day six...i am putting some weird things in my purse these days

day six


I start today by sharing this video. It is a commercial, but it goes along with my Lenten journey wonderfully. So, enjoy it. It's wonderful and funny.

For breakfast, I usually have a Bay's English muffin, because OMG, if you have ever had one you know why... I like mine crispy, with butter and a little cinnamon sugar.

So delicious.

kashi bag covering my portable utensil pack

But, the plastic wrap that surrounds these delicious tasty breakfast treats is not recyclable which leads me to a dilemma since I have ONE LEFT!  I can buy them and put the wrapping in my "sin box" (or read that as I can buy them and set myself up to fail) or I can find a new breakfast treat.

I decided to eat Kashi Blueberry waffles for breakfast. Of course, as I reached in the freezer to pull them out I noticed that there were only two left which I meant that if I had chose to eat them today or before 4/20 I would have to figure out what to do with the plastic bag that holds the waffles. Luckily, I thought about this yesterday as I panicking at the Costco and bought the box of 48 waffles, so I had a plan. I will recyclable the box and then re-use the plastic bags that holds the waffles. So, the first bag I am using as a protective covering for the napkin/fork/spoon/knife/metal straw combo that I carry with me in case I eat out.

I will also reuse the bags to pack snacks for Carter's lunch in... kind of like a sandwich bag.

Lunch was at Moe's. I knew when we decided to eat there that this particular choice was going to create some addition work for me to make it as least damaging as possible. I like to get nachos which are placed in a basket lined with paper and I like to get the queso on the side because they put too much on there. So, I knew going in that I was going to have to take the paper with me and wash out the container and reuse it. Unfortunately, they gave me enough chips to feed two tables which means that I had to do something with them. Instead of saving them until tonight to compost, I brought them back to the church (folded in the paper and stuffed in my utensil bag) and took them out to feed the birds. Since I don't put the cheese on the chips the paper was pretty clean and the chips were dry. I put them out for the birds and the deer that was here yesterday.

Dinner is going to create a problem. I have to provide dinner for the candidacy mentor group that I co-lead. I don't have a way to cook myself because of time constraints and take out packaging is not good. I am thinking that Whole Foods might be a safe answer. Their containers are compostable or recyclable. I will bring my plates/utensils from home to use and then wash them tonight. Will let you know tomorrow!

is it day five?

I may just start skipping days, because there is not much to talk about today.

I went to Costco. That is dangerous regardless of your Lenten commitment. I bought 2 cases of pellagrino for me. Glass bottles. Kirkland brand Zyrtec because you get one bigger bottle with kinder wrapping and less plastic and well, it was cheaper. It falls under the medicine caveat, anyway.

I made dinner, including popovers. I mention the popovers because I made them because the packaging on rolls would have to go into the "sin box". Yesterday, I added a dum-dum pop stick. Today, I added the wrapping to the box of altoids and the top to a wine bottle. It is still pretty empty so that is good.

I added onion casements and the mushrooms that fell to the ground while cooking to the compost pile and put a container in the kitchen for the coffee grounds yesterday. Yesterday, I also got out the reusable coffee filter (that Jim does not like) and used that when I made my coffee. Today, he used it :)

Like I said...not too interesting.

day four...composting and dining out

everyone needs one of these in their purse

Welcome to day four of the no trash journey for Lent.

Today, after seeing the IMAX movie Jerusalem we went out for lunch. I brought my own silverware wrapped in a napkin. There is also a metal straw that is not pictured aside, but you can see it below.

When we got home, I set up my cold compost. I am not going to post a picture because I am fairly certain that I did it wrong. :)  A layer of sticks/small logs over a layer of leaves. There is a rectangle of bricks around the pile.

We went out for dinner tonight.

This is what I have decided about eating out: it has a sense of being a Pharisee. I am letting other people throw out the trash for me. I am not using paper napkins or plastic straws, but it is starting to feel like a technicality. Like I don't care what you do as long as I don't have to see it.

Anyway, I am going to ponder this whole eating out thing.

day three... and we are going out for dinner!

