Should Old Acquaintance' be forgot

I wish that my old forgotten acquaintance would be the fat that I put on over this holiday binge season. It is aweful, just aweful. Never comes to mind when I am putting that piece of pie into my mouth for the umpteenth time that this acquaintanceship will be with you for the rest of your life. It should though!
I am as large as ever I was in delivery of my children... A bad example of moderation this season. There ought not to be that much feasting in the world. I am ashamed of myself and I pledge to myself to put off the binge habit for at least another few months.
My new simple pleasure will be sunflower seeds and raisins, to replace Chocolate with almonds. Jello and yogurt instead of ice cream and at least 30 minutes per day on the stationary bike. No excuses! I hope that next years Auld Lang Syne shall find me in better status with my body. I am not a spring chicken anymore...
Happy New Year!

Sunny and 61 degrees again

I am sure that I am used to these pleasant temperatures and wonderful beauty of the landscape around here. My city lights hunger and my chilly coat wearing days have paled into the enjoyment of a walk through University City in the holiday season. My bursitis (nonexistent) doesn't bother me. My lungs can hack the warmth and the air. No pretty snow, but no dirty snow either to clean up. I woke up and put on the heat which we really don't need because the house had chilled to a cold 65 through the night. That make us shiver, now. No chains on our tires to get out of the snow piles. No big snowplows blocking our cars in their spaces on the streets. No icey falling on our bottoms from not walking correctly in the snow. Halleluia, this is the Promised land today. Thank you God for the gracious providence of moderate weather!

Of Springerle and Chocolate kisses

Annise, a delightful scent and a spring on the tongue. My tongue is aglow, but not from mint and not as sweet as chocolate. Someone said try the Springerle. I would not have tried it unless they had. Sundayschool is a time for bible study and fellowship and during the holiday season feasting is rampant. Joy to the world, is always good enough reason to feast. Christ has brought us joy.
Our brethren shared their precious recipe of German delight. Thank God that we live in a place where we are exposed to the pleasures of every culture. Who can beat the taste of a Springerle for the first time delighting the tastebuds.
I took a bunch home, with the blessings of the baker; fully intending to have at least one a day for a long time.
I enjoyed 2 on the way home,the children hadn't grown into the taste yet. Good, I said, more for me. We left them on the side board, while we went to evening service and came home to the sad sight of my dog, Emma having eaten, 5 of them.
I am still planning to indulge in one a day for a while... 5 days fewer now. At least my dog Emma has better taste in food than my children. :)

We all got booties for Christmas!

Today is the day we shake the feeties, to dislodge the huge meal we enjoyed on Christmas day.
I lived so many years with little baby booties, that we affectionately call the day after Christmas, "Shake your "baby" booties Day". The day that we attempt to recoup the lost ground in last years New Years resolution and grow into a new person for the New Year coming. It is our last dieting challenge to go into the New Year at another level of health. It hasn't worked yet. :{ Still we try.
This year my aim and goal is to try to accomplish my very first marathon. There, I said it. I have spent too many Marches under the covers in pain and heart ache. I will take up my brokenness! I have a goal to overcome the broken pieces of my emotions and I think a marathon training, just might help me. I saw one in Concord set for March 21 and I am aiming for it. Not today, of coarse, I must go to work. I will start training in the New Year 2009. "Feeling Fine, in 2009!"

Walking?

