Monday, August 30, 2010

Corn & Bean Salsa



Every summer the tomato blight is worse and I swear I will never plant tomatoes again.  This time I mean it.  (especially since I won't actually be here next summer).  All I got this summer was enough for some sauce for lasagna, this salsa and one pint of sauce.

I did finally get some jalapenos from the Farmers Market that were actually hot.  I am so tired of people in Iowa telling me peppers are hot and they taste like a red bell pepper.  Really people?   Anyway this is really good. Had to go across the street and buy some chips from Caseys because I was out.

 6 -8  Roma Tomatoes, peeled and chopped (drop them in boiling water until the skins crack and they peel real easily
1/2  Yellow onion, chopped
1/2 Red onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped (leave the seeds if you want it hot)
1 can corn (although I thought it was a bit much and would put a little less than the whole can if I were to make it again)
1/4 cup cooked black beans
1/4 cup bsalmic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 Tb  Brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped


Saute the onions, peppers and garlic until transparent, add vinegar, tomatoes, sugar, salt & pepper, cook until tomatoes are soft.  Add the corn, beans, lime juice and cilantro, stir and cook on low another 10 minutes or so.  This is actually pretty good to eat warm.  It's almost like a meal.

Ice Coffee

Summer is almost over --not much more time to enjoy this treat.  Make this and you will never want that stuff from Mac Donalds again.

6 cups freshly brewed coffee (preferably good freshly ground beans and Fair Trade if you really want to feel good)

3/4  Cup Half and half 

1/4  Cup sugar

3 Tbl  Hershey dark chocolate syrup

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix it all together and pour it over ice.  Mmmm

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Today

Today my church took their first vote to leave the ELCA - 66 to 12.   My heart is breaking for this congregation.  I firmly believe little of this had to do with the sexuality vote although that was the presenting issue.  I think many of them are persuaded that the ELCA has been standing in the way of them going back to the good old days, when the Sunday School classrooms were full, the youth came to Luther League meetings whether they wanted to or not, and nobody had anything better to do on Sunday morning than to come to church.  I'm used to being in dying congregations who avoid the real work of reaching out to others by convincing themselves all they need is another, better pastor.  This congregation believes they need another denomination.


My heart is breaking for the dozen people who were there and the unknown number who were NOT there, who have not been there since leaving the ELCA became a rallying cry---who know and love gay people, who are not comfortable with the tone of arguments to leave the ELCA, who don't want a  gay pastors but  know that leaving the ELCA is not the answer but who don't want to fight, don't want to stand up against the majority, who felt it wouldn't make a difference if they said anything anyway, or who did try to present a different viewpoint and felt shut down and  now feel their church has left them and don't know where they are going to go.


And there's me.  I don't know what is going to happen to me.  I don't know if I will, but I doubt that I find a call before a) they officially leave the ELCA  b) they realize 66 people cannot sustain a full-time pastor (especially one who did not support their decision).  I have no parents to go home to.  I have no spouse to support me.  I have a lot of debt.  I have children still dependent upon me.  But people called by God have faced far worse hardships than I have.

  "Have no fear, little flock.  For the Father's pleasure is to give you the kingdom"  I believe that.  I have faith.  Now I am called upon to live as though I had faith.  One thing I do know is that I have preached the Gospel faithfully and truly and that is what I will continue to do.


In the big picture, I'm not all that important.


And now I'm going to do something I've never done on this blog.  I'm only allowing certain comments.  I don't want to hear about how painful the Assembly vote was for you because you disagree with it.  You have lots of avenues to discuss your pain.  This is MY blog.  This for people who have not felt listened to by people wanting to leave the ELCA.   This is for those whose congregations have left when they did not want to leave.  This is for people tired of being told they are not "for the bible" because they have a different interpretation or are just willing to live with others who interpret the bible differently.  I've had enough fighting and harping.  I won't have it on my blog.  Not today.





Friday, August 27, 2010

The Bible is Unsanitary

I just got a letter from our local hospital informing me I need a  name badge.  To get a name badge I have to provide a letter proving I really AM a pastor, get a background check and participate in a "brief" (for which they recommend I schedule an hour) educational program on how to wash my hands.

Much as I'd like to engage in a rant about how STUPID this is and a waste of time (Thank you I do wash my hands and pastors that don't wash their hands are not going to change after your "brief" education on the matter)....what caught my attention was the explanation in the letter as to why they will no longer provide bibles in the patient rooms.  No bibles because "there is no way to properly sanitize the bibles".

Funny the hospital finally figured out something many Christians haven't figured out.   You cannot sanitize Scripture.  It's dirty, ambiguous, disturbing and downright dangerous.  You can't clean it up. 

Friday Five - Dorm Life


My daughter Sarah going off to college 2008
This weeks RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

Mindful that many others are heading off to further schooling or delivering their loved ones to the institutions that provide it, here are five questions about dorm life.

1) What was the hardest thing to leave behind when you went away to school for the first time?

Nothing.  I was glad to get away from home.

2) We live in the era of helicopter parents. How much fuss did your parents make when you first left home?

Bwahahahahaha.  No comment.

3) Share a favorite memory of living with schoolmates, whether in a dorm or other shared housing.

One night it rained really hard and we went out in the courtyard and washed our hair in the rain.



4) What absolute necessity of college life in your day would seem hilariously out-of-date now?
I had a plug in water heater that we figured out how to make  sort of chocolate cookies in it.

5) What innovation of today do you wish had been part of your life in college?
Healthy food choices in the cafeteria.

Bonus question for those whose college days feel like a long time ago: Share a rule or regulation that will seem funny now.


Boys out of the room by 10 pm.

Did you really follow it then? 

What do you think?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Grown Men Travel With Stuffed Animals



I'm sure there's some insightful commentary one could make about this.  I don't have any other than, this is probably a good thing.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Minnisota Public Radio's Look at the ELCA

Some really interesting articles here.


I was struck by this quote:

Every community contains within it fault lines that can, under the right conditions, open up into a chasm. We agree, sometimes silently, to disagree—or at least not to address our split for fear of upsetting the status quo. What the episode with the ELCA church demonstrates—as did the furor over the decision by the Episcopal church in 2009 to allow gays and lesbians to serve in all roles of church ministry—is that sometimes it’s not possible to agree to disagree any longer; that if enough people speak up, previously hidden fissures are exposed.

Now some people think this is a bad thing and that perhaps we should have kept silent and not brought this all out in the open.  I disagree, even though I personally am suffering from the repercussions of cracking open this fault line.  The more difficult it becomes for me personally, the more I believe this is a good thing, that the ELCA will come out of this stronger and more vibrant, despite the struggles and difficulties.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Eat, Pray, Love - Part Chick Flick, part Travelogue - Low on Spirituality

 But who wouldn't want to find their balance with this guy?
Really this movie is supposed to be about spirituality?  People who saw this movie really think that?  Supposedly there is more spirituality in the book but I cannot bring myself to read that book.  The only reason I did not despise the main character is because Julia Roberts played her and I just cannot help loving Julia Roberts, no matter what kind of a person she plays.


I did my own escape today and went off to see the matinee  showing.  I can't really spring for a trip to Italy, India and Bali so I had to settle for some self-discovery with popcorn in the Ames theatre.  I kept thinking what the hell is this woman's problem?  Everybody loves her.  She keeps meeting good looking men who fall desperately in love with her, but she's not happy or "balanced".   Hey, Honey, go work in the slums of Calcutta and then maybe you'll appreciate your life a little better.  Everybody's life looks a little dull compared to traipsing around the world for a year.


I've been to Rome and India and would love to go to Bali so I enjoyed the scenery as she eats and tries to pray her way through these countries.  And I enjoy a good romance and and her final romance - Javier Bardem is pretty easy to look at so it was not a wasted afternoon for me.  


I guess if I get anything out of this it is how badly we are off in this culture if this drivel passes for spirituality.

I Guess I have to Go See "Eat Pray Love" Now

Even though there's a serial killer from General Hospital in it.  This is the problem being stuck in the small town Lutheran midwest.  I didn't know until I read on Pretty Good Lutherans that this book and now movie is what the unchurched is turning to for spiritual food nowadays.  Or maybe it's a blessing that I didn't know that.   So there is this review from Faith Forward which sees Eat Pray Love as an invitation for Christians.  

