such a special day...

in december i was honored to at officiate one of my dearest friend's wedding (or really, two of my dearest friends' wedding.) she posted some photos of the ceremony and reception last week and i've had the most fun remembering all the love and care she put into every detail... and it's been special to remember how incredibly humbling and electrifying it is to share in the blessing of a couple's decision to spend their lives together. i know that it wasn't me doing the blessing, but i got to be the vehicle. how incredible is that?

anyway, the photos are lovely...you should check them out here.

marrrriage.......

so two of my dearestest friends are getting married this weekend... and about a year and a half ago they asked me to be the officiant. it's the most incredible honor and everytime i think about it i really just can't get over it. all week i've been remembering our own wedding and about the commitment that boone and i made to each other before our family, friends, and God. Then i remember that i get to stand there with kathryn and ryan while they say their vows and commit their lives to each other and i get teary and tingly and so, so happy for them.

any minute now we're going to get on the plane to head to see them, so if you don't mind saying some prayers that all goes well or crossing your fingers, or something else entirely for good measure and vibes, i'd be so incredibly thankful. my eposicopalian neighbor priests tell me (as did my divinity school preaching professor) that the holy spirit descends and gives the minister the words and authority to speak... so i'm holding out that that will happen on saturday. but until then, i'll have to keep taking deep breaths and reminding myself that although i have a big role on saturday, it's not about me at all. what happens Saturday is really between Kathryn, Ryan, and God...and i just get to be the vehicle. how humbling and beautiful is that?

holy moly...

the first morning in ubud we wandered into a temple to check out the architecture. no one was around and it felt sort of strange to walk into a holy place without being invited. but later that night we went back to the same temple to see a traditional kecak dance and fire trance ceremony, which were both incredible.





i ended up sitting next to the most adorable couple from malaysia on their honeymoon.. in fact, as BEAUTIFUL, gorgeous, idyllic as bali was, i almost enjoyed all the travelers we met more. earlier in our hotel we met a couple from new zealand who were on their way to india to visit their daughter who had founded an organization there like this one. he was also an energy healer and had imported organic vegetables to NZ before his retirement. after we hashed out the oil spill and economic crisis with them, the topic turned to aliens and having children.

we also had three taxi drivers named norman and met this guy when we went down to the beach... apparently he's a pretty big deal in the world of tropical architecture. he was 32 sheets to the wind when we met him sitting in a local bar in sanur. he told us stories of bob dylan, the eagles, surfing in hawaii, and his multiple indonesian wives. we thought about inviting him to dinner since we were enjoying his stories so much, but he seemed pretty content to sit and drink with the locals in the place (who he said were in the balinese mob). The day before we met him we'd traveled around the island with one of the normans. first we visited pura titra empul, a holy spring where local people bathe.




then we came across the temple at gua gajah, or the elephant cave... not only is it a hindu temple dedicated to ganesha, but also is the site of a destroyed 11th century buddist temple.


inside this cave where little crevices for meditation.

our "guide" who slept above the cave and also claimed to be a guardian of the site led us to the site of the Buddhist temple. it had been destroyed and covered by a rice field until the 1950s when it was rediscovered. gua gajah was my favorite spot on the island... the combination of the green moss, lush trees, bodhi tree, and flowing water really gave me the feeling we were in a holy place.

bali hai...

if you've read the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by elizabeth gilbert, then you've heard of our first stop in bali.... ubud. it's a small artist community/village filled the the brim with galleries, hindu temples, tourist villas, and beautiful vistas. in fact, THIS was the view we had out of the front door of our cottage.




gorgeous, right? i couldn't get over how green and cool everything was around the village. then just up the path to the lobby you came across this small place to make offerings (small spots to make offerings are EVERYWHERE in ubud)

see? one of these was outside of every single shop door, and you had to sidestep them if you didn't want to crush them.

more on the temples and offering places later... ;) stay tuned!

