Lisa Colón DeLay

Every year some pranks are pulled on April Fool’s Day.

My kids were big into putting a rubber band on the kitchen sink sprayer. They would high five every time I forgot about it. (I let them have their fun and kept it rigged for most of the day, as they were at home on holiday.)

Redbox did a funny and enjoyable one too.

(click for full prank…it’s worth it for the cheese alone!)

I have been so occupied with my obligations of work, family, and grad school that I didn’t get to poke around and see what other pranks were had on a bigger scale.

What did I miss?

Offer some links to your favorites of this year (or any year) and let me know what I missed!

In the start of a new year…sometimes we cast a vision for the next 12 months.

Sometimes it’s through a New Year’s resolution or a multipage strategic proposal.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind as you craft a healthy vision for the months to come.

• Don’t decide a vision in a relational vacuum. 
(Make use of community to account for the blind spots or gaps you’ll have. Trust me you have them.)

• Don’t forget to have “check-ups”
(Every 2-3 months re-energize the vision cast by reiterating the vision, for some extra oomph. Gosh it’s fun to type “oomph”!

• Adjust the vision when needed.
(Since vision-casting is future oriented, it’s a mistake to act if it’s written in stone. During the check-ups see what needs to be adjusted, added, or put aside.)

• Focus on the strengths of your team.
(Whether it’s a personal or team vision-casting for the year, play to your strengthens.)

• The vision trifacta! Set immediate, intermediate, and longer-range goals.
(Part of making progress is sensing movement. Accomplishing some short term goals right away boosts morale. It’s a psychological edge.)

This post is part of a synchro blog. To access other thoughts on vision-casting, or to add your own to the mix go HERE.

In January and February I’m speaking on Discernment at least once per week.

A most common trap often gets us as we endeavor to discern God’s will in our lives: We get hung up on technique.

In addition, Technique itself appears to be personally thwarted by God.

For example, have you ever tried to pray in a new way (say, “centering prayer” or “praying in a labyrinth” or “lectio divina”) and found that after a wonderful first experience it just fell flat the next time? Inexplicably.

It’s a hard lesson to absorb but techniques do not produce a fulfulling expeiernce with God. It is a grace of God that may give us profound experiences, but God mixes it up.

We’ll deceive ourselves sometimes and try to reproduce something when other things need to be learned. When they don’t go as expected we feel the gap. Sometimes it makes us frustrated or confused.

Just like we wouldn’t want to be treated like a vending machine…God doesn’t appreciate it either. If a good friend knew she could borrow your car by bringing you coffeecake because the two activities were tied together last week, it would be really rude for her to expect that a simple donation of coffeecake equalled having car keys in-hand. Treating the relationship as a mechanized transaction undermines the intimacy of the relationship, and can even damage it. No bueno.

Just waiting for God without his felt presence is a gift. (maybe read that again)
It’s just a dry gift when God doesn’t “show up” in a way we expect…But the dryness or silence doesn’t make our other experience untrue, or the present one less important.

On the contrary, many claim that they have more blessing and insight once they’ve been through some sort of waiting. (Though it can be no fun at the time.)

So if your prayers feel like they bounce off the ceiling …remember nothing is wrong (necessarily)…. The dark / obscure time, or the time when experience isn’t there are an invitation from God to encounter him differently. I’m in this season right now.

Our theology can pick up where it seems our experience has left off. The two should be nicely tied together anyway. Knowing who God is important. He is always working. Just let him do that. Breathe a little easier!

Is your prayer life dry or full experientially these days? Let me know.

To read other articles on Discernment in this Series, click the tag near the title of this post that reads “DISCERNMENT”.

(Check out The Cadre in the tab above. There’s just about 1 week left to get in on that!)

Give your kids the weirdest stocking stuffers EVER.
Their imagination just might kick up a notch.

If they run into a creative wall, you need only use youtube to get your ideas. (or click links in this post)

Clothes pins

perfect for:

• building blanket forts
• clipping up artwork
• gadgets and decor

Ream of paper

perfect for 

• loads of things!

