Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

1. Meeting author Beverly Lewis! She came to a nearby Christian bookstore for a book signing, but spoke to the crowd for a few minutes about her new release, The Missing, and answered questions from the crowd. I mentioned a while back that I had gone to some of these book signings to hear what the authors had to say, but rarely worked up the courage to actually meet them, and was surprised when one of the authors I mentioned plus a few others I had read “dropped in” on that post to encourage readers to stop by their tables. So…this time I did. Mittu went with me (another enjoyable aspect!) and I had told her that I wasn’t sure what to say, so just before we got to Beverly, Mittu said, “Do you know what you’re going to say yet?” I said, “Nope!” But Beverly was very amiable and easy to talk to.

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I don’t know why I am looking like I just ate something sour there — someone who knows me, please tell me I don’t wear that expression often!!!

2. Our church’s ladies’ meeting Monday night. I had thought about making this a separate blog post and probably should have. On the way there I was wrestling with anxiety over a certain issue, and the verse kept coming to mind, “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:32b). That was a great comfort. Then our speaker told about an opportunity she had to minister in the Philippines this past summer in a Bible Institute in the music department. As the Lord led and provided every step of the way for her to go, she said the verse that kept coming back to her was Psalm 116:7: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.” That blessed me. Then just hearing how the Lord used her stirred me up again for the ministries He has given me, even though mine are different from hers.

3. Jesse’s 16 birthday…

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…..which included eating out for his birthday dinner at Red Lobster.

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Up until this year he would never have chosen seafood, but somehow he discovered he liked salmon. I like their popcorn shrimp, myself, and their baked potatoes are some of the best ever.

And I really appreciated that they were very accommodating to my mother-in-law. We’ve never had a really negative experience at a restaurant with her, but these folks were just especially accomodating, helpful and friendly. This reminds me I meant to write a note to them.

4. Discovering a forgotten gift card while cleaning out my desk.

5. Working in my craft room. I hadn’t done much in there since the initial setting up of furniture, but I got some time this week to start sorting and organizing stuff. It’s fun rediscovering what I have and getting it in order. I’m itching to get back in there.

Happy Friday!

Thoughts from the toy store

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Since my youngest just turned 16 and isn’t into “toys” so much these days, I don’t go to Toys Are Them much any more. But I went there this week looking for a couple of things on the birthday list (video games) they have there. That triggered several stray thoughts, some nostalgic.

  • One of my all-time favorite comic strips was one from “For Better or Worse” in which the oldest boy had a friend come to visit, and the friend picked up the boy’s teddy bear and made a comment about it. The boy said something like, “That old thing?” and tossed it aside. Then after his friend left, the boy picked up his teddy bear and hugged it. That just perfectly encapsulated the sometimes boy/sometimes becoming a man aspect of boys growing up.
  • A few years ago I was going through my youngest son’s room trying to clear some of the clutter and get rid of things he no longer played with. He had a big basket full of stuffed animals, and he had a friend over at the time, so I thought that might be a good time to go through the animals — with his friend there he might be more likely to think of them as “childish” and get rid of them. But as we went through them one by one, his friend, very much an all-boy, rough and tumble type, kept saying, “No, you can’t get rid of that! That’s so cute!”
  • I don’t know if all of the Toys Are Them stores are like this, but with ours you have to go down the whole length of the store and then through the seasonal stuff to get to the main part of the store. Hate that. Especially when what I want is near the entrance, but I’ve got to go all over the place to get to it.
  • When my kids were little they thought of the toy store almost like an amusement park. It was fun just looking through things and going to all the different departments.
  • I generally avoid going there on Saturdays when it is crowded and noisy. Weekday mornings are ideal.
  • I miss Little Tykes and Fisher Price. I get wistful just walking by their aisles.
  • The things our kids played with long after other toys were laid aside were Legos, Transformers (even before the current revival due to the movies), and Nerf guns. They had a Nerf bow and arrow set they played with for years. I looked at Nerf stuff that day at the store, but I think interest in them has been replaced by paintball and airsoft guns. I almost got a little wistful walking by the Lego stuff. One Jesse wanted but never got was a big Star Wars ship. I looked at it yesterday and it was $129. Cough, cough, cough. Much as we loved Legos, I just never could justify that amount.
  • Must everything be branded? I didn’t mind buying some things with their favorite characters on them when they were little, but good grief. Everything has current popular TV characters or stars on it.  Years ago a friend decorated her daughter’s room all in the current Disney film stuff, and I thought, “What are you going to do when the next film comes out?”
  • We use “wish lists.” A family that I admired and respected did that, and I thought it was a good idea. I love to give what people want and would like. The kids were made to understand they wouldn’t get everything on the list and they might get some things not on the list, but the list was a general guideline. I used to be able to stray off the list with some good guesses when they were younger, but not so much these days. Part of that is due to the more technological stuff they’re into now, part of it is that the stuff they’re interested in now is more expensive, so I am less likely to take a chance on it.
  • My mom loved to give as well — I am sure that was her “love language,” though I don’t know if I would say it is mine. One of the most memorable gifts we received from her for the kids was a heap of Little People stuff — the old fashioned kind before they started making the squatty-bodied ones to avoid little kids choking on them. When Mom had asked me for ideas, I mentioned maybe one of the sets for the boys as a group — a Little People Farm, Little People Garage, Little People Main Street, etc. But she got one set for each boy instead of one for all of them to share, and then got a bunch of sets of just the people, which my sister Shelly wrapped individually as stocking stuffers. That was fun. My husband said we needed a whole room just for the Little People.

