Friday Five #1

Today begins a new "regular" feature in Prone to Wander... The Friday Five.

I am inspired by a semi-regular feature in the World Herald on Thursdays, My Five, where folks play show & tell with five of their favorite things. I thought, it's pretty easy to come up with lists of five, and hence, the Friday Five.

So today,
Five Things That Make My Kids Laugh at Their Mom:

5. When I play my ITunes play list, or the discs I've made from it, I am constantly saying, "OH! This is one of my favorite songs!" HA! As they have pointed out, of course it is one of my favorite songs! I'm the one that put it there!

4. I talk to my dogs in the same voice I talk to my children. Yes, I know they don't answer. Don't worry, I know they don't understand. (well, Dillon doesn't understand. He's a terrier. Deakin, I think he understands, but that's a conversation for a different post...)

3. I wave at cars, thinking that I know the person driving, and 9 times out of 10, not only is it a complete stranger, it is the farthest person possible from who I think it was going to be. One time I thought I was waving at my daughter's beautiful petite Indian friend, and when I got closer, realized that it was a teenage African American boy. With an afro. OOPS! This week I managed to wave at someone I actually knew and my kids cheered, out loud!

2. Every winter, I fall down. It's never graceful. This winter, it was coming out of church. Left a big ol' bottom print on the sidewalk snow. Even threw my glasses off. Come on- admit it! Who doesn't laugh at physical humor? I even had to laugh at myself.

1. Now they are laughing because I came up with the idea for the "Friday Five" and I can only think of four things... alas...

stay tuned for next week... :-)

But the greatest of these...

"All things are possible to him who believes, they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easier to him who loves, and still more easy to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues."
Brother Lawrence, from The Practice of the Presence of God

dirty laundry

It never ends.

(but, if you are looking to avoid it, this will amuse you for another minute or so...)

Yes we can

For the record, this in no way constitutes an endorsement.

But, I do appreciate this rhetoric. It is from Barack Obama's speech after the New Hampshire primary. It even inspired a music video.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.
Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.
And so, tomorrow, as we take the campaign south and west, as we learn that the struggles of the textile workers in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas, that the hopes of the little girl who goes to the crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A., we will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation.
And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.

I wish the Republican candidates could give better speeches...

not for the kids

Adults only!
Hot chocolate fans.

This is not your ordinary cocoa.

yum!

Created to know Him...

from our family devotional this morning...

Westminister Shorter Catechism question 46.- What is required in the First Commandment?
A.The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.

from Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade:

"Do you remember the very first question and answer of this catechism? 'What is the primary purpose of man?' 'The primary purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.' God designed us to know Him, to enjoy Him, and to glorify Him. This first commandment tells us to have no gods but God. This is not at all an unreasonable command. It simply commands us to do what God created us to do. Because we were designed to enjoy and to glorify God, we will be the most satisfied and the most joyful when we are enjoying and glorifying God. So this first commandment requires us to do that which will make us the happiest.


Many people choose to serve other gods. They live to make money and have nice things or they live to have power or to have pleasure. They think they are doing what will make them happy, but they will finally discover that these things cannot satisfy them. God did not create people for these things. He created us to know Him."


Read Jeremiah 9:23-24

Snow Day

Snow days do not come often in the life of a home school family. We do our work and then enjoy the snow. The good side, no pesky snow days to "make up" at the tail end of the semester. But, we don't get too excited to wake up and see snow, thinking, "no school today!" Today, perhaps, is the closest we've come to a snow day in a long while.


We had a full day planned, and as the snow fell, and falls, every event began to fall away. No Latin class. No trio rehearsal. No road trip basketball game. And the best part? We didn't know to expect it when we began the day, so the work was in the process of being complete. The afternoon suddenly was wide open in front of us.


An entire day at home! Spicy Indian chicken in the crockpot. And now, laundry complete, floors vacuumned, dust off the sills, too?


Oh yes- and snow play! The girls concocted some colored liquids to make "snow kabobs" with. They sled. Now everyone warms with popcorn and a movie. I have two new magazines to enjoy. Yay for a snow day!

When the saints...

This weekend, a friend introduced me to a new disc, and I bought it that night. Lyrics that compel and a beautiful voice besides.
When the Saints sums up so much that cannot be easily put into words...
I want to be one of them.

