Christmas Time!

I am really enjoying this Christmas season! I hope you are too. In other years, the holidays have worn me down to the point that it was hard to even feel the joy and peace. It was hard to be worshipful. It was hard to move through my days, even! I was exhausted!

I am not a person who can bake a variety of cookies, and pies, think of beautiful, inexpensive gifts for everyone I know, shop without dropping, send dozens of cards (on time), keep my home company-ready at all times, and plan a wonderful Christmas dinner. Frankly, I don't believe anyone does all that.

How many times over the years have I heard the question, "Do you have your Christmas shopping done yet?" And felt little nag of guilt or inferiority because no, I didn't have it done? In fact I wasn't sure when it was ever going to be done because there always seemed to be one more thing that I needed... or else I would find one more thing that would make the holiday even better, it seemed. And by the way - does shopping for Christmas dinner groceries count as Christmas shopping? What are the rules for this question, anyway?

Here's the thing. That whole concept of getting your shopping done? It's a fantasy! It never happens! In our society, with constant advertising, you will always think of one more thing to buy. Or six. If you were to actually get gifts for everyone, then there are always more people who you can shop for, more decorations to buy, more food, and on it goes.

No one can do everything. We have to make choices. One year I might make a nice dinner, and another year, I might send out a family newsletter. I don't hand make gifts. I buy them. I don't send out cards every year, only when I have the time and energy. Yesterday I addressed about 6 cards. Just 6. Not 50, or 60, or 100. Just six. They might get into the mailbox today. Maybe. We'll see. I just cannot allow the demands of the season to stress away the joy of it. I hope I love on people the rest of the year. If they don't get a card I hope they know I still care, I just can not cover everything that I would like to. This year it mattered to me to bake cookies, which I never do... It's been so much fun!!

I spent an afternoon baking with my daughter. We had good times. Then later, I decorated a few at a time. And we shared them. That was fun. It gave me a chance to get creative. So far, the holidays have been so much fun this year! And yes I am tired and some things are not gettiing done... but I am having a good time and not forgetting what the season is really about:

Worship. Family. Love. Joy. and Peace. (Remember peace?)

I wish you all of these things today. And the restful moments in which to savor them.

Pearl Harbor Day

Today we are remembering Pearl Harbor, the lives lost, the loved ones who grieved, and the sense of patriotism that attack engendered. The way people felt when Pearl Harbor was attacked must be a lot like I felt when the World Trade Centers came down. Shock, horror, fear, anger, confusion.

I have been thinking about the 1940s a lot lately. I wasn't there, but it seems like those times played a big role in who we have become today. The grief over men lost, the sense of loyalty to a cause, the big band sounds that kept up morale while women stayed home and worried for their men. All that fantastic music and the great dancing were a part of an overall picture that included war!

My parents would have been young adults then. Those times shaped them, and consequently, shaped us. I love to hear the stories and see the pictures from their lives then. I can't imagine the way life must have felt during that war. I wish I could go visit those times, and then come back here. I guess that's why I love old movies and stories from then.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convince that then or now, people are people. We have always had certain things in common. We shop to find the best price on groceries. We worry about bills. Young ones look for fun, find dates, and fall in love. We complain about the weather and politics. People start families and settle in to life. We want the best for our kids. We help them with schoolwork. So many things do not change. Our daily lives contain most of the same tasks, same concerns as ever. There are good neighbors and bad ones everywhere in every time. Friendship always nourishes. Bad things happen and our choices remain pretty much the same in how to respond.

I think maybe we can identify with the generations before us a lot better than we think we can, if we just stop and think about it. Maybe there is less difference than we imagined.

If you have a chance, find someone who lived through the forties and listen to them. Swap stories. Learn what is common to us all, and how individual differences play into the overall picture of life and history. Listen to the stories of their daily life, and write them down if you can... when these people are gone, we won't be able to hear first hand accounts any more. That will be a great loss. We need to savor it while we can. Their history is our history.

better than roses

At church we were given roses on Mother's Day. It's a really nice tradition. I love that they value the work that mothers do. Most of the world does not really validate moms in their work. Maybe that's because most of the world is too busy... being moms?

