Living together in biblical community is both the messiest and most glorious thing, but today was awesome. I should probably wait for the picture, but I'm too excited.
We sent our first small group girl into the mission field. She's going to South Africa to work with Christian Surfers International. She'll teach at surf camps for kids, where she'll share the gospel. This first trip is five months long, and she can't wait to see where it will lead. Neither can we.
This afternoon at small group she and her family came by for a time of prayer as they were headed to the airport. She sat in a chair in the middle of the room; the women laid hands on her, and the men stood around the women in a circle. We took turns praying over her for everything imaginable. Then their whole family jumped into their van and headed to the airport. I imagine her momma may still be crying. It's both hard and easy to let go, but for the time being, I know she's sad not to have her girl in the house.
Yet her momma knows... we all know... that the gospel is bigger than our comfort and our preference. What a joy to walk with this sweet family for the sake of the gospel. Prayers for Kat!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Oh, the stuff...
Kelsey is away at college. Zane is a high school junior. Zack is in fifth grade. Surely we should see a slowing down in the accumulation of kid-stuff. Perhaps we should even be seeing a decrease in kid-stuff, like snow melting or something.
And yet I look out the back window as see a giant trampoline. Oh, the trampoline.
The trampoline came to live in the backyard during the Christmas of 2007. Our last house was basically built into the side of a hill, so we never had enough flat space to have a trampoline. When we moved into this house in October of 2007, we decided Kelsey was finally going to get the bouncy enclosure she'd long for all those years.
It was huge and heavy and pretty expensive for our family budget, but it happened. As Jimmy began to set it up, it dawned on us that this yard isn't as level as it looks from the window of the family room. So half the trampoline ended up buried in a trench and the other half is above ground. I hate that trampoline.
The kids jumped on it relentlessly from about December through March. Then spring came, and the clearing covered with leaves. And poison ivy sprouted. And running bamboo emerged. And snakes ventured forth. And spiders dropped in. And the trampoline became a different sort of hazard.
The enclosure took care of the falling-off aspect, but it also made for arena worthy of Hunger Games-hazard status. There might have even been a tracker-jacker nest nearby. At any rate, there was a yellow jacket nest close to where you'd step to climb into the enclosure opening.
That was the spring of 2008. This is the winter of 2013. And there sits the trampoline, covered in dead leaves and mildew and ice, at the moment. The only living thing I've seen down there in the past six months is a hawk that regularly uses the metal safety net frame as a perch for hunting snakes and mice. (When he catches a snake, he slurps it down like a spaghetti noodle. It both fascinating and disgusting at the same time.)
In June of 2012, I put two padlocks on the enclosure net at the request of an insurance agent with whom we were researching coverage. She said the pool and trampoline would have to have locks. The pool already had the required locking fence gates. I bought to little padlocks to guarantee trampoline compliance. Those locks have not be unlocked since that day.
To me, that says that we don't use the trampoline, and it can disappear. I am alone in that opinion.
Other than getting rid of the wall of plastic lawn toys (not lawn ornaments... those are treasures) lining the lower half of the driveway, nothing would thrill me more than to get rid of the rotting trampoline. It's half-buried anyway. I'm a little at a loss as to why 80% of the people in this house object to vehemently to getting rid of it.
OK, not really. It was a LOT of work to dig a trench that levels the trampoline next to the creek on the back edge of our property. Who wants to undo that? And those four months of jumping glory were epic. Plus, it's actually one of the last vestiges of middle-schoolness for our girl. I get all that. And yet, I'm thinking that it may make a tremendously fun addition to one sorority house in Chapel Hill.
And yet I look out the back window as see a giant trampoline. Oh, the trampoline.
The trampoline came to live in the backyard during the Christmas of 2007. Our last house was basically built into the side of a hill, so we never had enough flat space to have a trampoline. When we moved into this house in October of 2007, we decided Kelsey was finally going to get the bouncy enclosure she'd long for all those years.
It was huge and heavy and pretty expensive for our family budget, but it happened. As Jimmy began to set it up, it dawned on us that this yard isn't as level as it looks from the window of the family room. So half the trampoline ended up buried in a trench and the other half is above ground. I hate that trampoline.
The kids jumped on it relentlessly from about December through March. Then spring came, and the clearing covered with leaves. And poison ivy sprouted. And running bamboo emerged. And snakes ventured forth. And spiders dropped in. And the trampoline became a different sort of hazard.
The enclosure took care of the falling-off aspect, but it also made for arena worthy of Hunger Games-hazard status. There might have even been a tracker-jacker nest nearby. At any rate, there was a yellow jacket nest close to where you'd step to climb into the enclosure opening.
