O.K., so I was at this fabulous Women of Faith Conference this past weekend with amazing speakers who have been through some terribly painful life experiences. They are testimonies to God's grace and faithfulness, and I'm sure I'll have more to write about regarding their impact upon me later, BUT...
Yesterday, I was thinking about Nicole C. Mullen and how muscular her arms are. She was one of the singers there, and she choreographed these incredible dances along with her daughters to her song Freedom. That girl can jam, and Brandey and I were dancing in our spots, because we just couldn't help it! Both of us noticed her little, defined biceps on her thin arms, and I thought about how I've always wanted to have at least one identifiable muscle that was visible (complete vanity, I know, but there it is). My tennis coach made me run extra laps in high school, because he said I had chicken legs and wouldn't ever intimidate anyone with them; well it didn't work. No matter how much I run, I just don't have outgoing muscles. They're rather shy.
All that to say, yesterday I decided to try to work on my arms. I grabbed my little 10 pound weights and headed to the living room. I thought it might be a good idea to stretch first, so I reached up very high and then reached down... and then it happened...
Without bending my knees, I reached all the way to my toes!! No problem, I didn't even realize it until it happened. This is huge! I'm really out of proportion with a short little torso and legs the same length as my 6'2" husband, so I've never done this before.
"Girls, look at this! LOOK AT THIS!"
"So," says my splits-every direction, dancing daughter.
"I'm calling your Dad right now, I can't believe this!"
The conversation went something like this...
"Hello"
"Hi, Honey, are you still out to lunch with Gerhard (one of our deacons)?"
(Bad Signal) "What?"
I repeated the question.
"Yeah, I'm still at the restaurant."
"O, well, um I just wanted to call and let you know that I just touched my toes without even bending my knees at all."
"What?" (Bad Signal)
I repeated the news.
"O, good, talk to you later."
Sometimes, I just have to celebrate the little things.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
What I was thinking during the sermon
I love my husband.
Maybe it's because I was gone all weekend at a women's conference and missed him. Maybe it's because I arrived home last night at 2:something a.m. and had to go to church and teach Sunday school this morning, so instead of listening intently to his sermon, I watched him preach. Maybe it's because I shared parts of our dating story with my girlfriends during our drive home from this conference. Maybe it's because this man who had to do a wedding, rehearsal and dinner, finish preparing a Sunday morning sermon, take Abby to where she would get a ride to a volleyball game, take Emma to violin lessons, take all of the girls to the home of the (may God's blessings abound to these people) wonderful family who watched the girls while he worked... truly hoped I would have a wonderful time at this conference. We didn't quite realize all of the schedule conflicts back when the conference tickets were bought.
As I watched him preach this morning I thought about how I love growing with him. I thought about how handsome he looked up there without his glasses (don't get me wrong, the glasses are dashing, too; I'm just telling you what I was thinking). I thought about how much I love our conversations and how far we've come from our dating days. I thought about how happy (genuinely happy) I am to be on this adventure of life together.
On Thursday before we left for the conference, I decided to go for a run and release those stress endorphins or free radicals or whatever they are. It was so good to once again run out in the beauty of our Hesston arboretum filled with native Kansas vegetation surrounding a large pond. I noticed an older couple up ahead of me, and as I neared them I noticed a sweet little lady in a wheelchair being ever-so-tenderly pushed along by her husband who looked tremendously old.
I honestly don't know if I have ever seen two more beautiful smiles than on the faces of these two. I felt I was invading a private moment as I ran by them. He was talking to her, slowly pushing her chair, taking in the birds. Just as I felt I should reverently turn around, they both looked up at me with more genuine joy in their faces than I can describe. I felt almost as if they were inviting me into their joy, sharing a bit of it with me. These faces had been trained into such smiles that I couldn't imagine how that expression could possibly be contorted into dislike or general discontentedness.
I ran by them once more, this time at the place where the path is right up next to the water. This man had pushed his wife close and pointed, as he tucked his cheek right next to her temple, talking about what he was seeing in the water. This was beyond sweet, this was romantic. This couple once again beamed up at me as I ran by, and I thought, "They can't help it."
Whatever has gone on in their life, they can't get over each other and they can't get over smiling. They hadn't stopped talking to each other, because there was still so much life to enjoy together right there at the Hesston arboretum.
Maybe that's what I was thinking about.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Re-entry
Wow - Am I ever out of touch with reality! We are having a great vacation; lots to do, but lots of fun. We head to Dallas tomorrow for a few days.
