It's Alive!

Soon after we arrived in Utah we went to an outdoor festival with local artists, food and music. My family has a penchant for hand made one-of-a-kind mugs. You know when a mug is right for you, it fits your hand perfectly and feels just right. I love the idea that it is made from the dirt of the earth, just like us. We made our way over to the potter's stand and I found a perfect cup for me. 

After I purchased my lovely cup the potter and his wife offered me some sour dough starter that has been alive in their family since 1891! I made bread with it a couple of times and then parked it in the fridge. Life got busy and I ignored my poor starter for a couple of months. Last night I decided to take a peek at it. Eek! It was not a pretty sight. There was a pool of grey liquid on top that smelled of strong alcohol. I poured off the liquid and fed it with flour and goat milk in the hope that it may come back to life. It did! I left it to feed overnight and in the morning it was beautiful, active and sweet smelling once again. 

I proceeded to make some pretty tasty sourdough biscuits with it. (That intensely purple stuff is wild blueberry jam I made a few days ago.) I am always amazed at the transformative quality of microbes. Keep feeding the good guys and starve out the bad guys. 

God created our world (and our bodies) to renew itself. It will, if we give it what it needs.  When we're in need of even greater transformation, that same God can give us a turn on his potter's wheel. He can take a rancid old thing and build it back up to glorious life again.


1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6He said, "Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 
Jeremiah 18:1-6

Why we left New York

Leaving NY was not an easy choice. My husband and I were both born in NYC, we met at The School of Visual Arts on 23rd St. The city was our playground and source of inspiration. And then we grew up. Our priorities changed, we felt closed in, we needed room to breath. We moved to a suburb and became commuters and had two daughters.

As the girls grew we found ourselves needing more nature around us. My interests shifted from concerts and restaurants to mushroom hunting and knitting. My husband wanted more time with us, more time in the woods, but commuting to Times Square everyday left him little time for either. Commuting two hours each way is soul draining. And once he got there he had to fight the crowds of tourists and fake Elmos just to get into his building. After 19 years, he had enough! 

Our girls, now 15 and 19 were feeling it too. We all desperately needed a change, we had become stagnant both creatively and spiritually. It was either make a major change or continue to do the same thing day in and day out, which was killing us. 

My husband quit his job after 19 years as an Illustrator/Art Director at Nickelodeon and we told everyone that we loved that we were leaving. It was no easy task. Some understood, some felt abandoned. We packed up two PODS and drove across the country with two teens, two snakes and one guinea pig. Off to find adventure and seek our fortune!

So, where are we? Utah! We love it, we feel peaceful, at home and free. We have been here for two months and have no regrets. We have no idea what lies ahead, but we know that God has directed our path and He will continue to do so. 

Now that we are settled, I am free to devote more time to blogging this new adventure as it unfolds. 

I hope you are finding wonder and joy in unexpected places. Don’t be afraid of change, life is too short. 

MerRy ChRistMas

I hope this day finds you all well. Happy, healthy and looking forward to the new year and all it has to offer. We experienced a beautiful Christmas snowfall today. It was so peaceful and still afterward. 

While opening our presents our power and wifi went out. I could really "hear" the quiet. No humming fridge, no clanging radiators, no Christmas tunes, no tree lights.  It didn't matter much to us. We were happy together, opening gifts, chatting and telling each other "This is the best Christmas ever!". We say that every year, and every year we mean it. 

I found a new focus today that I will carry into 2018. I am going sink into the stillness of winter and listen. I will listen to God most importantly, to my husband, to my children, to my friends and to the birds.  I will listen without interrupting, without trying to fix it, without thinking of all the other things I "should" be doing instead of listening. 

I will be still.

Wishing you all 

A Merry Peaceful Christmas. 

Cambodia and Me

I am back! Back to blogging. Back from Cambodia. I went to Cambodia this summer with a team from my church who also happen to be some of my closest and dearest friends. We brought 900 lbs of medicines, hygiene items, baby clothes and jewelry making supplies. I was especially excited to visit my friend Holly who I have mentioned before. She runs a home for vulnerable young women in Phnom Penh called ‘The House of Refuge’. 

