Posts Categorized: Joy

Being at Target–More Than Just Shopping

| Joy, Love

I was shopping at Target. (Truth is, I’m often shopping at Target. It’s close to where I live, I like shopping there, and they have spacious self-checkout areas, so I can scan and bag my own items, in my own bags, which makes me feel like I’m doing a favor to the world by not using plastic bags that will end up in the landfill.)

While I was shopping, I was also talking with JoAnne, my sister, because she and my niece are coming to visit us. I was asking what they might like to eat and snack on while they’re at my house. Meanwhile, she was visiting five of her grandchildren, so there was a lot going on. I’d been by the pharmacy and learned that they would fulfill my prescription, but they were about to go on their lunch break (and they just close down the pharmacy during their lunch hour), so it would be an hour before I could get my prescription. I relayed that situation to my sister, and she was sorry that I’d be walking around Target for an hour. But, her grandchildren had an idea. I should take a scavenger hunt around Target while I was waiting.

They made a list:

Target Scavenger Hunt (I found this hard to read, so I thought maybe I should type up the list):

Something red

Pencil box

Clearance item

Hearth & Home item (from the Magnolia collection)

Bubble Blower

Pair of Men’s Socks (the weirder the better)

Nerf gun (Paxton’s suggedstion)

New shoes (Bellamie’s suggestion)

Saw (Reuben’s suggestion)

Police car (Sylas’ suggestion)

Knife (I could choose)

Lawn mower

Frosted sugar cookies (Suggestion from Natalie, JoAnne’s adult daughter)

and nothing from Ozero, who had to leave because he was throwing up from the July 4th fun at his other grandmother’s house.

So off I went, glad to have something interesting to do.

 

No lawn mower, neither real nor toy. And,  by the time I’d found everything that I could find, the pharmacy folks had finished their lunch and were back in business, and I was able to go to get my prescription. I showed all my successes (with photos) to JoAnne and the grandchildren, and sadly relayed the fact that my Target does not carry lawn mowers, for kids or adults.

 

Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

 Ephesians 4:15, 16 (Good News Translation)

 

I’m charmed by this plan where all the kids participated, working together, and giving me something very interesting to do while waiting for the pharmacy to reopen.

Gimpy Knee

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

I heard the word “gimpy” from my paternal grandmother. She had a “gimpy” knee. I wasn’t sure about the definition, so I looked it up and, yes, for sure, it’s a real word, and given the definition, she was using it exactly right. And, now, she has apparently handed down to me:

A gimpy knee.

A couple of Sundays ago, I woke up with a very painful right knee. Every step (well, every other step) was painful. We were supposed to be attending church with the congregation that sits catty-cornerned with our church. After worship service, there was a cookout at the park that’s between our two churches. So, quite a bit of walking around. David felt like that might be much more walking that I seemed able to do. So, I stayed home. Then, later that afternoon, after the knee wasn’t one little bit better, I went to the pharmacy close to our house to purchase a knee brace. I didn’t know how to choose a helpful knee brace, and there were several choices.

 

This is the one I chose at Walgreen’s.

It fits snugly, but not too tight.

 

It was comfortable to wear, at night and also during the day.

And, some of my dresses are long enough that the Knee Sleeve didn’t even show when I was walking around (which really wasn’t an issue, as I didn’t care if it showed).

After one full day of walking around the house and walking around doing errands (while wearing the Knee Sleeve), the knee was much, much better, and I felt like there might not be any surgery in my future.

Now, I’m back to doing yard work ‘most every day. I’m also doing house work, which is nowhere near as interesting and satisfying as working in the yard. And the yard work might be over soon, as the summer temperatures are inching up, and up, and up.

I’m walking well and am pain-free, even without the Knee Sleeve. But, I’m certainly not getting rid of it.

 

 Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;

Isaiah 35:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Last Time

| Joy, Patience

I was listening to the song “One Last Time” from the musical “Hamilton,” sort of for inspiration, but it just made me weepy, and that was already happening.

