browniesmoke? The secret is out…

Last summer, with some rainy days and free time on my hands, I created a blog, experimentally. I wrote several terrible blog posts, badly imitating several of my favorite bloggers.

And no one read it except for the ones who loved me anyway. Both of them. No cookbook deals, no book deals, no income to live on.

I decided the blog was most helpful for me if I could share some of the things I do for our Sunday School Godly Play rooms, in my role as Godly Play Quartermaster/storyteller/carpet shampooer. I thought someone else might like to see how we set up our classrooms. I want to show off the beautiful things that our parishioners have carved, painted, cleaned, bought, stained, moved, hammered, glued, and created for our wonderful children. I wanted to share what works for us (and what doesn’t. I’m still not sure about those playsilks.)

In this new life of the blog, my dear friend Fran was “bumped out of the story” by my blog name “browniesmoke.” I am deeply attached to it; it is the combined names of our dog (no longer with us) and our mean gray cat from hell (also no longer with us). It’s easy to type, no one has already used it, and it’s easy to remember. Fran couldn’t get away from the image of wayward youths and illicit brownies. Another friend thought of girl scouts and campfires. Most thought it was a description of my cooking (most apt, that one…).

So, with help, I’ve settled on “What Can We Leave Out… (and still have all the story we need?),” one of the four questions asked after one of the sacred stories in Godly Play. It suits how simply we need to share stories of faith with each other. It suits my current goal to have “a prepared environment,” not just in our classrooms but also in my kitchen and my laundry and my grocery and errand list and everywhere else.

Recently, another friend e-mailed me the following (from the subject line, we were discussing colored pencils…), which sums up what this blog should be:

Jill,

Say this prayer, “Holy Spirit, please guide me to what I should be doing today.”  Amen.

It can get you into lots of trouble; but the good kind.

Love,
Shawnee

Amen.