I laid in bed last night unable to sleep, because I was pondering my upcoming re-entry into reality. I mean, I'm way out of it right now: Greg can see, we have instant babysitters every where, we are walking-distance away from too many great restaurants and shopping opportunities to count, I have birthday money to spend at such places, we have no work and no school (and I'm actually having no problem getting used to this), great books are lying around to be picked up and perused at my leisure, lots of food, great conversation, no real schedules, no mail or bills: major vacation. This is good except that reality will come, and I'm feeling a little concerned about that part.
I have this way of ruining a perfectly good escape from reality by letting that reality invade me in the form of anxiety. A good friend called on my cell phone today to wish me a Happy Birthday, and this good friend challenged me to do no such thing. "There's nothing you can do about reality here while you're on vacation there, so just wait until you get home."
I guess the idea is: it'll be ridiculous anyway, just pile it on at once. I like this advice in theory. I will try to put it into practice over the next few days. However, there is no escaping the reality that today, I am 35 - a few stray gray hairs occasionally wildly growing out of my part. My latest hair-cutting lady said it will be awhile before they really show up with my hair color. For now, I'm plucking.
Happy Birthday to my brother, Paul who shares this special day with me exactly two years apart:
I laid in bed last night unable to sleep, because I was pondering my upcoming re-entry into reality. I mean, I'm way out of it right now: Greg can see, we have instant babysitters every where, we are walking-distance away from too many great restaurants and shopping opportunities to count, I have birthday money to spend at such places, we have no work and no school (and I'm actually having no problem getting used to this), great books are lying around to be picked up and perused at my leisure, lots of food, great conversation, no real schedules, no mail or bills: major vacation. This is good except that reality will come, and I'm feeling a little concerned about that part.
I have this way of ruining a perfectly good escape from reality by letting that reality invade me in the form of anxiety. A good friend called on my cell phone today to wish me a Happy Birthday, and this good friend challenged me to do no such thing. "There's nothing you can do about reality here while you're on vacation there, so just wait until you get home."
I guess the idea is: it'll be ridiculous anyway, just pile it on at once. I like this advice in theory. I will try to put it into practice over the next few days. However, there is no escaping the reality that today, I am 35 - a few stray gray hairs occasionally wildly growing out of my part. My latest hair-cutting lady said it will be awhile before they really show up with my hair color. For now, I'm plucking.
Happy Birthday to my brother, Paul who shares this special day with me exactly two years apart:
You say it's your birthday...
It's my birthday too, yeah!
Now it's out for Mexican food in honor of both birthdays and in honor of Mexican food. See you later, reality.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Onion Truck
Well, here we are... on vacation in San Antonio. So much has happened, I don't know where to begin.
O.K., I'll start with the exciting moment during the 11 hour drive here which happened in Texas (I think, or was it Oklahoma?) when we drove by an onion truck. Really, a real truckload of onions, an 18-wheeler truckload of stacks upon stacks of onions all covered with tarps. Thinking this was a fairly amazing thing to see, I enthusiastically pointed this out to the rest of the crew in the minivan.
"Wow," said Greg rather unenthusiastically.
"What, Honey, have you ever seen a real live truckload of onions driving right next to you before?"
"Well, no, but I've always figured that's how they get from one place to another."
This, coming from the very same man who moments before had said how he needs to learn to enjoy the experience of the journey more and not just obsess over the destination. Obviously he is not quite ready to work on that.
On to Fiesta Texas... A fabulous time was had by all. I feel at least 15 years younger, because I went on the scariest rides I have ever ridden at an amusement park. Threw caution to the wind is what I did, because I seem to have made a daredevil of a first-born somehow. By default, being the only one who doesn't actually become physically ill from such rides, I was the appointed terrifying rides companion for Abby.
The truth is: I loved it! For the first time ever, I really enjoyed scary rides. I went on my very first loop-the-loop roller coaster. BUT, Abby and I BOTH HATED THE RATTLER (what used to be the world's largest wooden roller coaster, or something like that, it had to be tamed down a bit because of lawsuits over whiplash and the like). Poor Abby had a terrible headache the rest of the day after that one, and her neck muscles are still tight. And, Greg did ride on a ride he actually enjoyed... The Ferris Wheel!
On to THE SURGERY... Greg did great! Abby and Emma and I watched the whole thing on a big screen. It was an odd combination of make-you-queasy-creepy and absolutely amazing all at once. We had some concerns after the pre-op appointment, because as it turns out, Greg is not so far from Bartimaus after all. His eyes were so bad, he almost wasn't a candidate. We are so thankful to have had this particular doctor, and the surgery seems to have been a great success, but he's still in process. His eyes were too swollen today at his post-op, so we're going in for another check tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Greg is taking me out to a fancy outdoor shopping experience called The Shops at La Cantera for a birthday date (early, it's not actually til the twelfth). He and his parents went in on gift cards for me to any of the shops there. I am SO excited to 1) go shopping with money, 2) have a date with Greg, 3) Go out to eat for lunch somewhere yummy, and 4) go shopping with money. I'll keep you posted...