Being a mom is invisible work. It is hard, rich work, and there is nothing else that can possibly give the satisfaction, nor the exhaustion and feeling of not being important.
Noone sees it. Noone seems to acknowledge it.

It can be hard, when you are exhausted (and the mothers of small children are exhausted), when noone gives you much positive feedback, to feel like you are making a difference in the world.

We have to - we have no other choice but to - go back to the reality of God's own word and good common sense to realize that without moms, the world would cease to be. We are doing God's work alongside Him. How awesome is that?! Our families depend on us for their very survival when they are small, before they grow into the skills they need to ensure their own survival.

(The skills we teach them.)

We love and nurture them in our hearts and in our arms, only to discover that they way we nurture our children defines how they relate to the rest of the world for the rest of their lives.
The way we care for our children affects their lives, and through that, the lives of the people they touch for years... our influence lasts long after we are gone.

It is no small truth that the hand that rocks the cradle really does rule the world. As moms, we rule!

But a huge part of our task is humility, being willing to set the needs of others before our own when needed. Not mothering for our own satisfaction, but out of love - unconditional love - for the children God has put in our arms.

I felt a little silly carrying around a rose yesterday. It was a nice thought. But the faces of the people I love the most are the best gift ever. When they smile, when they grow up into awesome people - people who love God above all else - people I love having as friends, that is the greatest joy ever!

Prov. 31 says, "they will rise up and call her blessed". It is a long term prospect, this rising up business. It takes years. But if we are faithful in the long haul - not perfect, not getting it all right, but over all faithful, trying to honor Him in our lives - then there will come a day when those little cherub cheeked babies rise up into big people, and they bring you stuff way better than roses. They shine.

Christmas: Round 2

Did you all have a good Christmas?

Tell me about it... I want to hear about your holidays. Just leave comments so I can read and enjoy them, ok? Whatever you want to share.

Thanks.

So tomorrow the fam is coming over. Since I was gone out west right up until Christmas eve at midnight, and since the younger families want to have their own celebrations in their own homes with their children, starting their own family traditions, and that is a good thing... since all this, we decided to have our family celebration on a different day. We are getting together New Year's Eve for our gifts and celebration.

Christmas Day felt a little different because of this. It was good, but different. Smaller. Daughter who lives at the other end of town came over and we opened gifts, had breakfast casserole, and relaxed around the house as we always have on Christmas Day. But there were only 5 of us.

It wasn't as noisy as usual. Not as full of... something. The commotion of happy people who love each other's company. I missed it. So did the younger ones. We had a good day, don't get me wrong. It was good to relax and the gifts were really nice this year, and it was good to be together. There was just a subtle difference made of having fewer people here and knowing they were somewhere else. I'm so glad daughter came for the day.

Life moves on.

So they each had good days in their own homes, and we are all getting together tomorrow night here, to pick up the celebrating where we left off, the few of us, on Christmas day. It will be good. There will be a crowd. Like 15 of us. And THEN it will feel like Christmas! There will be noise and laughter and gifts to open. There will be small people running around! There will be food and fun and someone will probably be grumpy at some point but it is all part of life and it's all good. I love it!

I hope you have a good Holiday tomorrow as well, and that your New Year starts off well.

The Christmas List

I said there would be a list of my Joys and Thank Yous for Christmas. And here it is:

488. Christmas tree, shining in the living room. So pretty, so festive. It just glows.

489. Christmas lights twinkling in my house. I love the twinkly kind!

490. Christmas lights all over the countryside, sharing the Holiday Spirit with everyone!

491. Ornaments, reflecting the lights on the branches, telling their stories

492. Decorating the tree together with family, every ornament reminding us of something, some story past, and the sharing that happens right in that moment. Our family history shared and enjoyed.

493. The incredible fact that Christ, having lived forever in heaven, would be willing to come down, take on mortality, and live among us, in order to correct a wrong that we ourselves had done. Even though He knew it would be deeply painful and lead to His death. It's hard to understand such love.

494. Celebrating His birthday with the whole world.

495. Also celebrating family and friends and togetherness.

496. Finding gifts for people I love.

497. Getting good gifts. Did you think I would leave that out?? I am not that virtuous, people!

498. A new baby in the family.

499. The honor of attending the birth of that baby.

500. Sweet memories of being pregnant at Christmastime, kind of identifying with Mary and thinking how glad I was not to be on a donkey at nine months.

