This Week, I've Found Myself Thinking...

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’ve been feeling an itch to blog about it - or at least to blog about what I've been thinking about in this week leading up to it.

Last year, I took a lighter, yet darker, more chocolate approach to the day and wrote Valentine's Day.

But this year - this week - I’m feeling a little more thoughtful. And, slightly all over the map. I've felt a little nostalgic, a little weak, a little (a lot) thankful, a little prayerful, a little serious, a little Snoopy.

Hold on. I'll show you what I mean.

This week, I’ve found myself thinking about Valentine’s Days past. 

When we were homeschooling, we threw some fun Valentine’s Day parties for the girls. We planned and decorated and celebrated and always bought a big balloon.

I’m sure those were some slightly stressful “how am I going to get it all done” days, but I don’t remember a bit of that. I just look at these pictures and remember perfection. Isn’t that what we do? Why do we do that? Is it because we are so busy navigating today’s “hard," that yesterdays all seem relatively easy? That selective memory gig is so interesting.

This week, I’ve found myself thinking about my Mom. 

Mom died 7 months ago on July 13, 2014. She was 88 and sick and tired, and tired of being sick and tired. She was ready. Knowing that gave (and gives) great comfort, but for some reason, especially yesterday, I missed my mother. I wanted to talk to her. I missed her voice. I replayed a couple of voicemails that I've kept on my phone where she asked me to pick up some juice for her at the grocery store. "It's real good juice, not watered down like some of them..."

It’s good to have loved someone so much that you miss them, isn’t it?

This week, I’ve found myself thinking about my Lou. 

He’s a good man. A really good man. He loves the Lord and me and our crew so well. 

1987 - I've always liked this pic of us

A few completely random things about him that make me smile are:

His voice.

How much he loves tennis.

His knowledge and love of cars.

How he loves technology and all it does for us.

How he can't stand still.

His love of bike riding.

His cooking!

How much his patients love him. When they tell me they love him, I think I'm pretty clever when I come back with, "I do too!!" 

This week, I found myself thinking about my kids.

This week, I found myself praying for my kids.

How I love our crew. Five of the six are scattered to the four winds, but all are in the thick of figuring out what is what, and where they want to be, and how to do what they want to do, and can they really even do what they think they want to do? God has gifted each one of them so uniquely, and I long for them to know how to be and what to do with the gifts given to them. Even more, I pray that they know the Giver of the gifts and love Him with all their heart, and soul, and mind.

The almost ready pic

This week, I've found myself thinking about Kara Tippetts.  

Her blog, Mundane Faithfulness, is chronicling her journey from life to death, which is more imminent for her than most of us think is imminent for us, as she is on hospice care. I first became aware of Kara back in October 2014 when I read this post she wrote on Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience. I am drawn to Kara's beautiful faith-filled life. I want to love and trust my Jesus like she does when the suffering coming my way comes. We are told in John 16:33 

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

Suffering - tribulation - and death are coming to all of us eventually. I don't know if we are ever ready for it. The coming of most of the really hard things that I've gone through have completely blind-sided me. But so far, in these 53 years God has given me to live, He has been faithful in and through the tough times. He has helped. He has loved. God has given the strength and hope needed. He has kept His word.

That's heavy stuff, and I know sometimes our tendency is to shy away from heavy stuff. It's not fun. If fun is our goal, we are going to have a life time of fake. It's only in really dealing with and thinking through the heavy stuff of life and death can we be authentic and have the joy, peace and stamina to live out each day. We lean hard into the truths of God's word knowing He will give all of Him and the truth and the hope and the joy that is promised. When we do that, we will have all that we need for a real, authentic, joy filled life. The weight and wonder of it all astounds me sometimes.

This week I've found myself thinking about how I procrastinate.

How can I ever procrastinate after writing the previous paragraphs? I'm ridiculous. Aren't you glad God's love and faithfulness is rock solid through all our ridiculousness?

I still haven't bought my Lou's Valentine's Day card (or gift). I think I put a little pressure on myself to outdo all other Valentine's Days to date. Good grief. Just stop.

This does, however, take me back to some previous Valentine's from my Lou that I've kept. I really liked Lou's Snoopy phase...

I'm seriously impressed that you've hung with me through all these meanderings. Well done. Here's some parting Snoopy wisdom - not from my stash of Lou cards, but from the internet after I googled, "Snoopy wisdom."

Many, many blessings to you as you love on those nearest and dearest to you.

