beach afternoon

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“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”

--Isak Dinesen

at least for one afternoon.
:-)

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the grand opening of a new Sam's Club is definitely good for an hour of free entertainment. We smiled knowingly when the little girl wailed as her mom took her picture with the Pastelito Gansito duck. We sampled cheese and dip and salsa and sausage and fruit and smoothies and... We really thought that the Michelin Tire Man would be bigger in real life. So THAT is what a 500 pound block of cheddar carved into the King Ranch looks like! And, how does a girl become the Texas Watermelon Queen?

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Alabad, alabad, alabad al gran Rey!
Adorad, adorad, adoradle su grey!
Es nuestro escudo, baluarte y sosten,
el Omnipotente por siglos,
Amen!

from Alabad al gran Rey!, written by Fanny Crosby (1875), translated by Roberto Savage

115/366

a pot of beans and sour cream enchiladas and a homemade pie to share with the family of a new baby... all very good things.

114/366

There are days when I think I could use some bolstering too, until those roots are deep and established and the temporal winds just sway, not knock me over.

113/366

It was an entirely unphotogenic day.

Completely unphotogenic, that is, until we were walking out of Sam's Club and two Latino men in complete cowboy regalia, hats, denim, SPURS!, rode by on their horses. Horses! In the Sam's Club parking lot in McAllen, Texas!

But, of course, I didn't have my camera then, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

112/366

Road trip!

Somehow, though I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't make logical sense, traveling those 238 miles north to San Antonio puts us back in the United States. Maybe it's partially psychological, having to cross the immigration check point... Yes, I know very much that we don't live in Mexico. But living in the Valley, it's not exactly like living up north, either...

On this day, the sun and the wildflowers were bright. We sang along to the tunes. We stopped to wave at the baseball players on floats for the opening day Little League parade in Premont. We shared a turkey sandwich and I drank a big unsweet ice tea with lemon and half a package of pink at Panera. We bought bagels to take back home for Sunday breakfast.

We cheered on the soccer game and our girls won. Our shoulders got a bit toasted in the deceptively warm sun. We wandered through Restoration Hardware and ooohed over the clean design. We stopped in at Whole Foods and bought a few favorite treats. We ate gigantic burritos at Chipotle. And then finally, we turned south after a full day.
A full and very good day.

Give them grace (1)

With the right mixture of fear and guilt, I can get my three children to obey in the short term. But my desire is not that they obey for five minutes or even for five days. My desire is that they obey for fifty years! And that will take something bigger and brighter than fear and guilt. the primary reason our children fail in their doing is that they fail to grasp at a deep heart level what Jesus has already done. They often give up in their efforts to obey because we have unconsciously trained them to obsess more over their feats for Jesus than over Jesus' feats for them.
- Tullian Tchividjian in the foreword for Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson

"They" are me.
To obsess over Jesus' feats for me...!

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And the rain rain rain came down down down...

at least for a few minutes...

110/366

He was given number 80 once he filled out the forms and turned them back in. When we sat down the sign on the wall read 69. The entire room watched a low speed chase through downtown Dallas on the news channel on the tv in the corner until the driver being pursued pulled over, opened the door, and fell out on the street, surrounded by 6 police cars. The man sitting in front of us, wearing a Vietnam Vet ball cap, turned around and asked how long the Selective Service has been in place, and told us that the US needs to reinstate the draft. Thankfully, the only number called today that mattered was the one that allowed my teenage son to receive his learner's permit.

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There are moments when I realize, almost palpably, how I long for community, to be part of those who know how to love one another well. And in that moment, it is pure delight to share a smile, and to receive a hug, and to give the last cookie away to the little boy with the biggest brown eyes.

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watercolors, and history with the Mayans, Incas, Toltecs and Aztecs. Montessori middle school?

107/366

NOT impressed with the thunderstorm...

That's how God works

"That's how God works. He gets at our most fundamental idolatry and He ruthlessly crushes it in His unfathomable love and fatherly kindness and inscrutable wisdom and He goes after our greatest treasures and He leaves us with nothing but himself so that we go limping on our way for the rest of our lives having learned: 'My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness.' Don't underestimate God. Don't underestimate His ruthless compassionate gracious commitment to His glory or His commitment to your everlasting joy and good. He will pursue you graciously and ruthlessly and rip out the idols of your soul that would otherwise consume you. He is working for your joy and your good even when you cannot perceive it and have ceased to be able to feel anything anymore."
 ~Ligon Duncan, The Underestimated God, T4G 2012

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multi-tasking-
baking shortcakes for strawberries, studying for biology.

whatagirl!

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Kansas City skyline at dawn.

