Endings and Beginnings

These are my two favorite pictures from this summer. They seem to capture the essence of the season...family, home and the simple joys of sharing time with one another. This has always been a very poignant time of year for me. Gearing up for the beginning of school, the ending of summer. A very bittersweet kind of feeling. It struck me that these pictures really captured many of my feelings and emotions. Ross, my great nephew is poised to head off to Mother's Day out in a few weeks .... his beginning of the next 17+ years of education he'll probably receive. It's the end of Molly's public school career. September 1 is her last first day. She'll be graduating next May and heading off to college. Kate has changed her major. Her beginning was music education. She now has a double major in music and business. A real departure from what she thought she wanted to do. I'm sure that is exactly one of the things she and my dad were talking about when this picture was made. He ended a career in business when she was just beginning, period. Me, I'm now officially ending my blog-free summer. The time is right to begin to write again.
P.S. Erin, you are the best photographer on the planet. Forget teaching...take pictures.

Firestone Prom and Heidelberg EUG and SIG formals

Kate and Wally (Heidelberg University Class of 2012)
Molly and Stephen (Firestone High School Class of '10 and '11)

Mother's Day Friends

Madison, Molly and Peyton

I'm thinking today of all the mothers I've known in my life. I am so grateful for all of them. They have all touched my life in many different ways. I have spent a lot of time today thinking in particular of Therese and Nancy. I guess that's natural, seeing that they've been gone from our lives for a few years now. Nancy (who was not a mother in the biological sense) was a dear friend, mentor and disciple who gifted me with many special things. One of her most endearing gifts was the love and acceptance she gave to my children. She nurtured Kate through her confirmation year. Her advice, love and guidance helped shape Kate into the young woman she is today. Therese left behind two wonderful young women, her daughters, Peyton and Madison. They have been friends of my girls since Peyton and Molly have been in first grade. Therese was a wonderful mother. She adored Molly (and Kate too) and they spent many happy hours at her house and playing in her big yard. Toward the end of her life, we would all sit together and paint toenails and drink Starbucks and talk of every wonder in the world. Therese had a wonderful, vulnerable spirit that I have yet to see in another person. Therese and Nancy were taken too soon from this life. I wish they could be here now to watch these amazing and wonderful girls they helped bring into life. I know that deep in their hearts Molly and Kate will always hold a piece of these two incredible women. We are blessed for having their witness in our lives. I love and miss them both. Happy Mother's Day.

Spring has sprung?

There Goes Winter
sloshing off
with puddles in his tracks.

Here comes Spring
on roller skates
with jumping ropes and jacks.

P.S. Don't worry--we are beginning to have some 65-70 degree days. I love these pictures of snow boots and no coats on the playground.

The Leap of Faith

I know most of you have seen this picture. It has been on all of our face books. I know it will be forever embedded in my memory. It was also the picture posted in the Sunday bulletin today. The passage David used was Phillipians 4:12-14.

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. " (The Message)

I spent weeks worrying about this event. My Kate. Jumping out of an airplane. Strapped to a strange, old man. Wearing weird shoes (the old man, not Kate and that was Molly's observation.) A teeny, tiny parachute. For two. Of all the counter-intuitive things to do. Well, as with most things in her life, Kate handled it gracefully and embraced it to the fullest. I have the video to prove it. But this is really about me, and my experience. The bottom line-she jumped, she fell, she landed. Safely. There are many parallels to her jump and life in the spirit. Number one, she didn't do it alone. She was embraced by a community of likewise minded people all on the same mission. Their objective: to share their experience with others and in the journey to be transformed. She was also there with tremendous support from those who know and love her best...her aunt, uncle and cousin. You know, I've got to hand it to my brother (the jump instigator and one of my kid's biggest fans,) he said she was different when she left to come home. He's right. The experience changed her. It also changed me. I need to have that faith, that unwavering trust in what, to me, is counter intuitive and appears to be fool hardy. I need to take a hard look at my life and find my own "jumping off" place. Then, well, I guess I need to....jump.
P.S. I have profound thankfulness to the old man in the funny shoes who was with her every step(?) of the way. By the way, that last step was a big one :)

Friends on the Journey

The Christian season of Lent is strange. It is like Alice being in Wonderland. It has great excitement and joy, but also confusion and fear. And maybe, like Alice, we tumble into it more that we intentionally take action to be in it. Everything around you will try to fight off the practice of Lent. Or it will try to subtly make it fit into the ways of the world, but with the illusion that it is truly a deep god-designed spiritual time. A lot of what the church calls spiritual is more a way to prop up and to confirm the ways of the world rather than the Kingdom of God. You cannot do Lent alone! It will take a group of you supporting, forgiving, encouraging, and confronting each other. Find a group of people who will walk with you through Lent. (Rev. David Loar)

Thank God for friends on the journey! This season of Lent I am so blessed to have two special friends on the journey with me. I give thanks everyday for the gift of Julia and Mary in my life. They are more than friends--they are my sisters in Christ. They hold me accountable, they hold me to humility, sometimes they simply hold me. I would not be on the journey I'm on, or traveled the distance I have without their abiding presence in my life, their unwavering belief in Jesus Christ and the humble example of servanthood they place before me; both shining examples of contrite hearts filled with love for God and all of his children.
Julia - You are teaching me so much! Not to be afraid. To know that God is with me always! Even in the darkest of places I am learning to fear NOthing. You help me understand my gifts and to know that they come from God and were given to me to further His kingdom. This has/is been life-transforming for me! Boo ya to the Warriors! Saddle up! Put on the armor! Kick evil's $%&&!! To know you have my back is comforting and empowering! I love you!
Mary - I know you will walk with me to Hell and back until we complete step four! I know you will walk to Hell with me period. You give me the courage to be the best I can be. You challenge me to discipleship above and beyond anything I could ever have imagined. You are my anchor when things unravel, simply by your unwavering belief in God and his son Jesus Christ. You are my prayer partner, my accountability partner and my "Martha, see you don't suffer from terminal uniqueness after all", partner. Thanks for keeping me sane, helping me not sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff!), and always reminding me that life is meant to be enjoyed and that loving and serving God is a joy! I love you!
Nancy...Lastly, I love you. Thanks for being the first person who helped me realize the unfathomable presence and possibility of God in my life, who loved me warts and all-just simply for me, and for showing me that even princesses are expected to "walk the talk" too. See you on the other side. Save me a seat... or maybe a cloud! :)

Tin Grin

I just went to the orthodontist the other day, and for once it wasn't to take a child. This time, it was for me. Somehow, over the course of 35 years or so, my teeth shifted. This caused a problem with my bite. I mentioned it to my dentist (who is also exactly my age) and he said, "Go over and see about a retainer." Well, I ended up with a full-blown set of braces. I may not look like the Taz, but I sure felt like him yesterday. Today is much better. Actually, my braces look just like his. Even though David and I have great dental insurance, it doesn't cover braces if you're over 20. ( I think that's called age discrimination!) Anyway, invisalin wasn't an option for me, and the cute ceramic brackets were an extra $600! Yikes! Since I only have to wear them a year, I opted to send my $600 to Heidelberg and go with the fabulous totally metal sets. So, I may be 50, but right now I have the mouth of a 12 year old. Maybe I'll be brave and post a photo soon! P.S. To all of my 20 and 30 something nieces and nephews.....wear your retainers...My ortho says the new recommendations are that you wear your retainers at night for....LIFE!