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
but your word has compelled me
when I think of all who've gone before me and lived the faithful life

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call of freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the end of the spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the lepers side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

--When the Saints by Sara Groves

cold

I've tried all day to think of something else to write about, but it can't be avoided.

COLD!
When I woke up this morning, it was a reasonable 36 degrees. And it fell from there. And fell. And fell. And snowed. And the wind blew. And now, it is 7 degrees. And the wind is still blowing- 25 mph.
COLD!

It's warmer in other places. We'll think about that.

And have another cup of coffee...

You Have Loved Us First

A prayer from The Prayers of Kierkegaard, by Soren Kierkegaard:

Father in Heaven! You have loved us first, help us never to forget that You are love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts
over the seduction of the world,
over the inquietude of the soul,
over the anxiety for the future,
over the fright of the past,
over the distress of the moment.
But grant also that this conviction might discipline our soul so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom You have commanded us to love as we love ourselves.

You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if You have only loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing.
You have loved us first many times and every day and our whole life through.
When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul toward You- You are the first- You have loved us first;
if I rise at dawn and at the same second turn my soul toward You in prayer, You are there ahead of me, You have loved me first.
When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul toward You, You are the first and thus forever.
And yet we always speak ungratefully as if You have loved us first only once.

Children's Museum

Dilligent workers finished ahead of schedule this week, so we decided to take a mid-week visit to the Children's Museum, accompanied by two friends. Fun! The latest special exhibit is "FORE! The Planet," which was a good excuse to play some putt-putt golf. (Quote of the round- "Look! A hole in 15!" :-) )

Of course, there were all the usual favorite stops- the building, the balls, the market. Lots of art work, lots of tape, lots of glitter. A special Bubble lab show- even flaming! and floating! bubbles. They made Slime, a polymer you know..., in bright blue and green and red and pink.

To end the afternoon, and since we were already that close anyway, we had to stop at Ted & Wally's for ice cream. (who doesn't need ice cream when it's a whopping 14 degrees outside, right?) Strawberry, cinnamon, rootbeer, chocolate peanut butter cookie dough, and a chocolate shake make a sweet finish to a very sweet afternoon.

Basketball

Action shots from J (#55) playing basketball this week. Go Roadrunners!

If by Kipling

We are in the process of memorizing Rudyard Kipling's If. A great poem, If- it examines character and decision making and practical life application. Kipling composed If in language that even 3rd grade girls can understand, though I rather doubt that was his intent, and included examples that cause one to think, "yeah, that's happened to me, too!" And, Kipling wrote If in stanza easy to commit to memory, which we particulary appreciate.

Perhaps you haven't looked at If since you were a schoolchild. Look again! :-)

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Sunday Night Theater

Iron Chef America, watch out! There's competition from over the Pond!

The ladies of the household gathered together tonight, all in one very cozy bed, I might add, to watch this week's installment of PBS' Masterpiece Theater, The Complete Jane Austin. Tonight introduced us to Catherine Morland and Northanger Abbey. We especially delighted in the ending, and I believe that at least some of us will be back for Mansfield Park next week.

Father Tim on love

Wisdom from Father Tim, to son Dooley, on love:

"Love each other," he said. "Whatever you decide to do with your lives, love each other.

"Loving can be hard. Sometimes we don't feel loving, but it isn't all about feeling. Very often it's about will. Practice that if you can." He thought he may have said too much, but he looked him in the eyes, and knew he had not.

A request

Love through me, Love of God;
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which, unhindered, colors pass
As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of God,
Depths of the heart Divine,
O Love that faileth not, break forth,
And flood this world of Thine.

-Amy Carmichael, from If

So sad...

I remember the wedding, so beautiful, the bride in black and white. (Spiderman wasn't in color in my newspaper back then...)

But, in a tragic turn of events, it looks like Spiderman and MaryJane are no longer married.
Sigh.

Spidey! What about the vows?

Obviously the students need more work to do...

These are the photos that appeared on my camera today.

It doesn't seem fair that the most annoying member of our household is getting more blog time than anyone...

Happy Mail!

Once the Christmas flurry of packages and greetings finishes, our mail tends to be the necessary and tedious things of life- income tax statements, notices for fees and licensing to the city, reminders of to-do's...

