Where to start over …

Has it really been last November since I posted? Sheesh. I haven’t done so because I didn’t feel I had anything very meaningful to say.

Most of the family has been deep in preparations for the annual ballet recital, which was last Saturday night and went VERY well. I was enmeshed in sewing, as usual. This year the theme was this fantastic twist on the parable of the prodigal son, with a Celtic twist.

We’ve experienced some changes–my husband started a new job after about six months of his own personal drama. I’m extremely thankful right now that he has work when all around us, people are losing jobs or taking pay cuts. And my kids are healthy and overall good kids, though experiencing the normal growing pains of their various stages. My 18 year old son is close to graduating from high school and almost as close to finishing an associate’s degree at the local community college. He’s also been exploring the reaches of his own faith and visiting a friend’s church, an evangelical Lutheran. I never would have thought–but I’ve been very impressed with this particular church’s ministry, integrity, and outreach.

And speaking of Lutherans–a very good friend in writing circles, John Otte, is also a Lutheran pastor in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He’s also a sci-fi geek, which may be a point for or against him depending upon your leanings. 🙂 While checking out his review of the most recent Stephen Lawhead book, Tuck, I noticed he has a link further down on his blog to a 6-part series of very short but meaty sermons on the full armor of God. Please check these out! You’ll notice that he gave these messages at Concordia University in St. Paul, as part of their observance of Lent–which tends to be a scary term to Baptists and other non-liturgical denominations, but basically it describes a focused preparation for Resurrection Sunday, designed to deepen one’s appreciation for Christ’s work on the cross. These sermons are rich and deep and wonderful.

I hope to be more regular about posting here … not just getting back to the CSFF tour (which is going on this week–check out the links at John’s blog) but my usual eclectism, maybe even including some more research notes! Thanks to all of you who have been so patient with me and continue to check back to see what I’m doing.