Not even the smell of a white Christmas, down here in NC. Not even the hint of a frosty snow covered lawn on Christmas day. It is still the most wonderland Wintery with my family!
I spent the morning walking through the frosty aisles of the supermarket with my most respected woman of God who is in my life. We giggled and pontificated and came up with all sorts of dreams for now and tomorrow and it is truly beyond what we both could've thought or imagined except there is no son in law yet to dote over. We are enjoying the love of wondering and wishing and sour grapes, sometimes:)
My dad would've joked at us that we both are so much like Aunt Lorraine, and she, more than I have never spent more than an hour or so with Aunt Lorraine. So I guess, in heaven, we will, the three of us; sit down and talk about what made us who we are. How could we three be so identical?
Dad would talk about the way she grabbed him by the wrist and the strength that she had and Tony-boy and Abby would have similar stories about me. It is a joy to live with a kindred spirit, sometimes:{.
I came in from my Christmas eve saunter with my Elyse(Suzie homemaker) and Emily and I were doing the shimmy shake and imitating Grandma Ruth in my living room to James Brown. We cannot figure out how Grandma Ruth was able to do that shimmy shake well into her latter years. I am achy from imitating her. I better get into shape to keep up with Ms. Emily. Then, we put on Thriller and my bumble bee big boy taught us how to do the Thriller dance in the living room. We pretended that the sugarplum fairies died and came back as the Thriller dancers and we danced around the living room as the sugarplum fairies reincarnated in a Thriller. What fun!
Ethan, the wolf man came into the room anticipating boredom. He didn't want to join the dance and he hasn't figured out how to incorporate his wolf story into the Christmas pleasantries, so he just barks at us all. Ezra is waiting for us to pull out the baking items to make the linzer tarts. Dad in his cap and I in my kerchief and nothing at all is quiet as a mouse...

We got invited to our neighbor's Christmas Party.

What a great time we had with the neighbors. Tom had set up his train set and I could've spent the entire night there in the room, just looking at the trains. There was an entire room of memories and beauty. Remembering the days when neighborhoods used to be full of little businesses and the people that make those businesses run. I enjoyed the company of neighbors and chatting about fun stuff. They are always great for decorating the neighborhood with life. Thank you so much Tom and Marian. There were a collection of movable Christmas Disney figures in the corner. It is a small world after all!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true love...

Gave to me Four Calling Birds.
The four most efficient women I ever met became my sister-in-laws on June 11, 1983. Ever since, they have been calling to me to come up higher. They have little tolerance for inefficiency and ineptitudes. They are practiced and honed by a wonderful mother to be effective and efficient, these are not my best qualities, by any means. Still, I watch them through life and try as I might inculcate as many of the qualities that I can catch or borrow or emulate. They are a wonderful team of women and I am grateful to know them and have them call me to come up higher.
God bless, Gwen and Audrey and Lee and Yvonne!

5 Golden Rings!

On the 5th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me---5 golden rings---

Nobody knows the joy of the 5 or 6 golden rings in my life. I have 4 sisters and 2 precious cousins and that makes 6 ladies that grew up with me and evoke the joys of youth like no one else can.
I got to see Karla-Gail this year and it was delightful to see her newest bundle of joy. I am truly a rich woman with 6 golden rings of love on my heart like Julia, Jacqueline, Joanne, Amy, Allyson, and Karla-Gail! Miss you guys!

Two Turtle Doves!

On my birthday this year, my brother-in-law and my husband gave to me freshly painted rooms. A brand new house with freshly painted walls and a partridge in a pear tree.
My pear tree is still blooming, but the leaves are scarce and I don't know whether it is over watering or the smallness of the pot.
Ben and Eli were my two turtledoves painting and caring for the house things that have caused me distress throughout the year.
Take no thought... Don't worry... God cares... I know he cares but sometimes I do forget that.

I love to spend time on my carpets and today I got some of that luxury. Not with an empty house, but still there are at least 500 square ft of cleaner carpet for my wear. There is only another 2500 to go before I sleep. I think I will quit at the halfway mark. I fell while emptying a batch of water and my bottom is sore, so now I am too tired to go the whole way through. Thank God for the Rug Doctor. With so many footsies trampling a carpet there is hope on earth for some cleaner rugs. Just give me one week and a rug doctor and I will be happy with my carpets again.

