Charlie Chaplin and Trader Joes, two of my favorite things

So I was in Trader Joes the other day, one of my favorite places. And I saw a cutout of Charlie Chaplin, one of my favorite actors. Then I saw a hat to put in your info for a drawing. Apparently Trader Joes is doing a silent movie triple play series of Charlie Chaplin’s films at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. That sounded fun to me, so I entered the drawing. I had this super feeling that I was going to win, and even told myself so! I even wrote on the paper… “Pick me, pick me.”

When I got home, I told my sister the story and that I was going to win. Well, we were driving to some friend’s for dinner, last night, and my phone rings. I didn’t recognize the number,  but I answered it anyway. “Hello, this is so-n-so from Trader Joes,” she said. With a huge smile on my face I greeted her and pleasantly received her super news that I won two tickets to see Charlie Chaplin at the Paramount Theater!! “Woo Hoo”, I told her!! “I just knew I was going to win.” She laughed, congratulated me and told me the scoop.

It’s tomorrow night at 7pm! I invited a friend and it should be a hoot!!

It’s Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

Okay, so I wasn’t away long, but I did get a good start back in my journal, which feels great!! Many times, I just need to process it all on paper and then that helps me re-group!!

So, Seattle has had a bit of weather these days. A few weeks ago, it was flooding, and now we just had an amazing snow storm that shook up the whole area. Apparently, Seattle is not ready for regular bouts of snow. Too many hills and not enough snow-plowing equipment.

Monday we had a storm that so amazingly wiped out the regular flow of traffic… People with a normal 45 min commute or similar, got on the freeways around 4:30pm and didn’t get home until 2am. This was not an exaggeration… it happened to tons of people. Craziness… and it didn’t get any better until today when it all started melting.

My nephew and I went out and built a snowman. We used what we had around to “dress” him and he finally fell over today in the meltdown… It was great fun to play in the snow. We just stayed off the freeways and side roads.

I have to share that on Friday, my sister, nephew and I went to get a tree. We came home and decorated for Christmas with beautiful music playing and cinnamony smells to boot!! The next morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland… totally unexpected. And then… for the grand finale, she and I had already purchased tickets to the theater production of White Christmas at the 5th avenue theater for Saturday night… So we went, even though it was crazy snowing. How very fun to see that production when it really was snowing outside! It was such a great performance, by the way!! Very well done.

All that tree-finding and decorating was worth it!! It was almost as if we brought on all the snow!! (Well, I don’t really want to be responsible for all that…. but you know what I mean!)

I love Christmas-time!!

Seattle,Snow,Snowman,Christmas

Thoughts on Community

I was listening to the radio during Christmas time, and they were airing a program to raise money for a homeless shelter. There were some people on the show who had been homeless, and they shared their stories. One man said that it is always lonely being homeless and another said that he had memories of when his family was together. Another shared that someone had invited him to the shelter because they said there was a warm meal, so he went… and indeed there was a warm meal and people there who cared. That meal made him feel as though there was hope and indeed there was. He came to know Jesus eventually.

These men are an example of community and lack of it. I think that God so very much intended for us to live in community because we will die without it, either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. There can be death in all of those areas. Community keeps us alive and God designed it that way.

These men and women who found themselves homeless are no different from you or me. They just had circumstances that allowed them to drift from any sense of community. Their cases are extreme, but what about those of us who have a roof over our heads… are we ever homeless inside? Do we shut people out and keep everything to ourselves? Do we run when conflict arises? Do we make everyone laugh so we never have to cry? Do we get in our cars and go home when the going gets tough?

I believe we just have to start somewhere. There is no easy way, we just need to jump in and make mistakes. Soon, we will get the hang of trying, our mistakes will turn into learning and then, eventually, will come growth.

One woman who shared on that same program gave encouragement to others out there… she said that she had been in her own apartment for 2 years. My guess is that she just jumped back in, with the help of a community who loved her, and as a result; she is finding hope and success.

Are we any different? Can’t we love one another and help each other jump in? Can we encourage each other in our grief and loss? Can we stay and listen even when the silence is awkward? Can we stick it out when conflict arises and we really want to bolt?? In a perfect world, we could do all this and more. Fact is… we were created in a perfect world that’s been destroyed by sin and every part of our soul longs for that perfect community once again, whether we can admit it or not. As we long for heaven, and wait for our Savior to make it all right again, why not jump in? What do we have to lose??