Salty Zebra

 Depression. It makes food taste... bland. Sunny days look... dim. Even comedians don't sound funny anymore. So, what's the point of going on a cruise if you're depressed? Here's my take on it. As with many of my other symptoms, you're going to be depressed whether you're at home or on a cruise, so you may as well be on a cruise!   Depression, at least for me in this season, doesn't mean that I'm miserable. It simply means that I get 40% less enjoyment out of what I'm doing. I see things differently. I experience things differently. How does that play out in real, lived experience? Well, for example, I have found that my interactions with people on this cruise haven't gone as well as I remember in the past. Negativity hits me quite a bit harder, so the lady sitting next to me at my dinner with the officers last night complaining about the temperature of her food and how long it took for dessert to come stood out much more starkly than it would ha...

  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. (Isaiah 9:1a)   These last few weeks for me have been cloaked in darkness. Only God knows the reason. Is it because those around me have been dealing with depression for so long and it finally wore off on me? Is it because of the pain I’ve been experiencing ratcheting up a few more notches? Is it the death threats and the darkness of that situation? Is it a chemical imbalance in my body that has little or nothing to do with my external circumstances? Again, only God knows. What I know is that it is very real and I have been experiencing it deeply. I hoped a cruise to sunnier climates would help last week, but I found that the darkness just followed me there too.   Today’s SOAP verse for our new study, The Savior Who Comes Near, is Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Wonderful Adviser, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...

  In the midst of full schedules, noisy distractions, and uncertain seasons, something deep within us longs to slow down. We crave more than just rest. We crave reconnection, a moment of stillness, and a sense of God’s presence that reminds us we’re not alone.*  This quote is from the introduction of this year's Love God Greatly Advent study, The Savior Who Comes Near . It resonated deeply with me, and if it resonates with you as well, you might want to consider joining me in studying this Advent season! I'll be starting on Monday, November 24th and following along for four weeks, until Friday, December 19th. Knowing me, though, my posts will be sprinkled with a little of this and that added in, so they might continue right up till Christmas or beyond. If you'd like to stay on track with this one, consider picking up your own copy - either physical or digital - or downloading the app .   The focus of this study is on how Jesus comes near to us. The first week we...

 What does night mean to you? Is it a time of rest and rejuvenation? Do you look forward to the end of the day with all its work and worry? Or does darkness bring with it a sense of dread? Do your thoughts begin to spiral and the "what ifs" multiply? Tish begins her book by looking at the night and what it means to different people at different times in history. When the prayer of Compline was first written, nighttime was a different creature. They did not have electric lights and cell phones, ambulances, ERs and 911. There were no security systems on the houses and the threat of thieves or worse was very real. Tish explores how, "we... face our vulnerability in a unique way as darkness falls." She considers the way, apart from the distraction of daytime, we are faced with amplified grief and anxiety.  The prayer of compline is from a monastic tradition dating back to the sixth century where Benedict and his fellow monks would pray eight times a day, starting with ...

 Can you believe it's been two months since we started this study ? I'm not sure I got out of it what I had hoped. I was looking for an overview of the Bible and seeing Jesus from beginning to end, but I think I got sidetracked by different things each day. I hardly ever wrote specifically about what the verse referred to. So, as I go about this wrap up, rather than writing about what I wrote about, I'm going to look at the verses I was given and see if I can get the big picture.  Of course, if you're going to do an overview of the Bible, you're going to start in Genesis with creation. The first day  we looked at God's work in creation, and how on the seventh day He rested. In the creation story we see Jesus, in fact we learn later in John 1:3  that everything that was made in creation was made by Jesus. Next, in Genesis 1:26-27 , we hear God say to Himself, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness." Is Himself correct if He is three in ...

