I think God has been trying to get something through to me.
It's in books I'm reading, sermons I'm hearing, video ads I'm viewing, conversations I'm having, counsel I am receiving. I am beginning to get the message, I think, although it has a ways to go to sink down from head to heart. I'm not even certain of all the implications. But I think God is telling me I'm looking at myself the wrong way.
I'm not a sinner, in need of God's mercy and grace. I'm a sinner, already saved by grace.
The distinction is subtle, but critical. The first perspective puts the burden on me, the sinner, to come to God, to repent, to ask for what I need. The second viewpoint puts the emphasis on God, on what He has already done, and not just for me, but for all sinners who have put their trust in Him. It's not even something that "I just need to embrace," as I wanted to write just now. It's already embracing me. If there is anything I need to do, it's just to be thankful.
As Brennan Manning says in The Ragamuffin Gospel:
The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.
Growing up in a tradition that didn't emphasize regular repentance, there was something about weekly confession in the liturgical service that appealed to me, that felt right and good. I'd like to say that it was an expression of gratitude, as Manning says, but in hindsight, I'm thinking it appealed more to the "good girl" in me, looking for ways to please God and earn his approval...and my own.
I'm not sure what it is in me that thinks I must earn what I could just have...or thinks I need to judge whether I deserve it or not. But it's been a revelation to discover that in fact, that's what I've been doing...when I could just delight in what is already mine.
For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. (Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel)
More pleasing to Me than all your prayers, works and penances is that you would believe I love you. ~Jesus' words to Marjory Kempe in 1667 (quoted by Manning, TRG)
Preoccupation with self is always a major component of unhealthy guilt and recrimination. It stirs our emotions, churning in self-destructive ways, closes us in upon the mighty citadel of self, leads to depression and despair, and preempts the presence of a compassionate God. The language of unhealthy guilt is harsh. It is demanding, abusing, criticizing, rejecting, accusing, blaming, condemning, reproaching, and scolding. It is one of impatience and chastisement. Christians are shocked and horrified because they have failed. (Manning, TRG)
That's me...so upset with myself because I fail on a daily basis. I fail to be the wife, the mother, the daughter, the neighbor, the pastor's wife, the parent, the teacher I feel I could and should be. And how else am I going to be any better, I think, if I don't reproach and scold myself about the ways I fall short?
Turns out there is a way of grace and freedom that I'm only beginning to glimpse.
The moment the focus of your life shifts from your badness to his goodness and the question becomes not "What have I done?" but "What can he do?" release from remorse can happen; miracle of miracles, you can forgive yourself because you have been forgiven, accept yourself because you are accepted, and begin to start building up the very places you once tore down. There is grace to help in every time of trouble. That grace is the secret to being able to forgive ourselves. Trust it. ~John R Claypool (quoted by Manning, TRG)
I think that's where I'll leave it. I'm not very far down this road yet. I'm only just beginning to heal, to build up a layer or two in those places I've been tearing down for so long. And I'm grateful, in a way I haven't quite experienced before.
Thank you, Lord.
Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Blondechick At College
Well, she's all moved in. With a little help from her fam!
There actually was enough room in the closet for her all her clothes. We were surprised.
Since this picture was taken, she and her roommate have bought matching shower curtains to cover their closets, so all the clothes aren't exposed to view. I forgot to ask what color.
She took a page from "Legally Blonde" with her room decor--all hot pink!
And here's how she feels about college so far....
And how is Mom? Everyone keeps asking me that, and honestly, I'm just so happy for her, that I haven't even begun to really feel much sadness. I think it will sink in eventually. But considering how close she came to going a completely different route and missing out on this entirely, I am just so relieved and thrilled and happy to be back to Plan A! As we left her on Saturday, I barely had room for any emotion other than overwhelming thankfulness for this opportunity for her.
And God is doing a work in her heart. I wish I could share some of the things she's learned from going through all the heartbreak, pain, anger and confusion, and finally moved on to acceptance and thankfulness. We've had so many good conversations, and she's continuing, even in these first whirlwind days of orientation and activities, to lean into God and to rediscover her self.
Her Facebook status today is "God is so GOOD." For an 18-year-old girl who's had to change her Facebook profile from "engaged" to "in a relationship" to "single" in the last two months, that's a pretty huge statement.
I am so proud of her. And so thankful!
There actually was enough room in the closet for her all her clothes. We were surprised.
Since this picture was taken, she and her roommate have bought matching shower curtains to cover their closets, so all the clothes aren't exposed to view. I forgot to ask what color.
She took a page from "Legally Blonde" with her room decor--all hot pink!
And here's how she feels about college so far....
And how is Mom? Everyone keeps asking me that, and honestly, I'm just so happy for her, that I haven't even begun to really feel much sadness. I think it will sink in eventually. But considering how close she came to going a completely different route and missing out on this entirely, I am just so relieved and thrilled and happy to be back to Plan A! As we left her on Saturday, I barely had room for any emotion other than overwhelming thankfulness for this opportunity for her.
And God is doing a work in her heart. I wish I could share some of the things she's learned from going through all the heartbreak, pain, anger and confusion, and finally moved on to acceptance and thankfulness. We've had so many good conversations, and she's continuing, even in these first whirlwind days of orientation and activities, to lean into God and to rediscover her self.
Her Facebook status today is "God is so GOOD." For an 18-year-old girl who's had to change her Facebook profile from "engaged" to "in a relationship" to "single" in the last two months, that's a pretty huge statement.
I am so proud of her. And so thankful!
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Back from the Boat
We're back--and we had a great time on a 7-night Caribbean cruise!
It all came together so fast. We knew we had a big anniversary this year, so it was in the back of our minds that we really ought to make sure we did something special. With a December 20 anniversary, it's easy to let anniversary plans get lost in the busyness of the holidays.
Then I heard about a website that had last-minute cruise deals and a monthly e-newsletter, so I subscribed. My parents had taken a cruise last year--their first time--and had loved it, and it sounded appealing to us in several ways. In the first place, we were both too tired to make decisions about where to go, how to get there, what to do when we arrived, etc. A cruise sounded like a trip with few, if any, decisions to make beyond picking the date and the boat! It also sounded appealing from a budget standpoint. With food, accommodations and transportation all included in the discounted prices, it was a great deal.
As the winter wore on and B15 and Blondechick were making plans to go California with their choir in early March, we started having cabin fever. Then our bishop's wife prescribed some time away for just the two of us, and that clinched it! We looked at a calendar and settled on a good week--Blondechick and B15's spring break, so that they would be around to help Grandma and Grandpa Rooster with the younger kids. We picked out a Holland America ship, the Westerdam, which sounded like it was going to some nice places, leaving Ft. Lauderdale and stopping at Grand Turk in the Caicos Islands, San Juan in Puerto Rico, Philipsburg on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, and finally at Half Moon Cay, a nearly untouched island owned by several cruise companies.
And we couldn't have had a better experience. We had beautiful weather, a quiet room, fabulous food, super entertainment and incredible service. We got to go snorkeling and horseback riding in the ocean. We enjoyed the water, the sand, the shops, the history and the people everywhere we went. At meals, we sat with interesting folks from all over the world, most of them older than ourselves and with fascinating stories to tell. (Many of them were Canadians--apparently they are even more desperate than we Midwesterners to get out of the cold!) The crew also was a multicultural group, with huge smiles and delightful lilting accents surrounding us at all times.
Papa Rooster took hundreds of pictures, and I'll be posting more about our trip soon. But for now, I am thankful to be back with our kids, thankful for health and safety for us all while we were gone, thankful that we got the time away together...and that it was such a perfect trip!
It all came together so fast. We knew we had a big anniversary this year, so it was in the back of our minds that we really ought to make sure we did something special. With a December 20 anniversary, it's easy to let anniversary plans get lost in the busyness of the holidays.
Then I heard about a website that had last-minute cruise deals and a monthly e-newsletter, so I subscribed. My parents had taken a cruise last year--their first time--and had loved it, and it sounded appealing to us in several ways. In the first place, we were both too tired to make decisions about where to go, how to get there, what to do when we arrived, etc. A cruise sounded like a trip with few, if any, decisions to make beyond picking the date and the boat! It also sounded appealing from a budget standpoint. With food, accommodations and transportation all included in the discounted prices, it was a great deal.
As the winter wore on and B15 and Blondechick were making plans to go California with their choir in early March, we started having cabin fever. Then our bishop's wife prescribed some time away for just the two of us, and that clinched it! We looked at a calendar and settled on a good week--Blondechick and B15's spring break, so that they would be around to help Grandma and Grandpa Rooster with the younger kids. We picked out a Holland America ship, the Westerdam, which sounded like it was going to some nice places, leaving Ft. Lauderdale and stopping at Grand Turk in the Caicos Islands, San Juan in Puerto Rico, Philipsburg on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, and finally at Half Moon Cay, a nearly untouched island owned by several cruise companies.
And we couldn't have had a better experience. We had beautiful weather, a quiet room, fabulous food, super entertainment and incredible service. We got to go snorkeling and horseback riding in the ocean. We enjoyed the water, the sand, the shops, the history and the people everywhere we went. At meals, we sat with interesting folks from all over the world, most of them older than ourselves and with fascinating stories to tell. (Many of them were Canadians--apparently they are even more desperate than we Midwesterners to get out of the cold!) The crew also was a multicultural group, with huge smiles and delightful lilting accents surrounding us at all times.
Papa Rooster took hundreds of pictures, and I'll be posting more about our trip soon. But for now, I am thankful to be back with our kids, thankful for health and safety for us all while we were gone, thankful that we got the time away together...and that it was such a perfect trip!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Praying for Japan
It's hard to imagine a situation such as the one in Japan right now. My life goes on as usual, and the many needs, distractions, choices and decisions of the day occupy my mind to the point that I can't even remember to pray consistently for those people on the other side of the globe who are suffering so much.
Yesterday I read a letter from the Anglican Archbishop of Japan, describing efforts made to communicate with the churches in the devastated areas. No one knows if these churches or their congregations still exist or not. He described relief efforts they are trying to organize. They sound nearly as helpless as I feel, but he ended with this paragraph:
What we can do right now, however, is pray. Prayer has power. I hope and request that you pray for the people who are affected, for those who have died and for their families. Pray for the people involved with the rescue efforts, and in particular pray for Tohoku and Kita Kanto dioceses and their priests and parishioners during this time of Lent.
After I read this, I asked B12 and Chicklet8 to stop and join me to pray for the people in Japan. We got on our knees and took turns praying earnestly out loud for families who don't know if their relatives are alive, for children who have lost parents and parents who have lost children, for families who have no homes, for relief workers trying to rescue people, for people who need rescuing and have not been found yet. After the last "Amen," the children didn't move. They stayed on their knees.
After a few moments, C8 got a pencil and went to the refrigerator, where I had hung a large sheet of paper with the title "We are thankful for...." I had hung it weeks ago, meaning to have a family meeting to invite the kids, as part of Lent, to cover it with words and phrases. But life has been too busy, or I forgot to seize the moment, and I had begun to wonder if anyone would just...begin to write on it. The title did explain it all.
Deliberately, Chicklet wrote, "My family, my friends, my home!"
