January

Well, this month has flown by. I know it isn't over, and in some ways I cannot wait until it is over and in other ways, I could live in this January forever. My interviews went well, and now the waiting period has begun. We'll see! I have appointments set up to meet with lots of people at Midwinter to chat about jobs, etc., so here's hoping.

I've also been quilting. I finished up a wedding quilt that is due in March - and I still need to get it to my friend, Stephanie, to quilt. So the quilt may or may not be done by the due date of March 14, but either way, it is a work in progress. I am also making a quilt for my friend Lisa. I wasn't too hip on the fabrics (I received them in a kit and didn't pick them myself) so I am glad it will go to a good home where it will be loved. I'm not sure how it will turn out because of some triange/seam allowance/wierd fabric issues, but we'll see.

Also, for Christmas this year I received The Shack by Wm. Paul Young from my mother-in-law. I just finished it yesterday. While I am not always into 'popular reads', which this book currently is, I was impressed by the book's candor. There are several quotes from it that I believe are fantastic, so I'll be sharing some from time to time. Here's a couple to get you started:

"...pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly." - pg 97 - how true, how true

"Humans are so lost and damaged that to you it is almost incomprehensible that people could work or live together without someone being in charge." - pg 122 - "...you end up with some kind of chain of command or a system of order that destroys relationship rather than promotes it. You rarely see or experience relationship apart from power. Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you." - 123

That last quote it one of the truest statements in my personal worldview. The everlasting, three-in-one God, lives in perfect unity and community. No one is 'in charge' in that relationship. No one 'reports' to anyone else. They are perfect community, all equally God. Should we not strive to live more like that than in hierarchical relationships? Why does the church, of all places, tout hierarchical relationships as a 'good thing'? Shouldn't we be the place that teaches people that God isn't about hierarchy (if God was about hierarchy, wouldn't the God head live in hierarchy)? We should be modeling lives of freedom - lives of true, honest, hard relationships - lives where loving people is what matters. Which leads to my favorite quote from this book, something that I want to paint on my walls:

"You are free to love without an agenda."

How is that for truth?