Fidelia, L'amore

Good King Wenceslaus, Hark the Herald...This Christmas my little fidelia became a woman. Decked in her skirt and white shirt, she sat erect, like never in church; and put flute to mouth and breathed out beautiful music through the instrumentation of a flute. I wished and wished and wished and wished and music lessons are a privilege and they are beautiful. It is precious to see and precious to experience. She is a part of the band. She is a beautiful girl and learning to breathe in unison.
Thank God!

A Happy Birthday was mine

My family was altogether for my birthday this year. I got roses and chocolate from my beloved and I got a Santa Claus candle from Ethan and a wonderful couple of cards and well wishes and gifts from everybody. I had been sick earlier in the week and was still recuperating and there were tests for most of them the next day. We enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by my live in chef extraordinair-Elyse. It was a day of precious enjoyments and reminiscing about my life in my mind.
I am counting the precious blessings and awesome providence to have made it to this age in life and to have so much to enjoy and be encouraged by. Good friends, good family and a precious church and community to enjoy. Thank God.

What did I learn from being 46?

a halloween story, sillyface.
enjoyments sharing some time with other children was fun and amusing this year.
It seems a short year end and I can't say that I am any more intelligent or amiable than I was at 45, to my shame.
Some lessons have been learned, I hope. I had a wonderful 45th year, though I was sick and sour. It seems, the womanly wierdnesses have lessened and I am not as grumpy as I once was. I still can't find the balance of work and home and church in correct proportions. Although the speed of light improves communication, unfortunately it increases people's expectations of a person's communication and I am still a one person at a time communicator for the most part. I do hate the fact that the internet and the email systems and cyberstuff keep us all jumping from conversation to conversation at a breakneck. I miss the days of sweet sit downs and the days of real face to face heart to heart chats with time to ponder what was said and what was thought, as well as time between chats anticipating. I rarely have that kind of thinking time.
My motto for 46 has been, "I blog, therefore I am". Little else incites my animation like the thought placed on my blog with no editor to censor it but me.
I expect I will blog less in 47 so that I will concentrate on organization of my home and family. This is always my new years resolution and it has never gotten me much closer to my goal. I will get some more books and plan out my strategem and get back to the drawing board as soon as my celebratory day is over...

Proverbs 5:18

Fountains blessed,
If I were a rich man, ya da, da, From Fiddler on the Roof all day long, I'd piddy, piddy pum? The fountain of riches, marked out in Proverbs 5 is acted out in Fiddler. A loving family working through the real struggles of the society which is given them is the richest blessing a society can have.
When we put them out of our culture by making it difficult for them to survive, it is a judgement of delugiounous proportions. Our preservation as a nation and a culture, has been that we have made provisions for the different economic levels and the different people groups to survive in this land. Every time that we, in the world and throughout history have devalued the reality of love and walking humbly with God we have lost sight of the real riches and God, in his mercy shakes us up to bring us to our senses. I can site so many historical examples that I don't feel that I need to. I have told you children about the earthquake in Jamaica that Grandma Del and Auntie told us about. God does shake things up we have lived through 9/11 and that horrible tsunami. We all are to blame, when one area of the world is shaken up. Jesus said to those people who were asking about the tower at Siloam, "You will also be destroyed, if you repent not." He was pointing us to the purposes of suffering for us and for those around us. To call us to repentance and to cleanse us from our wickedness so that we can have greater access to God, personally, corporately, nationally and globally.
When we are aware of what He values, our fountains are blessed. Our barns may not be filled, but our hearts are.

Where is the blessing? God tells us in Proverbs 5 through Solomon.
I imagine, poor Solomon looking through the keyhole, out into the humble humanity and stating the truth that he was never able to attain and that was that the real riches come in attempting to be monogamous and sufficed with life. He who could, by his own confession, never find satisfaction, no matter how many women or meals or beautiful sights he could own or have; was the writer of Proverbs 5. Be blessed and be focused and don't look away, because in the looking away from the happy home is a hook, which, once it is imbibed; brings weights and sins and continuous disaffection, resulting in God's ultimate judgement, if left unrepentant.
When we repent, we have a fresh and new relationship with God. When we are in Christ and cleansed, we are a new creature and He (as it were) runs to embrace us and draw us from the love of our sins into deeper communion with Himself. There is no greater gift that God has given us than the gift of HIMSELF.

