Can We Talk While I Make Soup?

Dear Friend, 

A couple weeks ago I stood in the produce section of the grocery store with cotton balls in my throbbing ears. 

What meals will I make?  I scanned the room, then meandered over to the organic section and began to analyze the offerings. 

Soup. Just soup until I feel like eating something else!

I selected ingredients for five batches of my current favorites: Borscht, Seafood Chowder, Bean with Bacon, Beef and Barley, and Thai Chicken with Rice.

I love the entire soup-making process. You could say it's my thing. I usually listen to an audio book while I chop vegetables. Sometimes I let my little ones help me with the peeling. 

Borscht 

Last time I wrote a post I believe I promised you an update on my ear issue -- I'm feeling much better and I can hear! I honestly didn't mind having the volume turned down a bit for a little while, but the ear infection was pesky, painful and persistent. I had to go to the doctor five times! I'm grateful to have that behind me.

A couple of my friends are on my heart right now  -- Heidi lost her eleven year old son recently; Tracey has Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome and is fighting for her life in ICU. Now and then as I'm going about my normal daily tasks, I suddenly feel a jab of sorrow and pray: God, help my friends! 

Seafood Chowder

I finished the House of Mirth by Edith Wharton a few days ago. I was relieved to be done with it. I found the main character, Lily Bart, nearly as exasperating as Flaubert's Madame Bovary. If anything moved me about the book it was Lily's vision on her deathbed of an infant sleeping beside her. All five of my babies slept with me until they were weaned. Nothing I've experienced in life has been sweeter. In fact, most of what I understand about God and love and worship came to me while nursing my little ones during those quiet night hours.

Bean with Bacon

I once saw Edith Wharton's signature in the guest book at Biltmore House.  That's the only thing I knew about Wharton until I read her book. 

Something else has been on my mind, something hard for me to spit out. Maybe I'll just bury it here in this unassuming post until I know how to say more . . .

I've recently come to the startling realization that for most of my formative years I was influenced by a cult leader.

This information feels both painful and liberating. It's taking me some time to sort things out.

I used to be so sure about every facet of life: what I should and should not wear, listen to, say, believe, be, do. Looking back I can see that gradually through the years I've shed many things -- like a reptile shedding scales. Some ideas have dropped off almost without my notice, others have been painfully removed, as if a scale has been ripped out leaving a raw bleeding spot in its place.

Up until recent news made me face the full reality, I viewed the cult leader as a distant grandfather figure -- someone I didn't agree with on every point, but someone safe and well-meaning -- certainly not what he was. Like many people, I didn't see the obvious. 

Beef and Barley

My Mimi was right about the cult leader's way of life when she said, "It's not for everybody."

Now I'd even go so far to say it's not for anybody!

I keep having this sensation like I'm skydiving. It's both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." 

~Albert Einstein 

Thai Chicken with Rice

Ann Voskamp's blog has been helping me a lot lately.

This post by Keri Wyatt Kent has also helped. I love the line she has said to her kids through the years: "I love the person you are becoming." I've made a point of saying that to each of my kids lately. It's good for them and cathartic for me. I don't have to be afraid; I don't have to micromanage your soul. I love the person you are becoming!

These words imply that the future is bright—that I have great hope that they will grow into themselves. It says: you haven’t arrived yet, but I’m trusting the process. It reminds them that they are growing up and they are not you—that crucial process of differentiation that is essential for maturity. It also tells them that they don’t have to be just like mom or dad, or just like their older sibling. It simply says, You are becoming your own person, and that’s a good thing. It’s a way of telling them, “I believe in you!” without sounding quite so cheesy. I think it’s a phrase that instills confidence. And makes me feel more confident as a parent–even when it’s hard to let go.

Well now, I've got a lot off my chest today, haven't I!

Thanks for being there to help me process stuff. 

Love,

Adriana 

A Rainbow-Themed Post in Which I Open a Discussion About the Effect of the Internet

"Slide down my rainbow into my cellar door and we'll be jolly friends forevermore."

