State of Domestic Affairs

Wow. This month is completely getting away from me! I have 6 drafts cooking and yet no consistent posting schedule. (Good thing I have a day job, because my actual word output wouldn't amount to any sort of living.)

I am doing some writing, in the compiling/ editing of an Advent devotional for church (and no one say a word about my tendency to over-volunteer!) -- but I don't seem to have the focus for blogging. The problem is just how I am. I want my posts to come out all neat and polished, when most days the inside of my head is all discombobulated. (I just love that word!)

Since all this journal really requires is my personal documentation of the imperfect and everyday, I am commandeering myself, right now, to take stock of what's happened in November 2006 and throw some words into the gap of time.


Cute Anecdote: Miles was humming something at dinner the other night, and it turned out to be the sing-songy introduction to "Quiet Water, Still Water." (You know... "Quiet water, still water, 1...2...3. See how quiet and still you can be"?)

I asked what he was humming and the boy explained the game to us parents (because we are lab-test humans who grew in pods and were never children ourselves). "Well, you see, when the person says it, you have to stop talking AND stop moving. At the same time." Then he says -- with a shake of his small head and an earnestness words cannot contain: "It's real hard."


Requisite Moment of Neurosis: I am not resting peacefully for all the dreams, lately. They aren't bad -- just very, very strange and involved. It's like Dr. Suess for grown-ups (without the rhymes but with all the fantastical scenery) in my head lately. I had to navigate a Suessian New York City on foot... I went to an other-worldly Alaska... Some snotty lady with a furry animal around her neck told me I was going to give my child ring-worm (?!). ...Just some weird and wacky stuff.
I guess I'm OK until Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr show up in my sleep. When I go Hollywood, I'll know I have fallen over the final ledge of logic and believability....


Cultural Update: I went to a very cool social event sponsored by my Sunday School class this weekend. It was sort of like (and forgive me, please, if this sounds just condescending and all wrong...) "Meet the Muslim Night."
Representatives from four Muslim families and about 8 Christian families got together so we (the Xians) could ask questions we might have/ clear up any misconceptions we carry about the practice of Islam. This came about because my church's Women's Ministries visited one of the local mosques, and two women -- one visiting, one hosting -- befriended each other. (Also, this particular Muslim community has one very outgoing, locally prominent congregant who likes to be ecumenical and stage such get-togethers.)
Well, I really had no questions going in (yes, an appalling lack of curiosity/ burning intellectual fire/ heart for evangelism -- but I'm pretty comfortable with that). I just thought I should show up, to show some respect for these kind folk who were willing to walk into their own kind of lion's den to build a bridge between the culture they grew up in and the one they have come to live in.
Background: Not one of these folks are originally from around here. And "here" is a Bible-thumping, public-Jesus-referencing, prayer in school, Southern-Baptist dominated kind of place. I don't even notice it, so much anymore, but I'm sure it can be kinda scary for anyone who feels "other." Who KNOWS what kind of grilling they thought they were in for?!
Well, the coolest thing (as any true Jesus-follower could easily have known beforehand) was that we all got along great! We bonded over food and kids and were laughing and talking and sharing in free-flowing conversation before the end of dinner. I knew they'd be nice, but I guess they weren't sure we'd be. I'm thinking we passed some kind of tolerance test, however, as none of us tried to convert them or argue their take on Jesus as just another prophet. (Look, it seriously wasn't the venue. And to what end, I'd have to ask?)
One of the Islamic families is a young couple -- she an American citizen and he a Chinese citizen who has only been in the States a few months and is still learning the language ropes. (They communicate fine as she speaks Mandarin and they both speak Arabic. And in my little town -- crazy, huh?) Another couple are Canadian citizens (Kingston, Ontario -- I know right where it is!) who moved here from New Hampshire. Another woman was raised in Atlanta. It was just a crazy quilt of God's people... looking for some common ground.
And I guess we found it, in the commandment we hold in common, to live at peace. John 14:27, in Jesus' own words: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives do I give. Let not your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." So, an evening of greater peace with our neighbors and within ourselves... It was a nice way to start my own personal Advent.