But I really like this review - How Eat, Pray, Love Turned me into a Selfish Bitch.  

I guess I'll go see it and tell you which perspective  I prefer.  I wonder if I can write off my ticket as a business expense...

The First Amendment Guarantees your Right to Let Everyone Know You are an Idiot

It also, as Diane points out over at Faith in Community, gives others the right to point out that you are an idiot.  And to advocate boycotting those who sponsor your brand of idiocy.

NPR , Good News, Dr. Laura: Your First Amendment Rights Are Still Yours points out that "Freedom from government interference is not freedom from consequences" of what you say:

Leaving her show doesn't restore to Schlessinger any lost constitutional rights. (She likely knows this perfectly well, but unfortunately, it's a distinction that tends to get lost in the rhetoric surrounding these conflicts.) What it does is free her from the sponsorship model of distributing content and its vulnerability to economic pressure.

It's an interesting article about the use of boycotts to protest speech.

What I find ironic about her decrying her loss of rights because people are advocating boycotting her sponsors is that she herself has advocated boycotting sponsors of those who said things SHE didn't like.  How annoying that the First Amendment is for EVERYBODY.

Much as I hate devoting so much of my blog and writing time to this crazy egomaniac, you do have to give her credit for sparking a lot of national discussion~~ from the N word (I don't use it, don't like to hear it, even from African American comedians but I personally believe that's not my call or my debate --here's a take on Keli Goff "She did teach us one thing" it by that I like) to opportunities to remind us what the First Amendment *really is*

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Happy 90th Anniversary

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,  was ratified on this date in 1920 by Tennesse, the last state to ratify the amendment and thus FINALLY giving women the right to vote,

Women were ridiculed, locked up in prison and insane asylums, lost custody of their children and were beat up fighting for this right,  privilege and responsibility.  We should not forget that.

I Knew it Wasn't a Real Apology

So Dr. Laura is going to end her radio show at the end of this year.    Why?  So she can

...regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that."

So you know this is all about the flap when she said the N word about a dozen times to an African American woman who was wanting to know how to deal with her white husband's friends using the word.  I guess she was trying some sort of de-sensitizing therapy with the woman.

She had to apologize but I knew it was a fake when she also read a letter from one of her sycophant fans gushing about how she knew she wasn't a racist.   Now she's quitting radio so she can help America by saying the N word as much as she wants.  Because that is what we need in America now.  More people using the N word.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Monday Morning Skating Video

Nicole Bobek got  5 years probation for her role in a meth ring.  She was damned lucky.  I have a soft spot for Nicole.  She was always my favorite skater.  She always broke my heart.  Here she is skating to one of my favorite programs.  It's her tribute to Carlo Fassi, the coach that helped her get back on track and then died during the 1997 World Championships.

It says she did this in 1995 but I believe this is from a 1998 Tribute.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Of Goddesses, Pink Parasols, Tatooed Preachers and the Mother "Within Us"

What started as a simple news story about the planned Rite of Reception for Anita Hill over at Pretty Good Lutherans is now a discussion about "Goddess language" and tattooed pastors.

All this from a comment from "Tom" who complained about "Pink parasols, god-dess language, and preachers covered in tatoos" at the Rite of Reception at St. Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco. 

Okay let's start with the preachers covered in tattoos.  I think he was talking about one preacher -  Nadia Bolz-Weber, of Sarcastic Lutheran fame.  She had a great sermon.  Who cares if she has tattoos?  If I had the guts and money to spare, I'd get a tattoo.

You can see a picture of the pink parasol over at Lutheran (True)Confessions.  I don't get the pink parasol.  Personally I prefer not to add church symbols - I like the ones we have which is why my husband and I did not have a "unity candle" at our wedding. 

You can find the worship folder from the service here:  Rite of Reception.  It really was not as goofy as some people made it out to be.  A little over the top for my tastes -  I like traditional liturgical worship myself.  But this *is* San Francisco after all.  I lived there for eight years.  They like to do slightly goofy things there.