I was going to start my compost pile today, but it was cold and rainy. I have collected no more items to put in it than yesterday, so no picture to update there. But I do have pictures to share. :) You are welcome.

Today was easier because I barely left the house. I went to Starbuck's and got coffee. I brought my own cup. The over caffeinated hipster behind the counter loved that my cup was an NPR cup. Look at how productive I was and I saved $.10. Wow. Amazing, huh.
If you look closely you can see the first part of Sunday's sermon. Spoiler alert: God did it.

 The second image to share for the day is my "sin box". It contains things I used that are not recyclable or compostable. Right now there is a plastic wrap from the lasagna with a sticker on it and the foil that I put on top of the lasagna. Apparently, buying a lasagna from Whole Foods was a bad decision for my Lent sacrifice. :( There is a cost for ease.

Today, really was a little easier. I ate snacks of fresh fruit and had left over macaroni and cheese for lunch.

However, I could not go out of ice cream after dinner because it does not come in a container that I can deal with. I am thankful that wine does, though.

This is not related to my Lenten journey, but the kids'. Carter decided that giving up string cheese was too hard. This is after his first thing which was trying everything on his plate which apparently Jesus doesn't want him to do either. Both kids decided that they were going to pray more often. 

This goes completely against the Ash Wednesday passage that says pray in private (Matthew 6), but here is a picture of them praying for Scout. 

I found it sweet. 

Scout was just happy someone touched her. 

day two learning and the exceptions

Okay, so I learned something today (besides day two was much easier than day one)...

whole foods will not put chicken in your tupperware container because they don't want to ruin it with a sticker. They didn't even think that I was crazy when I asked. They will, however, put it in a recyclable container....now I just have to figure out what to do with the sticker...

which leads me to...I am thinking of creating a collection box for the things that I cannot figure how to dispose of.  I will call it my "yeah, this is too hard" box or this pile of crap is going in the trash on Easter morning. Jesus has risen! My trash can is full!

Because it was decided on Facebook that the powder wrapper was not recyclable I decided to make homemade mac and cheese tonight. Jeez, people. I must really love Jesus. We are also having wild mushroom lasagna and brussel sprouts.

But really what I wanted to talk about in day two are the exceptions to thsi no trash rule. Because this is what people keep asking about. So, here are the exceptions that I have come up so far.

** if something is violently expelled from the body, whether human or animal, it can be cleaned up
with paper towels. I am not THAT committed to this.

** Lent cannot solve Carter's bed wetting issues, so pull ups will have to be excluded

** Hannah and her medical stuff is excluded

Now here is your part people.
Tell me

what other exceptions that I should consider

how do I start a compost pile? Right now I have a bin in the back yard where I threw my burnt toast and a half eaten banana. :)

day one... I thought I was preapred

Today is the first day of Lent. I have been planning this day for months. 
Mostly not even dreading it. 

At least, I wasn't until last night when I realized that today was the day. 


Day One of no production of trash. Remember that scene in Say Anything when Lloyd meets her dad for the first time and pulls out this beauty: I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.

I love him even more for that now.I am only 16 hours into this day and it has been hard. 

Partially hard because we have worship tonight and I had many last things to do to prepare for it that I wasn't planning on doing. When we are under stress we often cheat--we do things that we shouldn't and normally wouldn't (like sneak a cigarette or a glass of wine) and today it would have been so great to just drive through somewhere and get a fast meal as I took Hannah to her IEP meeting. But I didn't. waxed cups.paper napkins.greasy paper.

Today, I have wiped my hands on my shirt after washing them in the bathroom--thanks no paper towels
I have dried a dish on my scarf--once again no paper towels
I opened a candle and stood and stared it at for 3 minutes trying to decide what to do with the plastic that it was in. (I decided it was recyclable)
I went to store to buy some hand towels so that I could stop drying my hands on my clothes
While there, I looked at the packaging in the deli case trying to find something that packaged in a recyclable container (bc I couldn't plan ahead and pack a lunch this morning). 
I noticed that packaging is like a chastity belt.
I have pulled scrap paper out of the trash and walked it over to work room's recycling bin.