Her instinct, in the midst of intercession, was to give thanks. And she was exactly right.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phil. 4:6)
Yesterday I read a letter from the Anglican Archbishop of Japan, describing efforts made to communicate with the churches in the devastated areas. No one knows if these churches or their congregations still exist or not. He described relief efforts they are trying to organize. They sound nearly as helpless as I feel, but he ended with this paragraph:
What we can do right now, however, is pray. Prayer has power. I hope and request that you pray for the people who are affected, for those who have died and for their families. Pray for the people involved with the rescue efforts, and in particular pray for Tohoku and Kita Kanto dioceses and their priests and parishioners during this time of Lent.
After I read this, I asked B12 and Chicklet8 to stop and join me to pray for the people in Japan. We got on our knees and took turns praying earnestly out loud for families who don't know if their relatives are alive, for children who have lost parents and parents who have lost children, for families who have no homes, for relief workers trying to rescue people, for people who need rescuing and have not been found yet. After the last "Amen," the children didn't move. They stayed on their knees.
After a few moments, C8 got a pencil and went to the refrigerator, where I had hung a large sheet of paper with the title "We are thankful for...." I had hung it weeks ago, meaning to have a family meeting to invite the kids, as part of Lent, to cover it with words and phrases. But life has been too busy, or I forgot to seize the moment, and I had begun to wonder if anyone would just...begin to write on it. The title did explain it all.
Deliberately, Chicklet wrote, "My family, my friends, my home!"
Her instinct, in the midst of intercession, was to give thanks. And she was exactly right.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phil. 4:6)
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
O Lord, that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~William Shakespeare, King Henry VI
A thankful heart is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. ~Cicero
If the only prayer you say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckehart (Christian mystic)
God loves a cheerful giver. She gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. ~Mother Theresa
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~Albert Einstein
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. ~Psalm 69:30
~William Shakespeare, King Henry VI
A thankful heart is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. ~Cicero
If the only prayer you say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckehart (Christian mystic)
God loves a cheerful giver. She gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. ~Mother Theresa
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~Albert Einstein
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. ~Psalm 69:30
Monday, November 01, 2010
Annual Dress-up Occasion
No, we don't "celebrate" Halloween. But we do allow our children to play dress-up and go door-to-door begging for treats. It's the annual costume parade!
Resale shops are a costumer's paradise in October. We used to have a helmet, shield and breastplate like this when B19 was about B5's age; it fell into disrepair with two more younger brothers. It was nice to find that same set for B5!
Little girls generally have to go no farther than their dress-up drawer. Chicklet wore this costume at her dance recital last May. Add wings, gold sandals and a flower in her hair, and she's a fairy! Blondechick17 curled her hair and did her eye makeup.
But Bantam11 had the idea of going as an Angel of the Lord--particularly the Captain of the Host, from the card game Redemption. He told me to watch for extra-large wings when I was at a resale shop, and figured he could wrap up in a white sheet and grab a sword from the weapon box and be good to go. But with two days left, we had no suitable wings. At the most likely resale shop, I had only seen itsy-bitsy fairy wings and large maroon-colored wings.
So after piano lessons, we stopped at a least-likely thrift store nearby. At first glance, it looked like they had little to nothing in the way of a costume rack. Suddenly, white wings caught my eye. The wings were great, but the white gown looked a little girly. It was trimmed in white feathers around the neck and sleeves, to match the wings, and it was a little small for B11. We were also a little dubious about the halo hairband that came with it. But at least we had his wings!
As we turned to leave, we spotted a few more costumes on a nearby rack--including a different angel costume. What were the odds? Especially at a store with hardly any costumes to begin with! Instead of a halo, it had a crown headband, and the gown was generously sized, with no girly trimmings. It was a lot cheaper than the first costume, but the wings were much smaller. (They became the basis for Chicklet's fairy costume, above.) I agreed to pay for them both...then discovered, as the sale was rung up, that all costumes were half-price.
Ya think maybe God was smiling on an eleven-year-old boy who really wanted to dress up as an Angel of the Lord for Halloween?
Resale shops are a costumer's paradise in October. We used to have a helmet, shield and breastplate like this when B19 was about B5's age; it fell into disrepair with two more younger brothers. It was nice to find that same set for B5!
Little girls generally have to go no farther than their dress-up drawer. Chicklet wore this costume at her dance recital last May. Add wings, gold sandals and a flower in her hair, and she's a fairy! Blondechick17 curled her hair and did her eye makeup.
But Bantam11 had the idea of going as an Angel of the Lord--particularly the Captain of the Host, from the card game Redemption. He told me to watch for extra-large wings when I was at a resale shop, and figured he could wrap up in a white sheet and grab a sword from the weapon box and be good to go. But with two days left, we had no suitable wings. At the most likely resale shop, I had only seen itsy-bitsy fairy wings and large maroon-colored wings.
So after piano lessons, we stopped at a least-likely thrift store nearby. At first glance, it looked like they had little to nothing in the way of a costume rack. Suddenly, white wings caught my eye. The wings were great, but the white gown looked a little girly. It was trimmed in white feathers around the neck and sleeves, to match the wings, and it was a little small for B11. We were also a little dubious about the halo hairband that came with it. But at least we had his wings!
As we turned to leave, we spotted a few more costumes on a nearby rack--including a different angel costume. What were the odds? Especially at a store with hardly any costumes to begin with! Instead of a halo, it had a crown headband, and the gown was generously sized, with no girly trimmings. It was a lot cheaper than the first costume, but the wings were much smaller. (They became the basis for Chicklet's fairy costume, above.) I agreed to pay for them both...then discovered, as the sale was rung up, that all costumes were half-price.
Ya think maybe God was smiling on an eleven-year-old boy who really wanted to dress up as an Angel of the Lord for Halloween?
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Back Home & Thankful
We're back! I didn't mean to leave my blog unattended for so long but was faced with the blogger's dilemma: Do I let people know that we're out of town for two weeks? Or just let them guess? Not only did we spend 5 days in Washington DC, but we stopped at my parents' home in Ohio on the way out, and again on the way back.
I hope to post lots of pictures soon, but for now, I just want to pour out my thanksgiving to God. We had safety while traveling, protection while in a large city, and we never lost a child even for a few minutes. We managed to see, do and eat all over DC without breaking our bank (it's great that so many places are free to visit!), and best of all, our family had a great time together. Our little kids had a blast, and the older ones were trying hard. They got bored a couple of times, but mostly they were engaged and happy, and took turns looking out for the younger ones. The trip was exactly what I hoped it would be--a great family memory, probably the only vacation memory that all 8 of us will share.
I am also grateful to God for helping us begin to detach from our much-loved trailer. That is the positive way to view the problems that we had with it! We had everything loaded up, kids in the van, and the last thing was to close the slide, or glide room, which extends out on one side of the trailer--and it wouldn't close the whole way! We had to drive with it sticking out a few inches, straight to the sales/service place where we store it, praying the whole way. Would we have to turn around and unload everything? Could we dig out our old tenting equipment? Fortunately, they were able to fix it right there in the driveway, replacing the bolt that had dropped off, and realigning the tracks. And they didn't even charge us!
Which was a darn good thing, because although they had supposedly checked all the various mechanisms when they de-winterized it, we discovered, when we got to Ohio, that we couldn't flush the toilet and we didn't have hot water. We were able to get those items fixed a few days later at our campground in Maryland, by a guy who came to our campsite to do it. And oh yeah, he had to replace the water pump as well, because we forgot to switch it off on our trip between Ohio and Maryland. (Pumps burn out when you forget to turn them off and there is no water in the tank. Ayup.)
Pulling that trailer over the mountains on the way to DC and on the way back from DC to Ohio was no fun either. The temps were in the 90's both days, and our van's powerful engine kept approaching the overheating zone as we lumbered up each hill, unless we switched off the A/C till we got to the top, which made the kids complain every time. No matter how many times we told them that we would be turning off the A/C on each and every hill, to our amazement, someone would irritably complain every time! Poor Papa Rooster felt like he was part of the rig, straining up each hill and white-knuckling it down each steep descent. He has never let me drive when we were pulling the camper, and wasn't about to start me now, so those were long, stress-filled days for him. He had zero maneuverability if another driver did something unexpected, so we both were concerned about safety the entire way as well.
Overall, it was great to use our trailer for one last long trip. It reminded us of all the good times we've had with it in the six years we've owned it, and it was a cozy home-away-from-home on our trip, cheaper and more inviting than hotel rooms. But the headaches of second-home-ownership confirmed our thoughts that maybe the time has come to close this chapter of our lives. When we bought the trailer, we could watch the weather forecast and slip away for a nice weekend whenever we wanted. All our kids were homeschooled, and Papa Rooster was one of several priests at our old church. But now that our older kids are in school and have jobs, and PR has no back-up priest at Light of Christ, we can hardly get away at all. When we bought the trailer, we were able to store it next door to our house; here in WI, we have to pay hundreds of dollars each year in storage fees. Add maintenance and insurance costs, and it's just not cost-effective to keep it. (Especially with 1-2 kids in college for the next 17 years. Just figured that out.)
Today, I am unpacking and emptying the trailer completely of all the dishes, utensils, games and camping supplies. We'll have to give it a thorough cleaning too, before Papa Rooster takes it back to the storage place, and then we'll have to do some research on a price and list it. It's kind of sad, but I know it's right.
I am just so grateful--for the camper, for the trip, for the kids, for Papa Rooster, for the opportunities we had on this trip, and the enjoyable vacation we all had together, possibly for the last time. I'm sorry that it's over, but I'm thankful to be home, too!
I hope to post lots of pictures soon, but for now, I just want to pour out my thanksgiving to God. We had safety while traveling, protection while in a large city, and we never lost a child even for a few minutes. We managed to see, do and eat all over DC without breaking our bank (it's great that so many places are free to visit!), and best of all, our family had a great time together. Our little kids had a blast, and the older ones were trying hard. They got bored a couple of times, but mostly they were engaged and happy, and took turns looking out for the younger ones. The trip was exactly what I hoped it would be--a great family memory, probably the only vacation memory that all 8 of us will share.
I am also grateful to God for helping us begin to detach from our much-loved trailer. That is the positive way to view the problems that we had with it! We had everything loaded up, kids in the van, and the last thing was to close the slide, or glide room, which extends out on one side of the trailer--and it wouldn't close the whole way! We had to drive with it sticking out a few inches, straight to the sales/service place where we store it, praying the whole way. Would we have to turn around and unload everything? Could we dig out our old tenting equipment? Fortunately, they were able to fix it right there in the driveway, replacing the bolt that had dropped off, and realigning the tracks. And they didn't even charge us!
Which was a darn good thing, because although they had supposedly checked all the various mechanisms when they de-winterized it, we discovered, when we got to Ohio, that we couldn't flush the toilet and we didn't have hot water. We were able to get those items fixed a few days later at our campground in Maryland, by a guy who came to our campsite to do it. And oh yeah, he had to replace the water pump as well, because we forgot to switch it off on our trip between Ohio and Maryland. (Pumps burn out when you forget to turn them off and there is no water in the tank. Ayup.)
Pulling that trailer over the mountains on the way to DC and on the way back from DC to Ohio was no fun either. The temps were in the 90's both days, and our van's powerful engine kept approaching the overheating zone as we lumbered up each hill, unless we switched off the A/C till we got to the top, which made the kids complain every time. No matter how many times we told them that we would be turning off the A/C on each and every hill, to our amazement, someone would irritably complain every time! Poor Papa Rooster felt like he was part of the rig, straining up each hill and white-knuckling it down each steep descent. He has never let me drive when we were pulling the camper, and wasn't about to start me now, so those were long, stress-filled days for him. He had zero maneuverability if another driver did something unexpected, so we both were concerned about safety the entire way as well.
