Table for Eight

As-Not-Seen-On-TV Christmas Tree (Our family tree--we are missing a few branches. Literally.) This weekend I was in charge of teaching the lesson in our Women's Sunday School class at church. The lesson was focused primarily on putting our love of God before our love of the world. (PS: the materials are all prepared for us, we just have to read, pray, and do our best to encourage discussion in class.) But my point!  I felt like the timing of this lesson was so valuable for me.   As I look at my own life, I see so many places where I put my priorities on things that aren't long-lasting or super important. And this post isn't meant to be a statement about "the world," "humanity," "the neighbors" or anyone else's way of living and making sense of their time/contributions on Planet E. I'm just thinking out loud here--about ME:  In what ways do I put my love for things, ideas, money, lifestyle, etc., before my love for Go...

Our Gratitude Tree: thanks to my mom and Pinterest. (We write what we are thankful for on little tags, then hang them on the branches throughout the month.) This weekend I watched a documentary on NetFlix about ways we can improve or contribute to life on Planet E. And this one quote, or analogy, in it really has me thinking. A lot. So I thought I would share it with you and see if you think it's as DEEP as I do: "In nature, living things don't take more than what they need to sustain life. For example, the Redwood tree only takes the nutrients (from soil) it needs to sustain life. No more, no less. And the cheetah only catches/kills one gazelle to sustain its own life. Not three or four at a time.  So in nature, the practice is 'Use only what you need to sustain life.' And yet, in human society we violate this practice every day: we consistently take/eat/claim more than what we need to sustain our lives. And ironically, there's a word in...