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery

carrie, boone and i went to explore singapore's largest buddhist monastery this week. we were just in time to be a part of prayer..i didn't know the rituals, but i loved observing from the sidelines and listening to the chanting. as we walked around i was completely mesmerized by the elaborate carvings of dragons on the rooftops, the various statues of the Buddha in each temple and the painted lotus blossoms on the ceilings. in one spot i had time to do some walking meditation and breathe in the incense filling the air...which was really peaceful.

it was a HUGE complex...so i tried to take photos of the different temples..
here's the building with 10,000 buddhas...which, by the way, is A LOT of buddhas.

and a walkway between the temples...

and inside one temple where a woman was stroking the body of a Chinese Buddha statue.





shoes of the sangha outside the library...




it was a wonderful morning... if you're looking for something to explore in singapore, the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery should be on your list. so, this is what WE'VE been doing. what about you?

i want an easy plateau...

it's been another rough week for us (two car repairs totalling $700, thesis due and NOT finished, a banking mishap, and still no sign of a job) so i'm wishing for some respite and peace.

honestly, i've been feeling like i was in the actual emotional/mental desert with Jesus this Lent, so it makes perfect sense that Holy week would be a really difficult time, too. i don't know how good friday could be anything but dark, which means that the worst may be yet to come.

BUT i don't think i've ever looked forward to Easter and the resurrection like i'm looking forward to it right now. i've really needed to be reminded of Jesus' power over death (and power to give life) with everything going on. "In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" he says in John.

so, this is me...looking toward the hope of Easter...and taking courage!

but i'm still wishing that we could have an easy plateau where life just flattened out for awhile and we could go paddling lazily on a cool, foggy, mountain lake... ;)

photos from our labor of love

why they call it FAT tuesday...

so tomorrow is ash wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. i'm not sure what's gotten into me, but i've decided to give up sweets for all forty days. God help me.

in my own "last hurrah" to all things delicious, i decided to make two giant king cakes this weekend for our church's mardi gras celebration. this way, i could use up my excess butter/sugar/eggs AND store up as many calories as possible. good idea? i think so. anyway, this is absolutely the most authentic recipe i've found (and growing up so close to new orleans, i know my king cake) so it's totally worth the time and caloric intake. it's just perfect.


well, it's perfect if you think that using nearly a pound of butter and enough sugar to give anyone diabetes is ok...


i wish you could taste this over the interweb...


if you like what you see, leave a comment and i'll email you my new recipe plus a few tweaks I added from other king cake versions i've tried. It's sooo good..the dough has a lovely depth of flavor and stays moist for a relatively long time. anyway, i'd LOVE to share it... or i can post it. let me know!

MDiv take aways...

i don't write things very eloquently--which is why i usually just post pictures-- but i recently ran across someone who does. (when i say "ran across" i really mean stumbled on her blog b/c we're fb friends, even though we weren't friends in grad school. which is weird because i'm pretty sure we have LOTS of shared interests and people used to get our honeys mixed up from long distances away when they were still our bfs and fiances)

anyway, her post on her blog the merry apostate explains an awful lot of important "take aways" from my MDiv experience... if you want to know what it's like to be in seminary, or if you are already in seminary and want to read something that makes you think that she actually read the journal that you keep under your mattress or swam around in your head for a little while, then check it out. no wonder she got a real live writing gig just the other day. :)

image found here

the King of Cakes...

it's shrove (or fat tuesday) so i thought today it would be fun to share my fav mardi gras tradition... the king cake! the bad news is that making one is an arduous process and Fat Tuesday is the last day they're traditionally eaten... so hop to it!





my friend's mom (who's a fab lady from new orleans) sent me this king cake recipe after i fawned all over her to do it... mostly because i love them, but also because i have tons of friends who've never tasted this delishy mardi gras delicacy.
they don't get that the baby inside is the "king" jesus (but also has something to do with the three magi) and that finding it is good luck. and they don't know why it's a ring, or what the colors mean. can you imagine?

i haven't used her recipe yet, but i thought i'd whet your appetites with some photos from hankins flickr photostream (he takes BEAUTIFUL food and other kinds of pictures) and then give you the recipe too, so you can make your own.

-----------------------------------------------------------

King Cake from Jambalaya p 206
Makes 2 9x12” cakes. Freezes well.