I know that  “putting away childish things” is a part of growing up, and I am enjoying the young men our boys are becoming, but I have to admit I do miss buying toys. And the little girls’ aisles — I only got to go through those when my guys were going to a birthday party or when my nieces were small. That is one aspect of having grandchildren that I am going to love….someday….though not the most important aspect, of course. Meanwhile, I’ll just wax a little wistful in the toy store.

Happy Birthday to Jesse!

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Jesse turns 16 today!!

Jesse was our little “surprise,” but, once we got used to the idea, a pleasant one. I can’t imagine our family without him.

He was 12 lbs when he was born. He was born in a women’s hospital, which usually only had newborn babies around, and someone from the hospital had to go out and buy diapers because the newborn ones wouldn’t fit.

Expecting Jesse

Newborn Jesse

We knew he was big, but he surprised us all! I don’t know why — no gestational diabetes, and that pregnancy I had the most moderate weight gain of the three. And now he’s the skinniest of the bunch.

He’s always been a pretty cheerful guy, easy to get along with, quick to bounce back, makes friends easily, can talk with about anyone, and a pretty good worker once he gets going.
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Jesse in park 2

He likes to get in weird positions. I call these “pretzael mode” and “vulture mode.”

Jesse in pretzel mode

Doing Homework

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Happy Birthday, Jesse!

May you always be cheerful, helpful, kind, loving, interested in others, and may you always love the Lord with all your heart and walk closely with Him.

Wednesday Random Dozen Meme

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Hosted by Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

1. Which is worse: a long, boring meeting or standing in a return/exchange line after Christmas?

Standing in line to return something. I’d rather sit than stand, for one thing, and I am always a bit nervous they’re going to give me a hard time about my return, though that doesn’t usually happen.

2. Except for maybe Rosie O’Donnell or Ann Coulter, nobody likes confrontation, yet we all have to deal with it. When you feel cornered and defensive, do you “bite back” or become passive aggressive?

I usually just try to get away, and then stew about it inwardly for a long time (not healthy, I know).

3. Do you know anything about your genealogical background? (What country, culture, ties to prominent historical figures, or other stuff.)

We’re a hodgepodge — English, German, I think some Scottish or Irish, and supposedly a little bit of Cherokee. I don’t know much of anything beyond my grandfather’s parents on my mom’s side, and just back to my grandparents on all the other sides.

4. What is the quickest way a person can endear him/herself to you?

Unexpectedly doing something thoughtful or kind or jumping in to help.

5. Cake, pie, cookies, or ice cream? (Note there is no “all of the above” option. You must choose one. Feel free to elaborate on flavor or memories tied to this dessert.) If you’d like, you can share a recipe, but you certainly don’t have to.

Cookies. I can’t eat ice cream (I do know about stuff you can take for lactose intolerance and I do use it with other things, but I am afraid to with straight milk or ice cream, as those affected me the worst). Love pies, but they’re a bit more trouble to make with all the rolling of pie crusts and peeling of fruit (hence I never thought the term “easy as pie” made sense). Love cake, but we just don’t have it much except for birthdays. So cookies are what I crave and have most often. Mt favorite brands are Oreos with chocolate cream in the middle and Chunky Chips Ahoy. My favorite cookies to make are Pudding Chip and Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

6. Females: Do you regularly change your handbag to coordinate with your outfit?

Yes. I had a whole post, quiz, and meme about purses around this time last year.

