adventures in faith, home, & keeping the earth
Musings in making and finding Home in this wild and wonderful world.
This past Tuesday was the feast of saints Perpetua and Felicity (March 7).
I had a passing hesitation as I got out our book of saints to share with our almost four-year-old daughter Henlee. Martyrs are martyrs because their trust in God’s Reality outweighed the horrific violence the world threw at them.
I cannot help but feel the grief of it.
Read MoreNobody asked, but this weekend is Mayday, aka pole dance for a fertility god aka more than that to some ppl I guess but anyway…
Read MoreHoly Week was a walk in the real. I love traditions and engaging ritual tried and true. I really wanted to make hot cross buns this year for Good Friday, yeasted and everything. But, between Holy Week services, Easter prep, and regular responsibilities, I was getting stressed. Normal, maybe — BUT THIS TIME I NOTICED IT.
Read MoreWe are trying a new tradition this year. The Easter Basket will stay with us (refreshed each Sunday) through all 50 days!
Read MoreSt. Nicholas and his tool-toting toddler made my heart swell three times its size tonight at Morehead’s Hometown Holiday. Them, impromptu caroling, and every smiling face I saw.
Read MoreTo celebrate Michaelmas and get to know our new community, we threw a Harvest Hootenanny. My Aunt Monica came in to spend the weekend with us; her help and company was a gift!
Here’s what it looked like.
Read MorePart 1 of this post covered Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday. Now we move to the Easter Triduum. The Easter Triduum, meaning simply “the space of three days,” includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
Like in part 1, I’ll outline each day with a scripture and a tradition or suggested practice/activity.
Read MoreI woke up this morning in a bit of a funk. I felt aimless and overwhelmed at the same time. It’s still Christmas, but the “big stuff” is over.
Our big Carolina Christmas tour de family wrapped up on Christmas Eve, our church sang Joy to the World to the top of its lungs to welcome the holiday that night, and then we got to host the Carr Family Christmas for the very first time in our home on Christmas Day.
All the shopping, wrapping, prepping, and planning is done.
And yet Christmas is here. Christmas is still here, and as I type there are 10 more days of it stretching out in front of me.
How do we celebrate and revel in this holy hootenanny of a festival when the world’s moved on? I believe there is more to Christmas than opening presents and feeling nostalgic, but how do I live that out?
Well, I’ve been thinking and here’s where I’m at.
Read MoreWe are coming up on the last push of Advent.
Now is the time when perhaps waiting seems most impossible. Indeed, for some families, gatherings with grandparents, cousins, great-uncles, etc. will begin in a matter of days. Church musicals and special services are whipping to a frenzy. And maybe our hearts are burning, just a little, with the strain of the wait.
Good. This is probably a safe indication that Advent is well at home with us, in our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Keeping Advent in this space is possible and worth it. This could be the time in which it matters the most.
Read MoreThe feast of St. Nicholas is upon us. Tonight lots of little shoes will be set out in hopes that he will stop by in the night. Our stockings are certainly hung with care.
I so enjoy the fun of this feast day because I enjoy our brother.
Though not much can be said for the St. Nicholas from our 21st century historicity standards, thousands upon thousands of faithful folks have carried stories about him through the centuries. These widely-held legends all have common threads running throughout as well, themes of generosity, liberation, compassion, and faith.
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