Sharing: A New Commissioned Stole Is Complete!

We recently completed a stole for a seminarian preparing for Ordination. She sought a piece that would reflect where she lived and served in Peurto Rico.It was fun to start with her own sketch and photos. When I work on a stole like this it makes me appreciate the many years as a young woman that I studied watercolor painting. As a general rule when you use watercolors you start with what is furthest in the background and work your way forward. This is because once the paint is down it can't be removed and it is not easily gone over. The commissioned stoles that we do that are like "story stoles" with a lot of appliqued pieces need to be figured out in this logical type of sequencing. It's a bit of a puzzle in the beginning but with careful planning it comes together nicely. Interesting how one opportunity from your past prepares you for the future! We've just completed the sketch for another story stole. You'll hear more about that this summer. #PCUSA #GA222 (spoiler alert :))

*Note 1-we love learning new things (especially about plants and food) and were pleased to be introduced to the seagrapes that are the large leaf plant with the interesting, clustered fruit. 

*Note 2-we had special permission to use the PCUSA seal, this one time

Book Review: The Season of the Nativity

My personality is well suited to seasons of preparation. Therefore I've always been more

drawn to Advent than Christmas. Annually, I traditionally purchase a book about or for Advent. This year I picked up The Season of the Nativity: Confession and Practices of an Advent, Christmas and Epiphany Extremist  and quickly suspected I would like it when the author Sybil MacBeth confessed it took a long time for her to learn to enjoy Christmas. This resonated with me and I now especially see the twelve days of Christmas in a new light. I've always been intrigued by how to mark this time but have found it challenging given that society celebrates Christmas day and then moves into after Christmas mall sales and signing up everyone for exercise classes for their New Year's resolutions. The author has given me enough encouragement that I suspect I will do better than that this go around.

What I appreciated most about this book is that there is something for everyone from the new Christian learning what the church year calendar is all about to someone that has been following a liturgical cycle for decades.  In fact MacBeth points out that because we are continuously evolving that's exactly why we can year after year relive and learn anew from the stories of our faith. Amen!

Lastly, I think it's splendid that there is attention given to Epiphany. Growing up all I knew was to put a bean in the cake and the one that ended up with that piece won. There is and deserves to be more than this. 

So now I prepare for the season of preparation and look forward to some new additions to my rhythm and routine of the days in Advent. How will you mark these days?