The rehabilitated girls at Refuge make jewelry to raise funds to live without ever having to return to their old lives which usually involved sex trafficking. Unfortunately it is the norm for the poor people to sell their young daughters to pay off family debt. Holly rescues girls from different places, but one way is street outreaches. This is when you go out at night to the red light areas, speak to the girls, and offer them a new life.

Much prostitution centers around the temples, such as this one. We split up to cover more ground, each of us had a Khmer (Cambodian) girl from Refuge to translate. The girls who are rescued are so brave and eager to go out to the brothels and streets to help others. One girl did come home with us that night, which was beautiful. My heart broke though for the countless girls who didn’t.

My favorite place has got to be the province of Kampong Cham. I fell in love with the place and the people. They are living in a kind of poverty that we don’t know here in the US. This is a small “village” that is actually the dump. The garbage trucks dump the trash, the people here sort it and the trucks pick it up another day and pay them a pittance.

Such Beautiful children! Dirty and scarred from playing in the trash, but ever eager to flash you a playful smile. They are malnourished and are in great need of clean water and medicine. We hooked up with a local church that makes weekly visits to bring food and supplies. For these people the church is their lifeline.

This beautiful woman was left in the dump by her children. She lived through the Khmer Rouge. I asked her how she survived, I know they killed everyone who had a defect and she is blind. She says they spared her because she could cook! Everywhere we went we heard amazing stories like this. I so badly wanted to take her home, take care of her, and hear all of her stories. 

We got the word out that we would be having a medical outreach at the church near the dump. Many people came, for 6 hours we nonstop served the people. I was helping out my friend Jodi who is a chiropractor, she told me where to rub, massage or tap. She had 5 tables set up with patients and a long line out the door! It was hot and I should have been exhausted, but it wasn’t that bad. Once you get a patient you just want to do anything to help. Many people walked away who hadn’t walked in years! Crooked people stood and walked! 

Jodi said never in her practice would one treatment cause results like that. It was all God. We prayed with and for all the people we treated. Many people renounced Buddhism and walked out with Jesus after witnessing his power. Truly amazing!

We were able to get into a prison and a hospital. The Aids Ward at the hospital was my most horrible memory, it just makes you feel so helpless. I didn’t take any pictures because I think it wrong. We asked them if they wanted prayer, that we could give them. 

At the prison we had to leave everything electronic at the gate, all phones, cameras. Pictures are a no-no. They offered the prisoners the choice to come talk to us, sing with us and study the bible. We also brought gift bags of hygiene products.

It was all emotionally and physically draining, but great! I definitely want to go back and stay longer. I continue to support my friends who are full time missionaries with encouragement and finances. They are doing amazing, life changing work and it is not easy!

Yes, it is very hot and humid and it floods… There are bugs. I even ate some. (Yep)

But, Cambodia is one great adventure that I highly recommend. You will overlook the uncomfortable parts because the people will touch your heart and hopefully you will be able to touch theirs. 

My daughter's Cambodian Adventure HERE

a fighter's hat

About this time last year I posted The Prayer Hat, about my dear friend and her battle with cancer. She was losing her gorgeous hair and I made her what I consider a gentle, healing hat. It was slouchy, soft and the color reminded me of a dull cloud.

A year has passed since that hat. More operations, more chemo, more battling. More Prayer. When I love someone and feel helpless to fix their pain, I pray. I pray to God for their healing and I pray for an idea of something that I can do to ease that pain or sadness. For me the answer usually comes in the form of an image of something I can make for the person. Whether it's a doll, a shawl, a meal, or a hat. Praying through the entire process of creation is such a good way to pray. You not only devote that time with your head and your heart, but you also dedicate your hands to the task. 

This new hat is a strong, non apologetic screaming red. A fighter's hat.

If you can, please say a prayer for healing. You don't need to know her name. Just call her the beautiful red hat mommy. God knows who you're  talking about.

Christmas and a lady

Isn't this rainbow tree beautiful? Such a good idea, and it looks much more amazing in real life. That lady peeking around is pretty amazing too. That's my Aunt Millie. She came to spend a couple of weeks with me and my family. I always liked her, but after spending so much time with her we found that we are kindred spirits.We stayed up each night talking and she shared many stories about her life with me. 

Like how she came to NYC from Puerto Rico as a child and how she met her husband at a dance in Brooklyn. It was just like a scene from West Side Story, he is Italian and even though they were married her father in law never knew that she was Puerto Rican! He assumed she was also Italian and the family kept the truth from him because "it would kill him". That's just one of the crazy things that I never knew. 

I also found out that Aunt Millie can do anything. She wanted a koi pond. So she built one, with a fountain. She can fix your ceiling fan or your toilet. She is an accomplished seamstress, cook, gardener and has a knack for taking in and nursing small hurt animals. She's had every type of rodent, fish, bird and cat. She once turned her son's closet into a coop for a broken pigeon, she housed an abandoned young hedgehog, she saved a baby squirrel and raised it to maturity. She is sweet, humble and always eager to give.

My girls are as smitten as I am with Aunt Millie. We knew it was a good sign when we picked her up at the train station and she had her guinea pig (Piggy-Woo) with her. She is the first person ever to see my girl's taxidermy and ask for a lesson. So, my daughter taught Aunt Millie how to skin and mount a mouse. She got a real kick out of it.  She told us, "See, you're never too old to learn something new!".

Millie is my Mom's sister so I've "known" her all my life, but I really have never known her until now. It's a shame that it took us so long, but I am thankful that we've connected and now my girls have her wonderful influence in their lives. 

This Christmas I found out that there are riches hidden right under our noses. The people in our lives are the greatest gifts we will ever be given, starting with Jesus Christ himself. 

Thank God for the people in your life and ask him to to deepen your love for them. Be deliberate about seeking out that hidden treasure that may be right under your nose.

M e r r y   C h r i s t m a s   &  G o d  B l e s s  Y o u   &  Y o u r s

What is Holy?

I am reading Hallowed Be This  House by Thomas Howard. I am enjoying it so much, I want to share it with you... 

“And as is true of any holy place, this one has for its activity the marking and celebrating of what is true and the keeping alive of the vision of what is true; namely, that is holy. This is done by offering things up in acts of consecration and praise.

This is what lifts those things up from the heap of mere ordinariness and makes them extraordinary (holy). 

They are ordinary things, of course, like eating and drinking and working and playing and bread and wine; but it is the ordinary stuff lifted up which is the holy. Holy things for the Christian and the Jew in any case, aren’t some remote category of things- mumbo jumbos, arcane regalia, or basalt meteorites from the sky. Holy things are ordinary things perceived in their true light, that is, as bearers of the divine mysteries and glory to us.

Looked at this way, eating becomes eucharistic, and working becomes the opus dei, and loving becomes an image of the City of God. It is our task in this shrine to take these ordinary things and, by lifting them up in oblation to God where we are set free to live in the splendor where eating and drinking and working and playing are known for what they really are forms of perpetual worship and therefore bliss.”

Baby Owls and a Green Jacket

A couple of weeks ago my 11yo daughter began making plans. Those plans included a friend sleeping over, bike riding and a picnic. A REAL picnic. "Like in books. Not just taking food out of a bag", she told me. Her "real" picnic involved a wicker basket filled with specific foods and most important...no plastic containers.

Last week the sleepover-picnic day arrived and it SNOWED. Just a bit, but enough to put a damper on the idea of outdoor dining. "I defy you snow! We will picnic!", I roared. The kids laughed and we proceeded with our plans.

I made and packed the required foods: tea sandwiches with tomato butter, freshly baked buns, hot dog octopuses, strawberry lemonade, hot tea, popcorn, and chocolate candy. While the octopi were frying I went to put the bike rack on the car.

It started raining. 
My hands were wet and cold, the bike rack kept slipping. I stomped back into the house..."I defy you rain! We will have our picnic" Now the kids were more skeptical. With hard rain coming down and full wicker basket in tow, we were on our way.

