A Little Ditty...

What to write I do not know.
I will make an effort, though.
Today was Friday all day long...
coloring, playing, singing songs.
We went for a walk down our street;
a cat and a dog we did happily greet.
Later on we were off to ballet;
unimpressed Will just wanted to play.
At last we are home, the kids tucked in their beds
while visions of leaping girls dance in their heads.
Tomorrow the sun will rise once again;
we will all get up, get dressed, and then...

Anna's Spectacular Tea Party

On Saturday afternoon we welcomed friends and family to our home for Anna's long-awaited Spectacular Tea Party. The ladies wore dresses, while most of the gentlemen chose their best football attire for the occasion (given that the Georgia game inconveniently coincided with our tea party). We feasted on an array of goodies... from pimento cheese sandwiches to muffins to chips and dip. For the traditionalists out there I regret to say there was no hot tea to be found in our midst. Instead our party enjoyed the choice of sweet tea, water, juice, or soda. It was an entirely pleasant way to pass the afternoon, though I fear Lucy and Dixie (our furry friends) would disagree as they were exiled from the event. Anna had a wonderful time, and turned out to be a pretty good little hostess, welcoming our guests and showing them the food, etc. One happy little girl = one successful tea party! Cheers!

The Hardest Good-bye

Today I learned that the father of one of my old friends lost his battle with cancer. My heart is heavy for the family's loss. As Christians, we have the hope of a future heavenly reunion, but still, death is hard. Hard because it is so final, complete, irreversible, and utterly unavoidable. ("Love's as strong as death, my love, unyielding as the grave."**) It is the terminal diagnosis for all humankind; so why do we resist it, deny it, ignore it? Fear perhaps. (Though perfect love drives out fear.) And maybe because deep down we know it is somehow unnatural. After all, we were created for life.

It is our love for others that makes death hard. It is God's love for us that makes it a bit easier to deal with. His love that conquered death, that brings us to new and everlasting life, that promises a future joy beyond imagination. In Christ we have a hope and a future. Praise God.

May the strong love of God enfold you, my friend, and keep you through this darkness.



**Rich Mullins "Canticle of the Plains"

Giving Thanks

In preparation for Thanksgiving, I give thanks...
for crunchy, sweet-smelling November leaves;
for happy do-it-again giggles;
for wiggly dogs who are always happy to see me;
for Anna's spontaneous pink tea parties;
for shouts of "boat" every time Will sees one;
for a cozy home and good food to fill our bellies and jobs to pay for it all;
for hugs and kisses and snuggles;
for Jon, my love, who helps me dream and makes me laugh;
for loving parents and in-laws and out-laws;
for this great country - "amber waves of grain" and "purple mountain majesties";
for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness";
for a gracious God from whom every good thing comes, who pursues us tirelessly, blesses abundantly, and draws us mercifully to Himself.
His faithfulness is never-ending. Amen.

Into the Forest

Today I took Anna and Will to my parents' house for the morning and lunch. They live almost an hour away, and we hadn't been there in a while (they usually come visit us). Anna was especially looking forward to going for a walk in "the forest" - not the woods, but "the forest", which apparently is a special, enchanted place... located behind my parents' house. So after lunch, my dad, the kids, and I ventured forth into the forest for an adventure. What kid doesn't love tromping through leaves and pine straw, crunching on sticks, and climbing up and down little hills? We had a grand time! My dad was in charge of our expedition, and made sure we stopped to look and listen for wild turkeys, deer, etc at appropriate intervals (we heard something, but didn't see anything today). It was so neat for me to see him teaching Anna and Will about trees and animals and nature. It reminded me how he and my mom instilled a love of nature in me as a kid... going for walks, hikes, camping, fishing, to the beach and the mountains, etc. They taught me how to look and listen deeply, to value all living things, to treasure the beauty all around. What a wonderful gift that hopefully we can pass on to Anna and Will. It's funny how parenting Anna and Will can cause me to reflect on my own childhood.

Will at Bedtime

It's almost 9:30 pm and Will is singing in his crib. He's been in there for about an hour. Occasionally he will say "uh-oh," which probably means either his pajama leg has been pushed up or he threw one (or more) of his stuffed animals out of the crib.

