Seven Quick Takes- First day of Spring

1. First day of spring!! I found this poster when I did a Google image search for "first day of spring." It makes me smile. Look at the fine print- it's for an accordion trio. The first few moments of listening to that recording might just make me smile too. My S. has an accordion that her best buddy gave her. I think that was because her best buddy's mom wanted to get the accordion out of her house... :-)

2. The scene outside my window does not reflect an idyllic first day of spring scene. It is a blustery and the sky is gray. The trees remain bare. However, I see lilies poking their first spears of green out of the dirt, and with optimism, I am watching the buds on the lilac bush. That is the hope of spring.

3. We are home tonight. Every single member of our family. No practices. No meetings. No place to be- for the first time in a LONG time- maybe three weeks? This is good. Very good!

4. So what will we be doing? Watching basketball, of course. The entire family has filled out their picks and are waiting for the inevitable bracket busting upsets.

5. Spring sports season is in session at our house. Outdoor baseball and soccer practices started this week. That means it should snow again sometime in the next week or so... :-)

6. Daughter K has finished her research paper on the sources and effects of water pollution in the US. I am now affectionately referring to her as "My little GreenieWeenie."

7. My girls are becoming outstanding bakers. Fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Homemade pretzels today. This is a very positive (& tasty) development! I am blessed.

Others have Seven Quick Takes, too. Check them out at Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes

1. This article, which was a summary of this article, kept coming back to me this week- I can't figure how caring for human rights and caring for babies are separate...

2. And so did this one, and this quote from it: "We must be willing to be broken ourselves into prismatic shards by the Master Artist, God, so that Christ’s light can be refracted in us."

3. One more- This quote from this article: In his acceptance speech, Bishop Rucyahana made one statement I will never forget. Christians tend to say "I accepted Christ as my Savior." But Bishop John reversed that. He said, "Christ graciously accepted me and has called me to a mission." (And all God's people said, "Amen!")

4. My family is in the process of becoming missionaries with MTW and BEAMM. We've finished the extensive application process, and the next big task is to raise the financial and prayer support required to move to the field. It's all a big step of faith, but it's incredibly rewarding to see His hand at work in our lives, confirming, encouraging and exhorting us along the way. "For I know the plans I have for you...," He promises.

5. Megan at HalfPintHouse asks, "what's your Meyers-Briggs personality?" When I recently took the test, I came out ISFJ- strong I, strong J. My middle two letters are borderline. I haven't received a good answer yet- does that mean that I am either S or N, either F or T, or neither...? Want to try it?

6. On Saturday, five different members of my family are to be in four differnt places at 11:00. I'm thankful for friends!

7. Did anyone else notice the sky last night? That bright star just above the crescent moon was Venus. And look! There's more celestial excitement to come...

See what other quick takes are out there this Friday at Conversion Diary.