Several years ago my best friend suggested that we both create a Nativity calender and send that to each other as a way of participate in each other's holiday. I had no clue what a Nativity calendar was and she explained it to me.

It would look festive and be made from fabric. There would be 24 numbered pockets on it ... and when finished, each pocket would hold a small gift to be opened on that day ... leading up to the final pocket being opened on Christmas Eve.

Okay ... got it ... kinda.

I'm going to go see if I still have this creation so you can see what I'm talking about (D, remember all that super fine glitter?!) Yes! Easy to find ... here they both are. That was a very sweet and thoughtful idea, and my children loved opening the treasures as we counted down.



Traditional Nativity Calendar ...

What I thought she said ...

I sewed something together with pockets and basically painted a Christmas card on it ... and loaded it down with glitter ... and I do mean loaded, this thing is probably twenty years old and it's still sparkling!

I am thinking about all that this morning, because I am thinking about how differently people see things ... ideas ... and the way we express ourselves within an idea. Like "blogs". I follow four blogs routinely. They are pretty different from each other. Well, totally different from each other.

One day a very good friend suggested I would enjoy blogging ... and especially as a way of keeping current with each other. Great idea. It definitely serves that purpose. Two is sitting in the room with me talking about anthropology (just off and on as suits her...) while I am trying to note something here, so if this sounds disjointed, it is. I'm going to skip ahead to what made me think of the Nativity calendars this morning ... .

I saw this blog as a journal of a personal journey towards whatever comes next (by that I mean who I am becoming and the processes that help me become that ... how I deal with the circumstances that my choices present to me ... something like that ... sometimes about actual events, sometimes about stuff I'm just thinking about). I saw this as a place to express some of the things that are significant to me.

One thing I totally didn't anticipate was that I might be "read" by strangers ... some of whom have become "friends". As I wrote here it became apparent to me that I was expressing just a few pressing ideas ... maybe ironing out some issues. I was working specifically on "trust" ... seems like a lot of people have difficulties with trusting other people. I thought that was an important area for me to address in my own life, because I thought it was important for me to learn how to trust God ... more. Something prompted me to look back over my blog at some of the things I have written about ... (I re-visited some of the posts that I have moved to "storage".) ... and I guess I am still thinking about with this whole shelter idea. Shelter perceived as ... relationships with others and with God ... shelter like a garden with no thorns, like an Arc, like a dwelling or even a quilt ... like a band aid or a hug ... esoteric shelter like where we go to feel good or strong or where we spend our days/contribute ... embracing, comfortable shelter like a picture or a story that makes me smile and opens a window to see things through different eyes.

Because I write notes (here) about what seems important to me I get to see a common thread running through and I believe that is a thread in the tapestry of this (my) life. I probably would never notice that thread in the hectic pace that life is lived at. I can see the seconds captured here ... the larger chucks of time that memories hold wouldn't remember the details. For some reason it seems like we forget alot of important stuff before we "process it" ... and opportunities to grow or understand better, are lost. And we get to do been there done that over and over!

These last two weeks I have spent some time hanging out with architects ... established architects who have developed ideas about what shelter is and maybe should be ... some of them see shelter strictly as tangible while others are more interested in how shelters may lend ambiance ... I'm not expressing that idea well ... shelters may cocoon or even empower - or whatever is needed. I think it is cool that unexpectedly, time with architects just happened ... I am serious about this shelter idea and who better then a bunch of architects to hear various perspectives from? ... and I didn't even go looking for them, they just showed up at some things I attended in support of my husband's business ... architects are a lot more talkative then engineers btw. One of those guys told me about this guy in Arizona (Turrell) who is building a (shelter) structure with the specific intent to house light (with spiritual connotations, if you like) and express the notion of light and dark and our movement (or choices) within that space ... and how we design our own experience within that space ... and isn't that kinda what life is?(my interpretation of what the artists work expresses to me in italics)

Shelter. I am getting better at extending trust. I am getting better at not letting my inability to extend trust in some relationships erode or destroy those relationships. I mean, you can't expect a canvas tent to withstand the same circumstances that a fallout shelter would "weather" with ease. I'm getting better at discerning the differences ... and so accommodating my ability to benefit from various sheltering situations. (It makes sense to me) I'm getting a lot better at taking a chance on new relationships/experiences ... without the fears that lack of trust imposes. It's kinda fun ... I'm growing.

Now I am out of time for this today ... soooooo way out of time.

Someone suggested I blog. I didn't have a clue of what a blog should look like ... this is what the blog I made looks like. I wish it was more about sunshine and especially flying in beautiful smooth air ... . I feel extremely fortunate that I can hear many life lessons within the context of aviation.