Meditation and Yoga

Sometimes we need to be hit with foam bricks :)  Yesterday the family and I went to the library to return books before they became overdue. Our typical library trip has the kiddos in the Children's section of the library which is absolutely fantastic; Wife lingers with the kiddos and I go and wander through the CD section or the non-fiction floor. Instead I decided to look at the DVD selections and found 2 yoga dvds that I was planning on buying but thought hey I can try them out first.

Sweat Pea wanted to do the dvds right away, but I wanted to do my walking video first then use the yoga video to unwind before they went to bed; after a bit of oh pleases she agreed to wait. Sonshine wanted to wait as well, and I was surprised that he wanted to do the yoga with us, but pleased.

Sweat Pea and I have lots of things we like to do in common, things where we interact directly with each other and things we do near one another, wanting each others company but not each other's direct interaction. Sonshine needs lots of direct interaction and doesn't do well with doing things on his own.

However, Sonshine really enjoys meditation and will meditate on his own at bedtime even if we can't meditate together, and he really seemed to enjoy the yoga. We both needed to stop at the same time; I worry that's he's gotten pudgy and out of shape, and the yoga will be a nice way to build flexibility and strength in his body. Sweat Pea was able to do all the poses pretty easily and could have kept going :) She's super strong and flexible and loves showing us all these poses she makes up.

I'm really happy that Sonshine and I have found something other then video games to connect around, something that's spiritual and good for us both. And there's an energy we can share in these activities together that's really beautiful.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope y'all have joyous and festive holidays, and a brilliant new year! I'm excited for the holidays and for the new year, as I will either earlier in the year have a final answer or later in the year have that final answer.

I received my draft report and it is a wonderful report and recommendation with only one detail needing correction. So I gave the counselor that detail and sent my release, so now I wait until the new year to see if the official version makes it to the Diocese in time. It should as long as the report is mailed before or on the 29th. And if perchance it doesn't, I have a back-up plan that may or may not be acceptable, which would be to ask if the draft could be used in place of the official. So I wait in my advent and hope for an epiphany :)

To know where I'll be, to be able to tell my children where they'll be by mid-January - there is no better gift then this, no better way to start off my new year.

Metal Fatigue

This text comes from Wikipedia for Fatigue (metal):

In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.

Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeated loading and unloading. If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic cracks will begin to form at the surface. Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, and the structure will suddenly fracture. The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp corners will lead to elevated local stresses where fatigue cracks can initiate. Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets are therefore important to increase the fatigue strength of the structure.

Q: What stands out for you in this text?
A: The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life.

Q: Why are you reading about metal fatigue?
A: I thought it a lovely play on words of a sort, mental fatigue, and I became curious about how closely metal and mental fatigue would coincide.

Q: Are you worried about metal fatigue?
A: Ah, no. I watched "The Princess Bride" with my family Friday night (it's our family movie night), and there's this scene where Westley is being tortured on this machine that suctions the life out of you. And sometimes this is what this process feels like, at times the process takes more then it returns; it fatigues.

Q: The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life. Are you worried about your shape?
A: Sometimes. "Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets are therefore important to increase the fatigue strength of the structure." What are my round holes and smooth transitions? Prayer, meditation, exercise...and what have I been neglecting...yeah, the things that strengthen.

Q: One last question. You talk sometimes about "the train arriving at the station," what does the landscape of your train look like?
A: Prairies and mountains, and it's summertime, with wide open blue skies and the smell of warm earth filling the air. The wind blows through my hair and my body is strong. There's a stool to sit on, and I can lean my head back when I meditate or pray. It's beautiful and I feel good.

Beautifully Done

I first saw this on Uncloseted Pastor's blog, and want to share it here:

Weather and lots of talking

I drove in the night before, because "the office" is too far away to attempt the drive first thing in the wee morning hours and traffic would be too heavy. But, wow was the weather horrid. There were times when I was doing 40mph and had a death grip on the steering wheel. My 4 hour drive took, about 6 hours. Then the hotel errored, but thankfully was able to correct my reservations, else I'd of been looking for a new hotel that night. But the other two days the weather was wonderful.

My family came with me and they did touristy things each day and had a blast. We don't expect to be in that area again for quite a long time, so this was their opportunity to see more of the U.S.

Both of my days at "the office" were really good. The two people I needed to interact with were surprised and pleased at my ability to be forthright and open. Their comment surprised me cause I thought wouldn't everybody be that way. But, apparently they often have to pull-teeth or dig to see what people are hiding. And because I was very open, and because all of my tests indicate consistently normal and healthy I (hence we) got to leave early. And since everything went so well I should barring some oddity have my report before Christmas! I hope so because the Diocese is closed from Christmas until the New Year.

No surprises in that I do indeed know myself well, and the tests indicate that I'm well suited for ministry :) But, I'm hoping to not have to take that many tests to evaluate "me" for a very long time. So, now I wait. I'm getting so much better at waiting, even though that's not my nature ;)