501. Nursing a baby by the light of the Christmas tree, in the middle of the night while all the house was silent. The lights from the tree cast a warm light on the baby's contented little face. All is Calm, All is Bright. It's a perfect moment of Peace and Love. This is one of my favorite Christmas memories of all.

Merry Christmas to all of you, dear friends.
Tonight I will be flying home for Christmas. As much as I am glad to have been here in Wyoming to attend daughter's first birth and to be some help, I am really excited to be heading home just in time for Christmas tomorrow.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." (John 14.27 NLT)

That's God's gift to you, if you take it. If you want more information, check out the Book, the Bible. It's all in there. Otherwise, just ask.

Happy Christmas Eve, friends, Merry Christmas too, and may your homes be filled with His peace and His love. May you each grow to know Him more and more as a good friend, One who loves us beyond anything we can understand.

Wrapping Gifts With my Kids on the first Snowy Day of the Season.

Gift Wrapping on the First Snowy Day


First of December,
The snow begins falling...
Couple of inches and
Keeps coming down.
Quiet and bright.
Ground soft and white.

Up in my sweet room
There with my offspring,
Colorful wrapping,
Fun job ahead...
Presents galore
Spread on the floor.

We are relaxing,
Music is playing...
Happy old Christmas songs
from long ago.
Complete contentment
One perfect moment.

~klm~
12.2.10

It really was one of those perfect moments that will stay in my memory bank for life. One wonderful son, one precious daughter, and me, all together in the room we have just redecorated with my favorite colors. My work was done, so I curled up with pillows on the day bed while they sat on the floor and we talked.

Somehow all the Christmas wrapping paper in the house had migrated to this room, and the gifts they had chosen were spread on the floor waiting to be wrapped.

Pandora filled the air with its best old Christmas music, the kind you hear on the radio every season: "Silver Bells", "Baby, It's Cold Outside", Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Eartha Kitts, and the room was filled with Christmas happiness and the love of family.

Then it began to snow!

And outside the windows, we watched things change from late autumn's brown to a new, clean, pure white. The first snow! Right there, right at that moment, while we basked in each other's company, surrounded by colorful papers and ribbons, wrapping gifts to the sound of the season, right then the sky shared its own holiday treasures, and the air inside brightened as the air outside filled with tiny white snowflakes and the ground was covered with white, freshened for a new season.

Perfect moments like this can only be the gifts of a perfect heavenly Father who loves us more than we deserve. I am so grateful to be loved so lavishly.

Where I've Been

Wow, seriously? I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. My last post was a gratitude list from Thanksgiving! Linda from Lime in the Coconut read that and suggested it was time for a Christmas list. She has a point! I have been busy with life and not with writing. But it's time. And Ted from Jesus Community noticed I tend to make lists. Well, he's right, I do... this time I'm not listing, but I expect to have a Christmas list up soon. Today I want to tell you where I've been and what I've been up to. I haven't posted much lately because life required my full attention.

I am halfway across the country right now, in the state of Wyoming. The weather is far different here from at home where they are experiencing true winter with near blizzard conditions.

I came out here to attend my daughter's first birth. (I am a trained doula, as well as being her mom.) Got here on December 8th and plan to fly back home on the 24th. A tiny pink thing, Lindsey Ann, was born on the 10th, only two days after I got here. She weighed 7lb, 13 oz, was 20 inches long, and she is simply beautiful. See for yourself:



She has so many different expressions! The run across her face like cloud shadows run across the plains on a windy day, changing constantly.

Sometimes she studies the world around her like a little scientist, scowling in deep thought, figuring out this new discovery. Sometimes a hint of a smile flits across her contented little face. It is amazing, isn't it, how much real humanity is packed into such a tiny package?



After about three days, yesterday she seemed to be getting the hang of life on the outside. Days are beginning to smooth out. Those first few days with a newborn are so intense, with such a huge learning curve for all involved. But everyone is doing well and already I see things settling down.

