Neutral Territory

Okay, the title of this post sounds more like I'm talking about some kind of hard core warfare than how to love people more, but hey, that's what you get when you've got a very sleepy blog writer who tried to stop and get coffee this morning only to find out that the coffee shop where she tried to go does not open until 11am on Saturdays. Seriously?

I'm over it, though. Not bitter at all. Although I do think I'm going to go make myself a nice, hot shot or two of espresso when I'm done typing this.

Yesterday our church went on what is becoming sort of an annual camping trip. Now let me clarify before I keep going. I love the people in my church. Really, I do. But you know we could all do a better job loving each other and really getting to know each other. That's part of the reason I love this camping trip. When we're all sitting around a campfire eating dinner and marshmellows and smores...actually, eating anything, I'm not the pastor's wife. That person over there? She's not just the pianist. That man's not just an elder. My hubby is not just the pastor. We're all just people. We can let go of all the labels we've stuck on each other and just get to know each other as people. It's a very casual camping trip. No devotionals or anything like that. Just fellowship.

Do you have people in your life you'd like to get to know better? How can you do that? Are you a camper? (I'd recommend waiting till it's warmer, maybe. Our group about froze to death...those that didn't have heaters. Seriously? Heaters on a camping trip?) Do you like coffeeshops? Do you hit the stores on Black Friday every year? Think of a way you can get people you'd like to know better into "neutral territory." Not the church, not your house (I'm not knocking hospitality, there's just a different dynamic there).

Ideas, anyone?

Stories

We all have them. Stories are a part of our lives. As a writer, I love this concept. It's one of my favorites. I'm sitting at Starbucks right now--I know, terribly stereotypical of me--and on their winter coffee cup sleeve-thingy, it says:

Stories are gifts. Share.

It's true! They are gifts. Strange that Starbucks would be such an impact on my attitude about several things, but they have been. I knew there was a good reason, um, besides the awesome coffee, that I came here. Things I've been reminded of:

1. Stories are powerful tools to use to share the message of love, God's love specifically. While being a wife and mom is definitely my priority right now, I need to make more time for writing. I really believe this dream is not just from me.

2. We, the church, tend to be closed off from each other, at least here in America. I hear it's not like that as much in other places, but what do I know, I'm an American. In any case, we need to be willing to open up to each other and share our stories. We need to invest in one another's lives.

3. Stories can be hard to share. Whether you're a writer, or a person who has your own true story, sometimes they're hard to pass along. But (and you could technically count this as #4) stories really help people make decisions in their own lives.

Moral of the story? (Haha, that was totally on accident). We need stories. They're a vital part of our lives.

So read one.

Write one.

Tell one.

Share one.

Avoiding Burnout

We need a vacation.

I'm sure if you're reading this you're nodding. You do too. Don't we all? If only they didn't involve silly things like time off and money, right?

For those of you who haven't had a vacation in a while, how do you do it? Especially if you're one of my fellow pw's, how do you keep going and going and going and not just...burn out?

I'm open to suggestions. Meanwhile, I'm going to drink my coffee with hazelnut coffee creamer (usually I drink it black...I feel like this says a lot about my mood today) and hope that maybe it'll remind me enough of college and the mountains to qualify as a 'mini vacation.'

I'd love to hear your suggestions. Besides yummy coffee. =)

National Novel Writing Month

Ah, November. There's a chill in the air and people are drinking coffee, tea, apple cider and thinking about things like Thanksgiving...Christmas shopping...The end of the semester (if you're a teacher like me or have kids in school).

And writing a novel.

Yep, that's right (I actually typed *write* here at first..ahahahaha.) during this month hundreds of thousands of people, yeah, that's actually an accurate number. Crazy, right? Anyway, hundreds of thousands of people will try to write 50,000 words of a novel.

This month.

I've tried every year for the last couple years and haven't made it. But this could be the year. I can feel it.

Which also means you'll probably notice more frequent blog posts, because anyone who has ever written anything knows that writers are the best procrastinators ever when they're on a deadline.

Speaking of which, I should go see about that laundry...no, really, I need to go write. The baby is sleeping and my characters are calling (um, figuratively calling. I don't actually hear voices...Honest.)

So do you think you could write a book? Ever wanted to try? It's easier to do it in November when it doesn't feel so insane because 'everybody's doing it'.