Proverbs 5:18. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Like a Hug to my soul!

The heavenly Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him. Hugs and kisses on Thanksgiving mean more than anything and we had some friends love into us and breath a new life into our souls, which were wallowing in the slough of dispond. Thank you God for good friends and a good God who sent them.

Snap lost all of his leaves

This wonderful rainfall which we were enjoying has caused all of the leaves to fall off of my Snap and Ginger is holding intently to the last 10 of her leaves. My Peachtree is blooming again in the house and I am hoping that I can keep her leaves on her. It is beautiful to see the good gifts that God has given us all around us. The rainfall, though rare down here are a reminder of the showers of blessings and of His Spirit which God pours upon us daily. History does have some interesting people but, even the little daily wonders God bestows pales history by miles. :)

A light in the darkness

This is the day that they announced that William Gibson died. He shed light on the deepest love that, I think, earth can know. The love of light and communication coming into the darkest place. "The Miracle Worker" my very favorite story. I read the story many, many times, but I don't remember ever watching the movie. I tried out for a part in it...that is another story...
William Gibson will be known throughout history as the man who shed light upon one of the most intimate experiences known to man. The initiation of communication in the soul. Thoughts can stay welled up in a human soul with no ventilation of communication and a person an Annie Sullivan can wrestle the devil and loose the tongue of communication through sign and in the hand and through touch. Now we can all know that Helen Keller had feelings and hopes and dreams and thoughts and beauty in her blind and deaf and uncommunicative state. I love the faith that took the devil to task in that arena and prevailed to the glory of God. I love the faith that thought it a worthy venture to put the story into the venue of the day, play and movie form. I love the beauty of the relationship of women who have played those roles and the change that you see in them from that learning experience. I love the fact that we have a trust in this country that we can tell the good stories and the bad ones to people in the media.

It was a frosty Thanksgiving Morning

The frost was covering the blooms on my butterfly bush and not a bird came out to greet me on the morning of this Thanksgiving. I felt different because the house was not filling our olfactory nerves with the roast turkey and I had a choice, to cook the Turkey or not, this year.
The day bloomed into a warm and sunny one. No trace of the earlier frost was there by the time it was time to give thanks.
Thanks to some precious friends who cared enough to share their family tradition with us, we had a relatively leisurely morning. I whipped up some lasagna and some apple pie to bring with us and the presence of a Good God was with me in the prep work and with us in the visit to our friends house.
I can't remember back to a time when Thanksgiving was filled with all love and future thoughts and no one in the room was on the last Thanksgiving, that we knew of. We had been on that season for so long that the lustre of the day had come to mean goodbye instead of Thank God. I didn't realize that, until we were with couples who were younger.
Although there were many lessons sitting Shiva (as it were) with the elders in our families, over the years; it was rejuvenating to enjoy the life giving spirit of families where that was yet a far off thought, still. "There is a time to live." Our friends gave us the privilege of taking that time to live with them.

Queen Isabella was a woman who financed

The NEW WORLD. She sent the NINA the PINTA and the Santa Maria out from Spain and could imagine that there was a world out there beyond what she could see. That took alot of faith and trust to put out that much money on a venture that was outside of the view of the entire known world. The American Journey of a new nation was started and found by this kind of venture capital. Financing thoughts that are outside of the realm of our imagination, but are a part of the future. This keeps our economy floating. There are new ventures out there. There are resources to keep the world moving and growing. It doesn't always have to run on baby boom to baby boom. War and Peace. Let's reach outside of the realm of creating baby booms and build real live families with skills to live and abide with eachother or live apart in peace.