For several years, I’ve been a reading volunteer at the elementary school close to our church. People at local churches around Waco go to nearby schools and spend the lunchtime half hour listening to kids read. Half an hour is something of a squeeze when a kid has to walk to the cafeteria, get their lunch, go to the library, eat their lunch, and then read aloud.

I started reading with one girl when she was a first-grader, and I’ve been reading with her ever since. We did have that pandemic interruption, but this year, volunteers were able to get back into schools. There are books in the counselor’s office for us to use. For many of the volunteers, there are groups of two or three or four kids. That means that one kid can be reading while the others are eating, and they can take turns. For me, because one kid left the school after the first year we were reading together, and then, when kids were back at school, only one of my group was still with me. She’s a fifth grader now.

After I’d been back at school for a couple of weeks, I was heading to the cafeteria to meet her there, and another girl who was in line with her class as they were leaving the cafeteria, stopped me and said, “Hi. You were reading with me. Remember?”

I did remember. And I thought she must have been held back, because she’d been with the group I’d had at the beginning.

I checked with the guy who’s in charge of the program. I asked if anyone was reading with her, now, and he said not, so I said I’d like to start reading with her, too. We got that going, so that meant I read with the Fourth grader first, and then with the Fifth grader.

When I laid out several books, really easy books, for the younger girl, she was interested in Rosa Parks. The next day, I visited all the Waco libraries, and checked out all the easy Rosa Parks book. We read those for several weeks. She also liked Pete the Cat books, so I visited the libraries again, and picked up the easiest versions of those Pete books. Again, with thirty minutes of time, and some of it for eating, we might only get a few pages read. I said that I could keep the books for three weeks, then, I would need to renew them for three more weeks, but then I’d have to turn them back in to the library. We’d only get a few pages read each week. Eventually, the books would have to go back. But, the next time we were reading, I’d brought back the Pete book that we hadn’t finished. She asked me how did I still have the book, since I’d already renewed it once. And I said, “When I told the librarian how much you liked the book and were sad that we had to turn it in, she said that she would renew it one more time for you.”She asked me why the librarian did that, and I said I told the librarian that you really enjoyed the book! Librarians are happy when kids read books.That very last day of Reading Club, she read, with only a little bit of help, an entire Pete book.

 

 

The very first day that we started Book Club again, back in the fall, the Fifth Grader went with me into the room where the books are kept. She picked up a book about Michael Jordan. It was a picture book about him as a kid, wanting to play basketball like his older brothers. We read that one, easily in a couple of sessions. Then, there was another picture book about Pele. We read that one. And, she was interested in sports figures, but there weren’t any, beyond those two books, which were really for younger readers, anyway. So, I visited Barnes and Noble and found this series of books.

I bought a several of them, and she read the ones about Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And it really did take almost the whole school year, since she was the only one reading each Wednesday at lunch time, and she had to eat lunch before she started reading.

 

 

As part of the Reading Club program, at the end of the year, the Reading Club kids get a book to take home to keep. The program has a number of books that are available for us to choose from, and we can give each child we read with a new book they can take home to keep. Or, we can purchase a book to give. On that last day, we were having our last lunch together, and I said that she could choose two books to take home to keep. I had purchased additional books (beyond those sports figures that she likes), and I put them out for her to choose. She immediately put her hands down on (and I am not making this up) Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good choices, girl.

 

 

 

We are not supposed to take photographs of our kids. That’s a privacy issue, even if I promise to not show anyone a photo that I might take. But, ‘way back when they were second graders, I did actually take some photos, and here they are for you to see, also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” After laying hands on them, he left.

Matthew 19:14 (The Message Translation)

 

 

If I Spent More Time Talking to People . . .

| Faithfulness, Joy

I’d most likely discover several intersections between us. Like this one:

I had a ophthalmologist’s appointment Thursday morning. Things weren’t very busy, and I spent some time chatting with my doctor. We talked about what his kids are doing and how the youngest of the clan is finishing up his last year of college and will be going to work with an important Wall Street business. Right now, he’s sharing a nice apartment with two other friends, right on the western edge of Central Park in New York.

