Another church bites the dust.

Our church has closed its doors as of Sunday. Well, we didn't have any doors of our own, which was okay with me, but that was the date of our last service. We are merging with another church, which is more like saying that some of the members will be going together to another church.

The closing was inevitable. The church was in a part of town that is now quite international, both legal and illegal, if you catch my drift. Contrast that with our (mostly) whiteness, which wouldn't be a draw for them. The biggest church in the area had dwindled down to around a hundred members, closed its school, and sold its large church building to a spanish-speaking Catholic congregation. The remnant of those left from that church moved south to try to regroup.

My impression is that the church that is absorbing our church, so to speak, was essentially looking for another pastor and an improved worship band (I'm biased, but our is considerably better than theirs, and hey, I was in the music biz for more than a few years, so that's my "professional" - ha - opinion).

My analogy for this transition is that of an arranged marriage. The two groups of elders decided this would be good, but they didn't even bother coming over to spend an entire service with us...not once. A number of people at our church are enthusiastic, and I will not rain on their parade. They talk about us all being in the body of Christ. My answer is, in a group of ten Christian guys, they would not all be equally good mates for me.

They're a lot more conservative than us. The more conservative members of our church will welcome that, and I'm glad they will find a home. They also have a number of buildings, which has been important to a number of our members. I think buildings are vastly overrated, but I would agree that this church uses theirs more than most.

There's a lot of stress in our lives and this doesn't reduce it, but we will still have the chance to see our friends, at least for a while. We think of them as being our family. Some friends won't join us at this church, and that seems like the right decision for them.

My experience with churches that say they want to reach out and have more members is that they seem to generally want just more people like themselves.

I don't want to be assimilated into this way of thinking and acting, but I also don't want to fight the battles with even gently convincing others that we do not have to all be the same.

I still want people to be comfortable with wearing shorts and sandals to church, to have meaningful community, to stretch boundaries of worship and service, and maybe to have some church people reach out to us which hasn't happened a lot even at our present church.

Yes, I will keep my eyes open to look for positive signs, because I know that God can bring them. But I'm looking for other options. I can't wait for spiritual sustenance, and can't fight the battles of being different and not wanting to be merely turned into a conformist to their culture.

So I'll have the interesting journey of looking for some other spiritual sustenance. I've been through this before, when a church we attended in another state had a significant problem, and we decided we needed to stay and help minister to people, but we attended another church Sunday evenings to get some spiritual food.

This isn't the first church closing we've dealt with. But the last one involved questionable activities on the part of the pastor, so it is nice that we aren't dealing with that this time.

God has something planned! Will be interesting to see what it is.

If you are a praying person

Please pray for us. We are, indeed, grateful. God will prevail! He surely does take His sweet time, however...life's dragging on the bottom right now with wave after wave of bad news.

We continue to practice "On The Other Hands". Even told kiddo about them, and now they remind me of them with regularity. If a sixteen year old tells you they like your idea, as a 40-something you come close to fainting.

At any rate, things are really rough for the nashbabe and nashdude, but God has always taken care of us before, so why would He stop now? That's what I keep trying to tell myself. Sometimes, truly, it does seem like an attempt at brainwashing, but a renewed (i.e., "washed") brain ain't all bad if it's good and true stuff, eh? Yeah, yeah, I know. My feelings are all stressed, pained, frustration, fear, etc. But feelings aren't necessarily the truth. There I go telling myself that again.

I believe, help my unbelief. If God wanted me at the end of my schemes, my plans, my ideas, my attempts to control, BINGO! TARGET ACHIEVED!!!!

Thanks, I really appreciate you!!!

Kitty Ninjas

I blatantly stole this from my friend Kruse Kronicle. But seriously folks, he actually has a very erudite, thoughtful blog. This photo in no way represents his commentary. You can experience it for yourself here. Not bad, not bad at all.

Why is he so brilliant? I have a sneaking suspicion that the Scandinavian heritage he possesses has a little to do with it. Although if he has actually consumed lutefisk, I retract my statement. ;-P

Plane Crash

That is a peculiar title, I'm sure, but two weeks ago we were witnesses to a plane crash that almost led to our buying the farm, I suspect. Not that the farm isn't bought already, but I digress.

We went to Long Hunter State Park to get out of the house a bit. As we drove to the park entrance, I saw an older-looking plane flying extremely low to the ground. The airport isn't far from that location. As we drove a bit further into the park, we saw the plane coming right at us as we drove next to the only clearing in miles, that the pilot had chosen for his emergency landing.

Neither the tail nor the landing gear had been spared, so the plane was essentially out of control as it sped up the incline of the clearing, right at us. It all happened so fast. Right before it would have hit us, it veered to its left and stopped. The pilot, thankfully, was unhurt. Two weeks later, the plane was still at the crashlanding site where everything occured.

Video report here. Despite what the video said, we did see the pilot. The guy on film said "I'm stayin' here 'til the news cameras get here." Obviously, we didn't. Talk about getting shaken up.

The 10 Cannots

On this Election Day in the United States, read between the lines here and you'll have an idea of how I'm feeling and what I'm thinking.


"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.