That was the spring of 2008. This is the winter of 2013. And there sits the trampoline, covered in dead leaves and mildew and ice, at the moment. The only living thing I've seen down there in the past six months is a hawk that regularly uses the metal safety net frame as a perch for hunting snakes and mice. (When he catches a snake, he slurps it down like a spaghetti noodle. It both fascinating and disgusting at the same time.)
In June of 2012, I put two padlocks on the enclosure net at the request of an insurance agent with whom we were researching coverage. She said the pool and trampoline would have to have locks. The pool already had the required locking fence gates. I bought to little padlocks to guarantee trampoline compliance. Those locks have not be unlocked since that day.
To me, that says that we don't use the trampoline, and it can disappear. I am alone in that opinion.
Other than getting rid of the wall of plastic lawn toys (not lawn ornaments... those are treasures) lining the lower half of the driveway, nothing would thrill me more than to get rid of the rotting trampoline. It's half-buried anyway. I'm a little at a loss as to why 80% of the people in this house object to vehemently to getting rid of it.
OK, not really. It was a LOT of work to dig a trench that levels the trampoline next to the creek on the back edge of our property. Who wants to undo that? And those four months of jumping glory were epic. Plus, it's actually one of the last vestiges of middle-schoolness for our girl. I get all that. And yet, I'm thinking that it may make a tremendously fun addition to one sorority house in Chapel Hill.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Middle age...
So apparently, the fact that I alternately want to hug everyone or hide in my closet next to my snow boots is perfectly normal. Lovely.
While tons of my middle aged friends get to ride the hot flash roller coaster, I get mildly warm and take off my sweater, and I'm good. But the mood swings. Woo Hoo!
And then there's memory loss. I can't remember the last time I finished a complete
And then there's memory loss.
And forgetfulness.
And mild forgetfulness.
And mood swings.
And slight memory loss.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
While tons of my middle aged friends get to ride the hot flash roller coaster, I get mildly warm and take off my sweater, and I'm good. But the mood swings. Woo Hoo!
And then there's memory loss. I can't remember the last time I finished a complete
And then there's memory loss.
And forgetfulness.
And mild forgetfulness.
And mood swings.
And slight memory loss.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Hal on Facebook...
When I look at the Facebook status bar now, it reads, "How are you feeling, Norma?"
Is that supposed to make me hear the voice of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Is that supposed to make me hear the voice of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Seven months later...
Totally quit blogging for a while, but I feel like I want a place to trace my thoughts again. So here I am. Enter at your own risk.
I still miss my dad. He used to read this to keep up with what we were doing. That's largely why I blogged.
My brother, Robbie, lives on the family farm now. He may move for a graphic design job in either Atlanta or somewhere in Texas, but for the moment, he's cleaned out the mess that accumulated on the little 100 acres of fields and woods and is battling entropy in the farmhouse with all he's got.
Robbie and I texted a few times today. He found mine and Jimmy's wedding video. VHS. Archeological artifact. He also found a box of old coins. We know my uncle left them at the farm, but we don't know whether they were for just Robbie or for both of us. So we decided to sell them. We'll use the money to have the driveway repaired.
Kelsey went to Carolina. Loves it. Perfect fit. Joined sorority. Made Dean's List. Double majoring in Journalism and Psychology. Mission "Hark the Sound" = success.
Zane fought the Battle of APUSH. There were a few casualties, not the least of which was our Christmas. Overall, though, I think we all survived.
Zack hates math. We hate math on his behalf. We are not of the Math Tribe. Zack is also playing his second season of i9 flag football. Apparently we are of the Football Tribe.
Head Coach Jimmy is at it again.
Full-time teaching kicked my butt. Spring semester is better so far. We're just one week into it.
I'm teaching Honors English II, Honors Creative Writing, Journalism, and Middle School Creative Writing. I'm sure my butt will get kicked again at some point, but right now I'm in my happy place, so shhhhhh...
For reals, though, I love teaching 10th-grade English again. I never thought I'd return to a classroom other than as a parent, but it feels like home.
Last Monday, Jonathan and April moved out of our house. That's right... we had people living in our basement for six months. It's a long story, but we learned a lot. It was fun. It was challenging. Wouldn't trade it for the world. They moved to a two-year housesitting gig for a couple that went to Kenya as entrepreneurial missionaries. Pretty cool.
We are coming up on a year of leading a small group at church... one of 300+. It's a big church. In the last couple of months, three of the families that began in the group with us have left the group because of scheduling conflicts or because they're planting new groups in the near future, and three new families arrived at the same time. Cool how God works like that. We can tell the Lord is getting ready to do something big. Something substantial. For the first time in a year, we feel like the group is complete.
Uncle Arvel passed away unexpectedly in August. It was almost like losing Dad all over again. I'm glad Robbie and I have each other, though. Losing Dad and Arvel in less than a year has been hard. Understatement.
