Deep Thoughts

Today marks a very special bloggoversary...300 posts.

I had planned out a highlights post of some of my faves over the past couple of years, but so much has been going on, my plans have changed. This is a post that will go a bit deeper than most.

Because of what happened in Haiti recently, I've been realizing just how oblivious I've been to the sufferings that occur regularly in other parts of the world...things I don't often pay enough attention to.

My heart just breaks for those grieving souls...the vulnerable young orphans left to try and make it on their own. The parents grieving the loss of children they couldn't even find. The abject poverty. The tremendous need on so many levels. The fact that they had little as a nation to begin with and now have nothing.

Truly, even on a bad day, I have little that I can really complain about in comparison. In fact, I am quite spoiled with so much at my disposal. So many things I take for granted.

I am also deeply ashamed I haven't been doing much much more to look outside of my own daily life to help others...and am resolving to change that in a big way this year.

:: :: :: ::

I've been pondering the legacy of a dear woman in my life. My friend Jonnie has gone to be with the Lord...after 63 years of marriage to her hubby and a long and faithful life as wife, mom, grandma, sister, daughter, friend and longtime Sunday School teacher and Pastor's wife.

I think of the many, many lives that this dear woman has touched down through the years...not because she had a noteworthy professional career (though those are nice, too), but because out of her great love for the Lord she gave of herself and her time and resources so freely. She put others before herself.

When laundry, dishes or making of lunches or other repetitive household chores seem overwhelming or otherwise monotonous and/or unending in my own life, I hope to always remember this woman's example... of a vibrant, doting wife and mother who did many other honorable things outside of the home during her lifetime...but will always be remembered most for the little things she did each day to make her family and friends feel so loved and cherished by her. The high calling that is being wife and mom.

Even in the past year, when her sister or brothers would come to visit, she was known for staying up late to talk and laugh and reminisce. She was hospitable and gracious. She welcomed every person that crossed her threshold in as an honored guest. She was known for sharing the bounty of her garden. She got to know and looked after all her neighbors. She kept up with what was going on in the lives of family and friends and followed up on specifics when she hadn't heard from folks in a while.

When times were hard in the early years of her marriage, she made clothing out of flour sacks for her children, which they were starched and ironed and worn with pride, the kids never knowing that they were 'hard up'. She did all kinds of jobs on the side which helped to make ends meet, and in the process had some pretty interesting experiences.

And boy could she cook!

This gracious, sweet lady was part of the same generation as my own grandma, which I believed served to shape them into the type women they became...the sort which I will always admire. Industrious, hard workers in the home, frugal (having lived through the depression and War eras) rearing children she could be proud of and playing an active role in the lives of them and later her grandchildren and great-grandchildren...loving and doting on all her offspring (especially the babies), always telling other folks about Jesus, sweet to all her pets through the years, and even summoning all her strength to make a big batch of her famed cinnamon rolls for her family on her last 'good' day...Christmas Day '09.

She lived "100% in the moment", never pushing aside her folks in favor of some 'important' project that she was working on, but instead put everything else aside to concentrate on the people in her life while they were there, knowing that they wouldn't always be. Knowing that the best time to invest in those relationships was now, not later.

The people in her life came first, and were more valuable and important than the 'stuff'.

When Judah was about 14 months old, he broke a knick-knack while we were visiting them and she very quickly remarked, "Don't you worry a bit about it, dear...that old 'stuff' is not important...but people are. Accidents happen, but I would never want someone to think I valued this old 'stuff' more than them." And with that, she stretched out her beautiful, arthritic hands and warmly drew my little guy into a hug that assured him that everything was just fine and he wasn't in trouble.

I will never forget that.

She was so goodhearted and sincere...a true Titus 2 woman, encouraging and teaching the younger women who were coming up through the ranks...advising without even realizing it, because her example was all it took. Here all those times we thought we were brightening up the day for some shut-ins, but instead found ourselves sitting in their living or dining room soaking up all those little gems they didn't even realize they were giving away.

The way Jonnie lived was noteworthy...honorable. The sacrifices she had made in her lifetime...so very worth it. Her family and friends are all the richer and better for it.

She and her husband, though they playfully bantered and fussed at each other in the close quarters they shared as shut-ins, were entirely devoted to and still so much in love after a lifetime of shared experiences, sorrows, joys.