Hello there friends! Hope you are have a lovely summer/winter!

After battling an illness for over a month, I am at last feeling much better.

Today I want to say a hearty thank you. I've been blown away by all of the love and care that my kids, my husband and I have received from friends and family. There have been days when I've received phone calls that I haven't had the energy to take, but simply knowing that someone was checking in to see how I was doing has meant a lot. Many of you have sent me kind emails. Thank you so very much. It may take me some time to get around to responding, but I've read each one with a warm heart. Our community group friends have watched our kids, they've taken them to VBS, they've brought us meals. I could go on and on. When you have five kids, it truly takes a village to pick up the slack when Mom is down! And the prayers! Oh my word. I'm humbled.

There is something about this experience that gives me a pang though -- and that is you. It seems like the kind of support system I have is in global decline. Is this true for you? What would happen today if suddenly you crashed and could not get out of bed for week?  When the rubber meets the road all that matters is knowing you are not alone. I want to know where you are with that. Do you feel like you are literally holding everything together all by yourself? I used to be more of a loner. I used think I'm fine. I got this. And as I said, I am humbled.

The road home.

In my last post we talked about the subject -- "I am your keeper and you are mine." -- which is biblical, of course. A wise person once pointed out to me that the entire Bible could be viewed as a long reply to the question that Cain asked God after he killed his brother Abel in Genesis chapter four:

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 

The answer is YES! Yes, you are your brother's keeper! And God spent a lot of time and effort showing us what that is supposed to look like!

When I was a girl there was one family in my large neighborhood who had a computer in their basement. (My parents still don't have one!) I never would have dreamed then that I would one day be able to converse with friends all over the world!

Sitting in church last Sunday I looked around at all of the nifty new hair styles and I thought, Isn't Pinterest enriching? We are in a hair-renaissance!  Doesn't that just get you excited! It gets me really excited because it is a sign of how our global-connectedness is working it's way into our most mundane decisions -- like how we do our hair.

When you and I sit down to type out our thoughts or post pictures of a healthy, yummy bean salad we really have no idea how far our influence will go.

So in light of our Bible story today, the question I keep tossing around my mind is this: How does being each other's keeper work in the online world?

We are sitting here in front of our computer screens witnessing the dawn of a new era and we have no way to measure our influence over time. We are laying the groundwork for generations to come. The internet is a tool that meets needs in the here and now, but it is also a work of eternal significance.

So talk to me -- I want to know what you think being each other's keeper should look like on the web. Many of my readers are Christians like me, but some of you are not. I want to hear from you no matter what faith tradition you are speaking from.  Vision casters -- speak!

My online life did not start out incredibly meaningful. I had a homeschool blog in the beginning because I always saw myself as becoming a gloriously successful homeschooler. The plan was to show you how you could become a gloriously successful homeschooler like me. The only problem with that plan is that not too far into my homeschool journey, I realized I wasn't going to be gloriously successful. I found myself doggie-paddling, barely able to keep my head above water. Reading other homeschool blogs just made me feel bad about myself.

First I blogged the wrong way, now I'm learning how to get it right. (Yes, I'm still learning!) I know this much for sure: when you use the internet correctly it will have a positive effect on both your online and offline life. It is a powerful tool, but it takes time and practice and a lot of mistakes to get it right. 

Be patient with yourself and be patient with others. 

There is only love.

Now I want to hear from you. Tell me about your experience with the internet and it's effect on you. Tell be about how you use it and give me some suggestions on how to make our online experiences more enriching. 

Oh and before I forget, here's the recipe:

"Jolly Friends Rainbow Salad":

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 orange pepper, diced

1 red onion, finely diced (optional -- it adds a nice purple color to the rainbow, but I rarely use it.)

1 can chick peas, rinsed

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 bag of frozen shelled edamame, rinsed to thaw

(In the above picture I used fresh parsley, b/c I happened to have some on hand. This recipe is really flexible. Just have fun with it. I added some peas to the baby's meal.)