Until Saturday!
When, much to my surprise, I received a package labeled "Happy Mail!"
And it was!

My good friend Julie in Washington is perhaps the craftiest person I know. I mean that "crafty" in the nicest possible sense! :-) She recently started a new blog. And by some unexpected and unplanned turn of events, I happened to be the first to comment on her new blog, and she sent me a prize- a very cute little journal, that she created especially for me, thinking of the upcoming travel I'll be doing.

Happy mail, indeed!! I was delighted! What a perfect little gift. And she handcrafted it herself! It has lined paper for notes, tabs for photos, even a little pocket for tickets and momentos.

I am eager to put it to use, friend. You blessed me. And even more, reminded me that I should send some happy mail out. This could be a new trend... (just don't expect handmade craftiness from this address... :-) )

Not the world's view...

from The Valley of Vision:

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to posess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

"The Hairy Dog"

Here's a poem we read in school today- and we couldn't help but think of a dog WE know...

My dog's so furry, I've not seen

His face for years and years:

His eyes are buried out of sight,

I only guess his ears.

When people ask me for his breed,

I do not know or care:

He has the beauty of them all

Hidden beneath his hair.

(don't worry, Dillon; we'll get you a haircut when it warms up a bit...)

"Spirituality for ordinary folk"

Let us unceasingly impress upon every soul that the invitation of this gentle, loving Savior expects nothing difficult or extraordinary of them. Indeed, God is only asking for your heart. Everyone can aspire to the same love, the same surrender, the same God and his work."

- from Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751), The Sacrament of the Present Moment

More than certainty...

Confidence.

Thanks to Andree Seu for reminding me of the subtle difference once again.

(and, while you are there, you can't go wrong checking out the rest of the December 29, 2007 issue of World. Good stuff!)

A Movie Review

Willing suspension of disbelief:
a literary term, referring to the "willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. It also refers to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises."

Take a heaping helping of willing suspension of disbelief when you go to see National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets. But don't let that stop you from you from going to see it.

The H. family enjoyed National Treasure 1 (not to mention, the draw of Mount Rushmore in the previews, my all-time favorite national landmark, was too much to resist!) and so with a kind gift for the kids (thanks Aunt Lu!), we pooled our resources and queued up for a rare first-run movie viewing with the entire family. NT2 finds the characters searching for treasure, this time in order to save the Gates' family name and honor. A crazy succession of events and scenarios follows (and plenty of gasps of THAT couldn't happen! from me), but it was fun and family friendly and good entertainment on a winter day, and what more can you ask for in a film? We especially enjoyed the goofy character of Riley, the idea of the President hitchhiking on the side of the road, and pondering the thought of how all that gold got there, anyway?

14 H thumbs up for NT2!

Feasts and Scrabble

We enjoyed, devoured, reveled, in a Christmas feast with most dear friends this year. It's not any ol' couple that will invite our crew to dinner! And what a dinner! Complete with Christmas crackers. We're grateful, for full stomachs, and even more, sweet fellowship.

Then, in an effort to avoid the post-dinner nap (all those familiar with H's patterns are smiling now...), we pulled out the Scrabble board. Not just any Scrabble board. This is Super Scrabble, complete with quadruple letter and quadruple word scores and lots more letters. The boys took on two teams of girls, and despite our best efforts, the boys won. (if I could figure out how, I would have written that last part in very tiny print...) Good show, men!

Christmas past

What a cool gift! My sister scanned a bunch of old photos and sent them to me via email!

So, a flash from the past...
Christmas, oh, 1969 or '70....

:-)

Merry Christmas!

That's what Christmas is all about

This is my FAVORITE (with capital letters!) of holiday clips. As my kids will be quick to tell anyone, I have it memorized and blurt it out at least daily between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But perhaps Linus recites these ancient words, this glorious promise, the best...
Enjoy.

a stone's throw from...

...celebrity?
Who knew?
My neck of the woods has been the scene of all sorts of celebrity sightings in the last week.

First, Bono ate just down the road. Twice.
Then, I discovered scenes from a major motion picture (isn't that what you always hear, "major motion picture"?) were being filmed at a house just four blocks west of my house.

