Booming Banter

 

Today we had the last of our five preparatory meetings of our Kairos #51 Prison Ministry team.

We are all set and ready to go to the Ohio Reformatory for Women on Thursday for a four day retreat with residents selected by the prison chaplain.

This preparation time allows us to get to know each other and share a lot of laughs and a huge amount of food. We also get to open up and show our vulnerability and weaknesses. Most importantly we learn that we must listen, listen, love, love!

The volunteers are always so diverse in Kairos. On this team ages range from people in their twenties to people in their seventies.

We are all shapes and sizes and have all sorts of colors of skin.

All Christian denominations are represented and what we learn is that while we are all different we are all needed.

Each has a gift and each a role to play in making the weekend work. We simply are links in the same chain!

Blessing # 493 – Sisterhood of Diversity

Aaron had the day off school so I got him to help me take a table to my little antique booth.

The garden bench I’d worked so hard on earlier this year still hadn’t sold so we were swapping the table and the bench so I could load the table with festive goods!

The move entailed jiggling items around and it was pêlemêle. While we were in the middle of this two ladies arrived. They were interested in my beautiful velvet chairs that I’d bought earlier in the year for my planned guest house that never materialized.

We stuck a deal and the chairs are no longer mine. It’s such a good feeling seeing something you have cared for going to a good home. They are very lucky red chairs!

Their sale has also opened up quite some room in my little space so I’ve crammed it full of gifts for the season.

There are angels dangling from every possible hook and not an inch to spare on shelves and tables. Now all that’s needed are a few more gift hunters to stop by.

If anyone has personal links to the big man in the red suit send him my way!

Blessing # 492 – Right Place Right Time

Do you have any little clues that tell you how your day is going to go?

Mine is my porridge.

When Aaron leaves for school around 6:40 I stick my porridge in the microwave.

Now the reason I have good and bad days is because I don’t take time to measure things precisely. I go by eye on the water and milk and toss in my round about a third of a cup of oats.

The one thing that is constant is the bowl and the time in the microwave 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

In the time it’s cooking I pour my second coffee and turn on the TV and trip over Scooby once or twice.

When I open the microwave the quality of the day is determined.

If the porridge has boiled over it’s going to be a bad one! I brace myself and clean with furry.

If it’s all in the bowl but runny it’s going to be disappointing. Nothing exciting lies ahead.

If it’s like cement it could be tough.

BUT if like today it was just about to boil over when I opened the door and is all creamy and smooth you know the days a winner.

Why you might ask don’t you measure and make every day a perfect porridge?

Well, there’s no anticipation in that. What goods any gift if it’s not a surprise.

They don’t call me Goldilocks for nothing!!!!!!

Blessing # 491 – Taking the Rough with the Smooth

There have been a lot of pictures on social media this past week of the moon. Some call it the blood moon others the harvest moon. Regardless it’s been spectacular. So bright that it felt almost like day light when I was out with Scooby before dawn.

My efforts to capture it have been unimpressive although it does give Scooby that spooky kind of look his name sake is known for.

One shot though that was posted on Twitter is absolutely amazing. Taken over Manhattan the moon looks more like a mighty planet than our own dear little satellite.

There is no other part of the night sky so familiar to us. It’s a light, a clock, an inspiration, a reassuring and comforting presence a truly out of this world gift.

Do you love it with a passion too?

Blessing # 490 – Heavenly Bodies

The Democratic debate is taking place tonight. Usually it’s not something we’d watch but we will tonight. Why? Well because it’s happening just down the road at the beautiful Otterbein University.

Funny how proximity peaks interest. Our local TV is coving the run up with details on all the measures that had to be put in place for security and so on.

We know people who attended the University. We even could have applied for tickets to attend.

The whole area looks so well today with blue skies and the trees in their autumn glory it really is a showcase for Ohio.

The state is critically important in all elections. If you don’t win Ohio chances are you won’t get the White House.

So tonight we will tune in and watch with interest the gift of free speech.

Hard to imagine that this doesn’t exist everywhere in the world. Look though at what’s happened in just one hundred years. Votes for women not least among these things. Mass media to let us all hear what is being said and now social media to allow us to openly voice our thoughts and influence outcomes.

Blessing # 489 – Freedom if Speech

We have a really fancy family run store close to our home called The Hills Country Market. To survive in a world of supermarket chains and megastores family businesses have to be very special.

The Hills is certainly that, they have a fine florists, a divine deli and a bounty of baked goods to die for. As you know we shop at Aldi but we hit the Hills now and then to pick up whiskey for Krishna as they have an exceptional wine and liquor selection too!

Its rare that we go and just get whiskey. We always check out their wine selection which is extensive. They have what they call « close outs » at great prices and that’s what we home in on. We’ve never been disappointed.

Yesterday we made the whiskey run after church and hit on an 2014 Italian on close out for just $6.99. Of course it had to be opened and tasted last night and it is nectar.