I loved how they finished each others sentences (when one would pause to reach for just the right word or forgetting some detail of an oft-told story). They operated as two parts of a whole.

They kind of took turns as caretakers in the last couple of years, and always saw to it that the other's needs were met.

Truly, they reached that amazing and wonderful place in life that so many young people in our self-centered society today will only dream about but few will ever achieve.

A place borne of shared experiences both difficult and joyous, tear and laughter-filled, a commitment that stuck out the hard times, loved when they didn't feel like it, held up their end of the bargain no matter what the other was doing...encouraged each other when they were at a low place, cheered each other on, cared for each other in sickness and in health, til death finally parted them.

I think about how in our world today too many people throw in the towel when times get hard. They just give up. They opt for the easy way out...or the path of least resistance...instead of sticking out the difficult and, at times, uphill climb that is necessary if one is to know that great sense of accomplishment and to see the spectacular view from the top.

Today, some never commit at all. They bounce from relationship to relationship, leaving when the romantic 'feelings' are gone or things get tough. They never fully invest themselves in others. The attitude behind not 'buying the cow' because they 'get the milk for free' is so selfish and very often leads to them growing old alone, having always longed for that deep intimacy and companionship that they know is out there, but never doing all that it takes (let alone taking the path it takes) to get there. Many waste decades looking for that kind of love in all the wrong places.

Their example has been something that is definitely worth striving for. In recent years, Jonnie was the only one able to drive. She would drop Jim off at the door of our church and go park (instead of him dropping her off as he had done for so many years before) and she was happy to do it. In her mind, she was not simply returning the favor, but lovingly doing whatever she could do to make things easier on his old, worn out self because she loved him, and that was what she'd long ago vowed to do.

One such Sunday, he came in alone and sat in their usual pew. A couple of minutes later she followed and joined him. Both were wearing the "Bride" & "Groom" gear which their kids had professionally embroidered for them in honor of their 60th Wedding Anniversary. And though old and feeble, they still sat close, smiling sweetly at each other, glowing in much the same way as honeymooners. Still. After 60 years together.

Like a beautiful and well-built piece of antique furniture, dented and scarred from years of use, but still holding up due to the finest craftsmanship and excellent care over the years, their relationship was built upon faith and had been buffed to a beautiful shine through a lifetime of shared experiences weathered together...a shine which transformed what may have been an ordinary piece of furniture back then into a beautiful and valuable heirloom now.

By God's grace I want Jeff and I to be just like that when we grow up.

:: :: :: ::

It's interesting how for years you can go without a single death...and perhaps not even a birth in your circle of friends, then all at once...you have a little of everything. Or perhaps a lot.

January seemed especially long for me this year. Perhaps that is because two people in my life have died, two have been diagnosed with cancer, and a new baby was born in our circle of friends within the span of 31 days.

I think about those who died and how they left beautiful legacies of faith in spite of a great difference between their ages...one having lived a long, full life, and one seemingly taken too soon...but both invaluable for their contribution to making this life richer for many others and most importantly in their faithfulness to the Lord.

How though there has been sorrow and grief at their passing, we don't mourn as those without hope. We know where they are now.

How the faith of those closest to these with cancer is being all at once tested and yet refined and strengthened, and how the Lord continues to show Himself to be faithful, seeing to all kinds of details including getting the husband home from war for his wife's surgery and even to extending his stay by two weeks. And to providing a college-aged cousin to step in to help fill some gaps while the mom and dad were tied up taking one of their four children to chemo and various doctor appointments.

As always, I thank the Lord for this sweet little baby, which represents promise and potential in this life, beginning a new generation in his family

I think about how just holding a baby is a blessing.

How there is something especially comforting about holding a baby when suffering the recent or fresh loss of a loved one.

But then...babies are always blessings. Wonderful gifts from God.

:: :: :: ::

Our family has begun playing board games together in the evenings when all the other necessary stuff our days entail is complete or tended to. It's been a surprising motivator.

We often play these sorts of games while camping, and that has always been a hit, but most of the time our evenings are filled with other things. We've actually had to carve out the time for the 'togetherness' these games require.

Had I realized just how excited the boys would be to sit down around our table and play simple games as a family, we would have instituted this tradition ages ago.

Now, nearly every evening shortly before bedtime, we've got Judah clamoring for Candyland or Trouble and Jericho wanting to play Life, Monopoly Express or Scrabble Slam! (a card version of the popular word game).

