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| thank you for the crunch of dry gravel & fallen leaves under my feet |
Yesterday was the final day of Seven. A week of prayer and fasting for the city of Portland culminated with hundreds and hundreds - one report actually said over a thousand - of people coming together at Waterfront Park yesterday morning to pray together for our city.
It was remarkable.
I swear I could feel a tangible wave of something wash over me.
This has been an eye-opening week for me taking part in Seven for the first time. Though I allowed myself a small meal the days I worked, I stuck to only liquids (no caffeine, no alcohol) and was amazed at how it realigned my thoughts to be more in line with where they should be. Truly, I spent more time focusing on God - not just my own relationship with Him, but the relationship He has with our whole city and, in turn, my relationship with the city - and conversing with Him than I have in long time.
I actually feel like I never really stop talking with God though, to be honest. It feels like that episode of The Office where Jim and Pam stay on the teeny, tiny bluetooth all day long, going about their business as usual, but knowing the other is always there ready to communicate at a moment's notice.
Yeah. Something like that.
But this week it's felt more like that interaction you get face to face, one on one. Communing. My heart has been just brimming. And the conversations it has sparked - whether it was talking with others who have done fasts before or explaining why I was doing it to others still, it was a really special kind of thing to share with people.
Coupling that with the readings from Ephesians with She Reads Truth and it's been a pretty wonderful week. God is on the move (and working on my from the inside out)!
__
1. Thank you for such wonderful faith communities! From the family of friends at my House Church to the family of sisters online here, both blogland in general and She Reads Truth, I am overwhelmed sometimes at knowing how many people there are that I can turn to when I need guidance, or have questions, or just want to see people walking with God. The role models I have in my life are beyond what mere words (yes, even my precious words!) could do justice. And I am incredibly grateful to be part of these communities.
2. Thank you warm, dry weather! Oh, our sweet little pinot grapes need this! We've officially started harvest and desperately need this weather to hold out another week or two. After two rough years with more rain than we knew what to do with, this growing season has been an absolute dream (when you have a grower who's been with the winery for thirty years say "Yeah, 2011 was the most challenging year I've ever had in thirty years" you know it's a tricky vintage). The grapes are slowly but surely coming in and everyone is all a-twitter with excitement. Oh, I love this time of year! It's busy as all hell, but so much fun!
3. Thank you for evenings with The Camaraderie (most of it)! Wednesday night Shamoo, Robin, Dean, Michull and Maggie and I all met up over at The Hawthorne for the Hot Water Music show. Seeing Chuck Ragan again was always, always amazing (HWM is one of his bands) but the thrill of seeing Chris from Sundowner (he walked right past Robin and me during the show! And he was hanging out at the bar before the show! Ah!) and Tim from Rise Against (he jumped up on stage with the band! AH!) only made it sweeter. HWM didn't go on until pretty late into the evening so just hanging out on the patio along the busy street on what turned out to be a fairly freezing night was the perfect precursor to the show actually. I hadn't seen Mike and Maggie for quite a while and just being with these people makes me so happy I could bust. Though it must be said, we all missed Jared pretty bad... We'll all be happy when that kid gets home (but shoot, if he has the chance to play with fire on into October I'm all the more thankful for that!).
__
And so with that, here we go... Another week into October (?!) already and that much closer to wrapping up another harvest. And Halloween. And Autumn Feast. And then Thanksgiving. And ohmygosh, then Christmas!
Busy, busy, busy... But have I mentioned this is my favorite time of year?
Wheeeeeee!
It was remarkable.
I swear I could feel a tangible wave of something wash over me.
This has been an eye-opening week for me taking part in Seven for the first time. Though I allowed myself a small meal the days I worked, I stuck to only liquids (no caffeine, no alcohol) and was amazed at how it realigned my thoughts to be more in line with where they should be. Truly, I spent more time focusing on God - not just my own relationship with Him, but the relationship He has with our whole city and, in turn, my relationship with the city - and conversing with Him than I have in long time.
I actually feel like I never really stop talking with God though, to be honest. It feels like that episode of The Office where Jim and Pam stay on the teeny, tiny bluetooth all day long, going about their business as usual, but knowing the other is always there ready to communicate at a moment's notice.
Yeah. Something like that.
But this week it's felt more like that interaction you get face to face, one on one. Communing. My heart has been just brimming. And the conversations it has sparked - whether it was talking with others who have done fasts before or explaining why I was doing it to others still, it was a really special kind of thing to share with people.
Coupling that with the readings from Ephesians with She Reads Truth and it's been a pretty wonderful week. God is on the move (and working on my from the inside out)!
__
1. Thank you for such wonderful faith communities! From the family of friends at my House Church to the family of sisters online here, both blogland in general and She Reads Truth, I am overwhelmed sometimes at knowing how many people there are that I can turn to when I need guidance, or have questions, or just want to see people walking with God. The role models I have in my life are beyond what mere words (yes, even my precious words!) could do justice. And I am incredibly grateful to be part of these communities.
2. Thank you warm, dry weather! Oh, our sweet little pinot grapes need this! We've officially started harvest and desperately need this weather to hold out another week or two. After two rough years with more rain than we knew what to do with, this growing season has been an absolute dream (when you have a grower who's been with the winery for thirty years say "Yeah, 2011 was the most challenging year I've ever had in thirty years" you know it's a tricky vintage). The grapes are slowly but surely coming in and everyone is all a-twitter with excitement. Oh, I love this time of year! It's busy as all hell, but so much fun!
3. Thank you for evenings with The Camaraderie (most of it)! Wednesday night Shamoo, Robin, Dean, Michull and Maggie and I all met up over at The Hawthorne for the Hot Water Music show. Seeing Chuck Ragan again was always, always amazing (HWM is one of his bands) but the thrill of seeing Chris from Sundowner (he walked right past Robin and me during the show! And he was hanging out at the bar before the show! Ah!) and Tim from Rise Against (he jumped up on stage with the band! AH!) only made it sweeter. HWM didn't go on until pretty late into the evening so just hanging out on the patio along the busy street on what turned out to be a fairly freezing night was the perfect precursor to the show actually. I hadn't seen Mike and Maggie for quite a while and just being with these people makes me so happy I could bust. Though it must be said, we all missed Jared pretty bad... We'll all be happy when that kid gets home (but shoot, if he has the chance to play with fire on into October I'm all the more thankful for that!).
__
And so with that, here we go... Another week into October (?!) already and that much closer to wrapping up another harvest. And Halloween. And Autumn Feast. And then Thanksgiving. And ohmygosh, then Christmas!
Busy, busy, busy... But have I mentioned this is my favorite time of year?
Wheeeeeee!
Good for you doing so well with that fast! I usually fast during Lent, but I'll be honest, I never go straight liquid! You're hard-core. Glad there was such a good turnout for Portland!
ReplyDeletei can't wait to come up to the winery this fall/winter. its such a magical place!
ReplyDeleteIf you can make an Office reference in a post about God, you are a friend of mine.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could participate in such events....I have so much trouble fitting in here, be it with Christians or non-Christians.
I'm at the point where my husband has "coached" me (from afar) on how to make friends. Has not worked. Sad and funny at the same time, right?