Meanwhile, back at home, a big winter storm came through. It turned super-cold and roads got very slippery. This is what they tell me by phone. On the way home from church - a half hour drive - the temp dropped 5 degrees and roads began freezing over. Husband was the passenger and my son got a well-coached "first crazy-slippery driving of the season" lesson. I was glad for this. Everyone takes a few times out to remember winter driving each season, and yes, even though he is a pretty responsible 19 year old, still, ice is ice and I worried a little. I will worry a lot less now, knowing his dad was there to help him out this one time when it got so bad.

So I am here, going out shopping in just a sweater while at home they are bundling up. It feels strange. But I am glad that I can be here to help out for a while. I fix meals, help put up their first Christmas tree, load the dishwasher, answer questions on baby care, etc. It's not a lot, but it seems to help out.




It's good.

My Thanksgiving list so far...

things I'm thankful for at this moment...

473. National Dress Up Day! (Also called Halloween) I love that there is a day when everyone pulls their imaginations out and just has fun with costumes! and I love that a daughter of mine renamed it this fun name, National Dress Up Day.

474. being waited on by Donald Duck

475. People in costume everywhere

476. apple butter, spread thick on good bread

477. turquoise

478. going to a fun concert

479. overnight road trip with daughter

480. meeting the artist and his manager

481. getting my new cd autographed

482. coming home

483. days when my hair turns out

484. misty air that replenishes moisture I've lost to the season's dryness. The mist looks dull and gray in the air, but it feels so good!

485. planning family holiday gatherings, and looking forward to their warmth

486. being together with family, with people I love who love me back.

487. the simple word, "hi", and the power it has to connect people. tiny but powerful!

What I learned from the Smoking Poet

It's Tuesday. And that's really close to Monday, right?

The reason I ask is that L.L. Barkat invites us to write on, in and around Mondays.

And I am practicing something a poet told me.

I sat in a crowded, smoke filled restaurant one New Year's Morning and found myself sitting at the bar between a musician and a poet. (There were no tables left and if I wanted food, I had to sit at the bar in the smoking section to get breakfast.) I love this town. It is full of artists. What are the odds of going out for a simple breakfast and finding myself sitting with a poet on one side of me and a musician on the other?

I talked briefly with the poet, and he told me that he writes a poem a day. Every day. As he talked, he smoked. The whole place was full of stinky, gray smoke. Every other restaurant must have been closed for the holiday, because it was crazy, buzzing busy there that morning. And smelly, and full of smoke. The cooks in back were overwhelmed and moving as fast as they could to keep up. Pans and plates clanged and clashed. Voices shouted. I watched. And the poet wrote. And he smoked. He didn't talk much; we just had that short conversation. And I was amazed. How could he write in such a noisy, stinky, head-buzzing environment?

He told me that he writes a poem every day. As a personal discipline. He doesn't wait for inspiration, or for a mood to move him. He just decides to write and he does. He told me that he liked the energy in that place. I didn't. It helped him write. It took away my appetite!

But I got the idea that if I want to write - poems or anything else - then I have to just do it. It is easiest for me to write when something is going on, when something inspires my creativity, or when I need to work through something. But sometimes I should just write because I decided to. It would be good discipline for me.

So, thanks to the smoking poet in the smelly restaurant, who taught me something, I am writing today. Even though I don't feel like I have something important to say. Still it is Monday...ish. Well, it is "around Monday", and that is as good a reason to write as any.

And, thanks, L.L., for the invitation.


ps- You know what? That day, I ended up taking my food out of that place and eating it where I had quiet. And in my quiet, I wrote a poem. Maybe I'll post it sometime.

Birthday Happiness

(adding to my list of joys and thank yous)

392. So many friends wishing me a Happy Birthday on Facebook!!

393. Husband taking me out shopping for a birthday treat.

394. A surprise party given me by my wonderful family.

395. Birthday cheesecake! With chocolate drizzled over the top. And raspberries. Yes, indeed!

396. The fact that they put the right number of candles on that thing! Wow!

397. Blowing all the candles out in one breath! (So... I get my wish then, right?)

398. Ribbon streamers hanging from the ceiling!

399. Balloons! (I like balloons.)

400. Being surrounded by tiny girls wishing me "Hoppy Booday".

401. Birthday coupons, such as...

402. Free Birthday Coffee! And...

403. Free Birthday Ice Cream! And...

404. Free Birthday Dinner Entree!

405. Celebrating my birthday for days, weeks, as long as I want!

406. "Belated" birthday greetings, otherwise known as "extended" birthday greetings!