The 'express' version of Monopoly is a quick-moving game that doesn't involve the hassle of the paper money and is simple enough for even Judah to enjoy it at age 4.

Scrabble Slam! is a really great game that follows the general rules for Scrabble but only allows for four letter words and doesn't involve a scoresheet. It moves quickly and is very educational at the same time. WAY fun!

And who can resist popping the 'bubble' in Trouble? I can still remember numerous times spent playing that very game with my own parents when I was a kid. It's amazing how things like that bring back a rush of memories. Flashbacks.

While the games themselves are fun, I think the thing I enjoy most are seeing the interaction...that natural ebb and flow that occurs when family gathers around a table. The snippets of conversations, loving interactions or gestures of affection or razzing between family, teachable moments (most pertaining to good sportsmanship and conduct) the life application moments with the kids, and the hilarity that always ensues.

It's been so worth setting aside that brief time from my own usual end-of-the-day unwinding activities to play the begged for Candyland just to hear "It's not fair being stuck on the wick-or-ish" in a round of Candyland. He corrected himself by saying, "Lick-er-lish", but no matter how hard he tried, Judah just couldn't seem to wrap his tongue around the word licorice.

And perhaps the best possible ending to such a fun-filled evening of board games happened just this evening when we all played Trouble. Dad won, but the rest of us all had one last 'guy' within a hair of 'home' and so decided to play it out to see who would come in second. I played, and rolled the 2 needed for my last guy to end up 'home'. Jericho then rolled the needed 4, and Judah the needed 2...bada-bing, bada-bang, bada-boom! It was a beautiful thing...and there were high-fives all around!

I just love the knitting together of memories that occurs with quality time spent together as a family.

The Big SoCal Storm of '10

We should have seen it coming.

"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."



That was for folks sailing the ocean and not landlocked desert dwellers, I thought, discounting the adage completely.

Instead we went and visited friends so we could see their darling new baby.





We noticed as we were leaving that it was really windy and it had rained all day.

And all night.

The next morning, we rose and saw that water was gushing off our neighbors perfectly level cobblestone driveway pad and rushing down alongside our house.

Hmmm. Not good.

Mucking out a short trench helped bring the water level down enough that we figured it would hold until Jeff returned home from work and could help me dig a longer, deeper trench to better divert the water, and so he and Jericho left for school.

Inside the house on that very same wall, the closet began to smell a little moist.

Uh oh. Looks like the trim has some water starting to seep through. (Sorry for the scrambled pictures. The camera card is worn out.)



Being the damage was already done, and the water level outside was no longer an immediate threat, I decided to go ahead and go to Bible Study and worry about things later.

When I arrived home, not much had changed, but I put Judah down for his nap and went out to shovel away some debris that seemed to be clogging the downward flow of water.

I came in soaked to the skin and shivering from working in the pouring rain.

About the time I warmed up and got a few things done around the house, Jeff and Jericho returned home.

Because of the seepage inside the master bedroom closet, we went back outside and dug a deeper trench along the edge of the backyard as a precaution. The water closest to the house came down several inches further, completely eleviating the problem along that side of the house.

While we were working, it began snowing....and sticking...on all that wetness!

It was coOooOold!

We came inside and moved the shelving from that side of bedroom, which naturally involved rearranging furniture in other rooms so that we could move it permanently.

Thankfully, upon inspection we found that only a small portion of wall nearest the master bedroom closet seemed to be affected.



For the past couple days now, we've had the carpets and padding pulled back since and are drying out that area as best we can. It appears to be working.

We may have to cut out a chunk of drywall to treat it inside to be sure there aren't any mold issues later on, but thankfully we still have a partial sheet of the needed drywall in our garage from a patching job when we first moved in.

It doesn't appear that it will be necessary to replace the carpeting or make any insurance claims, and for that I do thank the Lord.

It's still raining.


It's still cold.

And school has been canceled today.

Kind of like a snow day but not. There isn't any snow left, but the roads will be closed due to dangerous road conditions.

All that water just doesn't have any place to go when it comes down that fast and heavy.

Last evening we had thunder and lightening overhead, and then had a bit of hail.

I'm just thankful we haven't had to worry about tornados or waterspouts or mudslides like folks closer to the coast do!


And I pray we don't have any earthquakes in the mix!

Off to make some hot tea...

A Bit Of Catching Up

Hello? Anyone home?