Waxing Poetic for Valentine's

Valentine's Day

There is an art to this day of the heart

When paper and pen often meet,

When lovers extol from the depths of their soul

And there's chocolate, yes chocolate, to eat!

There is real reason for red rose season

When florists stand hours on their feet

When ribbons are tied and no flowers have died

And there's chocolate, sweet chocolate, to eat.

There is some sadness around the love madness

When a card or a kiss would be neat,

When they are a-lacking, the heart starts a-cracking, 

But there's chocolate, dear chocolate, to eat.

There is a healing at a wrapper now peeling,

When it's off, then your heart skips a beat

When you take that first bite, Oh! such delight,

There's chocolate, my chocolate, to eat.

There is a word that by needs must be heard

When the day is finally complete

When those happy or sad, stay seriously glad

Because there's chocolate, pure chocolate, to eat!

InstaFriday - InstaJanuary

Was my last InstaFriday really at the end of November 2012?

Yes, it was. But I'm ready to rock a few cell phone pictures from the first month of 2013.

We began this year by winging our way to the great Northwest. Our initial motivation for heading that way was the marriage of the son of dear, dear friends. A major fringe benefit to the location of that wedding was the fact that my brother lives in that same area! So to Seattle and Portland we went!

Departing at 6:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, we were at the airport by 5 a.m. (*yawn*). We were a force at the ticket counter.

The personal screens on the seat backs of our plane out of KC kept the girls entertained hypnotized all the way to Seattle. This shot is almost a little too "Wall-E" for me.

Once there, the phone commandeering began. Elizabeth and Mary Grace were joined by cousin Savannah.

My brother showed us one of his favorite sights in the area, Chambers Bay Golf Course, which will host the 2015 U.S. Open. See that tree in the distance? The only one on this links course.

We also hit the very first Starbucks. They are a well oiled machine at that place, moving the hoards of people in and out in record time. It's actually nothing like any Starbucks you go to anywhere else. It's a narrow warehouse type space with no chairs and tables. But it is, of course, very cool.

After a couple of days in Seattle, we made the 2 hour drive south to the Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR, area. My very generous brother let us borrow 2 of his cars. I followed and Lou led. This was my view the entire time we were there.

I let Lou drive Keith's BMW - and yes, it rained a lot.

While in Portland, we took in some of the local sites.

But our main focus in the Portland area was our friend's wedding. We've been friends with Sky and Louise Forrister since the summer of 1987. Stuart, their first born, was born 4 months after Luke, which means they've been friends their entire lives also. It was very cool that Stuart asked Luke to stand up with him as he married his beautiful Tirzah.

We flew home the day after the wedding and because our flight was delayed out of Seattle, we wandered around that airport. If you're stuck in an airport, it's a good one to be stuck in. It has some fun stores...

interesting and unusual products on sale...

This kind of made me sad

and a free touch screen football throwing game thing on a wall.

We pulled in to our driveway on January 6, and because our two college kids had a couple of weeks before they reported back to class, our "parking lot" was full most days.

Kids' cars + friends' cars

But now, the 3 older kiddos are back in Fayetteville, and we had a week of "normal" before I hit the road again. Lou and I managed to squeeze a walk in on a cold but decent day. Remember, there's no bad weather, just bad gear.

Lou's first selfie

A week ago today, I drove these two lovelies to Little Rock, AR, for a soccer showcase.

Grace vanHoornbeek and Mary Grace 

On the way home, and sporting their YOLO shirts, I made them pose once again. They had a little fun and face juggled that picture. Those juggles are so funny but so strange... Who thinks of these apps?

Home from that trip, we've made a little time to craft. I saw a heart wreath made of Pom-Poms on Pinterest. Making pom-poms is fun and easy!

And, I've happily and successfully de-cluttered 40+ items this week. Old (with whiskers) magazines made up the lion's share of this week's group of exiting items. Good-bye and good riddance!

On Wednesday, before the cold weather and cold wind hit, Lou and I peddled a few miles. So much fun.

And lastly, I'm including a recipe that I took a picture of and sent to a friend. She called because she had misplaced her recipe and was having a molasses cookie emergency!

You want this recipe.

Lou's former nurse, Jamie Campbell, used to make these and Lou would come home raving. Now I have to make myself make another kind of cookie because the only kind I ever want to make is molasses - and that praise from a major chocoholic!  I always make a double batch. They freeze great!

Before I end this and make a batch of cookies myself, :) I want to share a verse that I've committed to memory this first month of this new year. It has spoken to me and reminded me of rock solid truth. It's Joshua 1:9.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Blessings!