406. Friends who tolerate my endless celebration.
They even encourage this nonsense! I have such great friends!

Day After Mother's Day

So did you all have a good Mother's Day? I hope so. If I'd gotten on this blog sooner, I'd have wished you one, so consider yourself belatedly wished a happy mother's day!

What did you do to celebrate? I had a good day here - we went out for dinner with the grown children who live near enough and their children. So there were 14 of us at Applebee's for lunch. I love being together with all of my children (or as many as possible). What a good day. And for a gift, my children all went together and bought me a peach tree! I am excited about that!

As wonderful as this day can be sometimes, there are two groups that I think about on Mother's Day who I think must ache as we celebrate: the women who long to be mothers but aren't, and the children whose mothers abandoned or otherwise seriously let them down.

It is important for us to celebrate; it is important for us to honor mothers. Where would the human race be without mothers in general, and where would we each be without our mothers in particular? And what kind of people would we become if we stopped saying thank you? It's good for us to take a day now and then to think about the people who helped us get where we are today. It's not like any one of us made it on our own.

But as we mothers are honored, how do the women feels who desperately wish to have children but have none? I know their hearts ache. Mother's Day can be very hard for them.

I think we need to honor the heart of mothering. Women who mother the children of others in so may ways, showing unconditional love... those women deserve honor too. Teachers and choir directors and childcare workers, and the neighbor down the street who loves on the kids after school... they show a mother's love the children in their world, and they deserve praise for that. So on Mother's Day I wish a Happy Day to all the Mothers and to all who have mothered in their own way. If I get a chance, I give my rose to the young woman with the heart of a mother who waits with tears through months of infertility treatments, and when she says she doesn't deserve it, I tell her yes she does, and I explain why. Mothering is about the heart.

But what about the kids whose mothers have left them, or kids who feel abandoned by their mothers? Kids who live with mothers who don't show a mother's love? Or kids who don't even know their mothers? Or kids whose mothers have died and they are still grieving? These kids are around us, and on Mother's Day they say nothing. They have no one to thank, to praise, to honor, while we celebrate. We don't see them because they are quiet on this day.


This must be a hard day for them. (Same as Father's Day is for those who don't know or have deep issues with their fathers.) We need to be sensitive, not in a way that diminishes the respect and appreciation we need to show for our mothers on this day, but somehow we need to try and not make it worse for these kids. Hard to balance that. I don't know how to do that. Do you have any thoughts? 'Cause I could use some practical ideas here.

For You, a Wish...

Happy New Year, Friends!!

May the year bring you Joy. And if it is true that into every life some rain must fall, then may the rain that falls be that which nourishes you and nurtures your growth.

Here is a little snippet of what Christmas is looking like at our house. We strung a few cranberries and a little bit of popcorn to hang on the tree... not a lot - I don't have that kind of patience - just a few little strands to make the tree look festive.

Christmas is coming!

We have a really cute little tree up and shining!! Family is coming over this afternoon, and I wish one more person were here. Well, two. I miss the girl who is way out west. I bet she misses us too. But if she is where she should be then it's all good. I just miss her, that's all. She has such a sweet smile and her laugh is infectious. One other is unable to make it, too. I wish they could both be here today. I love making Christmas memories with people I love so deeply. And all those who are able to come will be coming this afternoon. There will be homemade chili and pita chips, and who knows what else we'll come up with? There will be presents to open and there will be laughter and love. This is going to be fun!

Thanksgiving Day

10:00 am - Right now, Father, in the fullness of mid-morning, I thank you for this moment. The turkey is in the oven. Thank you for the anticipation of feast and looking forward to family members piling in the door, full of love and happiness. Right now, I take a moment to pause, praise, and give thanks. I take a moment to breathe. Inhale, exhale... and savor peace in the midst of busy preparations. Thank you, Lord. (And please be with my friend, please work out for her the details of her day after the flood at her house. Please bring her some peace, too.)