Well, as all 3 of you may have noticed, I've not been around bloggyville much of late.

Things had gotten craaaazy for a while there after the Holidaze, something had to give and unfortunately blogging took the hit.

It's good to be back into the swing of things again, though...and I have a lot of stuff to catch up on.

Last year at this time, I was babysitting full-time and just wasn't able to pick up and go do things at the last minute. Now, with just Judah and I at home we have that freedom. Which I love.

I'm really enjoying this stage that he's at right now...very literal and observant, trying to make sense of the world around him...and some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth just cracks me up.

Yesterday morning began with an impromptu ladies tea at a friends home, held in honor of a mutual friend who was back in the area for a visit. Because Grandma (my usual daytime babysitter) was also attending, Judah came along as well.

Judah noticed that Grandma had left the tea early, and came up to whisper, "Mama? Can we go to grandma's house after dis?"

In the middle of a discussion, I just pulled him close and said quietly, "Grandma went to run errands...but your friend is over there wanting you to play basketball with him out back." And so he ran off to play.

However, as we were heading home a little later, recognizing the neighborhood and knowing we were very close to grandma's house, he asked again, "Mama? Can we pwease go to grandmas house?"

"No, honey...remember? She's out running errands."

A few moments later he asked, "I know...can we go watch?"

He wasn't sure what these 'errands' I referred to were, but the prospect of seeing his grandma running them sounded pretty entertaining, lol!

:: :: :: ::

Later, once again on the road, Judah was chatting away at me from the back seat when some dude on a Harley went roaring past us on the main thoroughfare across town.

"Where is dat man on da motopsycho goeen?" he asked.

"Hmmmm...I'm not sure. Maybe to his house?" I offered.

"Nope, I fink he's goin' to da grocery store."

"But where would he put all his groceries?" I mused aloud.

Seeing no obvious place for bags of groceries, he thought about that for a minute and said the only logical thing a tag-along little brother could come up with, "On da handlebars!"

:: :: :: ::

In early December, we finally (months after installing our flooring) had new trim installed in the house. The living and dining areas are finally all done project-wise. It was a long time in coming, and I was as excited about that as our boys were about Christmas coming.

While we were at it, we put up a quickie pre-made mantle, as I was itching to have it all look 'finished' for the long lineup of Holiday entertaining.

Just prior to decorating for Christmas, however, I rearranged some of the living room furniture and noticed that the wall with the mantle seemed unusually bare. It was going to need a little something extra. So, while at a pre-Christmas sale, I picked up a blank canvas. It has been sitting in my craft room beckoning to me for weeks with all the possibilities.

This past Saturday ended up being a blissfully free day for me. Jeff took off with the boys for most of the day and I had nothing pressing on the agenda, so I dug out my brushes and paints and got to work.

Voila! Zee finished masterpiece.



Kinda loud, kinda funky, and way out of my comfort zone where home decor is concerned...but I think it's just what that space needed.

I joked with Jeff that it should be entitled, "Pile of Laundry", both because it kinda resembles that, and because that was what accumulated on my sofa during the couple of days that I was busy working on it, lol.

Naturally, when Judah caught on to what I was doing, he thought it looked like great fun and hinted broadly that he'd love to paint.

Remembering I still had some watercolor paint sets from when big brother and his cousins were little, I dug those out and let him go to town.

As you can see, young grasshopper was very pleased when I gushed over and prominently hung his works of art on the fridge in the family gallery.



He even thought to sign the one there on the left. He doesn't know how to write cursive just yet, so he did the best he could, lol.

A Congratulatory Shoutout...

I just couldn't help myself...we've been on a baby watch around here lately.

Our dear friends Chrissy & Steve just became grandparents today.

Here is their adorable little bundle of joy sleeping after his entry into the world.



Isn't he precious?

Congratulations to the proud new grandparents, and Auntie Lo and of course to new parents Mike & Kelsie. Love you guys!

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them...
~Psalm 127:4&5a

Merry Christmas

♪♫ Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
born this happy morning,
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him...
Christ, the Lord.♪♫

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in Him will not perish
but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Merry Christmas!

The Frumps

Some Christmas Randoms

Jericho has gone to plenty of activities at other folks houses. Birthday parties, work parties and even overnighters with his friends.

But tonight he has something going on that just 'felt' different to me somehow, and I was trying to put my finger on exactly why that was.

