it is well

with my soul…it is well, it is well, with my soul! That is the tune that I found myself humming in the shower yesterday morning at Sustainable Faith in Norwood, Ohio. Two days of quiet time and good food and beautiful company certainly refills the reservoirs of peace. We’ve shared insightful books, and deep thoughts, and our hearts, and it was awesome. Jody makes a warm and hearty breakfast for us all- and the coffee is second to none! Nice to wake up to on a chilly morning:

Homemade bread and warm boiled eggs and freshly made oatmeal with raisins and nuts…hit the spot for sure. Dave’s art work was on the table too:

Do you do that with leftover tangerine peelings? I wish I was that creative. And I wish I’d gotten my shadow out of the picture. Sigh.

Lunch was tamales- homemade tamales from Maria, and when the salsa is labeled with a handmade sign that says “Burn your guts out hot”- I believe it, and I don’t go near it. Larry takes a big bite and he might turn a shade or two redder but that’s it. If I tried it, I’d be crying, trying to cram myself into the kitchen sink to get my whole head under the faucet.  If you look closely, you can see the jalapeño seeds on the tamales- that is plenty hot enough for me!!

I am so looking forward to our next trip to this beautiful and peace-filled place. Here is a thought I am taking away from our time there (one of many!). This is probably really obvious, I realize, but there is such a difference between being “current” with someone- meaning, you know what is going on in their life for the most part, and “truly understanding” someone, meaning you really “get” how they are feeling about what is going on. You might know their daughter is having a birthday, so you are current, but you might not know that this birthday means so much to them, because it means she goes to kindergarten this year, or it is only one more year ’til college and it’s freaking them out a bit. You might know someone is in school, but do you know what classes are the most fun for them, or what is the most challenging part of their schedule? Do we take enough time to truly know someone, in a way that perhaps we, ourselves, would like to be known? I know we can’t do that for everyone we know, I know that I consider it a gift to be just current with so many people, but I am welcoming now being on the watch for more opportunities to “truly understand” the people I find in front of me each day.

here is the promised link for yesterday’s pea soup recipe: http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=261