Feeling Loved

After finding this Valentine on the table where I read every morning,

I love my Lou

I opened up this Valentine

Journaling Bible

and read in the book of Matthew, chapter 28.

I read it all, but it was in verses 16-17 that God spoke to me today.


[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
(Matthew 28:16-17 ESV)


Here we have the 11 people in the world who knew Jesus best. They had seen countless miracles and had rubbed elbows with the Son of God for 3 years. Now, they are seeing the resurrected Jesus (I can't even wrap my mind around that!) and appropriately, they worshiped him. And then Matthew tells us, "but some doubted."

I don't think I had ever noticed those words before. I'm so glad God inspired Matthew to put those words in there. Because every once in a while, I forget that the disciples, and everybody else mentioned in the Bible, is just like me - a regular human who has doubts and fears that rear their head at the most inopportune moments.

This wasn't the first time the disciples had seen the risen-from-the-dead Jesus. And they were on a mountain. If there's anywhere on the planet that I feel like my faith tends to soar, it's on top of a mountain. But some doubted. And sometimes, I doubt.

I've actually had a couple of times in the past weeks where I've found myself thinking, "All this I've learned about God and Jesus is just so fantastic!" Now, I mean fantastic in the "imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality" kind of fantastic. These kind of thoughts always jar me. How can I have been a Christian for so long, and still have those thoughts ever run through my mind?"


I worked through those fantastic moments by leaning harder into God. By reading His Word (I tend to go to the book of John - either chapter 1 or 14) and asking Him to please show Himself to me anew. He has been faithful to answer that plea.

Then this morning, I felt an extra little loving from my Lord when I read those words in Matt 28:17. He reminded me that I am not alone. I'm not first who's ever doubted and I won't be the last. And it's probably not the last time I'll ever do some doubting.


Thankfully, it's not the last time He'll reassure me and quiet my soul either. In fact, He made a huge promise at the end of chapter 28 that I'm taking to the bank. He said,

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He said that to those doubting men, and he's saying it to me.

That'll leave a girl feeling loved.

Newton, Hitch and Kissing

Tuesday, at Classical Conversations, 10 year old Will vanHoornbeek's presentation was on Sir Isaac Newton. He did a great job describing the high points of Newton's life and then ending with some of his famous quotes. I liked it so much I asked to see his notes when he was done because I wanted to copy down the quotes he shared with us.

And then somewhere in the midst of listening to him, something in my mind was triggered (snapped?). I thought of the scene in the movie "Hitch," where Hitch is teaching Albert how to kiss Allegra Cole goodnight.  (The scene is on you-tube and is absolutely hilarious, if you're interested).  Hitch describes the 90-10 rule which says the following.

Guys, when you are giving the girl of your dreams that first kiss, go only 90% of the way toward her.  She is to come the other 10%.


Well, if I'm hearing "Newton describes the attractive force between all objects that possess mass," and it's getting close to Valentine's Day, why wouldn't I jump to a scene like I've just described in Hitch? You have an attractive force between two objects that possess mass.  How all these thoughts cavort around and make these kind of connections is fascinating to me.

Sir Isaac Newton

My thoughts then took a jump into my attempts at poetry. I immediately thought of a couple of lines connecting Newton and Hitch.  My grandfather enjoyed writing poems and for me, the challenge of writing poems is, believe it or not, fun. It makes me smile. Hopefully, they'll make you smile a bit, too.

How a Kiss is Caught

Mr. Newton talked about bodies with mass

And the pull that draws them close.

This made me think of the movie, "Hitch"

And also prompted this post.

Hitch advised men 'bout the ladies,

And the delicate dance we do

He gave some tips both bold and coy

That help men in their quest to be two.

He must have studied his science well

Especially what Newton had taught.

It spawned a core belief of his

Of how a kiss is caught.

"Bodies with mass pull on each other,

So guys, get close to her face.

But just go 90% of the way,

She'll fill the rest of that space.

That girl will start to feel your tug

She's drawn like a moth to a flame.

She'll come that needed 10%,

It's Sir Isaac we have to blame!

She'll close the gap, and then you'll know,

She really wants that touch,

It could be the beginning of something new,

And then, no more 'going dutch!'"

Hitch really owes Sir Isaac a lot,

Since this law was his bread and butter.

The 90-10 rule, when put into practice,

Caused many a heart to flutter.

So who would have thought it?

Gravity and love - is this a new warp and woof?

I bet if you asked Newton or Hitch

They'd say, "Yes- and the kiss is proof.