Overall, it was great to use our trailer for one last long trip. It reminded us of all the good times we've had with it in the six years we've owned it, and it was a cozy home-away-from-home on our trip, cheaper and more inviting than hotel rooms. But the headaches of second-home-ownership confirmed our thoughts that maybe the time has come to close this chapter of our lives. When we bought the trailer, we could watch the weather forecast and slip away for a nice weekend whenever we wanted. All our kids were homeschooled, and Papa Rooster was one of several priests at our old church. But now that our older kids are in school and have jobs, and PR has no back-up priest at Light of Christ, we can hardly get away at all. When we bought the trailer, we were able to store it next door to our house; here in WI, we have to pay hundreds of dollars each year in storage fees. Add maintenance and insurance costs, and it's just not cost-effective to keep it. (Especially with 1-2 kids in college for the next 17 years. Just figured that out.)
Today, I am unpacking and emptying the trailer completely of all the dishes, utensils, games and camping supplies. We'll have to give it a thorough cleaning too, before Papa Rooster takes it back to the storage place, and then we'll have to do some research on a price and list it. It's kind of sad, but I know it's right.
I am just so grateful--for the camper, for the trip, for the kids, for Papa Rooster, for the opportunities we had on this trip, and the enjoyable vacation we all had together, possibly for the last time. I'm sorry that it's over, but I'm thankful to be home, too!
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
He's Back
Bantam15 is back from camp. Those ten days were life-changing, and I am in such a state of wonderment, joy and thanksgiving!
God answered our prayers specifically. B15 had a great counselor, who understood his personality and challenged him in his leadership gifts. The boys in his cabin were good kids, really good, and they all are staying in touch through Facebook and phone calls, and planning a reunion already. (While on the phone with one of them last night, B15 asked me for copies of Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. You can imagine how delighted I was to pull them off the shelf for him!)
But the cry of our hearts was that above all else, he would encounter God at camp. And he did. He had many opportunities to get alone with God, and he really prayed, for himself, at length, and he recognized God's voice speaking to him in the quiet, and in the words of his counselor and the other boys, especially in their cabin devotion times, but throughout their activities and overnight canoe trips as well. He came back with specific things in mind that he needed to tell us, and address with his friends, and goals that will help him walk out his new resolutions.
As a parent, I am just so grateful to God that He chose to work through this camp...that He supplied the money to send him...and that when he was begging not to go, because he would miss out on so much while he was gone, and we almost inquired if we could cancel and get our money back, that we decided to send him anyway! That was God. (He told me that next year, if he says he doesn't want to go, he wants us to make him.)
I am just floating in gratefulness to God, and amazement at what He's done in our teens' lives in the past year. Both Blondechick17 and B15, when we moved here two years ago, were just at that age where, when pulled away from the accountability of their Christian friends, they were tempted to reinvent themselves and try out "the dark side" for awhile. Without a youth group or many Christian friends, it was easy to find kids to get on the wrong path with, plus they were at that point where rebellion--throwing off the shackles of parental dependence--appealed to them.
So far, all of our teens have reached a point where we parents realize that there is little we can do about their walk with God. We can encourage, shape, guide, direct, give advice...but ultimately, a young person has to make their faith their own, and it seems like Mom and Dad are the last ones they want to listen to about how to do that. It's at this point that we need interventions, like camp, like the private Christian school, where peers and other adults have the opportunity to speak and reinforce the same message. But our teens can hear it from others as they will not from us!
We have had to do a lot of forcing--had to force both kids to go to Honey Rock last year, had to force Blondechick to go to the Christian school, and B15 to go to camp again this year--but in each case, our kids have ended up thanking us for it. In each case, we were reluctant, because of the expense involved financially and emotionally (and in the driving time commitment, too), but in each case, God had planted the conviction that this was what was needed, and we trusted that the expense would be worth it.
I remember reading She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall
, the teen girl who was asked about her faith just before she was killed in the Littleton High School shootings years ago. In this book, her mother shared their story of Cassie getting in with a bad group of friends, and the lengths the family went to to intervene, even selling their house and moving to the other side of town to get into a different school district, and finally pulling her out of public school and sending her to a Christian school. They switched churches, they found a good youth group, and Cassie was so transformed that she begged to return to the public school to be a light and witness there. And that's where she was when the tragedy happened.
The thing that struck me was their commitment to intervention, despite the personal cost and sacrifice--moving!!--and the good results that came of it. I know that book gave me courage and conviction as a parent of teens myself. It is pretty neat to look back and see how God was working years in advance of the actual crisis! I'm also grateful for how he led us away from a couple of "Ishmael" plans that weren't really of Him.
While we were at Honey Rock for Family Day, the last day of camp, B11 was begging to go next year. We'd love to send him, but the cost is prohibitive, and there is another good, more affordable option that we might look at for him. "Besides," B15 advised me, "he doesn't need it yet." I knew exactly what he was saying: Wait until he needs an intervention, or the spiritual boost to make his faith his own.
It was one of the several ways that he has said "thank you." As I say, "Thank You!!"
God answered our prayers specifically. B15 had a great counselor, who understood his personality and challenged him in his leadership gifts. The boys in his cabin were good kids, really good, and they all are staying in touch through Facebook and phone calls, and planning a reunion already. (While on the phone with one of them last night, B15 asked me for copies of Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. You can imagine how delighted I was to pull them off the shelf for him!)
But the cry of our hearts was that above all else, he would encounter God at camp. And he did. He had many opportunities to get alone with God, and he really prayed, for himself, at length, and he recognized God's voice speaking to him in the quiet, and in the words of his counselor and the other boys, especially in their cabin devotion times, but throughout their activities and overnight canoe trips as well. He came back with specific things in mind that he needed to tell us, and address with his friends, and goals that will help him walk out his new resolutions.
As a parent, I am just so grateful to God that He chose to work through this camp...that He supplied the money to send him...and that when he was begging not to go, because he would miss out on so much while he was gone, and we almost inquired if we could cancel and get our money back, that we decided to send him anyway! That was God. (He told me that next year, if he says he doesn't want to go, he wants us to make him.)
I am just floating in gratefulness to God, and amazement at what He's done in our teens' lives in the past year. Both Blondechick17 and B15, when we moved here two years ago, were just at that age where, when pulled away from the accountability of their Christian friends, they were tempted to reinvent themselves and try out "the dark side" for awhile. Without a youth group or many Christian friends, it was easy to find kids to get on the wrong path with, plus they were at that point where rebellion--throwing off the shackles of parental dependence--appealed to them.
So far, all of our teens have reached a point where we parents realize that there is little we can do about their walk with God. We can encourage, shape, guide, direct, give advice...but ultimately, a young person has to make their faith their own, and it seems like Mom and Dad are the last ones they want to listen to about how to do that. It's at this point that we need interventions, like camp, like the private Christian school, where peers and other adults have the opportunity to speak and reinforce the same message. But our teens can hear it from others as they will not from us!
We have had to do a lot of forcing--had to force both kids to go to Honey Rock last year, had to force Blondechick to go to the Christian school, and B15 to go to camp again this year--but in each case, our kids have ended up thanking us for it. In each case, we were reluctant, because of the expense involved financially and emotionally (and in the driving time commitment, too), but in each case, God had planted the conviction that this was what was needed, and we trusted that the expense would be worth it.
I remember reading She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall
, the teen girl who was asked about her faith just before she was killed in the Littleton High School shootings years ago. In this book, her mother shared their story of Cassie getting in with a bad group of friends, and the lengths the family went to to intervene, even selling their house and moving to the other side of town to get into a different school district, and finally pulling her out of public school and sending her to a Christian school. They switched churches, they found a good youth group, and Cassie was so transformed that she begged to return to the public school to be a light and witness there. And that's where she was when the tragedy happened.The thing that struck me was their commitment to intervention, despite the personal cost and sacrifice--moving!!--and the good results that came of it. I know that book gave me courage and conviction as a parent of teens myself. It is pretty neat to look back and see how God was working years in advance of the actual crisis! I'm also grateful for how he led us away from a couple of "Ishmael" plans that weren't really of Him.
While we were at Honey Rock for Family Day, the last day of camp, B11 was begging to go next year. We'd love to send him, but the cost is prohibitive, and there is another good, more affordable option that we might look at for him. "Besides," B15 advised me, "he doesn't need it yet." I knew exactly what he was saying: Wait until he needs an intervention, or the spiritual boost to make his faith his own.
It was one of the several ways that he has said "thank you." As I say, "Thank You!!"
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Congratulations, Bantam19!
Look at that young man. See that half-smile, the hands fingering his diploma? He's pleased. He's proud of himself. He's filled with wonderment and barely-believing.
From the minute he entered the auditorium, one of nearly 500 in his class, I felt a lump in my throat. I'm sure it's normal to feel emotional as a parent at a graduation--it's the end of an era, after all, and a launching into the unknown future--but what I felt was something different than I imagine most parents around me were experiencing. I kept thinking back to his diagnosis of autism at age 4, when he was barely able to put words together into a sentence, when he couldn't answer a question or count or understand a childish joke.
How far he has come!
We had over 50 guests at his open house, including all four grandparents. (These are my parents, who were able to stay for the ceremony as well.)
And the story continues with the next exciting chapter: Trinity College in the fall! We got the news of his acceptance just three days before his graduation--perfect timing to share the news with family and friends at his open house. Thank you to those who prayed! (Why did we choose Trinity?)
My heart feels at rest. I am filled with joy and thankfulness!
B19, this is my prayer for you, from Ephesians 3:16-21:
I pray that out of God's glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pentecost Musings
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost! It's a day--no, a whole season--for remembering that after Christ ascended, He did not leave us alone. He told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come, and when He came, He came in power with the sound of a mighty rushing wind. Before He ascended, Christ assured his disciples that they would do even greater works than His, once He had gone, because of the power of the Holy Spirit in them.
We receive the Holy Spirit as one of the gifts of salvation, and He is always with us. Yet it is also possible to grieve the Spirit, quench the Spirit and be depleted of the Spirit, for Paul tells us, "Be continually filled with the Spirit." Christ taught, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing," and Paul proclaimed, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ is with us and strengthens us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes it's hard to see the line between doing in my own strength, and acting in the power of the Holy Spirit. My intention is to be committed to God--to His will, His plans, His purposes and His direction. I try to choose my course--my actions, my plans, my attitudes--to line up with His. I pray for His continual strength to do what I believe He's called me to do, and I think He does empower me to do so much more good than I could do if the plans were only my own.
Yet I know I get off course at times. My good intentions fail in moments of anger, frustration and disappointment when something interferes with the plans, and it is in those moments that I most need the fruits of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness and self-control. It is in those instances that I realize how much more Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled I want to be.
So what helps? Today, I need to remind myself.
1) Waiting expectantly, just like the disciples in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost. The expectation is key; I think it is an exercise of faith to believe that if I ask, I shall receive. Exercise strengthens!