And calling God "Mother" is not Goddess language.    I was actually more concerned about the phrase Mother "within us"   You have to be real careful talking about the "god/goddess/Mother/Father within"  Yes, you can speak of God dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit, but we have no divinity within us naturally.   God is the Creator and we are the created and I think it's pretty essential that we keep that clear.  There is no divinity within myself that can save me.  I cannot save myself.  My salvation lies outside of me and who I am - you start depending on that god within yourself and you are real close to relying on that god that IS yourself and then you are lost.  I think the one prayer is dicey.  But it was one option among many in case you had a problem saying the Lord's prayer.  Which I don't.  And I don't think Christians should have a problem with the Lord's Prayer.  I think people who refuse to call God Father are just as wrong headed as those who reject all feminine imagery for God.   So of the whole service, that part seems a little questionable to me.

But like I said, that's San Francisco for you. 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Mary, Full of Grace


Mary is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough.
~Martin Luther's Christmas Sermon 1531


People in the Western Medieval Church needed Mary.  


Somehow or other Christ was turned into the righteous judge who would shuck all those poor goats off into hell.  

"Christ in Majesty" - Basilica in Washington DC

 The gulf between Christ and the poor wretched sinners on earth seemed insurmountable.  

But there was Mary. 


She was kind and gentle and Jesus' Mum.  If you could get her to intercede on your behalf, Christ would listen to her.  He was a good son.  He would listen to his mom.  

It was a little (maybe a LOT) twisted but Mary is the reason Grace was not lost entirely.  

I think maybe when the Protestants threw out Mary (which was not Luther's idea) we lost some of that kindness and gentleness.  



Until the 19th century when we turned Jesus into a girl.

  I say we bring back Mary and let Jesus be a man again. (But not the terrifying Judge)

Friday, August 13, 2010

Let's Talk About Dr. Laura

And if you haven't heard of her, you live in another country or you don't spend as much time in your car listening to the radio as I do.

Dr. Laura is judgmental and self-righteous, sometimes downright mean and apparently also a racist. ( Dr. Laura Schlessinger's N Word Rant)

She's also right about some things.  Oh dear Lord, not the N word.  What was she thinking?  Oh I know - she was thinking she can say and do anything because she is so wonderful.  Honestly I think that is a big part of her problem.  So many people call in and write in to tell her how wonderful she is and what a savior she is, she has come to believe it.   It's very dangerous to start believing what complete strangers say about you. 


But this is what I think she's right about:


Instead of blaming all your relationship problems on the other person, ask yourself why did you choose that person?  Even if they are completely totally evil, insensitive, "controlling", whatever, what is wrong with  YOU that you chose that person?  Really, believe it or not, that is where you find your power.  If it's ALL on the other person than you are a victim and have no power to prevent the same thing from happening again.  Contrary to popular opinion, being a victim is NOT a good thing.  Own your own crap and you find  your power.  That's the part that Dr. Laura does not explain as well.


Everyone talks about how bad, stupid, controlling, abusive, deadbeat, men are, but women are controlling, mean, manipulative and abusive in relationships as well.   But nowadays mean, bad, stupid and controlling women can blame it all on the man.

Love alone is not sufficient to make a marriage work.


Divorce is not good for children.   Moving from one house to another constantly is not good for children.  Bringing other men and women into their lives is not good for children.  The fact that you are "happy"  "fulfilled"  "in love" does not mean it is good for your children.  


Being raised in childcare is not good for children.  I know I'm going to get flack for this but I know this.  I know this from my own experience, I know this from what I see around me, I know this from people who work in day care.  Okay you are the exception and you can write in the comments about how wonderfully your child is doing in daycare.  I still know what I know.


If only we could get someone more compassionate, and less judgmental and mean (and now racist) than Dr. Laura on the radio to say these things.  But then, of course no one would listen because the reason most people listen to her is that they like to listen to her yelling at and humiliating other people.  She thinks she's so successful because she's helping people.  She's so successful because we live in a culture of voyeurism.  The irony is that her show contributes to (and profits from) the very ugliness in this culture that she likes to decry.

