Bfth's Boring Blog

The year is coming to a close; the holidays are at an end.  Perhaps we can all give a sigh of relief that 2017 is just about over.  (Did ANYONE have a good year?  If so, let me hear from you.  We could ALL use some good news.)  This year is NOT ending as I had anticipated or expected. However, I am full of hope for 2018 and perhaps you are too. As 2017 wraps up, I have a few thoughts (don't I always) that I wanted to share: Can't we get past this "war on Christmas" (which is BS in my book) and the focus on Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays?  I have to wonder why we say either as it seems with this fierce fighting over which one to say brings little meaning to either phrase. We might do better in 2018 if we stopped SAYING Merry Christmas and instead acted more Christ-like...which does NOT mean we have to be Christian. (Although it certainly wouldn't hurt; we could use more Christians who actually followed the teachin

Here you are 12 years old; not a kid anymore and not a man.  But let's face it you look like you're 16. (Facial hair?  Really??) In some ways you act like it too. Over the past few years you've had your struggled.  Mostly they have been academic and your father and I (as well as your grandparents) have tried to push you in the right direction and provided you with help.  Let me just say straight out that you ARE a smart kid.  Academically you may not be in the top percentage, but you've got the common sense smarts that are even more valuable.   And generally you use those smarts. Like looking both ways before you cross the street. You may think that doesn't involve smarts, but trust me is does.  There are plenty of "brilliant" minds that are so focused on academia that they don't have the sense/smarts to keep themselves safe.  Their brains are wired differently, as is everyone's.  And it's important to know your strengths and to use them t

(Note:  This year the 4th Sunday of Advent AND Christmas Eve are the same day.  Makes things a little crazier, so I thought I'd post this early...maybe it will help ease some of the chaos that often comes with the season.) The lectionary passages for this week are:     2 Samuel 7:1-11,16,   Luke 1:46b-55  or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 ,  Romans 16:25-27  ,  Luke 1:26-38 Advent is coming to a close.  During the season we have been filled with hope, peace and joy.  Are we now ready to receive the love that comes in the form of a small child who was born in a stable?   In the middle of the rush, it is easy to forget that Christmas is really all about love.  As it says in Psalm 89: "   I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.  89:2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. "  It should be no surprise that this time of Ad

My son is 12.  And he's "dating."  He has a "girlfriend" which is not to be confused with a girl who is a friend (he's has those too).   As a late bloomer/shy introvert, I'm pretty stunned.  But I think I am handling it well...or at least better than my husband who's been freaking out a little bit since this started.  I don't blame him and I'm surprised that I've been handling it as well as I have. Of course this whole "dating" thing is nothing like what I think of when I think of going on a date.  It started with texts.  (Do tweens even talk these days or do they just text, text and then text some more?)  There were two girls and my son.  One girl (I'll call her "A" to keep things simple) likes my son (and I have to assume he likes her) and the other was the one (I'll call her "B") who "pushed" them together.  (Not in a mean way.  Perhaps a little pushy, but we are talking about

The lectionary passages for the third week in Advent are:    Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11,  Psalm 126  or Luke 1:46b-55  ,   1 Thessalonians 5:16-24,   John 1:6-8, 19-28 I'm afraid of the unknown.  Change makes me uneasy.  My day to day routine is comfortable.  I think that's the case for most people. But then there is Mary, mother of Jesus.  A virgin who finds herself with child and is visited by an angel.  How can that be anything, but terrifying?  Yet, Mary says (or sings):   My soul glorifies the Lord  47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  48  for he has been mindful      of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed,  49      for the Mighty One has done great things  for me—       holy is his name."  Mary takes one of the most frightening things that could happen to hear and faces it with joy. There are so many ways she could have reacted, but she embraces what is to be.  She trusts in God and in herself. How

Show me someone who is perpetually happy, cheerful and full of the holiday spirit and I'll show you a liar.  Or a good actor.  Because I truly believe that EVERYONE gets the Christmas blues during the period between Thanksgiving (maybe even before) and the New Year.  Or perhaps I should be more politically correct and say Holiday Blues.  But it doesn't really matter what I call it, it seems to me that this time of year, no matter how filled it is with music, decorations and endless sentimental movies on the Hallmark channels fills us all with sadness, gloom, malaise, or whatever you want to call it at some point. Yes, even this seemingly happy blogger finds herself depressed during the season. I can't tell you exactly why.  Maybe it's the fact that money always seems to be so tight.  Now, don't get me wrong; I have enough (although don't we all want/need more) and I know that there are MANY others who have it much harder than I do, but the lack of endle

The lectionary passages for the second week of Advent are: Isaiah 40:1-11,   Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 ,   2 Peter 3:8-15a  and   Mark 1:1-8 When I read the lectionary passage from Isaiah for this week, particularly verses 4-5, I immediately hear in my head the anthem "Every Valley" by John Ness Beck (which the choir sang on the 26th of November.)  The anthem and the verses uplift me; they fill me with hope, joy love, and peace, the latter of which just so happens to be represented in this week's Advent wreath.  How good it feels to know that:  the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." I love the inclusiveness of it.  When the glory of the Lord is show ALL shall see it together.  We are ALL part of God's hope, joy, peace and love.  And the fact that we are ALL united in this part of this glory fills me with a great sense of calm and peace.   This brings to mind  another wonderfu

I had an unofficial plan in the back of my head for Saturday.  I hadn't shared with my family, but it had been a somewhat difficult week (to be explained further in the below bullet pointed whining) so I thought it might be nice to do something together as a family on Saturday afternoon (because on Saturday morning both the boy and I have a dress rehearsal for a Christmas Cantata and Sunday morning is the performance).  It included lunch out and a longish drive to take in some holiday decorations and general Christmas cheer. But in light of the 3" - 5" of snow that were are supposed to get on Saturday, I've pretty much tabled that.  Sure, it's not that much snow, but I really don't think it's all that wise to drive needlessly during a storm.  While I've come up with a backup plan (watch a move or two and cook a nice roast which will warm up our stomachs and the house while it cooks), I'm not happy that I had to cancel my plans.  (And I really ha

The day/weekend after Thanksgiving is the time that our family decorates for the holidays.  My son is of the age where he is still really into it and he likes to decorate his room too.  To that end, I took him to And That! By Christmas Tree Shops and let him pick out a few things which I paid for as a pre-Christmas present.  It's actually quite tasteful (for a tween boy). One of the things I put in his room, even before he decorated, was a light up star that I pinned onto his bulletin board and then plugged in.  It lit up and I walked away.  It was blinking and twinkling as it always had; when I bought it back in the late 1970s (or so I am guessing...it could have possibly been the very early 80s, but I'm pretty sure 1978 or 1979.) I can remember buying it; though I'm not sure why I did.  Maybe it was my new found "freedom" of walking downtown to middle school and being able to make purchases on my walk home.  Upon reflection they were mostly sensel

As the year draws to a close and we start counting down to the holidays (no matter which one you celebrate), many of us dread the "Secret Santa" thing.  To me it always sounds like a great idea and I get super excited, but in reality it often turns out to be a dud. Where I currently work now has no holiday gift exchanging.  (I'd say there is no holiday spirit, but there are a group of us who all work for different companies under the same corporate umbrella who make the season bright.)  Prior to that I did work for a company that was quite large that had an "international" day (people of all different backgrounds brought in their favorite foods; it sounds promising, but sadly it really wasn't) which culminated in a Secret Santa gift exchange.  The problem being that the company was large enough to have two different locations (within the same state) and people didn't necessarily know each other,  So you'd end up with the name of someone who yo

Mondays...are they ever any good?  You know the lyrics:  "rainy days and Mondays always get me down" and "Monday, Monday; can't trust that day."  Unless it's a holiday, does anyone ever look forward to a Monday? This past one was typical for me.  Rushing to get the boy to school; trying to gather everything together and not forget anything.  It was cold out and frost covered everything.  Including the garbage can handle that my hand froze to as I dragged it back after the trash men had come. The boy and I get in the car and head down toward the school.  We are less than 1/2 mile away when fog appears.  I'd sunglasses on when I pulled out the driveway and now I can barely see 100 yards ahead.  This does not bode well from my commute. I drop the boy off and make my way to work.  The fog comes and goes, making driving a bit challenging to say the least.  Sunglasses on...sunglasses off.  Traffic is pretty much at a standstill on Route 3. 

The lectionary passages for the first week of Advent are  I saiah 64:1-9 ,  Psalm 80:1- 7, 17-19  ,  1 Corinthians 1:3-9   and  Mark 13:24-37 When I think of Advent, especially the first week, the passages in Isaiah immediately come to mind.  Verses from Isaiah 11 are favorites of mine and probably familiar to us all:  "T hen a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit."  Or “ 6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them."  But when I saw this week's lectionary passage from Isaiah it was not familiar to me and it was a little difficult for me to wrap my head around as it relates to the season, until I got to verse 8:   Yet you,  Lord , are our Father.    We are the clay, you are the potter;   we are all the work of your hand.  9  Do not be angry beyond measure,  Lord ;  do not r