What I learned in April


Here's what I learned in April.
  1. My plans are not God's plans.

    Okay, technically this fell on the first of May but as I do these so rarely, I figured you wouldn't hold that against me. I had it all planned out: a relaxing cup of tea before finishing packing and preparing my room for departure and then heading off to Eucharist (I was on retreat here). I am enjoying my cup when the Mission bells start, shortly followed by the monastery's bells. Hmm, I think, I wonder if Br. Timothy is checking the clapper again? No, it was the one day all week when Eucharist was at 9 instead of 11:30am because Sunday.

    So much for the lazy cup of tea and serene packing.

    Fr. Adam's sermon was all about going with God's flow of life instead of imposing our will upon God/life. Yes, God, I heard you the first time.
  2. A lack of fresh air and not sitting with nature leads to me feeling depressed and unworthy.

    It's amazing how 15 minutes sitting in the shade and enjoying a cool Santa Barbara breeze and watching the woodpeckers swoop will clear my head of that AND inspire creativity. I already knew I had to sit in a place of beauty but now I can add "outside" to that.
  3. Believing in the resurrection of the body and what that means for THIS life.

    Resurrection is new transformed life after life after death. Heaven/Paradise is a halfway stop. Meantime, Christians are outposts of God's new kingdom breaking into this earth. Ok, so I believed in the resurrection of the body, but I had never before considered what that meant for now. (My retreat reading was N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope".)
  4. The Hamilton cast's reworking of their opening song to pay homage to Sweeney Todd is sheer genius (and 16 Tony nominations! Wow!)

    Here's the link to YouTube to watch it.

  5. I found a salad I 100% like.

    Carrot and jicama slaw. And I really don't like salads. (Similar to this recipe, but swap out jalapeƱos for dried cranberries. And add cilantro.)

  6. What knocks out fresh skunk smell?
    This stuff. All natural Lime Mate mist.
  7. Meditation works you guys.
    I was getting antsy as I always do waiting for the time to leave the retreat house, bags packed and everything and I thought, no, let's stop and be present to now. And I sat, and I breathed, and prayed the Jesus Prayer and imagined God's light coming into me ... And managed to not be anxious for 15 minutes.
#6 thing that I learned
(And yes, there could be prettier pictures from my retreat that I could share but who needs an image heavy post?)

I am linking up with Emily's chatting at the sky's What I learned in April linkup! What did you learn in April?

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