Go figure... :-)

Holliday elves

This little clip is very amusing. (it's even more amusing with the boys, including the dogs, dancing, but, alas, we lost that one...)

Get ready to giggle.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1708700818

Christmas tea party and cookie exchange

Yum!

when it's snowy and cold...

where do we go?

To the desert.

To the jungle.

To the beach.

ok. Really, we just go to the zoo.

And for a short time, we are transported.

The Desert Dome actually seemed sunny on Wednesday.

It was feeding time in the aquarium, so we were able to watch sharks and rays and turtles gobble lunch.

The jungle steamed up my glasses.

The kids swung from vines like monkeys. Really!

It was a good get-away, with good friends.

And it warmed us, in and out.

It's a Risk...

We're on Christmas holiday and it's game-o-rama around here. Recent family faves are Blokus, Risk, Life and Scrabble. That might change after Christmas... :-) (oh what a tease for young family blog readers...)

Holliday concerts...

'Tis the season for lots of holiday music. Last week was a two-gig (stealing Auntie's lingo there...) week- the first with Veritas, the home school choir all five H kids sing with. Great concert. Lousy photos- low light in the church. But, take my word for it- everyone looked and sounded great... :-)

The next day, three of our piano students played in the "Holiday Under the Glass" lunchtime concert series at the Joslyn Museum. Now that's a setting with better lighting! So, I'm trying a "Prone to Wander" first- home video. (forgive the marginal audio- it's just a camera you know, and I'm not claiming to be a professional...) There's a bobble in the middle of the piece (which shows on the players faces...), but overall, it was a good show.

Here's a photo of the "glass"- one of my favorites from WA artist Dale Chihuly. And, a photo with another duet group. L. also played a piece with a boy from the studio, and they played well, even with only one rehearsal. It's fun to see fruit from the labors at home and in lessons...

Cyber-friends...

C.S. Lewis wrote, "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one."

I have a group of friends that was "born" at exactly that moment, when we each discovered we were not the only ones. This group of friends came together WAY back in 1995- when we all discovered each other on that new-fangled internet, in a chat room titled "Summerbaby '95". We all had babies that were born in the summer of 1995. So we chatted. We chatted about babies, and all that, and then, lo, time went by and we chatted about everything under the sun, and imagine!, 12 years later, and we're still chatting, only it's never about babies, and truthfully, it's only sometimes about kids. :-)

These friends are a group of women that live across the country, from sea to shining sea, from California and the Pacific Northwest all the way over to Massachusettes and down to Florida, and all kinds of places in between. They are professionals of all kinds of occupations, from all sorts of faith backgrounds and education and polititical leanings and experiences. We can be an opinionated bunch, but are mindful of being respectful, and grateful for the opportunity to hear from "the other side" in a safe place.

And every year for about the last 10 years, we have a gift exchange around Christmas time. We trade names and send each other ornaments. And then we get online with Instant Messenger (much to my AOL hating husband's chagrin...) and open up our gifts in a flurry of typing. So, look at what I received THIS year! (that's the photo at the top!) A very cool and artsy punched out tin angel. It is perfect for me. Thanks my friend, Michelle. You, and everyone else in our Summermoms, are precious gems.

Hey! Unto you a child is born!

Our family just finished reading this treasure of a little book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...

H. Family Recommendation: put this one on your list of "Best Christmas Reads for the Whole Family." Two thumbs up, especially for this having-a-hard-time-getting-into-what-should-be-the-"ChristmasSpirit"-mom.

A piece from towards the end of the story...
"When Imogene had asked me what the pageant was about, I told her it was about Jesus, but that was just part of it. It was about a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble- no money, no place to go, no doctor, nobody they knew. And then, arriving from the East (like my uncle from New Jersey) some rich friends.
But Imogene, I guess, didn't see it that way. Christmas just came over her all at once, like a case of chills and fever. And so she was crying, and walking into furniture."

I'm all for a little more crying, and even running into furniture if I have to, to see Christmas, the wonder of that baby born, God incarnate (how can we really fathom?!), again this year. Thanks, Imogene Herdman.

..it sets my heart astir!

Thanks to XM Online (love that!), I discovered a new-to-me hymn yesterday- beautiful! I know the music is familiar (this links to an audio clip I found, scroll down...), and one of more more musically savvy friends will probably come up with why I know it- a hymn by another name? But, besides that- look at the words. This is what Winter Wonderland is REALLY about!