11:30 am - Pausing for another breath. and a snack. How is it that while fixing so much food, I can forget to eat!? Half the family is still in bed, sick. One 12 year old daughter and I are getting things done. Got the potatoes cooked, ready to reheat and mash when people come in the door. The house is getting some last minute straightening. Thank you, Father, for help for the flood at my friend's house. I hope she has a good holiday after all. Now, I have to start the bread. An hour to rise, another hour to bake... should come out about right. I love holidays like this. Thank you, God for holidays! Please be with those today who have not enough. May they see the bits of beauty in their own lives, in spite of everything, and may someone help to meet their needs today, please, Father. And Lord, if there is someone who you want me to help out, please show me who that is today. Thank you, Lord. I gotta go start that bread.

1:15 pm - I can't believe how nice the house looks! Even shorthanded, even with all the breaks we've taken, the rooms are all picked up and the food is getting ready. It is time to put the bread in the oven. The tablecloth is being ironed on the table; the house smells wonderful, and people are soon going to be here! I pause right now to slow my mind a minute, and savor it all. Breathe, self, breathe.

7:30 pm - The last people leave. What a great day! Everyone got here around 2 pm, and we ate about 3. Everyone helped. There was way more food than we needed. It was a feast, after all! Family together, laughing, talking, eating, cleaning up. Babies everywhere!

I missed having the bigger girls here, but they are at a friend's wedding this weekend. Oldest son is on a short vacation with his sweet wife. All's well. Everyone is having a good time wherever they are. But here - here at my house - we eat and everyone is full and happy. Tiny cousinlets play together, people make music, we laugh and talk, babies get hugged, toys get strewn. It's a happy time. By the time the last one leaves, the little one is way past time to sleep, but she will fall asleep very soon, and she has learned today a little more of what it means to feel loved and surrounded by family. It's been a good day.

Now... everyone has gone, and I have the whole house to myself. The dishes will wait for another day. I can just relax in the quietness.

Nice.

So much to be thankful for.

The Fourth!

We had such a good day celebrating the fourth!

We did what we usually do on this holiday...

In the morning, we went to the parade. There is something fun about a small town parade that you don't get at the bigger ones. You probably know someone in the parade, and even if you don't the person next to you does. It's probably your neighbor.

There were fire trucks with screaming sirens, and cute little faces waving out the windows.

There were children everywhere dressed in the colors of our flag, looking sweet and festive, running and collecting candies thrown out from the parade.

Some even brought bags for collecting!

And there were the fifes and drums! This little girl took her job as sign-carrier very seriously.

She was so cute!

There were the sounds of the parade:

loud sirens blasting our eardrums; a local blue-grass band; the fifes and drums;

horse hooves clopping; chattering conversations.

And there were the smells:

Something sweet like candy, fresh horse dung,

heavy exhaust fumes from antique cars, and coffee.

When the parade was done, we went to the Arts and Crafts fair. It is very cool that the Township pays for all this fun stuff for us to enjoy on the Fourth! Wow!

Sweet Girl tried the Bungee bounce and loved it!! Being not yet full sized, she got stuck hanging there once and we were laughing so hard, all four of us telling her what to do -- full of advice, and yet not one of us moving to help the girl! (We didn't know if it was OK or if only the "qualified professionals" were allowed to help her.) It was really funny, and she was smiling the whole time.

She did some flips forward and backward and I was pretty impressed! It was her first time.

We got airbrush tattoos (she: a sunshine on her arm, me: a butterfly on the back of my shoulder) and we tried some spin art.

Even the dogs were dressed up for the day!

In the afternoon, we had a cookout at our house....

Family and friends (my son wore his colonial clothes),

Grandgirls here...

and Grandgirls there

Precious Grandgirls everywhere!

All dressed in Red, White and Blue.

Watermelon...

And water balloons...

Bocce ball and horse shoes... good times, good neighbors, friends and people we love.

One good day.

I was so tired at the end of it... didn't know if I'd be able to stay awake at church the next day!

But I did.

What a great day. I love celebrating the Fourth here!

Eggs

On Monday, I finally colored eggs for Easter. The years when I color eggs are the best! I was late this year. But I'm glad I did it. I love coloring Easter eggs.

I love the colors. I love mixing the all the food coloring into hot water and watching the cups all light up with the intensity of the hues.