I think that Dad’s maybe a little worried about some of the more dangerous elements of the big city. But, the boy is quite confident and eagerly looking forward to his new job. And, quite frankly, the other four kids are all quite competent and are working in interesting professions, and, I’m sure, contacting their parents regularly.

When Jeremy was teen-aged, he baby-sat for the ophthalmologist’s family, when there were only a couple of kids, so the doctor always asks about him. I said that he and Sarah had taken a trip into Manhattan to see a play, and they stayed at the Plaza Hotel.

Jeremy and Sarah knew that I read the children’s book “Eloise,” when I was a school-ager, and really enjoyed it. The character, “Eloise,” lived in the Plaza hotel with her nanny. I was so excited that they were staying there, that I went to the library and checked out “Eloise,” so I could read it again and enjoy knowing that Jeremy and Sarah were actually there! On one of the trips that JoAnne and I took to New York, we visited the Plaza, too, but we didn’t stay there.

As I talked about Jeremy and Sarah’s living in Brooklyn, the doctor mentioned that his parents had taken a trip to Europe, and they were flying back into New York when the Twin Towers were coming down. They were, of course, unable to land in New York, and their flight was sent to Newfoundland, instead. His folks had to stay there several days.

“I know about that!” I said. “That’s the play that Jeremy and Sarah went to see!”

He was somewhat confused.

“There’s a new play,”  I explained. “It’s called ‘Come From Away.'”

He told me about his parents’ experience in Gander, and I said, “I’m going to call Jeremy. He’ll love knowing that your Mom and Dad were actually there!”

I don’t ordinarily call Jeremy in the middle of a work day, at least rarely, but I thought this was unusual enough.

“Hi,” I said. “Do you have a minute? I’m with the eye doctor right now. I’m going to hand the phone over to him.”

The doctor explained about his parents’ experience trying to get home after 9/11, and Jeremy explained about his and Sarah’s experience seeing the play. And I felt like I was putting pieces of a puzzle together. Well, one of those preschool puzzles that only have a few pieces. But, when you put it together, even if there aren’t very many pieces, you get a nice picture.

 

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

John 21:4-6 (English Standard Version)

 

 

Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I need to look around and find Jesus. He is always there.

 

More of the Same, Sort Of

| Joy, Patience

My sister said that, when her older grandson started walking, he would often stand by the door and say, with great passion, “‘Side, ‘Side, ‘Side.” He desperately wanted to go outside.

I’m feeling a little like that, these days. I’ll get up. I might do a jigsaw puzzle on the computer (the temperature might still be rather chilly). I’ll make my egg & cheese burrito; and then I’ll put on my overalls and go outside.

Wednesdays are my day to go to the elementary school where some of our church members and I read with kids during their lunch times. Last Wednesday, when I left the school, after reading, I went straight to a nearby nursery and bought three big bags of dirt. Well, they’re not that big. There were bags that were quite large; I know that I cannot pick up a bag of dirt that heavy. And, truly, the bags that I did buy were too heavy for me to pick up and tote around to the side of the house. (Fortunately, there are strong guys at the nursery who can easily pick up those bags of dirt).

But, I do have a wheelbarrow. I pushed the wheelbarrow from the little storage shed in the backyard around to the garage. I had the car’s remote control, and I used it to raise the garage door. Then, I opened the trunk and strained to pull one of the dirt-filled bags to the edge of the open trunk. Then, I pulled and tugged until I could get one bag into the wheelbarrow. Then, I closed the trunk, used the remote control to close the garage door, and, struggling, got the bag around the corner of the house.

I tipped the wheelbarrow over so that the bag of dirt fell close to the edge of the concrete edging stone. I used a pointed garden tool to stab a nice, big hole in the bag, and then I used a scooping garden tool to move lots of nice, black dirt to fill in the space between the back side of a few of the edging stones and the flower bed. Then, after I’d poured out all the dirt from one bag, I had to go back to the garage door and start all over. (The wheelbarrow is rather unwieldy, and I can only manage one bag at a time.)

At last, all three bags were empty and all the spaces were filled with nice garden dirt and none of the edging stones were wobbly.

 

I do try to be efficient. Sometimes that translates to “lazy.” Here’s my plan for some of the watering:

 

I planted some new hostas. And, now, the space where I’ve been putting hosta plants for a while, is pretty much full. I could put some more in, I guess. However, all the hosta plants that I put in last year have now come back, a couple of them really spectacularly. I’ve added some more, but now, that’s it. For good, I think. They die back in the winter, but every one that I’ve previously planted has popped back up again. I did, however, after I said that I was done with the hosta shopping, I found a “Captain Kirk” hosta. (It’s the one at the bottom of the photo.) But that’s  it!

 

 

 

 

So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. 

Genesis 1:12 (Good News Translation)

 

 

 

I Think I’m Almost Done. Maybe.

| Joy

It’s Thursday evening, and I’m pretty weary. I’ve still been working in the yard. The mornings are mostly chilly, and, while I’m eager to get back outside, I’ve had to wait a while for things to warm up.

As Kevin and April were working on making that log barrier, one of them suggested that I put some kind of water resistant (or something of the sort), protective, coating on the tops of those logs. So I purchased three cans of matte, clear coating, and sprayed the tops of those logs. The temperature was still a little bit chilly, so I went inside for a while, and did some baking.

Yeah, really, I baked. Eventually. I hadn’t used the bread machine in quite a while. I pulled out the bread machine cookbook, and made some rolls.

As I was gathering the ingredients for the rolls, I was sure that I had a jar of yeast in the refrigerator. I knew it was there, because I periodically have to move it to make a space for something else.

I was confident. But just barely. I don’t recall the last time I used it, but there was still a lot of yeast in the jar. And, I just barely made the deadline.

I guess I should bake more. And quickly. I do have a 5 pound bag of bread flour.

 

The bread machine stirs the ingredients and “kneads” the dough and keeps it nice and warm while it rises. Then, it dings when the dough is ready. I pulled it out and cut up the dough to make rolls. Then, they had to rise in a pan until they were nice and puffy. Then I baked them, and by that time the outside temperature had risen to the point that I could work.

We’d had some windy days. There were quite a few sticks strewn about the yard.

And, finally, the sun was shining on the front of the house.

I’d had yellow pansies in the front flower bed and yellow violas (miniature pansies) in hanging pots on the porch railing. Those are chilly weather flowers who don’t make it through a Texas summer. I pulled them all up and replaced them with yellow, summer-friendly varieties.

 

The flowers are springing up and the time of the singing of birds has come. Yes, spring is here.

Song of Solomon 2:12 (The Living Bible Translation)

 

And of course, I’m not done. Plants need to be tended. The yard will need to be mowed; and not just once. Things need to be pruned, trimmed, and watered!

And there’s that saying: “A garden is a thing of beauty and a job, forever.” Yep.

Things Go Uppity-Up-Up and Downdiddly-Down-Down

| Joy

I’ve been sick, but that occurs later on in the narrative.

Peter’s Spring Break was the week after Waco’s break. His school was presenting a musical based on the Biblical story of Esther. I drove up to Fort Worth for the Thursday night production. Then, Friday was “Grandparent’s Day.” While Grandparents were arriving at the school that morning, I got a name tag and met the mom of one of Peter’s friends. While waiting around as other grandparents came, I met Peter’s Spanish teacher, who said he was a great student. Then, the grandparents went to their grandchildren’s classes. In Peter’s Third Grade class, we played “Grandparent Bingo.” Grandparents and their grandkids worked together, placing Smarties candies on bingo squares with captions like “Did you and your grandparent go to a movie?” “Did you and your grandparent bake cookies.” And statements like that. There was a book fair where, wouldn’t you know, grandparents could purchase books for their grandkids. If there’s going to be a fundraiser, then adding to a kid’s home library is a valid one.