2) Explicitly giving Christ the rule of my heart. I envision the throne of my heart and ask myself, "Who is spending more time there, me or Christ?" I confess that I often put myself there, and I ask Him once more to seat Himself on that throne. I put myself once again under His rule.
3) Reminding myself that apart from Christ, I can do nothing, or "no good thing," as some translations render the verse.
4) Consciously trying to love. What would be the loving action, the loving word, the loving response?
5) Living by this verse: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and Spiritual songs with gratitude in Your hearts to God- And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
To unpack: Reading God's word, listening/singing songs of worship, giving thanks, and dedicating all my works and words to God.
In this year of great busy-ness, I have not much time for doing the things of God--for reading my Bible, for journalling, for devoted prayer times. It feels, in some ways, like I have been crossing the desert, with minimal provisions to sustain me. But by God's grace (and in answer to my prayers for mercy, I'm certain), I have been able to maintain many of the attitudes on this list. As I look it over, I see that it's more about being than doing, more about choices than actions.
I remember I once placed a post-it on my mirror on which I had scrawled, "Who I am matters more than what I do." It feels like this past year, I've only had time to choose who I am--I've had little choice at all about what I do. Somehow, in this time of difficulty and stress, I think I've managed to grow in choosing who I am going to be, though my family knows how inconsistent I am. But overall, I am going to choose not to feel guilty, but to be thankful for the many times that I know the Holy Spirit has helped me, in His strength, to bite my tongue, to give a soft answer, to do it myself with a servant's heart, to stay up late and help, to not complain. I will encourage myself to keep asking, waiting, and expecting. I will keep trying to love, to submit, to give thanks, to worship and to dedicate my thoughts, words and deeds to God.
I look for an end to this difficult season, but I will be thankful for what it is teaching me!
We receive the Holy Spirit as one of the gifts of salvation, and He is always with us. Yet it is also possible to grieve the Spirit, quench the Spirit and be depleted of the Spirit, for Paul tells us, "Be continually filled with the Spirit." Christ taught, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing," and Paul proclaimed, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ is with us and strengthens us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes it's hard to see the line between doing in my own strength, and acting in the power of the Holy Spirit. My intention is to be committed to God--to His will, His plans, His purposes and His direction. I try to choose my course--my actions, my plans, my attitudes--to line up with His. I pray for His continual strength to do what I believe He's called me to do, and I think He does empower me to do so much more good than I could do if the plans were only my own.
Yet I know I get off course at times. My good intentions fail in moments of anger, frustration and disappointment when something interferes with the plans, and it is in those moments that I most need the fruits of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness and self-control. It is in those instances that I realize how much more Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled I want to be.
So what helps? Today, I need to remind myself.
1) Waiting expectantly, just like the disciples in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost. The expectation is key; I think it is an exercise of faith to believe that if I ask, I shall receive. Exercise strengthens!
2) Explicitly giving Christ the rule of my heart. I envision the throne of my heart and ask myself, "Who is spending more time there, me or Christ?" I confess that I often put myself there, and I ask Him once more to seat Himself on that throne. I put myself once again under His rule.
3) Reminding myself that apart from Christ, I can do nothing, or "no good thing," as some translations render the verse.
4) Consciously trying to love. What would be the loving action, the loving word, the loving response?
5) Living by this verse: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and Spiritual songs with gratitude in Your hearts to God- And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
To unpack: Reading God's word, listening/singing songs of worship, giving thanks, and dedicating all my works and words to God.
In this year of great busy-ness, I have not much time for doing the things of God--for reading my Bible, for journalling, for devoted prayer times. It feels, in some ways, like I have been crossing the desert, with minimal provisions to sustain me. But by God's grace (and in answer to my prayers for mercy, I'm certain), I have been able to maintain many of the attitudes on this list. As I look it over, I see that it's more about being than doing, more about choices than actions.
I remember I once placed a post-it on my mirror on which I had scrawled, "Who I am matters more than what I do." It feels like this past year, I've only had time to choose who I am--I've had little choice at all about what I do. Somehow, in this time of difficulty and stress, I think I've managed to grow in choosing who I am going to be, though my family knows how inconsistent I am. But overall, I am going to choose not to feel guilty, but to be thankful for the many times that I know the Holy Spirit has helped me, in His strength, to bite my tongue, to give a soft answer, to do it myself with a servant's heart, to stay up late and help, to not complain. I will encourage myself to keep asking, waiting, and expecting. I will keep trying to love, to submit, to give thanks, to worship and to dedicate my thoughts, words and deeds to God.
I look for an end to this difficult season, but I will be thankful for what it is teaching me!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thankful--For Every, Every Minute
So I had a pretty bad medical scare here lately.
The day before my 45th birthday, I got the results of an echocardiogram that had been done to check out a heart murmur. I'd been told that the murmur was probably not significant, but still, if I'd never had an echo, I should, they said.
So I had the echo, or ultrasound of the heart, and sure enough, the murmur is insignificant. However (they said), we want you to come back in for a CT scan of your chest, because it appears that your aorta is mildly enlarged.
As I hung up the phone, concern began to gradually spread through my brain. I googled, I tried to recall from my life insurance underwriting days...I just knew this was not good. An enlarged aorta means, basically, that it's a weak vessel that could blow at any time. In other words, an aneurysm, which I always thought was what it was called when it blew, but I guess you can walk around with an aneurysm--or enlarged, weakened vessel--for years, too. Sort of a time bomb.
I woke up the next morning, on my birthday, with a page from the Lincoln Manual--the life insurance underwriter's bible--burned into my consciousness. "Enlarged Aorta" was the title, and there was a chart underneath. I couldn't "see" or recall everything on the chart entirely, but I remembered now, that it was a very bad page. The chart went from mildly enlarged to severely enlarged, and there was a section on those who'd been treated by surgery too--and most of the categories were either uninsurable (too great a risk) or very, very expensive to buy life insurance for. Although it seemed that the first category, mild enlargement, was surprisingly only a Table B (the minimum upcharge on a normal rate, without the nonsmoker discount).
It's interesting how my brain, in sleep, was able to pull back and look at my case so objectively! But it did nothing to reassure the waking me, who was having a birthday, for Pete's sake. I'd been thinking that 45 was probably about the halfway point for me, since longevity runs in my family--and suddenly, I was worrying that I may have hit my halfway point a long time ago. It was quite sobering, and I felt suddenly afraid. It was a hard day, my birthday.
I shared the news with only a few people, since the CT scan would be the more definitive report and I wouldn't know those results for a week or so. I was hoping and praying that the enlargement would be very mild, indeed.
But I had one week, then, of not knowing and trying not to imagine and fear the worst. I found myself thinking often of Annie Martin and John Fawcett, both friends of ours who died in the last two years; both were in their forties, and both left children and spouses behind. That was the hard part--the thoughts of leaving my children, wondering if I'd be there to see them married, cuddle grandchildren, visit them in their homes, turn 18. How many more years would Papa Rooster and I have together? Would I never become old and gray? How would he function as a single parent? As much as I look forward to being with Jesus, I realized that I fiercely love my life and all the people God has placed in it.
I also had weird guilty feelings, wondering if it was significant that it was my heart that was affected. Was there a failure of my heart, to love, to give to others? If I had been a kinder, gentler person, would this not have happened? Could yelling at my kids in anger have caused this? Should I bargain with God and promise to become a new, better person if only He'd take this away? I didn't let myself go down any of these mental tracks, but they did occur.
Finally, I evaluated my activities. Would I change anything? I might have to quit my part-time job, but other than that, I couldn't think of much to let go of. Maybe I would finally hire a house cleaner....
You can imagine, then, the relief that rushed through me when the doctor's assistant said, "We have the results of your scan, and your aorta looks completely normal--no enlargement at all."
I am praising God and rejoicing in the gift of LIFE! I can't believe how much we take it for granted, as Thornton Wilder tries to show us in his brilliant play "Our Town," one of those literary works I'm glad I had to write a paper on in high school. "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"
It's been three days since I got the good news. I thought it would shape me for the rest of my life, yet I am amazed at how my mind has moved on. I'll go for hours without recalling either the sense of dread or the relief that were so powerful just days ago; then I will remember and be surprised at how life goes on, evidently.
And I am so thankful that it does.
The day before my 45th birthday, I got the results of an echocardiogram that had been done to check out a heart murmur. I'd been told that the murmur was probably not significant, but still, if I'd never had an echo, I should, they said.
So I had the echo, or ultrasound of the heart, and sure enough, the murmur is insignificant. However (they said), we want you to come back in for a CT scan of your chest, because it appears that your aorta is mildly enlarged.
As I hung up the phone, concern began to gradually spread through my brain. I googled, I tried to recall from my life insurance underwriting days...I just knew this was not good. An enlarged aorta means, basically, that it's a weak vessel that could blow at any time. In other words, an aneurysm, which I always thought was what it was called when it blew, but I guess you can walk around with an aneurysm--or enlarged, weakened vessel--for years, too. Sort of a time bomb.
I woke up the next morning, on my birthday, with a page from the Lincoln Manual--the life insurance underwriter's bible--burned into my consciousness. "Enlarged Aorta" was the title, and there was a chart underneath. I couldn't "see" or recall everything on the chart entirely, but I remembered now, that it was a very bad page. The chart went from mildly enlarged to severely enlarged, and there was a section on those who'd been treated by surgery too--and most of the categories were either uninsurable (too great a risk) or very, very expensive to buy life insurance for. Although it seemed that the first category, mild enlargement, was surprisingly only a Table B (the minimum upcharge on a normal rate, without the nonsmoker discount).
It's interesting how my brain, in sleep, was able to pull back and look at my case so objectively! But it did nothing to reassure the waking me, who was having a birthday, for Pete's sake. I'd been thinking that 45 was probably about the halfway point for me, since longevity runs in my family--and suddenly, I was worrying that I may have hit my halfway point a long time ago. It was quite sobering, and I felt suddenly afraid. It was a hard day, my birthday.
I shared the news with only a few people, since the CT scan would be the more definitive report and I wouldn't know those results for a week or so. I was hoping and praying that the enlargement would be very mild, indeed.
But I had one week, then, of not knowing and trying not to imagine and fear the worst. I found myself thinking often of Annie Martin and John Fawcett, both friends of ours who died in the last two years; both were in their forties, and both left children and spouses behind. That was the hard part--the thoughts of leaving my children, wondering if I'd be there to see them married, cuddle grandchildren, visit them in their homes, turn 18. How many more years would Papa Rooster and I have together? Would I never become old and gray? How would he function as a single parent? As much as I look forward to being with Jesus, I realized that I fiercely love my life and all the people God has placed in it.
I also had weird guilty feelings, wondering if it was significant that it was my heart that was affected. Was there a failure of my heart, to love, to give to others? If I had been a kinder, gentler person, would this not have happened? Could yelling at my kids in anger have caused this? Should I bargain with God and promise to become a new, better person if only He'd take this away? I didn't let myself go down any of these mental tracks, but they did occur.
Finally, I evaluated my activities. Would I change anything? I might have to quit my part-time job, but other than that, I couldn't think of much to let go of. Maybe I would finally hire a house cleaner....
You can imagine, then, the relief that rushed through me when the doctor's assistant said, "We have the results of your scan, and your aorta looks completely normal--no enlargement at all."
