Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 11:18PM Today we laughed a lot.
Laughing makes a day good.
Especially when we're laughing together.
Know what else makes a day good? Cheesepie. A big slice of chocolate chip cheesepie is a fine end to a day.
Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 12:30AM I have spent a considerable amount of time tonight looking at some old pictures of and reading one young man's words and one older gentleman's words regarding a time about which I know very little.
I highly recommend this website, though, if you have some moments to spare. Even if you don't, I think it would be worth your time to visit. History is so important. I wish I had known that when I was younger and actually supposed to be studying it. I did what I needed to do in order to pass tests, but not much truly stuck. I've learned so much teaching Michaela.
As I was looking through these old pictures from the Vietnam War, my eyes were full of tears. Knowing what little I know about my cousin's war experiences, hearing the news these days about the horrors of war and what can happen to soldiers who aren't even in combat, or to anyone, really, who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, make me so sad. And I struggle not to be so sad that I forget that beyond the sadness and the horror there is hope.
When another cousin of mine, three weeks ago, lost her youngest son in a tragic accident, I was heart-broken for her. Since then, she has shown publicly that Christ her savior is the one in whom her security lies. She has repeatedly given the Lord praise, called herself blessed, and claimed that God has given her more than she deserves. There is only one way that a person who is grieving one of the greatest losses that a person can experience is able to claim these things. When our beliefs about God and his son Jesus Christ are so deeply rooted in his word, and we can assuredly trust that what he says is true, even when our circumstances say the very opposite according to the wisdom of the world, then we can face the most difficult trials with his strength, with his hope.
I often let fear have too much power in my mind. A wild movie plays in my head sometimes; irrational thoughts turn into short films that show again and again and again. I often have to say out loud,"Stop it!" I have to remind myself of the truth:
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
What does Paul remind us of? God is for us, he graciously gives us all things, he justifies...there is no room for fear here! There is nothing, NO THING, that can break the union that we have with Jesus Christ! His list is fairly comprehensive. See if you can come up with something that isn't covered.
If we cannot be separated from the love God that he has shown us in his son, our Lord, our savior, then what have we to fear? The writer of Hebrews also encourages the church: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (10:23)
We are united to Christ in such a way that we can never be separated from him; the faithful One has promised; we have hope and profess!
Remembering the past is important so that we may not be enslaved to it. However, we must remember it along with remembering what God has done in history too. Only there will we find freedom.
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 10:09PM Today. Today was a wonderful day, now that it's over. Today was Christian's final day of school.
Final day of waking up before the crack of 8am.
Final day of driving back and forth between our house and the school four times before 3:30pm because I forgot his lunch/his red shirt/his reading log/a flower for the teacher's birthday.
Final day of realizing I did not sign his planner. Again.
Final day of asking him if he's done his homework yet. Now? Did you start it? Is it finished? YET?!
Final day of laying out his uniform and hoping that one of the outer layers that he likes to wear is clean. -ish.
At the end-of-year conference with his teacher, she told me that she didn't really have much to say because Christian is a great student, really smart, so capable...she asked if I had any concerns or anything that I wanted to talk about. The first thing I said was that we (Christian and I) had already talked about fifth grade and procrastination, with the intention of working on that. Next year.
Because honestly? This year that ship has sailed, and we not only missed the boat, we weren't even close to setting foot on it since we were running so late to get to the dock.
And I'm only being partially figurative here.
His last three projects were a book report, a 3-D animal to go along with a report he researched and prepared during school hours, and a presentation on two Native American Texan tribes.
His book report assignment was to create a new, and large, book jacket for the story he had read. This was a fun assignment, except for doing it the night before it was due. I skimmed the book as we were working on the various elements of the report (write a blurb, write a summary, include a review, write an author biography, draw an original cover design) so that I could be helpful to him as he sorted out his ideas and decided what was important to include (and in the case of the blurb, what was important to leave out). That was a late night. I also woke him up early (6:45) to finish what he wasn't able to before 11:30pm. Anytime before 7am (okay, 10am) around here isn't all that pretty. I recall that being a long day.
And I would like to say that after that we learned our lesson as the year neared its end, with two projects to go. Yet...I cannot say that with any integrity whatsoever. The 3-D animal was next: a lynx. I was all set to help him make one out of clay, which is what he told me he planned to do (clay was the same medium he used to make his animal last year). When I brought up the idea that he ought to get started on his animal (for the seventieth time), and that I would get the clay, he informed me that he was not able to use clay after all since that was what he used last year. I was so glad to get this info two days before the project was due. One day before may have done me in...but we had an entire extra day! (Look at me, looking at the silver lining!) Instead of causing a ruckus, I took a deep breath and headed to Walmart with Christian so he could help me pick out the materials he would use to create his big-headed cat.