Roll of Duct Tape

• Check out these instructions on how to make a cool Duct Tape wallet

Ball of twine or wire

perfect for

• use with the previously mentioned clothes pins for hanging art
• making jewelry
• making crafts or gadgets

Notepad

perfect for

• flip book animation drawings (here’s a “how to”)
• pop outs
• pencil & paper games

Magnets (especially Neodymium ones)

perfect for

• Making a homopolar motor when you include:
• “AA” Battery
• Wire

Office Supplies

• paper clips
• post it notes
• rubber bands

From the "Sea Rocket" Ocean City, MD

speedboat

When you hear the title “Sea Rocket” what do you think?

Me too.

While I was away, I took a nice ride on the Sea Rocket Northward off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland to the Delaware line and back again. We saw about 40 dolphins, and the breeze from the speed was great. But, I won’t kid you, there were a few toddlers onboard. So—It was a fun family-style watercraft excursion, dressed up with a high energy monicker.

As great as it was, I couldn’t help but thinking, “If the ride was called the “Sea Boat” would it have the same number of riders?

As much as I’d like to think of, or write of this time in my life as fascinating, exhilarating, or exciting, to describe it as such would be to add “Sea Rocket” label to it. I’d be trying to up the coolness…and it just isn’t completely accurate.

Sometimes I read blogs of people who seem to be so much more exciting than me. They have the stories and pictures to prove it. They rub shoulders with famous and fascinating people, and share the details. They write “Sea Rocket” posts, and seem really impressive, if you dig that sort of thing. But, I wonder if it’s more of a Sea Rocket marketing angle to generate more blog traffic. Or, maybe it’s simply old fashioned insecurity. Do you know what I’m talking about?

I’ve done it too. I’ll think, if Sea Rocket posts don’t happen, will readers get bored and look for more exciting people to read? Voyeurism is such a weird and shifty animal (a.k.a construct). It’s dependent on cooperation, too, no? Take the Sales Register tabloid stands. Those “news” rags parade sensational stories to find the same niche. We like to gawk. We like to see the celebrities in “misery” or read something stimulating and newsy. Who doesn’t read the whacky headlines while waiting in line? We think, “Who buys this stuff?” But we’ll read the headlines, too. All “Sea Rocket” stories, I tell you.

People peacock like this on Facebook too. It’s a tabloid universe. They make status posts of how amazing their circumstances are, and post photos to chronicle their Sea Rocket kind of life. I’m guessing it’s just the latest way to “keep up with the Joneses”. Do you think so? It’s this age-old need to feel significant and important. Technology helps us show off.

Do you ever rename, or reposition yourself, or your life, in some way, to exhibit a “Sea Rocket” type experience?

What’s the best example of this that you’ve seen recently?

Taking an interlude away from my theology of disability post series, today.

As soon as I saw this awesome poster, I wished I was a guy for about 2 seconds. It’s so goofy and cool at the same time.

click for video

There’s probably a good reason why there are no females on this poster. And, no I’m not going to say because Evangelical Christianity is basically a boys club with bonus points for popularity. It’s probably because for some reason we can somehow respect a goofy guy, and still take what he says seriously.

Is there a double standard? Take Tina Fey. She’s obviously brilliant, and she’s also cute, and incredibly funny. But, what if she cranked it up a notch, and started a devotional series, or starting sharing her suggestions on worship music, or maybe exegeting Romans 12. Would her street cred take a dive? Would everyone just start scratching their heads? Maybe that’s a bad example.

Let me try it the other way. What if Beth Moore did a poster spoofing Carol Burnett? Would this help women rely on her more thoroughly while getting out of their pits, or becoming more secure?

What is it about leadership or ministry and gender roles? I’m puzzled.

I may have to test it out personally. A Zena Warrior Princess outfit may in my future.

Carol Burnett

It’s a Tuesday that feels like a Monday. So, to brighten your day, I’m sharing this tiny movie from our picnic, Sunday. (It was a Games2U party.)

Warning: Human-sized hamster balls BOUNCE.

