Friday FiveWhen you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Singing Owl seems to have some heavy stuff going on:
I am at a life-changing juncture. I do not know which way I will go, but I have been thinking about the times, people and events that changed my life (for good or ill) in significant ways. For today's Friday Five, share with us five "fork-in-the-road" events, or persons, or choices. And how did life change after these forks in the road?

I've been thinking about forks-in-the-road a lot lately, and I've been thinking about playing with it a little more. I had a nutty with Mr. M a few weeks ago, a big wailing hour of, "I'm going to be a secretary forever. And I'm a BAAAAAAAAADDD SECRETAAAAARY....WAAAAH!" It was closely followed by a hicupping, "and...and... I've wasted all this time...and... and... I don't even have anything to SHOW FOR IT."

I told you, I was having a nutty. And I know none of that is true. (Well, I'm really not a spectacular secretary, that's true.) But I've learned a lot in the 8 years since I graduated, and I've done some gutsy things that I tend to forget about. Just yesterday I was telling my wonderful, marvelous boss about how I got to this town-- made a list, did some reseach, and then just popped myself into a new place.

So, I've decided to make a life resume, just to remind myself where I've been, and that there's some really good stuff in there (because it's so easy to forget when it's not a linear path). I particularly appreciate today's Friday Five--it's a nice start to the exercise I've been thinking about.

1. Going to Denison. I didn't see it until June orientation (I so did not come from a family that knew about doing college tours one's junior year), but it was like we'd been separated at birth. I loved it.
2. Moving to PA. I don't want to stay here forever, but I'm proud of how I got here.
3. Marrying Dave. Smartest darn thing I've ever done.
4. Starting formal discernment. I didn't finish the way I thought I would, but I don't even have words for how important it's been to me.
5. Starting real relationships with RevGals. Diane over at faith in community quoted a prof of hers once as saying that we should talk to everyone, because we never know what the Holy Spirit has in mind. It's so true, and it's been a wonderful philosophy to embrace.

PSA: Scraps

When I told my mom that I wanted to start sewing, she sent me some scraps to get me started. She doesn't sew, but somewhere along the line got a whole bunch of scraps from one of my aunts. Here's the thing: they don't look like me. And I keep thinking about using them as accents, but then when I try to pair them with other things... wait... they still don't look like me. And then I feel guilty about buying fabric that I love, because I have this basket of fabric already. But I don't like it.

I'll happily mail my scraps to anyone who wants them. If you like, I'll post pics, but if you're feeling brave, I'll just pop them in the mail. They're all quilting cotton. There are 2 small old-fashioned florals-- one with a buttery yellow background, another with a mauve background. One's a bright/deep red, sort of mottled. There's a small piece of little green frogs on white. Don't remember what else off the top of my head, but I'd rather send it off as a whole lot, rather than sending bits and bobs, so if you're willing to take a chance, let me know, and I'll send them to you!

****Yippee-- I'm sending them off to Mindy!

Gooseberry

Tomorrow night, two really wonderful women are being ordained to the priesthood in my (?)diocese (in my convocation, even). I really admire both of them and their ministries, so I'm going to the service. I'm even excited about the event.

But there's a part of me that feels a bit like I'm going to an ex-boyfriend's wedding (to follow the relationship analogy that's been with me through this process). I know that I broke up with him, and I know that I certainly don't want to be standing up at the altar with him... but I also know that I want to be standing up there with someone, the right one. And some people there will speculate about what happened, and others will be surprised I'm there.

I'm sure it'll be fine, but if you could hold me in your prayers tomorrow night, I'd sure appreciate it.

Update: Thank you so much for your prayers. I felt absolutely embraced during the service-- it was really neat. And I was very happily surprised to find that it was easy to celebrate. The ordinands were radiant, and I lost track of how many times I was relieved not to be up there with them. AND, just so that I really, really knew I was taken care of-- God sent the head of my Spiritual Direction program, a Church of the Brethren pastor, to be one of the ordinand's presenters.

A New Thing

OK, not a new thing in the spiritual sense, more in the tangible sense: I made a skirt! It's my first attempt at clothing of any kind, and it's wearable. The waist is enormous a little big on me, and it's a little longer than I expected it to be, but I am wearing something I made today, which I think is pretty cool. I used Francesca DenHartog's Sew What! Skirts book, and it really made the whole concept of sewing clothes seem possible.

It's a wrap skirt, and unfortunately in the pic the front flap is a little bunched up, but you get the idea: