how the light gets in

by Andrea Smithberger
how the light gets in
  • November 1: Honoring
  • Day 2: Signaling
  • Day 3: Revealing
  • DAY 4: Reminding
  • Day 5: Reflecting
  • Day 6: Changing
  • Day 7: Surrounding
  • Day 8: Healing
  • Day 9: Filtering
  • Day 10: Spreading
  • Day 11: Unveiling
  • Day 12: Distinguishing
  • Day 13: Challenging
  • Day 14: Nourishing
  • Day 15: Unassuming
  • Day 16: Leading
  • Day 17: Delighting
  • Day 18: Reaching
  • Day 19: Shining
  • Day 20: Reviving
  • Day 21: Growing
  • Day 22: Comforting
  • Day 23: Holding Space
  • Day 24: Beckoning
  • Day 25: Stunning
  • Day 26: Igniting
  • Day 28: Introducing
  • November 2020
  • Tag: Grounding

    • Buy the Oranges

      Posted at 7:35 am by How the Light Gets In, on November 23, 2022

      You can listen here if you choose https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ed4BqpIWbvb

      A week or so ago, I did a thing.

      “I did a thing” seems to be a low key, no big deal way of announcing something big. So, naturally, you are expecting a huge accomplishment or announcement.

      Here it is: I made a dried orange garland. Tada! But, this is a big deal because of how small a deal it is.

      The “Dried Orange Garland” is that idea that you pin on Pinterest and save on Instagram or back in the day, rip out of a Martha Stewart magazine AND NEVER TRIED… until this year.

      For a week now, every time I walk into the kitchen and see my finished project; I smile for reasons big and small.

      So, I’m sharing the project with you in a very intentional, step by step kind of way. And, I want you to go buy the oranges now so we can enjoy this together.

      The garland is small enough to bring big impact for you. I believe it.

      To get started, you’ll need oranges, a sharp knife (a steak knife will do), a cutting board, parchment paper, a baking sheet, an oven and a spool of thread with a needle.

      How many oranges do you need? You could truly just use two or go for as many as 6.

      Prepare your space. We need quiet for this project – no playlists or podcasts or carols. Turn the knob on the oven to 200. We’ll need the slow heat just to warm the slices enough until the moisture evaporates. This slow cooking part alone with take several hours.

      Now that the oven is heating, grab one or two baking sheets. I found that a sheet holds slices of 3 oranges. Tear off a sheet of parchment for your baking sheet. At such a low and slow pace, juices from the orange turn bubbly and sticky. And the parchment paper is magic about allowing food to come right off the sheet without losing a bit of it.

      The fact that we use parchment paper here feels special. I don’t know about you but I don’t use it often and I only use it around the holidays. Holding the box of parchment in my hand signals something special is in the works. This crinkly paper is usually key to a conveyor belt of Christmas cookies – cut outs, thumbprints, gingerbreads. There are no jars of sprinkles no tubes of icing, no tin shapes. Not this time. There is no hurry here. Take a deep breath. Relax your shoulders.

      You don’t have to worry about spacing perfectly, this is not a demanding project.

      While this isn’t demanding, it is very giving. And that’s why we’re here now talking through a DIY orange garland. I hope this feels like a gift to you. The process, more than the end product, has felt like a gift to me.

      The baking sheets are lined with parchment and the oven is warm. It’s time for the oranges.

      Slice off the ends to leave as much of the orange as you can. Put the ends aside and let’s begin. This is not a technical how to on your DIY, so all I can say is slice your oranges so they’re thin but not skinny. Makes sense, right? An actual craft person might tell you “slightly less than 1/4 inch thick.”

      Are you by light at all? If the sun is coming in anywhere near your countertop, focus on the orange as you slice to catch the zest. That little word comes to life in full meaning. Do you feel the little spritz? Sprinkles of enthusiasm and energy spray as you cut through the deepest orange of the orange. My goodness it smells good. In a season and part of the world where most things are dying off, it feels so strange and defiant to smell the fresh, bright scent of an orange.

      Place your slices on the parchment lined sheet and just be careful not to crowd.

      Look at them. The gradient of color is beautiful: Deepest orange, bands of white and yellows.

      Slide them in the oven. Now set your timer for two hours. That’s when you’ll flip each slice one by one. Then set the timer again for anther two hours. While you wait, go find a spool of thread and a needle.

