sabbath.

I awoke this Sabbath day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Having arrived last night, I’m now rested up in anticipation of what this 2nd Sunday in Epiphany will bring.

Rising early, I made my way to a nearby Starbucks. The morning sky just about painted my way.

The barista showed me her art creation before securing the lid.

A heart-filled way to begin this day.

From there I made my way to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. I chose this parish by the welcome to all sense I had when visiting the church’s website. The associate rector is a woman and that’s always a draw for me.

The moment I walked in, heard the choir, and entered the sanctuary, I knew I was in the right place for worship this day. I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well. Psalm 139:13.

The service was filled with all manner of prayers and hymns that were unfamiliar to me. Each enriched worship for me.

From there I headed off for the reunion with my childhood friend. What a joyous meal it was! Talk was nonstop about our lives then, our lives now, our lives in between then and now. Between us we almost had total recall. We agreed that we grew up in a far different time than our grandchildren do today. More freedom to imagine, to run loose, to PLAY. We are so grateful to have lived our childhood and youth lives the way we did in the 40’s and 50’s.

We could have talked much longer that the hours we had, and indeed we will do this again. Perhaps next year’s Epiphany trip. Here we are many decades later.

Following lunch I headed to a yarn shop, actually The Yarn Shop, aptly named. Unfamiliar with knitting materials and patterns, I sought help from the store manager. He did his best to guide and direct me. I took photos of possible yarns, shared them with Beth, then took a leap of faith that I would make good choices.

Likely you can figure out which one will be my hat.

The young man helping me shared with me how much he likes the yarn on the left. He recently used this particular color to knit a cardigan for himself. He’s hoping for cold weather so he can wear it. I’m hoping with him.

I was instructed to ask that the yarn be wound into a ball. Well, I did ask, and then I was shown how to do it, and wound it Myself I did! When done I remarked about my success and received this response: “we like to empower people.” Considered me empowered as I await the flight from Houston.