I haven't bought a disc for one song in a while, but this might be reason... :-)

What Is This Lovely Fragrance Stealing?
[French traditional]

What is this lovely Fragrance stealing,
Shepherds, that fills the winter air?
Never was sweetness so appealing
Never were flowers of spring so fair
What is this lovely Fragrance stealing,
Shepherds, that fills the winter air?

What is this Light so fair, so tender
Breaking upon our wond'ring eyes
Never the Morning Star so radiant
Followed his course o'er eastern skies
What is this Light so fair, so tender
Breaking upon our wond'ring eyes

What is this Wonder all around us
Filling the air with Music light?
Shepherds! Some magic here hath found us!
Never mine ears knew such delight!
What is this Wonder all around us
Filling the air with Music light!

What is this lovely Fragrance stealing?
Shepherds! It sets my heart astir!
Never was sweetness so appealing
Never were flowers of spring so fair
What is this lovely Fragrance stealing?
Shepherds! it sets my heart astir!

ice

"The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around;

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Like noises in a swound!"

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

This picture only adequately shows the ice that hangs around this morning. One branch almost touches the ground, heavy with ice. But, now at mid-morning, the temperatures are beginning to rise over freezing, so hopefully, recovery will be swift.

And, what is a swound? :-)

Simple love

Thought provoking study on looking at marriage and being a wife this week, from The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood. On the kingdom purposes in marriage. On opportunities to "grow in holiness." On the idea of "oneness," with unity and diversity.

Author Susan Hunt writes, "Submission and respect nourish oneness. These attitudes and actions do not oppress a woman but are restorative. They help to restore the intimacy and harmonious complementarity of the pre-Fall marriage relationship. Submission and respect are life-giving. They breathe hesed (Hebrew: goodness) into a marriage relationship."

Of course, Hunt reminds us that "we must go to the depths of the gospel before we can joyfully embrace the concept of submission. ...The fact that the Son sumbits to the Father 'does not mean that the Son is inferior in dignity and being. Rather, in His messianic work the Son subjects Himself to the will of the Father... The climax of Christ's submissive, messianic work is this total conquest over His enemies, that God may be all in all, when His absolute rule is universally acknowledged."

And then, doesn't it come down to a practical application of loving selflessly, that act that is so unnatural and yet, so good? I think of the sweet chorus of a favorite Allison Krauss song:
I want a simple love like that
Always giving, never askin' back
For when I'm in my final hour lookin' back
I hope I had a simple love like that

So do I.

He who dwells... (Ps. 91:1)

Over the last week, at every moment I could get away with it, I've been soaking up this memoir of Jim Elliot. Soaking up like a sponge! This book challenges and exhorts and encourages and comfirms. Its words inspire and cause one to question himself, especially in light of the Lord. There was very little wasted in Elliot's life, not time, not energy, not things- his was a life lived with deliberate and prayerful purpose.

I started Shadow by borrowing a friend's copy, and quickly realized that I needed my own, to mark and go back and reference.

Here's just one thought from Elliot, of many, that impresses me. Wife Elisabeth writes:

"Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." God had given us that desire, and perhaps in the sense in which Jim had interpreted it in a letter to me written in 1949:

"It does not say He will give you what you want. It does say He will give you the want. Delight in Christ brings desire for Christ. He gives the heart its desires- that is, He works in us the willing (Philippians 2:13). This is why He can say in John 15:7 'Ye shall ask what ye will... if ye abide.' The branch takes its sap from the vine, the same surges the vine feels then become the surges of the branch. My will becomes His, and I can ask what I will, if I delight myself in Him. Only then can my desire be attained, when it is His desire."

Make a Joyful Noise!

The Psalms are full of references to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord."

Psalm 95:1- Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Psalm 95:2- Make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Psalm 98:1- Make a joyful noise to the LORD.
Psalm 98:4- Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth...
Psalm 98:6- ...make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
Psalm 100:1- Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

And until now, my praise has been joyful, but perhaps in comparison to my more melodious friends and family, a bit of noise.

NO MORE!

I have joined, if just for a short season, the ranks of musicians!
I am in the bell choir!

