Waiting for a Sign

In so many ways in our lives, we wait for "a sign" for action or even non-action. Guidance! Where is it?

I have RA, and my two medicines are controlling it so well that I only see my rheumatologist every two months for a check-up. The last time I saw him, I had delayed my Humira injection by three days because of a late return from a vacation.

He suggested that I might want to continue to try a longer time period in between the shots, even up to three weeks (instead of every two). For the last two injections, I have waited 2 1/2 weeks, with no ill effects.

This week I decided to try waiting for 3 weeks, which will be on Friday. I am taking it a day at a time. Four more days to see if there is a sign of swelling or pain in any of my joints.

If not, I will keep trying to go for three weeks in between shots. I like the idea of taking the least amount of medicine needed, especially with such an expensive one. It is much easier to schedule the injections with complete week intervals, rather than half-weeks--3 1/2 days added on makes it too difficult for me to keep track of!

With my doctor's guidance, I reduced the weekly intake of methotextrate in the past year from the maximum to half of that. However, after a few weeks, I discovered that I needed one more pill than that. By jockeying the dosage, I learned what works best for me. (The reduction also stopped my hair from curling which you can see here.)

I am hopeful that my physical signs/symptoms (pain-free or not) will indicate the path to follow. It worked before, so I am confident that this will happen again.

As Julian of Norwich said, "All shall be well; all shall be well; all manner of things shall be well."

Friday Five: JOY

Today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

RevPal Mindy recently shared this quote:

Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction.

Break the habit. Talk about your joys.

~Rita Schiano

What are your joys? Places? Food? Activities? Books? Season? Hobbies? Smells? Colors? To inspire you, Mindy came up with THIRTEEN things that bring her joy or make her happy. So go for it! 

~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Books! 
And reading to my granddaughter Avery is something else that brings me joy.

Avery and Jan, Christmas 2012

Avery and Jan, Christmas 2011

This picture is already two years old, but it also predicts the future because soon Avery will have a baby sister, for whom I will love to read!

2. Family
I have four adult children and a husband of almost 42 years, but there are few pictures of all of us together. With DC living in Austin, AE in Seattle, BJ in Houston, MJ in Salt Lake City, and Chuck's parents in Bellingham, WA, we rarely are all in one place these days.

I found one of three of our kids (but not DC's wife or child) and Chuck and his parents.

Friday Harbor, WA; August 2012: MJ, BJ, DC, Chuck's mom, Chuck, and Chuck's dad

3. Texting/iPhone

Getting an iPhone this year opened me to the texting world. It's a quick connection, especially when pictures are shared. When MJ received the teapot I sent her, she texted this picture to me:

MJ in her kitchen in Salt Lake City

4. Creches, which I collect.

Over the years, I've created a cache of nativity scenes. Many were given to me by members of my family. I have pictures of seven them here.

This is one Avery can play with! AND notice that Mary is holding baby Jesus!

 This picture also points to my love of the Harry Potter books, which I've read at least three times. I think of reading the series over again, but the task is too time-consuming and long-term right now.

5. Learning to play the piano!

Jan

I started taking piano lessons from a friend in August 2011 and keep on keeping on. It is a joy to play what I can, which diminishes when I don't practice.

That's true of anything, like prayer. Remember the old adage: The more you pray, the more you want to. That's how it is with practicing the piano, too.

Prayer

“Prayer is the voice of longing; 

it reaches outwards and inwards 

to unearth our ancient belonging.”

~John O'Donohue

We Build Walls

“We build walls around our hearts, around our homes, around our land, around our borders to keep out strangers, the different, the other; to protect ourselves from getting hurt or from having to share our space with others. We guard our hearts, our land, and our country with great vigilance until the very guarding obsesses us and we become so outwardly focused and defensive that we lose touch with ourselves and our humanity. In our efforts to protect and defend we become disconnected and fragmented.”

Edwina Gateley
Source: A Mystical Heart

From Inward/Outward. Subscribe here.  

Fall!

Officially, Fall or Autumn is here. That lovely time of year rarely appears in all its glory here in south Texas. Here is a lovely picture I found on Pinterest of fall in Bulgaria. I miss the leaves on trees turning yellow, orange and red.

However, we are unusually fortunate because yesterday a cold front blew through, which often occurs a month from now. Instead, we have much less humidity and cooler temperatures for today. This can be "fall" and "summer" will return tomorrow.