So interesting, this season that

My mums and my pumpkins have gone the way of all perenials vegetation. Halloween season is the season of harvest and taking stock in what is ours and what is home. Snap, my front peartree has lost almost all of his leaves and Ginger is hanging onto hers in this cold autumn season. This is remarkable to me because it was Ginger who, at first looked like she wasn't going to take to corner living. It is my peartrees' first Autumn with us. One in front and one in back.
I have "Peaches" in the house. She is far too delicate to be outside. but I am afraid that she may not make it. She is losing some leaves in the house also. I have watered her. She just doesn't look well. I have to talk to her more, I think. I will work on her some more. It is cold outside and the trees start to fall asleep so that they can survive the season. I too want to sleep off the cold weather. That is not surprising.

My carpet is nearly 3 years old and for its birthday I found a carpet shampooer at a thrift store. I am so pleased with the results and the beautification. My triangles are not as deep as the first day that I set eyes on her but when I clean her with my Green Machine, she almost feels as sweet as new. I want my carpet clean enough to live on and sleep on, but not untouchable. When the children are grown up we can have luxuries like thick carpets. For now, clean and freshly shampooed is happy.

I followed suit with the banana hats

So many times, they made fun of my hats. When I wore them, they were certainly not in style, but I wore them anyhow. I see now that I was following a theme that was far beyond me. Families grow sometimes, without us realizing the emotional task ahead of us. Years and love is growing and costing and plowing ahead.\
I am grateful that God says that blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them, children. The world is full of children of the women who spent their strength to deliver. My banana hat, my mommy's banana hat and Carmen Miranda's banana hat are a joke, but the children who came out of those hats are not bunnies. They are influences upon the world.

My Mommy had her own banana hats in those days

This was a picture of us leaving Atlanta in 1965. I was not looking forward to my plane trip with those two siblings of mine who were screaming and crying. I am sure I did my own amount of screaming and crying at the earpopping experience on the plane in 1965. I remember Paul was crying when we left as though we would never return and I could not believe that a ten year old boy could cry. It was a trip I will never forget. I remember Aunt Dorothy washing our faces and taking us into her home and Peachtree Street and my little friend Patty. Hospitality to little people goes a long way. And what a brave young 23 year old woman to get on a plane with the three of us!

I just loved Carmen Miranda!

More than a banana covered hat and an expert dancer. Carmen Miranda was the picture of the prosperity available in this country to whomever would be diligent and resourceful. She used her influence and gifts to change the stereotype that was assigned to her. A sexy woman, whose beauty engaged and enthralled and used that reality to show women how to direct the minds of lust to the task at hand. ie. In the movie A Date with Judy they gave her the part of a dance instructor and she was able to teach this man to Rhumba and keep his mind on the learning of that skill and not get distracted by the beauty of what he was touching in the lesson. It was amusing and instructional.
The lesson I seemed to see in that was that it is not in our power to make men not lust, but it is in our power to, with the power entrusted to us in their lust to get the job done. Whatever that job may be. We may not have the job of a Rhumba teacher, but in whatever we do, let us keep our minds on the task at hand. That is not always easy.
Do we get high on admiration of our skills or beauty and lose our focus or do we direct the day for good. She was a revolutionary. Let us be also....

Old Man River!

He does keep rolling along! Why is the world continuing, is a question that we ask in our grief. That song is a reminder that this economy continues, when cotton was king, it kept going. When the industrial revolution was king the Mississippi kept on flowing. When slavery was rampant the Mississippi was flowing and there is a beauty in the fact that the world will continue long past us, if Jesus tarries.
In times like these, we need a Savior! In times like these, we need a hope beyond, even the mighty Mississippi River's continuance. It will continue rolling along and if we take our motivation from the consistency that God placed in her, we too will be much blest. One wave upon another and God adds grace upon grace and strength upon strength and generation upon generation.
The economy does not revolve around the River anymore and the economy does not revolve around the slave trade anymore and there will be some shoulder to swing the economy in this next millenium through the ingenuity of some genius. Wait and work and pray and try and God will prosper, by and by.

