A recipe to share

I got an acorn squash in my Full Circle Farm delivery box a few weeks ago, and throughout the holiday season it has been lovingly staring at me, begging me to make it into something delicious.  We are in full blown winter weather here in Western Washington which means plenty of grey skies and drizzle, so soup was on the menu today.  

I settled on the Acorn Squash Soup by Guy Fieri, which can be found here.  I stuck the recipe fairly closely, only substituted regular whipping cream for heavy cream to cut down on a few calories, and used chili powder instead of cayenne because that's what I headed.  I added a little bit more chili powder to get the slightest bit of kick.  I also have a pepper blend in my pepper mill, so I didn't distinguish between white and black pepper.

Of course I wasn't on top of it enough to take pics while I made it, but trust me it was tasty!  A salad made with organic romaine, carrots and apples and a little balsamic vinaigrette to accompany and a nice lunch was had.

Be Above Average

Yes, I was that kid - the infamous bookworm.  I started reading at age 4 and have never really stopped.  Trips to the library were always greatly anticipated,  books were read covertly under covers long after I was supposed to go to bed.  Eventually, The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High gave way to Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables, then historical fiction, then classic literature, modern fiction, non-fiction books on faith and science and biographies...and so much more.  These days I don't have the time to read quite as much as I used to, but I still love trips to used book stores and libraries, my bookshelf is full and so is my Kindle.

The other day I heard on the radio that the median number of books read by an American is 6 and the average was 15, based on a recent study by the Pew Research Center.  Wow, only 6?  I know not everyone is a reader but when I stop to think about how much time is spent on Facebook, or in front of a TV, I wonder how much we're missing out on using our imagination flipping through the pages of a book (or clicking the arrow button, if an e-reader is more your style :) )

So, be above average!  (And definitely above median!)  What do you think?  Can you read more than 6 books this year?  More than 15?  I'm going to try, and I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Happy 2013! (Day 1)

It's that time of year, people throw out the past year and bring on the new, making all sorts of resolutions of how they are going to change/improve/do better...etc in this upcoming New Year.  I personally have decided not to make a long list of resolutions, because let's face it, I know myself.  And if I know anything about myself is that if I make a long list of everything I'd like to change, I'll find myself back where I left off in December before the month is out.  So instead, I'm making some personal goals to use those to make positive changes in my own life.

One thing that has been sadly neglected is this blog.  I love the idea of blogging, I love reading the blogs of friends who honestly have been much better at this than I.  But before I chuck the idea of blogging out the window, I'm hoping to give one more go.  Not as a resolution, but as a new area of focus.  I was looking back at my old posts, and I've decided to revisit that idea of the year of living "Holystically" - my word for combining spiritual health with physical, emotional and mental health to strive to be better overall.

So ignore prior days, and dates.  The new year starts now, in 2013.  May this be a great year for all of us.  Sadly 2012, especially the end was filled with news that was sad or fear-provoking.

I was struck a couple of weeks ago, when I accompanied our teens on our yearly trip to provide dinner and gifts for homeless young people, living on the streets of Capitol Hill.  The organization we partner with is decidedly secular, but they know we are people of faith and have great respect for this.  As we stood in prayer after the event, a mix of people from our church and the organization, our youth minister asked the group how they had seen Christ present that evening.  One of our younger teens, wise beyond his years, spoke beautifully about how if we want to bring Christ into the world, if we want want to change to happen, then WE need to change.  We need to be that force of good and happiness in the world so that events like those in Newtown and Portland do not happen.  I've reflected on his words as Advent has given way into Christmas, and 2012 has heralded in 2013.  It's made me think of a song that is actually one of my favorite Christmas songs, even though it is not traditional and put out by a secular group - "Better Days" by the Goo Goo Dolls.  I heard it on the radio the other day and the bridge struck me profoundly:

I wish everyone was loved tonight

And somehow stop this endless fight

Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days.

During Mass today, on this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, Fr. Jim mentioned in his homily how Mary is the perfect model for us as we enter a new year.  A young woman who waited in great hope and anticipation for the Lord, who was amazed by Him and pondered what she saw in her heart.  A woman who had the faith and the strength to give her yes.  Let's all find better days this year.  Let's all make better days this year.  Let's look to Mary as a model to have deeper faith and trust.  May God bless you and yours on this first day of the year.