Clothesline of Love

Since there is a long-going drought in Texas, we have appreciated all the rainfall we've had in the past few weeks--mostly from tropical disturbances moving north. But today is the first day there is muggy, steamy sunshine, so I get to hang clothes on the clothesline again, which I love to do. Yay!

The image of hanging love out reverberates within me. That is how I feel as I handle clothes of my family. It was especially true when there were children at home, when I also had to wash clothes much more often. I am glad I can hang clothes on the line almost year-round in Texas.

Internet Changes

In two days we will have a new internet provider. We are glad and hope it will be more consistently available. I am also excited that our home (landline) phone will have free long distance to the USA and Canada, which we have never had before.

Since I am also changing my regular email address, I am asking you friends to email me before the weekend, so I can send you the new email address! This way I won't miss hearing from any of you.

Be Here Now!

 

"Peace is the result of

retraining your mind

to process life as it is,

rather than as you

think it should be."

 

-Wayne Dyer

 

With thanks to Roberta at Spiritually Directed.

Friday Five: Randomness

RevKarla brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals, which I am going to do as quickly as I can because we're leaving for Austin to visit grandbaby Avery and her parents, who just happen to be our oldest son and his wife.

1. How are you?  What’s up with you?
I am fine and am hurrying to leave with Chuck for the 4-hour drive to Austin, TX to see Avery and DC and AA. We are looking forward to this and are grateful that two college girls will stay at our house and take care of our three dogs and one cat.

The other good news is that my RA seems to settling down. My rheumatologist suggested moving to 3 weeks between shots of Humira instead of 2. I've gotten to 2 1/2 weeks with no blips, so in the future the time may grow.....

2.  Last Saturday, I went to the outlet store and stocked up on underwear for the year.  I love a bunch of new fresh underdrawers!  I also love a cabinet full of paper towels.   What silly thing makes you happy?
Cute and unusual cards! I love to go to different places, like Seattle, Portland and Austin, and find shops with unique cards. Due to my daughters AE and KA, I like to find letterpress items, too.

We loved visiting the Oblation Papers store in Portland, Oregon, which prints letterpress cards and invitations.

3.  Give a shout out to someone you love, appreciate, or want to thank!
Thank you to Martha for organizing the new RevGal blogging site!

4. Miss Kansas has the Serenity Prayer tatooed on the side of her body.  I sadly do not have a tatoo, and maybe you do, but if you were going to get a prayer tatooed on the side of your body, what would it be? 
Bless ___________, change me.

5.  Use some or all or a form of the following words in a sentence:   jello, kittens, mercy, dump-truck, tabuleh, terror, skipping, monkey, Rev. , health, and snoring.
(I'm glad you wrote "some")
The Rev. was snoring peacefully, while the kittens were skipping over the jello in the health room where the monkey was lying on the toy dump-truck.

No Internet

No Internet all day. This spurred us on to sign up with a different Internet provider. However, that won't happen until Sept. 19. I hope we will have Internet service back before then, as pecking this out on my iPhone's keyboard is not very convenient or easy.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Gap

God woke, but the nightmare

did not recede. Word by word

the tower of speech grew.

He looked at it from the air

he reclined on. One word more and

it would be on a level

with him; vocabulary

would have triumphed. He

measured the thin gap

with his mind. No, no, no,

wider than that! But the nearness

persisted. How to live with

the fact, that was the feat

now. How to take his rest

on the edge of a chasm a

word could bridge.

                              He leaned

over and looked in the dictionary

they used. There was the blank still

by his name of the same

order as the territory

between them, the verbal hunger

for the thing in itself. And the darkness

that is a god’s blood swelled

in him, and he let it

to make the sign in the space

on the page; that is in all languages

and none; that is the grammarian’s

torment and the mystery

at the cell’s core, and the equation

that will not come out, and is

the narrowness that we stare

over into the eternal

silence that is the repose of God.

~~R. S. Thomas (1913-2000)

Thomas, R. S. Poems of R. S. Thomas. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1985. 110-111.

Why I Read

Today is National Literacy Day!

Why I Read

“I read because one life isn’t enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody;
I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life;
I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I’m just beginning myself, and I wouldn’t mind a map;
I read because I have friends who don’t, and young though they are, they’re beginning to run out of material;
I read because every journey begins at the library, and it’s time for me to start packing;
I read because one of these days I’m going to get out of this town, and I’m going to go everywhere and meet everybody, and I want to be ready.”