 I have been aware of my footprints today. 
and it makes me fear dinner. 
crap. 
I don't have time to cook a meal tonight. 

This day has been hard. Which I guess makes it a very successful first day of Lent.  

I still have 7.5 hours left in this day. I hope someone brings me a plate of food with just the right amount so that I don't have to start the compost pile tonight, a cloth napkin (which would be so much nicer if our dryer was working) and a glass of cold water. I don't think that will happen. So, I guess I will just have to be mindful of the way that consume all by myself.  

ministry is still better than mayonnaise

This week, I spent several days with clergy. in a good way. it’s not always a good thing. sometimes when clergy gather it feels more like a middle school lunch room than a gathering of children of God who are trying to share the Good News of God’s love.

as I drove up to camp glisson on monday, i was thinking about how hard the ministry is. now, as you read this, i want you to know that i cannot image myself doing anything other than ministry.

which is not a statement about my imagination.it is also not a statement about how i view my ability to be employable in other fields. there are very view jobs that i feel that without the right training i could not do.i could not do math for a living.i could not do mayonnaise for a living.i could not do crafts for a living.

there are however clergy who can’t imagine themselves doing other things because it is all they have ever done. some of these should find something else to do. they’d be happier. the church would be stronger. good people—just not where they should be be. 

while i love the ministry... i love being with people as they mourn, celebrate, remember; i love being a part of their most joyous and most desperate moments; i love helping them see God around them... and while i love all of these things and am marveled by the blessing that God has given me by calling me to this, i still believe in my deepest being that ministry is one of the hardest jobs ever. and i wouldn’t 
even if i could
change that for the world. 



but it’s not for everybody. 
i don't try to talk people into the ministry. i have on more than once occasion tried to talk someone out though. 

and I have made my fair share of mistakes in my ministry. i have hurt God’s kingdom. 

of course, not on purpose. but i have made mistakes. so, here are some of them.
i sure hope none of these are chargeable offenses...

I have not prayed for my congregation beyond myselfprayer changes things. not in the God is my favorite santa kind of way. but it changes how you view people. you cannot bring someone into your private time with God and not have it change the way that you view them. if i talked to God the same way that i talked to people in traffic then that wouldn’t be true. but even though i sometimes swear in my prayers i know that God hears, that God can handle those raw emotions and help me work through them so that i can handle them in public. 

i should pray specifically for my leaders every day. i should pray for the finances of the church everyday. instead my prayers are often give me wisdom, help me with this situation, and be with this family that is hurting.those are not bad prayers.
but i need to dedicate more specific time to praying for the church and her leaders in ways that would really make us the church. not in ways that make my job easier.  

I have been too comfortable i am me. i am casual. i am often offensive. sometimes, i get too comfortable with people who expect me to be some other way. i am no francis of assisi. hell, i am no francis bacon (which if i was going to be a francis i would pick one named after that awesome food); i am no francis asbury; i am no francis ford coppola. i am more of a frank. like being too frank. i have been known to be naked instead of transparent. and i realize that sometimes that has hurt. it has hurt others. it has hurt the kingdom. it’s hurt relationships. 

I have taken things personallyseriously, who hasn’t it. but when someone yells at you. when someone freaks out and goes after you, it is often not really about you. you can see it other people’s situations but it is hard to see it in your own. often times it is not about you. people treat you a certain way because of what is going on inside of them. this is hard to grasp when you are vulnerable and ministry is a place of vulnerability. 

I have struggled with how we treat the churchsometimes i just want to treat the church like a business: fire people who are lazy, manipulative, crazy, and haters. other times, i am reminded of my amazingly high ecclessiology. i want and expect the church to change the world and, damn it, the church seems like it cannot change a light bulb most days. as a matter of fact we can’t where i am not because they are too high end and no one can figure out how. so there. 

i want the best of both worlds most of the time. in essence, i forget about how special the church really is and i treat it like another business. i forget about the love, grace, sharing, compassion, and tender-heartedness that we are to embody. and that kills the church. 

we cannot forget. 
jesus says remember. 
because remembering is doing. 
and doing is changing. 
which leads to hope.