There is such anticipation, such suspense in those cups. I love seeing all those vibrant colors lined up on the counter, waiting. I love dipping plain white eggs into my old teacups, full of brightness, and waiting to see how those eggs transform.

And what a transformation!! Those which went in white come out sky blue, deep purple, blood red, soft pink. Some are green, some sunshine yellow. There are brights and pastels, solids and patterns. So many colors, so many variations! They look so good, I always wonder why we only color eggs once a year... why not enjoy them the rest of the year, too?



We love the process. We dip, or we color with a crayon and then dip, or we dip part of the egg in one color and another part in a different color. We make Humpty Dumpties, and night sky scenes, and simple landscapes. We stripe and we polka-dot. There are never enough eggs to satiate everyone's creativity, but always more than enough to satisfy our hunger, for what seems like forever. Sometimes I have to finish off the last few eggs with a multi-colored egg salad, with speckles of red, blue and green where the color seeped through the shells. At that point, it's less than appetizing.

But it's worth it for the fun.

I also love the symbolism: we dip a plain egg and it comes out different, beautiful, changed. Like resurrection. We too, will be changed one day when we are resurrected. We will have new bodies, and they will be wonderful. Coloring the eggs makes a nice analogy.

So - did you color eggs this year? How do you celebrate Easter? Do you have a big Easter dinner? We forgo that because the day is full enough already, and I prefer to simplify it. When it works out, I serve hard boiled eggs (colored, of course) and hot-cross buns for breakfast. That's all. How about you?



Gratitude list additions:

98. Coloring eggs for the sheer fun of it
99. Pretty food
100. The truth of the resurrection of Christ
101. Looking forward to our own resurrection
102. and the reunion we will have with people we love who have gone on before
103. Seeing Christ himself then!! Face to Face!!That will be something amazing!
104. Sensing His immense love for us as we stand before Him

Happy April

Today is April Fool's Day. Have fun with it! And BE SURE to listen to NPR today at noon for the "news"! (See how quickly you can spot the story of the day!)



Please share your fun April Fool's Day Stories - give me a link, or just tell me about it in a comment, ok?

Ann's Easter Garden

I came across this wonderful idea (on Ann Voskamp's site), which I find beautiful and maybe even doable... maybe even at my house... I had to share it with you. Click here:

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2009/03/make-easter-garden-visual-parable.html

I have friends of all beliefs. This idea reflect my own beliefs very well. If you have other ideas, other beliefs, you might adapt it. But do check it out ... so sweetly done, so pretty, so full of life... and that is the Easter story - it's about life!

If I do this (and I still doubt my green ability here), I would review the facts of the story while making this with the children: the prayer in the other garden, the death (age-appropriately, of course), the stone rolled in front to keep Him in... which didn't work, of course, and then the greatest part, the Resurrection! which proved He was who He claimed, and what it all means to us. It means so much! It means our life, now and forever! It is such a great story, and we who believe must share it with the children... this seems such a good way to do that. Besides, it will serve as a focal point and reminder all through the season.

And if I could keep the plants alive, it would be a spot of beauty in the house. Who can't use some beauty in the house?

But, you know... big "if" right there.

What do you think... should I try it? Or should I have someone else try it for me??

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is almost here!

Over the years, I have had mixed feelings about this date...

The thing I don't appreciate about March 17th is that I expect things to be green on that day, and yet most years the grass is still brown and lifeless. Wake up, grass! Leaves?? Anything??

Sigh...

By mid-March, I really long for the greening of life and landscape. But it doesn't usually happen that early. I have to be patient a while longer.

But, what I DO enjoy about March 17th is -- well, two things. First, it is my brother's birthday!! (Happy Birthday, Brother!!) He is a very cool guy and I love him a lot. All through our growing up we had lots of fun celebrating his birthday with green cakes. He didn't always wish for green, but he got it anyway.

The other great thing about March 17th is Saint Patrick's Day of course. I'm Irish, and Husband has Irish blood too. (Though he mostly talks about his Scottish heritage, his maternal grandma would tell you just how Irish she was). So our family really enjoys this day. We have fun wearing the colors.