With new health benefits regularly announced and being loaded with all those things that help mind, body and soul to function so well we need to invest in the best!

So we’ll be making a trip tomorrow to develop an out of stock situation. When you find a gift you gotta get!

Blessing # 488 – In Vino Veritas

Some of you may have a Baby Book that your parents kept for you or maybe you’ve kept for your own babies.

My Mum was really good at this and the records she made of all major milestones up until I got married is a gift that is much treasured.

The Baby Book stayed in her house  until she moved into sheltered accommodation and then it was handed over to me.

All the photos it contains are falling out as the tape has lost its stickiness after all those years. Some day I’ll get around to making  them secure again.

Many of the photos are of Christmas showing me and my still best friend Carol posing with our gifts from Santa.

In this age of digital a real life album is still something to consider. I know we kinda lost touch with keeping one since everything went into the cloud. Fortunately Aarons younger years are all safe in his album too.

For new Moms and Dads though do think ahead of the joy such a treasury will bring in years to come and start sticking soon!

Blessing # 487 – Permanent Pics

When it comes to technology you could class Krishna and me at best as novices. The mastermind in the house is Aaron. Scooby probably knows as much as the ancient Ps.

There are some things that we’ve discovered late in life but have found them to be delightful gifts. One of these is TV On Demand.

We must have had it for years but only « discovered » it a few months ago. It happened by accident. Of course when I told Aaron about what we’d found he said « oh yeh that thing » he knew about it but used it very rarely. Kids just don’t do TV these days!

In the UK Strictly Come Dancing is a Saturday evening phenomenon and something I miss a lot. We got a KODI box to watch it but it blew up after a few months.

Here we have the equivalent Dancing With The Stars even with some of the same judges but it’s on a Monday evening. What a funny choice of timing. It was hard to get into if you had to go to bed half way through.

Of course now with the On Demand option that’s all changed we can keep the Foxtrot for Friday or Samba for Saturday. A treat for two to Tango

Blessing # 486 – Chance to Choose

There are all sorts of talents that people are born with. Some are great singers others like be are verging on being tone deaf. Others are artists they can capture a scene so beautifully it looks like a master painted it.

There are such well recognized gifts then there are others that are a bit more esoteric.

One friend Maureen is gifted with finding parking spaces. It could be the eve of Christmas Eve when every car park in the kingdom is filled to the brim with mad women looking for Brussels Sprouts and Maureen will find a space right by the supermarket door. The worse the weather the closer she gets to the door! Her gift is recognized and appreciated to such an extent that others will ask her to drive!

We all know individuals who are born to win. It could be a tombola to raise money for a charity or a bingo at work for completion of some series of tasks or simply a draw for free tickets and this individual always scores. You can see people smiling with their mouths when the winner is announced but their eyes are secretly throwing daggers of scorn asking “why him and not me?”

Our Aaron is pretty talented when it comes to getting travel upgrades. Often we’ve been close to last to check in and been told to ask at the gate for our boarding passes only to find that they’ve bumped us up a notch from row 44 on the tail to economy plus. He’s yet to get the full business upgrade but now expects something on every flight!

I’ve got two little special gifts. The first is being able to hold and match a color in my head. Maybe in a previous life I was in sales for Sherman Williams in any case it comes in handy if you’re out shopping and find a bargain that just a perfect match for something buried deep in your wardrobe!

The other gift that’s special is being able to find a gem amongst a bucket load of junk. This is why rummage sales are so appealing to me. Take today for example we went to one and spent a big two dollars. One dollar on a brand new lampshade the other on a cute little vase. Turns out it’s worth about $45.

Will I ever sell it? Certainly not for $45 but if I get $20 that’s a pretty good reward and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy too.

What’s your special? Share and show!

Blessing # 486 – Each His Own

Today all over the world mental health is getting lots of attention. Not so long ago this was a subject few people talked about or admitted suffering from. It was fine to have a heart attack but you couldn’t have a broken one.

Today, thanks to high profile people like the younger members of the Royal Family, it is a high profile subject.

It’s fair to say that the seed for this change was sown by Princess Diana when she spoke of the issues she faced linked to the separation of her parents and later her postpartum depression and eating disorders. What a brave and special person she was.

Today people are encouraged to speak out about how they are feeling. Some of us are blessed to have friends who will listen to anything we have to share. Some of us reciprocate.

For those who find it hard to share with another person there is always the chance to talk to a beloved pet. They listen so well and give such good advice. Being out with them is such great therapy and all that unconditional love is the very best medicine.

So amongst all the posts that were circulating today on the subject of mental health the one that touched me most was about the positive impact and importance dogs make on the lives of  homeless people.  Puppy Power provides so many benefits it’s got to be up there among our greatest gifts!

Blessing #485 – Compassionate Companions