      When was the last time you threaded a needle? Pull the trays out of the oven when the timer sounds. You’ll know the slices are ready when they’re tacky but not crispy and a brownish tinge touches them.

      This part will take time. Come in through the back of the slice, just under the rind, then stretch across a teeny bit and poke out through the back again.

      For right now, allow the pile to dictate your product. Release the need to arrange according to size and color. Let that go. Just keep picking up an orange, thread it onto your string until you’re done.

      As you hang your garland across the window, take in the transformation. The once heavy globes of sweet juice are now circles of citrus stained glass dancing to catch the light. They’ve changed. They’re different. They’re beautiful. You did it.

      I feel slower. How about you? I think that’s why I’m sharing this now, this way. If you can put two feet on the ground (sitting or standing) and gather a few oranges to then cook off slowly, if you can hear the crinkle of parchment paper and let it signal the start of something new, if you can catch the zest in the sunlight, if you can linger at the open oven door long enough to allow the warmth to kiss your face – well then you’ve done it. You’ve taken a moment to ground yourself in the midst of the holidays. There’s so much this time of year. Give yourself the gift of slow and quiet, two feet on the ground and a little zest in your heart.

      Go buy the oranges.

      November skies are full of hellos and goodbyes… Whether geese are leaving your skies or arriving for the winter; I hope this little project greets you with an embrace.

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Dried Orange Garland, Grounding, How the Light Gets In, November, project, slow and simple, Transformation
    • Grounding: Practicing Presence in your Present

      Posted at 9:35 am by How the Light Gets In, on October 28, 2021

      Listen Here

      Raise your hand if you have been to a Chuck E Cheese.

      Raise your hand if, after skeeball of course, you went into the Ticket Blaster.

      A pro would know to step into that cylinder with your shirt tucked in and your hair pulled back in a ponytail so you’re ready to grab everything you can.

      Because just like that, a tornado whips around you sending tickets in a swirly mess. Since the booth is transparent, from the outside it becomes instant entertainment for anyone who chooses to stop and watch you. From the inside, your goal is to grab as many tickets as you can so you can cash in for the grand prize of a stale tootsie roll and maybe even a glittery pencil. Every ticket was one more opportunity to earn a bigger prize. Your eyes are darting up, down, left, right trying to catch any and every ticket you can. It’s frantic and loud and messy but fun.

      Life is feeling like a ticket blaster these days – for good and for bad.

      Like this past weekend, all 5 kids were home. We packed 48 hours celebrating Bean’s birthday with Cheeze-It Chicken and duckpin bowling and ice cream at The Charmery, with basketball games (for Lily and even Jason – which is a fantastic story for another time). All good things, right? And I found myself trying to lock in on each kid and my husband to capture and hold their faces, the way they were getting along (because they were actually getting along), the smell of the bowling alley, the creaminess of the surprisingly amazing vegan ice cream… all of it. I wanted to capture and hold all of it, both hands.

      On the flip side, I’m aware of friends and family awaiting test results, going into surgery, watching a tumor, witnessing the passing of a beloved Uncle and I find my self praying, yet frantic to capture and hold all of it, both hands.

      If I haven’t said it before here, I’ll say it now; it is tough being a human being. And I am forever grateful for my therapy. It just helps me be a better human.

      I had never considered God as a therapist until I read this interaction He had with Elijah.

      We’re going to read through a bit of a “Ticket Blaster” situation Elijah finds himself in and then how God moves with him through it.

      Elijah is a model of obedience and focus and endurance when it comes to a relationship with God. And near the end of his assignment, Elijah starts tripping on his own feet grabbing at whatever he can. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah is running away from Jezebel (with good reason since she’s threatening to kill him). Elijah is afraid, he’s tired, he’s done. “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.” He wanted to die. The story continues, “Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord returned for a second time and touched hm. He said, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you. So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty night to Horeb, the mountain of God. He entered a cave there and spent the night.”

      Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “what are you doing here Elijah?” He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my ife.”

      Then He (being God) said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.” At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

      Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

      Let’s notice what just happened. God just pulled a Jamie here. Jamie is my therapist. If and when I’m overwhelmed, a practice Jamie walks me through is “Grounding.”

      This technique engages all five senses with these prompts:

      • search for 5 things they can see
      • search for 4 things they can touch
      • search for 3 things they can hear
      • search for 2 things they can smell
      • search for 1 thing they can taste

      Now do you see how God pulled a therapist move here with Elijah? God asks his faithful servant a question. But, Elijah is too overwhelmed to answer. So, God walks him through some Grounding. He sends wind Elijah can see, an earthquake he can hear, a fire he can feel and smell and then a whisper.

      At the end of the experience, God repeats the question. It’s important to notice, the circumstance hasn’t changed. So what’s different?

      Elijah answers with the same words but I bet the tone is different. He’s grounded. He’s more aware. And he knows God is with him.

      “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

      Again, notice Elijah’s answer is the same.

      But, now that they’ve taken a breath together, God recognizes Elijah is ready to move. And Elijah recognizes he’s ready to move.

      There’s a lot of power in the “here,” as in where you are this very moment.

      There’s a lot of power in knowing and being aware.

      I love that God uses the gifts He’s given us- our senses- to pull us back to our senses.

      It’s more than a realization of the details. Grounding pulls all of you in the moment you’re in. It shows me how much God values every bit of me that He would invite me into the good and the bad with all of me to remember He’s in it with me.

      Remember how we talked about stacking stones as a practice to remind you where you were? Let Grounding be a practice to establish where you are right now. The past should be remembered but don’t stay there too long. And forget the future – I don’t know about you but the future can look a little too wacky with my imagination.

      God made me with more than just two hands. Life is not a Ticket Blaster. God gave you and me our senses, therapists and Grounding to realize His presence in our present. Let’s cash in on that prize today.

      Posted in FEBRUARY 2022, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged 1 Kings 19, Elijah, Grounding, How the Light Gets In, Jesus, Therapy
    • Grounding

      Posted at 10:24 am by How the Light Gets In, on February 8, 2019

      Any of you in therapy? You should be. Now now, it’s not just for crazies like me.

      Think of therapy as investing in a life coach to unravel your layers of crap so you can start moving; or in my case, start Grounding.

      Seeing that I am a 2 on the Enneagram, aka The Helper (generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, possessive); it only makes sense that I would gift you the How-To on Grounding because I want to help. Also, I am an external processor.  Okay, I’ll stop now. I’m just transparent and it’s important to me. (Dang this self-awareness.)

      This is how I practice Grounding:

      First, I look down at my feet and make sure they’re planted firmly on the floor (car floor, hospital room floor, lacrosse turf, Trader Joe’s, etc).

      Next, I look around me to SEE what I see; sunshine, or an anxious kid, or a table full of family around the table, or maybe a sad friend.

      Then, I take a deep breath in and relax my hands.

      And last, I make a mental list of where I am.

      That’s it. Just like that, I end up aware of where I am.

      In an easy scenario, my feet are flat on my kitchen floor, I’m sitting next to Lily at the table. We’re making a play-doh “feast” for her Calico Critter families. I notice one of her bottom teeth looks slightly off; which means my baby will be losing a baby tooth soon. And, then I notice her soft round face. I take a deep breath in and feel so grateful to have my hands in play-doh, at 43 years old, next to my 5th healthy child, in a great house, with the machine gun rattles of Fort-Nite coming up from the basement, Luci strumming her Ukelele and Honey begging for food.

      I lock it into my heart’s memory.

      In a not so easy scenario, my feet are flat on the kitchen floor but this time I’m watching Joseph hold his head, telling me “I can’t focus my eyes, Mommy.” Fear from the past claws to the front, trying to force me into diagnosing him, making a note of which doctor I will call to demand imaging. But, no. I remember, he’d just been sick the night before. He needs water. Maybe I do too. I relax my fists and take a deep breath. And remember, we’re not in 2017 anymore. This is 2019.

      Grounding is a practice that literally makes a present out of the present.

      Grounding is not where you were, not where you will be.

      Grounding is about where you ARE right now.

      Grounding is a way of noticing where you are rooted and how you’ve established patterns in your life.

      I don’t know where you are physically in this very moment. But you know what I DO know about you?

      You are rooted in God’s love. You are established in God’s love. And that love is so wide and so long and so high and so deep; right where you are.

      Remember that the next time you plant your feet on the floor.

      Get Grounding.

      Posted in JANUARY 2019, Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged enneagram, Ephesians 3:17-19, Grounding, How the Light Gets In

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