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Listening Freewrite

- August 30, 2016 I have other posts that I pulled for some personal reasons. I may repost them some day, but right now, I am afraid to do so.

I have had this beautiful morning.

Hearing the garage door open at about 5:30 am is my signal to pray for my boys as they head off to work at the farm. I meditate on Psalm 145 as I wake up.

I make my Chai tea as per my tradition (Could it be that this has happened more than 10 years?). This morning (since my boys are not sleeping), I play instrumental praise music on my Bose speaker as I make it. Ahhh.

I sit at my happy place desk and center my heart as my tea comes to a boil on the stove.

I bring my tea over to my happy chair, and I find a deer fixedly staring at me from my backyard as the dawn is breaking on this end of August day. Another gift from the Father. I cannot tell you how much it calms my heart.

Now I sit to write for a "Freewrite Fifteen" (and I finally add "Freewrite" to the dictionary on Google so it will no longer have that ominou…
- August 27, 2016
I forgive. I forgive. I forgive.

Summary of Spiritual Direction with Sister Joan
 I always like to summarize things here so I do not forget what I am learning.

The first time with Sister Joan was a realization that I needed a sabbatical. The second was me following through on that. The third (yesterday) was me realizing that I had broken that promise.

The last freewrite earlier this week precipitated me meeting with Sister Joan. What a helpful "unpacking" session. It helps that Sister Joan and I are the same personality type (although she is less of a "feeler" than I am) and we have similar ministries.

Here input:

I need to know when to

- Refer when thing are above my level of expertise
- Trust my intuition (I had a warning sign last May or so and I pulled back. I should have referred though.)

I think when someone has that much of a difficult background, it is important to refer regardless of what is going on on the surface.

In order to not take it personally, I need to realize that the person is speaking from:

- current environment and situation
- perso…

32. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

- August 26, 2016 This is where it all began! It had some fun surprises that tie many things together with the other books.

There is also quite an allegorical message about hearing the voice of God. It is quite beautiful, but I don't want to give away spoilers. This one might be my favorite one of all the Narnia books. It is either this one or The Silver Chair.

Kenneth Branagh is the BOMB reading this too even though I only got to listen to a bit of it before I had to turn it back in and get back in the cue waiting for it! I went ahead and read my husband's 1970's version that has the funkiest cover with the 70's colors on the boarder! Check it out:

My kids are both artists, and they loved looking at all the covers in my husband's 70's set! :)

I read the last two out of order, but I have to say that this was a most satisfying summer of reading this whole series! I am done now, and I am so happy I did it!


29. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
 I was discussing this with my kids after I finished reading this, and I decided that this is my least favorite Narnia book of all the ones I have read (I read The Silver Chair before this one because this one was due at the library, and I did not get it back for weeks, and TSC came up for check out.).
I felt like (and my kids agree) this book was just a bunch of stories. It didn't make me pause and go, "Oh how profound!" It is, by no means, bad (it is Narnia for goodness sake), but it didn't hit me like the other ones have. I do like the transformation of Cousin Eustace in this one though. That is my favorite part because we are all capable of transformation.
My kids also have a "Cousin Eustace" in their life, and we would often have to forebear with him when he was growing up. His statements were even similar to Cousin Eustace's, and we realized that we all must extend grace to him even though he was so trying for us, especially my kids. (Actually, he …

"It Is Well"

- August 23, 2016
Grander earth has quaked beforeMoved by the sound of His voiceSeas that are shaken and stirredCan be calmed and broken for my regardThrough it all, through it allMy eyes are on YouThrough it all, through it allIt is wellThrough it all, through it allMy eyes are on YouIt is well with meFar be it from me to not believeEven when my eyes can't seeAnd this mountain that's in front of meWill be thrown into the midst of the seaThrough it all, through it allMy eyes are on YouThrough it all, through it allIt is wellSo let go my soul and trust in HimThe waves and wind still know His name [repeat last line during 3rd run][x3]It is well with my soulIt is well with my soulIt is well with my soulIt is well with my soul[repeat 3x]It is well it is well with my soul [x3]ahhhhhhh (softly)Through it all, through it allMy eyes are on You LordThrough it all, through it allIt is well with me.[x2]


I won't get too bogged down at my computer this morning. I plan on sitting for 15 minutes and then walking or puttering around the house for 15 minutes. When I work on my pictures today, I will do it on my treadmill desk.

I entirely stress ate the last two days due to some stressful things happening in other peoples' lives. I absorb other people's stress, and I know that I have done that. That was the case on Friday. I was stressed due to another person's hardship and 5 1/2 hours of listening and praying. Then I went back on Saturday and the person "confessed" all the things they had been judging me for - basically telling me all the things I had done wrong in our relationship - some of which was absurd like saying I talked about people and they put two and two and knew who I was talking about - NOT!  There are few people we know that overlap in the area of people whom I work through tough things with, plus, I would share general things about marriage issues, …

31. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
 I think this is the shortest of all the Narnia books that I have read so far. It is a sweet story about Shasta and Bree and their adventures! It goes along with what I learned from The Learning Company about all stories being one of two things:

1) Stranger Comes to Town
2) Hero Goes on a Journey

This is definitely the second one!