Monday, August 9, 2010

A Sweet Find in the Church Library

I found a sweet little book in the shelves that we call the church "library" the other day.  Parsonage Doorway; by Anna Laura Gebhard, published in 1950.  It's a simple story from a simpler time about a pastor's family in Minnisota before World War II.  

If stories about women cheerfully supporting their husbands and revolving their lives around their children make you crazy, it's not the book for you.   I liked it.  In another life, I could have seen myself do that.


Back on my internship a budding photographer was hoping to publish a book of photos of women in non-traditional careers took some pictures of me.  When I mentioned that at the bible study, one of the women (with whom I had already had some clashes) said in a way she probably hoped would seem like a joke but seethed with her resentment of her life, "Oh I guess no one would want to take MY picture because I'm JUST a HOUSEWIFE!"   

She envied me but after I had children I envied her.  Ironic I ended up with a husband who stayed home with the kids (we were in agreement that we would not hand our children over to strangers to raise) and supported me in my ministry the way Anna Laura supported her pastor husband.  

Now it seems nobody supports anybody but everyone whines about not being supported.

Anna begins her book with a description of the parsonage in which she raised her family:

The house settled down under the eaves of the church on the corner, a tacit reminder that these two were in partnership, the home as well as the church a part of the spiritual ministry of the community

I never thought the massive sell off of parsonages and encouraging of pastors to become home-owners was a good idea.  Mostly I thought of that in practical terms, especially in small  towns.  There is also something to what she says about the partnership of the home and the church.  But it is a different time.  Both wives and husbands of clergy have other callings and gifts and should not and cannot be expected to be "assistant pastors" to their spouses.  But it worked while it worked and I enjoyed reading a little slice of that life.




I don't know what denomination Anna and her husband were.  Being in Minnesota I'm tempted to think of them as Lutheran, but some of the details sounded Methodist.  Nevertheless the whole book was just infused with a sense of grace  And her stories were all about teaching her four little children about God's love and living in love and grace and gratitude and that's what I liked about the book. 

Pastoral Authority (or lack thereof) and Clergy Burn Out.

Father Anonymous and I seem often to blog off each other's posts.  He comments on Jeffrey MacDonald's NY times op ed  Congregations Gone Wild about how clergy burn out isn't so much about over work as the trend toward consumer driven religion and the pressure to feed their congregations what they want, not what they need.

MacDonald  and others pick up on the desire of congregations to be entertained and made to feel good about themselves.  Believe it or not where I am the complaint is that they are hearing too much about grace and they want to hear more about judgment.  But ultimately that too, is just about wanting the sermon to make you feel good.  It's just that some people feel good hearing about how others are going to be judged.  (because this wish to hear about "judgment" is a wish to hear about how OTHERS are going to be judged)

I think a large part of clergy burn out is the lack of recognition of pastoral authority.  I am alternately perplexed, offended and disheartened to find how people think they can and should tell me how and what to preach.  What wears me out and saps my energy and makes me want to go home and play Farmville on Facebook is the reality that people don't trust or believe what I say about the Bible or church teaching.  They have their own opinions, thank you very much.  And if I challenge those opinions, they can always find someone else on the internet who agrees with them.

I went to an ordination yesterday.  It was wonderful.  We old clergy need to go to more ordinations.    The newly ordained is presented to the congregation with these words
"He/she has Christ's authority to preach the word of God and administer the sacraments, serving God's people as together we bear God's creative and redeeming love to all the world"

Authority. CHRIST's authority.  Yes Lutherans are all about the priesthood of all believers but we also believe and teach that God has established the office of ordained ministry to ensure that the gospel is proclaimed and the sacraments are administered. 

Now I know that a lot of pastors have abused that trust and that has contributed to this lack of trust in authority.  But sin among the laity is also part of the problem.  We all want to be our own authorities.  Well sorry I know more about the bible than you and I have more right than you to be listened to about the bible.  Not because I'm so smart (which I am) or so well read and educated (which I am) or so morally superior (which I am not) but because of the OFFICE of the public ministry of Word and Sacrament.  

