Warm and Cozy

As I watch the snow drifting gently down into my fallow, frozen garden, I'm thankful that even while winter continues outside, friendships make life warm and cozy.

At a recent dig (Goodwill, not archaeological), I found a tiny scrap of yellow fabric with teacups on it. My friend who was digging with me got a gleam in her eyes and- pretty much- snatched the scrap from my hands. No loss for me. It didn't exactly look like a treasure. But then, treasure is in the eyes of the beholder.

The next time I saw my friend, she presented me with a kitchen towel, created from the scrap of fabric by her mother. A fabric scrap redeemed.

A warm fuzzy for my kitchen.

This past weekend, said friend wanted to have a girls' weekend. Big girls. 8 of us. No kids. (Did you just hear the hallelujah chorus in your head?) Dinner and movies, and snacks, snacks, snacks... And lots of visiting. It was like a slumber party without the slumber. And it was fabulous!

Another warm fuzzy, this one for my heart.

Read Aloud

One of the coolest things about my kids is that they love to be read to. Out loud. Every day. Even the teenagers.

Of course, their tastes have changed and they beg their dad to read fantasy fiction to them at night while they draw pictures of dragons. But mornings are my time to read aloud and I get to choose the books.

We recently started reading THE TREES by Conrad Richter. This classic first book in THE AWAKENING LAND trilogy was first published in 1940, but reads like a much older story. It's one of those books that, if you were assigned to read it in English class, you would have complained and skimmed through it for answers, not because it's not a terrific book, but because you were assigned to read it in English class.

Don't tell my kids that it's classic American literature. Don't tell them they're learning from it. Because they love it. They're engaged in the story. They're learning the vocabulary. They care about Sayward and Sulie and Genny. Just like earlier this year they grew to love Scout and Jem and Atticus Finch.

What do you think we should read next?

Weebles Wobble

I came home from a writing workshop this weekend pumped up and ready to write. Sunday and Monday I tapped away at the keyboard and banged out some decent chapters. Then, last night, I went to my critique group.

I don't feel like writing any more.

They didn't slam me... in fact, they were very gentle. But listening to the words I'd put on paper, I wondered who cares?

I'm coming to terms with the fact that I have a growing desire for my work to be read. And if I want people to read what I've written, I'd better write something worth reading.

I'll bounce back and, with God's grace, eventually hit on a story worth telling, a truth worth sharing.

In fact, I'm sitting down to write right now.

Voices Silenced

I grew up hearing Paul Harvey's voice every morning on the radio while I got ready for school. I've continued to tune in to hear him as often as I could through the years. Though I knew he was aging, I was always disappointed when a stand-in did the news. Something about his voice drew us in. He was interesting, amusing, earnest, and honest.

And now he's gone. We'll miss him.

Closer to home, we'll miss Bill Hubbell. He passed away Monday after a long decline in health.

Bill was one of those guys that everybody loved. He had a ready smile and a generous heart, willing to give much out of the little he had.

He gave me my popcorn maker.

And my iron.

And some very random Christmas decorations.

92 years old. And forever young.

Weekend, America

One of my favorite radio programs, Weekend America, was recently pulled from the air. One thing I always liked was the way they started each segment by asking the "man on the street" this question:

What are you doing this weekend?

I'm heading to a one day writers conference where I'll get to hear Paul Young, author of THE SHACK, speak and I'll get to spend some time catching up with friends.

How about you?

What are you doing this weekend?

Permanently Deferred

I've been permanently deferred. Disqualified. Uninvited.

Ouch.

Several times a year, the kids and I take a little trip down to the local blood bank so I can donate blood. A small thing to do, really, to save a life.

Only now they don't want my blood. New regulations are coming down the pipeline to disqualify anyone who has previously had malaria from giving blood. Ever.

I'll miss donating, actually. And I'll miss the nice ladies who hand out cookies and who remember my kids from visit to visit. And I'll miss that cozy feeling I get from doing something nice. I guess I need to find something else nice to do.

Maybe I should buy some girl scout cookies. That would be nice.

Meanwhile, would you consider giving blood in my place? I'll come eat cookies with you.

Top Reasons Why I'm Not on the Amazing Race

10. They haven't asked me.

9. I know I'd have to go bungee jumping.

8. There are a whole lot of boring travel hours they don't show between moments of ultra-high stress.

7. I'm not pretty when I get tired.

6. I refuse to go bungee jumping.

5. I don't like the way I act under pressure and I sure don't want anyone else to see it.

4. I wouldn't want to have the unfair advantage of speaking Evegbe. You know that would come in handy.

3.I'm not bungee jumping.

2. My passport's about to expire.

1. Did you see this story about bungee jumping?

BBC's Big Read!

In 2003, the BBC asked British citizens to name a favorite novel. Here are the top 100 (updated a couple of times since 2003)

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. I've read slightly more than that (54), but I bet not as many as my dad.

Instructions:
1) Bold those you have read.
2) *Star the ones you loved.
3) Italicise those you plan on reading.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. *The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. * Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. *To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. *The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. *Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (major plays, sonnets, but not everything!)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. *The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. *The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. * The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. *Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. *Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. *Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. *The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. *The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
39. *Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. *A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
47. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. *Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
67. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72. *The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. *Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. *Charlotte’s Web - EB White
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. *The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
98. *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
99. *Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Oh, dear. I seem to have lost #100. Please fill in with the book you think should be on this list.

Under the Eye of the Clock

Christopher Nolan, author of Under the Eye of the Clock, died today at the age of 43. Nolan was crippled by Cerebral Palsy since his birth. Crippled in body, but not in mind. Nolan was brilliant.

He wrote so many words worth remembering, but this passage stands out to me today:

Communion served to join the silent boy with silent God, and into his masked ear Joseph poured out his mental whispering, begging blessings to be showered on his faithful friends. He looked out on scattered continents whispering his awe and pleaded for his brothers and sisters as though skin colour was but a variation of family crests. Wisdom seemed to wise him to see his awful boyhood as though awfulness was beautiful. His heard secrets cradled him and fruit served yet again to form on hiltopped briar.

I can only dream of penning words as profound as dwelt in Nolan's mind. 

The Groundhog

Punxhatawny Phil might not be the best forecaster. He said we'd have 6 weeks of winter, but now, only a couple of weeks later, we find ourselves enjoying spring weather.

64 degrees yesterday.

I went outside and pulled some weeds. Tiny green shoots are forming at the base of the mums. Tulip stalks stick 4 inches out of the ground, reaching for the sun we've all been so hungry to see. (As they grow, they are eagerly gobbled up by fat squirrels. Some things never change.) Even my stupid cherry tree, the one we peeled all the bark off of in an effort to kill it, has a handful of scraggly pink blossoms on the tips of its spindly branches.

I know I shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is actually spring. The rain and wind and cold will return. But today, I'm thankful for small reminders of God's faithfulness to bring the dead to life, to renew his mercies every day.

Bucket List

Just one more game of tag. And then - I promise - back to real life! So much still to do! Where should I begin?

Things you have done during your lifetime:

( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(X) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
(  ) Been to Hawaii
( )Gone Skinny dipping
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X ) Cried yourself to sleep
(X ) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X ) Paid for a meal with coins only
(X) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X ) Danced in the rain
(X ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
(X) Been deep sea fishing
(X ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(X ) Gone snowmobiling
(X ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(X) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
(X) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(X) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X ) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
(X) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(X) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
() Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an elephant (Does a Camel Count?)
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
(X) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
(X) Been to Westminster Abbey
(X ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Ran a marathon
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game

Maybe I Do Need to Get a Life

A friend posted a list of movies on Facebook and said, "If you've seen at least 85 of these movies, you don't have a life."

You know me. I couldn't resist filling out the form. It didn't take long to see that the list was heavy with horror flicks, sci-fi, and chick flicks. Guess which ones I've seen.

Who decides that 85 is the cut-off? Is the person who's seen only 84 of the movies busy and fulfilled while the guy who's seen 86 is a schlub who sits on the couch with his beer and popcorn and can't bother to pick up his own kleenex. If he even uses kleenex.

About half way through the list, I was thinking... 

If you fill out this form, you might not have a life. ( no offense.)

A third of the movies I've seen because my husband wanted to see them. A third because my kids wanted to see them. And then there's the rest.

And, no, I haven't seen 85 of them. So I must have a life. I MUST!

Name Game

And now a short interruption from the February blues. Play along if you want.

1. YOUR SPY NAME (middle name and current street name)
K-125

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME (grandfather/mother on your dad's side and your favorite candy):
Alta Reese

3. YOUR RAP NAME (first initial of first name and first 3,4 or 5 letters of your last name):
P SlaK

4. YOUR GAMER TAG (a favorite color, a favorite animal)
Green Giraffe

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, and city in which you were born):
Kay Juno

6. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color and the automobile your dad drives)
The Blue Astro

7. YOUR ACTION HERO NAME (first name of the main character in the last film you watched, last food you ate)
Toby Pizza

8. YOUR MOBSTER NAME  (Name of your first pet and the name of the street you grew up on)
Yo Yo Mendenhall

Congestion

I've been trying to post a blog from my laptop all week, a nice blog about snowflakes and warmth and good friends and gratitude.

But, alas, I think my laptop must have caught my cold and is unable to process my requests.

I know how it feels. Thoughts and words get clogged up in the sinuses behind my eyes and come out as sneezes and sniffles and indistinguishable mutterings. I'm sure I've used the phrase "death warmed over" more than once today, but I couldn't tell you the context. Every few hours, one of my nostrils clears long enough for me to remember what breathing used to be like. But the moment passes.

I bought pizza for dinner tonight and announced that I'm done cooking until I'm over my cold. No one seemed too disappointed.

So, if you're looking for a happy blog about happiness and the hope of spring, stay tuned. I'll post it as soon as me and my computer get over our colds.

God Among Us

A story during the sermon this morning caught my attention and tugged at my conscience.

A woman went to Africa as a missionary. She lived among the people, learned their language, ate their food, and loved them. She had to return to America from Africa and another missionary moved to the village in her place.

"I'm here to tell you about Jesus," the new missionary announced.

"No need," he was told. "We already know her."

It's been a weekend of remembering and reflecting back as I've spent the last two days with former teammates to Africa. These teammates were those type of people, the ones that people saw and knew that Jesus walked among them. It's an honor to be associated with them.

I wonder what people saw when I was there. I wonder if I was Christ to them or the ugly American. Probably a little of both.

5 Things Tag

For once, I think I'm the last one to play!

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago

1. Doing step aerobics at 6 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday

2. Translating a children's Bible study book into French and Ewe.

3. Teaching "Wednesday School" to MKs.

4. Making tortillas, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole from scratch.

5. Growing bananas, mangoes, pineapples and coconuts in my garden.

5 Things On My To-Do List Today

1. Help the kids with their school work.
2. Buy stamps.
3. Teach a violin lesson.
4. Email the French homework to my class.
5. Take the gang swimming.

5 Snacks I Like

1. Red Vines.
2. Triscuits and Sun-dried tomato hummus (thanks, Sara!)
3. Biscotti with tea.
4. Greek Style yogurt (thanks, Lori!)
5. Popcorn with ranch dressing flavoring.

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire

1. Travel!
2. Buy a little bit bigger house with a little bit bigger yard.
3. Invest.
4. Go back to school.
5. Give a lot away.

5 Places I Have Lived (For Various Lengths Of Time)

1. Albertville, France
2. Togo, West Africa
3. Juneau, Alaska
4. St. Louis, MO
5. Searcy, AR

5 Jobs I Have Had

1. Speech Therapist for Home Based and Migrant Head Start
2. Recreational Director for kids in Group Homes
3. Missionary
4. French Teacher
5. Fiction Review Editor for New Wineskins Magazine

5 People I Tag (to post a "5 Things . . . " on a blog or facebook or in my comments or just in casual conversation)

1. Sandi
2. Shelli
3. Lori
4. Angel
5. Jackie

First Monday

I love talking with friends. Conversation can go any which way depending on the day and who I'm with. This weekend, hanging out with one of my buddies, we've covered topics ranging from the economy to bad haircuts to raising kids to home improvement plans.

Conversation with God can go every which way, too. My prayer times often skip the deep stuff to get to the easy prayers - prayers for people who are traveling or those who are ill, for those going through divorce and those who want blessings for their plans. Good prayers to pray, but they don't require any risk on my part.

Today, though, I've been called to a harder prayer. A friend of mine is calling people to mobilize in prayer on the first Monday of every month in hopes that we will see God moving in hearts around the world. On this first 1st Monday, he's asking that we fall silent before God and that we confess to him our own sins and failings, the failings of the church and of the nation.

Honestly, when I heard him say it, I thought, "well, at least confessing the last two will be easy." But God calls us to humble ourselves before him and before each other. And humbling myself means doing the hard things first.

There are many ways you can live out a deeper life, but for now, I'm going to join the worldwide prayer of 1st Mondays. (You can join the 1st Monday group on Facebook for more information.)

Red Ink

I've been editing this week -- taking some tests to see if I'm qualified to become a freelance editor. I'm hoping to get enough editing jobs to support my writing habit!

I find editing to be interesting, fun (though sometimes tedious). I also find red letters and words swimming around inside my eyelids when I lay down to sleep at night.

The problem with editing will be, I suspect, that it's hard to be creative and critical at the same time. If I want to continue writing, I need to learn to turn off my inner editor and just let words flow.

Wish me luck!

Online!

I didn't realize how much I depended on my wireless connection until it was gone. Even then, it slipped away so slowly, I kept hoping it would come back. For the past several months, I've been without wireless... which means I've been sharing the one internet-connected computer in the house with everyone.

They're all good sports about it. I'm not. I was always the one tapping my foot saying, "My turn. My turn. Hurry up."

Now, with internet up and running at my own desk, I can get back to my writing.

That makes me happy!

If You See Santa...

...would you tell him thank you?

He arranged for a piano tuner to come and now, not only do we have a perfectly tuned piano, we also spent a lovely afternoon learning from a very interesting man.

Rodger has been tuning piano for 24 years, but his mother drove him to work on Monday. That's because Rodger, like most (if not all) of the piano tuners in our area, is blind. He is a master at his job, able to hear the tones of the piano above ongoing conversations, ringing phones and humming children.

He treated us to a couple of beautiful pieces before he left and promised to return if anything slips out of tune. If you want to know how to reach Rodger, drop me a line and I'll give you his number.

So, if you see Santa, would you thank him for us? He gave a beautiful gift.

New Interview Requirements

Before I make any more new friends, I need to add the following question to my interview process:

Is your birthday in January?

If it is, I'm not sure I can afford to be friends with you.

On the other hand, if I didn't hang out with January folk, I'd miss out on spending time with a bunch of lovabale friends and family members!

Happy birthday, all you January people.

Paradox

Can anyone explain to me how we can have an air stagnation warning in effect at the same time we have winds gusting to 75 mph?

Cozy Corner

There are certain places where you can't help but feel at home. Nana and Papa's house is one of those places. Everyone who enters feels the warmth of home, a home where people love each other and love their hobbies.

Papa's library is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I say "one of my favorites" because each room has its own function and charm. But to sit in yellow light in a high-backed chair, a warm fire at my feet and the company of books around, does my spirit good.

Whatever you could wish for is here... a loom and some knitting needles for the crafter, a chess board for the strategist, Southwestern art, spinning wheels, and a comfortable window seat or two.

And most nights, by the fire, Papa and his book.

Road Runners

We're all back in the same nest, though not our own. Still, there's a coziness and familiarity at Nana's house. The smell of bacon and pancakes draws us from our desert slumber. We skirt around projects - sewing, knitting, weaving, spinning - as we wander from room to room. Tens of thousands of books beckon with promises of intrigue and mystery and knowledge.

A road runner darts across the gravel drive. Coyotes howl on the hill above the house under the bright New Mexico moon. And all the children go safely to sleep under quilts that Nana made.

Cutting Apron Strings

If it weren't for non-stop flights from here to Nana's house, I never would have let her go. But since there are non-stop flights (and the added blessings of Southwest Airlines allowing parents and grandparents to go to the gate), one of my twins went to Nana's a few days ahead of the family for some extra spoiling and some quilting instruction.

She swore she wasn't nervous to fly alone. She didn't have to be. I was nervous for her.

She thought of taking her art supplies, her DS, her book, her math homework, and the chewing gum from my Christmas stocking. But she forgot her comb. And her watch. And the answers to her math homework.

She used a pay phone for the first time. And learned to watch airport signs for the information she might need. And got there without any problems.

She'll be fine. I know. She'll try her wings and enjoy the freedom.

I'm just not too sure about me.

I'm done with Winter

How many days until winter is over? We had the snowiest December on record, followed by snow on New Year's Day and the day after. I love the snow. I do. But I'm already itchin' for spring.

Am I wishing my life away? Or am I setting myself up for life as a snow bird?

The seed catalogs arrived yesterday. That could be part of my problem - all those colorful pictures of fruits and flowers tempting me with promises of a beautiful spring. Before I finish perusing their glossy catalogs, I'll have circled something on every page.

Meanwhile, I'll put on my gloves and turn on the tea kettle.

Question for the New Year

What does it mean if your lucky bamboo dies?

Cabin Fever

In case you were wondering what cabin fever looks like!

Christmas Ain't Christmas...

... till somebody cries.

That's my favorite new Christmas quote, from Shrek the Halls.

Thing is, despite being snowed in together for over a month (okay, okay, it was only a week), the only one who cried was the 5 month old. And that's allowed.

Christmas cookies baking (7 kinds in under 2 hours), ornament decorating, family talent show, lots and lots of games (favorites were Farkle and Time's Up!), sleeping on the floor, snowball fights, fondue night, and more. It was a Christmas to remember.

I hope yours was as happy as mine.

God bless us all.

Family OD, Blog Withdrawal

The promised snowstorm finally arrived after a week of promises and threats. We decided to hunker down with the whole family... and I mean the WHOLE family. My parents, siblings, and all the spouses and kids, in one house.

Thing is, with so many of us under one roof, no one has time to blog. And with no one blogging, we're all going into blog withdrawal.

So, this is for you, family. The title about family OD is not true. (Yet.) It's fun hanging out together, staying up too late, and seeing the appreciation we all share for the next generation. There's some pretty special kids in this house.

No one's starving. No one's cranky. And no one smells too bad.

Yet.

Hope 2 Others

Back in May, our family attended the Rebelution where teens challenged teens to do hard things, to stop living up to the low expectations our society puts on them.

Our kids took up the challenge. They ran with an idea to make H2O bags, a project originally started by some other teens in a nearby city.

These bags are just lunch sacks filled with a nutritious lunch- tuna, peanut butter crackers, fruit leather, a bottle of water, a mint, some tissues and hand wipes, a Bible verse, and a pair of socks.

The kids distribute them at church to adults who are willing to pass the bags out to panhandlers who frequent major intersections. For $3 a bag, it's a way to give a little help, both physically and spiritually, without handing money to someone who might not use it wisely.

Since May, the kids have made and distributed about 250 bags. Yesterday, they were invited to share their project with our local Council for the Homeless. They made enough bags for the whole council and prepared what they wanted to say, then were greatly relieved when our preacher, who is on the council, did all the talking for them.

Their project was well-received and the council members spontaneously gave them enough money to make another 25 bags.

I hope the project has been a blessing to others. I know it has been to us.

s'no snow day

Won't my kids be disappointed this morning to wake up and find it is not a snow day? Despite grand predictions of inches of snow, the streets are dry and bare. The icy winds did, however, arrive and are seeping into the house under and around doors.

In all my years of schooling, I remember two snow days. But that was up north where drivers and road crews are accustomed to dealing with winter.

Here, it always seems to come as a surprise. The news crews come on and tell us how cold it's going to be, how much snow we're going to have, and how to prepare ourselves. Then they come on telling us how surprised they are that we didn't get snow, how much warmer (or colder) it is than they expected, and how we shouldn't stop worrying. Something's bound to go wrong. Just wait and see.

Hope y'all have a great day. And remember - don't stick your tongue to the flagpole. Then we'd really have something to report.

Uwajimaya

There are some things that are best done with someone who appreciates them. I'm thinking Uwajimaya is one of them. This giant oriental grocery store is full of delightful (and not so delightful) foods and other products.

I'm sure that if I'd taken my kids with me, they would have been begging to leave after 10 minutes. So I didn't take my kids, I took my dad.

The two of us spent 3 hours walking up and down the aisles, looking at packaging and trying to guess what was inside. Dad is curious about everything and knows a little about most things, so the slow trips up and down the aisles came with much discussion. I bought a few things, but I'm wishing now I'd picked up a package of umeboshi plums.

Oh, well. I'll just have to go back.

A Lot of Hot Air

Our government has had some stupid ideas over the years, but this one might top them all.

The EPA has proposed a cow tax on the notoriously flatulent beasts because of their carbon emissions. Are they kidding?

Are cows causing global warming?

I can just imagine where this could lead. You start taxing cows and you kills the dairy industry and the beef industry. Those food production projects go overseas, like to China, where safety regulations are much less strict.

If all the cows go to China, do they emit less carbon? Do Chinese cows have fewer digestive problems?

Is it just me, or would said cows still be emitting carbon into the air, only on the other side of the world? And what of the fossil fuels we'd be burning to import our beef and milk and cheese?

I know we have a lot of things to worry about, but I honestly don't see how taxing cow farts and burps makes us better off as a country or as a global society.

Jesse Tree Instructions

I've had a couple requests for info on how we do our Jesse Tree. There are many ways to do it, but here's the adaptation we've come up with through the years. We've borrowed heavily from The Voice.

December 1 - Set up the tree. We use a small one with tiny ornaments we've crafted out of Sculpey clay. You could use paper ornaments or have your kids make their own each day.

1 Sam 16:1-13
Isa 11:1-10

2 - Creation

ornament - the earth

Gen 1:1-2:3

3 - The first sin (man separated from God, God promises that Eve's offspring will truimph)

ornament - apple

Gen 2:4-3:24

4 - The Flood (God redeems mankind and makes a promise)

ornament - rainbow

Gen 6-9 (or just tell the story)

5 - God's promise to Abraham

ornament - stars

Gen 12:1-7

6 - God saves Isaac

ornament - ram

Gen 22

7 - Jacob receives the promise

ornament - ladder

Gen 27:41-28:22

8 - Joseph 

ornament - colored coat

Gen 27-50 (paraphrase this one. It's long!)

9 - Passover

ornament - lamb

Ex 12-14

10 - God gives the law

ornament - 10 commandments

Ex 19-20

11 - The fall of Jericho

ornament - trumpet

Josh 6:1-20

12 - Samuel crowns Saul King

Ornament - crown

1 Sam 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9

13 - David

ornament - shepherd's hook

I Sam 16-17

14 - God proves his power to Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

ornament - stone altar

I Kings 17-18

15 - God delivers the Faithful

ornament - a tent

2 Kng 18:1-19:19, 32-37

16 - Isaiah's call to Holiness

ornament - tongs with coal

Isa 1:10-20

17 - The Exile

ornament - a tear

Jer 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22-9:1-11

18 - Waiting

ornament - watchtower

Hab 1:1-2:1, 3:16-19

19 - Return to Israel

ornament - city wall

Neh 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:10-22

20 - Mary

ornament - white lily

Luke 1:26-38

21 - Zechariah and Elizabeth await their child

ornament - tablet with "John" written on it

Luke 1:57-80

22 - Joseph trusts God

ornament - hammer

Matt 1:19-25

23 - The Wise Men come to worship

ornament - star

Matt 2:1-12

24 - The birth of Jesus

ornament - manger

Luke 2:1-20

We top off the month with another reading of the complete Christmas story. You can have another devotional on Christ using John 1:1-14 to wrap things up, if you choose.

Advent

We have many Christmas traditions at our house, some from my childhood and some we've introduced as our kids have grown. One of my favorites is one that is new to this generation - the Jesse tree.

The Jesse tree starts out the month of December bare, but each day it gets an ornament and each ornament has a story. We'll start today by hanging the tiny ornament representing light. We'll talk about God speaking light into existence and we'll talk about how this points to Jesus, the Light of the World.

The Jesse Tree takes us through the entire Old Testament as God weaves his prophecies through the fabric of his people's history. Just as the Israelites had a sense of expectation for the coming Messiah, our family builds a sense of expectation for the memory of his birth.

This little tree gets its name from Isaiah 11:1. "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit."

Jesse, father of King David, ancestor to the long-awaited promise.

Don't You Wish!

I was informed this week by a very Christmas savvy little girl that you only have to good from the beginning of December until Christmas for Santa to deliver the goods.

Listen!

I couldn't sleep last night. All my ideas and projects and things to do drove me from my bed. After working on a couple of things, I curled up with a blanket in the recliner and tried to rest.

Tick.

Tock.

The living room clock and the dining room clock played ping pong with each other. Back and forth. Back and forth.

I don't hear these sounds very often. The quiet click is drowned out by the noise of life - kids, TV, music, talk. Yet underneath the clatter, the clocks mark time, steadily and silently doing their job whether I take any notice or not.

In the craziness of December, I want to remember the clocks. Not for their sake, but as a reminder that God is constant. He doesn't scream for attention, but speaks in a still small voice.

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) 

The Deadly Sins

As I drag myself out of bed at 8:45 this morning, I wonder...

Is sloth a deadly sin if it only lasts for a day or two?

The Price of Parenthood

You makes your choices, you pays your prices.

And one of the prices of having children, even homeschooled children, is attending their recitals, open houses, and various other performances.

It can be painful. Not to watch your own children, of course, who are the most talented, the most brilliant, the most beautiful and amazing kids on the planet (after mine). But you know your child's performance will take 17.3 seconds of the evening. And then there are the other 14 hours.

So, last night we went to a showcase of what the kids have done in our homeschool co-op for the past semester. And you know, it wasn't bad.

Strike Out!

You've probably heard by now. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has conceded the race. With the highest seniority among Republican senators, Stevens was and is a mainstay in Alaskan politics. Honestly, I can't imagine him not being in Washington D.C.

I predicted he'd be acquitted of fraud charges.

He was convicted.

I thought he'd step down from running for reelection.

He ran.

I said he'd be reelected.

He wasn't.

A swing and a miss. A prophet I am not.

Just as well. The senate was set to kick him out if he was reelected. Rough week for him. Happy birthday, anyway, Senator Stevens.

Face Lift

Some people like change, and some people don't.

I think I'm one who likes change, for the most part. I like to see things get a fresh new look, especially a less cluttered look.

That's what I was going to for when I went with a friend to get my eyebrows waxed. My husband doesn't like it much. He says it looks like something's missing.

That's what I was going for when I redesigned the church bulletin. Mostly people like it, but not everyone.

That's what I'm going for today as I tear apart our home office and try to make it appear more spacious and less cluttered. (Wish me luck!)

And that's what I'm considering for my blog. Do you think it's time for a face lift?

announcing...

We've still got a ways to go to get that counter to 20,000. But I'm eager!

So... whoever bumps it up there and is the 20,000th visitor will get a prize. Maybe it will happen before Christmas!

We Regret

Two of the hardest words to hear are "We regret..."

The first thing that comes to mind, and by far the most serious, is the military or police chaplain that shows up at the door of a spouse.

"We regret to inform you..."

But there are other kinds of messages that say "we regret." Apparently, it can substitute for "I'm sorry," when you don't want to apologize. Consider how this statement about Fannie Mae mucky-mucks spending $6000 on a golf trip this month.

"We do regret that the activities surrounding the customer meetings in Dallas may be perceived as excessive," company spokesman Brian Faith said in an e-mail message.

"We regret" are dreaded words for us aspiring writers.

I got a "we regret" letter this week on a piece I had high hopes for. Shortly afterwards, I got news that a friend of mine was chosen as a semi-finalist in the same competition.

I'm happy for her. I really am. And for the three others I know who have signed their first book contracts this month.

At the same time, it makes me wonder if all the hard work and sacrifice is worth the constant rejection.

What if I pour years and years into becoming a better writer and no one ever reads my books? What if I've wasted all this time and money on what might just be a lonely and expensive hobby? What if I pour myself into something I will never succeed at?

Questions born out of insecurity. They don't mean a thing because, whether I ever "succeed" or not, I have to write. I have to tell stories.

I have to.

Around the World In 80 Days

Every four years a grand event takes place that sends my family to the computer several times a day for updates. It's not the Olympics and it's not the election, though those also got some coverage.

It's the Vendée Globe. I'm sure you're following it, too. (Click the little British flag in the upper right for an English version.)

The Vendée Globe is a solo sailing race around the world. The 30 skippers in this year's race left the coast of France on Sunday and already three are out of the race. Names like Moitessier and Gautier will pepper our conversations for weeks and we'll pull out Moitessier's memoir, La Longue Route, for story time.

This year, the kids are racing their own boats in a virtual version of the game. Don't imagine a Wii or X-box. This is a real-time game with little blips on the screen that will take 80-100 days to make it around the world. Maybe longer, depending on the winds. Even the six-year old has a boat and has rounded the northern tip of Spain.

Can you imagine actually doing this race? All the way around the world without touching land and without any face to face conversation? If you want a picture of how harsh it can be, I suggest The Godforsaken Sea.

We might be the only ones on our block checking Vendée Globe stats instead of football scores, but I think it's part of what makes us unique.