Young women came over

we enjoyed tea and crumpets and chicken and crackers and salad and fruit and singing happy birthday. 22 is a new season. We trust the God will carry us through this year as he has for so many years before.
For me, it marks the 22nd anniversary of my first childbirth experience. It marks the amazing grace that allows us to be held by His hand through motherhood. Motherhood shines a bright light on your ignorance and unimportance. Learn to humble yourself, before God has to humble you!

I am grateful for the lessons I learned from listening to the ladies yesterday. There are precious young people to whom the world belongs in the future. God is good and He has blest their lives and interests with prosperity.
I know that if we touch the hem of His garments we can be healed.

My own little inventors and creators labor

on products and inventions, some of their own and some for a teacher's inspection. They are always intensely, attempting to find some new way to make our family life simpler or worry free. That is impossible (to be worryfree). When we get such a bunch of people bumping into eachother in one building there are always conflicts and learning to navigate between the essential and the sublime is helpful and might prove healthy.
We have urgent needs and we have less urgent needs and one of these days we get down to the wants. When we react to the urgent all of the time, it makes for a stressful life. Coming away from the scene for a little while, such as, at work, adds and distant view of the situation. I need to do that so that I can address the urgent needs with adequate consideration.



ON Growing and building real human relationships.
Last night I spent some time with one of the men of my dreams and it was breathtaking. Thank God, he's my son, or Ben would be jealous! It was awesome to hear the thinking of this young man congealing into a thoughtful, eloquent individual. I could truly relate to what I heard about Rodney Dangerfield's mother sitting in the seat and daring anyone to mock her son's jokes. It is important that I allow his voice to show through his writing and not his dominant English major mother. He speaks and my heart is in praise to the God who can build hope out of grief. I thought I would never hear such a voice. Helping him with his homework is not hard for me, but it is hard for him because he hates for me to look at him adoringly as I do. Thank you God for miracles.

George Washington Carver...

found a way to avoid the decline of the king cotton economy by utilizing peanuts. It is obvious that we live in a time when the bollweavel of providence is calling for another genius to come along and readdress the economy. We must find a new wind to float our economy. God is able to grant wisdom to the foolish and He answers the prayers of His people and can turn the whole thing around to help us to float this economic boat. Let's put our minds and hearts together to produce and create and not just consume.

Finding Unity in the midst of the internal conflict of our nation

I am grateful to the candidates that took on the responsibility of representing the current sentiments of our nation to us to the poles. As usual, the temperature is that the parties have represented the general sentiments accurately and we are separated into the 2 equal or nearly equal camps.
Now comes the hard part for the victor of the conflict. To address those challenges and concern with accuracy and effectiveness. It is ours, to pray for President Obama and Vice President Biden. It is theirs to address our issues and bring some kind of civil peace to the civil conflict.
The dust has settled, the issues are out on the table and now the budget process and the counting occurs. Can we put the pieces of this puzzle back together and labor together as one nation? Yes we can!

Change of weather and beautiful leaves

Somehow, it seems an oxymoron to have weather patterns in the 70's and the leaves falling off of the trees. I would expect to have my parka on and my leggings and drinking warm cider to warm my "innards". The beauty of the autumn days down here, make me think about the beach and the pool and the summer refreshments. We are used to responding to the temperature and not to the tree changes. It is beautiful, none theless. I love it!

A chilly day off for the children

The cold of the day reminds me of the NY state of mind. Unfortunately, my children didn't accomplish much in the way of trudging through some of the chores I thought that they would. No, everyone had an excuse. A likely story... Why? I was...not willing to do it,Mom. Oh, well, I will be picking up the pieces for the rest of the week from this siesta that they took. Discipline means everybody lending a hand.
I will be thinking of an appropriate consequence for them to feel the effects of this day upon me. :(

Grandma Ruth's gifts keep on giving!

What a beauty and sweetpea! Amina at 2

We survived the first coldsnap of the year.