Then, we all went to the church’s sanctuary, where the students who are part of a string ensemble played for us. Then, the grades who were part of the Thursday-night musical went up and sang one of their songs. Then we sang a hymn, and, then I’m not sure what happened after that, because Peter and I were sitting at the very end of a pew next to an exit door, and we hurried out early, because April was waiting at the door for us, to drive us back to their house where we hurried to put our luggage in the car and left town. There was a freeze warning and we needed to get on the road to get to Waco before the bad weather arrived. And, actually, the bad weather didn’t arrive.

 

 

Peter was checking out the package of semi-sweet chocolate chips and discovered a recipe for a pan of solid chocolate chip cookie dough. That seemed like a fabulous idea, and it was even more intriguing to decorate that solid slab of chocolate chip cookie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter also had an idea for what we should have for dinner when David came home. “Peter’s Rice Surprise” involves rice and lettuce and cheese. And Pita Chips.

 

 

 

 

 

As I’ve been cleaning out shelves in closets, I found a box of items for making candles. I’d sort of forgotten that I used to do that. There was wax and dark green wax squares for coloring a candle and Stearine, a substance that helps the wax set better and helps candles last longer. Peter and I went to Hobby Lobby for new wicks and candle scent. I had a couple of clear glass containers that had held candles that I’d burned. I had cleaned them out to use for the candles we were creating. And Peter said that green was April’s favorite color. So we were all set.

We made two green candles for April for an early birthday gift.

 

 

As we were shopping that day, Peter and I stopped by Drug Emporium. We picked up a variety of things (it’s that kind of store), but I was specifically searching for cold medicine. I’d waked up Monday morning feeling snuffly, and the longer the day went, the worse I felt. I’ve caught a cold, I thought. I can’t recall the last time I’ve had a cold. Not just in months; maybe in a few years. And as I thought about it, the more I realized that I’d spent quite some time the past Friday with a hoard of kids, some of whom might possibly had colds. And, even though they might have felt a little under the weather, they might have talked their families into letting them go on to school anyway, since it was Grandparents’ Day.

I could be wrong. I suppose. But that’s what I think happened.

I checked information about colds and read that they last from seven to ten days! Yikes. The Tylenol COLD + FEVER SEVERE helped somewhat, and the seven to ten days seems to be lasting longer. I’m still blowing my nose.

 

Kevin and April came and worked diligently, cutting those logs in half and making a really nice border along the grassy part of the back yard.

 

It just seemed like a really good idea. The afternoon had been so balmy. After dinner, they put out the fire. David and April moved on into the house, and Kevin and Peter put up their big tent and settled down for a good night’s sleep.

Except, it was still very early spring, even in Central Texas. They finally came into the house at 2:00 a.m. I don’t know that anyone actually checked the temperature, but it was ‘way colder than just uncomfortable. Maybe they’ll come back in a few weeks and try again.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works;
He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
 May my praise be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 104:31-34 (New American Standard Bible)

 

 

And, it’s time to see how the boy has grown.

 

 

 

 

Peter at nine

Looking at the difference in where the top of his head is, comparing his height at 8 and his height at 9, he’s grown quite a bit. And, he’s barefoot in the 9 year photo.

 

 

 

I Do Miss the Sound of Waves

| Joy, Peace

I’m taking a couple of classes in the Lifetime Learning program at Baylor, designed for senior adults to keep our minds sharp, or sharper. I’ve finished the “Daughters of WWII Vets” series, and now am enjoying “The Oceans in a Changing Climate System.” I signed up for this one because, well, because the teacher for the series is a friend from church, an Assistant Professor in the Geosciences Department at Baylor. And, I really enjoyed an Oceanography class I took in college.

That Oceanography class was one of the most interesting science classes I’ve ever taken. The class was a large one, filling up a very large classroom. One of the requirements for the class was for us to visit the Oceanography center, which was on a small island in the middle of a bay on the windward side of Oahu. The lab class was offered every Saturday and Sunday during the semester, and we had to sign up for just one day, and we would spent most of the day there. “Bring a sack lunch,” they said. “Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet. And be sure to wear sturdy shoes that you also don’t mind getting wet.”

David drove me over to the meeting place. I found a student who was in my History Lab class, so I had a friend to chat with and work with.  A large barge sort of thing chugged over to pick us up, and then chugged it’s way back across to that small island. We did some experiments, we listened to a lecture, we rode on that barge, which had a large, small-holed net attached to the rear. Then we brought up all the small fauna that had gotten trapped in the net. We carefully looked at the bay’s sea life, and then released them back into the water, I guess so that the next group of students could find them, too.

At one point, we were given, in pairs, a “Look Box.” The box was made of four pieces of wood, each about a foot square, and painted white. There were cut-out hand holds at the tops of two of the pieces. And there was a piece of clear plastic attached at the bottom of the box. That part of the bay was shallow, and when we held the box down in the water, we could easily see what was growing and living on the bay’s floor.

As I took my turn with the box, it was like wearing a giant pair of goggles. I was carefully walking, a few steps at a time. And then, I stepped on the edge of a piece of coral. My foot slipped off, and my ankle bone scraped against that coral. I looked down through the box and saw a trail of blood, drifting from my ankle bone. And, just as I was looking at the blood, the teacher said, “And, in the spring, sharks come into the bay here to spawn.”

It was fall, so I didn’t really have anything to worry about, and, of course, the water in which we were walking wasn’t nearly deep enough for sharks. But, it was a bit unnerving.

We returned to the island and had a break before the next project. We’d been told that there was a First Aid area, if we needed something, so my friend and I walked around until we found the First Aid place. The nurse who was there took one look at my bloody foot and fussed, angrily, at me. “You were supposed to wear shoes,” she said frowning.

That’s how bloody my foot was. The nurse didn’t even realize that I had my shoe on.

Once we cleared that up, she did clean the cut, which really was pretty small, and put on a Band-Aid, or two, so my ankle looked okay. My shoe did not.

Eventually, it was time to get back on that barge one last time, and putt-putt our way back to Oahu. David was waiting there, and did notice the shoe. Hard to miss.

Back at home, he took off the nurse’s Band-Aid, and did a more thorough job of cleaning out the slit. Everything healed up, and no one had to amputate my foot.

But, I thoroughly enjoyed my Oceanography class. I even thought, for just a moment, that I might could change my major to Oceanography. Since I had only my student teaching to complete, and one more History class, it didn’t seem all that realistic.

 

 

You alone are the Lord, Creator of the heavens and all the stars, Creator of the earth and those who live on it, Creator of the ocean and all its creatures. You are the source of life, praised by the stars that fill the heavens.

Nehemiah 9:6 (Contemporary English Version)

 

Different states have different degree plans for majors. At Baylor, I got to skip one science class because I had a good science test score (Biology) on my SAT. And, I chose Western Civ. to fulfill my history requirement. At University of Hawaii, I needed an additional science, and it was that amazing Oceanography class. And, Western Civ. wasn’t going to be enough. I could choose between Eastern Civ. and World Civ. I went with World. All these classes had a section I and a section II. And, we had History Labs, because our class met in (and I’m not making this up) Varsity Theater. I had read that on the university’s class schedule. I was astonished to see that Varsity Theater was actually a movie theater. And, the theater’s owners were savvy enough to open up the snack counter and to operate the popcorn machine. The class met at 11:00 a.m. and many students would have been in a couple of classes before this one, and would be hungry. The professor let us go at 15 ’til the hour. I always arrived early enough to get the end seat of the last row, because this was my first class of the day, and I had to walk uphill and across campus to get to my next class.

And, we had History Labs, because, in a movie theater, there’s not much space for asking questions, and it’s certainly not a venue for testing. So, each History Lab had a Teaching Assistant for discussions and taking tests, and 20 or 30 students.

Thinking About What’s Next

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about an oncoming bitter weather forecast. It was cold, but not the sort of freezing that we had a year ago. Then, things warmed up and I worked outside in the yard on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. And now, it’s  COLD again. Not as bad as last year, but pretty cold. In the 20’s, and we just don’t really know how to get along in that kind of weather. School’s didn’t close, but they pushed the opening time on Thursday back two hours.

I made a big pot of chicken and wild rice soup, which should last us a few days. And I think I’ll be willing to get out Friday afternoon, to replenish some groceries, like milk, and return some library books, which might be overdue.

But last Wednesday, just as the temperatures were really dropping, I was able to read with my Reading Club girls.

The Fifth Grader did finish the Venus and Serena Williams book.

Given her previous choice (Venus and Serena Williams), it seems as though she’s wanting books about athletes. I was wanting Wilma Rudolph, but I don’t see her in the list of these books. I’ll have to look through the books online, to find other female athletes in this series.

Meanwhile, I’ve combed through the libraries in town and located these books for the Fourth Grader.

 

These are all the Rosa Parks’ books that are easy to read with short texts on each page. Of course, they all say basically the same thing, but we are going to plow through all of them. We are SO going to have the Rosa Parks’ story down pat.

 

 

There are, of course, two other libraries in town that I can go visit. I have checked online, to see where the available books are. I think I’ve got copies of all the picture book versions, but I might go and check to see if there are books that we could use. There might be books that are going to be too hard to read, but might have some good illustrations and/or photographs. At the rate that we’re reading, we should easily get to Spring Break and beyond, with just the books that I have. She’s working really hard to read all those words.

And I am working hard to try to explain what things were like for Rosa Parks, and every other African-American citizen. And I’m working hard to help her know how Rosa Parks changed things in ways that were so significant.

 

I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11 (Good News Translation)

 

I also have plans. I hope for a future of growth and learning and understanding. This is my last year with the Fifth Grader. I’ll have another year, I hope, with the Fourth Grader. I’m already feeling sad.

I Wonder How Many Books the Library Will Let Me Check Out

| Joy, Love, Patience

I’ve never asked one of our librarians just how many books any one person is allowed to check out.

I do have a good record with the library. I almost always turn in my books on time, or renew them, and then turn them in on time. And, when I am tardy with returning a book, I always pay my fines.

At present, I have seventeen books checked out. Yep. Seventeen.

It’s those girls that I read with at the elementary school where members from my church volunteer. The Fifth Grader is almost finished with a book about Venus and Serena Williams. We should finish it next week.

The Fourth Grader really wants to read books like the one the Fifth Grader is reading. But that Fourth Grader is a very poor reader. She’s very interested in the harder books, but, even with easier books, she usually needs help with many of the words. Actually, it’s most of the words.

I’ve looked at the library’s holdings, and I’ve found several books about Rosa Parks that seem to be very easy reads. I wonder how many more books I can check out.

So we can read a few pages of Pete, and some, or all the pages in the easier Rosa Parks books I’ve seen on the library’s list. She really does want to read. And I really want her to read, too.

Recently, I was talking with another church member who has a group of three Fifth Grade boys that he reads with. He said that he’d been reading with them since they were First Graders. And I said that I’d been reading with my Fifth Grader since she was a First Grader, too. Of course, we’d missed their Fourth Grade year with the pandemic-related issues. But we’ve been part of their lives all these years.

 

We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up.

2 Corinthians 4:8 (Contemporary English Version)

 

O may all who come behind us find us faithful, May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe, And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.

Steve Green