7. Are you task-oriented or relationship-oriented?

Task-oriented, I’m afraid. I have to frequently remind myself that however urgent the task is, people are more important.

8. IHOP, Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel?

Cracker Barrel, hands down. I’ve never been to a Bob Evans — would love to find and try one some day.

9. Have you ever left a movie in progress in a theater? Why?

It’s been…let me think….35 or so years since I’ve been in a movie theater, and I really don’t remember ever doing so, though I may have.

10. What is one area of life in which you would like to develop more discipline or organization?

One area? What area would I not like to develop more discipline and organization?

11. Was middle school fun or painful?

Very painful.

12. What is your favorite Fall beverage?

I don’t drink much of anything in the fall that I don’t drink during the rest of the year except the occasional cup of apple cider if someone is serving it at their home or event. And I do start drinking more coffee when the weather turns cooler.

A Thousand Words In Idioms: The Dog Version

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If “language is the dress of thoughts” ( Johnson), then idioms must the wardrobe.

Jientje at Heaven Is In Belgium hosts A  Thousand Words In Idioms on Wednesdays wherein she asks participants to illustrate an idiom or two with a photo.

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If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.

Sorry that picture isn’t clearer — it’s an old one, maybe even from an old cell phone, I don’t remember. But the saying means basically if you associate with the wrong kind of people, you’ll pick up some of their bad habits or flaws.

Dirty dog.

This is a phrase used for a low-down, sneaky, cheating person. Thankfully Suzie can be transformed from a dirty dog to a clean one, though she’s not happy about the process. I just love her pitiful expression there. Poor baby!

And though we’re supposed to keep it to two idioms, I did want to show Suzie on a happier note:

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Every dog has his (or her) day.

This means everyone has some good portion to his life, some chance for success.

God’s Chisel Videos from The Skit Guys

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I don’t normally like skits in which someone tries to portray God, but this was convicting. I’ve never seen these guys before and don’t know anything about them, but someone shared this with me.

God’s Chisel « Videos « The Skit Guys

Click on Video Preview.

Shared via AddThis

A trip down memory lane…

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It’s going to be a busy week — ladies’ meeting tonight, Jesse’s birthday Wednesday, then he’s having guys over to celebrate his birthday Friday. So I am going today with this  survey I saw on Facebook. I adapted it a little to use here. Feel free to borrow the format.

Who was your first “best friend”?
The first one I remember was a girl named Cindy in elementary school, about third grade.

What was your most memorable birthday as a child?
I had three cousins in Louisiana whose birthdays were all in August, as was mine, and once I happened to be up there during my birthday, and we had a carnival-like party for all four of us.

Who was your first “crush”?
My cousin Tommy when I was two, so I was told. The first I remember was a boy named James in 3rd grade.

Where was the best vacation your family took as a child?
We didn’t really take vacations other than to visit relatives.

What was your favorite pastime as a child?
Reading.

When did you learn to ride a two-wheel bike?
I don’t remember for sure — some time in elementary school. At one time my friends and I rode bikes everywhere.

What is your most traumatic memory as a child?
Probably not the most traumatic, but the first that comes to mind was trying to go to a neighbor’s house, barefoot, getting into a patch stickers (some people called them cockleburs), and having her dogs barking at me. I was afraid they were going to come after me, and I couldn’t run because my feet were full of stickers. I was afraid of dogs for a long time after that but still ran around outside barefoot until about 14 years ago.

What age did you learn to swim?
I never did….even though I grew up near the beach.

What smell automatically takes you back to your childhood?
The ocean. We lived near Padre Island and went to the beach a lot.

What was your first pet?
The first one I remember was a collie named Sam, though we had pets before that.

Who impacted your life as a child?
My father’s mother. When we lived in the same town she had me over to spend the night a lot and took me with her on a few trips to visit relatives in LA and AL. We both loved to read and would stay up late nights reading. She wrote letters to me for years and encouraged me as a Christian.

What is the most exciting Christmas gift you received as a child?
Barbie dolls.

Who was the neighborhood bully when you were growing up?
I don’t remember one in elementary school, but in high school it was a girl named Nadine, and it was at school rather than the neighborhood.

Who was/is your best friend as a teenager?
Dawn.

What is the first car you can remember your family owning?
I don’t remember the name. It was green and white and bulky. I have a picture that I will post later if I can find it.

What was the first award you ever received?
One for book reports in about the third grade.

What is the name of the first sports team you played on?
I never played on one other than P.E. I was not very athletic…

Let me know if you do this one, too.