Ginger and Snap and the peach tree are still standing after the first season chill. They are hardier than I gave them credit. Ginger looked like she was going to lose half her leaves for a while there. Snap loves being in the front of the house as a show off but he seems to miss Ginger being in view, it seems.
I am still looking for my partridge here. 2 pear trees are beautiful and a great anticipation of things to come. A partridge would make it Christmas.
At work it is so beautiful to enjoy the birds around the building, minding their own business. I just can't think of a more precious thing to do than enjoy the interaction of the busy birds and bees around the building. That is a gift.

Fathers and Mothers do not provoke

your children, lest they become discouraged. Its my turn to live this out. Its my turn, not to discourage you guys. Christian children love to use that scripture to batter their parents. I want to challenge the thinking and the disciplinary habits of my children and still allow them to have hope.
Hope is not that we will live in sinless perfection, but that as we stumble through with our foibles and inconsistencies; try as we might to overcome them, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, THE RIGHTEOUS! He is the only one righteous and he stands at the Father's right hand continually making intersession for me to the Father. I can go on with that and pray that the discouragement doesn't crush me under its load.

This Morning, Papa pretended the moonwalk with the boys.

What a wake up routine! He always outdoes me with the children. I don't mind. They woke and grabbed leg to leg and pretended zero gravity while rolling around on the floor. Life on the moon with "Poppy" would be amazing! Don't you think, boys?

This morning, we elected representatives

to the 8th grade and 4th grade and kindergarten.





Our conversation in the wake up call included a discussion of representation. District 2 in the Walker household learned about representation before school. I am still not sure it got through to the kindergarten mind of my Ezra. I try to motivate them to wake up with something other than breakfast. Some days it is a good book, some days it is a loving kiss. This time it was representing me in the classroom. I voted, unanimously for them and they felt confident that it was true that I was voting for them in confidence.

Ezra left for school thinking that getting dressed was representing and perhaps it is. Our sockless selves and the fact that there is some little sock gremlin that steals the socks out of our house is represented in every grade of our house. The labor that will maintain the socks in this family will take some extra effort.
I guess he is right getting dressed is representing Mommy.

What to do about my tiny trees with winter coming?

Woe is me, I missed the opportunity to entertain the children for the fall festival again. I have all of these shows in my mind for the little ones to enjoy and I can't seem to get a single one of them on paper with a plan of how to execute it. Children need live experiences with knowledge today and it is our turn to do this in the schools and in the market places. Just like Snap and Ginger acclamating to my job, they are acclamating to their surroundings and we want them to catch a hold of the vision of life and love and pass it on. How to do that without dropping the ball?

THIRTEEN!

To my Evvy, I declare
I am so Happy that you're here
That you came to make a home with us!
To my Evvy, I'm so pleased,
I can give you such a squeeze,
And you don't mind being teased,
Here with us!
Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy 13th

Ladybug is growing up. We can't call her "Thing TWO" anymore!
She is not a shadow of anybody, but her own woman and her own self.
Funny as a whip and quick to give a quip, we could not run the ship,
without her!
Thank you God!

Well done is better than well said?

We are awaiting the day when our God will say well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!
Until that day we cannot judge our own activities by our own measurements and deem them good, unless God has done so.
We must consider our speech as important in our activities. Have we accurately expressed what our intentions are? As a culture we have gotten away from inspecting our hearts through our words.
Looking at my own culture, it seems that African-Americans have used the fact that we were brought from numerous countries in Africa as an excuse to speak and develop our own language. I, myself, am not opposed to Ebonics, in their place. I understand that in the culture of the oppressed there is a need to reserve a secret place of communication where the earthly master cannot enter. I am tremendously impressed when I observe the wisdom of the people that were seen as just slaves.
Still there was accountability in speech in their Ebonics and we must maintain that. "My bad!" "I lied!" Do these terms of speech accurately express our meaning or are they deceptions that the enemy of our souls have injected into our Ebonic language to deceive our souls that we have truly repented when we have not!
Some people seem to say that so much, as though they expect to go to heaven and show God the list of times they confessed out loud, before men and God that they lied and that He will let them into heaven because of their many confessions.
Is that so?
Let us beware that our Heavenly Master represents one of our comerades. That our speech doesn't exclude the Master of our souls from entering into our conversation.
In that case I think "Well said, might be better than Well done?" God's going to say Jesus is the only way in!
God's servants cannot be part of the deceived who need no repentance.