Richard Peck, Anonymously Yours

With thanks to Diane for posting this on Facebook. It is from here. 

Choose Happiness!

I have lifted the entire post of  Joshua Becker from the blog Becoming Minimalist because it is such good advice. Let's choose one of these actions TODAY!

Consider this list of 12 Intentional Actions to Choose Happiness Today. Embrace one new action item… practice all of them… or simply use them as inspiration to discover your own.

1. Count your blessings. Happy people choose to focus on the positive aspects of life rather than the negative. They set their minds on specific reasons to be grateful. They express it when possible. And they quickly discover there is always, always, something to be grateful for.

2. Carry a smile. A smile is a wonderful beautifier. But more than that, studies indicate that making an emotion-filled face carries influence over the feelings processed by the brain. Our facial expression can influence our brain in just the same way our brains influence our face. In other words, you can actually program yourself to experience happiness by choosing to smile. Not to mention, all the pretty smiles you’ll receive in return for flashing yours is also guaranteed to increase your happiness level

3. Speak daily affirmation into your life. Affirmations are positive thoughts accompanied with affirmative beliefs and personal statements of truth. They are recited in the first person, present tense (“I am…”). Affirmations used daily can release stress, build confidence, and improve outlook. For maximum effectiveness, affirmations should be chosen carefully, be based in truth, and address current needs. Here is a list of 100 daily affirmations to help you get started.

4.Wake up on your terms. Most of us have alarm clocks programmed because of the expectations of others: a workplace, a school, or a waking child. That’s probably not going to change. But that doesn’t mean we have to lose control over our mornings in the process. Wake up just a little bit early and establish an empowering, meaningful, morning routine. Start each day on your terms. The next 23 hours will thank you for it.

5. Hold back a complaint. The next time you want to lash out in verbal complaint towards a person, a situation, or yourself, don’t. Instead, humbly keep it to yourself. You’ll likely diffuse an unhealthy, unhappy environment. But more than that, you’ll experience joy by choosing peace in a difficult situation.

6. Practice one life-improving discipline. There is happiness and fulfillment to be found in personal growth. To know that you have intentionally devoted time and energy to personal improvement is one of the most satisfying feelings you’ll ever experience. Embrace and practice at least one act of self-discipline each day. This could be exercise, budgeting, or guided-learning… whatever your life needs today to continue growing. Find it. Practice it. Celebrate it.

7. Use your strengths. Each of us have natural talents, strengths, and abilities. And when we use them effectively, we feel alive and comfortable in our skin. They help us find joy in our being and happiness in our design. So embrace your strengths and choose to operate within your giftedness each day. If you need to find this outlet outside your employment, by all means, find this outlet.

8. Accomplish one important task. Because happy people choose happiness, they take control over their lives. They don’t make decisions based on a need to pursue joy. Instead, they operate out of the satisfaction they have already chosen. They realize there are demands on their time, helpful pursuits to accomplish, and important contributions to make to the world around them. Choose one important task that you can accomplish each day. And find joy in your contribution.

9. Eat a healthy meal/snack. We are spiritual, emotional, and mental beings. We are also physical bodies. Our lives cannot be wholly separated into its parts. As a result, one aspect always influences the others. For example, our physical bodies will always have impact over our spiritual and emotional well-being. Therefore, caring for our physical well-being can have significant benefit for our emotional standing. One simple action to choose happiness today is to eat healthy foods. Your physical body will thank you… and so will your emotional well-being.

10. Treat others well. Everyone wants to be treated kindly. But more than that, deep down, we also want to treat others with the same respect that we would like given to us. Treat everyone you meet with kindness, patience, and grace. The Golden Rule is a powerful standard. It benefits the receiver. But also brings growing satisfaction in yourself as you seek to treat others as you would like to be treated.

11. Meditate. Find time alone in solitude. As our world increases in speed and noise, the ability to withdraw becomes even more essential. Studies confirm the importance and life-giving benefits of meditation. So take time to make time. And use meditation to search inward, connect spiritually, and improve your happiness today.