Day 114: Reclaiming Sundays

When I was in Physical Therapy school, one of my classmates was Jewish as was her fiance, who was a law student.  He was more Orthodox than she was, and she was telling us one day about how seriously he took the call to rest on the Sabbath.  When the Sabbath rolled around, he was very serious about resting, in fact, he would not even study on that day.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.  And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation."  Genesis 2:1-3

While most Christians have adopted the "8th day", or Sunday as the day of rest in honor of Christ's resurrection, there is no doubt that for a long time, we also took seriously the command to keep the Sabbath holy, as we were instructed in the Ten Commandments:

"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work..." Deuteronomy 5:12-14a

It was not that long ago that stores were closed on Sundays, and Sunday dinner spent with family was a given.  For many families, going to church together was part of that day as well.  But our worlds have gotten busier and busier.  Sundays are about sporting events, running around, doing errands.  And we forget to go to church, dinner is done on the run and we fall into bed exhausted on our "day of rest".

What's happened?  A lot of things really, society has become more secularized (especially in my part of the country) and our lives are bombarded with schedules and commitments.  People live busier than ever, attached to their phones, myself included, and overwhelmed with commitments, feeling like thwilley are being pulled in fifty directions at once.

So in part of my quest to live more Holystically this year, I am trying to reclaim my Sundays.  I know that with my service in LifeTeen part of my Sunday will be booked, but my time before that can and should be  time of rest.  That means prepping all of my teachings for Life Nights before Sunday so I don't have to worry about them.  That means keeping up with my laundry during the week so that I don't feel like I have to do four loads on Sunday because I have nothing to wear to work on Monday.  That means carefully tracking bills due so I don't have to rush around paying things and organizing my desk because I took care of it on Saturday.  Sunday rest means attention to what needs to be done during the week so it does not become a dump day.

Instead it can be a day for prayer and journaling, a day for reading, a day for spending time rejoicing with family and friends.  A day to give back to the Lord in thanksgiving for the many days He has given to us.

What do you say?  Are you ready to reclaim Sundays?

Day 11: The Best Medicine

So, I had a whole other idea of what I was going to post on next, but a particular theme kept coming into my world the last few days.  It started as I was driving home from church the other day, listening to a podcast and they started talking about laughter.  Not just any laughter though, a real laugh...a belly laugh...the kind  of laugh that starts deep down in your stomach and builds and builds until it erupts, like a volcano through your mouth.   Then, just on Monday I was at my parents' house where my mom watching The Doctors, which was all about, you guessed it, laughter!  What a gift laughter is and how universal it is.

Case in point: I was working with a kiddo at work who I am just getting to know a little better and is lower on the cognitive spectrum. (DISCLAIMER: While I may post anecdotal stories from work, I will never post the names, ages, genders or diagnoses of my patients due to privacy laws.  So please do not ask for this information.  Thank you!)  In trying to engage them to crawl through a tunnel, I crawled through myself, which apparently is about the funniest thing in the world, as this kiddo erupted in chortles of laughter.  Another example: In explaining (or attempting to explain) what heaven will be like during our Life Teen Plus Theology of the Body series, I asked the teens to think about one thing they love more than anything else.  One kid responded "Babies laughing" which made us all smile as we imagined the sound in our own head.

Laughter, more than anything seems to be universal.  Even people born deaf who have never heard laughter, laugh themselves.  People of almost any age laugh, some chuckle, or snort or giggle or squeak (as a dear friend of mine does :) ) and is unique and it is beautiful, and before long usually gets you laughing too.

I think part of holystic living and simple living is more than just getting rid of clutter or good eating or DIY or making time for faith.  These are all key and important, but the truth is that we need to look at why we do all these things.  The reason we set our priorities in order, the reason we try to be healthy and simplify and live green is so that we can ultimately enjoy life more fully.  When are free from the things that weigh us down, we can breathe in a little deeper and take things a little slower.  And when we need a reminder of just how wonderful life is the best thing we an do is laugh.

So find what makes you smile...is it silly comics, or funny pet videos on YouTube?  Funny memories?  A good friend?  Find your medicine and take a dose!

Day 2: Time, time, time

Let me start this post by stating that I am a ridiculously busy person.  I don't use the word ridiculously lightly, because even I step back sometimes and say to myself, "how did I sign up for all of this??"  How busy am I you ask?

I work a full time job, but instead of working five 8-hour days, I work four 10s.  Pros - Wednesdays off for a midweek break.  Cons - I don't get done with work until 6:15 PM, and usually not out the door until 6:30 PM, so after work meetings at church and/or making dinner and not eating at 9PM gets tricky.  And speaking of church: Life Teen Core Team Member, Confirmation Team, Life Teen Plus coordinator until June, Guatemala Mission Trip (adult and teen) coordinator, Pastoral Council, Long Range Planning Committee.  Enough said.  Add to that the weekly Theology of the Body study group I attend (and host), trying to participate in our state PT Chapter's Pediatric Special Interest Group, having season ticket with my sister to the Sounders FC and somewhere in there attempting to have some semblance of a social life - not always successful.

