Sunday Salon...October 7

Weather:  Sunny and warm.  Simply beautiful day. We are having an amazing Fall in the Pacific NW. The evenings are cool but after the chill of the morning burns off we have been experiencing beautiful, warm days.

This past week: I had some frustrations at work that made me both angry and disappointed in myself. I hate it when that happens.

This Week-end: we are participating in a program organized through our church called Faith in Action. The motto for this program is: "Don't go to church, be the church."  We had over 20 projects in our community providing opportunities for our members to serve. Examples: working at a local clothing bank switching over the clothing from summer to winter wear; collecting food outside a grocery store for the Salvation Army to give from their food pantry; assisting a shut-in with yard work; building a wheelchair ramp for person recently disabled; making quilts for a nursing home, kids made cookies and delivered them to local firefighters as a thank you for their service to us; etc.

Yesterday. I collected food outside a grocery store for Salvation Army and my husband cleaned up the yard of a church member who is a shut-in. He made many trips to the dump in our old truck with debris from her yard.

Today: We spent four hours working at the L'Arche Farm helping put the vegetable garden to bed for the winter. If you have never heard of L'Arche before it is an amazing community that assists adults living with intellectual disabilities. It was an honor to serve them with my sweat and labor. Plus it was fun working along side my husband and other friends from our church.

Book(s) I've finished this week:

• Abhorsen by Garth Nix...the third book in the Old Kingdom/Abhorsen trilogy. I had that sad feeling that comes sometimes when I finish a book that I wish would never end.  Loved it. Loved the whole series.

Currently reading/listening to:  

• Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson...I'm half finished with this book. I am really in a reading funk right now and can barely make myself read these days. The plot: a teen returns to a cabin for a summer with her father who is dying from cancer. She also has to confront an event that occurred during a past summer which altered her relationships with friends in the area.
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.... thank goodness for audiobooks or my reading would be down to a trickle. I am enjoying this book quite a lot by a favorite author.

Scripture Lesson today: Matthew 25:45 "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'

I'm praying for: two friends with lung cancer and for their families.

From the kitchen: Brownies with German Chocolate frosting. OK. I know it is not on the diet but YUM!