26 Year History

This time 26 years ago, I was not blogging. I was in the throes of childbirth. My first child was about to make his entrance into this world - my world.

My dad had told me on my wedding day that there were two days when "your life changes just like that!" And he snapped his fingers. One is when you get married, and the other is when you have a baby.

That second milestone came to pass on July 24, 1989 at 2:17 am when Luke's little lungs (or big lungs - he weighed 9 lbs 9.5 oz) moved his chest up and down for the first time.

That boy.

What a beautiful, rich, challenging gift he was...and is! Aren't all children that? We can't possibly know what we are getting ourselves into - especially with our first one. Sometimes it blows me away to remember that God had him to be born at this time in this place. That's not small.

It certainly hasn't been in my life.

Through the years, we've enjoyed many activities together. There's nothing like long history with someone, is there? We enjoy many of the same things - sports, hiking, reading, peaches, music, carrot cake, and long discussions over deep topics - to name a few.

And, we both like to write.

He probably likes Legos more than me

The love of writing is a relatively new discovery for me, but not for him. He's been writing since Primary school - as these examples can attest. The spelling struggle was real on this poem, so below, I've typed it out.

Winter mostly cold. 

The snow is white as sheep's wool. 

The trees are brown as a bear. 

It sometimes makes you wonder, is there magic in the air?

Because I sometime wonder about those things.

Don't you?

I love that one so much.

And this Super Bowl one? Clever. To say Luke lived and breathed sports growing up is an understatement, so he would write about them often. The Night Before Christmas had just the right rhythm to parody, too.

While Luke praised John Elway in the previous one, Dennis Rodman didn't fare so well in my eldest's

"If I Were in Charge of the World."

Those were a long time ago, and I had a blast digging through old stuff to find them.

Since those days - and college days - Luke has flipped around a bit, as we all do. He's figuring out who he is and what his place is in this world.

Currently, he's living on the West Coast, and, among other things, he is still doing some writing.

A few weeks ago, he posted this on Instagram.

That one made me stop and think; something all writers hope their writing does to people. And, because I liked it so much, it also prompted me to text him and encourage him to keep writing. #moreplease

And, milestones - like birthdays - prompt us to reflect on the life we've lived and who we've been blessed to live it with.

I've been blessed to live mine with our Luke.
I love him. Always and forever, no matter what.
I am thankful for our 26 year history.

1990

2013

What Can Happen in a Second

At Christmas, I was given this delightful gift by our Faith.

Thank you, Faith

The first page of such a potentially daunting book looks like this.

I figure the top left corner is a good place to start.

What Can Happen in a Second?

The very first thing that came to mind was that hard day in July of 2012 when my Lou took a tumble on his bike and ended up in the hospital for 6 days. Then I decided that his accident actually occurred over a span of a few seconds, which could possibly be more accurately described as an "instant." Since I felt the question at hand was supposed to be taken literally, I had to (momentarily) disqualify what has affectionally become known as "the wreck."

Going the strictly literal route, I came up with:

a blink.
a thought.
a word. Unless it's a word like "hypervitaminosis," which takes about 1.28 seconds to say. (Yes, I timed myself saying it.)
a cough. The dainty kind, not the hacking, convulsing kind.

There's 4, but as I was going down this literal route, I veered off course pretty quickly, and ended up settling on really the one thing that happens in a second - every single second - LIFE.

That's what life is made of - seconds. Seconds that turn into minutes that turn into hours that turn into
days that turn into years that pass quickly and before you know it, you've lived a life! I could hardly type that sentence fast enough! The urgency I felt at using my time wisely and getting that thought out was slightly intense. My life is passing!!

Of course, we can't live in that urgent, panicked state - talk about a joyless, frantic existence - no, thank you. But we are admonished by our wise, good Creator to consider how we live.

Psalm 90:12 

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

James 4:13-14 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes...

Those are thoughtful, serious words, but they are not joyless words.

They tell us the score. It's only when we know the truth about something - that our time indeed is limited and precious and not to be squandered - can we think about it seriously and make sure we are using the seconds we are given well.
For Truth.
For Beauty.
For Goodness.
All of which are wrapped up in knowing and being known by our gracious, sovereign God. That kind of knowing and living brings deep peace and deep joy!

That's the kind of living I want to happen in every second.

The Blister

You never know where or when you'll find inspiration.

I was in the middle of my quiet time on the porch here at KAA, when I glanced down to check on a blister I discovered last night. The first line of my little attempt at rhyming popped into my head almost immediately. The next few lines took a little more work, but messing with words, a theme, and rhyming, is really more fun than work for me.

If you've ever had a blister, maybe you can relate.

Hope it makes you smile.

THE BLISTER

I've got a blister, mister,

And that makes this clown frown.

It messes with my run, son,

So here I sit, unfit.

I see it on my toe, Joe.

It's puffy as can be. Gee!

Is to poke it with a pin sin?

What should I really do, Lou?

I am to touch it not? Boycott!

Give it time to heal? Surreal!

No promises from me, see.

It's so begging me to pop. Stop!