 As I promised before , here is the first installment of my synopsis of Tish Harrison Warren's book, Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep  *. A dear friend shared this book with me while I was going through a very difficult time last summer and I'm so happy to share it with you as well. Tish Harrison Warren is the author of one of my top three favorite books of all time,  Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life  *. She has influenced my perspective on life, God, and how they all connect in so many ways. I love how she uses the historical practices of the church to explore everyday life and faith.  This book is a deep expository of the prayer of compline , found in the Book of Common Prayer , which is primarily used by the Anglican church but has influenced other denominations such as Lutherans and Methodists. Before this has you heading off to read something else, or worse doom scrolling on your phone, I'd encourage you to ...

  So, you’ve made it to Platinum status (or maybe even higher) with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). What should you make sure to take advantage of so you don’t miss out on any of your perks? I’m here to talk you through it today.   Your benefits begin before you ever board the ship, so keeping these things in mind can save you money, improve your experience or both! As soon as you join the Latitudes Rewards Program , after your first cruise, you are eligible to book future cruises with extra rewards points associated. Typically you receive 1 point per cruise night in a regular room. If you book a Suite or a room in the Haven, you’ll get an extra point per night, but you’ll pay for that point with a much higher room cost. What you may not know is that you can receive a free extra point per night, moving you up in status twice as fast, by booking a member cruise. You can find these when searching by choosing “More” and “Past Guest Offer.” I’ve gotten a great deal of my points th...

 Well, this is a post I never thought I'd be writing! I'm going to start with the backstory, which I didn't get until we were pretty far into this but which I think will help it be clearer for you to understand.  Evidently my nephew who lives in Tennessee has been up to no good. For quite some time he's been driving around baiting people of other races (he's white) with terrible racial slurs and trying to get them to fight him, presumably so he'll feel justified in shooting them. Yeah, that's pretty awful! He's been posting his shenanigans on social media, and while Facebook took his videos down, X has left them up for everyone to see.  As you can imagine, this has caused quite the backlash. People who are offended by his behavior and those that support it, have grouped together and continued the hurt and violence. The group in opposition to him decided that it would benefit them to post his family's names, phone numbers, and addresses on the interne...

 Our pets are truly a part of our family, and what affects them affects us deeply as well. A few weeks ago, I noticed that my little old man dog, Shadow, was squinting a lot and had watery eyes. I began to get concerned and took him into our local vet.  Shadow joined our family as a puppy 12 years ago. My youngest son, who was 9 at the time, loved our Golden Retriever, Ginger, but longed for a little dog his size that he could pick up or cuddle on his lap. Sure, Ginger would have loved to do this with him, but they weighed about the same amount, so this just didn't seem practical! He saved up his money and when he saw a flyer in one of the shops in Ocean Shores for puppies, he was sold! We got to go meet the parents and see what they were like, and my son chose the puppy that spoke to his heart. The day we brought the puppy home, we stopped at the hardware store so that I could run in and grab a couple of new food and water bowls for him, he could literally fit inside of Ginge...

  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21:3-4  Do you ever dream of a day when you are no longer in pain? I sure do! How about a day when the relationship issues that plague you are healed? A day when the weight of depression is lifted? A day when you do not have to fear death or mourn the death of loved ones? God’s promises to us at the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, are so precious and give us something to hold on to as we endure the challenges of this present age.  Sometimes things are so difficult that we need a little hope to hold onto. In the darkness of winter, we get Christmas. In the sadness of Good Friday, we have East...

  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.   Ephesians 2:8-9  Have you ever felt like spirituality was complicated? Like there’s a huge long list of “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not”s? Have you been overwhelmed by the weight of your sin debt and felt like nothing could set you even in the scales of eternity? Have you thought about “getting right with God” but hesitated because you didn’t want to have to quit certain things or change behaviors? I’ve got really good news for you today – God didn’t want to make coming to Him complicated or overwhelming, He made it super simple .   I think that people like to make things complicated. They’ve said that in order to be right with God you need to accept Jesus as your Savior and go to church every week. In order to receive salvation from your sins you need to believe in Jesus and read your Bible and pray every...