I am praising God and rejoicing in the gift of LIFE! I can't believe how much we take it for granted, as Thornton Wilder tries to show us in his brilliant play "Our Town," one of those literary works I'm glad I had to write a paper on in high school. "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"
It's been three days since I got the good news. I thought it would shape me for the rest of my life, yet I am amazed at how my mind has moved on. I'll go for hours without recalling either the sense of dread or the relief that were so powerful just days ago; then I will remember and be surprised at how life goes on, evidently.
And I am so thankful that it does.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Annual Celebration
We had a great time at our annual celebration last night! We asked folks to stand up and share things they were grateful for about our church, and it was such a blessing to hear the things that had touched people.
--one little boy said he had never had any good friends before they came to Light of Christ.
--the parents of a boy with autism and Tourette's syndrome said they were grateful for our acceptance of their son--who can be disruptive at times--and for providing an outlet for service for him (he serves as an acolyte every few weeks).
--another child thanked God for our church and for gathering times like the meal we had just had together.
--Barbara was grateful for those who assisted her family while she was battling cancer this year.
--we are all so thankful to God for Barbara's healing, and for all that she does with our Sunday School and altar guild (she IS the altar guild!).
--one of our founders, Mrs. A, recalled the first few Sundays when it was just a couple families in attendance, and thanked God for all the people God has sent since. Such an answer to those early prayers!
--we thanked God for the many children He has sent us and for the joy of seeing them serve each week as acolytes.
--we thanked God for our three folks from the older, wiser generation as well!
--one of them shared how blessed she was by our church despite the fact that she has very few "age-mates" there; she feels placed here by God.
--our token college/career age gal said she grew up moving a lot, and there weren't always good churches to attend. She is grateful to be attending one now!
--and we are glad she's hung in there with us, and are grateful for her service with our worship team.
--I recalled how many folks have passed through our doors, who have moved away but who were truly blessed by their time with us (like this family and the Prathers--Joel is now a priest in Texas--and a couple that is now at seminary).
--a mom was thankful that we are a praying community, as she recalled their earliest months at the church and how we prayed her through a pregnancy that was difficult for mother and baby.
--she also was grateful for the group of "regulars" at the weekly ladies' gathering at a coffee shop, and spoke of the community that had grown there.
--we are all thankful for the youth group that has begun to grow, and for the two men who stepped up to lead their Sunday School class (despite the challenges of kids who just can't pay attention, even when they are being talked about--cough, cough [B14]--ahem!).
--a new family shared how difficult it has always been for them to find a church that contains the differing spiritual values of both husband and wife, and how grateful they are to have found us so quickly after moving here this summer.
--he and another man were also grateful for the intellectual camaraderie they have in the carpool they have formed with Papa Rooster, all going 45+ minutes away to Deerfield, IL--what are the odds?
--and one of them is grateful to God and Light of Christ for the job he found, working with Papa --another man shared how glad he was that friends had invited him to Light of Christ, stating simply, "I love this church." He said his time with us had been transforming. He and another family both mentioned how grateful they were for the healing they had received.
--another dad said this church has become like family. He and his family are so thankful for the community they have here.
I know I'm missing more things that were said--but I'm glad my memory and this post can capture these, at least.
Praise be to God for all that He has done among us and through us at Light of Christ!!!!
--one little boy said he had never had any good friends before they came to Light of Christ.
--the parents of a boy with autism and Tourette's syndrome said they were grateful for our acceptance of their son--who can be disruptive at times--and for providing an outlet for service for him (he serves as an acolyte every few weeks).
--another child thanked God for our church and for gathering times like the meal we had just had together.
--Barbara was grateful for those who assisted her family while she was battling cancer this year.
--we are all so thankful to God for Barbara's healing, and for all that she does with our Sunday School and altar guild (she IS the altar guild!).
--one of our founders, Mrs. A, recalled the first few Sundays when it was just a couple families in attendance, and thanked God for all the people God has sent since. Such an answer to those early prayers!
--we thanked God for the many children He has sent us and for the joy of seeing them serve each week as acolytes.
--we thanked God for our three folks from the older, wiser generation as well!
--one of them shared how blessed she was by our church despite the fact that she has very few "age-mates" there; she feels placed here by God.
--our token college/career age gal said she grew up moving a lot, and there weren't always good churches to attend. She is grateful to be attending one now!
--and we are glad she's hung in there with us, and are grateful for her service with our worship team.
--I recalled how many folks have passed through our doors, who have moved away but who were truly blessed by their time with us (like this family and the Prathers--Joel is now a priest in Texas--and a couple that is now at seminary).
--a mom was thankful that we are a praying community, as she recalled their earliest months at the church and how we prayed her through a pregnancy that was difficult for mother and baby.
--she also was grateful for the group of "regulars" at the weekly ladies' gathering at a coffee shop, and spoke of the community that had grown there.
--we are all thankful for the youth group that has begun to grow, and for the two men who stepped up to lead their Sunday School class (despite the challenges of kids who just can't pay attention, even when they are being talked about--cough, cough [B14]--ahem!).
--a new family shared how difficult it has always been for them to find a church that contains the differing spiritual values of both husband and wife, and how grateful they are to have found us so quickly after moving here this summer.
--he and another man were also grateful for the intellectual camaraderie they have in the carpool they have formed with Papa Rooster, all going 45+ minutes away to Deerfield, IL--what are the odds?
--and one of them is grateful to God and Light of Christ for the job he found, working with Papa --another man shared how glad he was that friends had invited him to Light of Christ, stating simply, "I love this church." He said his time with us had been transforming. He and another family both mentioned how grateful they were for the healing they had received.
--another dad said this church has become like family. He and his family are so thankful for the community they have here.
I know I'm missing more things that were said--but I'm glad my memory and this post can capture these, at least.
Praise be to God for all that He has done among us and through us at Light of Christ!!!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Theater Update
Well, we are all on the other side of illness now, it seems--everyone is back to school, back to work, back to rehearsals and classes.
It hit me last Monday that there was only one week until dress rehearsals for Seussical begin! Before I got sick, I had purchased (at Goodwill) an old suitcase on wheels to use as our theater group's new makeup kit, and I had purchased basic Walmart-type supplies and containers to organize it. I had borrowed some specialty makeup from another chapter of our group, but still needed to order the rest.
So Monday morning found me poring over websites and my notes, comparing prices, shipping and handling costs, and availability of items like glow-in-the-dark hairspray and colored eyelashes in five particular shades. But finally my orders were placed, and I could rest assured that everything would be here in time for the first dress rehearsal.
I could turn my attention to other things, like...Showcase!
Tuesday night was the last night of our ten-week session of theater classes, and to celebrate and demonstrate all that the students had learned, we held a "Showcase" of performances from each class. Since this was our very first session, we had all new teachers, all new students, all new families. I was in charge and I didn't know how it would go.
But it went very well indeed! The kids did a great job, the parents were enthusiastic, the attendance maxed out the sanctuary where we held it, and our fundraiser at Culver's (a hamburger and ice cream joint) afterwards was well-attended. I am so grateful to my fabulous teachers, the parents, the kids...and the Lord!
I haven't said much about my job this fall because...well, you know...I'm an employee now and want to be very careful. But it's been so rewarding to see this "new thing" take wings and get off the ground. I keep thinking of how God is able to create ex nihilo: "out of nothing." Where there had been nothing but our family, we ended up with 75 students involved in classes, representing 50+ families! And the teachers that God sent us, "out of nowhere," so to speak, were all really solid. They knew their stuff and how to teach it, and they handled the kids beautifully with the right combination of fun and high expectations of their behavior and performance. They made my job easy!
And now those families are about to REALLY get to know each other this week during dress/tech rehearsals and performances of Seussical!! We have 3 dress rehearsals and 8 shows in the next 7 days. I am a little nervous about the makeup coming together, but it always does, and that's what dress rehearsal are for. My kids, at least, are prepared, excited and confident, and the whole cast is ready and eager for next week. We are praying for continued health for the cast and their families, and for more audience members to fill our seats!
See you on the other side....
It hit me last Monday that there was only one week until dress rehearsals for Seussical begin! Before I got sick, I had purchased (at Goodwill) an old suitcase on wheels to use as our theater group's new makeup kit, and I had purchased basic Walmart-type supplies and containers to organize it. I had borrowed some specialty makeup from another chapter of our group, but still needed to order the rest.
So Monday morning found me poring over websites and my notes, comparing prices, shipping and handling costs, and availability of items like glow-in-the-dark hairspray and colored eyelashes in five particular shades. But finally my orders were placed, and I could rest assured that everything would be here in time for the first dress rehearsal.
I could turn my attention to other things, like...Showcase!
Tuesday night was the last night of our ten-week session of theater classes, and to celebrate and demonstrate all that the students had learned, we held a "Showcase" of performances from each class. Since this was our very first session, we had all new teachers, all new students, all new families. I was in charge and I didn't know how it would go.
But it went very well indeed! The kids did a great job, the parents were enthusiastic, the attendance maxed out the sanctuary where we held it, and our fundraiser at Culver's (a hamburger and ice cream joint) afterwards was well-attended. I am so grateful to my fabulous teachers, the parents, the kids...and the Lord!
I haven't said much about my job this fall because...well, you know...I'm an employee now and want to be very careful. But it's been so rewarding to see this "new thing" take wings and get off the ground. I keep thinking of how God is able to create ex nihilo: "out of nothing." Where there had been nothing but our family, we ended up with 75 students involved in classes, representing 50+ families! And the teachers that God sent us, "out of nowhere," so to speak, were all really solid. They knew their stuff and how to teach it, and they handled the kids beautifully with the right combination of fun and high expectations of their behavior and performance. They made my job easy!
And now those families are about to REALLY get to know each other this week during dress/tech rehearsals and performances of Seussical!! We have 3 dress rehearsals and 8 shows in the next 7 days. I am a little nervous about the makeup coming together, but it always does, and that's what dress rehearsal are for. My kids, at least, are prepared, excited and confident, and the whole cast is ready and eager for next week. We are praying for continued health for the cast and their families, and for more audience members to fill our seats!
See you on the other side....
Monday, February 09, 2009
Great Day Yesterday
I only have a few minutes, since today is filled with appointments....
But what a wonderful day we had yesterday at Church of the Resurrection!
It was a delight for Father Rooster to lead the liturgy at both services, and by all reports, many were glad to hear his familiar priestly voice. We were able to greet so many old friends, adults and children alike, at both services.
Then several of our good friends hosted the most beautiful open house for us! They thought of everything. There was a fabulous spread of food and drinks. There were slideshows of our family--from way back in the early Rez days, to recent photos at Light of Christ. They took pictures of everyone who came, to go into a guest book later, which everyone signed on their way in. So many of our Rez friends came, and our kids' friends, and even our former neighbors, theater friends, friends from Wheaton College days and homeschooling friends! In the evening there was more food and choice desserts, and a special liturgy of blessing for us, with an open time of sharing memories and ways folks had been blessed by our service at Rez. How wonderful to laugh, cry and reflect on all we had been through together and how amazingly God has worked--even planting the seeds of new works, in our lives and others', many years ago!
Spiritual hindsight is such a gift.
We expected that this day would be a great time of fellowship. But we were unprepared, somehow, for the generous outpouring of love, encouragement and blessing we received. Thank you, dear friends. Thank you, Lord!!
But what a wonderful day we had yesterday at Church of the Resurrection!