 I had heard there was a mama Great Horned Owl with three babies in a park near us. We headed down there.  My 15yo daughter optimistically said that we could eat under the pavilion if it was still raining. She was wearing a jacket of mine. Green wool, military style, a little too big for her. She went on to say that she wants a jacket styled like mine, but for summer.

"I want a green light weight jacket with pockets for summer, but my size."

When we pulled into the park it was obvious where those owls were. People were congregating around two trees with very large cameras. They pointed out the owls to us, speaking in excited yet hushed tones. The mama had her eyes on us, you could feel it. She was majestic, the babies were fluffy and adorable. Everyone seemed to feel this was a very special thing indeed.

We had our picnic while the sky alternated between cold drizzle and sunshine. All was well until the violent wind and hail began. By the time I packed everything up the hail had stopped and the kids were walking down the beach looking for treasure. 

I followed a few paces behind them until I came upon this cross. As I stood there looking at it, listening to the sound of the waves it started to rain again.  
I thought, "It rains on the just and the unjust". 
 Life giving rain. We are all dead without it.  

And then I laughed at myself for "defying" the rain! I knew in that moment that Jesus completely understood the silliness of me, and I knew that he would continue to shower me with his life forever. World without end. 

I looked at the people standing in the rain under the owl tree. Gathered to get a glimpse of...what? Is it a couple of birds in a tree that gives us that instant communion with each other? The childlike eyes filled with wonder? The hushed reverent tone of our speech? On the surface maybe.  We are all grasping after new life. Life we know we don't deserve. 
Communion with our Creator. 
Creation from Nothing.

Eventually the children decided it was time to go home. As we made our way back to the car they spied a playground and started pleading for more time. My teen continued on to the car, she was eager to categorize her beach findings and write in her journal. I agreed to some playground time for the other two. I told them I would sit on a bench and knit until the rain became too much.

As I approached the bench I could see something green and crumpled laying on it. 

"A green light weight jacket with pockets for summer, but her size!"

YES, there it was! I held it up...green, pockets, shoulder tabs. I read and reread the tag... J Crew, too small for me, just her size!

 I sat there in the rain knitting with the green jacket beside me. I couldn't wait to show my lilly of the field her new jacket.

Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?

prayer hat

A good friend of mine is fighting an aggressive cancer. A couple of weeks ago she was telling me how she was going to start very strong chemo and her hair was most likely going to fall out. In the two decades that I have known her I have always been struck by two things when she walks into a room: her long-legged height and her thick long brown hair. When she told me about her hair I tried to not let my face react the way my heart felt. I know that in the grand scheme of things hair does not matter. But, it is the needle on the haystack of a series of already unbearable things.

As soon as she said she would lose her hair this exact hat popped into my mind. The style, the color, the fit. It was all there. I knew I had to make it. Four days later I was sending it off to her. It also happened to be her birthday. 

She called me yesterday. She has been feeling lousy from the chemo and yes, she did lose her hair. She loves the hat, it's the hat she has been looking for. She found one on etsy but it wasn't right. She said she never takes if off because her wig looks bad without it. I feel like this hat was a gift from God to my friend. I just had to follow a path that was already laid. 

I  prayed for healing through every stitch I knit. 

Would you please say a prayer for my friend? 

Honoring Christmas

As a  Christian I believe and keep the true meaning of Christmas- Jesus. I also completely enjoy the traditional trappings of Christmastime. I  revel in this time of year. The world celebrates, they have parties, hang lights, decorate trees and strive to spend more time with they ones they love. Some may even stumble into a church. Their actions may not convey their beliefs but they are still reminders of the birth of Jesus and his blessings which are poured on us all whether we choose to  believe in him or not.

 I trimmed the tree. (happy to have my new Moomin House  ormanent)

I decked the halls, the mantle and yes...even the skulls for Christmas.

 I made little tags while fondly thinking of the people who will receive them.

I baked cookies with my girls. Yes! More Moomin.

And a gingerbread house for them to decorate.

We even had fun celebrating this one's Christmastime birthday (two years old) with veggies and a new hairstyle.

