Lazy Days of Summer

Last week we set on the beach for literally 6 days, then we returned home to reality!  It made me ponder, what is reality?  There were days when I was little when the summer seemed to drag on endlessly, now with my kids, the days seem to speed by at an increasingly alarming rate.  They are involved in camps and activities, 4-H projects loom, summer jobs prevail, and in the midst of it all, I find myself longing for those days on the beach. 

So how do we begin to reclaim those days on the beach, those lazy days of summer?  I think it all comes down to establishing priorities.  In a world where every moment is full, we need to stop and look together at what really matters.  Sit down with your family, ask them where their priorities are leading them.  Those priorities may be helping them find out who they are or they may be directing them towards a path that they will follow their entire life.  Don't just long for the days on the beach, savor them so that when those summer days are speeding by, you can reflex on the moments in the beach chair, the laughter in the car, and the meals together.  Savor every moment of life on the beach and when the days speed by, take time to pray a simple thank-you for making a few moments out of your crazy summer, "life on the beach". 

Defining Moments

In life, there are moments that make you sit back in awe, not only at the God we serve but the life He has blessed us with.  I had a moment like that as I watched Andy baptize Ross on Saturday night.  I've sent through hundreds of baptisms and each one affects me differently but as I watched Ross give his testimony and then watched Andy baptize him, I was struck by how God has worked in his life.  In a large church, there aren't a lot of times that you hear an individual church member's name mentioned in prayer time but when Ross was only 3 weeks old, he was struggling to survive, as he laid at St. Mary's Medical Center on a ventilator-the result of RSV.  As I set as the hospital with him, I had no idea that he was being prayed for in the Sunday morning service, but God worked in his life.  God gave him a full recovery, and He has continued to do great things in his life.  After he was baptized, they once again prayed for Ross and my heart was touched.  In life, there are moments that take your breath away-those moments I'm thankful for the One who gives me breath.

Snow Days?

When I was in about 6th or 7th grade, we had the blizzard of  '77 and we only went to school about 3 days during the month of January.  One of the best parts of all those snow days was we had so many snow days that we didn't have to make them up!  There is a little snow in the forcast tonight and I can't help but wish, right along with the kids that school would be cancelled!  The only struggle I have is that unfortunately we have to make up our snow days now.  I miss those homeschooling days when we still had school but quickly ran through our lessons so the snow would be there to run in and then when we were cold, we'd sit by the fire and read-sometimes the entire afternoon.  So will we have a snow day?  I don't know but one thing I do know is that I'd love to turn back the clock, some days to 1977 when the biggest concern I had was listening to WAKO to see if we would have school the next day.  My favorite words those days, were..."no school for Unit 20"!  We'd run around out house and I'm sure there were moments when my mom was wishing the news would be a little different, but she never showed it.  We'd come in from playing, there would be hot chocolate and cinnamon toast made under the broiler.  We'd stand by the fire, and warm our hands but being part of that family was what warmed my heart.  Some days, I just want to turn back the clock to around 2004 when my kids were younger, and we had so much snow at Christmas time.  I miss those days, when my kids were little, when making them hot chocolate could be enough to warm them all the way through.  When reading together was not a rare thing but a daily part of our lives.  Now as the years are quickly passing, much like those big snow falls...I realize that we need to live in the moment.  We need to embrace those snowfalls-or life moments when they are thrust upon us.  We need to make sure that we're not sitting by the radio waiting to hear the news but that we're living in the moment and loving the snowfall and capturng every snowflake we can.  Catch the snowflake-it may melt on your tongue but it will create an amazing memory.  I'm catching every snowflake I can because just like those big snow falls in the past, I'll find a time when I look back on those special memories are all it takes to warm my heart.

