Second Sunday of Advent

Yipes! Here we are at the second Sunday of Advent already! Last Sunday was spent in travel, returning home from a Thanksgiving visit with Mr. T's parents. I had a wonderful time.

I love this time of year. The mystery that's at the heart of faith, of our ties to ancient times, places, people and God. How we can wax scientific but never fully explain creation. How God could dwell among us. The mystery of life and blood. The mystery of this galaxy spinning inside this universe for billions of years.



The images whirl in my head like the cosmos. I love to look at photos of stars and the Milky Way and nebulae and comets. And to look at the seas and birds at flight.

It's all part of that mystery.

I expect to understand more when I come face to face with my creator.

My amazing life, Part Deux

Here's what's been going on with me: The story of my amazing life, part two.

I put in my application to pursue a vocation as priest last fall, if you will remember. The bishop called me in for an interview, and didn't give me much hope. He said he was "alarmed" by someone of my age pursuing a vocation. Even if I were to get approved and go to seminary, I'd graduate much in debt and with no job for me in this diocese.

After hearing the stories of the process and the grilling by the commission on ministry to weed out anyone who might be considered even slightly liberal, and a look at the names of committee members, I didn't feel there was any hope - even if the bishop gave his ok to pursue the application.

At the same time, Mr. T. and I were moving toward marriage. He certainly wouldn't want to relocate to North Dakota or someplace up north where they might take as a priest a middle-aged old woman suspected of being friendly to gays. Mr. T is a lawyer, and has established his practice here. I wouldn't ask him to move cross-country and get licensed there, when he is very happy right here.

So, I dropped out of the process.

In September, he formally posed the question, and I accepted. We'll get hitched in March!

Announcing our engagement on the courthouse steps




I'm so greatly blessed. Who'd have thought I'd find someone to love and love me back? Someone I can trust and depend on, too. But I did.

Next revelation

I'm going to (gulp) leave the Episcopal Church. Mr. T goes to the local Presbyterian Church. Instead of driving across the county, I'm going to transfer to the Presby church in January.

It will be nice going to a church close to home and work, where I can be there in five or 10 minutes. I've been driving cross-county for going on eight years — 45 minutes each way just to attend a half-hour meeting. I've grown tired of the journey, and tired of going to church alone. That's the last place I have been going alone, because Mr. T and I go everywhere together.

I suppose the fact that I've been going so far attend an Episcopal Church, when there are three in my area I don't want to attend, says I don't really belong in this diocese.

Still, I will miss my church home, and the many wonderful people there who surrounded me with love and support when my brother, then my mother, died. And where the vestry gave 100 percent support to my application for the process.

But, I've been to the Presbyterian church with Mr. T a few times, and it is a lovely church. I think I will like it there.

So here I am now, at the home of Mr. T's parents in North Florida, having the best Thanksgiving of my adult life. They and the whole family have welcomed me with open arms, and they're great people. They love parties, too.

That's what we did for Thanksgiving yesterday — went over the line into Alabama, to the farm of some old family friends. About 30 people were there, for a big covered-dish dinner, walking the farm, porch-sitting, feeding the chickens, guitar-playing and just enjoying.

Mr. T's family is big and social. I like that.

Today, we're just hanging around the house. A cold font is coming through, and it feels like Thanksgiving weather.

Thank you, Lord. You have been so good to me.

Hello I love you

It's been a long, long time since I've posted, and I have not forgotten you, my friends. Much has happened and changed in my life. I will post soon and tell you about it.

Weather or not

UPDATE SATURDAY, JAN. 23 — They say, if you don't like the weather in Florida, just wait 10 minutes. It's true. We're having some glorious weather with highs near 80 the past couple of days. Yes, that's the ticket.

Getting ready to go to an outdoor fundraiser food-fest. Catch ya later!

POSTED EARLIER — Here we are into the middle of January!

I went away for Christmas, for the first time in many years. I spent the holiday in North Florida, with Mr. T and his parents. It was a lovely Christmas.

We went to a Christmas Eve service in a little Methodist church. A cold front was moving through, and it poured down rain while we were in the service. Lightning illuminated the stained-glass windows. It made it feel even cozier inside.

Most of the New Year has been devoted to fighting the cold - we had almost two weeks straight of freezing nights. Now, lest you Yankees laugh at the idea of a panic over a low 27 degrees, we're just not meant for it here. It kills the valuable ferns and citrus trees.

I'm on a well and have to worry about the water pipes freezing up. Some of the pipes run aboveground to the water softener. I was out at midnight turning the hose to dribble mode to keep the pipes open. Sigh.

We're just not used to freezes. But I repeat myself.