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Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No.
~Pablo Picasso

(taken at the Crayola Store at Crown Center)

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"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy."

Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars

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...because sometimes you find yourself grocery shopping at 9pm, and realize that even though you would like a fresh baked cookie, you don't want to make an entire batch of dough, and the package from the refrigerator section will be just fine...

one day

When your children ask in time to come, "what do these stones mean to you" then you shall tell them... (Joshua 4:6-7)
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)
While reading, I remember the standing 8:30 Tuesday morning meeting. A quick shower, and off.

We were created to help, not to hinder. We were created to complete, not compete.
The pattern for role differentiation is seen in the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have different functions, but are equal in substance and power. (By Design, ch. 1)
Mess up Spanish verbs. And nouns. Resort to English. sigh.
Time passes too quickly, and have to leave too soon.

Drive a daughter 45 minutes down the road to basketball practice. Realize I have no clue where I'm going. Gratefully receive an escort to the gym. Spend a blissful and quick 45 minutes with a friend.

Return phone calls. Pick up basketball player. Sing out loud all the way home.

Sick husband. Stop for ginger ale. Forget the chicken soup. I fall short so many ways!
Prayer for traveling parents and sick uncle.

History with 7th graders- Colombus' third journey.
"I believe that this is a very great continent which until today had been unknown. And reason aids me greatly because of that so great river and fresh water sea."
He is returned to Spain in chains.
Sometimes the story does not end the way you anticipate in the beginning.

Correspondence for ESL and for senior graduation reception.
Airline ticket prices and schedules and reservations.
Charts and lists and email and phone calls.
Dinner in the oven.
Laundry remains on the floor.
(Will I ever have a good dinner AND clean clothes on the same day?)

Deliver a meal.
Deliver a son to drivers ed.
Deliver a daughter to soccer practice.
Dinner.
Air conditioner dies.
Internet out.
Trip to Target as consolation.
Resist year's supply of Robin Eggs at 30% off.

Pick up soccer player.
Big fire in an old building blocks the street home.
Later the news tells us a 10-12 year old boy was arrested at the scene.
I mourn.

Husband to bed.
Kids to bed.
News and weather and Leno.
Praise. And pray.
One day.

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when the air conditioning AND the internet went out, and there was still an hour before soccer practice was over, we decided the best choice was to go to Target.

oh our sufferings are so very small...

100/366

Officially one step closer,
by grace,
to Grace.

(at least one of us then takes a verydeepbreath...!)

99/366

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!

Raise your voice and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!

Christ has burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!

Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened Paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died, our souls to save, Alleluia!

Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!


Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven! Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the Resurrection, thou! Alleluia!

Public Domain
(Christ the Lord is Risen Today, words Latin Carol, translated by Charles Wesley, music Lyra Davidica)

He's alive again!

How could this happen?
Wasn't Jesus the Rescuer?
The King God had promised?
It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Yes, but whoever said anything about the end?

Just before sunrise, on the third day, God sent an earthquake- and an angel from heaven. When the guards saw the angel, they fell down with fright.
The angel rolled the huge stone away, sat on top of it, and waited.

At the first glimmer of dawn, Mary Magdalene and other women headed to the tomb to wash Jesus' body...

They peered through the opening into the dark tomb. But wait. Jesus' body was gone!

And something else: a shining man was there, with clothes made from lightning.
"Don't be scared," the angel said.
But (they couldn't help it) they screamed anyway.
The angel asked them, "What are you doing here? This is a tomb and tombs are for dead people."
The women couldn't speak.
"Jesus isn't dead anymore!" he said. "He's alive again!"

And their hearts leapt. And then the angel laughed with such gladness that they felt, for a moment, as if they had woken from a nightmare.

(from The Jesus Storybook Bible, "God's wonderful surprise," taken from Matthew 28 & Luke 24)
(art work: He is Risen (A) by He Qi, Art Works of He Qi, Gallery 3)

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chicken or egg?

97/366

exactly.
:-)

96/366

The evening was perfect for practice,
except for the mosquitoes that wanted to eat me alive!!

95/366

Mad Libs app- as funny as it was on paper.

94/366

Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, Sweet Cream & Cookies, and another Chunky Monkey.
Thanks Ben & Jerry's. Free Cone Day rocks!!

93/366

Of all the things that I did on Monday, getting Dillon groomed was definitely the most photogenic...

92/366

Robin's Eggs.
My favorite, hands down.

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
Lamentations 3:22-24

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We were awed by exactly how much damage the storm created, by the power of hail and wind and rain.

89/366

A baby shower and a reminder... ...choose this day whom you will serve.. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)