O.K., I'll start with the exciting moment during the 11 hour drive here which happened in Texas (I think, or was it Oklahoma?) when we drove by an onion truck. Really, a real truckload of onions, an 18-wheeler truckload of stacks upon stacks of onions all covered with tarps. Thinking this was a fairly amazing thing to see, I enthusiastically pointed this out to the rest of the crew in the minivan.
"Wow," said Greg rather unenthusiastically.
"What, Honey, have you ever seen a real live truckload of onions driving right next to you before?"
"Well, no, but I've always figured that's how they get from one place to another."
This, coming from the very same man who moments before had said how he needs to learn to enjoy the experience of the journey more and not just obsess over the destination. Obviously he is not quite ready to work on that.
On to Fiesta Texas... A fabulous time was had by all. I feel at least 15 years younger, because I went on the scariest rides I have ever ridden at an amusement park. Threw caution to the wind is what I did, because I seem to have made a daredevil of a first-born somehow. By default, being the only one who doesn't actually become physically ill from such rides, I was the appointed terrifying rides companion for Abby.
The truth is: I loved it! For the first time ever, I really enjoyed scary rides. I went on my very first loop-the-loop roller coaster. BUT, Abby and I BOTH HATED THE RATTLER (what used to be the world's largest wooden roller coaster, or something like that, it had to be tamed down a bit because of lawsuits over whiplash and the like). Poor Abby had a terrible headache the rest of the day after that one, and her neck muscles are still tight. And, Greg did ride on a ride he actually enjoyed... The Ferris Wheel!
On to THE SURGERY... Greg did great! Abby and Emma and I watched the whole thing on a big screen. It was an odd combination of make-you-queasy-creepy and absolutely amazing all at once. We had some concerns after the pre-op appointment, because as it turns out, Greg is not so far from Bartimaus after all. His eyes were so bad, he almost wasn't a candidate. We are so thankful to have had this particular doctor, and the surgery seems to have been a great success, but he's still in process. His eyes were too swollen today at his post-op, so we're going in for another check tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Greg is taking me out to a fancy outdoor shopping experience called The Shops at La Cantera for a birthday date (early, it's not actually til the twelfth). He and his parents went in on gift cards for me to any of the shops there. I am SO excited to 1) go shopping with money, 2) have a date with Greg, 3) Go out to eat for lunch somewhere yummy, and 4) go shopping with money. I'll keep you posted...
Friday, August 31, 2007
VACATION
Vacation is coming... Two whole weeks of blessed vacation. We're heading south on Sunday right after church to:
drive 11 1/2 hours to Greg's parents which will bring us in at midnightish
spend the next day at Fiesta Texas Amusement Park - the children are seriously hyper over this one
spend the next couple of days in prep appointments and LASER SURGERY so that my husband Bartimaus will finally SEE! Greg is seriously hyper over this one
chill, eat great food and way too much like all good Americans on vacation
read, I hope
head to my parents' house for great fun, great food and way too much of it, and see my brother and grandparents, aunt and uncle...
and head to Brian and Melanie's (Greg's brother and sister-in-law's) house in Dallas for a few days of more great fun before the trip home.
I am so thankful for family who loves us and lets us invade their homes for long periods of time, I'm thankful for the conversations and memories we enjoy and make, and I'm also thankful that our families live in really big cities! :)
I'll try to keep you posted on Greg's eye surgery - this is a gift that was given to us; we are thrilled!
Until later, Adios.
drive 11 1/2 hours to Greg's parents which will bring us in at midnightish
spend the next day at Fiesta Texas Amusement Park - the children are seriously hyper over this one
spend the next couple of days in prep appointments and LASER SURGERY so that my husband Bartimaus will finally SEE! Greg is seriously hyper over this one
chill, eat great food and way too much like all good Americans on vacation
read, I hope
head to my parents' house for great fun, great food and way too much of it, and see my brother and grandparents, aunt and uncle...
and head to Brian and Melanie's (Greg's brother and sister-in-law's) house in Dallas for a few days of more great fun before the trip home.
I am so thankful for family who loves us and lets us invade their homes for long periods of time, I'm thankful for the conversations and memories we enjoy and make, and I'm also thankful that our families live in really big cities! :)
I'll try to keep you posted on Greg's eye surgery - this is a gift that was given to us; we are thrilled!
Until later, Adios.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Yelling at Boz
Had an interesting experience today right before language arts. I went for a run during math - after making sure Abby and Emma knew what they were doing and setting Grace in front of a sweet little DVD about a big green bear named Boz who always knows just how small children should obey the Lord in every situation. It was a free promotional thing from a Christian bookstore.
Anyway, we had just finished spelling out on the back patio (it is a beautiful, cool day today), and Abby and Emma had a few minutes of free time before language arts. At about 5 minutes before language arts was supposed to happen, I could not find Abby.
Before delving any deeper into this story, I have to tell you that my family of origin is made up of people with exceptional vocal projection. We are not yellers by any means, but we are gifted hollerers. There IS a difference. Yelling happens when you're mad, hollering happens quite naturally for any reason.
Well, I hollered down the stairs for Abby to come up for language arts. No response. I heard her stereo playing in her room, so I hollered a little louder. No response. At this point I began to get a little irritated. She just purchased her stereo with birthday money, and our rule has been: No playing the stereo loud in the room with the door closed so that you can't hear us!
Now, I YELLED (no more hollering), "Abigail Sarah, get up here for language arts!!!!" No response. This was so out of character for her, and I refused, at this point to go down there. No sir, I was going to see just how loud I had to scream before she would hear me, you know, to prove a point, teach a lesson or something. Poor Grace looked at me like I was a maniac (can't imagine why)...
It was at this time, that Emma came inside and said, "Mom, Abby is riding her bike out in front of the house."
"Oh."
Anyway, we had just finished spelling out on the back patio (it is a beautiful, cool day today), and Abby and Emma had a few minutes of free time before language arts. At about 5 minutes before language arts was supposed to happen, I could not find Abby.
Before delving any deeper into this story, I have to tell you that my family of origin is made up of people with exceptional vocal projection. We are not yellers by any means, but we are gifted hollerers. There IS a difference. Yelling happens when you're mad, hollering happens quite naturally for any reason.
Well, I hollered down the stairs for Abby to come up for language arts. No response. I heard her stereo playing in her room, so I hollered a little louder. No response. At this point I began to get a little irritated. She just purchased her stereo with birthday money, and our rule has been: No playing the stereo loud in the room with the door closed so that you can't hear us!
Now, I YELLED (no more hollering), "Abigail Sarah, get up here for language arts!!!!" No response. This was so out of character for her, and I refused, at this point to go down there. No sir, I was going to see just how loud I had to scream before she would hear me, you know, to prove a point, teach a lesson or something. Poor Grace looked at me like I was a maniac (can't imagine why)...
It was at this time, that Emma came inside and said, "Mom, Abby is riding her bike out in front of the house."
"Oh."
I went downstairs and saw that I had been yelling at Boz this whole time. He had just been going on and on down there, because well, he hadn't been turned off.
I sheepishly went upstairs and said, "Sorry Mommy was yelling, Grace. I shouldn't have yelled so loudly for Abby."
"No," she said, "I hold my hands over my ears for FIVE minutes! I don't like that."
"Yeah, me neither. I won't do that again! I was yelling at Boz."
She again looked at me like I was one loony lady. "Mommy, you can't yell at Boz; he can't even talk to you."
Lesson learned.
I sheepishly went upstairs and said, "Sorry Mommy was yelling, Grace. I shouldn't have yelled so loudly for Abby."
"No," she said, "I hold my hands over my ears for FIVE minutes! I don't like that."
"Yeah, me neither. I won't do that again! I was yelling at Boz."
She again looked at me like I was one loony lady. "Mommy, you can't yell at Boz; he can't even talk to you."
Lesson learned.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
49 Years
Yesterday I called my mother-in-law to wish her and my father-in-law a Happy Anniversary. They had just gotten home from their celebration dinner at Outback Steak House.
"So, did y'all exchange gifts?" I asked.
She went on to tell me how Jack (my father-in-law) had lost his wedding ring years ago. It had something to do with separating a lot of beef into smaller portions and perhaps a sink, but after that experience, his ring went missing. And they never found it, not even in one of their packages of beef.
I couldn't believe I hadn't heard this story before, I just knew I hadn't noticed him wearing a wedding band. Well, Sandy went on to tell me that what Jack really wanted for their anniversary was a new wedding band and how they had picked one out and how it was his birthday present too (which was just on the 21st of August).
Misty-eyed, I said, "Sandy, I think I'm going to cry. I love that!"
And I do. I love that in celebration of 49 years of faithful commitment to each other through ups and downs, when most folks wouldn't really bother, Jack wants to make sure the world knows that he is married to this woman. I love that they get to shop for a wedding band.
Congratulations on 49 years together, Jack and Sandy! I love you.
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