What fun!
Harder than it looks, I'll tell you.
I'm E6 and F6. I often have notes in succession. I even almost have a solo. :-)

To edit Psalm 71:23 just a little bit...
My lips will shout for joy when I ring praises to You!

Since I've been gone...

How nice! My three regular readers missed me. :-)


Here's some of the goings-on in the last week or so-

Family came to visit. Here's Su and cousin Sh from MI.

And Mom and Dad H. (Notice the middle guy. As friend Kenny says, "one word. Headbladedotcom.")

A trip to the zoo. Someone should market jellyfish tanks as a relaxation device...

A Curious George sighting at the Durham Western Heritage Museum. We were there for the Christmas tree lighting. Beautiful huge and full tree in a stately setting.

And lots of cards and games, lots of shopping, lots of eating, and a couple of great worship services besides.

We are blessed.

And thankful.

Harder and Easier

Excerpt from Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked– the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”

Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”- in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” He means both. And one can just see why both are true.

Ref:
Matthew 10:38
Matthew 16:24
Mark 8:34
Luke 9:23
Matthew 11:30

(photo from National Geographic.com- a Malay woman with rice seedlings. I think Christ's yoke is easier...)

Crunch and Rustle

A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air.- Eric Sloane

It was Yard Help Day at our place, but not all work and no play. After all, who can resist a pile of leaves?

"The Freest of All God's Acts"

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Romans 11:6

"Grace would not be grace if it were a response to resources in us. Grace is grace because it highlights God's own overflowing resources of kindness. Grace is eternal because it will take that long for God to expend inexhaustible stores of goodness on us. Grace is free because God would not be the infinite, self-sufficient God he is if he were constrained by anything outside himself."
John Piper, Future Grace

Thoughts to ponder on for a while, with utter gratitude and wonder...

Bizarre Foods

Our normal Monday date night plans were altered last night when our regular show wasn't on. So, in search of adventure, we turned to the Travel Channel and found Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. WHOA! And let me say again... WHOA! This guy eats some nasty stuff! Last night he was in Ecuador where local cuisine includes such delicacies as roasted cuye (can I just say, an animal that we have kept as a pet...), a choice of soups (do you prefer the inside or outside of the stomach?), coconut grubs (fat little guys!), and a vitamin-filled aloe vera drink that seemed to have a consistency similar to, well, snot? I know that my faithful readers are intrigued!

But, we have to admit, Mr. Iron Stomach Zimmern made us laugh out loud, and fresh empanadas don't seem all that bad! You can check out his entire trip here.

Next week, we do hope to be travelling again with our Trekker friends, but Bizarre Foods was an amusing diversion for a week, anyway...

Happy eating!

One Semester of Spanish - Love Song

This might be the silliest of "Silliness" posts (or maybe that should be Tonteria con accento sobre el "i"...). Gracias a Escott for a blip that caused our entire familiy to laugh out loud!

Bump, Set, Spike!

This weekend, you'll find us at the National Home School Volleyball Tournament. 40 teams of volleyball playing young ladies, and some very competitive volleyball going on!

Go Warriors!

::: UPDATE ::: Here's a link to a story on the Tournament that appeared on the local news last night (November 1). Check out the video, too. Thanks WOWT!

"Ketchup? Puh-leeeese!"...

...says the salsa package.

A big THANKS to Taco Bell, who provided us with 6 tasty and free tacos yesterday. We appreciate that! And, it reedems the Boston Red Sox just a little bit, too...

Faith in what?

I've recently been challenged by the idea of "faith." We so often hear of faith spoken of, as if "faith" were the religion or the god, itself. Faith in what, I ask? I remember pop singer George Michael in the 80's crooning, "I've just gotta have faith..." Catchy song. Questionable faith. (and no comments on lifestyle choices of Mr. Michael, please. This is a family blog... :-) )

For the Christian believer, faith must be in God, the one true God, and in Christ's saving work on the cross. But, do we trust in that faith, in that God, enough?
Oswald Chambers addresses just that issue, faith, in the Utmost reading for today...

Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him- I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him"- this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.

Observation

New house rule:
If mom can hear the music in the dining room, it is too loud...

(ps: bedrooms are above and below...)
(pps: only 12 more teenager years to go... :-) )