Video is public on facebook, here.

Would you give this a try?

If you like it, Tweet it / share it.

It’s Memorial Day. We aren’t good at remembering, even when we set aside a day nationally to remember. We forget sacrifice. They say glory is forever, but actually it fades very quickly. You can give your life for a cause, and very few will remember or acknowledge it.

“Holiday” is the combination of the words “holy” and “day”. It refers to something set apart. Holidays are important for spiritual growth and maturity. It’s a time to be more mindful, but holidays are also supposed to somehow rejuvenate us and give us hope.

We are fundamentally designed to want and need a regular “sabbath period” during the course of 7 days. A resting point. A time out and away from the common things; normal life. Hardship.

But sometimes, in our times of remembrance, we forget to get our humanity back. We forget to remember the part about hope. Play is a vehicle for hope. Not the only vehicle, of course, but one adults, and even plenty of children don’t notice. Play keeps us humble before a great Creator and our fellow men. Play, somehow, frees us, in spirit, from the bondage of growing old, or rather starting to die. There is something about play the is just, simply, eternal.

True play is where you forget yourself, for a time, through joy or delight found by simple and good things. For it’s own sake. It is to embrace, with both arms, what it means to be you, a wonder and creation of God, unique in this world. And remember all the blessings of being here that come with that. Look around. Play.

When was the last time you “played like a kid”? I’m not talking about being immature. I’m talking about being happy in the moment and enjoying life with abandon, like children are wont to do. Have your “cease the day” moments.

My challenge for you today, or this week, is to find a space of time to do just this. Think of it as good for your soul. What will you do (or be) to have childlike wonder or enthusiasm wash over you?

I’ll start. Here’s what I did yesterday. I tried to just play with youthful exuberance, even if other adults wouldn’t join me, or I appeared the fool. I gave myself the permission God gives us, each holiday, to enjoy life fully. I will admit that after 30 minutes, I felt soggy, and had hardly childlike excitement about that bit. But, until then, it worked. I felt God-given refreshment, in the middle of what is the bitter-sweet life.

Foam machine fun.

Bellegrove Church, Anneville, Pa

My first session with the brothers and sisters at Bellegrove church was a lovely time.
For those in my last class, the free online copy of Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God is here. I hope you enjoy it. You will also find more resources for Lectio Divina here. Just type those two words in the search field, and BOOM–jackpot.

Fasting is the topic for next week.

Together, we’ll be covering the questions:
What is fasting?
What does it involve?
Who fasts; or who should fast?
What’s the point of fasting?
What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks?
How and when has it been used in the Bible, and throughout Christian history?
What kinds of fasting are there?
Should I fast, and for how long?
Guidelines, explanations, and interaction this coming Sunday, January 23rd, and 10 a.m. Bellegrove United Methodist Church, Anneville, Pa. (Worship service, with Pastor Dave Alderson, begins at 8:45a.m.) We hope to see you. The previous post with more details, here.

For those who can’t make it, I’ll post some notes on the lesson, next week. Or, if you’d like to set up some sessions with your group, of 5 or more, contact me.

Have you ever fasted?
Please, share your last experience with fasting, here.
Thank you for reading.

Beautiful Bellegrove church, near Anneville, Pa

Pastor Dave Alderson and I invite you to learn and experience 4 classes on Spiritual Formation topics, at the Bellegrove church a bit north of Anneville, PA.

Going southbound down Rte 943, this beautiful stone church building is located on the left, just north of the small village of Bellegrove. It is 5 miles from I-78 exit South from the Annville/Ft. Indiantown Gap exit for [South] Route 934 heading toward Lebanon Valley College, Anneville (Anneville @ Rtes 422 & 943).
(Get custom directions here.)

I will prepare 4 interactive sessions for the 10 a.m. time slot, for this January 16, 23, 30 and Feb 6, 2011. If you plan to come, please leave a comment below, or call the church (717) 867-7460, so I can prepare materials for your use.