Cake:
1 stick plus 1 tbsp butter.
2/3 cup 99% fat free skim evaporated milk
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 packages dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
4eggs
1tbsp
orange zest
6 c flour

For the cake, in a saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter, add milk and 1/3 cup of sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, 2 tbsp sugar, and water. Let stand until foaming.
About 5 to 10 minutes. Beat eggs into yeast; then milk mixture and zest. Stir in flour, ½ c at a time. Reserving 1 c to flour kneading surface.
Knead dough until smooth, about 5 to 10 min. Place in large mixing bowl greased with 1 Tbsp of butter; turning dough once to grease top. Gover and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Filling:
½ c dark brown sugar. Packaged
¾ c granulated sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

For filling, mix sugars and cinnamon. Set aside.

Topping
1 egg, beaten
1 c sugar, colored (1/3 c each purple, yellow, green)
2 plastic babies or 2 beans

For topping, tint sugar by mixing food coloring until desired color is reached. A food processor aids in mixing and keeps the sugar from being too moist. When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll half into a rectangle 30 x 15. Brush with half of melted butter and cut into 3 lengthwise strips. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture on strips, leaning a 1-in lengthwise strip free for sealing. Fold each strip toward the center, sealing the seam. You will now have 3 30-in stips with sugar mixture enclosed in each. Braid the three strips and make a circle by joining ends. Repeat with the other half of the fough. Place each cake on a on a 10 x15 baking sheet. Cover with damp cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Brush each with egg and sprinkle top with colored sugars, alternating colors. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from pan immediately so sugar will not harden; while still warm, place one plastic baby (or a bean) in each from underneath.

eeeeek!! and yayyyy!!!

We're sort of gearing up for the ceremony (eeeeeeeek! and yaaaayyyyy!!!)
so we've done some visiting about music and readings a bit lately. our dear jon is going to sing or cantor (he sounds like an ANGEL and is a pretty big deal in the atl burbs church choir scene, fyi) and he spent some time last weekend letting us peek into all of his hymnals and then he'd hum the tunes of ones we liked. SO FUN. i mean, boone and i are in divinity school, but liturgy is just not something i've got much knowledge about... and before now have never really had much interest in. but things are different now....

turns out the message we're going for in our wedding ceremony is um... well, love. and a hope for peace (not world peace, but Christ peace or relationship peace or something) and the service involved in, or the servanthood that is marriage. :) i feel good about it.

anyway, here's the scripture reading from the day we got engaged.. I think it's pretty darn appropriate for a wedding.


Phillipians 2: 1- 7
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

AND i ran across this non-Bible reading today on a pretty sweet little blog and we may just use it. :) thoughts? or other reading ideas?

From "The Strength to Love," by Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. Love is something much more than emotional bosh. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, is the love of God operating in the human heart. Love is the most durable power in the world . . . the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security. The great military leaders of the past have gone, and their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes. But the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing."

image found here

Great day, hooray!

i officially joined my church this morning...i was a little worried that they weren't going to vote me in, but somehow i eeked by (this is a joke, my church welcomes everyone). anyway, it feels so good to have a faith-home that i really really trust and of which I feel thankful to be a part.

so the deal is that all of the new members write and participate in the service in some way (praying, singing, playing an instrument, serving communion) i'm not a big "talker in public" so i offered to design the bulletin cover based on the songs and verses incorporated into the service. we chose Psalm 139 "if I rise to the heavens you are there.." and the gospel tune "I'll Fly away" and here's what I came up with...

anyway, it has been a great day.

speaking of...

there are few things in life that i take greater pleasure from than listening to national public radio programs. the three i refuse to miss are this american life, with ira glass, radio lab, and speaking of faith with krista tippett. sometimes i’m away from my radio when these shows are airing, but the good news is that i can always download a podcast to hear what i missed. recently I listened to tippett’s travel journal and interview about the L’arche communities around the world. because tippett talks about the “difference as normal” and the importance that these communities place on accepting what is imperfect, i thought it was a great post to begin this blog. the speaking of faith website says: "Forty years ago in France, philosopher Jean Vanier founded an international movement, L'Arche. The L'Arche community in Clinton, Iowa is part of this movement people of faith living and worshipping alongside developmentally handicapped adults. There are now over 120 L'Arche communities in 18 countries. In this "radio pilgrimage," we take listeners into a radically different faith community that confronts our assumptions about service and diversity, and the worth of individuals.” if you you want to know more about this community and hear tippets excellent questions and honest account, click here for the archive of this speaking of faith.