My momma is doing well. She's moving slowly, but she's moving, which is a huge praise. Her house has been Zane's study center for the past few days as he gets ready for his first semester exams. She began writing her memoirs, and for Christmas we got almost 50 pages of her early years. Pure treasure. There are some finer points of Southern culture (before you judge my capitalization, know that her maiden name is Southern, so THERE) that are quite entertaining.
I wish I were still in a women's Bible study. I miss that a LOT.
I miss my outside-of-schwork friends. I miss coffee dates. I miss shopping trips. I miss road trips. I miss the old Summer Bible Study. I miss sitting by the pool and laughing. I miss long walks through the neighborhood and longer walks on the beach. I miss ladies' nights out. I miss HUGE group email prayer lists. I miss going to Super Walmart for groceries and coming out with supplies for a craft project. I miss being able to park my car without having to have two empty spaces together.
I do love Pinterest, though.
Life changes. About the time I thought I'd never get out of the waking-up-and-packing-lunches-and-driving-carpool-before-sunrise routine, I sent my first baby to college. I like change, really. The same things over and over again are so boring. But I miss a few of those special things that belong to a different stage of life.
I still miss my dad. He used to read this to keep up with what we were doing. That's largely why I blogged.
My brother, Robbie, lives on the family farm now. He may move for a graphic design job in either Atlanta or somewhere in Texas, but for the moment, he's cleaned out the mess that accumulated on the little 100 acres of fields and woods and is battling entropy in the farmhouse with all he's got.
Robbie and I texted a few times today. He found mine and Jimmy's wedding video. VHS. Archeological artifact. He also found a box of old coins. We know my uncle left them at the farm, but we don't know whether they were for just Robbie or for both of us. So we decided to sell them. We'll use the money to have the driveway repaired.
Kelsey went to Carolina. Loves it. Perfect fit. Joined sorority. Made Dean's List. Double majoring in Journalism and Psychology. Mission "Hark the Sound" = success.
Zane fought the Battle of APUSH. There were a few casualties, not the least of which was our Christmas. Overall, though, I think we all survived.
Zack hates math. We hate math on his behalf. We are not of the Math Tribe. Zack is also playing his second season of i9 flag football. Apparently we are of the Football Tribe.
Head Coach Jimmy is at it again.
Full-time teaching kicked my butt. Spring semester is better so far. We're just one week into it.
I'm teaching Honors English II, Honors Creative Writing, Journalism, and Middle School Creative Writing. I'm sure my butt will get kicked again at some point, but right now I'm in my happy place, so shhhhhh...
For reals, though, I love teaching 10th-grade English again. I never thought I'd return to a classroom other than as a parent, but it feels like home.
Last Monday, Jonathan and April moved out of our house. That's right... we had people living in our basement for six months. It's a long story, but we learned a lot. It was fun. It was challenging. Wouldn't trade it for the world. They moved to a two-year housesitting gig for a couple that went to Kenya as entrepreneurial missionaries. Pretty cool.
We are coming up on a year of leading a small group at church... one of 300+. It's a big church. In the last couple of months, three of the families that began in the group with us have left the group because of scheduling conflicts or because they're planting new groups in the near future, and three new families arrived at the same time. Cool how God works like that. We can tell the Lord is getting ready to do something big. Something substantial. For the first time in a year, we feel like the group is complete.
Uncle Arvel passed away unexpectedly in August. It was almost like losing Dad all over again. I'm glad Robbie and I have each other, though. Losing Dad and Arvel in less than a year has been hard. Understatement.
My momma is doing well. She's moving slowly, but she's moving, which is a huge praise. Her house has been Zane's study center for the past few days as he gets ready for his first semester exams. She began writing her memoirs, and for Christmas we got almost 50 pages of her early years. Pure treasure. There are some finer points of Southern culture (before you judge my capitalization, know that her maiden name is Southern, so THERE) that are quite entertaining.
I wish I were still in a women's Bible study. I miss that a LOT.
I miss my outside-of-schwork friends. I miss coffee dates. I miss shopping trips. I miss road trips. I miss the old Summer Bible Study. I miss sitting by the pool and laughing. I miss long walks through the neighborhood and longer walks on the beach. I miss ladies' nights out. I miss HUGE group email prayer lists. I miss going to Super Walmart for groceries and coming out with supplies for a craft project. I miss being able to park my car without having to have two empty spaces together.
I do love Pinterest, though.
Life changes. About the time I thought I'd never get out of the waking-up-and-packing-lunches-and-driving-carpool-before-sunrise routine, I sent my first baby to college. I like change, really. The same things over and over again are so boring. But I miss a few of those special things that belong to a different stage of life.
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