It was a delight for Father Rooster to lead the liturgy at both services, and by all reports, many were glad to hear his familiar priestly voice. We were able to greet so many old friends, adults and children alike, at both services.
Then several of our good friends hosted the most beautiful open house for us! They thought of everything. There was a fabulous spread of food and drinks. There were slideshows of our family--from way back in the early Rez days, to recent photos at Light of Christ. They took pictures of everyone who came, to go into a guest book later, which everyone signed on their way in. So many of our Rez friends came, and our kids' friends, and even our former neighbors, theater friends, friends from Wheaton College days and homeschooling friends! In the evening there was more food and choice desserts, and a special liturgy of blessing for us, with an open time of sharing memories and ways folks had been blessed by our service at Rez. How wonderful to laugh, cry and reflect on all we had been through together and how amazingly God has worked--even planting the seeds of new works, in our lives and others', many years ago!
Spiritual hindsight is such a gift.
We expected that this day would be a great time of fellowship. But we were unprepared, somehow, for the generous outpouring of love, encouragement and blessing we received. Thank you, dear friends. Thank you, Lord!!
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Gratitude
I am not always good at figuring out what is going on within my own heart and mind. That's one reason I blog! When I write, I discover what I am thinking and feeling.
Since Schoolhouse Rock ended, I've been feeling kind of empty. What do I focus on, now that it's over? Going back to laundry and homeschooling seems so mundane! I couldn't even think of anything to blog about.
But as I mulled over possibilities, I began to tease out an emotion that was there, somewhere, very deep...and then, in the middle of a conversation with Bantam13, I identified it! It was JOY.
In the car, he said to me, "I feel sad that Schoolhouse Rock is over. It wasn't till the last two performances that I began to really enjoy myself. Swing dancing is fun! I wish I could do it again."
That's when the emotion leaped out and grabbed me by the brain. "I'm so happy!" I realized. "I am so deeply grateful at how God answered all my prayers for this show to be a positive and healing experience for my kids. I am absolutely joyful!!"
You see, pulling our kids out of the DuPage chapter of our youth theater group was the most painful thing about moving here, and they were ambivalent about doing a show with the Lake County group, knowing that we'd also have to leave it, if the Kenosha chapter became a reality. We encouraged them though, because we saw the huge gap that it had left in their lives. Without a Christian peer group to uphold certain standards of behavior, our teens were experimenting with things like swearing, dirty jokes, innuendo, and watching movies (at a neighbor's house) that Mom and Dad wouldn't have approved. And their hearts were following their behaviors.
So we had strongly encouraged them toward theater, but at first, it wasn't a smooth transition. As new kids, they found it hard to break into established friendship circles, but as time went by--thank you, Lord!--they were accepted and included. And by the end of Schoolhouse Rock, Blondechick16 was saying to me, "Mom, I really see the difference, now, between my school friends and my theater friends." She went on to describe not only behaviors but character traits that were clearly on opposite ends of the spectrum. Her own resolve was to strip off some bad ones she had put on to fit in with her school friends, and be more like her theater friends--and her old self. Great joy for a mother's heart, there!
And to hear Bantam13 say he was sad that SHR was over gave me goosebumps. Over and over, I'd heard him state angrily, "I can't wait for this show to be over!"--back when he was struggling so much with learning the flips and other tricks in his swing dancing number. "I never wanted to be in this--you guys forced me!" he'd accuse.
But we had heard God right on that! Yes, we had pushed him to audition. We just knew it was something he needed to do...and God was so good to challenge him so much, with a really great part, and then grant him so much success as a result of his efforts! And enjoyment--what a plus!
"I am so proud of you," I told him once, in between performances. "I'm proud of myself," he admitted.
I just couldn't have engineered circumstances that would have taught him so much!
Bantam9 had a blast too, doing the show and hanging out with his new buddy Max. They've been inseparable! And I enjoyed doing makeup again--a great way to get to know the kids--and pure creative fun for me.
Another thing I feel great joy about is the buzz that is building about the new chapter, the Kenosha County group we are starting. Some of the Lake County kids are interested, two Lake County families told us they have interested cousins in Kenosha, people have offered to help, and suddenly, even though it means saying goodbye again, our kids are excited about the new chapter. They have been a little ambivalent, because it's been hard to imagine something that is currently nonexistent. But now, with other kids talking about it, their imaginations have been sparked and they are finally really excited about being part of it! And I'm really excited too, despite all the work I know it will be if it becomes my actual job. But the more I learn about it, as I have during SHR, the more confirmation I feel that it would be a good fit for me.
As I began to unpack all this joy, I was shocked to think that I might have just turned right from the final show and on to the next demands for my attention--homeschooling, laundry, upcoming birthdays--without even thanking God! In fact, that was what I had been doing, before I suddenly realized what an occasion for immense gratitude this was.
How often does God answer our prayers in magnificent ways...and we accept them as only a matter of course? Moving right on to the next thing on our to-do list, worrying anxiously about the next set of cares, coming to Him with our next pressing need? Without even a prayer of thanks and praise for all that He has done, for the ways that He has moved on our behalf?
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”“Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
Since Schoolhouse Rock ended, I've been feeling kind of empty. What do I focus on, now that it's over? Going back to laundry and homeschooling seems so mundane! I couldn't even think of anything to blog about.
But as I mulled over possibilities, I began to tease out an emotion that was there, somewhere, very deep...and then, in the middle of a conversation with Bantam13, I identified it! It was JOY.
In the car, he said to me, "I feel sad that Schoolhouse Rock is over. It wasn't till the last two performances that I began to really enjoy myself. Swing dancing is fun! I wish I could do it again."
That's when the emotion leaped out and grabbed me by the brain. "I'm so happy!" I realized. "I am so deeply grateful at how God answered all my prayers for this show to be a positive and healing experience for my kids. I am absolutely joyful!!"
You see, pulling our kids out of the DuPage chapter of our youth theater group was the most painful thing about moving here, and they were ambivalent about doing a show with the Lake County group, knowing that we'd also have to leave it, if the Kenosha chapter became a reality. We encouraged them though, because we saw the huge gap that it had left in their lives. Without a Christian peer group to uphold certain standards of behavior, our teens were experimenting with things like swearing, dirty jokes, innuendo, and watching movies (at a neighbor's house) that Mom and Dad wouldn't have approved. And their hearts were following their behaviors.
So we had strongly encouraged them toward theater, but at first, it wasn't a smooth transition. As new kids, they found it hard to break into established friendship circles, but as time went by--thank you, Lord!--they were accepted and included. And by the end of Schoolhouse Rock, Blondechick16 was saying to me, "Mom, I really see the difference, now, between my school friends and my theater friends." She went on to describe not only behaviors but character traits that were clearly on opposite ends of the spectrum. Her own resolve was to strip off some bad ones she had put on to fit in with her school friends, and be more like her theater friends--and her old self. Great joy for a mother's heart, there!
And to hear Bantam13 say he was sad that SHR was over gave me goosebumps. Over and over, I'd heard him state angrily, "I can't wait for this show to be over!"--back when he was struggling so much with learning the flips and other tricks in his swing dancing number. "I never wanted to be in this--you guys forced me!" he'd accuse.
But we had heard God right on that! Yes, we had pushed him to audition. We just knew it was something he needed to do...and God was so good to challenge him so much, with a really great part, and then grant him so much success as a result of his efforts! And enjoyment--what a plus!
"I am so proud of you," I told him once, in between performances. "I'm proud of myself," he admitted.
I just couldn't have engineered circumstances that would have taught him so much!
Bantam9 had a blast too, doing the show and hanging out with his new buddy Max. They've been inseparable! And I enjoyed doing makeup again--a great way to get to know the kids--and pure creative fun for me.
Another thing I feel great joy about is the buzz that is building about the new chapter, the Kenosha County group we are starting. Some of the Lake County kids are interested, two Lake County families told us they have interested cousins in Kenosha, people have offered to help, and suddenly, even though it means saying goodbye again, our kids are excited about the new chapter. They have been a little ambivalent, because it's been hard to imagine something that is currently nonexistent. But now, with other kids talking about it, their imaginations have been sparked and they are finally really excited about being part of it! And I'm really excited too, despite all the work I know it will be if it becomes my actual job. But the more I learn about it, as I have during SHR, the more confirmation I feel that it would be a good fit for me.
As I began to unpack all this joy, I was shocked to think that I might have just turned right from the final show and on to the next demands for my attention--homeschooling, laundry, upcoming birthdays--without even thanking God! In fact, that was what I had been doing, before I suddenly realized what an occasion for immense gratitude this was.
How often does God answer our prayers in magnificent ways...and we accept them as only a matter of course? Moving right on to the next thing on our to-do list, worrying anxiously about the next set of cares, coming to Him with our next pressing need? Without even a prayer of thanks and praise for all that He has done, for the ways that He has moved on our behalf?
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said,
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked,Monday, September 22, 2008
A Near-Death Experience
"Mom, did you hear I almost died in the shower?" Bantam13 asked me on Saturday afternoon.
"What??" I questioned.
"Well, I slipped and hit my head, and I was sort of asleep for a few minutes because..."
I interrupted, "Then you've had another concussion! Honey, you need to take it easy for a few days, like you had to before."
"Then I can't go running with Dad in the morning on Monday? We're trying to get back on our schedule," he explained. (For the last six weeks, they've been getting up before 6 to either run or work out; then they do Morning Prayer together. He's been loving this time with his dad.)
"Well, we'll see how you are, but I think it would probably be better to wait another day or so," I replied, recalling a newspaper clipping my mother, a nurse, had sent me after the other incident. It had emphasized that concussions, as a sports injury, are often underdiagnosed and way undertreated--kids are often sent right back onto the playing field, or expected back at practice the next day, although they may have had a serious brain injury. "I'll talk to Dad," I assured him.
I thought that was the end of the story, but later I heard him telling one of his siblings, "...and I was sort of asleep for a little while, but then I woke up and my lungs were full of water and I kind of threw up water, and then I could breathe."
"What??" I asked, for the second time that day.
"Yeah, I didn't get to tell you that part."
"Then--you really did--almost die in the shower?" I said inanely, as comprehension and something greater than thankfulness washed over me.
Later on that night, he vomited up a little more water, and on Sunday, he had a headache most of the day.
It turns out that while he was still overheated from the six-mile run he had enjoyed with his dad, he had taken a cool shower. Papa Rooster guesses that the blood rushed to warm his extremities, causing him to faint. "When you start to feel light-headed, you know you need to sit down and put your head between your knees, right?" he asked.
"Oh...no, I didn't know that. Yeah, I was starting to see blackness, kind of, just before I fell, and I wondered if I should sit down or something...."
Thank you, Lord, for preserving our son's life!
"What??" I questioned.
"Well, I slipped and hit my head, and I was sort of asleep for a few minutes because..."
I interrupted, "Then you've had another concussion! Honey, you need to take it easy for a few days, like you had to before."
"Then I can't go running with Dad in the morning on Monday? We're trying to get back on our schedule," he explained. (For the last six weeks, they've been getting up before 6 to either run or work out; then they do Morning Prayer together. He's been loving this time with his dad.)
"Well, we'll see how you are, but I think it would probably be better to wait another day or so," I replied, recalling a newspaper clipping my mother, a nurse, had sent me after the other incident. It had emphasized that concussions, as a sports injury, are often underdiagnosed and way undertreated--kids are often sent right back onto the playing field, or expected back at practice the next day, although they may have had a serious brain injury. "I'll talk to Dad," I assured him.