Topics will include prayer, spiritual growth, devotional practices, fasting, and related subjects. Brief and engaging explanations will precede class discussion and involvement. This time is sure to bring added vitality to your prayer and worship experiences with God, and promote spiritual growth and intimacy with our Savior, both collectively and individually.

We really look forward to seeing you!

Please-DON’T Forget! Here is the book I’m giving away (to one “lucky” reader this January) to make Bible reading WAY more interesting and effective.

Can’t make it? Contact me and we’ll come up with something. :)

Harvest Dance and Veterans Day MASHUP

Happy Veterans Day. To those serving and who have served, I thank you. You have my loyalty, because we have had yours. What you have sacrificed means so much.

This was me and my date, in high school, at a dance (that was -obviously- held on Veterans Day). I was really patriotic (perhaps in a bad way) in the 1980s, and I’ve since been put on medication.

Ya like, it?

USA! USA! USA!

Tangled is good: Twister®! (photo: LisaDeLay ©2010)

Spirituality/theology AND humor ≠ peanut butter and jelly?

Peas and carrots?

or More like jelly and mayo?

Or hair and cheesesteak?

Are people who study God (theologians) humorous as much as they are serious?

In my case, yes.

But does that gel? I’m talking like jell-o giggler, gel? Really nicely, with fun and good flavor, and joint protection.

Okay, I’m not paid to teach theology, not yet anyway, so I’m not a pro. Several hundred hours of study should count for something though.

But, I’ve noticed something: If someone tends to take their studies seriously, and their profession seriously, sometimes they lose their sense of humor. It’s not that they can’t be witty on occasion. But I’ve noticed the “humor” can be more sarcastic than uproarious. Theology can be rather dry… but not as in dry humor.

It’s beginning to bother me some, because of the sense that one “has to” pick one way or the other.

• Either you get your respect and admiration seriously honing your forte and thoughts of God, or you pick some sort of madcap way and get sort of dismissed as a lightweight.

Well, rubbish to that.

It shouldn’t be so.

It is a genius blend to be genuinely comical and also thoroughly studied on the important matters of living in this world with a firm consideration of the Divine as the center of it.

It might look like I’m putting it in my mouth, but I have to put my foot in both camps.

So, I’m putting my readers on notice. (Don’t think: Wittenberg Door “notice”. Think: dry erase board.) As anyone knows, straddling can lead to a good hard thwack in the center. I realize this is RISKY. Those of you that know me personally realize this co-mingled vantage point is from where I operate. Some of you may just…not “get it”.

Stay with me here.

I’m not sure where we got the idea that spirituality must be flaky or humorless. Sobriety is one thing, but cheerless? Parish the thought.

If you are new here, welcome. I invite you to what is an engaging game of Twister®, if you will. Here I will not kowtow to stern conventions of how we must study and know God, and our selves, as spiritual creatures. And no, I’m not a witch. Don’t be so stocked, or “freaked” in any way. (Plus, I weigh more than a duck…)

Isn’t God young? It is us who have gotten old and crotchety. Severe or joyless. Being truly alive doesn’t look much like that.

What do you think…?

Have you lost your sense of humor?

Do you find it doesn’t mesh with diligently following God or knowing him well?

Are worship/awe and fun mutually exclusive within spirituality?

Any thing you’d like to say on the matter?

Let’s hear it –

:-P

So, I was thinking….
I have a lot of fun with my blog, but
Do people who want to gear their lives around prayer, also have crazy personalities, and really enjoy a good laugh? (like me) Are these things mutually exclusive? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Christians are not a terribly funny bunch. Okay, let me rephrase that.

Prayerful Christians are usually on the serious side. No, not all, but plenty of them.

I realize I fall into a very narrow minority. I’m an odd mix of God-aware and straight off the silly truck.

This is where Triple Dog Dare comes in.
You would not believe how hard it is to start the ball rolling to get people unified and interested in prayer, but humor? That covers a lot of people. It’s transcends culture, geography, age, and clothing preferences.

On Facebook, I’ve started a page, and I’m letting out all the stops. That’s some kind of euphemism for going hog wild, which is something hogs do all the time when they aren’t laying around in a contemplative fashion in the soil.

