My answer to writer’s block

How big is your “but?'”
@LysaTerKeurst

Here’s a guy who’s found a way to enjoy his job.

And speaking of loving your job…
Sidewalk Billboards
(a re-post from Feb 2010 but I’m sure I saw this very same lady today)

How To Talk To Your Husband About P*rn
@WeAreTHATFamily
Such an important series.  Can’t tell you how many marriages I know who this has affected/destroyed.

Songs for Saplings
I had coffee this week with the young woman who makes these amazing cd’s created to help kids have Scripture and God’s truth in their hearts.  She’s donating cd’s to our orphanages in Ethiopia and to some of the families who are adopting through Adoption Ministry of YWAM Ethiopia.  I’m really blown away by how gifted people are using their talents in the kingdom.  And by how God links people together.  I met her at a super bowl party.

Tasty Kitchen
Have you discovered this awesome recipe site? 
The photos are the grabber.
Thanks again, PW!

Food Gawker
One of the most photo-rich recipe sites I’ve found.

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Reelin’ in the years

This last weekend I had TWO mini-reunions – one for high school and one for college.  These were the best kind of reunions because we didn’t meet at a hotel ballroom or a restaurant banquet room.  We didn’t wear nametags with our graduation picture on them.  We didn’t recognize the prom queen and king or who was named “most likely to be in prison before they reached 25.”

Nope, these little get-togethers were at my house.  Because I’m living in the same house I grew up in, it was nostalgic in more ways than one because everybody remembered exactly how to get there and even had a memory or two from my kitchen table!  The only things missing were the bright orange light fixture hanging above the table and my mom’s chocolate chip cookies.  Sniff.

I had so much fun putting together a playlist of many of the songs we listened to on the radio in the 70’s – James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Three Dog Night, Chicago, Loggins & Messina and Average White Band.  Now of course I can't get “B-b-b-baby you just ain’t seen nothin’ yet” and “Strummin my fate with his fingers” out of my head.  And as it turns out, we were talking so much we really couldn’t hear the music anyway!

So the morning was for high school – six friends, most who still live close-by, came for a potluck brunch. 

I love these women!  We laughed and shared and ate and talked about our kids and pointed at funny, yellowing snapshots, laughed and remembered and didn’t remember and laughed some more.  I have history with these ladies going back to elementary school in some cases – shared lockers, summer camps, sleepovers, school projects, weird teachers, Young Life, church youth group, adolescent angst and shoulders to cry on.  And we were all Beaverton High School Class of 1974! 

Our 40 year reunion is only two years away – don’t tell anyone.

When everyone finally, reluctantly gathered their photo albums and yearbooks and headed home, it was time to get ready for the next phase of my life…

I love these women!  You might recognize a couple of repeats in this photo. We laughed and shared and ate and talked about our kids and pointed at funny, yellowing snapshots, laughed and remembered and didn’t remember and laughed some more. I have history with these ladies too – typing class notes on a manual typewriter in a blue color-coordinated dorm room, late night talks in bean bag chairs, air-popped popcorn and donuts made in hot pots, Bring-A-Friend bible studies, creative dates, weekend camps, YL leadership, walking to the Pig for groceries and ice cream from the UC that never melted.  We all, with the exception of one, went to Pacific Lutheran University together in 1974-75 and many of us graduated from there together.

One of the things I prayed for and wanted most for these times together was that they would be encouraging – and I can honestly say that it was SO encouraging to hear about how faithful God has been in each person’s life. It was wonderful.  Thank you Julie, Cindy, Karen, Sharon, Mary, Nancy C, Liane, Karen and Nancy B!  Remember, all you have to do is call – you’ve got a friend!

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Hello? Are you there?

 
Sometimes it’s easy to blog. Ideas pop into my head, three or four per day. They don’t all make it to the publish-worthy stage but there they are, full of hope and potential.
 
Other times… I wonder whoever told me I should have a blog anyway?  I have quite possibly THE most lame blog in cyberspace. Who do I think I am? Have A Cup With Me – really?
 
Guess which time I’m in.
 
Right now I feel a bit like those bulbs pictured up there – sheepishly poking my head out after a long time under ground. 
 
So to both of you reading this, I’ve been taking some time to address my insecurities, get some inspiration and figure out what, if anything, I should be serving up here at ‘Have A Cup’. 
 
If you want to leave a comment – just so I know you’re there – please do!  And thanks for sticking with me!
 
Becky
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He Gives and Gives and Gives

Do you like to hear the story behind a song?  I do.  Especially if it’s a song that has words I feel I could have written. 

This song is one I remember hearing for the first time during college – sung by Danniebelle Hall.  If you remember her?  Well, you are old.  She was Andre Crouch’s sister and had one of those voices that makes you want to sing along in your loudest gospel voice, even though you are white and don’t have a gospel voice.  (I tried but couldn’t find her singing it on Y*uTube but I did find her singing ‘Through It All’ in case you’re curious!) 

This song was written by a young woman whose parents died before she turned six and who was later adopted by a childless couple. Annie dreamed of becoming a concert pianist but as a teenager, she began to suffer from crippling arthritis, the disease that eventually left her unable to even open her hands. She wrote these words – and later put them to music – out of her own discovery of God’s unlimited ability to give her everything she needed. 

I can imagine all kinds of situations these words apply to – physical pain and suffering, loneliness, broken marriages, financial stress, relational hurts, repeated defeat and discouragement.  Though it's full of old English ‘giveths’ and sendeths’, these words are SO full of life and hope!  And they're straight out of God’s word.

