Good News!

As we drove into the neighborhood today after being on vacation, we stopped by the mailbox to pick up three days of mail. On the short drive down our street, I saw a letter addressed to me from the church where I grew up, my parents still attend, and the girls went to Vacation Bible School just over a week ago.

I thought it was just some form letter they sent out to all the families of the kids to follow up after VBS. I was only partly right. It was a form letter, but I don't think they send this one to everyone.

The second paragraph started out "this is to let you know that your child made a decision for Christ..."

I showed to Hubby, who was driving. "Interesting..."

After we got home and unloaded the car, I was so tired I went upstairs and took a nap. While I was sleeping, Hubby talked with Big Girl. After I got up, we all talked again.

We knew that Big Girl understood the whole thing about Jesus dying on the cross and all that for a while now, but we had never really put any pressure on her to make a decision. I'm glad we didn't. We are both certain that she has come to this on her own. There may be a day down the road where she questions her childish understanding, and has to nail it down again, but that's a faith growing experience too. It won't mean that this isn't real right now. She has child-like faith, and that's all Jesus says she needs. She just didn't know she was supposed to tell us about it.

That is so like her.

I praise God that my baby is now a sister in Christ.

Sweet Friends & Family Memories

When I was a little girl (my, that seems like a long time ago!), we lived in a town away from family. My parents had some very close relationships with people in our church, and one couple in particular were like grandparents to me. They are about 10 years younger than my grandparents, but they always seemed like grandparents to me. Their names are Bill and Georgia. Georgia would babysit us every Wednesday night while Mom and Dad did something at church (I don't even know what). That went on from as far back as I can remember until we moved away when I was 6.

When we moved away from that little town and into the city where I really grew up (and where my dad's parents lived), we started going to the river on vacation with Bill and Georgia. I remember doing it for the first time when I was 6 or 7 years old. The river where we go has some pretty decent rapids and is lots of fun to tube down. We would rent a one room cabin with a screened in front porch, a kitchen and a bathroom, and the 6 of us (Bill and Georgia, Mom, Dad, my brother and me) would all stay there. There were 2 sets of bunk beds, and one double bed, just enough for us to all have a place to sleep. The best spot to start the tubing trip was right there, across about 70 yards of grass at the swimming hole just past the low water crossing. It was a great place to go year after year after year.

One of those years when we had met Bill and Georgia at the cabin, they went out for their morning coffee like they always did, but this time they didn't come back for a long time. Turns out they were out buying their own place in a little town just upstream from the cabin. They retired there a few years later.

So now when we go to the river, we always visit Bill and Georgia. We did that two years ago when my girls were 3 and 5, too little to tube down the river, so Mom and Georgia stayed behind and took the girls to the swimming hole. Last year when I was doing my new teacher days, Mom and Dad took my girls with them to visit Bill and Georgia, but they didn't do any tubing. They did go this year for the first time and it was great! Big Girl said her favorite thing was the rapids. We were worried that she'd get scared at some point along the way and want to bail out with 2 hours of tubing left to go.

This year Mom and Dad rented a cabin at a new place near Bill and Georgia's for all 8 of us (my brother and his wife, Mom and Dad, Hubby, the girls and me), since there are too many of us to stay with Bill and Georgia. We had dinner with them Friday night, and they came over and visited with us at our cabin Saturday. They saw the swimming hole with a cliff you can jump off and a rope swing, located just a short walk from where we stayed. When we were down there showing it to Bill and Georgia, of course the girls wanted to swim, and since they were in the water (with their life jackets on), they needed one adult to be dressed for rescue should the need arise, and that was me. Everyone else was in regular clothes.

While we were there, us grown-ups were sitting on a ledge, about 3-4 feet from the water, talking and visiting. Georgia had been taking pictures of us, and the girls swimming. She had put her camera in her pocket. She leaned over at one point to adjust her shoe or something and the camera slipped out of her pocket and *sploosh* it went into the water. It landed near the edge, just before the deep drop off.

Being the only one in a swim-suit, it was up to me to rescue the digital camera. I mustered up my courage and jumped off the rope swing, swam over to the edge, reached down the 4 feet to grab it, and handed it up to the cheering entourage. Through it all, Georgia was laughing and easy-going about it all. She has been known to knock a glass over on a new preacher in her time. Bill didn't get flustered about it either. I know neither of them were happy about it, but they have both been around long enough to know the value of things. Things are just things. People are important.

While it could be said that Georgia is not a graceful person, I'd like to argue that she's one of the most grace-filled people you can imagine. She's full of grace, and that's far better. Georgia's sweet spirit is refreshing, and spending time with her, laughing with her, visiting with her left us all smiling. Bill is fun too, in a different way. I enjoy talking with him too. Conversations with Bill are always deep, and intellectually stimulating. He's been walking with God for a long time, and it shows.

When Bill and Georgia's kids started having kids of their own, I remember feeling a little bit displaced. I wished we could go there for Christmases instead of my grandparents'. I know there are something things reserved for family. But I'm sure that what we have is the very next best thing. We have love. We share God's love. In that way, we are family.

We just got back from the river today. It was a very special thing to be sharing that place, and these precious people, with my girls. I learned that both of my parents went to this river when they were kids. I hadn't realized that before this trip. I wonder if my mom's parents went there as kids... Anyway, we know for sure this is the 3rd generation (at least) enjoying this part of God's creation. My girls are sharing in some of my childhood memories. The place we started our tubing trip 2 days ago was 70 yards away from the cabin we always stayed in with Bill and Georgia more than 20 years ago. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

For some reason, the song in my head is "The Calculation," by Regina Spektor. I think I heard it twice on the drive home today.

Wandering in the Desert

Don't you wish sometimes you were wandering in the dessert instead of the desert? (Ha, ha - Little Girl would say.)

Anyway, it seems sometimes when I read over my blog posts that everything in my life is happy all the time. While it's true that I have a very blessed life, it's also true that not everything is so sunny as it seems all the time. That's just not real life.

It's also true that talking about negative things in such a public forum can be quite tricky. Specifics of any given situation can hurt people in unintended ways, and it's just not a good idea to vent to the whole world, even if names are changed to protect the innocent.

In my very blessed life, there is one are in which I feel I am wandering in the desert, and that has led me to write this post. And while I can't really talk about anything with specificity, I can talk about the wandering.

It's very frustrating sometimes to be in the desert. Especially when you feel God has led you there. It's easy to start questioning everything from your ability to hear God to His goodness. Surely a good God wouldn't lead me here, we think. Or maybe I didn't hear God correctly when I thought he sent me here. However you slice it, if God is leading, and you're in a desert, it doesn't mean God was wrong, or that you were wrong in hearing him and discerning his leading.

The trip through the desert is very instructive. It pulls away all the layers of veneer, the false things we rely on. The children of Israel had to wander in the desert for 40 years! They complained about everything along the way, too. (And so do we, if we're being completely honest.) They didn't have food, so they complained, and God sent manna. Then they complained about not having water, so God made water come out of a rock. They wanted to return to captivity in Egypt, rather than wander in the desert. They lost all sense of perspective out there in the desert.

I can relate. In this one thing, I don't really know what the right choice is. I think I've followed God through the steps that have brought me where I am, but I'm questioning that point. In so many areas of my life, I see God's hand as clear as daylight, but in this, it's a complete mystery.

So back to the point... There's a song by Dennis Jernigan, "Simple is the Living," and in it there's a line: if there were no dryness, how could we love the rain. I think of that line so often when I hear people ask about why bad things happen to good people. I think of that line when I think about pain, and why God admits it into our lives (admits = lets it in). If all we experienced in life was the good, would we really know how good it was?

My Pawpaw was a farmer, and as a kid, I didn't understand why he liked rain so much. To me it was a bother, something that meant I couldn't play outside. "Rain, rain, go away..." and all that. I couldn't appreciate the rain because I had no idea what dryness was all about.

Where are you going to learn all about dryness? While wandering in the desert.

That doesn't make it any easier while you're wandering, but it does help a little. Knowing there's a purpose to it... That journey through the desert makes the rain so much sweeter when it comes. It INCREASES the faith of the one who has wandered and followed God even when it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

The song in my head right now is "When It's All I Can Do," by Truth from the album, One. The last line of the chorus says, "I need to turn to You, when it's all I can do." I'd argue that we need to turn to God long before it's all we can do, but the sad truth is that as long as there is something else we can do, turning to Him is the last thing we do. Thus, another trip through the desert so that all we can do is trust Him to lead us out.

Another Day with Mr. P

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend a good portion of the day with Mr. P. (I've written about Mr. P before.) My girls are attending Vacation Bible School at my parents' church, and so I was kid-free (and will be for a few more days this week!). Mr. P still works at the school just up the street from my parents' house, so I went over there after I dropped off the girls at the church.

There are some people in this world with interesting things to say, no matter what's going on, no matter the topic. Mr. P is definitely one of those people. It's a happy thing to stay in touch with people who have had profound influence in one's life like that. A happy thing indeed.

Our conversations are frequently interrupted by students dropping in to check out summer horns, instrument repairmen dropping off fixed instruments, and the like. Since I am bugging him at work, I guess that's to be expected. We talked some inside baseball, now that I'm working in the district and have a much better understanding of the goings on, and many of the players with which he and I both interact. There's always more to uncover on those things. His manner with students has always been something I'd like to emulate. He knows so much more about the politics of the district than I do, having successfully navigated those waters for close to 25 years. I need so much advice on that side of things.

As an adult friend of a former teacher, I think some of the influence is going both ways. We talk about God quite a lot. That's what I'm most interested in sharing with him. I have had a burden for his soul for 20 years. He's had the opportunity to see me living my life, and whether I really believe the things I say I believe, for at least 15 years. (I'm not counting the years I was a younger student, since I don't remember talking to him about my faith before my later high school years.)

When I left yesterday, we scheduled another day, later this summer, for me to come back up to the school. I'm looking forward to it.

Dance Class

Tuesday was the girls' first dance class. They're in the same class (at my request), since they're both beginners, and also since Big Girl is somewhat delayed in her gross motor development. Big Girl came home declaring it to have been the best day of her life. Little Girl had a blast and can't wait to go back.

I just wish I could have been there.

This week is the last week for me to have school obligations until August. Tuesday was an all day workshop for me, so Hubby stayed home with the kids, and took them to dance class, their first ever.

At least I got to dress them up in their skirted leotards and put their hair up. I took pictures of each of them, and then of them together (which I need to post on facebook later).

There haven't been too many of these moments that sting since I've been back to work, and I'm grateful for that. But it really stinks that this one happened in the SUMMER! I'm supposed to be there for the summer!

I have "Amarillo By Morning" stuck in my head. I heard it as background music on a radio commercial as I was getting ready this morning.

Star Wars In Concert

"Star Wars In Concert" came to town, and I got to sing in the chorus!! It was so freakin' cool!! Anthony Daniels, more commonly known as C3PO, did narrations in between all the songs. I was ON STAGE with C3PO!!

Back when the original movies were made, George Lucas had basically no money, so he couldn't hire a choir to sing on the sound tracks. When it came to the newer set of movies, the whole franchise was a huge money-maker, so they sprung for the choir. That means now when they do this traveling show, they need a choir. But the touring company can't justify paying a choir to go with them everywhere, so they pull together choirs from the cities where they go. I think they've been stuck with some sub-par church choirs in some other places.

There was a matinée and an evening show. Before the afternoon show, Anthony Daniels came back stage and addressed the choir. He was right there, not 10 feet from me as he did his little spiel. "It's the story of a gold robot..." Ha ha... He's the only guy in all 6 Star Wars movies. I hadn't really thought about that before today. He talked about the choir being on the dark side. And we were. All dressed in black, and the songs we were singing for were very dark. We were Darth Choir. Anyway, before the second show, he had us all squish together and he posed with us for pictures. There were only 2 people between me and him. So very cool. (Hopefully the picture will be posted to facebook soon.) By the way, he looks basically like the picture I've posted here, only his hair is completely white, and he wasn't carrying around a C3PO head.

The choir sat right behind the most amazing percussion section I've ever seen. We were close enough to touch them. It was pretty tight quarters. The show opened with the orchestra playing the 20th Century Fox fanfare. It was so neat to be right there in the middle of it! And then after that, they played the main theme. So cool. Then Anthony Daniels talked (we couldn't understand it because it was so echo-y it was all garbled by the time the sound got to us). Then we sang. The opening of that song was just us, and then the orchestra came in, like they were accompanying us. They were the best orchestra I've ever sung with, hands down.

Since our songs were just in the first act, we got to go sit in the audience after intermission and watch the second act. It was so cool. In fact, we choristers kept saying that to each other the whole day. There was a whole lot of hurry up and wait, but it was so worth it. When will have this kind of opportunity again?

The songs we sang for were "Duel of the Fates," and "Battle of the Heroes," and of course, those are the songs in my head! My nerdy, totally geeking-out head is swimming with John Williams!

Summer Time

... and the living is easy....

Sorry. I had to do that.

I think the girls and I will go to the pool today for the first time this year. My last official work day was Tuesday, but we haven't had a chance to go to the pool yet. Wednesday I had a lot of laundry to do, and other little things around the house. Then Thursday I went back up to school to work with my new counterpart on cleaning the office and closet so we could (1) know what is where and get rid of trash, and (2) use the little space we have in the way that makes the most sense.

All of this work we're putting in is really getting me excited about next year. I feel like I'm a bigger part of the operation than I was last year. I would ask the former director about putting things away here or there, and he would throw up barriers and explain why it couldn't be done. The new director's attitude is to roll up his sleeves and make it work. It's rather refreshing. I feel empowered. I am a logical person. I like things to make sense. I'll work to make things make sense. It's nice to be working with someone who is willing to put in the work.

Speaking of making sense, I hadn't located the girls' swimsuits since they were put away after last summer. That had me a bit worried. When I went looking for them, I found them in the first place I looked. I put them in a place that made sense, so when it came time to find them again, there they were, easy to find. I really didn't expect it to be so easy. How often does that happen?

This summer I've started having Big Girl do more around the house. It's now her job to empty the dishwasher. She has to pull a chair over into the kitchen to reach the upper cabinets, but I think it's good for her. Plus it takes one more thing off my plate. I've had both girls putting away their own clean laundry for a few months now, and I'm really liking that. Little Girl can take hours to do that task sometimes, but that's her choice. So long as it gets done (and I don't have to do it!) I don't really care how LONG it takes her.

Well, it's time to start getting ready for the pool!

School's Out for Summer

The whole school-year is officially over. I can't believe it. Or maybe I can. I'm tired!!

Today was the last day for teachers. I had to turn in keys, unplug computers, get everything checked off as being completed... I had two check-out lists with 20+ items to be signed off by the various people on campus in charge of whatever had to be done before the people could sign off. It was complicated for me. There were things I wanted to do early, but people weren't letting me turn some things in last week when I was ready. *Shrug* It all worked out, and now it's over.

Tomorrow I may try to take the girls to the pool. I have a list of things that have to be done first...

This is going to be a BUSY summer!!

I'm currently watching "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," so the song in my head is the theme song from that show. Craig Ferguson is one hilarious guy!! He basically does a whole hour that looks like improv comedy. So funny! He can make the most boring interviewee come off as interesting. Anyway, it's late, and time for bed!! G'night, folks!!