Friday Five

I stopped by Introspectreangel's blog and am swiping from her: the assignment is to respond to five words....

1) Vineyard--this one gets me to the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, with those hired at the last, to work only one hour, being paid a full day's wage just as those hired at the beginning of the day. My former pastor preached on this recently, and noted how easy it is for us who are white, educated, employed in the US to identify with those who worked all day and felt cheated, whereas for some in the world who would give anything for any work at all, any way at all to feed themselves and their own, a God whose generosity was like that of the vineyard's owner would be a source of overwhelming hope and joy. A point well taken indeed.
2) Root--I am filled with frustrations of late (employment stalled for awhile owing to a false positive on a fast drug screen; nothing can happen until the FULL drug screen comes back from the lab, which may be next week, and will HOPEFULLY resolve the false positive; also, this brings up my annoyance at my former denomination which never acknowledged my withdrawal from their ordination process, telling me how important I was NOT to them, also my sense that some in my hoped-for new job would rather someone else had been hired, too bad for them!) and I need to get back to some root sense of connection with God's presence. It is amazing how just sitting and reading morning prayer helps.
3) Rescue makes me think of Toby Wolfhound who is across the room from me practicing his loveseat utilization. He is learning many ways to position himself for comfort on the loveseat, truly a proper Irish Wolfhound if there ever was one. He was not a "rescue" but a rehome; nonetheless, some of the problems of rescue dogs (lack of socialization principally, and lack of human contact leading to fearfulness) are his. He is progressing well but of course slowly. Such a good puppy.
4) Perseverance is what I need a dose of to get through the annoying nature of the getting-employed process. And it will be what I need to establish myself, once actually on board assuming the drug test fiasco works. (Dr. Google has told me which of my PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS, hello, is likely responsible.) Perseverance and trust. I feel a little rubbed raw by the past year or so, ready to see the worst a bit prematurely, and I have a lot of stored-up annoyance and anger. Grumble.
5) Divided is how I feel inside when my membership in the Self-Doubt Club (thanks to Prof. Larry Graham for this image) moves into the foreground. I am torn between the perception that in the moment I am surrounded by incompetents and the deep suspicion that perhaps there is something wrong with ME.

I think I'll go snuggle my puppy for awhile....