Tapestry

My husband of thirty-six years and I share a love for hospitality, reading and movies, of watching football, and serving God in his church. We are both thinkers more than feelers, strong personalities who enjoy Getting Things Done and closure. In other ways we are not so similar. He loves details and data. I’m the big picture girl. Nowhere he’d rather relax than in the mountains—hunting fishing, hiking. Me, I love museums, conferences, the ballet. But the difference that makes the most difference: He is more the introvert while I am a tiny bit more extroverted. Here are some things we’ve learned to give each other across the great personality divide.

 
Quick! What do you get when you mix history, myth, marketing, romance, and angst? Yes, indeed—Saint Valentine’s Day.
 

On October 23, 2003 in New York’s Grand Central Terminal the StoryCorps Project was launched to celebrate the lives of the uncelebrated by giving people a chance to simply tell their story. A sound booth complete with proper lighting, a table, chairs and recording equipment was installed right in the middle of the station and the interviews began.

In both England and America, slavery was brought down mainly by Christians...but not all of them. Christ-followers fought to wipe out infanticide in most parts of the world. At least some of them did. Christians--but not every Christian--fought against female circumcision half a century before the issue attracted larger attention.

Food sells—not just in the market and the metropolis—but it’s all over the media. Cover stories on pink slime and sustainable farming, trendy diets and super foods make daily news. The Food Revolution is in full swing. But have we missed something?
 

 
One so-called feminist idea that we might think came out of the Enlightenment actually came right out of the Reformation: The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. This teaching opened new ways for men and women to think of women not as intrinsically inferior to men, but as partners called to lead the world to Christ.
 

 
This time of year is full of new beginnings for many of us...new Bible studies, new courses, new projects of all sorts. God created the seasons to give us variety in life, and each new season comes with new expectations and delights. Often, however, a few weeks into the new what- ever, we find ourselves struggling with the same issues, hang ups,  and hindrances as before. Why do we respond the same way and expect a different outcome? Every new season is a new opportunity to get it right.

There are a few things that I would love to change about the laws that seem to govern the universe.  In my alternate reality, kale would taste like chocolate, and I’d have the ability to be about six places at one time.  I’d sing like Adele, and, of course, be paid to shop.
 

A new year often brings new projects, new classes, new jobs, even new romance. We are hardwired from the factory to long for the next new thing. And yet the joy of the new doesn’t last. The New York Times reports that “newlyweds enjoy a big happiness boost that lasts, on average, for just two years…"