Triple Dog Dare is about having fun, sharing humor, and enjoying a great time laughing. “Killjoy” is never an adjective used to describe me. I’ll be posting a lot of photos that are ridiculous and comedic or ludicrous (or other things described with the endings of “ous”)- and stuff that probably doesn’t fit the theme here so perfectly. (It’s possible that I pushed it with the Crucifixion Pastry. For some reason some in the lesbian community really enjoyed that one, but I still don’t get why. oh well.) I’ll be sharing the tid bits of my ordinary life that somehow have a way of being extraordinary bizarre (in a good way), and hilarious. Won’t you please join me?

Why did I call it Triple Dog Dare?
If you’ve ever seen the movie “A Christmas Story,” it’ll make sense. See if this link to the video clip works. About once a week, I’ll Triple Dog Dare fans with some creative jape. Then we’ll see what results, hopefully in video, photos, and tales of adventure.

Will this blog get more serious? I have to admit, I have not a clue. It may get more focused, but I see some intertwining as a distinct possibility. Let’s see this new extension as all part of organic growth. I have an overactive Muse.
So-Click & link up as a Facebook fan, and let’s get started!

Triple Dog Dare page (facebook)

Random question:
Which do you usually prefer laughing or praying?
Have you ever done both at once? If so, explain :)

REMINDER: Today is the last day you can try for Becky Garrison’s autographed book in the caption contest. Have fun with that! click here.

Today we honor Presidents. Back in the beginning of this country, it was probably a kind of popularity contest to get the gig, based on merit. Of course NOW, even trying for the job takes on the over-exposure, and preening, and shallow sensationalism of pop celebrity allure and lifestyle. These people bombard us with constant airtime.

When I found THIS prize. I had to get it for my loyal fans. Why? Because it’s so stinkin’ hilarious, that’s why! Check out the top right corner… see what it says? “Celebrity tested!”

Celebrity Tested Lip cosmetic - A must-have prize...Right?

Is this celebrity thing important to our culture or WHAT!? SURE! Come on you peek at the tabloid headlines in the store. I do. You do. Admit it! We just get curious.

Marketers know that a lip plumper won’t sell without expert enthusiasm. Plumper endorsement by a professional is critical. And who would that be? A Celebrity! DUh! The irony is-They don’t even bother to say WHICH ONE! How funny is that?

Is it Megan Fox? Sarah Palin? Sandra Bernhard? Is it Melanie Griffith? It’s probably important that they tell us. What if we don’t like that celeb? Or is it that all of them just somehow know better? This product just cracked me up.

To be awarded this conversation piece, funny gift, or helpful and star-tested lip balm, leave a comment about what lips, or lipstick means to you. (An arbitrary judge will pick one winner.) Yes, this requirement makes little sense, but then, so does the prize, and so does celebrity President status. Happy President’s Day!

Enjoy 59 seconds of dancing fun!

My favorite is the moon walking!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ewUs8bkxMI&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]

First sighted on human3rror.com

(actual sign) Creepy!

When the kiddos where swarming Jesus, his disciples started barking at the parents. They said Jesus couldn’t be bothered with that sort of thing. Jesus harshly rebuked his helpers. He had time for the kids. I can picture him ruffling their hair, smiling at them, and blessing them, as they crowded around him.

He went on to say that to come  in the Kingdom of God you must be like a child. I think he was primarily speaking about “child-like trust,” and perhaps “purity” of heart, but let’s also think about the nature of children for a minute.

Most kids aren’t super serious, most of them find joy in the present, most can be fairly easily amused, most of them assume they need some help to get by. Oh, and another thing–THEY PLAY! So, maybe those of the kind of people Jesus enjoys the company of. 

Have you grown up? I should say, have you gotten old? Have you forgotten how to play? How to play with all that you are-like a kid-all out? Can you shelve your crotchety outlook, and have a good time, without feeling awkward, bringing someone down, or looking at the negative?

