myself to find some time for solitude daily, I binge write for the first week of every month. Then? I simply write/edit when I feel like it. Letting go of the “should write daily” and embracing my binge writing self has been a game changer for me.

    But the biggest “new thing” for both Hot Stuff and I was downsizing from our 1500 square foot rental home into an 800 sq foot apartment. A small apartment situated on the second floor of a quadraplex. A quadraplex with a beautiful view of our local park and the San Antonio skyline.

    We had talked about downsizing for years. This time, when the opportunity arose, we jumped on it.

    Best. Move. Ever.

    Downsizing caused us not just to get rid of more household items than imagined, but to really look at what was important to us and where our priorities lie.

    We agree we are in a new season. We want to start fresh.

    When Hot Stuff and I got married, we were both processing a lot of traumas. We did the hard work of therapy, grief, and rebuilding a kind and gentle life for ourselves.

     We threw ourselves into ministry out of gratitude for life and life abundant. We have spent the past decade serving God and others in both organized and unorganized ways.

    When we moved into our new place, we gave ourselves permission to step back from ministries for awhile.

     Our home is simple. Our lives are simple. We are giving ourselves the gift of time, just the two of us, that we have never really had.

    We go to work. We pray for direction on where this healing season lies, and we savor the gifts God has placed before us daily.

     I once heard a podcast (Abiding Presence) in which the discussion on the Prodigal son turned to the ways we hurt/ turn away from God. One of the moderators said she believes we hurt God most may not in our disobedience, but our refusal to enjoy the gifts that are placed before us.

    Hot Stuff and I are deliberately enjoying our gift of a quiet, simple life.

    We do still watch way too much tv. We are trying, however, to be more intentional about how we spend our time.

     We found some Louisiana Soul Food Cook books while on a family vacation at the beach. We are slowly working our way through these recipes on Soul Food Sundays.

    While we both grew up cooking a lot of Soul and Southern food, we are trying to stick to the restaurant recipes each week. To see what we can learn. To try new things.

    We are slowly growing a deck garden. Yes, a super-hot, South Texas, no shade deck garden. The horticulturalist at work has been showing me how to propagate plants that survive the heat.

    Our neighbors gave us permission to take over the quadroplex deck.

    A close friend gave me a spiral plant stand and some plants that do well in this heat. The apartment workers gave us another planter.

    We envision a small deck garden for all our neighbors to enjoy as well as a pollinator pit stop for our pollinator friends.

    We are savoring (Ecclesiastes 8) a season of quiet, peaceful seeking and deep healing.

     A season of quiet growth.

  • Gone Fishing

    This past week, one of my co-workers asked what my New Year’s Resolution was this past year.

    I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I do, however, settle on an intention. A word or phrase to guide my heart and actions for the year.

    In year’s past my intentions have ranged from a year of listening, to a year of self care, hospitality, self-care, obedience, rejoicing, a year of deep study, etc.

    But when my co-worker asked? I couldn’t remember.

    I responded “This past year was about walking through open doors….that’s how I landed here.” (as i gestured around the classroom).

    It was true. We had had many discussions, here at the Love Shack, about walking through the doors that open before us.

    It was only much later that I remembered my yearly intention hadn’t been “walking through open doors” at all.

    It was simply “Gone Fishing.”

    Hot Stuff and I were both literally and figuratively “going fishing”.

    We did this by posting a “gone fishing” notice on social media and taking an 8 month social media fast.

    We were consciously separating ourselves from drama and unnecessary white noise. We were literally fishing weekly as well as making an effort to exemplify Christ to others.

    Mathew 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men

    Make a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ.

    This was great for the first several months, then Hot Stuff and I simply forgot to be intentional. We are a bit fickle that way.

    Hot Stuff and I got sidetracked with Zombie movie marathons and hustling to make ends meet. We did, however, decide to walk through the opportunities before us.

    So in fishing terms, we “tried the other side”

    John 21:6 (NIV): “He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”

    When we figuratively “tried the other side” and walked through the doors before us..I began working at a nature based pre-school. So. Much. Fun.

    Hot Stuff took a job at a bakery, that turned out to be an epic disaster. He did, however, minister quietly to many of his coworkers, who recognized him from one of his annual singing gigs.

    When the bakery job stopped, Hot Stuff turned to Uber Delivery Driving. 

    For those of you who know him. My husband is legally blind. Yet, somehow, he was able to pass his eye exam for the drivers test. The idea of him driving as a part-time delivery driver? Never entered our minds.

    Yet here he is. Several mornings a week simply delivering meals in our immediate neighborhood. The definition of a miracle playing out before us.

     We have even started having weekly “Uber delivery dates” on Saturday mornings. I navigate. Hot Stuff picks up deliveries. We sing along with music on the car radio and just have fun.

    By the grace of God, with two part time incomes, our bills get paid.

    Scripture says “when they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large numbers of fish.”

    When Hot Stuff and I walked through the unexpected doors, the ones “on the other side”, we found new friends. New ways to connect ourselves. We found the gift of time to renew connections with old friends we had lost touch with.

    One of these reconnections encouraged me to start a faith based blog. I accepted the challenge, lazy writing and all.

    I put my vulnerabilities out here every other week as I walk my own faith out. It is another door I continue to walk through.

    Hot Stuff and I still have a roof over our heads, gas in our tank and food in the fridge. We have a housemate that fills our home with the sound of music and the smell of baked goods. We have a mischievous dog, and a cat who loves to tell on the dog while engaging in her own nonsense.

    We call her “Stitch the Snitch.”

    I have no idea what this next year’s intention will be. I am still praying on it.

    But this I know, God has blessed us in ways we could never imagine in our year of both real and imaginary fishing.