Blog-less but Not Lifeless

I am finally sitting in my blogging chair for the first time in almost a week. Yes, there is a preferred chair where this body sits while these fingers type the words your eyes are reading. It's just been one of those weeks - not all bad, just busy. Here's a bit of a rundown of my week since my post on November 10th.

Thursdays are special days in our lives because it is officially "Grab Grandma and Grub" day. My 85 year old mom lives alone, and, as she would say, "does amazingly well for the shape she's in." However, her driving days are done. So on Thursday, I take her to Kay's Shady Nook to get her hair done. After that, we support a local restaurant for lunch. This week, after dropping her off at 1:45ish, I took a few breaths before I hit Spoiled Salon for my 2 hour stint of coiffed care that happens every 8 weeks or so. Check. Home for a bite of supper and to say "hello!" to Hannah, who buzzed in for the weekend, and then off to our church for 3 hrs of clothes' sorting in preparation for our church's clothing drive. Home. Bed. No blogging.

Friday dawned a normal school day, and Mary Grace and I hit it hard during the morning hours. But with Hannah home, we had to do something fun too, and we spent a couple of hours after noon wandering through the Christmas open houses here in Bolivar. We then made a quick run to the store to buy tofu (a first!) for a new dessert I was trying before heading home to make supper.

Chocolate Mousse Fudge Cake: (Mousse = tofu)

Supper for 8 was served before heading to SBU's most excellent production of The Sound of Music with the entire clan. Home. Bed. No blogging. (Follow through Friday deadline missed)

Saturday brought more fun opportunities. I had signed up a couple of months back to help with the first annual Polk County K-Life Peacock Tail Trail Run at Dunnegan Park. Two of the girls had signed up to run too, so we were up and at the park by 8 a.m.

Elizabeth has trouble waking up to run a 5K...and she was cold

Mary Grace, Elizabeth, Rachel Custer

Mary Grace - definitely a 2 thumbs up kind of girl

Feeling good!

After a successful couple of hours there, we hit another open house, which served complimentary white beans and corn bread (our lunch) - before heading home. Everybody went to the big soccer game at 1 p.m. that our high school boys played in but me. I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I crashed on the couch for 20 minutes or so before I tackled mail and laundry. At 3:15, Hannah and I left for Springfield to attend the district choir concert that Faith was singing in. We were leaving Springfield by 6ish, picked up some Papa Murphy's, and back to Bolivar for dinner. I was really dragging at this point, and fell asleep in the living room by 9. So, no blogging.

Sunday, up and at 'em for Sunday School and church. El Rodeo for lunch, then home to prepare my lessons for Classical Conversations on Monday. I worked on that for a couple of hours, and then we headed to church to help put the building back in order after the clothing drive. We went straight from there to small group. From there to the grocery for Faith's birthday cake fixins, and then home for Amazing Race with family. Lou and I then readied the house for Faith's birthday. Check. Bed. No blogging.

Monday, I made Faith's favorite breakfast, biscuits and gravy, to start our day. Then, it was off to work. Monday is my day to work...outside the home, at least for a couple of hours. From 9-12, I actually attend the Foundations class of Classical Conversations of Bolivar with Mary Grace. For more insight on the Classical model of education and Classical Conversations in particular, here's a helpful link. In the afternoon, I'm the tutor for the Essentials class at CC. That time and those students are a real joy to me. And I have learned far more than I've taught.

My Essentials class from last year
Jay, Will, Grace, Mary Grace

After class, I swung by my mom's to take care of a couple of things for her, then home to warm up food for the fam before I left for a friend's birthday supper before the big Drury- SBU game. (We are celebrating Faith's birthday Thanksgiving weekend). After the SBU game, we came home to sing Happy Birthday to Faith and devour some Chocolate Eclair Cake. Luke skyped us so he could wish Faith HB face to face. Then...bed. No blogging.

Happy 17th, Faith!

Which brings us to today - Tuesday. Another full day of school, volleyball details for a club team I'm trying to help start, Bible Study with some friends, a quick stop at the grocery, home for meal prep and a couple of loads of laundry. Right after supper, at 6, Lou and I attended Faith's induction into the National Honor Society. That was a brief ceremony, so unbelievably, I have an evening to breathe, catch up, and blog!

It's really crazy how much I enjoy blogging. My kids might throw the words obsessed or addicted if they were pushed to describe me and my blog. I'm very glad that I'm sitting in my blog chair typing away. But you know what I love even more than blogging? Living life with the ones I love. And even I know that's way more important.

And so it begins...

I'm going to try my hand at blogging. I'm not convinced I have any hidden talent for writing. And I certainly realize that every thought that has caused chemicals to cross the synapses in my brain originated from someone else. Either I heard them speak (starting with my parents) or I read their words. I just have this desire to challenge myself through the creativity, discipline and joy that, I think, a blog will afford. When Eric Metaxas, author of the book, Bonhoeffer, was asked if he enjoyed writing, he answered, "I mostly enjoy having written." Writing for me is hard, hard work. But like Eric, I really enjoy having written.