I thought that was the end of the story, but later I heard him telling one of his siblings, "...and I was sort of asleep for a little while, but then I woke up and my lungs were full of water and I kind of threw up water, and then I could breathe."
"What??" I asked, for the second time that day.
"Yeah, I didn't get to tell you that part."
"Then--you really did--almost die in the shower?" I said inanely, as comprehension and something greater than thankfulness washed over me.
Later on that night, he vomited up a little more water, and on Sunday, he had a headache most of the day.
It turns out that while he was still overheated from the six-mile run he had enjoyed with his dad, he had taken a cool shower. Papa Rooster guesses that the blood rushed to warm his extremities, causing him to faint. "When you start to feel light-headed, you know you need to sit down and put your head between your knees, right?" he asked.
"Oh...no, I didn't know that. Yeah, I was starting to see blackness, kind of, just before I fell, and I wondered if I should sit down or something...."
Thank you, Lord, for preserving our son's life!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Confirmation Sunday
Our bishop is amazing. Here he is, praying for Bantam17...
...and for Bantam13.
For each one of our 23 confirmands, he prayed an individual, Spirit-led prayer that made you wonder how he could possibly know them so well, never having met them. Only by the power of the Spirit, of course!
We meet in this beautiful old chapel only for feast days or special occasions like today. Even though it's aesthetically worshipful, the space itself is difficult to conduct a service in, because of a large wooden rood screen which divides the space in half. Today, we started out with everyone behind the screen:
Another challenge is having both horizontal and vertically arranged pews!
(I like this shot of Father Rooster, in between his father and his bishop. It was a special Sunday for my husband, with his parents, his brother, his sis-in-law, his niece, his wife and four of his children all confirmed!)
After the sermon, the confirmands came forward and were seated in the choir, up near the altar...
...while the rest of the congregation remained on the far side of the screen.
It worked, but our musicians and the altar were too far away from the congregation when we were all on the other side of the screen. We'll try something different next time.
We were blessed to have so many visitors today, especially extended family members of the confirmands, but also a couple of families who were making repeat visits. (And of course, our intrepid photographer friend from Illinois who took on the lighting challenges with an unfamiliar camera: Thanks, Ray!)
Our soup, bread and salad lunch for 23--(same number, but not the same 23!)--came off fine. We had to eat in shifts, however, since I realized late on Saturday night that although I have table and breakfast bar space for 22, I only have 12 chairs and 4 barstools! (I can no longer put off that trip to IKEA. Must buy: bookshelves, folding chairs.) A small group actually used our dining room-turned-schoolroom as a dining room today, on a school/craft table cleared off just for the occasion--with room to spare!
Last year, when we met in the chapel on Pentecost Sunday, a mighty wind blew the doors shut.
Today, we met in the chapel for our Bishop to confirm the baptisms of 23 people and pray for them to be filled and equipped for ministry by the Holy Spirit--and there was flooding all over Chicagoland (of which Kenosha is considered a part).
Last night, a group of fathers and sons who were being confirmed met at the same chapel for a prayer vigil, just as a page who was to be knighted spent the night before in church. It was a holy time for all who attended.
At the same time, there was a woman attending a celebration in another part of the building. Many years ago, she had been an alcoholic. She had joined AA and hadn't touched a drink in years, but at this particular celebration, she decided to have one. Then she had another, and she began to fear that she couldn't stop. She went for a walk in the building, praying for God's help, and she came near the chapel where our group was praying. Suddenly, she sensed the power of the Spirit come over her, and all desire for another drink was gone.
This morning, she called one of the dads she had recognized in the chapel to tell him about her experience.
Despite the chapel's challenges, it certainly seems that the Holy Spirit meets us in a special way in that place!
...and for Bantam13.
For each one of our 23 confirmands, he prayed an individual, Spirit-led prayer that made you wonder how he could possibly know them so well, never having met them. Only by the power of the Spirit, of course!We meet in this beautiful old chapel only for feast days or special occasions like today. Even though it's aesthetically worshipful, the space itself is difficult to conduct a service in, because of a large wooden rood screen which divides the space in half. Today, we started out with everyone behind the screen:
Another challenge is having both horizontal and vertically arranged pews!
(I like this shot of Father Rooster, in between his father and his bishop. It was a special Sunday for my husband, with his parents, his brother, his sis-in-law, his niece, his wife and four of his children all confirmed!)
After the sermon, the confirmands came forward and were seated in the choir, up near the altar...
...while the rest of the congregation remained on the far side of the screen.
It worked, but our musicians and the altar were too far away from the congregation when we were all on the other side of the screen. We'll try something different next time.
We were blessed to have so many visitors today, especially extended family members of the confirmands, but also a couple of families who were making repeat visits. (And of course, our intrepid photographer friend from Illinois who took on the lighting challenges with an unfamiliar camera: Thanks, Ray!)
Our soup, bread and salad lunch for 23--(same number, but not the same 23!)--came off fine. We had to eat in shifts, however, since I realized late on Saturday night that although I have table and breakfast bar space for 22, I only have 12 chairs and 4 barstools! (I can no longer put off that trip to IKEA. Must buy: bookshelves, folding chairs.) A small group actually used our dining room-turned-schoolroom as a dining room today, on a school/craft table cleared off just for the occasion--with room to spare!
***
Last year, when we met in the chapel on Pentecost Sunday, a mighty wind blew the doors shut.
Today, we met in the chapel for our Bishop to confirm the baptisms of 23 people and pray for them to be filled and equipped for ministry by the Holy Spirit--and there was flooding all over Chicagoland (of which Kenosha is considered a part).
***
Last night, a group of fathers and sons who were being confirmed met at the same chapel for a prayer vigil, just as a page who was to be knighted spent the night before in church. It was a holy time for all who attended.
At the same time, there was a woman attending a celebration in another part of the building. Many years ago, she had been an alcoholic. She had joined AA and hadn't touched a drink in years, but at this particular celebration, she decided to have one. Then she had another, and she began to fear that she couldn't stop. She went for a walk in the building, praying for God's help, and she came near the chapel where our group was praying. Suddenly, she sensed the power of the Spirit come over her, and all desire for another drink was gone.
This morning, she called one of the dads she had recognized in the chapel to tell him about her experience.
***
Despite the chapel's challenges, it certainly seems that the Holy Spirit meets us in a special way in that place!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Blondechick15 Adjusts to the Idea
So we visited her new school yesterday.
I was glad that I had clued in the principal to the fact that she wasn't exactly rejoicing over her acceptance. He spent nearly two hours with us, selling Blondechick on the school the whole time. And by the time we left, she was reluctantly willing to admit that it sounded pretty good.
One of her first questions was whether she'd get her own locker. (She was going to have to share one at the big school.) Yes, she would. And it got better from there!
He described various kinds of hands-on, project-centered learning rather than test- and textbook-centered learning, including getting out of the school and into nature, museums, camps and other field trips. We saw a "digital documentary" that a teacher put together to introduce a unit study on labor struggles in the early 20th century. The topic was a mystery to the students, and this video was one of several "puzzle pieces" they were given. We saw another that a student had created as a final project to illustrate her knowledge of the civil rights movement, with her own selection of images, music and poetry and a narration written and voiced over by the student.
We met teachers--all personable and interesting--who we knew, from the principal, were supremely well-qualified; five of the ten on staff are former Teachers of the Year. We met students who were volunteering their time setting up a classroom. They were friendly and immediately engaging. ("I wanted to stay and help them," BC told me later.) We met a humorous black boy who will be in choir with BC, which got her more excited about the mixed sophomore choir than she's been about the Women's Chorale she would have been in at the big school.
We saw brand-new chemistry desks and stools and brand-new risers for the choir. Blondechick was thrilled to see a cartful of Mac iBooks that were for student use, and we were impressed by the ratio of one laptop for every two students.
The principal described the school as a family, small enough that everyone knows each other and even gets to know each other's families. This really appealed to Blondechick, she told me later; it reminded us both of our theater group. He also described a perk for students who had no makeup work due--early release on Wednesdays--which captured BC's imagination quickly: Wait till my friends hear this! The principal encouraged her to take both Honors English and Honors History, since they teach them in such an interrelated fashion--and she agreed readily, to my surprise.
So maybe--just maybe--this is not going to be SO bad, Blondechick is thinking.
And Mom and Dad are rejoicing (quietly, to ourselves, or course) because, darn it, this is even better than we thought!
Either we lucked out, or once again God knew what He was doing....
I only wish that Bantam17 could go there too! But I am sure God knows what He is doing in B17's life too.
I was glad that I had clued in the principal to the fact that she wasn't exactly rejoicing over her acceptance. He spent nearly two hours with us, selling Blondechick on the school the whole time. And by the time we left, she was reluctantly willing to admit that it sounded pretty good.
One of her first questions was whether she'd get her own locker. (She was going to have to share one at the big school.) Yes, she would. And it got better from there!
He described various kinds of hands-on, project-centered learning rather than test- and textbook-centered learning, including getting out of the school and into nature, museums, camps and other field trips. We saw a "digital documentary" that a teacher put together to introduce a unit study on labor struggles in the early 20th century. The topic was a mystery to the students, and this video was one of several "puzzle pieces" they were given. We saw another that a student had created as a final project to illustrate her knowledge of the civil rights movement, with her own selection of images, music and poetry and a narration written and voiced over by the student.
We met teachers--all personable and interesting--who we knew, from the principal, were supremely well-qualified; five of the ten on staff are former Teachers of the Year. We met students who were volunteering their time setting up a classroom. They were friendly and immediately engaging. ("I wanted to stay and help them," BC told me later.) We met a humorous black boy who will be in choir with BC, which got her more excited about the mixed sophomore choir than she's been about the Women's Chorale she would have been in at the big school.
We saw brand-new chemistry desks and stools and brand-new risers for the choir. Blondechick was thrilled to see a cartful of Mac iBooks that were for student use, and we were impressed by the ratio of one laptop for every two students.
The principal described the school as a family, small enough that everyone knows each other and even gets to know each other's families. This really appealed to Blondechick, she told me later; it reminded us both of our theater group. He also described a perk for students who had no makeup work due--early release on Wednesdays--which captured BC's imagination quickly: Wait till my friends hear this! The principal encouraged her to take both Honors English and Honors History, since they teach them in such an interrelated fashion--and she agreed readily, to my surprise.
So maybe--just maybe--this is not going to be SO bad, Blondechick is thinking.
And Mom and Dad are rejoicing (quietly, to ourselves, or course) because, darn it, this is even better than we thought!
Either we lucked out, or once again God knew what He was doing....
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen.
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen.
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
I only wish that Bantam17 could go there too! But I am sure God knows what He is doing in B17's life too.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Happy Campers--The Evidence
(Click to enlarge!)
In the water...
And on land,
Alone...
Or surrounded by friends,
By day...
And by night,
We basked in God's good gifts!
---Nature, in the midst of His creation; fellowship, within a body of believers; prosperity and leisure, when many have nothing; and freedom, from war, and to worship Him publicly.
So much to rejoice in and be thankful for!
In the water...
And on land,
Alone...
Or surrounded by friends,
By day...
