The temple
12/17/2007 06:36 p.m.
Miah and I finally got to attend services at the ISCKON temple in Portland together. It was very wonderful, full of happy devotees, kirtan (the hindu equivalent of a time for praise and worship), teaching and fellowship! There was a special speaker, a man who was a direct student of A.C. Baktividanta Sri Prabuhpad (who passed away in 1978 I believe). It was a good, practical message. Just to live your life as much as possible being consious of God. And of course, there was prasadam, which is always an excellent experience!

We talked alot on the way home (we live an hour and a half away from the closest ISCKON temple, so there is lots of time to talk on the trip home). I didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable there this time as I did last time. It is a congregation of folks that are mostly not of my ethnic background, and so the experience is not just foreign religiously, but culturally as well. Miah seemed happy to be in the company of other devotees, finally, and we had a nice visit after the service with a couple of the congregation members.

It's so good to remember that, in our daily lives, though we arrive at an office to be of support there, or at a factory to perform manual labor, or live at home caring for the needs of our families...whatever it is we do during the day, it's good to remember that it's most beneficial when we serve as though we were actually serving the Lord, which we truly are. No matter that our children can be thankless, the boss can be cranky or unfair or egotistical or that our backs feel as though they may break under the physical strain of the work we do....it is so good to serve, wherever we are, with the consciousness that we are actually serving the Lord.

Yesterday, we also managed to get Christmas shopping done for the kids within the budget we'd set for it. It's going to be quite a slim Christmas since there are five children to shop for (my oldest said he didn't want anything from us this year). I hope that all my years of trying to set the family tone help the kids to see that our being able to be together is really a better focus than gifts. We got stuff that we could all do together as a family - craft stuff and a video game. Jeremiah is so generous....it's his money after his expenses that are providing this Christmas at all since my "wages" are not in the form of money any longer but rather service inkind. And he doesn't make much (the sad way of wages in such a podunk town as this)!! I'm just feeling so blessed and amazed, as these are not his children nor his responsibility, but he has so generously stepped forward to be our provider in so many ways. I couldn't feel more blessed this year, and I'm WAAAAAAY excited to spend our first Christmas together!!!

Well, it was a lovely day, and I still feel the warm glow of it!!
I am currently Affectionate
I am listening to Nina (our foster dog) bark at the neighbors