Day 11

I'm been in the kitchen for most of the morning.
Slicing. Chopping. Frying. Stirring.
I noticed that even though I could never be considered a "great" cook, or a neat one, there is a certain creative rhythm I get into while in the kitchen.  Think the cleaning the kitchen scene in the Big Chill. Whether you circle around an island (table for me), open and close the refrigerator or make little bell sounds when a spoon hits a metal pot, the kitchen is made for dancing. Maybe that's why our Native American grandmothers began dancing around their camp fires. If you've ever scene these ladies dance, it is not like the gyration-filled,  hootin' and hollerin' of their male counterparts. The women go at a slow paced kind of a shuffle.  Their dance is one of quiet continuity - a woman's dance.

I'm preparing for my church's annual Baby Shower which will take place tomorrow. In typical Merry Me fashion, in order for me to pull something like this off, I have to "do it all." I don't know how to ask for help, and if someone offers help, I don't know how to accept it.  I'm sure there is some ego involved. My control issues are rearing their ugly heads.  I've always kind of been an all or nothing girl.

The theme for this year's shower, is A Mother's Prayer. After breakfast I'm going to ask the women to make prayer flags. The shower began 7 years  ago when I let my mind wander back to that Bethlehem stable and saw the teenage mother with no "womenfolk" to help her labor, deliver and celebrate. I'm not dismissing the role of Joseph, or the animals who must have mooed and cooed in silent prayer. I'm not discounting the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  I just think at a time like that Mary might have wanted some women around to wipe her brow, clean her up and put some diapers on the baby.  With those thoughts in mind, I conceived the baby shower idea.

When Christmas came this year I had a hard time reconciling the joyous celebration of Christ's birth with the tragic events of Newtown. Mothers, from Eve on down have known both exhilaration and heartbreak, agony and ecstasy.  My goal is to have the shower attendees focus on the mothers they have known and loved and pray for mothers the world over. We are going to make flags then hang them in the sanctuary to be added to the Sunday service music and candles.

If you feel compelled to join us, please do so. Add your prayers to ours.

Merry ME

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