The Rainy gray days are forboding sometimes,

But the meditations of these days often prove more profitable than the sunny days. Sunny days are far more prevalent here in NC than rainy days. The darkness and the rain make a person forget that there is a sky that is blue and beautiful above those clouds; unless one is a pilot and can fly above the clouds for solace.
My sky is gray and overcase and my heart is recalling that I have "far to go before I sleep". "Go, Labor on, Spend and be spent", a hymn for the Motherhood! Your body and your soul traveling in sundry directions with each child. Your emotions on an ever wandering rollercoaster of expectations of your children's ideas and inspirations. Can I act like a mommy today? Yep.
God's grace and God's strength is unlimited, mine is not. With patience spent to a frazzle and it is too early to be spent already. God comes and helps everyday with the labor. No body tells you that the labor of delivery is just the beginning of birthing of the mother who you will become. You travail to see yourself stop being so selfish, every day. Do I want to give of myself today? Do I want to share myself with these people today?
God knows and God shares Himself consistently and graciously everyday! Just look at the sky, gray or blue.

Whose Birthday II

It isn't quite as funny the second time to see the post. I laugh that we need a reminder that my little ladybug is going to be 13 on Saturday.
A. Barney
B. Uncle Elijah...NO it is EVELYN's Birthday and we will see how we can celebrate the teen year with "pizzazz".
She is hilarious with her interjections of wit amidst the chaotic conversational style of the large family.
Celebrate, we will, Lord willing!

Autumn is a time for reaping?

Seeds sown and tender shoots nurtured, those were the days of the summer heat. Burdens born in the heat of the day have come to full bloom and now are bearing fruit. No more babies are in our home. All of the children are growing and contributing and now I have some time to look outside of the house. I am blessed with a precious husband and decent job, delightful children, many hopes and dreams for their successes.
Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart. 404 months of marriage and 6 living children, I am truly blessed!

Now, We were late!

What is the new motivation? After the SAT's are a memory, she will take them again. But now she knows why I was griping about them. "Mommy, you never told me that they were important and hard." I did so!
I am used to being blamed for not striving hard enough with them. I have to get hot and bothered.
Today we were almost all late, because, I can't get psyched up to do what I have to do.
Wake up! Smell the coffee and clean up and get to work! Everybody made it to school, but just by the skin of our teeth.

Daddy loves Emily!

Today we took Emily to the SAT's. A day that I have dreamed about since she was born. Somehow it has lost its significance over the years. As giftedness proved in other areas predominantly, I have lessened my insistence that my children would strive to a perfect score on the SAT's. Not part of their plans, for sure. It seemed that I was kicking against the pricks on that goal. I am glad to have woken up to get her to the SAT's.
Ben was her compatriot on this day. I was there but not with bells on. We are part of the "regular joe" group. Not kicking any "buts" in the academic dept. Thats okay and we are still striving. God made my children with artistic talents and I can accept that now. I will continue to fight with the sinews of mental ability that they do have, but I am not going to kill myself drilling and drumming against their and their father's will. I would've dropped her off and sulked at my ineptitude in parenting not to have redeemed the time better. Not my husband, he is proud to be the father of a beautiful and loving family. This is so much better of a perspective. He walked her in there and represented, just like with Elyse.
I am the father of this beautiful and capable young woman. That is why they are so confident. They are accepted, with or without a perfect score on the SAT's. Beyond my imagination of love.
The only love that I can visualize is a love that disdains ineptitude. Striving is far more accomplishing and accomplished when acceptance is understood!
Halleluia, what a Savior.