That's why we educate pastors --that's why we pay them enough (or should) so that they can live among us and do nothing but continue to study the Word and proclaim the gospel and see to it that people are baptized and fed at the Table.  People want us to do a whole lot of other stuff and that other stuff can wear you out but you know I could do all that other stuff you want gladly if you would just TRUST that I am telling you the truth about God. 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

For God has called you, and your labor in the Lord is not in vain

I went to an ordination this afternoon.  I honestly cannot remember the last ordination I attended.  If it wasn't my own, it was probably a classmate's.  It was just wonderful.  We must have had more than a dozen pastors process and lay hands on the candidate.  It was a beautiful service and though I did not need a reminder, it showed me again why I love being part of the ELCA.

I've been looking at old pictures so I got out my pictures from my ordination, July 6, 1986 at Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco.  

There was one sad point when I looked behind me to the people in the pews and saw a former colleague who has left the ELCA, sitting in the pews, unable to join us in the procession because he has chosen to cut himself off.  I thought it must be sad for him as well, even though it was his choice to leave.

The whole service was very moving - but here is the part that brought on the tears.  The charge to the ordinand - we pastors should hear this charge more often:

.........Care for God's people, bear their burdens and do not betray their confidence.  So discipline yourself in life and teaching that you preserve the truth, giving no occasion for false security or illusory hope.  Witness faithfully in word and deed to all people.  Give and receive comfort as  you serve within the church. And be of good courage, for God has called you, and your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Why Soap Operas are Bad For You

 I love my "stories".  I have been watching All My Children since it started and I was a teenager.  Erika and I got pregnant at the same time only she had her baby 3 months later.  I had to wait the whole nine months.

Pretty Good Lutherans is talking about "Eat Pray Love" being made into a movie and how you must be living under a rock if you don't know about it.  All I know about it is that James Franco is in it and he plays a crazy serial killer in General Hospital.  I usually watch anything with Julia Roberts but I don't think I can see this movie.  I saw a preview and while watching Franco talk to Roberts all I could think was "GET AWAY FROM HIM! HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Five - Memories

The folks at RevGalBlogPals are talking about Memories.

1. A treasured memory from childhood?
    I did not have a good childhood.  I choose not to dwell on it.   I don't deny it but I do not let it dictate who I am now.  Say what you will about Dr. Laura (and one could say a lot) but she has a saying - you get two chances to have a family, the one you were born with and the one you create.  I did much better with the family I created.  I have wonderful memories of my children's childhood--especially vacations

    Like our trip in 1996 to Colorado - this is a stop at the Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska


    Here we are in the Garden of the gods, with my sister.  I would always make matching shirts for everyone - on this day we are just wearing matching T shirts
    Or to Disneyland in 2000

    2.  A teenage memory?
      I had a high school sweetheart for 3 years.  He was very romantic - copied Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How do I love thee" for our one month anniversary.   When he graduated from high school he decided to become a Roman Catholic Priest.  It was so romantically tragic how I gave him up for God.  Then he dropped out because he was gay.  We met up a few years later in San Francisco and he lived with a very nice guy for several years.  Then he decided he wasn't gay and lived with a very nice woman for a few years.   Then he decided he was going to become a monk.  I've lost contact with him.  He didn't seem that confused in high school!

      In front of Mt Rainier in Washington
      3.  A young adult memory?

        Driving with my soon to be husband Loren from Coon Valley Wisconsin back to California for my ordination.  We drove up to see my sister in Seattle and then down through the redwood forest to San Francisco where I was ordained.  It was a carefree trip.  No worries.  The whole world was a head of me.  After that trip I think we knew we were going to be married.  If we could survive a week in a car together, we could survive a marraige.

        4.  A Memory from this Summer

        I took my kids to the Omaha zoo.  Just like old times.

         5. A memory you hope to have? - my 25th anniversary of ordination which is next year, my children's weddings, grandchildren.

          Wednesday, August 4, 2010

          Monday, August 2, 2010

          Monday Morning Skating Video

          A cool winter song for the summer - Michelle Kwan skating in  Olympic Medalist YuNa Kim's 2009 show in Korea.