Sure I have fun with holidays and seasons, but I never forget who it is that gave us the seasons, the animals, the beauty of this earth and then even his own life.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~Charles Dickens

hAppY THAnKSgIVINg !

I am thankful to God every single day. For his blessings, his presence, his communion with me. I can't express my thankfulness enough for miracles and for supernatural healings he has allowed me. He has proven his love for me in countless ways, how can I say "Thanks"? 

My daughter raced outside this morning because it was snowing. This photo captures her unbridled joy. She raised her face and hands to the falling snow.  I don't have the words to say how thankful I am. But this image says it.

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with joy and wonder. 

Easter

Through all the fogs through

all earth's wintry skies

I scent the spring, I feel

the eternal air

Warm soft & dewy, filled with

flowery eyes

And gentle murmuring motions

everywhere

Of life in bird & tree & brook

and moss-

Thy breath wakes beauty, faith &

bliss & prayer

And strength to hang with nails

upon Thy Cross.

-Lilias Trotter (from A Passion for the Impossible)

*the photo: We were at The NY Botanical Garden. My daughter inched closer and closer to a little brown rabbit who just stood there for the longest time nibbling on a plant. He seemed oblivious to us. He was straight out of a Beatrix Potter story, all that was missing was his little blue jacket.

Happy 2014!

Wishing you 

 more

LIFE

more

LOVE

more 

FREEDOM

more

JOY

Happy 2014!

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  -Jesus  (John 10:10)

Adventures of an Elf

Yes, I know it has been quite a long time since my last blog post. I have been rather preoccupied with "real" life. Life is interesting, life is unpredictable. Life gets in the way of  blogging, blogging will never get in the way of  my life. There is so much to do, to see, to try. Sometimes I admit...I just forget to blog. The longer I stay away, the harder it is to come back. Today I'd like to recap a little of the past month while the memories are fresh. It has been a very exciting and fun time.

My daughter has been writing a story about a dark elf/Drow who because of complicated circumstances is being raised by her wood elf grandfather. This week she finally gathered all the necessary pieces to dress up as her elf counterpart. The autumn colors made for a perfect elf walk and photoshoot. It seems like only yesterday that she was a tiny girl devising a way to attach hair to her Frodo feet. She insisted on going to church that way, barefoot in very cold weather. We compromised with flip flops. She was born with a wonderful, brave, adventurous spirit and many times I have had to look away and just let her do things that worried me rather than crush her spirit.

 A year ago she began earnestly asking if I would let her go on a mission trip to Cambodia.  My husband had been to Cambodia in 2011. He met some amazing people there whom we have become very close with. They run a church and orphanage in the city of Phnom Phen called Water of Life and they are doing miraculous things in their community. 

When my husband first went it was scary to think about the strange and dangerous things he was doing. Twenty-six hours of travel each way, oppressive weather, strange food, anything goes traffic, trips into the jungle and dangerous slums. Our friend Holly is a missionary who runs a home for vulnerable woman and girls called House of Refuge. Sometimes girls come to her for help, sometimes she goes out and finds them. Holly took my husband to a horrible building used for human trafficking where she and her girls frequently go to talk to girls and offer them a way out. The people are so poor that many of these girls have been sold by their own families.  My husband was horrified at the misery and filth of the place. One of the girls they spoke with that very day did come to live with Holly and her girls.

 Knowing these things and then hearing my 13 year old daughter tell me how much she wanted to go of course made me anxious!  My little girl! On the other side of the world!

 She started having dreams that she was going to Cambodia, that she was there with Holly.  In my gut I knew then that she would go.  If God was setting this up for her, then she would go. How could I keep her from something that meant so much to her? To hold her back might even kill the fire in her forever.

 My husband was eager to go back to Cambodia and reconnect with the friends he had made. When a group from church planned another trip he took my daughter with them.   The children there need money for food, medicine and vitamins. But they also need mentors, adults that they trust who can guide them and give them hope for a better life. We stay connected with them through the internet and are hoping to arrange more visits going both ways.