And by night,
We basked in God's good gifts!
---Nature, in the midst of His creation; fellowship, within a body of believers; prosperity and leisure, when many have nothing; and freedom, from war, and to worship Him publicly.
So much to rejoice in and be thankful for!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Joy--At A Hen's Pace
We had a marvelous time on the family farm. (Thanks for all the nice comments on the farm story while I was gone, BTW!! Glad so many of you enjoyed it.)
It was wonderful to see my parents, grandmother, aunt, brothers, their wives and my five nieces--if only for a quick visit. It was too quick, especially with Professor Brother and his family from Kansas, with whom we only overlapped for one long afternoon. I only got to spend a few hours with my 96-year-old grandmother, and I would love to have spent more time with my parents and aunt, sitting down and talking--it was a whirlwind of meals and activity most of the time!
(Doesn't sound like a hen's pace, I guess. But it was a string of small pleasures, one after another--hen-like, in that way.)
On the first day, we went to the local county fair, one of the nicest little slices of Americana in the Midwest, I'm willing to bet. It's a huge 4-H fair, which means lots of kids exhibit animals there. They've built more animal barns since my days exhibiting horses and rabbits; my dad and brother both had their day in the 4-H dairy show ring, as well. I ran into several of my former classmates, whose kids were showing pigs and goats that day. It brought back so many great memories--other than the new barns, that fair has changed so little!--and what a joy it was to watch my kids making new ones.
The next day at church, the baby sister of one of my former classmates (now a vivacious young mom herself) gave a slide presentation on the youth group's mission trip to rebuild homes in West Virginia. She enthusiastically shared how the kids learned to roof and paint and work hard together, even learning to ask by the end of the week, "What else needs to be done?" And I was full of joy that my kids had to sit there and listen to someone else saying it! :)
That afternoon Pilot Brother--married to my blogging sis-in-law--showed me around the barn, pointing out all the work he's been doing on it. And it is remarkable--new windows, new sills to prevent the kind of water damage that caused all the windows to rot out, other rotten boards and beams replaced, hinges and doors fixed. My dad has been busy too, on the hot tin roof, replacing and caulking rivets. They're hoping to get the whole thing repainted soon, too. So much work! But what a joy to see that much-needed maintenance, protecting that barn full of memories for generations to come.
Sunday night we played horseshoes (my first time ever), Grandpa gave rides on the Toro Twister and taught the older kids how to drive, and once, while the kids were all gone on the Toro, I took advantage of the tire swing, hanging empty for the first time since our arrival--and what kinesthetic memories that brought back. If you added up how many hours my brothers and I spent on the tire swing in the summers, when we were growing up, I bet the answer could be given in days, possibly weeks. There is nothing more delightful!
Monday morning Papa Rooster and I went out for coffee with Summer and Pilot Brother, and that was another joy. (We can't wait for them to come visit us in September!) Then it was home for sloppy joe sandwiches--my blessed mother cooks for an army whenever we come to visit--and one last photo session (a family tradition, it seems) before we pulled out. On the way home, Papa Rooster told me that, looking through a camera lens most of the weekend, he had seen beauty on the farm like he had never noticed before, though he had always loved it. Another joy--that we share that appreciation.
Yesterday my three oldest kids and I experienced the joy of serving by helping out a family in our church in dire need of some assistance with yardwork. Before we went, I reminded them of the farming era gone by, in which children's labor was necessary, and families helped each other all the time, raising barns, bringing in the harvest, shucking corn, killing pigs...and what a self-centered generation theirs is by comparison; how this kind of service was as good for them as it was for the friends we were serving. (Who had helped us move in and unpack, incidentally!) We had a good time weeding and trimming hedges--that wasn't so bad, the kids said--and we were rewarded by picking our fill of raspberries for a snack, with enough to bring home for cobbler last night.
After that, we went to the resale shop, where B13 found a T-shirt he liked, and Blondechick several tops. I found a lovely clear glass salad bowl ($3) and a large clear glass mixing bowl ($2) that will give me joy for years to come, I think. I love splurging at the resale shop!
Then we were off to spend some serious money at Petco. Whenever the subject of pets have come up, for the past year I kept saying, "after we move." Well, at the fair, B9 fell in love with a rabbit. Could he please, please, please have a rabbit?? Well, I'll think about it...but maybe you should start with a hamster. Oh, yes, please, a hamster! Oh, yes, me too! said B13. Oh, mom, you said I could get a Betta (fish) after we moved! Blondechick reminded me. Oh, mom, please, mom!
So we picked out two female hamsters and two Bettas at Petco, plus food and bedding and an exercise ball for the hamsters. And an extra cage, after they told us that two females might not get along later on in the same cage. (Don't you want to pick out males? I urged...too late.)
Who else got a Betta? Me. Another joy. When I had just three preschoolers and wanted an extremely low maintenance pet for them, I bought us a Betta. Bettas are friendly fish, but Aladdin was extremely personable. His successors, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, weren't nearly as much fun, but they are beautiful, if nothing else, and so just for the serenity value, I bought me a beautiful blue--turquoise/purplish--one. And christened him Aladdin 2. I have hopes.
Finally, this morning I met one of my frequent commentors, "stephseef" or Stephanie. She is a priest's wife as well--they serve at an Episcopal church in nearby Racine. She is expecting their fourth child and is so bubbly and vivacious, it was another joy to get to know her a little bit! We barely scratched the surface, it seems--we have much in common and much we could learn from one another, I am sure.
So now it's time to enjoy a Fuji Apple Chicken salad for lunch, since I'm still here at Panera--(mmmm, more joy)--and head home to start planning for another trip, sure to be a joy as well!--a camping trip this weekend with some other families from church.
The only dark cloud on my horizon is meeting Blondechick's current crush, a brave fellow who understands she's not allowed to date, but is eager to come hang out at our house tonight along with another couple of her friends from summer school. Just kidding about the dark cloud--we are always delighted to meet her friends--but nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this goes...!
It was wonderful to see my parents, grandmother, aunt, brothers, their wives and my five nieces--if only for a quick visit. It was too quick, especially with Professor Brother and his family from Kansas, with whom we only overlapped for one long afternoon. I only got to spend a few hours with my 96-year-old grandmother, and I would love to have spent more time with my parents and aunt, sitting down and talking--it was a whirlwind of meals and activity most of the time!
(Doesn't sound like a hen's pace, I guess. But it was a string of small pleasures, one after another--hen-like, in that way.)
On the first day, we went to the local county fair, one of the nicest little slices of Americana in the Midwest, I'm willing to bet. It's a huge 4-H fair, which means lots of kids exhibit animals there. They've built more animal barns since my days exhibiting horses and rabbits; my dad and brother both had their day in the 4-H dairy show ring, as well. I ran into several of my former classmates, whose kids were showing pigs and goats that day. It brought back so many great memories--other than the new barns, that fair has changed so little!--and what a joy it was to watch my kids making new ones.
The next day at church, the baby sister of one of my former classmates (now a vivacious young mom herself) gave a slide presentation on the youth group's mission trip to rebuild homes in West Virginia. She enthusiastically shared how the kids learned to roof and paint and work hard together, even learning to ask by the end of the week, "What else needs to be done?" And I was full of joy that my kids had to sit there and listen to someone else saying it! :)
That afternoon Pilot Brother--married to my blogging sis-in-law--showed me around the barn, pointing out all the work he's been doing on it. And it is remarkable--new windows, new sills to prevent the kind of water damage that caused all the windows to rot out, other rotten boards and beams replaced, hinges and doors fixed. My dad has been busy too, on the hot tin roof, replacing and caulking rivets. They're hoping to get the whole thing repainted soon, too. So much work! But what a joy to see that much-needed maintenance, protecting that barn full of memories for generations to come.
Sunday night we played horseshoes (my first time ever), Grandpa gave rides on the Toro Twister and taught the older kids how to drive, and once, while the kids were all gone on the Toro, I took advantage of the tire swing, hanging empty for the first time since our arrival--and what kinesthetic memories that brought back. If you added up how many hours my brothers and I spent on the tire swing in the summers, when we were growing up, I bet the answer could be given in days, possibly weeks. There is nothing more delightful!
Monday morning Papa Rooster and I went out for coffee with Summer and Pilot Brother, and that was another joy. (We can't wait for them to come visit us in September!) Then it was home for sloppy joe sandwiches--my blessed mother cooks for an army whenever we come to visit--and one last photo session (a family tradition, it seems) before we pulled out. On the way home, Papa Rooster told me that, looking through a camera lens most of the weekend, he had seen beauty on the farm like he had never noticed before, though he had always loved it. Another joy--that we share that appreciation.
Yesterday my three oldest kids and I experienced the joy of serving by helping out a family in our church in dire need of some assistance with yardwork. Before we went, I reminded them of the farming era gone by, in which children's labor was necessary, and families helped each other all the time, raising barns, bringing in the harvest, shucking corn, killing pigs...and what a self-centered generation theirs is by comparison; how this kind of service was as good for them as it was for the friends we were serving. (Who had helped us move in and unpack, incidentally!) We had a good time weeding and trimming hedges--that wasn't so bad, the kids said--and we were rewarded by picking our fill of raspberries for a snack, with enough to bring home for cobbler last night.
After that, we went to the resale shop, where B13 found a T-shirt he liked, and Blondechick several tops. I found a lovely clear glass salad bowl ($3) and a large clear glass mixing bowl ($2) that will give me joy for years to come, I think. I love splurging at the resale shop!
Then we were off to spend some serious money at Petco. Whenever the subject of pets have come up, for the past year I kept saying, "after we move." Well, at the fair, B9 fell in love with a rabbit. Could he please, please, please have a rabbit?? Well, I'll think about it...but maybe you should start with a hamster. Oh, yes, please, a hamster! Oh, yes, me too! said B13. Oh, mom, you said I could get a Betta (fish) after we moved! Blondechick reminded me. Oh, mom, please, mom!
So we picked out two female hamsters and two Bettas at Petco, plus food and bedding and an exercise ball for the hamsters. And an extra cage, after they told us that two females might not get along later on in the same cage. (Don't you want to pick out males? I urged...too late.)
Who else got a Betta? Me. Another joy. When I had just three preschoolers and wanted an extremely low maintenance pet for them, I bought us a Betta. Bettas are friendly fish, but Aladdin was extremely personable. His successors, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, weren't nearly as much fun, but they are beautiful, if nothing else, and so just for the serenity value, I bought me a beautiful blue--turquoise/purplish--one. And christened him Aladdin 2. I have hopes.
Finally, this morning I met one of my frequent commentors, "stephseef" or Stephanie. She is a priest's wife as well--they serve at an Episcopal church in nearby Racine. She is expecting their fourth child and is so bubbly and vivacious, it was another joy to get to know her a little bit! We barely scratched the surface, it seems--we have much in common and much we could learn from one another, I am sure.
So now it's time to enjoy a Fuji Apple Chicken salad for lunch, since I'm still here at Panera--(mmmm, more joy)--and head home to start planning for another trip, sure to be a joy as well!--a camping trip this weekend with some other families from church.
The only dark cloud on my horizon is meeting Blondechick's current crush, a brave fellow who understands she's not allowed to date, but is eager to come hang out at our house tonight along with another couple of her friends from summer school. Just kidding about the dark cloud--we are always delighted to meet her friends--but nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this goes...!
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