I’ve met so many Christians who are so “grown-up,” they could meet up with God, and he’d seem more like a boy to them. In other words, they would have no idea how “youthful, innocent” exuberance looks, or sounds like. Look at the world of created things. God must have been laughing when he fashioned some of those creatures! Tough-skinned grown-ups aren’t much able to id joy, or what is joyful, if it hits them in the face with a cream pie. They’ll probably say, “Oh, thanks joy! Perfectly good pie, and YOU wasted it! Now clean this up.”

God sings, smiles, and laughs. Shocking! (Actually, only to some people.) Open your eyes. God is good. God is even fun!

Maybe we should remember that he gives us this world to enjoy. He give us others to enjoy. This world is our playground, and we may be happy here. Tag-you’re it!

learning exchange invitation to YOU!

(The guy on the street corner who sold me this photo said it was a picture of an actual piece of knowledge coming down from “on high”. Apparently, it’s never been captured on film before. He either said that, or he took this when he was high, and he’s never been captured on film before. I’m not completely sure. He also owned a bridge, which I thought was PRETTY FLIPPIN’ COOL, but I could only afford this photo.)

This post is an announcement to introduce a learning group I will launch in October. It’s experimental, since I haven’t tried an online version before, but I hope this first group of us can test the waters for more types of group learning online.

What is it: A group of 10 of us, (max. or at a time) will all read the same material, and have a few reflection questions given out beforehand which go along with the reading. Then we will meet-up (online, perhaps using Skype, which is free-check it out) to discuss some of our insights and responses.

I will also send along related materials for your use, enjoyment, and implementation on a manageable “project,” that you come up with. It will bring the topics at hand into focus and application in a real way. This will help you, on a personal level, and be applicable in community, as well. This is the part that can really incite growth. It’s where the kind of “book club” feel to it, emerges forward into something vivacious and real–

even life-changing.

Then, a week or two later, our small group will meet-up one more time (online) to discuss our unique uses of our learning, and share our insights. We’ll exchange our ideas, lessons learn, and also brief project summaries in file form, so later it may be possible, (if we choose) to incorporate new practices into our lives out of our new learning experiences–

applications others have thought of, and already applied.

When is it: Some time in October. I will try to pick a good time so as many of us as possible will be able to interact in real time, at least twice. Probably in the evening, and perhaps on a weekend, in mid or late October for 1- 2 hours each time. (For this, I would like lots of feedback to hear what may work best. International learning gets be tricky with all the various time zones!) The rest of the time, learners will be reading, reflecting, or relating to God, self, and others at times that work best for them. There will be a place online (possibly a closed group on Facebook) where we can bounce ideas back and forth, learn, discuss reading items (not in real-time), share discoveries, etc.

Who is it: This learning group is for people who are committed to growing and searching for deeper intimacy and richer relationships with God, and others. They are curious, open-minded/optimistic, willing-to-learn and contribute, and want to apply insights from various sources including insights gained through prayer and the Holy Spirit. I will host and facilitate the group. To learn about me, click the “bio” tab, or go to my website.

What are the texts assigned: This has not been completely decided. There will be Biblical passages, and most likely, for this first learning group, the fairly brief text The Practice of the Presence of God: Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence. (The link above offers a free version, to print out oneself, but used copies sell for only a few dollars.) Some reading items will be sent directly to learners as PDFs, and other items could be added as I work out the specifics. Reading will be manageable, but will require a proper investment of time to be profitable for everyone involved. Expect to read 150-225 pages in total. Approx. 3-4 hrs

What the cost will be: 0$

(I always accept your generosity anytime with a cheerful, toothy grin. A link to help me is on the home page. Hopefully, learners will find the class will be worthy of a gift toward continuing this work, but one is not necessary.)

I’ll make more details available as I work out specifics. If there is a lot of interest, I’ll start a waiting list-after ten people ask to join in. But if something like what I am trying to describe appeals to you, in general, please let me know in a comment below.

ALSO- if you have suggestions for what may make this work better or more smoothly, please include that in your comment, or at any time!

This WILL be FUN!

thanks.

-Lisa