’Joice Back
Anne Lamott’s words smacked me in the head. “My pastor, Veronica, said yesterday that God constantly tells us to rejoice, but to do that, to get ’joice back, we need to have had joy before. And it’s never been needed as badly as now, when the world is hurting so badly, because joy is medicine.”…
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The Silence
For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth: … a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; … a time to keep silent, and a time to speak. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 5b, 7b I’ve been struck mute. I know you’ve noticed. I know I promised…
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Fat Tuesday Redux
A friend of mine once got me so excited about giving up something for Lent, I couldn’t wait until Ash Wednesday. At the time, I don’t think I even understood what Lent was. I’m not sure, even now, I absolutely comprehend the liturgical time of repentance. But my spirit tells me it’s important. It took…
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First Sunday of 2020
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” Matthew 26:26, nET I cannot remember the last time I had the privelege to be in church on the first Sunday of the year. The privelege to take communion…
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{Re}plete
Replete, from the Latin verb plēre, means “to fill.” Because we know that the Latin prefix “re” means back or again, it makes sense that replete would mean “to fill again.” But it doesn’t. According to Merriam-Webster: “Replete is the synonym of choice when fullness is accompanied by a sense of satiety.” It’s the perfect word…
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Penultimate (or {Re}plete minus 1)
There’s no again here. That’s right, no again. I haven’t been here before. For 364 days, agains have come to me sometimes by magic. Sometimes when I thought they wouldn’t. Sometimes when I thought I was making them up. (Seriously, retoast?) They’ve taken me deep. They’ve left me eager to learn more. They’ve taken me…
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{Re}direct
Chasing agains has been a little like trying to find the end of a rainbow. About the time I think I’ve chased them all and I’m about to find the actual pot of gold, the rainbow either disappears or seems further away. I’ve come to the conclusion, that agains are part of the human condition.…
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{Re}question
Basically it means to question again. Last night, I finished a book that had been on my reading list for a while. It is “Wait, What? And Life’s Other Essential Questions,” by James E. Ryan. Ryan presents five essential questions that helped him get through life. I was inspired by them. I was especially inspired…
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{Re}flection
Reflection is a thought, idea, or opinion formed or a remark made as a result of meditation. That’s what I’ve been doing and will be doing — meditating on this blog to form an opinion or idea about what my next steps will be. I turned to my statistics. I found it interesting that the…
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{Re}joice
It’s here. Christmas Day. The day for which Advent expectantly hopes is fulfilled. For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Wonderful Adviser, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 6:9, NET Let there be rejoicing and gladness and hope and…
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{Re}demption
The story of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, was nearly my undoing during the Wine, Women, and Jesus bible study. (To learn more about that go to The Marcella Project by Dr. Jackie Roese.) As I studied Ruth, I realized more and more how God provided for Naomi. And how the story of Ruth is…
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It’s the Sunday before Christmas. We spent this weekend with our family in Oklahoma. We weren’t expecting Keck to have two days off only Christmas day. As we look forward to some time just the two of us, we look back on this weekend with our family and know that these people are dear to…
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Tradition: An Again That Doesn’t Start With {Re}
Tradition nearly by definition is doing something again. It’s a continuity of practice, celebration, or ritual. It can be religious or secular, familial or communal. It’s what we do year after year to celebrate the Christmastide. Some families open gifts on Christmas Eve. Others wait for Santa’s delivery and are awaken early by curious, excited…
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{Re}wrap
Tonight I got the joy of wrapping a a few gifts. But this year, I want to rewrap how we do Christmas. I want to know my family better and the distance between us makes it a little more complicated.I’ve rewrapped it a bit and will be giving the gift of quality time and togetherness.…
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{Re}scue
It seems strange that a harlot would rescue Israelite scouts. That the brazen woman’s outlandish save secured her a place in the lineage of the King of Kings is remarkable. A few years ago, I read this book called, Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar. A fictional account of the story of Rahab and…
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{Re}bake
I’m sitting her trying to decide whether I want to bake another batch of pecan pie muffins now or wait until tomorrow. But tomorrow night the gifts need to get wrapped. I’ve already back one batch of pecan pie muffins but I’m thinking of adding some cocoa powder for a chocolate option. To keep me…
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{Re}blame
Reblame means when you place blame on someone or something over and over, as if it will alleviate the problem. Blaming and shaming is something we’ve done to sexual abuse victims over and over again. In this day and age with the #MeToo movement, I find it striking that a sexually assaulted and harrassed woman…
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{Re}sleep
Urban Dictionary saves me again. I’m sitting here tonight dozing off and on again. This morning I tried to resleep after Keck got up and turned up the heater. Resleep means that you toss and turn and get no quality sleep following being awoken before the alarm goes off. Now I’ve been presleeping in front…
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Rest. It’s what we need following our #epicSaturdays. My work colleagues were teasing me about my Saturday agendas. Last weekend, it was Jane Austen’s birthday celebration, followed by a Congo Restoration pop up, three-layer cake baking and then a Christmas party. This weekend was we went to Davis Street Coffee for breakfast, the Dallas Farmers…
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{Re}aspire
This week Keck had an in office procedure on his big toe. He’s fine and it’s healing nicely, but the whole thing reminded me of my friend Eunice. Once Eunice repeatedly asked our Sunday School class to pray for her toe. She said it was healing after she had surgery. Concerned, I ask her when…
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{Re}convey
I was looking for the right word for something that happened yesterday. I’m still not sure I’ve found it in this one. And, I’m not even sure if it’s an again. It may be a new thing. Reconvey means to impart or transfer back to a previous position or owner. I suppose that’s what happened…
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{Re}tirement
Keck and I joke that retired means tired again. Retirement actually means “the withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from active working life.” I have two friends who are retiring this month. They’re looking into 2020 with a whole new outlook. No more 9 to 5, late nights, weekends, or work-related travel. Most of…
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{Re}petition
Repetition is basically repeating. But the root word petition means to make a request. In my mind, then, repetition could mean to request again. As I think about that on this eleventh day of Readvent, I’m drawn to the idea of praying in color. It’s an idea my friend Kay introduced me to many years…
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{Re}pizza
Yeah, I thought it was a fake word until Google and Urban Dictionary. It means what you think it means: to have a successive pizza. Or, to have pizza again. Which is what we did tonight. We ordered pizza. Not sure why except that Keck wasn’t feeling so well and he wanted to have comfort…
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{Re}sing
Resing is actually a word. It means to sing again or anew. As we celebrate readvent, one of the things we can do is resing the songs of the season. Carols are mostly sung in churches now, but there was a time when singing door-to-door was a popular experience. It’s said to have originated in…
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{Re}decorate
I cannot seem to force myself to do it any earlier than December 24. Despite the numerous articles and other posts that make me think that people who decorate for Christmas early are really happier, I cannot help but feel like it’s too much too soon. My trees have just now dumped all their leaves…
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{Re}ctify
Rectify means to make right. As we look at the lineage of Jesus during this season of Readvent, the story of Tamar is a striking one. She ends up in the lineage of Jesus because she rectifies something. She makes it right. Even if we think it was a long way around. Most Christians think…
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TotallyKris 