Having practically inhaled McLaren's book I promptly returned it to the library.  Weird since I really want to go back and visit many parts of it.  Had in mind that I'd order it ASAP then oops, no dolla'.  So, spent time on McLaren's site looking at books he likes, which led to looking at more books and reviews on Amazon.com (addictive) and then to looking for titles I could find at my library. Result: am now almost finished gulping down Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence, an amazingly short and satisfyingly meaty "The Church and Western Civilization 101" up to the present.  Really, it makes you feel like you got at least a semester's worth of smart with relatively little effort...and that enjoyable to boot.


And, Small Toddler Person (henceforth to be referred to as STP until I come up with something better) discovered the Connect Four game, which is why I've gotten to read so much and cook dinner, too.

Some VPAs:

• a used copy of McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity 
• stumbling upon (read no long hrs of searching for) something equivalent to The Great Emergence for Middle Eastern history
• an occasional nanny/housekeeper.  I don't care if it's wimpy.  I want one.

Not going to use Havi's complete format yet, with "How this could happen" and "My commitment" sections, tho' I see their benefit.  Just getting stuff out of my head and increasing my comfort with asking.

McLaren on Christianity

On a roll today (actually I'm avoiding taking Ethan with me to Sam's).

Started Brian McLaren's book A New Kind of Christianity  last night and am definitely getting sypathetic vibes. Lisa was right...he is articulating (at least getting closer than anyone else) the disconnect I've been negotiating between what has worked for me and what I thought (and evangelical Christianity teaches) was supposed to work.

Wow.  That sentence came out rather concisely and without editing.  Maybe blogging is a good thing.

Personal Ads

I love Havi's Very Personal Ads.  And I love that they work...for her, for a lot of people she knows, maybe for some people I know, too (Cindy?)  Don't want another notebook right now, even though I love a new journal, so I'll try them here.  Some will  be big ads, some small.  This is a place to start, just go, not over-think, by-pass paralysis of analysis.

Some biggies:

hopeful, self-sustaining systems for a less chaotic house, feeding my people, closure-ing house projects, which will result in (?):

more time for sustaining things like: creating, thinking, reading, talking to monsters, practicing/learning yoga (OK, maybe you start the sustaining practices and the other stuff falls into place...leap into the abyss, so hard to do)

non-constricting routines for said sustaining things

ways to simplify without forcing my family to do something they're not ready to

another paradigm for mothering, particularly Ethan, that frees me from seeing him as the obstacle to all of the above

another paradigm for money, for the same reason

a way to get out from under this house.  not necessarily to move (big pain in the angst) but some way not to feel so burdened by it.  ways to brainstorm this that don't automatically push Joe's fear buttons.



Some smallies:

a cd /mp3 player that will play the wonderful downloads, like De-Stuckification Station, +not new, +small, +good sound. (OK, I can put them on my phone.  when?)

a good soup pot with a heavy bottom so I don't have to use (and wash) the hunkin'  big stock pot, preferably used.