If you're signed up for Nanowrimo already, let me know. We should be friends. =)

Book Thoughts

So today I thought I'd share my thoughts on a book I read several months ago. I absoultely loved this book. I know some people (and some of you are reading this blog) aren't into romance, even Christian romance, although personally, I don't understand because God did create romance, yes? Anyway, my ranting thoughts on why Christian romance is good aside...this was a well written story and there was SO much more to it than romance, though that was great too. Anyway, enough prefacing--here's what I thought.

Rodeo Sweetheart
By Betsy St. Amant


Samantha Jenson isn’t the kind of woman that Evan Ames is used to meeting. She’s a gorgeous, stubborn, caring contradiction with cowboy boots. And Evan, a guest at Samantha’s family’s ranch-turned-dude-ranch, is fascinated.

Sam’s too busy worrying about the financial situation at her family’s ranch to give Evan the time of day, much less a second look. Her father’s death has left Sam and her mom on the edge of bankruptcy without any option but to make their ranch a dude ranch, which Sam resents. The presence of a city boy who can’t tell one end of the horse from the other is not something Sam pays much attention to—until Evan finds out Sam’s secret.

Winning the bull riding competition at an upcoming local rodeo is the only way Sam can think of to get enough money to do what needs to be done to get the ranch back on track. But can she—should she—knowingly put her life on the line is the same event that cost her father his life?

As she wrestles with this she fights feelings for Evan, who has a crush on her but is caught in a tug of war between his manipulative father and what he knows to be right. If Evan’s real estate mogul father has his way, Sam will lose everything—with or without the bull riding prize money.


Betsy St. Amant’s story immediately makes the reader feel invested in all that’s at state—monetarily and relationally. The setting felt so real and was a great escape from everyday life—just thinking about this story makes me want to pull on my cowboy boots and start driving west. The love story is sweet and believable, and the other driving parts of the story also grip the reader’s attention and make this book one I’ll enjoy reading over and over again.

Happy Fall! Well, sort of...

I love fall! Of course, here in the south, fall does not love us. Fall sneaks in and makes you think it's going to stick around and then you wake up one morning and it's 80 degrees outside. It's been 80-something here for the last week or so, but I'm hoping fall will come back around. It always does.

I am so completely extreme in the fall. I'm either super productive and go on one of my little fall cleaning sprees, or I just want to sit around and drink coffee (um, like I'm doing now. Yeah, my living room? It needs help. But the coffee is warm and it's fallllll...) This is probably actually making my husband relatively happy, because when I go on those cleaning sprees, I tend to throw things away. Which is why he's currently without a hunting license. It looked like a piece of paper to me, okay?

I don't have a lot to say today, but I wanted to tell everyone to check out the blog The Pastor's Wife Speaks (thepastorswifespeaks.blogspot.com) It's a really interesting inside look at ministry life from a lot of different perspectives. I'm enjoying reading it and contributing blogs for it.

I don't have any deep spiritual applications today and my coffee is calling. Just wanted to check in and say hello, blogging world, and happy fall.

Transparency?

It's late a night and I had coffee not too long ago, so my brain's really working right now, though I fully expect it to crash into sleep at any second...first, though, I have a question.

What degree of transparency should be expected of a pastor's wife? I've heard this debated in so many ways so many times, but no one seems to have an answer. It's not just pastor's wives who struggle with knowing this, I would bet. It's most Christians, and maybe especially Christian women.

As Christian women it sometimes feels like we should be a Bible carrying version of the perfect fifties woman in her heels and pearls. I'm certainly not against any of those things--I'd be lost without the Bible (ever think of how much we take our copies of God's word for-granted?), and I love a shiny new pair of heels just as much as the next girl. But sometimes it seems like we should be so perfect that we're no longer real.

It kind of makes me think of being outside, and the different kinds of beauty. You can go to botanical gardens and see well planned flowers bloom in perfect, well manicured order, and it's beautiful. You can see the hand of God all over it. At the same time, though, a little purple wildflower in the woods, lifting itself boldly among the leaves and brush is beautiful too. One's polished. One's rough. Is one better?

I'm not sure we can say. Just like I'm not sure anyone can even definitively answer the question I'm asking. Maybe being transparent is right and being a little more careful to project an image worthy of imitating (although it should be Jesus that people should ultimately want to imitate) is right sometimes too.

I don't think I have an answer. How's that for an attempt at transparency?

What do y'all think?