You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

You cannot establish security on borrowed money.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves."

By William J. H. Boetcker
(wrongfully attributed to Abraham Lincoln)

You're probably becoming a part of pop culture...

...if you're lampooned on "The Simpsons". Not that I watch it, but loved this clip.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This recipe is from a book called "Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things: A Cookbook for when your garden explodes" by Burrows and Myers. I think of it as being an outdated cookbook; mine is the 1976 edition. Based on a quick perusal of Amazon, it looks as though they updated the cover, but left all the same recipes intact.

My opinion is that some would not use these recipes at least from a health perspective, but it fit into the farmhouse cooking I grew up with. Some of the recipes are dated, but the vintage feel can be nice. And it does have some decadent stuff. Here is one example. I've given some substitutions that you may or may not want to use.

(Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I have some good excuses. I will elaborate later. I haven't forgotten the giveaways, either, and actually the giveaway stuff is piling up.)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Cream together in large bowl:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil (I think you could use applesauce in exchange for the oil)

Add the following to above and stir well to mix:
3 eggs (six egg whites will cut down the fat a lot)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (I use nonfat plain yogurt instead. You might be able to try some nonfat or lowfat sour cream here as well...worth trying.)

Measure the following into a sifter (I admit, I didn't do that) and then sift into the bowl
2 1/2 cups flour (mixing half and half white and wheat should work fine)
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 tablespoons cocoa

Grate three zucchini, about 6 in long each, into the bowl. Stir until blended. Pour into greased, floured 9 by 13 inch pan.

Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips on top. (Of course I go for the cup full!) ;-) Bake for 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Be sure to test for doneness, make sure the center isn't still gooey.

ENJOY!!!

Giveaways...

Giveaways are coming. Three to be exact. One is for chefs, one for bakers, and one for seamstresses and foofy stuff lovers (you know, frilly stuff). I was just going to make them for Mary Jane's Farm people, but where's the fun in that? I shall post on appropriate boards posthaste when the photos are taken. You will be doing me a grand favor helping me jettison more of my MIL's way over ambitious stash (don't get me started) and some items I got when I bought "Betsy", my new (old) Kenmore sewing machine (vintage late seventies or early 80's model).

thanks, and keep your eyes peeled!

Haven't posted in ages, so here's a meme you can do too!

From my friend AKAPastorGuy

What time did you get up this morning? 5:45 like usual

Diamonds or pearls? I'm a woman, I want it all...

The last film you saw at the cinema? U23D.

What is your favorite TV show? Mad Men, although the jury's out on this season still to some degree.

What do you usually have for breakfast? Some kind of diet cola, preferably with Splenda, and an Odwalla bar or Luna bar.

What is your middle name? do we have to go there? Faye.

What food do you dislike? lutefisk

What is your favorite CD at the moment? I like lots of stuff, but listened to a fair amount of Switchfoot today. We blast it at the beginning of our church service each Sunday (since I'm sound girlie, I make sure of that). ;-)

What kind of car do you drive? An ancient Honda, or elderly Buick, or old Ford. So many choices.

Favorite sandwich? I dunno, but that Savory Secret non-dessert cheesecake on Heartland Bakery bread, after a trip in the toaster oven, was really fab today.

What characteristic do you despise? Let's just say this. The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference.

Favorite item of clothing? Anything that is smaller than I used to be able to wear comfortably. That means a lot of stuff.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go right now?
I'd take just about any real vacation I could get. It's been a long time. I am not too picky at this point.

Favorite brand of clothing? I haven't bought real clothes for a long time, but I think LL Bean and Lands' End last pretty well. Usually I just buy Target closeouts. I need to upgrade in this area a bit.

Where would you retire to? Don't know, depends on what God's got up his sleeve.

What was your most recent memorable birthday? At this age, any birthday is either memorable, or forgotten because of my advanced age.

Farthest place you are sending this? Well, I am surprised to say that I've had about 5,000 hits on my blog, go figure...almost every state and twenty-five countries, so that is something I find quite bizarre/surprising.

Person you expect to send it back first? I don't know if anyone will do it or not. I did it because I hadn't posted in a long while.

When is your birthday? approximately that of the Minnesota Vikings.

Are you a morning person or a night person? I can handle either one, although the early mornings that have happened out of necessity have made me turn in early in the last number of years. I used to stay up quite late before the mandatory 5:45 wake up call.

What is your shoe size? Usually 8.5 or 9.

Number of Pets? Three felines own the house and hubs and I are their dutiful, if lacking, slaves.

Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Hopefully, by the grace of God, I will have some soon.

What did you want to be when you were little kid? Stewardess. Got cured of that fast.

How are you today? Interesting and challenging day, looking forward to midnight when it's officially over.

What is your favorite candy? Just one?! Peanut Butter Twix if we're slumming, good quality milk or dark chocolate otherwise.

What is your favorite flower? Whatever hubs brings home for me.

What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Fall Break.

What is your full name? to you, I am nashbabe. :-)

What are you listening to right now? The Thursday Night Football season opener, and I think hubs will soon turn it to the McCain speech. Right now, I'm thinking Sarah Palin is an OTAY! chickie.

