Posts Categorized: Joy

The Rest of the Story

| Joy, Patience, Peace

Getting those rings snipped off

What they looked like when we were done.

About a year ago, I wrote about having to get my wedding rings cut from my finger. A few weeks ago, I took the ring pieces back to the jewelers where I had that ring-removal-from-finger production. When they removed the rings, they had thought that the knuckle’s swelling would abate and they could patch up the rings. But, the knuckle hasn’t gone down because the knuckle bones have enlarged themselves permanently.

I asked the jewelers what did they think would be a solution. They described a process of putting a hinge into each ring, with an accompanying latch, which opens up. The ring can then be removed from the finger, and replaced again. That seemed like the only solution, so we started that process. They measured the giant knuckle for a ring size, and then measured for the ring size of the base of my finger.

 

They called back a few days later. They had contacted the company that make these latches and learned that they have a set of “rings” with latches in lots of sizes. They ordered a set and I went back when those ring sizer things arrived. I was able to see how the latch apparatus worked; I tried on three or four of them and chose the size that felt most comfortable. And, as we talked about those two rings and their latches, I said, “What if we just made one ring?” And the guy who actually makes the jewelry (and would have been putting in two hinges and two latches), said, “Yes. We could do that” (one hinge and one latch).

He used the gold from my engagement and wedding bands to make one new band, and put the solitaire on it.

Here’s how it works.

I do often complain about modern life. How fast things change and how I have to relearn or learn anew all the different apps/processes/organizational stuff that a new computer and/or a new phone has. I sometimes need to get out the fridge/microwave/dishwasher/etc. user manuals to figure out or remind me how to operate some aspect of the appliance. I should stop complaining, shouldn’t I, since I have a computer and phone and fridge and microwave and dishwasher and central heat and air and a sprinkler system and running water and a car. And a ring that can go on and off my finger. Easily.

 

God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful,  gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.

Galatians 5:22-23 (Contemporary English Version)

 

And, I should stop dwelling on how I’m sometimes grumpy and unhappy and frustrated, etc., and work harder on being more positive and thrilled and expectant and satisfied.

 

 

Christmas Mystery

| Joy

Christmas gifts are all tied up with joy and anticipation and expectation. And, sometimes, wonder and confusion.
“Is that for the dog’s bed or is it for me?”
“Is this a blanket or a shawl?”
“Who gave me this, um, gift?”

Handmade gifts can be thoughtful and special and crafted with love. Or not.

Once, I, as a teenager, saw a great idea in a magazine. There were instructions for making cute elf-type house shoes. The idea was to use a sock as a pattern. Trace around the sock on a piece of paper and then add seam allowances and a cute, turned up, elvish toe. Cut out that pattern and use it to cut out fabric pieces, a set for the house shoe and a set for the lining. Sew around the foot part of the shoe and the lining. Nest those pieces together. Then turn under the top edges of the shoe and lining and sew them together. I added a nice embroidered edging on the tops and folded them over to make a cute cuff. Then I wrapped them up and waited for Christmas morning. When JoAnne opened them up, I was all ready for exclamations of how clever I was.

However, the sock I had used for the pattern was one of her Sunday socks, which was rather elasticized. In other words, they ended up waaaaay too small for her feet. But, it turns out that they were just perfect for her baby doll. So, not a complete disaster. But also not a great gift.

JoAnne is a wonderful shopper and always sends interesting gifts, which, as she will tell you, often come from half-price tables and bins. Or a Daiso store. Mid-December I got a box from her, full of wrapped gifts. And instructions. The packages that said, for example, “Gayle, from JoAnne and Jim,” were for under the tree. Packages that had just a name on them were for the stockings. I put all the gifts where they belonged.

On Christmas morning, I got a book about Grandmothers. My stocking gift was harder to identify. It was heavy, and it was roughly textured. I was uncertain what it was, exactly. Everyone weighed in. It seemed like it might be a paper weight. Or, I thought, maybe one of those pumice-like stones that are used to scrub away dead skin from heels and elbows. And there was some conversation about the symbol on the top.