Our team ended up at three different orphanages. My daughter taught jewelry making to the older girls while another woman did a craft with the little ones.  They were long, hard, hot days but she did a great job. That's her in the purple shirt. Dara, the boy in blue translated for her.

Only after they came home did I hear about the crazy stuff.  How they had to stay at the Water of Life orphanage instead of the hotel one night because of terror threats against Americans. How their tuk-tuk got stuck in the mud and almost tipped over. How they were threatened with bodily harm and spiritual curses when they tried to help a young street hustler. How my adventuring elf went for a joy ride on the back of Holly's motor bike. She said it was like Indiana Jones. "We drove through a crazy market that had huge pieces of meat hanging from hooks and chickens were running out of our way!" On their way home they got caught in a flash flood. The water was up to their thighs so the moto's engine flooded. They had to push/carry the moto for two miles. When she came home I unpacked her boots, they were soaking wet and had mold growing over them.

When people ask my daughter what her favorite part of the trip was she always says,

 "THE FLOOD!"

Medicine Plants

I have been using herbal medicines/supplements for most of my life. My late Stepmother was of the Wiccan persuasion and she used herbs all the time and had lots of books on the subject, which I devoured. I would accompany her to many interesting shops to find the herbs she needed. She used natural beauty and hygiene concoctions way before it was trendy. As an adult I became a Christian and left much of the Wiccan ways behind, but my interest in herbs and healing continues to grow. Healing plants convince me even more that we have a merciful Creator who has provided these things for our good. I also believe that there are many plants/minerals/bugs/sea creatures that have healing properties that we haven't discovered yet. I think it will be nice to share some of my findings on this blog for those  who are also interested in this subject.

You know how the bottles of some pain pills have that warning on the back: "May cause severe stomach bleeding in some people." I'm one of those people. So, for occasional headaches I use other things. The beginning stage of my ginko biloba tincture is pictured above.  I use that or some white willow bark for headaches. White willow bark is what aspirin is made of, so if you can't take aspirin don't try it.

Here is my Plantain/Lavender Healing Salve. Plantain (not the banana kind!) is great for all skin disorders from scrapes, burns, insect bites, plant irritants to simple dry skin. I put in lavender for it's antibacterial and antiviral properties. If I was only allowed two plants for healing I would pick garlic and plantain. It's that good. Once when my daughter was tiny she got badly stung from nettles all over her legs. She was crying, the welts were starting to rise. I said, hoping to distract her, "God always makes a way out for us. If there is a bad thing, he will give us something to fix it. Let's look for something." I was secretly praying there would be something and quick! As soon as my little speech was over, there it was! One single plantain in a field of nettles, just for us. I chewed it up and spread it on her legs. She felt immediate relief. After twenty minutes the welts were gone. 

See that big jar of what looks like black stuff? It's actually very, very dark green. It's  the extracted plantain in cold press olive oil. It is so good for my skin I have been slathering it on my whole body every day since I first started making it about 6 years ago. It's also the only moisturizer I use on my face since I tried it.

One day I went outside and found my daughter on the patio writing in her journal. Then I noticed her toe. I asked what it was all about. She had scraped her toe and grabbed some plantain to use like a band-aid. I laughed, but was really happy that these things are so normal to her. I want my children to learn as much as they can about taking care of themselves and others. I am in no means against drugs when they are needed. If fact when my daughter was small and in the hospital with a bad burn I was the nurse's worse nightmare if they were so much as 30 seconds late with her morphine! 

 Herbal medicine is wonderful, it helps your body do what it was made to do, regenerate and heal. But if you are not regularly eating life giving foods your body won't be strong and ready to fight when it needs to. As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." Everything you do works together when it comes to your health. 

I did not give instructions since a simple online search will give you more than enough information on making tinctures and salves. If you do have a question regarding this post, just pop it into the comments.

The last bit of the Bible talks about the "new earth" that will be after this one is done. Even there you see the importance of nature and healing. I cannot separate these things from God, they exist because he exists. They are so much a part of who God is and his relationship to us.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.

Revelation 22:1-10 (New International Version)