I am so enjoying these stories!


This last Friday/Saturday was very stressful for me. I was judged severely by someone, and I am still licking my wounds this morning. When I read what stresses out an ISFJ, it helps me to understand why that is so.
This is from this website: http://psychologyjunkie.com/2015/08/02/how-each-mbti-type-reacts-to-stress-and-how-to-help/ ISFJ – The Protector What stresses out an ISFJ:

– Overexerting themselves by saying “yes” to too many projects.
– Conflict or criticism– Lack of positive feedback– Environments filled with tension– Looming deadlines– Being asked to do things in a way that isn’t clearly defined– Having to overuse their type by having to constantly act as “the responsible one”– Dealing too long with abstract or theoretical concepts.– Unfamiliar territory or an uncertain future When faced with stress, ISFJs become discouraged and depressed. They start to imagine all the things that could go wrong, and they may feel a strong sense of inadequacy. They may feel that everything is all wr…

30. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
 So far, I like Jeremy Northam's narration best of all and think he should play Puddleglum in the next Narnia movie (this is slated to be the next one, but we will see if it EVER gets made).

I loved this book. This is my first book "post-C.S. Lewis Geek Out Self-Guided Walking Tour of Oxford" and two books about the Inklings. So I think C.S. Lewis is a genius bar none.  So, I am listening closely to these Narnia books and realize the brilliance of his prose!

I am going to quote my favorite quote from the whole book. It is toward the end. So, if you don't want spoilers, do not read this!

For context, Puddleglum (a Marshwiggle who is incredibly negative about everything throughout the story), Jill, Eustace, and a prince are all trapped in the underworld by an evil witch. This witch uses her powers of enchantment to persuade these captives to forget about the world above, telling them that their idea of a sun stems from seeing lamps and wishing for a bigger and better la…

Avebury Stone Circle Sunrise
 
28. Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Glyer
 I did not give The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklingsa super good rating, and I wanted to read this one in order to compare the two. I realize it is somewhat like comparing apples and oranges. The Fellowship was very broad and academically boring with moments of shear brilliance as it sought to give in-depth biographies of four of the main players who formed the Inklings.

This book had a very specific purpose: to look at written documents and draw some conclusions about how creative works are formed in community. It succeeded swimmingly! I loved this book from beginning to end, but I am also glad I "slogged" through the other one because the "brilliant" parts were so brilliant! I even used an excerpt from a brilliant section as I walked along Addison's Walk in Oxford in July 2016:

So, I do not regret reading that book that was so difficult to get through!

But this book was so well-written. It was concise, and I learned so much more about the inner work…
Location: Oxford, UK


- August 07, 2016
I have not done a freewrite in a while, but I suppose you could consider all of my travelogue journaling a freewrite. Yet it did not include a 16 minute timer set and just freeform writing that has no agenda or purpose.

So here I write at 6:20 am on a Sunday morning, one week out from our dream trip to England.

Reflections on the time? Summations?

I loved it. There were a few points of tension (not knowing where the car park was in Stratford and not being able to get internet service to reload our Google maps), but all in all, it was beautiful. The itinerary (will I ever be able to spell this word without spell check?) really did go without a hitch. I am so glad I have an active husband. There is no way someone out of shape could have done that (unless they had taken taxis or the Tube from point A to point B).

Some things I would have done differently in London might have been to not do the "City Walk" that Rick Steves' suggested, mainly because it is a very congested ar…

Travelogue: Day 14 - Leaving London

- August 01, 2016
Our last day in England. What a trip! We woke up fairly early and had some time with God. We were not supposed to leave until 10:30 for the airport, but we decided it was better to hang out there than at bare bones hostel room. They did have a free shuttle to the airport, and the guy was nice, and the other guy in the car . . . Well, we were convinced he was from the mafia or something. He was talking about his private jets that he takes and his 30 acres in California that is just his vacation spot, but he was staying in a hostel? It was funny.

We got back to the airport, dropped off our luggage (after a very extensive Delta security check while waiting in line), and we went to get our refund of our Oyster Card (the thing you use for the Tube in London), we got our 5 pound deposit back and only .80 was left on the card! We estimated our Tube usage perfectly! We had pounds to burn for breakfast, and we ate a nice place in the airport. Then we walked to the prayer room.

While praying, so…

Travelogue: Day 13 - Windsor Castle
 I had a tummy ache in the middle of night (sometimes happens when I have too much tea during the day, but the tea in England is SO GOOD). So, I got up at about 3:30 am to journal about our journey over the hills and dales of England  (since I was not able to do it on this blog because my computer had broken).

We had an early 7:30 breakfast with a nice business man who has 350 million pounds of sales per year. Their biggest seller: a stand shaped like a nose that holds people's glasses. Go figure.

The video above gives you an idea of our breakfast and the wonderful St. Mary's Hall. Here is one I did of the rest of the house:

And here is our wonderful host, Joan with George:

Joan said she did not want us to go. So she must have liked us. It was a lovely time there. We left by 8 am and had an easy journey to Windsor Castle. We kept seeing that there was traffic congestion ahead, but we got off two exits before they said it was going to start. YAY!

We parked in the Alma Road (formerl…