Styrofoam and fuzzy yarn saved the day.
Our ultimate undertaking (as in last) was the Native American tribes project. He handled the written portion of the assignment quickly and quite well. Once that was done, we turned to the more difficult task: a model of the dwelling of each tribe. One would be a pueblo and the other was a kind of hut. He had the option to draw one and to make a 3-D of one, or to do a 3-D of both.
He wanted to do a 3-D of both. Of course. Figuring out the pueblo was not hard. We gathered several boxes in graduating sizes and he painted them; then they were stacked. (I cut the windows out. Box-cutters + 10-year-old boys is something I'm not ready for yet. And still...I managed to cut my own thumb...on the box. I know, I have a very special skill set.)
Mike actually prepared a better paint mixture (with real paint, not just the kids' tempera that I have for their artsy stuff) and Christian did the top smaller boxes in that paint, which was a lighter color. We were all pleased with how it turned out.
The hut, however, presented some problems. Our materials consisted of the following: real sticks from outside, poster board, glue, pieces of felt, cut up hoodies, and twine. We fooled with it until late into the night, and it still looked like a drunk teepee; finally Christian had to go to bed. Mike then took the hut to task, gave it a good talking to, and used hangers to cajole it into submission. Gorilla tape also ensured a hut that kept its shape. (I'm pretty sure the actual Native Americans did not have Gorilla tape, but to be fair, we didn't have willow trees, only oak; they're nowhere near as bendy. We have to call it even, I think.) In the end it looked impressive. This was definitely a family effort.
This last week consisted of a Memorial Day holiday, one full day of school (or at least one day of being at school for seven hours), and two mornings. Field Day was canceled because the weather yesterday saturated the park ground across the street, so one of the parents of a student offered to have a pool party and lunch at his house. (What a treat! This was actually the second day in a row the class got to do this at a friend's house!)
And now, after a school year that seems like it just started yesterday, and at the same time like it would never come to an end, we are done with fourth grade. Christian is a fifth-grader.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 11:28PM Well. This morning I took Christian to school, came home and ironed clothes for Mike (he then left for Christian's class' program at school), got Eliana and myself ready, and headed back to the school a few minutes late for the program. After the program, I took Christian and his friend to another student's house for a pool party and lunch. I drove home to get Michaela and work on a passport project (oh, you just wait for that story...it's still unfolding). What seemed like mere minutes later, I drove back over to pick up Christian and his friend in order to take his buddy home and then drive back to our house.
It quickly came to light that there was poop on a shoe. In my car.
Sigh.
A snake in the sink.
A roach on the rug.
Crap in the car.
Alliteration alleviates angst.
I asked Michaela if she were me, and all of this happened in the span of a few days, what would she think God was trying to tell her. She thought a second and then said,"I would think he was telling me that being a germaphobe is pointless."
Pointless? It may be so. I wish I did not feel so powerless to change it. I know the fault lies in my feeling. Stupid feeling.
At any rate, we put a towel down in front of the bathroom door to keep the snake from getting out of there, and I put a towel down in the car to cover the poo until I can clean it well. Towels seem to be part of the answer. Towels and alliteration...I'm so glad it's just that simple.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 10:46PM If I were to say,"Baseball!" I bet the next thing to come to your mind would be...bagpipes!
No? Am I wrong on that one?
Tonight while Michaela and Christian were on their respective ball fields (one for practice and one for a game), a woman showed up at the same park and began playing on her bagpipes.
It was a strange moment. I felt like I was in The Sandlot, yet also the Scottish Highlands.
Apparently, Christian has some Scottish step dancing blood in him, as evidenced on the video that I took while he was on the field. He could not. keep. from. dancing. The rhythm? It got him. Again and again and again. He took the modern liberty to throw in some not-so-traditionally Scottish moves as well, like the break dance move the arm wave. It looked to me as though there was a bit of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy too.
Aside from all the dancing, he played a great game. He had an unassisted double play, in which he caught a line drive and then tagged the kid on second out because that runner had advanced on a ball that never touched the ground. I have to tell you, it was fun to watch. The whole game was fun, though. It looked a lot like a real baseball game. The kids were making decent pitches, getting some hits, making defensive plays, working as a team. In the final inning, it was 0-0. Our team had one last chance to bat, and the first two guys got on base. The next batter struck out. Then the guy who followed him made solid contact, but the runner who was headed home was out at the plate. Christian went to bat after that.
He took several balls, and then the coach got to pitch two pitches. I think he had one swinging strike and then fouled one off. Then he hit a scorcher up the middle for an RBI! It was so exciting!
What a night! A double play! A clutch game-winning hit! The mournful echo of bagpipes on a breezy spring evening! Who could ask for more, really?