Thinking on these things . . .

It's Thanksgiving week, which means it's the first week of Christmas!! "Christmas" is too big to be merely contained merely in December 24 and 25th. As a matter of fact by the time those dates roll around the majority of the "Christmas" celebrations will have already been completed! It starts now with the ads and the music (well actually those seemed to have started several weeks ago already, the day after Halloween I think). Every other commercial will show something you NEED to buy this season with the happily surprised beautiful people opening this perfect gift you've given. (Funny how they never show the long snaking lines at return counters or that " very special gift" up on the shelf in the closet...) Then there are all the activities; the plays, the rehearsals, the concerts, the costumes, the cookie exchanges and the Secret Santas (for which of course you need a specially crafted spreadsheet on your computer to make sure you're in t...

" I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may grow in your knowledge of God." Ephesians 1: 17 My name is Becky. I am 5' 7" and wear a size 10 1/2 shoe. I have a husband and two children (although some days it feels like I have three children...) and live in a red brick house in Chicago. I have a younger sister. I have a degree in Elementary Education from a university in South Carolina. I enjoy reading and various crafts. There you go; you have the pertinent facts, my bio, some relevant info., so now you know me (lucky you!) And you also know that is not true because it takes a lot more than just facts to really know someone - we are so much more than the one dimensional photo and info. tab on a Facebook page. I love a friend who knows how I take my coffee because we've had coffee together so often that it's something they've just picked up on. Or one...

You know that feeling; the one where you're all cuddled up with someone and relaxed, mid way between awake and asleep and your entire world consists only of this profound sense of peace? I've just heard of the concept of "Kangaroo Care" in which a baby, most often a preemie, is cuddled skin to skin on the mother's chest with its ear to her heart. The mother's body temperature will change rapidly to regulate the baby's temperature; warming as the infant needs to warm or cooling if they are too warm. The infant sleeps more soundly, less oxygen is needed, and everything gets a little more regulated than before their time together. The infants gain weight more quickly, their crying decreases, and they experience greater periods of alertness. In was in the late 1970's in Bogota Columbia where, because of lack of incubators etc., this technique was implemented and consequently the infant mortality rate went from 70% to 30%! Impressive isn't it; these h...

I'd recently made a "new" friend. We've actually known each other casually for years but in the past couple of years we discovered a greater connection and more commonalities as we've been spending time together. Yet the last times we've had coffee I didn't feel as connected, like we'd popped back to the shallowness of surface stuff, no longer exploring deeper waters. I don't know why. And since I don't know why, I don't know what to do about it. Everything seemed exactly as it'd been the many times we've met before. Always the same place, always the same order, and always, when it's available, the same booth. So what changed? Sadly I find myself feeling the same way with the most intense, long-term, and important relationship in my life; with that of my God. I'm not sure what happened. At some point the continual conversation we engage in has fallen silent. I've realized that He's barely crossed my mind in recent da...