And while you may look at my list and tell me that I'm crazy, and I probably am, the truth is many of us are juggling way too much on our plates.  And I will be the first to tell you, in all honesty, that when the stress piles up, the things get busy, the thing that is the first to go out the window is the one thing I should be focused on the most and that is prayer and my faith.  I'm not talking about going to Mass or everything I do at church.  It's the everyday deepening of prayer and a faith life that I "just never seem to have time for."  The quotes are important because of the importance of discerning whether or not we really don't have time, or just think that we don't.  I found this quote on a website that I thought spoke powerfully to this: “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” ― Charles Buxton.  And it's true.  Last Tuesday, I went with my sister and a friend of ours to an event entitled "An Evening with the Archbishop" sponsored by Amici, a local young adult organization.  Archbishop Sartain asked the group how many people made purposeful quiet time with God every day...a few hands.  Then he asked how many people had pockets of time they could take advantage of and devote to God and prayer and didn't... a lot more hands.

My parish is a stewardship parish, so I grew up there hearing all the time about being a  steward of time, talent and treasure.  Of the three I think time is glossed over more frequently than talent or treasure.  We read in the Bishop's letter that:  

As Christian stewards, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.

Our time that we have is a gift, the question is, how do we choose to use it?  When am I taking the time that I could be spending in prayer to play a computer game for hours on end?  When am I taking time that I could be being active to watch a move in front of the TV?  When am I taking time that could be spent making dinner to get a quick pizza and eat that for a few days?

Being that good steward, making those smart decisions can be very challenging, but it is at the core of simplicity in life.  Find what we are passionate about and invest time in those areas, learn to say "no" when that one more thing will be one thing too many, work to keep relationships, and make prayer the number one priority.

For me, right now, that means knowing that my service on both the Long Range Planning and Pastoral Council will end when their terms are done and will not be renewed.  It means making spending at least 15 minutes a day in quiet prayer with God and making that priority - this will be my personal goal of the week, though one I know I will continue to  work on long beyond this week.  How do you simplify through being a good steward of your time?

A Year of Holystic Living: Day 1 - Why?

I had a thought this morning as I was getting ready for my day, and in that roundabout way that thoughts often take, it led me to think about this blog.

You see, I started this blog a few years ago, as blogs were starting to come into their own.  Several friends of mine were starting blogs of their own, blogging was popular, and I was busy.  I thought, why not?  And many of you who have followed the blog (if anyone out there still is) have seen me post, then not post, then promise to post some more, and not post.  Usually updates on me, what I'm up to, what I'm crafting, what I'm reading..etc.

But what I've discovered, as I've delved into reading more blogs is that the best blogs are the one with a clear purpose, a plan.  Think Julie and Julia.  For some of my friends who blog faithfully, they often focus on their families, or their faith.  But there is a unifying theme that ties that blog together.  So what about me, with my busy life and schedule, and my attempts to keep my small home under control, while finding time to sleep and relax?  What about my interests in organic food and real food, in natural beauty products and DIY anything?  Is there anything that ties them all together?

And that was my thought this morning...that in all of this busyness, this crazy life, I am looking for simplicity, I'm looking for calm, I'm looking for peace and I'm looking for fulfillment.  I recently read a wonderful little book called Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenrider which seemed to hit on a lot of what I was feeling in my busy life.  She talks about identifying your values, prioritzing time, budgeting, cooking and cleaning - all around the theme of simplicity.  (She also has a fabulous blog, Simple Mom that I highly recommend).

So what's with the post title...(and did she notice she spelled Holistic wrong??)  Well I'll start by thinking about the word holistic.  According to Merriam-Webster, the definition is: 

relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system>

and the "wholes" in my life revolve around physical, mental, emotional and most importantly spiritual health.  Somehow all of these have to be in balance.  In my world and in my faith journey, I know that I have to maintain God in the center of all of this, otherwise everything gets thrown out of balance...and when your short on time, prayer and silence are usually the first to go, when they should be the first we turn to.  Hence my spelling of the word "Holystic"...putting the "Holy" in the "whole" which gets my priorities right where they need to be.


I was thinking about the title of my blog and whether or not this whole concept relates.  The title "Wanderings Toward the Narrow Gate" comes from the verse Matthew 7:14 - "For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."  It's a journey we are all on to find that gate and we often stumble and wander off the path, but with focus our aim can be true, especially if we know what is stated in the Gospel just before the above verse, in verses 7-12:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets." 

In my mind, the title of this blog and this purpose to find simplicity do relate beautifully because as we cast off the things that hold us back, we become better able on the right road.  So I hope for the next 365 days, to post on what I'm doing, what I'm discovering to explore all those wholes  in my life and find health and fulfillment in walking that path.  Blog focus?  Check.