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

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Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

~ John Greenleaf Whittier

Longer text is here.

Culturally speaking…

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I saw this meme at Melli‘s, who saw it at Dr. John‘s, who saw it who knows where.

In the past week have you done any high cultural activities like see theatre, opera or visit a museum?

I haven’t gone anywhere to do so, but I heard a Chopin piece on the radio yesterday (I used to know the names of some of them but have forgotten now) and the melody from Beethoven’s Symphony 7, opus 91, movement 2, allegretto has been running through my mind since I saw it in a movie earlier this week. I had heard it before, but didn’t know the name — I looked up the movie (which I DIDN’T like — the movie that is, not the act of looking up the piece) to find it.

Do you consider yourself a cultured person overall?

Well, I had to ponder that one. I looked up the dictionary definition of culture, and three applicable definitions of the ten listed are:

1. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
2. that which is excellent in the arts, manners, etc.
4. development or improvement of the mind by education or training.

We’ll skip the one about growing bacteria. 😀 I would say I enjoy culture, but I don’t know if I would say I am a cultured person. I have some education, I know some classical art and music, but not as much as I’d like. Whatever I know, there is much more out there to know. Another definition says, “Educated, polished, and refined; cultivated.” Polished — no — I have a long way to go there.

What is your favorite high culture activity?

I like listening to classical music, but I most enjoy listening to it at home while I am doing other things.

Have you ever been a participant/performed in a cultured activity?

I was in a choir that sang Handel’s Messiah.

Do you prefer pop culture or high culture?

I guess it depends on what is meant by or included in pop culture. I like some of Michael Buble, Josh Groban, the Irish Tenors, Il Divo, the King’s Singers — they’re current but in between either extreme, I think. I don’t listen to much of what’s popular in music — I’d be as wary of a modern-day play (as in one written in modern times, not a classic one that is performed now) as I am of modern films and literature because of the more overt language and sensuality. I’d have to say I prefer the classics, though I don’t like everything that one would call classic. I also like most the “standards” — “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Just the Way You Look Tonight,” etc., which were pop culture in their day.

And someone will likely note that operas and some classic plays and films and literature have some degree of sensuality. I don’t read or listen to anything overt, but just the fact that one of these pieces has adultery or something related isn’t enough to put aside: it depends on how it is handled. The Bible, after all, tells us of people who committed various sins, but not in a way that would tempt one to follow suit and with clear consequences for the actions.

Was there anything in this past week that you couldn’t wait to be done with?

I’m with Melli in wondering how these last 3 questions relate to culture??? I’m trying to think — nothing is coming to mind.

Did you clear it out of the way or will it face you once the new week resumes?

Since I couldn’t think of an answer for the above question I guess I don’t have an answer for this one, either.

Do you now know how to prevent such a thing from occurring in the future?

I know with unpleasant or hard tasks that it is best to go ahead and get them out of the way, but I confess I all too often put them off and have to get myself in gear.

What was one of your favorite cultural experiences?

This wasn’t on the original meme: I added it. I had never attended an opera before college, and the college I went to put on one opera a year. I determined that I was going to have a good attitude about it and look for the things about it I could enjoy (not my usual procedure, I’m afraid.) And I did love the costumes, the emotion, the abilities of the performers. It helped that my first opera experience was Mefistofle, the Faust legend in which Faust sells his soul to the devil, but in this version he comes back to God at the end. I’ll never forget the scene at the end where he’s praying and the devil is trying to show him various temptations, but Faust ignore him and keeps praying. One doesn’t cheer at operas like one does at a ball game, but I wanted to cheer, “Go, Faust, go!”

I kind of have to be in the mood to enjoy opera, but I also used to like a radio program that was on years ago which I think was called “Saturday Afternoon at the Met.” They would play an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, and they’d explain what was going on in the scenes and have neat interviews and such at the intermission.

Another was seeing the King’s Singers perform live. I would love to see the Irish Tenors and the Boston Pops live some time.

Another was visiting the home of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus stories, when we lived outside of Atlanta. We were home schooling at the time and our home school support group took a field trip there.

Another was the Living Gallery that Jason was a part of last spring.

I listed some of my favorite classical music pieces here and favorite CDs here.

How about you? Let me know if you do this meme. I’d love to see your answers.

Remembering…

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I was going to just post a link back to this post, but as I read over it, I felt I wanted to post the whole things again.