“It looks like some kind of logo,” was one idea. “Yes, it looks familiar, but I can’t place it,” was another comment.

A couple of days later, when I was cleaning up and putting things away, I thought that I would take a photo and send it to Jeremy, the graphic designer, and see if he recognized the logo, as that’s sort of his job.

 

I got my phone to take the picture and aimed it at the enigmatic gift and thought, “oh.” It’s a lower case letter “g,” in a very fancy sort of font. We’d been looking at it from the wrong direction. I sent the photo to Jeremy anyway, and called him to see if he recognized the font. He didn’t know the font, but he did recognize it as a “g.”

I talked to JoAnne a few days later, to ask what exactly it was. She thought it was a paper weight, too. It came from a bargain table that had several other, identical, items, but there was a variety of letters available. She said that she did know it was a “g,” but that might have been because it was surrounded by a lot of other letters.

We had a happy Christmas. The tree’s still up. There doesn’t seem a reason to rush.

 

Sometimes we give the gifts. Sometimes we get the gifts. Jesus gave us the best gift. And because of that, we are the gifts.

 

 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

 (New International Version)

 Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.

(Contemporary English Version)

Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God’s grace.

(The Passion Translation)

1 Peter 4:10

 

I couldn’t decide which one I liked best.

 

 

Breath of Heaven

| Faithfulness, Gentleness, Goodness, Joy, Kindness, Love, Patience, Peace

Two or three times a year, my church publishes a devotional book, for Advent, for Lent/Easter, for support for teams of church members on mission trips, and other occasions. Church members are asked to write devotionals for the booklets, and sometimes I’m asked to write one. This year, for Advent, our assignment was to choose a favorite Christmas carol and a scripture passage, and to write a devotional based on our experience with those things. This is the one I wrote, inspired by the song Breath of Heaven. The song’s title has the link to  Amy Grant’s singing the song.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

I trust you to save me, Lord God, and I won’t be afraid. My power and my strength come from you, and you have saved me. Isaiah 12:2 (Contemporary English Version)

Breath of Heaven

We have a niece who had a baby about a year and a half ago. While her husband rushed into the hospital’s emergency room to get a wheelchair for her, she gave birth to their third child, a baby boy, in the front seat of their vehicle. Now there’s a birth story.

The birth story Mary has to tell is pretty impressive, too. Well, more impressive, I guess. After all, it is Jesus.

There’s not much detail about Mary, herself, in the Bible. If you go online, there’s lots of information about her, but it’s all pretty much speculation.

I do wonder, though, if Jesus ever said to her, “Please tell me about the night I was born.” It’s not a matter of his not knowing all the facts, but I like to think that he would appreciate hearing her tell the story.

(He listens and responds. As she narrates the tale, she’s also pondering about her own feelings and struggles.)

 

“Oh, Mother! An angel? Were you surprised? Were you scared?”

         Holy father you have come
         And chosen me now to carry your son

“And Aunt Elizabeth, too? Cousin John? Really?”

         Must I walk this path alone?
         Be with me now

“I remember hearing about that census. All the way to Bethlehem. Quite a trip.”

         Lighten my darkness
         Pour over me your holiness

“No place to stay? Then what happened?

         Do you wonder as you watch my face
         If a wiser one should have had my place

“Shepherds came all the way into town? That was a hike!”

         Help me be strong
         Help me be
         Help me

“What was the hardest part for you, Mother?”

         Breath of heaven
         Lighten my darkness
         Pour over me your holiness
         For you are holy
         Breath of heaven

“You are the bravest woman I know, Mother. I am grateful that you were willing to do what you were asked to do.”

 

 

Reflection
You may have heard two people tell the “same” story, but from really different points of view. This holiday season, think about spending time with friends and relatives that you think you know pretty well. Listen to their stories and appreciate how the details may be different from the way you might remember those occasions.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(We writers are asked to include some bio information. This is what I wrote: My sister was born the October that I was 4 1/2 years old. My mother says that, that December, I would drape small baby blankets over my head and shoulders and wander around the house, stopping at each room, and shaking my head and muttering “No room. No room. No room.” Then, I would erect my toy ironing board, drape IT with blankets, and sit under it, holding a doll. Apparently I would do that for hours, leaving her free to take care of the new baby in the house.