In the last week or two we have been learning some interesting facts about St. Patrick. He has a fascinating story. I didn't do all this research myself; one better at it than I am did all the work. The information came from Patrick's own writings as well as from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

First, did you realized that Patrick was not Irish? Seriously!! Not even Irish!! And not only that, but he was not Catholic, though the Roman Church gave him the "Saint" title. And... he was not born on March 17th. Yeah -- all my ideas about him just got blown away! Here's the story:

Patrick was born in England to a father who was a pastor of the English church (not Catholic). As Patrick grew into young manhood, he rejected his father's faith. One day when he was about 16, he and some friends were playing on the beach when the Druids of Ireland came by ship and, seeing the young men there, kidnapped them. Now the Druids, you may know, were a scary bunch who were known to practice human sacrifice among other unpleasant things. I'm guessing Patrick and his friends were scared. They ran away from the incoming ship, only to run smack into some Druids coming from the other direction.

They were taken back to Ireland where thankfully they were not used as human sacrifices, but were sold into slavery. Patrick became a slave to a Druid priest, for whom he lived and worked for 6 years. He hated it, but felt that he deserved this miserable life after rebelling against his father and mother, his pastor, and God. He was humbled. Later he wrote that during this time he came back to God, and chose to accept the work of Christ on the cross as full payment for his sin, and give himself fully to Christ.

Six years after becoming a slave, he managed to escape, running on foot through 200 miles of forest to the shore, where he found passage on a ship and made his way back to his home in England. His parents were overjoyed to have him back and wished he would never leave again. He didn't plan to at first, but as much as he hated his time of servitude in Ireland, he kept thinking about he people there and the fact that they did not know the one true God, the God of love and justice and mercy. He would dream about them at night, and he felt these dreams were messages from God. The people of Ireland needed the Truth. So Patrick went back.

Patrick then went all throughout Ireland teaching and preaching, telling the people about Christ who came to love the world, who came to die in order to pay the penalty for all our sins in order to make a way for us to go to heaven. He gave the people hope. And they turned to Christianity. It is said that Patrick converted 120,000 Irish people in his lifetime! That is a phenomenal number! I can not really fathom that. And... get this... the population of Ireland at the time was about 300,000!! You can do the math... this one man converted almost half of the population of an entire country. He gave them the truth and they chose to follow it. Wow!

Patrick wrote that his life verse was Phillipians 1:12 - "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

St. Patrick wrote a prayer when he was to appear before the Druid priest which was made into a hymn, and today is called St. Patrick's Breastplate". You can read the rich, powerful words here.

Some 700 years later, long after Patrick had died, the king of England got unhappy with the fact that Ireland was full of evangelical churches. He wanted Ireland to be Catholic. So he sent a few thousand soldiers under the banner of the Pope to invade Ireland and force them to convert. (I still don't understand the idea of "church soldiers", making war with those who disagreed, but things were different then. Not in a good way.)

The King must've thought it would be an easy job, or I bet he'd have sent more troops. But instead of a few months, it took them several years to subdue the people of Ireland and get them to join the Catholic church. Many protested the invasion and clung to their beliefs... thus the "Protestants". A large number of these protesters retreated into the northern part of the country, where even to this day, you will find those who call themselves Protestants. So today we have Ireland (the southern part), which is commonly thought of as Catholic, and North Ireland, the protestant part. Now, the actual beliefs of the people have changed over time and is not exactly what Patrick taught. The people are at war with each other at this point, and it seems their focus is not so much on the ideologies. But back in that day, he northern protestants chose to separate from the rest of Ireland and keep their faith. They still wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day... but they didn't want to wear green like the southern, Catholic Irishmen did... so they wore orange instead.

And even today the Irish Catholics wear Green on St. Patrick's day, whereas the Irish Protestants wear orange.

Oh... And Patrick, who was canonized by the Catholic church even though he never belonged to it, died on March 17th, about 466 AD.

As I searched for images of this man, I found there to be many images, all different. I guess we really don't know what he looked like. Interestingly, they all appeared to me to make him look like a person of position in the Roman Church. Go figure.

St. Patrick may not have cleared out the snakes, but he did some powerful evangelizing!

The words on this scroll are from Patrick's prayer.


St. Patrick was a humble yet amazing man who changed a country's history
and gave the people hope.
His day is certainly worth celebrating!
Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!