12. Search for benefit in your pain. This life can be difficult. Nobody escapes without pain. At some point—in some way—we all encounter it. When you do, remind yourself again that the trials may be difficult, but they will pass. And search deep to find meaning in the pain. Choose to look for the benefits that can be found in your trial. At the very least, perseverance is being built. And most likely, an ability to comfort others in their pain is also being developed.

Go today. Choose joy and be happy. That will make two of us.

From here.http://www.becomingminimalist.com/choose-happy/

Goals in Life

Friday Five: Let's Eat!

3dogmom brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals, which is now at a new site! What is somewhat interesting about being at Wordpress, some of us have different "names"--I am now "janintx."

My first ever Friday Five is dedicated to Nikki MacDonald, sister RevGal, who was hungering for an opportunity to write about Haggis. With that introduction, today’s FF is all about food!


1) Is there a food from a foreign land whose reputation led to trepidation when you had a chance to give it a try? Did you find the courage to sample it anyway? If so, were you pleasantly surprised or did you endorse the less than favorable reputation that preceded it?

 My eldest daughter AE spent three years in South Korea with the Fulbright Program after college told us about Kim Chee. Her original host family followed the tradition of cooking and fermenting Kim Chee and storing it in jars. Youngest daughter MJ and I went to visit AE and were introduced to different versions of Kim Chee at various restaurants. I tried small tastes and did not like it.
 
2) What food from your own country/culture gets a bad rap?

 From this area of the USA (Texas), there is a popular dish called "chicken fried steak." It is covered with gelatinous gray gravy and looks disgusting to me, who grew up in the north and also did not grow up eating gravy!

I was really shocked when my oldest son first ordered it at a restaurant in college. It must have been eaten frequently at A&M University in College Station. It was served at some Corps of Cadets dinner we attended with him and his Corps friends.

I think it should get a bad rap with the fried fat and other types of fat it contains.

3) Of what food are you fond that others find distasteful?

A silly sandwich that I have liked since childhood is a peanut butter, jelly, and (sharp cheese) sandwich! I still like it. Everyone in my family thinks it is weird.

4) Is there a country’s food, not native to you, that you go out of your way to eat?

This is probably a "Tex-Mex" food, not necessarily from Mexico in its form now--breakfast taquitos. We'd never heard of these until we moved to Corpus Christi, TX. In the 1980's, we couldn't find them to buy north of Corpus Christi, but larger restaurant chains such as What-a-Burger have served breakfast taquitos since the 1990's. 

Take a tortilla and fill it with eggs and anything else to go with them! Our favorite for years was from Elva's Restaurant and was called a "Destroyer"--potato and eggs, with refried beans, cheese, tomatoes, and bacon in a homemade tortilla. Here is a recipe for one that sounds good.

5) What is your guilty pleasure food?

Desserts with butter! I made three different buttery items this past week for a gathering of my book club at my house--blueberry pound cake, my mother's butter almond cake, and bran muffins. The old recipe for my mother's almond cake was the hit, and it has 3/4 lb. butter!

READ!!

Prayer

"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." 

~~Mahatma Gandhi

Have you ever felt in these ways?

 Father Ron Rolheiser re-phrased Karl Rahner's proofs for the existence of God:

 Here's a paraphrase of his argument:

• Have you ever remained silent, though you wanted to defend yourself, though you were treated unfairly?

• Have you ever forgiven, though you received no reward for it and people took it for granted?

• Have you ever obeyed, not because you had to or else there would be some unpleasantness, but simply because of some mysterious, silent, unfathomable reality inside of yourself?

• Have you ever made a sacrifice, without receiving thanks, without recognition, without even feeling satisfaction inside?

• Have you ever been absolutely lonely and, within that, had to make up your mind to do something purely for the sake of conscience, from a place beyond where you can describe, from a place where you are deeply alone, and where you know you are making a decision for which the responsibility will be yours alone, always and eternally?

• Have you ever tried to love when no wave of enthusiasm was carrying you along, where you could no longer confuse your own needs with love?

• Have you ever persevered without bitterness in doing your duty when that duty looked like death, felt like it was killing you, looked stupid to those outside, and left you helpless to not envy those who have chosen a path with more pleasure?

• Have you ever been good to someone from whom no echo of gratitude or comprehension came back and where you weren't even rewarded with the feeling that you had been good and unselfish?

If you've ever had any of these experiences, then you've experienced God and know that there's a deeper ground beneath the one on which you walk.