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(Originally posted 9/11/06)

I used to volunteer at my sons’ school every Tuesday. On that particular Tuesday morning in September, a little after 9 a.m., I turned on the car radio to catch a bit of news on my way to the school. I was confused at first — I could tell something serious had happened, but couldn’t make out what. Finally the newscaster explained that an airplane had hit the World Trade Tower. I was stunned. I sat in the parking lot at the school and listened to the news coverage for a few minutes. Then I went into the school office, with the words, “Did you hear…?” on my lips. They had heard and someone had set up a TV in the office. Many of us stood, motionless, stunned, shocked, and watched the coverage. We thought we couldn’t be any more stunned — then we saw footage of a second plane hitting the other tower. Then we saw people leaping out of windows to try to escape. Then we saw the first tower collapse.

I don’t remember how long I stayed there. The function that I usually helped with was canceled for the day. Several parents came to pick their children up and take them home: they just wanted to have them near. The principal had a TV set up in the gym for those students and teachers who wanted to watch the coverage. I think most of the high school classes were canceled and students could either watch the coverage in the gym or study quietly in one of the classrooms.

For the rest of the day and the next several days, with most of the country, I was almost glued to the TV as more news came in and pieces of the puzzle came to light. I clicked on news sources online and read coverage and looked at pictures in magazines.

There are several things I remember from that time:

  • Feeling in shock.
  • Feelings of vulnerability.
  • Feelings of horror that anyone could do such a thing to other people.
  • Feelings of fear, wondering if this was but the beginning of a larger effort, of a war.
  • Feelings of empathy with those who had died, those who had lost loved ones, those in parts of the world for whom terrorism is an almost everyday occurrence.
  • A feeling of unity in our country that I had never experienced in my lifetime. That is one thing I miss.
  • Feelings of…awe? gratefulness? wonder? inspiration? I am struggling with the right word to express what I felt on hearing the stories of heroism, of bravery, of decency.
  • Feelings of more joy upon hearing the stories of so many who unexpectedly missed flights or were late to work at the towers.
  • Feelings of comfort as the Lord ministered to hearts afterward.

Regarding that last item, one of the young men in my sons’ youth group shared this verse with the teens, I believe that first Wednesday afterward:

Isaiah 25:4: For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

How that ministered to my heart! I shared it with many loved ones via e-mail. There is only one true Refuge.

The question has come to many a mind, “Why did God allow it?” I don’t know that we’ll have the answer until time is over and we are with Him. But, surely we don’t mean why did God allow that to happen to us? We’re such a blessed nation, even in the state of spiritual forgetfulness and indifference we are in now — do we think we’re exempt from the troubles many nations experience daily? This was of a greater magnitude, yes, but many countries face the possibility of car bombs and suicide bombers every day. Then we get into the larger question of why God allows evil at all. All I know is that He allows for us to have and exercise a free will, and that results in sin, because we all choose our own way over His all too often. There will be a time when “sin shall be no more,” when every tear shall be wiped away and there shall be no more sorrow, sadness, death, crying (Revelation 21:4). That time is not yet. Until then we have to deal with a fallen world. But those who love God have this promise:

Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

It is at the point of deep need that we learn the truth of that verse and others. We know it so well it almost become cliched to us, until we truly need it.

One of the “good things” to come out of 9/11 was the salvation of one of my son’s friends. He realized that life can end suddenly and unexpectedly and that he needed to be ready.

There are some who think we should remember 9/11 only with silence, who feel that replaying and reliving the events of that day only plays into the hands of the terrorists, inspiring more terror. I disagree. I can understand those for whom it might be too painful to reflect on much, but I disagree that we’re playing into the hands of the terrorists by remembering that day. It’s good to remember. We need to remember the fallen, to memorialize them. We need to remember those whom they left behind. We even need to remember our vulnerability. Psalm 9:20 says “Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” I can’t presume to say that that was one of God’s purposes for allowing this, but we do need to remember that we are “but men” (or women) even though we’re a “superpower.” We need to remember that “The horse [or the fighter pilot or the tank or whatever we might use in warfare] is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). We need to remember the empathy, the inspiration, the acts of courage.

My husband and I were saying yesterday morning that we wished they would do away with the Labor Day observance and instead have a 9/11 observance. But then we thought that, after a while, it would just be another Monday holiday. It would seem the height of disrespect to turn it into another day for retailers to have sales. I wonder if WWII veterans are horrified that Memorial Day and Veterans Day, beyond the occasional parade and wreath-laying ceremonies, are regarded by most people as an opportunity to be off work and go to the mall. May we as a country remember all of our fallen better than that.