What was the last thing you ate? Mashed potatoes, which is quite out of the ordinary for me.

Do you wish on stars? Occasionally

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Black or Purple

How is the weather right now? Twas a beautiful day in Nashvegas.

Last person you spoke to on the phone? hubs

Favorite soft drink? See "what did I have for breakfast"

Favorite restaurant? something local, tasty, non-chain, etc. How about some pizza at Angelos, maybe some tacos authenticos at La Terraza, some bun chai gio at Kien Ghang or Miss Saigon? Those all sound pretty good to me.

Hair color? Brown, the free highlights are long gone, and a few grey hairs I pull obsessively.

What was your favorite toy as a child? Tonka camper truck. Kewl. And of course Barbies, which I dressed in space-age aluminum foil costumes.

Summer or winter? Winter if it really has snow.

Hugs or kisses? Yes.

Chocolate or Vanilla? Depends on which one's got better ingredients. Junk ice cream is disgusting.

Coffee or tea? How 'bout some "unsweet."

Do you want your friends to email you back? Friends who email me? Huh? Can't think of too many offhand. Texting, baby!!!

When was the last time you cried? This afternoon.

What is under your bed? Probably Emily the cat.

What did you do last night? nothing exciting

What are you afraid of? losing my passion

Salty or sweet? Yes please. Add cruncy, and you have nirvana.

How many keys on your key ring? Yikes. A lot.

How many years at your current job? Hmm, which one? The one that pays nominally, or the one that doesn't pay at all and has retirement benefits that are out of this world? I guess both are about nine years.

Favorite day of the week? They all run together.

How many towns have you lived in? Six.

Do you make friends easily? I think I'm a pretty giving and friendly person, but in the final analysis don't have many friends.

How many people will you send this to? Whomever shows up here at the blog.

How many will respond? I have no idea.

Hand dyeing of cotton yarn...

I've been wanting to do this with some items I have already finished in cream/ecru Sugar N Cream or Peaches N Creme-type cotton yarn. Lo and behold, I found this tutorial at yarngear that looks to have all the elements I'm looking for. If I can get these done this week, I'll have a bunch of new items to sell at market.

Why I do the market.

One of the various places I sell my wares is a farmer's market. It is a particularly good one, and now is well attended. It wasn't always that way; we slaved in obscurity for several years before folks caught on.

One of the people who has been most helpful in my climb out of despair suggested I write a list of good things that happen each day. A while ago, sometimes all it consisted of was "I didn't off myself today" or "I didn't off my hubby today". Sort of kidding on the last one, not totally kidding on the first one.

Things have been getting better, though. Kind of a Romans 8:28 kinda thing.

The truth of the matter, though, is that even when things have been at their worst, market has usually to almost always been a place to gain positive things that I need on many levels. Even last summer, in a time of great despair.

With that in mind, here are some reasons I do the market:

*Help pay kiddo's tuition. Yeah, we send someone else's kid to school. I know, that sounds crazy, especially if you don't know us. Trust us, that kid is WAY worth it.

*A consistent place to get cash flow to help our family.

*Beyond that, a place to show my talents to the world; well, actually, our little corner of the world. :-)

*It's in an area of town with disposable income and interest in my products.

*Some of the friendliest, most giving folks around are fellow vendors. It's a pleasure to work alongside them.

*Customers are so complimentary. It's always good to hear about how much people like your product. A few times, it's downright embarrassing (see below).

*Absolutely no buy/sell (flea market product). You either made it or grew it yourself. Period.

*Only one crabby person in five years of selling there. A guy rushed in at the end of market one May day and said gruffly, "where are the tomatoes?" I explained that the market is all-local and as such tomatoes would not be there for several more weeks. "Well, where am I supposed to get my tomatoes?" he grunted, and I wanted to say "well, there's a Publix down the street...."

*It is one of the two places where I can just about always forget about the trials of our life and just be there. The other one is when I walk; more about that soon.

*Lots of lovely organic and conventional produce; yummy breads, muffins, and pies; grass-fed meats (not like I can afford them, but I'm sure they're great); dairy; and great addon/gifty stuff like my own--I sell candles, soaps, air fresheners, lavender eye pillows, flax seed wraps, aprons, hairbands, bags, scarves, you name it, I make it.

*A hardworking market manager who understands what I am attempting to do by being at market and is very supportive of my mission.

*And where else can I hear some guy I have never met (who bought my product somewhere else) tell a prospective customer "you have to buy her Cranberry Orange candles; they will change your life." Wow. Actually I was thinking "dude, you need to get out more!" ;-)

So if you're local, get on out to our market...email me for details. And if you're not, check out the farmer's market in your neighborhood...not only are they good for veggies, but they may just give you some enjoyment and relaxation to boot.

Complete with photo illustrations.

The "bible" of diagnosis in the psychology/psychiatry world is the DSM-IV: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Our joke around our house is that in this tome of shrinky-dinkdom (isn't a word, but oughta be) ;-) that our family (both sides) and kiddo's family (several generations) have their photos featured next to quite a number of the various disorders.

Which probably led to my major depression.

But I'm gettin' better. :-)

Hey, we have to laugh about this somehow...