HE GIVETH MORE GRACE
by Annie J Flint  

He giveth more grace as the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as the labors increase,
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth, and giveth again.                    


I rewrote the words (with no disrespect to the author or her beautiful phrasing) into a prayer and it’s one I love to say out loud, especially when I’m at the end of my own wisdom, strength and ability…


Lord, You give me more grace as my burdens grow greater.
You send me more strength as my needs increase.
To my added afflictions You add Your mercy.
To my multiplied trials You add multiplied peace.

No fear that my need will exceed Your provision
Your resources are endless and You love to share!
I’ll lean all my weight on Your strength given to me
Both myself and my burdens I know You will bear.

When I have exhausted my store of endurance
When my strength has failed before the day is half done
When I reach the end of all my resources
I know Your full giving has only begun.

Your love has no limit. Your grace has no measure.
Your power has no boundary known to men.
For out of Your infinite riches in Jesus
You give and You give and You give again!
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Waiting for snow?

As we’re waiting for the first snow of the season, I’m already thinking about spring color…



and wondering if I plant these in pots on the deck if they’ll survive the freeze that’s coming.  Primroses are hearty, I know.

I’m not hurrying spring, though, because I love so many things about winter. 

• Fires in the fireplace (which we actually can’t have because the chimney doesn’t ‘draw’ properly)
• Snow days (which may not materialize at all but I can hope!)
• Cinnamon toast
• Scarves
• Meeting friends for coffee
• Not much yard work
• Evenings to read, since it’s dark outside

I’m planning some time with old friends.  I revamped my spice cupboard, thanks to Jeff’s Christmas gift of a rotating spice rack.  I'm praying for a group of women - young and old - who want to meet and get into the word and grow together.  I’m working on organizing family photos.  I bought paint for the guest room.  I am going to clean out all of my messy drawers.

Winter is good for all these things. 

But it’s so hard to pass up the colors of spring!




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Book List

I love a good book.  Reading is one of my favorite (though not awe-inspiring) past times.  A good book recommendation is a big delight to me.

So I thought I'd share some of the books I read in 2011 - not all incredible but all worth reading.  Just in case you're like me and appreciate some reading suggestions!

The Double Comfort Safari Club

by Alexander McCall Smith

I loved all of Smith's Ladies' Detective Agency books.  I think you will too!  Start with the first one, though.

Unbroken
by Laura Hillenbrand

The true story of Louis Zamperini, set in WWII years, is one I couldn't put down.  I love books like this that are full of history but woven through a great story.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot

For me, this one wasn't a page turner but still a fascinating look at the family of a poor, black woman dying of cancer whose cells were taken without her knowledge or consent, grown in culture and are still alive today for use in medical research. 

Heaven is for Real

by Todd Burpo

Written by a dad about his son's testimony of his time in heaven after emergency surgery.  This book has been on the top ten list for months.   I know there are tons of books and movies out there about this kind of thing and I am the biggest skeptic of them all so I'm not weighing in on this one but do I believe heaven is real?  Yes I do.

My {not so} Storybook Life

by Elizabeth Owen

Subtitled "A Tale of Friendship and Faith", this was a cute and touching story of the author's journey as a friend is battling cancer.  I felt she over-used humor just a bit but I appreciate her honesty and I do enjoy her blog Mabel's House

Someone Knows My Name

by Lawrence Hill

A story of a woman kidnapped as a child from Africa and serving as a slave in South Carolina.  Wrenching.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

A novel set in Seattle, shifting back and forth between WWII in the '40's and present day, this is a love story between a Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl facing discrimination together until her family is rounded up and sent to an internment camp.

Okay, that's all for now.  But I may just do this more often because of how much I love to find things like this.  Do you have any good books you can recommend??

I can see clearly now

I’ve mentioned my need for reading glasses more than once on the blog so it probably isn’t surprising that I finally came to the inevitable conclusion that I need glasses – real glasses, not the magnifiers I’ve been wearing for several years. Our house is littered with readers, in every spot I might need to dial a phone, read a label or figure out what I’m holding in my hand.


Those readers have gradually gotten stronger and stronger until I started feeling pretty handicapped. I was having to switch pairs depending on what I was reading (ie. computer vs. recipes vs. my bible). If only I could have found something like this at the drugstore:

But I couldn’t. I was to the point of some pretty scary-looking eyes when I put on my 2.5’s!

I did have my eyes checked just a few short years ago and was told my vision was pretty good and to keep using the readers. But I knew that my distance vision was now waning and that I’d probably need bifocals.

And I was right. I heard lots of multi-syllabic terms like ‘astigmatism’ and ‘hyperopia’ and ‘presbyopia’ which meant I had to feel my way out to the racks of frames and order glasses.

How to choose a frame? Remember, I don’t really know what’s in style. So I found some that I thought disappeared on my face as much as possible and ordered them.

I’ve been wearing them for two weeks, adjusting to the progressive lenses. I still have to wear a different pair for working on the computer so I haven’t totally buried my old readers (for which I’m thankful because I have a small fortune invested in those things). I think I need to go back to the eye doctor to have her check my distance prescription though. It’s not quite right.

Last night I had my glasses on and told Jeff, 'You know, I think my vision is actually worse with these. I can’t see across the room clearly at all. We spent a lot of money for these glasses and they aren’t right. This is terrible!’

I whipped them off my face, ready to drive straight to the eye doctor, when I realized I had put on one of my old pair of readers.

Yeah, time to put them all away and get used to keeping one pair on my face.  So if you run into me at the store, please approach from the front and identify yourself.  It will be good to SEE you!

Enjoy the music:
I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash @ ARTISTdirect.com

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