In Business

It's official! I'm up and running on my new nook, thanks to my family who gave it to me for Christmas and my dad (who shall remain nameless) who gave me an ebook gift card to get me started.

First official downloads?

Anne of Green Gables

The Holy Bible (NIV)

Notre Dame de Paris

Food Rules

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I'm nothing if not eclectic.

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.

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.

Lost and Found

Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the other ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?


The little dog ran away on Friday. The kids ran after her, but (Thank you, God) they stopped short of the freeway. I turned the younger kids and extra pets over to some friends and started the longest, most intense search I could manage, with the help of a lot of friends, some strangers, and the older kids. We must have had 30 people out looking for the little gal over the next 4 days.

I was out each morning, with or without help, walking through the neighborhood, talking to strangers, tromping through wetlands and trespassing on all kinds of property. Fliers, business cards, craigslist ads, visits to the humane society, calls to vets and animal hospitals, calls for prayer. Oh, please God, bring the little puppy home.

When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulder, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, "Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!"

We got the call this afternoon just as we were starting another search. She's been found! Hungry and afraid, she turned up on the doorstep of a group home where they took her in. They kind of hoped she didn't belong to anyone so they could keep her, but they saw an ad in the paper and called.

We're so happy! Her little chihuahua sister is so happy. Even the basset hound has managed to perk up a little at her return!

Count on it - there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. (Luke 15, The Message)

Thanks to all of you who helped, who prayed, who hugged and cried. It's time for a puppy party!

Skipping Thanksgiving

My 5 year old has big plans. She's been counting down to Christmas since there were 52 days to go. She's down to 38 now. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but it's what she says.

She's been through the wish book and circled something on every page. She NEEDS a remote control parrot, not to mention a mermaid doll that converts to one with legs, a roller coaster kit, and anything with dragons.

"Did you know," she asked the other day, "that Christmas is Jesus' birthday?"

"I've heard that somewhere," I said.

"Why is he always a baby in the Christmas pictures? Why aren't there any grown-up pictures of Jesus on Christmas?"

"Good question."

It's not like she's seeing commercials on TV that tell her Christmas is coming. It's just in the air. I hate to break it to her that there's a whole 'nother holiday before Christmas. She must have picked up on the subtle vibe that holiday season starts in August when the stores put out the holiday displays.

I, for one, refuse to wrap any presents or sing any carols until Friday. House Rules. I want to spend the week being thankful, not greedy.

Fa la la la la la la la la.

He Hears

I find it easy to get so caught up in the needs and wants and requests of the moment that I sometimes forget to go back and say thank you for the prayers God has already answered. There have been a lot this week.

Mom had 2 things worrying her today and noth of those worries have been wiped away.

A friend was having trouble with her knee and wasn't sure if she'd be able to get around on a planned trip to Europe. She not only got in to see a doctor, but he "happened" to have an opening for surgery right away. She came through safe and sound with time to heal before the voyage.

Another friend lost a filling while in Africa. We prayed for her trip to the dentist, that she would be safe, that the instruments would be sanitary. She found a dentist with a clean office, but when he looked at her teeth, he said there was nothing wrong at all.

Another friend (isn't it nice to have so many friends!) let God overcome her terror at singing in front of a crowd. I can't wait to hear her solo tonight.

Still ANOTHER friend took the kids last night and let Edwin and I have a much-needed date night.

We've known that we'd need to purchase a new car for a while, but we didn't have enough money set aside to get anything reliable. Just as the old car was sputtering to a stop, God provided enough money for us to buy a van, and we were able to find one that was priced well below value because of cosmetic damage.

Those are just a few of the prayers being answered around here. Any requests being fulfilled where you are?