I suppose that because when we've been as involved in the church as we have been all his life, we are present or on the same campus as he has for just about every activity he's ever attended.

But tonight, we came to a definite "y" in the road.

Tonight Jericho is headed off to a junior high Awana Christmas party at his leader's home.

A place we will not be. And that's okay.

Except that it's a place he will also be with lots of girls, a couple of which flirt shamelessly with him.

And he's at that age when he's beginning to enjoy the attention.

How did this happen, this whole growing up thing?

He was just that little boy who didn't want me to leave him at the door in Kindergarten, and now here I stand looking at a strapping big wrestler nearly as tall as me and with a faint fringe of a mustache and a crackly voice?

It's one of those 'firsts' that kinda snuck up on me.

And for the first time, I've realized that he's really getting past the stage of my taking pictures of such things for the scrapbooks.

And (Lord help me) we still have the big school-sponsored all-nighter at the pizza place in a few days.

There comes a point where we moms, who have been clucking and fussing over their little chicks for so long, suddenly step back and realize...wow...he's not that little yellow, fuzzy chick taking shelter under my wings any longer...

He's starting to strut across the yard like the young rooster that he is, not needing us quite so much as he did in the past.

Just takes some getting used to for the mother hen, I guess.

And somehow I know it's going to be a whole lot harder than I ever expected when he goes off to college.

:: :: :: ::

It started off as a good idea, this business of our collecting Nativity Scenes.

Adding the toy versions were meant to get the kids familiar with the Christmas Story from a young age, and give us the opportunity to foster in them an appreciation for the true meaning of Christmas.

When we found the toy sets, I had visions of the boys quietly playing with them by the light of a fire or in that ambient Christmas decor lighting, pondering Jesus' birth.

Generally, while trimming our tree, we bring out the toy Nativity scenes and allow the kids to play with them for a while, cautioning them that while it is okay to play with them, they weren't to get silly...the toys represented something that was never to be regarded lightly.

Recently, however, after bringing in several tubs of decorations from the garage to get things ready for Christmas, we found the boys had already rifled through the tubs we'd brought in earlier in search of the toy sets and were playing with them...all this before we'd given our usual 'talk'.

Things were going fine until we were midway through the tree-trimming process and heard a terrible commotion from across the living room, complete with the kind of sounds the boys usually make when tons of Army guys are scattered around the floor.

"You know the rules, Jericho...nobody in the Nativity scene is supposed to be shooting anyone" I commented, eyebrow arched as I glanced in his direction.

"But mom," he said as he held up the Wise Men, "They look like terrorists!"

Perhaps we missed something somewhere along the line in his training?

:: :: :: ::

While I realize that our oldest is, in fact, growing up, I did have to chuckle that he drug me through the toy aisles at WalMart to show me the toys he "wants to get Judah" for Christmas.

Buzz and Woody from Toy Story fame.

"Uh, huh. Sure they're for your brother" my skeptical expression must have read, because he suddenly got very defensive. "Seriously, mom. He'd love them."

Somehow I'm thinking that the only reason he'd be willing to fork over the hefty $49.99 those particular toys cost and even moreso to deign to 'play with his little brother' would be to re-live his own childhood a bit without asking for the same toys for himself, lol.

Easy 'Gingerbread' Houses

While our niece was visiting over Thanksgiving break, we made 'Gingerbread' houses.

Though I've baked actual gingerbread in the past, this time there was no baking involved.

When you're short on time or have tons of other stuff to do, graham crackers are a very convenient substitute. , and though we kept it simple this time around, they can be assembled into very elaborate structures.

To begin, you must have the right kind of icing. Royal Icing dries hard pretty quickly, which is imperative for holding the walls of your structures together. It also securely holds candies to the houses.















Jericho made the Picasso-esque house in the upper left. Cousin S made the one in the upper right. Judah and I assembled the one on the bottom left.

Jericho, our resident artist, said after looking at the three completed houses together, "Everyone is going to think Judah made mine and I made yours", and sure enough, when his friends arrived that evening, they all said that very thing, lol.



And just to clarify, that would be the pointy ice cream cones, not cones of sugar.

We make the trees at our annual Youth Group Christmas parties.

We line a couple of long tables with festive Christmas wrapping paper, give each person a paper plate and a cone, set out bowls of candy and few bags of fresh Royal icing down the length of the tables, and (as HisGirl would say) POW! Super-easy group activity!