 

Let’s Read a Book! Let’s Read Another One!

| Joy, Love

I’ve been going back to the elementary school near my church for Reading Club again. I just have one girl now, whom I’ve had for the past two years, also. They may add a couple of more kids, but for now, it’s just the two of us, which is nice, because she gets to read more. We chat while she’s eating her lunch. Sometimes I make hangman games on a white board for her; she can eat while figuring out the word. Then, we read.

The first book she chose was about Clara Barton, a brave woman she’d learned about in class. Then we started a Dr. Seuss tongue twister book, which was pretty challenging, because it was made of nonsense (but rhyming) words, and it didn’t really make any sense. Then, last week, was “Game Week,” when card games are available for us to use for a change of pace. She chose Uno, and she plays with her family. A lot. She knew the rules and the strategy and won two out of three games.

This week, I brought a book that I’d seen advertised, A Stone Sat Still, and I had checked it out from the public library. It’s a new book from a writer and illustrator who won a Caldecott Award for the book They All Saw a Cat. It describes how different animals see parts of a cat and think what they saw was a part of a plant or a toy, and so on, until the reader realizes that all those parts belonged to a cat.

 

The premise of the new book is similar to the Cat one. Here, the stone is described with a variety of adjectives, like high, low, rough, smooth; and nouns, such as a kitchen, a maze, a map. My Book Club girl read all the pages, easily recognizing most of the words and being able to sound out the others. She read it all, but wasn’t quite as entranced by it as I was.

I turned back to the beginning and talked through it.

“How can this same stone be high AND low?” She realized that to a snail, the stone might be high. But to an elephant, it could seem low. We went through the book again, page by page, with her explaining how the different descriptors could all be true, depending on what animal was nearby.

“Now,” I said. “Let’s think about some words that are true about you.”

 

“You are a daughter. You are a cousin (and I knew this for sure because a younger boy came up to her in the library for a hug, and she said it was her cousin). You are a granddaughter. You are a student. You are a friend (and this is obvious to me, as most every kid we walk by says ‘Hi’ to her). You are a cheerleader (some guys in her family are part of a football team that plays on the weekends). You are many different things. Lots of words describe you.”

“And I’m a basketball player!” she said. “And,” she said shyly, “I think I’m going to be an aunt.”

“And,” she said … (and I am not making this up) … “I’m a reader.”

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

 

God made the four young men smart and wise. They read a lot of books and became well educated.

Daniel 1:17a (Contemporary English Version)

 

We needed a few weeks to read the Clara Barton book, because it was a biography and had many pages and many, many words. And, we read the Stone book twice. We’re on a roll!

 

 

 

Whether Weather

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

I’m pretty much a fair-weather friend. Dictionary.com defines Fair-weather friend as “A friend who supports others only when it is easy and convenient to do so.” But I’m talking about real fair weather. That’s what I’m a friend of. I like the kind of weather where I can walk around outside and not be constantly searching for a little piece of shade to protect me from the miserable, scorching summer heat.

I complain, bitterly, about the blistering summer heat in July and August, and the fact that it pretty much continues way into September. I see the ads and articles in magazines about Back-to-School fall clothing and recipes for “cooler weather” cooking, and I roll my eyes. I’ve only just, in the past couple of weeks, moved my lighter weight clothes to the guest room closet, and brought the heavier clothes back into my regular closet. I’m glad to see them, those “winter” clothes, even though people who live in, say, Michigan, would laugh at the idea that they are all I have for “winter.” I have a heavy wool coat, and I think that’s the only woolen article of clothing that I own. And I wear that coat about three times a year, otherwise it’s lighter weight sweaters and jackets.

Friday, November 1, 2019–There is frost on the ground. Seriously. the temperature in Waco at 6:00 a.m. was between 27° and 30° depending on where in town you were.

Halloween this year was near freezing. Really. That’s a most unusual situation for us. By Tuesday, the high is predicted at 73, with a low of 57. That’s Central Texas for you. Of course, things are then supposed to drop down to 60’s and low 50’s, but that’s not down-jackets-and-wool-hats-and-gloves weather. It’s rather what we were looking forward to, back in September, when the high temperature was 91°.

I did move some of the plants on the patio close to the house and cover them with a sheet, hoping to get a little more time before a real freeze does them in. Some things in pots will be just fine. There’s a pot with sedum that I’ve had for fifteen years.  It’s just finished blooming and will die back with the first freeze. It will be the first thing to start growing again in March.

There’s lots of lemon-related plants: lemon thyme and lemon mint and lemon verbena and lemon tree, which is a kind of eucalyptus. Lemon scented things are supposed to be mosquito repellents, but I’m not so sure. They are, however, pretty easy to grow and are sturdy.

Eventually I’ve learned to ask the important questions about hardiness and water needs and light. Still, though, I sometimes buy without asking for important information. Like when I bought several Turk’s Cap plants for the bed at the back of the house. They’re hardy and attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Right before I went out to plant them in the nice bed I’d gotten ready, I checked the computer to see what kind of light they needed. Sun. And lots of it. Sun. Which barely touches that bed. They’ll have to go someplace else. I’m not quite sure where.

 

When the clouds are full of water, it rains.
When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls.
Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work.
Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

Ecclesiastes 11:3,4  (The Message)

 

When we were first married, David was in the Air Force and was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, right next to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu. So, Hawaii. Right? I took lightweight, summery sorts of clothes. We went in April, and I was fine all spring and summer and into fall. There are really only two seasons there: Summer and Rainy. In September, I had to ask Mother to please send some of my long-sleeved things, because the temps were going down a little. By February, when I was student teaching, I was pretty chilly on some days. I had a raincoat and a shawl (it was the 70’s), and that was it for outerwear. One day, at school, I was clutching my shawl around me, while I was working with a kid. He looked at my shivering self and said, “Why don’t you ask your mother to buy you a coat?”  Seems like not every day in the tropics is all that fair.

Now, I’m going to get on with things. And I’ll check on those plants under the sheet.

If Someone Is as Old as They Feel . . .

| Faithfulness, Joy

then I’m really, really old. Really.

All parts of me hurt. Some more than others. Some more unrelenting than others. Some come and go. Some have come and stayed. And stayed.

I thinking things are not going to improve.

Meanwhile, or, it’s about time, I enrolled in Baylor’s Lifelong Learning program, designed for retired people. A friend recommended it. I signed up for “WWII, the Pacific Theater,” where I felt like a youngster, as several, actual, real-life WWII vets spoke to us.

And I signed up for a “Behind the Scenes at the Zoo” course. We’ve gone twice so far, and have two more sessions.

They’ve had these recyclable grocery bags made, and encouraged all of us to take one, or more, for public awareness. I took two.

The first week, we went to the zoo’s classroom building, where a couple of bird caregivers described two kinds of birds (which they had perched on their forearms), and how they came to the zoo and how they are cared for. They are rescue birds and had injuries that could not be completely corrected and they therefore could not safely be released into the wild again. And we learned about the other kinds of animals that come to the zoo for similar reasons, and now have a safe place to live, and give local folks an opportunity to see animals living in habitats that resemble as closely as possible where those kinds of animals live in the wild.

We also got lots of information about expansion and a new penguin habitat, African penguins, who are warm-weather penguins. A man asked, a little skeptical, if they were just going to go and get some of these fair-weather penguins and cart them to Waco. Well, no, not at all. This habitat is going to be a rescue and rehab facility. The Cameron Park Zoo is part of a world-wide zoological group that seeks to find animal groups that are endangered and/or at-risk, and bring unhealthy animals to a space where they can become hale and hearty and be returned to their home environments.

We got some information about the number of visitors who come to the zoo, annually, and how those numbers are rising. (There are folks in town who seem to resent the “Magnolia” effect–the idea that the rise in tourism numbers is the result of the enormous popularity of the Magnolia franchise. “We’ve always had a great __________________ (zoo, Dr. Pepper Museum, Mayborn  Museum, city park, etc.),” they say. And that is true, but if there weren’t many visitors to Waco, then who knew about those things. Now, people flock to Waco to visit the Magnolia store and then they say, “As long as we’re here, what else is there to do?” And we are thrilled to show them. The bar graph of zoo visitors for the past few years shows a steady rise, but, after the Magnolia properties were built, there’s a larger rise.

Last week, the zoo veterinarian talked to us a bit about his job and then we got to go see some behind-the-scenes stuff. Our zoo has several large primates, and, in an effort to create a healthy environment for them, the zoo staff has created some ways to determine the health of these animals, like taking blood pressure readings and doing blood draws. They’ve then shared their knowledge with other zoos.

We walked around to the back of the orangutan habitat. This long metal drawer-like apparatus is for taking blood draws. The orangutans are trained to put their arm into the drawer, on a cue. Then the primate professional wriggled her fingers while saying “Fingers!” When the primate stretched fingers through the openings, they were held while the blood was taken from the arm. Then, the fingers were released, the orangutan pulled her arm out, and, as is satisfying, she got a treat. Blood pressure is taken the same way. This is a temporary space for animals who are getting their medical evaluations. They live in an appropriate space. They take turns being out in the open or in spaces with viewing windows, and being in their own private space.

The Cameron Park Zoo is part of a large network of zoos that seek to learn how to keep animals healthy, because animal populations around the world are declining. If they can work with animal populations in other zoos and in the wild, then we can maintain the biodiversity that our planet needs.

 

 

Then we walked around to the back of the elephant’s habitat. We heard lots of interesting information about African and Asian elephants and how African elephant ears are larger, because Africa is hotter and they need their larger ears for flapping to help cool themselves off. This is an African elephant. You cannot tell here, but she’s holding a harmonica in her trunk. The animal keepers explained that they do not teach the animals to do tricks (like playing a harmonica) to entertain zoo guests. In the wild, elephants would take in lots of water from a lake or river, and then swoosh it out, cleaning off their bodies and clearing out their trunks. In a zoo, they have to be taught how to inhale deeply. So the elephant keepers used the harmonica as a teaching tool, to inhale deeply and then to expel quickly. It worked, and now the elephants can inhale water and then whoosh it out, cleaning out their trunks. But, the animal keepers learned that the elephants apparently do like to make sounds with the harmonicas and will do it for quite some time. Even if no one else is around to hear it.

 

 

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,  and the one who understands obtain guidance,

Proverbs 1:5 (English Standard Version)

 

Learning for a moment. Learning for a lifetime. Learning how to make a difference.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, I took this photo on September 25. The temperature was 95 degrees. Not exactly pumpkin weather. And now we’re in that “cool today/roasting again tomorrow,” “possibly not horrid/but hot the day after that,” and then, “it’s anybody’s guess” weather. Whatever I put on in the morning is inappropriate by afternoon.

Working at Church, in the Most Interesting Way

| Joy

 

 

I purchased these plastic pipes and connectors several years ago, for kids at church to build with. I’d found a few (with a smaller diameter) in our Resource Room. The kids enjoyed them, but there were so few of the pipes and connectors, that the children were frustrated by not being able to build more complex structures. I went to one of those big ol’ hardware/do-it-yourself stores. I chose a larger diametered size of pipe and the connectors that went with them. I discovered that the helpful employees would actually cut the very long pipes into more reasonable kid-friendly lengths.

Once, a boy was thinking and working and planning and putting pieces together, and, Ollie, Mollie, Gollie, he’d made a football goal post. He and two friends then went to work making another, identical structure, because everyone knows that you need TWO of those things.

 

 

 

 

And then, one morning, a few years later, somebody had a new and different idea. I think it was a couple of men who had volunteered to be in the room during the worship service hour. They created an over-sized version of a marble run.

You can see the wooden beads on the floor of the loft. We used to string them together to make a length of beads. That rarely happens these days, as it’s ‘way more fun to send them down a chute.

 

 

 

 

A few weeks in to this hilariously interesting activity, we determined that we needed to require the kids to create some sort of dam to prevent the beads from careening around the room and getting stepped on. Or, on some occasions, no beads could be found, and we had to move the larger pieces of furniture, like the block shelf and sink cabinet, to be able to locate the many, many beads that had rolled underneath them. That curved piece on the left is to re-direct beads under the loft, instead of zinging around the room.

But this one, on the right, is by far the best rampant-bead-rolling solution. It was the child’s idea. They made this a couple of feet longer than it shows in the photo. And, by time the beads rolled all the way down this corridor, they’d slowed down quite a bit and were easily retrieved.

 

 

And, these are some other bead-stopping solutions.

This was a very interesting addition to the original structure. However, it wasn’t really a reasonable addition to the original design. Balls that got dropped into the run just sat at the bottom, not really having enough momentum to travel to the end of the line. Or, not being to levitate up and over. But, that’s what trial and error are for. And, it certainly has value as a piece of preschool artistic design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, some interesting new parts showed up. I suspect Dads again. (Dads who knew where the rolls of colorful duct tape are stored.) And, I did have one Dad who looked at the thing and said it needed some stablility. He added some parts to make the whole structure more durable. You can see, in the right-hand photo, a gray band around one of the pipes. There are three of them, securely holding up some of the important parts.

I looked at all of this and thought, “How hard could it be, to get some more of those things and make other parts more secure.” I removed one of those gray things and took it to Home Depot. I went to the department where the white pipes are and showed them to an employee who was working in the area. He didn’t recognize it. Hmmmm.

Then, he went to ask around and came back and said, “I think it’s in the electrical department.” Bingo

 

 

It was that easy. And I was so excited to so easily find these that I didn’t look at the package and see that there it was a 5 Pack. And 5 was not enough. Which I figured out when I got to church and started putting them up.

I took some drill bits and some screws. At church, there actually are a couple of hand drills that we use when we’re talking about Bible people who were woodworkers, like Noah, and Joseph, and Jesus. But, the drill bits the kids use are really large. I took my own, smaller, drill bits. I drilled some holes, I screwed down some pipes. I pulled off lots of duct tape. And I cleaned lots of duct tape adhesive from the Plexiglass.

And I went back to Home Depot and got more of those Conduit Clamps.

 

This is what it looks like now. Maybe not as colorful, but somewhat more stable, I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master.

Colossians 3:23 (Contemporary English Version)

 

 

 

I must admit that it’s lots easier to work willingly when I doing work for the kids.

And, an update from last week—

A photo from Thursday afternoon

At the carpool driveway–no cones!

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to Get It All Done

| Joy, Patience

How hard can it be, hmmm? There are errands, there are places to go, there are lists. And, there is time. So one would think.

Somewhere, some time . . . in school, I think, I heard the maxim “Plan your work and work your plan.” It sounds so easy. Maybe it is easy. Or, when I was a younger woman, it might have been easy.

“Everyone has the same number of hours in a day.” Hah! It just seems that way, until I try to manage those hours. Then they seem elusive.

 

I have had these jasmine plants for a few weeks, and finally got them in the ground.

1. Make bed. Get dressed. Have breakfast. Run a time-sensitive errand. Go home.

 

2. Change into yard-working clothes. Hurry outside to try to get some yard work done before the temperature rises. Plant some plants. While listening to podcasts. I can’t determine if the podcasts make the planting go more slowly, or does the planting interfere with getting the most out of the podcasts. Move to the front yard to hand-water the plants in front of the porch, because the sprinklers don’t get to them. And, while they are warm-weather plants, they do need some water.

 

3. Go inside. Do some mealtime preparation, well, after carefully washing my hands, which have been inside gardening gloves, but are still pretty dirty. Work to ferret out the remainders of food that is left from last week’s guests. Yes, that lettuce is too limp. Those tomatoes are too old. The blueberries seem all right. The sugar snap peas seem to be just on the edge of all right. Looks like salad for dinner.

 

4. Have a grilled cheese sandwich while working an online jigsaw puzzle.

 

5. Check e-mails, calendar.

 

The bag I have carried to and from church for many, many years. It has held up pretty well. I have had to replace the handles twice.

 

 

6. Change from yard-working clothes back to going-out-in-public clothes. Last Sunday, I was so weary from the previous very busy week (see Apostille and Crayola), that, on Sunday, I went right home after Sunday School, and forgot to pick up the bag I use to tote stuff back and forth from church. I needed to go get it, and this afternoon seemed like the best time. Also, I needed to pick up the literature for the new fall quarter. And, the church office closes at 3:00 p.m., so I needed to get on over there. I made it in time, got my bag, looked in several places for the literature, asked a couple of people, and no one knew where it was. I’ll have to go back tomorrow.

 

 

 

7. Back home. Change back into yard clothes. The sun has moved on to the front of the house and the patio is now in shade. It’s not really cool out there,  but it’s not blazing.

8. Sweep all the dirt and debris from the patio, clean up out there. Go inside and straight to the shower.

9. Write blog. Add photos. Thank God.

10. Eat that salad.

11. Maybe I’ll read a little.

12. Go to bed.

 

Within your heart you can make plans for your future,
but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.

Proverbs 16:9 (The Passion Translation)

We plan the way we want to live,
    but only God makes us able to live it.

Proverbs 16:9 (The Message)

 

 

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1a) Thank You for my home, thank You for my family (at home and at church), thank You for each day that I can wake up (and get up), and thank You for Your unfailing love.

Make me an instrument of Your Peace. (St. Francis)

 

 

 

Crayola Wonderful World of Color!

| Joy, Patience

Last week, my sister JoAnne came, along with her sister-in-law (for a night). Then, we washed and changed sheets, and on Sunday, Kevin, April, and Peter came, bringing with them, Jeremy, who flew in the day before. Such a great time with so much of the family with us. We FaceTimed with Natalie, all the way in Nicaragua. We had strawberry shortcake for dinner (a tradition from my Dad’s mom). That night, all the beds had occupants, in addition to a couple of inflatable mattresses with sleepers.

Monday, we played games through the day and into the evening, and had Schmaltz’s for lunch (we’re trying to incorporate all the family traditions). Tuesday, we went to Butter my Biscuit for lunch (we also like to start new traditions). We were going to cook out, but nobody really wanted to spend any time at all outdoors in the sweltering heat, so we broiled those hot dogs in the oven.

Wednesday morning, we got up early and Jeremy and Peter and I took JoAnne to DFW airport, to fly back home to Everett, Washington. (She says, at the last minute, the plane couldn’t land in the smaller Paine Field, due to fog. They had to fly on to SEATAC to land and refuel before flying back to Everett. Arrival was 3 hours late. Kevin suggests that planes allow all passengers to carry a ziplock bag of jet fuel with them, so the plane could be refueled in midair.)

After leaving JoAnne at the airport, Jeremy and Peter and I went to Plano to a mall, where, per JoAnne’s sister-in-law, there was an interesting place called The Crayola Experience. She’d taken her great-nephew there and he’d enjoyed it. And, oh, my, it is pretty nifty.

We put all the crayons (and there were several) in a bag that we had gotten when we came in, as the Crayola Experience knew that we’d be taking home quite a bit of stuff.

 

There is a playscape area where kids can also climb and slide and bounce, bounce, bounce, when they need a P.E. break.

There was a little theater that had some animated crayons that talked about crayon-creating. There were some crayon-creating apparatus at the front of the theater, too. Then, after the crayons said their information, an actual human being came out and showed us how the melting machine worked and how the crayons came out of the liquid wax and became actual crayons. And, when we left, we got actual crayons (but not the ones that had just been made).

 

 

There were a couple of places to purchase food. For lunch, I had a salad, Jeremy had chicken strips, and Peter had a slice of cheese pizza. We shared an order of onion rings. So, snack sorts of food, but, folks don’t really go to the Crayola Experience for good food, do they.

 

We had received a few tokens when we went in. They paid for the crayon wrapping area, and the Model Magic. Most things didn’t require any extra payment. The panning area did. There were four sizes of bags, ranging from $7.98 to $24.98. I told Peter I would pay for the $7.98 bag or the $9.98 bag. He graciously chose the less expensive one. He’s been really interested in panning for stones, lately, and this was, I think, his most favorite activity.

 

 

I suppose that most folks don’t spend much time evaluating crayons, unless they’re involved in making art, but, as a person who’s spent years working with young children, I can tell you that Crayola crayons are really and truly much better than other crayons. The cheaper the crayon, the less effective it is. Crayola crayons last longer, cover more effectively, and melt much better. One thing that preschool teachers sometimes do is to melt down crayon stubs and broken crayon pieces (in an old muffin tin, or a foil baking cup in a muffin tin) to make chunky crayons for drawing. Inexpensive crayons melt unevenly, and often the ingredients separate into a waxy clear part and a uneven color part.

When I was getting ready for collage day at Fun with Friends this summer, I went through a big box of broken crayons at church. I threw away any non-Crayola crayon. I found lots of the colors I wanted, all in Crayola versions. I took them home and removed whatever papers were still on them. I actually have an electric crayon sharpener (like an electric pencil sharpener, but made for crayons). I spent a few hours, shaving down the pieces to make crayon scraps.

I had this station in the hallway, with an extension cord on an iron (set very low). My plan was to take only one kid at a time out to this table to make a crayon shaving design on a piece of waxed paper. Then I would cover it with another piece of waxed paper and iron over it. It’s pretty interesting to see how all the colors melt and mix. When he took his melted crayon design back into the room, not only did every other kid want to do it, but they all gathered by the table to watch everyone else’s designs melt together. Lower-priced brands of crayons do not do this well.

 

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!

Luke 6:31 (The Message)

 

 

We often look for quality in the things we purchase, the books and papers we read, the movies we watch. We want quality in the fresh food we purchase, the clothing we buy, and the vehicles we drive. If we value quality in the things around us for which we seek, we should also seek to be the quality people that other folks observe.

 

Friends Add to the Fun!

| Joy, Love, Patience

I went to the post from two years ago, where that year’s Fun with Friends photos are. And, I have to say, they’re much like the photos from this year. Different kids. Same sorts of messes. Same sorts of FUN!!!

A number of years ago, I was wanting to have some more time, beyond the hour of Sunday School on Sundays, and beyond what we did in Bible School, to be able to provide some creative, interesting things for preschoolers to do. Music Camp was happening for school-age children, and I proposed to have some creative activities for preschool kids who had finished Pre-K and Kindergarten. I followed the Music Camp schedule and called the event Fun with Friends. The first group of kids who came to Fun with Friends are eighth or ninth graders now. We do Science one year and Art the next. This year was Art year.

We usually follow the Music Camp schedule, which is five days, sometimes mornings, sometimes evenings, in late June. Music Camp has been put on hold for a while, so I could plan a schedule that worked for more preschool families. We went with a four-Saturday schedule, 9-to-noon. It worked really well. Peter was able to come for the last two.

Saturday I-Collage

 

Saturday II-Drawing

 

Saturday III-Painting and Printing

Saturday IV-Sculpture

 

Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them, and said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And any of you who welcomes a little child like this because you are mine is welcoming me and caring for me.

Matthew 18:2-5 (The Living Bible)

It’s interesting to me that, when Jesus’ disciples came to him to ask the question about which of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, He calls over a small child. This means that there just happened to be a little kid nearby. I hadn’t really thought about the day-to-dayness of Jesus, and how there must have been people around Him and them, wherever He happened to be staying, visiting, walking by. I certainly feel better when there’s a little kid nearby. And ready for some fun.