2011

2011

Just the other day we were thinking about 2011, weren't we supposed to be living in space and driving cars that fly by now?  When I was little I loved to watch the Jetsons cartoon on TV.  This space age family seemed to have it all.  All Jane had to do was call for her robot and suddenly dinner would appear, or George would call for the dog and suddenly the newspaper would appear.  They could jet from place to place without ever having to pay more than $3.00 for a tank of gas and from my vantage point, life seemed easy.  Well 2011 is here, and life isn't always easy but when I really stop and think about it, I have to wonder if I would really want it any different.  I would miss the experience of making a pie with Tess, if we had a robot to do it for us.  I would miss those frantic moments in the kitchen, when all hands are on deck and we're pulling dinner together before we head out the door.  I'd miss those moments in the car driving from one activity to the next when some of the best conversations are possible.  I heard someone use the term "windshield time" this past week and I was reminded that I am thankful for those windshield moments with my husband and kids.  So what do I appreciate that is "technology driven" in 2011?  I love the times when I check my facebook and there is a note from my daughter just reminding me that she loves me.  I loved the afternoon this week, in the cafe at Barnes and Noble with my daughter, her playing on the computer, me reading on my Nook.  I love the sound of electric guitars from the basement.  I love watching a football game on a big screen TV.  I love seeing one of the boys so intense in a video game that the world around him is momentarily forgotten.  So, here's to 2011, I'm not driving a space ship, I'm not calling up a robot, but I'm sharing my life, a little at a time, using some amazing technology that can serve the purpose of drawing us closer to people we see everyday or people we haven't seen for years.  I'm thinking by 2020-the Jetson's life may be here but we'll all be longing for the "good old days"!  Happy New Year  

Thankful

How many people get to spend almost every Thanksgiving in the same place?  I venture to say, not many but for 44 of my 45 thanksgivings, I have been at 905 Maple Street-Lawrenceville, IL.  I missed one with a sick boy but other than that, I've been there to experience the fights over GG noodles, the race that used to happen to the refrigerator for Boston Creme Pie, the spilled drinks, the babies turning into not being babies anymore, the laughter and occassional tears, and the love!   Thinking back on Thanksgivings, I can remember-heading to Lincoln School to play softball one year.  I remember singing loudly in the car, "over the river and thru the woods" when we were only driving 2 miles.  I can remember waiting to see what shift Uncle Russ was working at Texaco so we knew if we'd eat at noon or evening.  I can remember a small television, with a knob that you  had to turn to find any football game.  I can remember crawling under the bunk to find the toys that had been their for years but always seemed magical to play with.  I can remember trying to find my place at the table.  I can remember walking through the door to be greated by Happy Thanksgiving. I can remember "Turkey in the Oven".  I can remember huge carmel apples.  I can remember the smells of turkey, mashed potatoes, and those famous noodles that Grammy makes.  I can remember opening the doors because the fire in the fireplaces and 30 some people made the room so hot, we had to cool down.  I can remember feeling Thankful.  Thankful for a family-where tradition runs strong, where laughter rings through the house, where love is unconditional.  I am thankful!

Most Inspiring Moment

Ross just walked in from and end of the season tennis party and said, "I won an award"!  He and his friend won the most inspiring moment for putting their heads together in prayer before the doubles match they played together.  I've had some proud and some not so proud parent moments but this is one that I am beaming about.  In the difficult times, in the times of struggles, in the moments when you wonder if you are making a difference, knowing your children walk in the light, make all those moments fade away.  So tonight, I'm thankful that Ross reminded me what really matters most is that we put our fears and doubts away and walk by faith and trust, always putting Him first!  Thanks Ross.  

College Prep

Doesn't seem all that long ago, that this beautiful young woman was a baby in my arms, now suddenly, she's looking at colleges, thinking about her future and we are moving towards a new phase in our lives!  The past two Saturdays we've been on campus visits and it has me thinking about how those decisions affect the rest of our lives.  As a parent, it's hard to let them make such life changing decisions, while you stand by on the sidelines, but we are learning each day that the decisions she makes are rooted in what she's learned growing up and learning to trust her is a whole new phase of parenting.  After a college visit yesterday, I took Mark, Ross, and Tess rock climbing and thought about how climbing that wall is a lot like where Jill is in her life.  We still want to be the harness but instead, we are the belayer.  We hold the rope to catch her when she falls but she is the one charting her course, finding the footholds, and aiming for the top.  There are moments when she will still sit back in the harness and let us hold her.  There are moments when she may listen as we tell her to put her foot on the red foothold, but there are also moments when she will be able to see a better path from her viewpoint than we can from the ground looking up.  It's a whole new kind of faith and trust that a parent begins to experience, but just like the rock climbing we did yesterday, it's an experience I don't want to miss.