Will is a fun little guy. He loves trucks; even better than trucks are planes and helicopters; better than that are boats; and the best of all are trains! "Choo-choo" he says in a high-pitched imitation. I took Will to Target with me the other day to shop for Christmas presents, and he found this ride-on Winnie the Pooh train that makes train sounds and has things that pop up and such. It was high on a shelf where he couldn't reach, but he saw it and started doing his happy dance and pointing and carrying on. So I pulled it down and set it on the floor, and he played with it so well that I was able to look at everything in that section uninterrupted. And yes, I bought him the train for Christmas. (That's the beauty of this age - 21 months - you can put the toy right in the cart, pay for it, load it into the minivan with him right there, and he doesn't even realize you have it! He'll still be surprised! Anna has even told him he's getting a train for Christmas, and he has no idea what she's talking about! Anna, on the other hand, being almost 4, is trouble, and will not be included in any more Christmas secrets for quite some time I'm sure!)

Jon just put Anna to bed (we take turns), and Will has quieted down. The two share a room, and I think Will likes to wait up for Anna to go to bed. All is peaceful now. Good night!

Disney Princesses on Ice

Yesterday, Anna and I ventured forth into the world of Disney... Princesses on Ice. It is a rather expensive world, a true money machine in fact! The show was a beautiful display of talent and creativity with the skating, costumes, scenery, music, and theatrics. Anna enjoyed seeing all of her favorite princesses. But in the midst of it all, I couldn't help feeling like it was a bit of a racket... the $15 program (with complimentary plastic rose), $5 coloring book, $8 lemonade in a sports bottle that leaked when we tried to drink out of it, $12 plastic Ariel doll. We bypassed the $10 snow cone in a Cinderella mug, stuffed toys, magic wands, twirly light-up thingamabobs, etc. During intermission, Mousekepeddlers were happy to bring $10 cotton candy (with complimentary plastic crown) to your seat in case you were trying to hang on to a bit of your cash. I could almost hear the money being sucked out of the wallets of kind-hearted parents and grandparents, trying to give their special little ones a memorable experience. After the show, the mom sitting behind me asked if there was a big plastic straw under my seat. As I gave her the pink straw, she said, "I paid $2 for that piece of plastic and I'm taking it with me!"

So what's the point? I don't know. As I said, it was a great show and a special occasion - not something we do frequently. And prices reflect supply and demand... we all had the choice not to buy souvenirs. But Disney also had a captive audience as it were, with the forces of children's capricious desires and parents' goodwill toward their children conspiring on Disney's behalf. Somehow it just didn't seem quite fair.

Happy Halloween / Reformation Day!

We had a great Halloween. Anna was Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and Will was a farmer. We carved a pumpkin, and went to the Pumpkin Patch Party at Savannah Christian Church and had a fun time. Will caught on to the whole candy thing real quick!

Halloween is also Reformation Day, which you might not be aware of if you're not in the Lutheran church, though it really impacts all Christians. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. He did it to open up a discussion of abuses in the Catholic Church (the only church at the time) - mainly the selling of indulgences. If you had the money, you could buy an indulgence, basically a piece of paper saying your sins were forgiven and you could get out of Purgatory. You could buy your indulgence and then sin away with no worry (like a "get out of jail free" card or a carbon credit)! The church used indulgences to create fear and thus raise money, but they also cheapened the gospel by implying that Jesus was not sufficient for salvation.

Martin Luther was radical in that he actually read and studied the Scriptures for himself (highly uncommon at the time), and found not a God of fear and manipulation, but a God of love and grace, mercy and forgiveness. He put his life on the line to get that message out to the people. He wrote extensively in German, and had the benefit of the new printing press so "common" folk could understand, too. Luther believed the Bible should be translated into the language of the people (a heresy to the all-Latin Catholic church who did not trust ordinary people to understand it), and he completed a German translation. Fully aware of his failings and sinful nature, Luther resisted that anyone should follow him, only wanting them to follow Christ. He was a man of passion, unyielding in his convictions. When pressed by the Church to recant his teachings or face excommunication or worse he said, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God... Here I stand; I can do no other."

Everyone who is a Christian has a lot to thank Luther for. He paved the way for our religious freedoms. He did not set out to break away from the church, but to reform it from within. But the church would have none of that - there was too much power and money and politics at stake. Still, Martin Luther insisted that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and had the courage to stand. We have the message of hope, the Bible in a language we can understand, freedom from oppression and manipulation by church hierarchy - thanks to God's work through Martin Luther. Happy Reformation Day!

PS - There's a good movie on video/DVD called "Luther" if you'd like to see his story.