Let your children help you mix this salad. Their eyes will pop when the colors start to blend. Season liberally with seasoned rice vinegar to taste. Take to a grill-out and and enjoy with friends.

Much love,
Adriana

Spring Cleaning with the Classics: Pilgrim's Progress

"The contemplative in me recognizes the sacred potential in the mundane task, even as the terminally busy go-getter resents the necessity of repetition." ~ Kathleen Norris

My outlook on housework goes through peaks and valleys. For the past few months I've been plodding along through the motions, but my heart hasn't been in my daily tasks. I'm brimming with ideas after spending a year immersed in great classic literature. There are so many things I want to study, so many things I want to write about! Yet every day a thousand tedious chores weigh me down.

This week I've yielded myself completely to spring cleaning. I've plunged in deep and engaged in a rhythm of sorting, folding, tossing, and general tidying. Each year I'm surprised to find myself actually enjoying this process. Of course it's satisfying to create a bit of order out of chaos, but it's also satisfying to ponder the powerful spiritual metaphors which are wrapped up in our most essential tasks.

Then [Interpreter] took [Christian] by the hand, and led him into a very large Parlour that was full of dust, because never swept; the which, after he had received a little while, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep: Now when he began to sweep, the dust began to so abundantly fly about, that Christian had almost therewith been choaked: Then said Interpreter to a Damsel that stood by, Bring hither Water, and Sprinkle the Room; which when she had done, was swept and cleansed with pleasure . . .

This is to shew thee, that when the Gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then I say, even as thou sawest the Damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the Floor with Water, so is sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean, through the Faith of it; and consequently fit for the King of Glory to inhabit.

 John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress 

In The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and "Woman's Work" Kathleen Norris draws connections between life-sustaining routines and rituals of the spiritual life. She recalls the first time she attended a Catholic mass as an adult and was surprised during one point of the ceremony when the priest did the dishes!

I found it remarkable -- and still find it remarkable -- that  in that big, fancy church, after all of the dress-up and the formalities of the wedding mass, homage was being paid to the lowly truth that we human beings must wash the dishes after we eat and drink...

...The Christian religion asks us to place our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and who desires to be present to us in our everyday circumstances.

I wonder what would happen if started to view housework as a contemplative act with sacred potential. I wonder if dying to my daily whims might in time produce more literary fruit. Is it possible for me to find a constant source of joy in housework? 

Here are links to a couple of my favorite blogs which often attach spiritual significance to essential daily tasks:

Like Mother Like Daughter: Because it's important to maintain the collective memory.

We are mothers and daughters spread out along the East Coast, with one roaming Marine wife currently in California. After many unfulfilling phone conversations in which we attempted (with little success) to describe with any accuracy our ongoing projects and domestic triumphs, this blog was born. We found that we also have something to say about making a home.

Auntie Leila is the main writer for this blog. I love her idea of the "reasonably clean house." She has seven grown kids and they all seem to like her. She is gracious and intelligent and has hobbies other than housework. (This gives me hope.)

A Holy Experience

I keep writing it out here everyday, the words I am seeking to live — about this wondrously messy, everyday-holy life….about finding the beauty and quiet, about slowing to see the sacred in the chaos, the Cross in the clothespin, the flame in the bush. Just listening – laundry, liturgy, life, — all of life, holy ground. A holy experience — because God has flaming bushes everywhere.

Ann Voskamp is the author of the best selling book, A Thousand Splendid Gifts: Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Her posts are contemplative and poetic.

I recently found this one:

Domestic Kingdom: Applying the Gospel to the Mundane

What does the gospel of Jesus Christ have to do with our everyday, mundane lives in the home? Domestic Kingdom is a blog dedicated to discussing this question. 

This blog author, Gloria Furman, has written a book on this subject entitled Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home. 

I'd love to know your thoughts about the mundane tasks you are faced with each day. Do you drag your feet and dread them like I often do? 

Blessings to all as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection!