Do not destroy the earth when you celebrate my birth.

As you can imagine from my long absence from blogging, I have a job. It often leaves me tired at the end of the day. The couple of times I have sat down to blog I have had blogger's block. It's not that I didn't have any ideas. It's just that I couldn't put it together in a manner that was half intelligible. More about that later.

Now some recycled, recycling tips for Christmas. This first appeared as an article in our church newsletter when we were at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in St. Joseph, Michigan.

In Advent and Christmas we remember God coming into our world as a human baby, and we eagerly prepare for Jesus? victorious return. These are truly good reasons for much joy and celebration.
Unfortunately the manner in which we celebrate creates a lot of garbage. Did you know that during each week of the holiday season we add one million extra tons of waste to our landfills? I would like to offer some suggestions of ways we can creatively reduce our holiday waste. This list is by no means exhaustive. If you have other ideas, I would love to hear about them.

Before Christmas
Use sturdy gift bags.
Shirt boxes with pre-printed holiday designs can be secured with curling ribbon, rather than using wrapping paper.
Cookie tins work well for small gifts (not just edibles).
Fabric with Christmas designs can be used to wrap gifts, and then re-used.
*Cut edges with pinking shears to prevent fraying
*Can be used to wrap boxes just like wrapping paper
*Can be used to wrap irregularly shaped items by putting item in the center of the
fabric, gathering the ends of the fabric at the top, and securing with a ribbon
*Can be sewn into drawstring gift bags
Use shredded or balled up newspaper instead of Styrofoam peanuts to pad items to be shipped by mail
Give gifts that require minimal wrapping, for example:
*Tickets to a play or concert
*Gift certificates to a favorite restaurant
*Coupons for babysitting
*Donation to a missionary or a charity
*A gift of time, for example a child can give an afternoon to a grandparent.
After Christmas
Save all usable gift bags, boxes, and tins to reuse next year
Used wrapping paper
*Can be put through a paper shredder and used as padding for gift bags next year
*Can be recycled into hand-made paper (www.arnoldgrummer.com)
Christmas Cards
*The fronts can be used as thank you postcards or saved for next year and used as
Christmas postcards
*Can be attached to paper shopping bags or shirt boxes, over the store?s name and
be used for next year?s gift-wrapping
*Images and words from the cards can be cut out and used in scrapbooks
Save postage stamps from cards and letters you receive. Some charities sell donated stamps to collectors overseas to raise money
Toss anything that cannot be reused into your recycling bin (as allowed by your recycling service of course). Don?t forget metal, glass, and plastic containers from the ingredients of your holiday feast!

Back when we were in the US, and I had much more storage space, I did all of the above mentioned activities. It was sort of devotional for me. I find that when my hands are busy, my mind is more alert to the things of God. I would often reflect on the theme (of my life, of this blog) that to God nothing/no one is disposable. It also served as a time to recommit myself to resisting worshiping the altar of consumerism.

Obviously, now that we are in the UK I don't have the space to keep all that stuff. I did, however, keep much of the paper that our things were packed in when they came across the pond. I have templates of Christmas shapes, so I used these as stencils to add designs to these sheets of paper. For wrapping smaller gifts, newspaper or printer paper can be transformed in a similar manner. Christmas rubber or foam stamps could also be used.

The result is fun and funky wrappings that don't cost the earth!

Happy Christmas!

Saved from the Bin--Would you give your child a stone, if she asked for a dolly bed?

"Mommy, Laura and Bitty need a bed." Laura and Bitty are Alex's dollies. We all want to give our children everything they want within reason. When we look to God as our model for parenting and all the good gifts he gives, we clearly see that he lavishly, abundantly, unselfishly, extravagantly showers us with wonderful things.

But giving abundantly is a challenge when you're wondering if you have enough money to buy the groceries for the rest of the week. It requires eyes to see what is possible. Remember the story Stone Soup? The meanest ingredients when put together make something sustaining, nourishing, life giving.

Papier mache anyone? Okay, here I go again with the cardboard and the newspaper. But, you have to admit they are versatile. Also, flowers cut out from a Laura Ashley shopping bag to add to the Shabby Chic look. Papier mache is imperfect by nature. No matter how smoothly you attach the layers of newspaper and no matter how well you sand it down, the surface will always turn out somewhat uneven. The distressed paint job covers a multitude of sins.























I have not yet glued all the pieces together. For storage sake, I plan to do that closer to Christmas. In the photo I have placed the pieces as they will be when it is glued.

As soon as I started cutting the pieces out of cardboard, Alex guessed that I was making a bed. It shocked me that she figured it out so early. "Daddy, Mommy is making a bed for Auntie Lexi's baby," was her next statement. Jason and I had a good laugh, and we didn't correct her. We had just found out a couple days earlier that our good friend, and Alex's name sake, Lexi, was in the family way. It was so interesting to see Alex's mind make all the spatial relationships. In her mind, she saw the cardboard pieces come together to make the bed. In her mind, she saw the size of the bed and knew it was for a baby. In her mind, she saw Lexi with a tummy full of baby. I am in awe of that brilliant little mind and its perfectly logical thought process.

All this made it easier for me to work on the bed. And it has made me think that perhaps as I look at things and see them as they are not yet, she is watching me, and gaining that skill as well.

I put the stone in the pot, add some water. It needs something more. How about the bones from yesterday's roast chicken. Perfect. It simmers on the hob (cook top) overnight on the lowest setting. (Don't worry we have an electric hob.) In the morning, the flat is filled with the aroma of the stock. I strain out the bones. (The stone stays in.) There are some tiny cloves of garlic in the larder. A trip to the fridge reveals a small amount of freezer burned peas, half an onion, a couple carrots and one or two leftover roast potatoes. Lovely. It's ten to six and Daddy will be home soon. What's this? A handful of pasta. Brilliant. I do believe this is the Sweet Girl's favorite meal based on how quickly she clears her bowl.

I would give my child a stone. I'd love to see what she can do with it.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness Post Script & A Couple Prayer Requests

In part of my grieving process I have looked over the card the LCHC pharmacy staff gave me before my return to the UK many times. Jose advised, "Don't make the pharmacist mad," in reference to me seeking a job as a technician in the UK. Also, my good friend, Caryn, sent me a sweet note of comfort. This made me wish I had brought my "Old Letters" box.

Some Christmases ago, my sister Rebecca (aka the divine Ms. Sometimes) made me a box to keep special letters and cards. She painted a wooden box and decoupaged a variety of stamps from around the world on it. Inside the cover was this poem:

Old Letters

I keep your letters for a rainy day;
Then take them out and read them all again.
So, reading, I forget that skies are grey,
And pathways sodden under falling rain.

They are so full of simple friendliness?
Of understanding of the things I love.
No phrase obscure or vague, to make me guess,
No deep philosophy my soul to move.

And though your eyes are ?lifted to the hills?
You still keep faith with earth, and earthly things;
Prosaic duty all your hour fills
The while you listen for the beat of wings.

You have read deeply in the book of life,
And you have added lines that I shall keep
To be a shield against the petty strife
Until such time as I shall fall asleep.

So when I would forget that skies are grey
I read your letters on a rainy day.

-Adele Jordan Tarr

Wishing I had that box with me reminded me of the "next to cleanliness box" from my 6 October post. The laundry detergent box or an old cigar box or some other box that has been saved from the bin would make a great "Old Letters" box for someone you love.

Also, a few prayer requests:

• I am still jobless. I did not get the job for which I interviewed. However, it sounds like they have another job for me. It's all a long story. Too annoying/stressful to repeat here. I have a meeting at the hospital on Monday to iron out the details. Please pray that everything gets worked out successfully.
• Sara, the pharmacy director at Lawndale, needs to start interviewing pharmacy technicians. If you've ever had to hire anyone, you know that sleeping on a bed of nails sounds like more fun. Plus, she has to find someone while she is still mourning Jose. Please pray that the right person for the job would be found and that God would comfort all the pharmacy staff.
• Violence tends to beget violence. Please pray that the violence that killed Jose would stop there. Please also pray for the city of Chicago that it would become a place of peace and healing.

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for reading my blog.

In Memory of Jose--Do not be afraid of those that can kill the body

Lawndale Christian Health Center is very close to my heart. In regards to the Pharmacy Department, I feel like a mother hen who has let the brood leave the nest. In reality, I was the one who flew the coop.

I left when Jason was called by St. Paul's Episcopal Church as their Curate (assistant minister). While I have been away, I have gained renewed love and fresh perspective for Lawndale's Pharmacy. I sometimes refer to myself as LCHC Pharmacy's head cheerleader. I have been able to work there as a temp a few times. If God brings us back to Chicago to live, I want to work there again on a permanent basis.

Jose was a pharmacy technician at Lawndale. I only had the opportunity to work with him two weeks this past summer and two weeks the summer before that. But I could tell that he was bright and was thrilled to learn that he was considering becoming a pharmacist. He was a big teddy bear of a guy with a wonderful dimple filled smile.

When I heard that Jose had been gunned down in front of his house. To say that I was shocked, is an understatement. He was such a gentle person and for him to die such a violent death was difficult to register. The night that I had heard, I had difficult sleep. The next morning, I walked around my flat like a zombie. We had plans with friends in the afternoon and evening which helped get me out of my daze.

As I thought about it more and more, I am not sad for Jose. He is in God's hands, which is the safest place in the world. The reality of it is that those who killed Jose do not have the last word on his life, God does. The death and resurrection of Jesus defeated death. And it has no power over the saints of God.

I am however sad for my brood. We have lost a dear, dear brother. And if I feel as sad as I do, I can't even imagine how those who worked with him everyday are feeling. A pharmacy is a small, intimate work space. You develop a rhythm and if someone is missing, you get off beat easily. I want to gather each of them, Sara, Esther, Alissa, Tahonda, Blanca, Luis, Adelaida, and Lyn, into my arms and tell them how much I love them. I want to tell them how proud of them I am. I want to tell them how proud I am of Jose and his work among them.

But I am on the other side of the world from them. Plus, words fail to truly capture how I feel. I long to be with them. I am now sitting in a statistically much safer city than Chicago*, but my heart longs to be in that place where Jose died and to defiantly say to evil, death, and violence, "Ha! You have lost!"

God is ushering in a kingdom.
1.Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3.And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4. he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." 5.And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6.Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7.Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
9.Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10.And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11.It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.
22. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25. Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there.
26. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
Revelation 21 (selected verses, emphasis mine)

See you there Jose!


*Jason blogged about this recently see http://gowerstreet.blogspot.com/2006/10/violence-and-identity-and-america-e.html

To find out more about Lawndale Christian Health Center visit www.lawndale.org

Saved From the Bin--Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Thou Shalt Become Less Dependent on Foreign Oil
One of the best things about living in the UK, and Cambridge specifically, is that one can live without a car. In fact, you can get to most places within Cambridge on a bicycle faster than you can driving. My friend, Luda, has a car and if we both leave to take our kids to school at the same time, Alex and I get there first. If you translate the price of petrol from liters to gallons and pounds to dollars, it ends up being about $7-8 per gallon. Even people who do have cars are much more careful about how they use them. They tend to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars. They tend to share rides with others. My friend, Kirsten, shares her trip to the grocery store with me.

There are four things, however, that are less than perfect about cycling in Cambridge:

• Tourists. There is a steep bridge over the river Cam which has quite a picturesque view. It is also the main through way to the City Center for cyclists. Tourists stand in the middle of the bridge totally oblivious to what is going on around them. And if you are coming down from the highest point of the bridge, it is very difficult to control your speed. You can ring your bell over and over again and they won't move until you are right on top of them.
• Mobiles and I-Pods. People who have one of these devises stuck to their ear(s) make for very bad cyclists.
• Helmets. In Cambridge, you have some of the most brilliant minds in the whole world going to one of the finest Universities in the world. I find it amazing that many choose not to protect their investment/livelihood with a helmet!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

The final thing is sweat. It can be the coldest day of the year, but if you are cycling you will still sweat like a pig. Not only is this uncomfortable, it makes for a bit more laundry.

This leads to our "saved from the bin" item for today. I buy my laundry detergent in tablet form and it comes in a nifty little box. I've altered this box as storage for our bicycle tools. (They used to just lay in a heap in front of this icon of Jesus.)

These boxes would also make good storage for crafty bits and bobs, gift boxes, storage for greeting cards, storage for small toys, you name it!

Saved From the Bin--Thou shalt rob thy neighbor's recycling bin

papercraft ESSENTIALS recently did an article on using recycled bits in crafting. This, of course, is a issue straight from my heart, and part of the reason I started this blog in the first place. So, I have emailed this most excellent mag and if they print my letter, perhaps many others will read the blog and join us in making all things new!

On that note, I will be doing a series of posts sharing what I have saved from the bin and examples of what I have made with these items.

Thou shalt rob thy neighbor's recycling bin
We don't get the paper. But, we live in a complex of four buildings of flats. So, when I wanted to make this magazine basket, I went dumpster diving. I got some clean newspaper from the recycling bin and a fruit box from the grocery store. I made two baskets out of newspaper. (Making the New Baskets by Jane LaFerla is a great book about basket weaving from alternative materials.) I made one slightly larger than the fruit box and one slightly smaller. I sandwiched the box between the two baskets and glued the rims of the two baskets together with PVA (Elmer's) glue. I personally really like the bare newspaper, but it could also be painted. If you want it to last, it would be best to seal it with varnish or decoupage medium.

How does your garden grow?

There is nothing like fresh pesto made in your own kitchen from basil that has just been picked from your own plants! Having given my herbs a loving home with our mates, Hannah and Tim Hupfield, before we went to the US, I needed to start my windowsill garden over again. I was looking at the herb plants in Sainsbury's when I realized, "I have pots. I have dirt. Basil roots in water. I can just buy a package of the cut stuff and get several plants for the price of one."

The only problem with rooting basil in water is that since the cuttings tend to be top heavy, it is tricky to keep the stems in the water. So, as I was filling small jars up with water, I was thinking, "I wish I had some chicken wire or something to get these stems to cooperate."

And then, "Aha!" Oranges, lemons, garlic, and some other fruit and veg often come in a mesh bag. It being my regular practice to evaluate the packaging of almost everything before sending it to its doom in the bin, I keep these mesh bags. They are generally subsequently used as "fibers" in craft projects. Here are a couple examples.













But, in this case, stretched over the mouth of a jar and secured with a rubber band we have a better way of keeping those stems in the water!

...in a foreign land

How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? Psalm 137:4

Well, it was supposed to go like this:
-we would sell our house in Michigan (by the way does anyone want to buy a house in Michigan? It's four blocks from the lake!)
-we would get student loans and forbearance on the ones we already have. -we would come back to the USA in the summers and I would work as many hours as Wal-mart and Lawndale could give me
-we would use our savings

All of these things would give us three happy years of simple living in the UK. But of course our house in Michigan has not sold and we have run our savings dry paying the mortgage. So we decided to rent the house and that when we returned from the States I would get a job in the UK. Unfortunately, I cannot work as a pharmacist without going to and paying for an additional year of University and doing a year internship. Not really practical in our situation. So I figured that I would get a regular job, at the University library, or a store or something like that.

We went back to America during the middle of June. My schedule was quite full, but we did squeeze in a few visits with family and friends. After the first day I had my pharmacy groove back. It was great! It was especially wonderful working at Lawndale. I worked hard, but I was doing the work that God has called me to do. I even had the stirrings of some vision for exploring the role of pharmacists in promoting public health.

I decided to look for a job via the web in pharmacy. I knew I would have to accept not being a pharmacist. Happily, there was an opening for a pharmacy technician position at our local hospital in Cambridge. So, I applied online. I got an email back that they were very interested in my application, but that they could not hire me as a technician until I became registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. They did have, however another position that did not require registration and perhaps they could phase me into the technician position after I became registered with the Society. The position has a fun title Senior Assistant technician Officer for Quality Assurance. But translated, it essentially means that I will keep the clean rooms where they make IVs and chemo clean and deliver IVs and chemo to the proper wards of the hospital. So, I had an interview date (yesterday) and I decided to start the process of being registered with the Society.

Unfortunately, I don't even qualify to be registered as a pharmacy technician by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Well, I do in every way except one.
"In order to apply for registration, work experience must have been undertaken in the United Kingdom under the supervision, direction or guidance of a pharmacist for a period of either
-Not less than 14 hours per week for four out of the last eight years; or
-Not less than 28 hours per week for two out of the last four years"

It is very frustrating, and I know that in the USA foreign pharmacists also have a difficult time getting licensed. Of course our governments make it difficult in order to protect the patient, and I would never suggest putting the patient at risk. But at the same time, being a pharmacist is such a part of who I am that when Jason and I have discussed living in the UK permanently, this is the deal breaker. (Well, that and the mountain of debt we have in US dollars!) How can I feel truly at home in a place where I cannot do what God has called me to do?

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself. Leviticus 19:33

I was reflecting on all this, Sunday morning as I cycled to church. It was my first Sunday back at St. Mark's since returning from the States, and I was feeling joyful. I realized that the reason I was feeling joyful was that St. Mark's is a place where I truly feel at home. It is a place where I can be myself. It is a place where I, as an alien, am treated as a citizen. And I wasn't disappointed. We were welcomed home with open arms.

Perhaps, for a little while at least, I can sing the Lord's songs in this foreign land.

Serendipity

I saw this technique in one of my favorite craft magazines, "papercraft ESSENTIALS". Basicly, you rip up pieces of paper and glue the pieces randomly and ---- Serendipity! The technique is described in full at www.createforless.com/advice/tech_serendipity_paper.asp

I was trying to think of something unique to give as gifts to some family members back in the US and frames using this technique for these pictures of the sweetest girl in the world seemed well--Serendipity!

I rescued the following items from the bin:
-paper (from the recycling bin at the library)
-cereal boxes and the like (4 thicknesses of cardboard for each part of frame, 1 thickness for "embellishments")
-bottle caps

I also used:
-decoupage finish (as glue and sealer)
-transparency film (for the "glass")

I used digi-scrap kits from the following sites to print out coordinating embellishments and papers to tear up.
www.citrusblossoms.com
www.shabbyprincess.com
www.scrapgirls.com

Welcome to my new blog!
God is constantly at work renewing the world. He looks at our broken lives and doesn't toss us away with the rubbish. He is always looking for creative ways to transform our dry bones into flesh and blood. In response to God's creative, transforming love, I want to see things the way he sees them. I want to look at things that I would normally discard in the bin and see their potential as things of beauty! When I use my creative energy this way, I am worshiping the Creator. This not only true of actual rubbish; it is also true of broken relationships, broken emotions, and broken communities.
My plan is to post various things related to recycling, crafting, simple living, coping with major depression, random wackiness and the theology thereof.
Come and worship the Creator with me!