Wednesday Festival

It's been rainy here in my part of the country. The leaves are too wet for raking and I'm putting off my Thanksgiving preparations for a few more days, too. It's the perfect time to sit back, relax, and and enjoy this feast of words from our fellow/sister bloggers.

For starters, let me introduce myself, since this is my first Wednesday Festival—and on top of that I've recently packed up my blog and moved it from One Foot in ... to Widening Circles, down in the Ws where no one will ever get to it in the blogroll. I've been hanging around the RevGalBlogPals for a while because there's a part of my heart that just loves reading about the daily life and work of women in ministry; I'm a sort of preacher wannabe myself, as I explain here.

Now, on to the good stuff ...

If Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, can December be far behind? Oh yes, it's that time of year again! As we enter the season of Christmas/Advent planning, Sue has a meme of questions about seasonal music What are your favorite and least favorite Christmas and Advent hymns, and which ones make you want "to run screaming into traffic"?

Sally is thinking about December, too, but in a serious way. She is looking for ways to escape the consumerist treadmill and make the season a time of reflection.

Also in holiday planning mode, Steph is in search of Baltimore-Washington area folks she might meet during her trip home next week (or whenever else she heads that way).

In her post titled Leading the Contemporary Service Meditation, Mrs. M. asks for guidance from experienced Revs about how to deal with working under clergypersons with whom you have difficulty communicating effectively, and how to improve the situation.

Natalie is a United Methodist teenager who never thought much about sexism until it was discussed at a youth program she attended last summer; now she wonders why she has never personally met a woman who is senior pastor of a church and why, at least in her experience, no one talks about sexism in church.

Another of her posts, which describes her youth group and is called Why I’ve given up, inspired Lorna to think about how well her own church is serving its younger members. Lorna has also written about starting a new chapter in her life.

Meanwhile, when Carmen and both her kids were sick, huddled under blankets on the couch watching TV, they learned something about how followers of Jesus should treat their stuff from a fictional, animated girl named Lola.

More mom thoughts from Chelley, who offers a story from the lighter side of single-mothering a son. It's about the time her little boy wanted to "shave"—and where do you think he started?

Revem is celebrating a birthday (many happy returns!) and has shared some things she's learned in the past 32 years about life, love, and ... peanut butter?

Pam has been reflecting on faith, doubt, and the "fact of Christ."

Milton has been thinking about grace, trying to figure out how to deal with daily life in a way that connects with the expansiveness of grace, reaching beyond the confines of his own small world.

And to close with something completely different, Sarah tries her hand at writing a murder mystery after the style of Thomas Aquinas. Hilarity ensues.

That's it for now. Don't forget to nominate for next week. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged!