Life

Today I am tired. I have a sinus infection and I am also trying to catch up on sleep from a long and busy weekend working at a retreat for the women in our Church. I have been able to take a little comp time off work, but life goes on and I must return to my job and the daily activities of life (letting my dogs out, going through the mail, keeping things clean around the house, etc...)

Despite being tired, I am thinking about one important word; sustainability. Why, you may ask, am I thinking about this word? I am thinking about sustainability becuase I believe this word captures the need we all have to take care of ourselves in order to sustain our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. I believe that if we do not do things to care for ourselves in these various ways, our personal sustainability will disappear as we burn out, dry up, or just plain crash and burn from all the demands of life. How, may you further ask, do I work on sustainability? I find that I can care for myself in many ways that relate to my own personal story. For example, I love flowers. I think having a vase of flowers around my house more often would create a more pleasant living environment and help me feel better emotionally. I also love to go for a walk with my dogs. I think taking a walk can help my physical body feel healthy and give me more energy. I also love to read. I think I need to spend more time in silent reading and pondering different aspects of life. This would certainly encourage me spiritually.

I hope my random thoughts for today encourage you to pursue sustainability in your own life. I am going to leave you with a picture I took a while ago. Whenever I look at this picture, I am reminded of how life is beautiful and exciting. I also think that our lives are similar to this flower. Without water, sunlight and good soil, this flowers life would not be sustained and such a beautiful image would never exist. May we find water, sunlight and good soil to sustain our own lives and produce beautiful images for the world to see.

~Katrina~

Valentines Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. While Steven didn't go out of his way to bring me candy and flowers at work, he did take the time to let me know how much he loves me. He took me out to dinner and we just talked about our activities that day, things we were thinking about, and ways in which we both have grown over the years. Just being able to spend time with him and know that he listens to me and will share honestly with me is so encouraging. I love that Steven is my best friend!

I think Valentine's Day is a great day to remember the ways in which you are thankful for those who love you and to take the time to love others as well. Sure, candy and flowers are great, but being able to know someone well and be known by them is more important. I also took the time to send my sister Tracey an email with a little Valentine's note because I also love her very much. She has been a great friend. I am so thankful for her. Steven and Tracey's love for me has been a constant reminder of God's love. Despite my faults (which are many) and my stubborn ways, both of them have stood by my side and loved me well. I am very thankful. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I hope we can all remember how great God's love is for us - greater than candy and flowers.

Real Sex

Last night our Church sponsored a Forum on Sexuality and Intimacy lead by Dr. Lauren Winner, the author of Real Sex. First, I want to take a moment to recommend her book to those interested in learning about God's plan for sexuality. Second, for those who have been wounded by the Christian sub-culture giving young people all these pieces of advice about sex and chastity that is not only devoid of the gospel message but places real human beings in a box and tells them how to feel and think about this topic, this is a great book to begin healing and understanding sex from a Biblical world and life view.

From my own experience, I heard a lot of fear based, guilt oriented and moralistic talks growing up on purity. I was given such cheap phrases like, "True Love Waits" or "Don't give away pieces of your heart" or "You don't want to dissapoint your husband on your wedding night if you are not a virgin" which only lead me to believe that I was a big failure if I messed up or that I won't be a whole person if I am not a virgin. I also want to say that I spent the first part of my married life trying to convince myself that I wasn't doing something wrong when I had sex.

I am thankful for someone like Lauren Winner who is able to communicate the truth about sex that connects with the larger story of the gospel. Sex was created by God to be used in the proper context and it is a good gift. I am thankful that this book has helped me to think through the unhealthy messages I received growing up and gain a Biblical understanding of sex.

Let the Fahsh-uh (Father) speak!!

I've finally begun to allow myself to get excited about this new addition to our family. There suddenly seems to be all these preperations that need to be done around the house for the addition of the little one to come. We must clean well, fix little things that often get put off for months, think about decorations, all to prepare a place for this completely dependent helpless bundle of wonder and joyous disruption. I find myself looking forward to the next week's information from our pregnancy Bible...oh yeah, you might not know this yet, but we are pregnant. We don't yet know if it is a little boy or girl, yet I thought I might at least clarify this mystery a bit for you readers out there. As I look at the pictures featured in the books, I like to imagine our child in Katrina's womb. Sometimes I even sing to it or talk to it, wondering if it can hear me yet, that it might know it's father or mother's voice even before birth. I dream about what our child will look like, sound like, smell like (not the diapers mind you). Just as certain thing begins to happen just as when somone is researching a large purchase that they are excited about,they begin to see it everywhere they look (A car, a house, etc.). In the same line of thinking, I find myself noticing every parent with thier little baby or toddler walking around. It makes me smile, even to see a child crying for it's mother or father (Fahsh-uh). I long to be already there, able to communicate with, hold, comfort, and clean my little bambino when it arrives. The reason I chose these pictures this time is because our friends in the picture have just had a baby, and it has been so sweet to watch the process. The construction picture, is there to show the preparation for the way of our own child's arrival.

Art

I would like to take a moment to invite you to the 2nd annual Art Show at Central Presbyterian Church. The Theme is 'The God of Intimacy'. Opening is on Saturday, February 9th from 7 - 9pm. The picture below is one of the pieces I have entered into the show. The piece is called 'The Two Shall Become One'. For more information, please check out www.centralpres.com

Welcome

Welcome to The Dalbey Times Blog. This has been created so that our family and friends can share in our life experiences, lessons and adventures. Enjoy!