This morning in our church there was a time for open mic sharing-- what has the Lord done in your life, reflections on 2007. So I think I will reflect and say some of the things that I didn't say in church this morning.
January: We watch my mother get weaker and weaker as the cancer spread to her brain. Sh remains fiercely independent, only accepting the most minimal of help.
February: Avery is born on the snow-storm weekend. She is a delightful little girl who wins our hearts immediately.
March: We recover from Avery's birth and dig out of snow. Grandma gets to hold Avery a few times. She loves her granddaugher but hates having to talk to hospice workers.
April: Mom dies on April 16th in a special room of Methodist Hospital set apart for hospice patients. Many of her relatives see her before she dies, but she waits until Dad and I are with her to die. Her last act in this world is to acknowledge "Mom, do you see Avery?" She nodded that she did and made some kind of noise.
May: We put our house on the market and it sells immediately, for more than we ask. We feel confident that God is in this. We continue to look for another home, stumbling across an old farm at the end of May. It has almost 5 acres and looks like a possibility for us.
June: We buy the farm. There are complications early on (financing falls apart on moving day, propane tank goes empty at the end of the first week before we even own the property, some wires get crossed and the well stops working the next week, etc. etc. etc.)
July: We work hard on our outdoor services business and also begin to recondition the house. Much scraping, priming and painting happens in July. We also try to adjust to living in the country.
August: Rain happens. Lots of rain. We are amazed and thankful that we put up gutters on the house in July when it was dry.
September: Evan and I discover "commuting", an activity which I have not participated in since high school. We realize that living in the country isn't all romantic. Also, the goats come to live with us, three of them. We learn about goats.
October: We are in rehearsal for _The Miracle Worker_. It is a complicated show, but we feel like we can do it.
November: Rehearsals intensify. I begin to wonder if the show is going to turn out. I defer almost all life activities to another month.
December: The show ends on December 1, and it is not a disaster. God chooses once again to bless us, though we don't deserve it. I begin to recover from the show. Then everyone gets sick; Avery becomes quite ill, and it is discovered that she has staph, strep, and roseola. She is hospitalized and we pray along with our church family. She is released two and a half days later.
We celebrate Christmas as a family with Grandpa Herb and then later with my side of the family. The holidays seem more relaxing than normal because we don't try to travel anywhere particular.
We also go caroling at St. Mary's on Christmas Eve and celebrate our 9th anniversary the day after Christmas. The following week we have lots of people out to our house. It feels very social. I also spend lots more time with the kids than I usually do.
Today the skies are gray but we know sunshine will come again. Our hearts will revive and our lives will continue to have meaning because God through His son has called us out of darkness and placed his love in our hearts.
Blessings to you as you reminisce and look forward to 2008.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Snow Sculpting
Wow, I am finally almost healthy again after 10 days of various illnesses. It feels so good to feel good.
Last night I wrote our Christmas letter. I guess if you read our blogs, you wouldn't have to read the Christmas letter.
This morning my school kids in grades 7-12 had a snow sculpting contest. Some of them got into it and others just ate donuts and drank coffee. Some of the faculty are also competitive and also got into a little more than I did.
Tara nearly scared me to death by cleaning and reorganizing the house (it looks great) and by calling a plummer to come out and estimate some of our nagging water issues. We have nothing desperate happening, but a lot of plumbing issues like leaky faucets and low water pressure are ongoing.
Last night I wrote our Christmas letter. I guess if you read our blogs, you wouldn't have to read the Christmas letter.
This morning my school kids in grades 7-12 had a snow sculpting contest. Some of them got into it and others just ate donuts and drank coffee. Some of the faculty are also competitive and also got into a little more than I did.
Tara nearly scared me to death by cleaning and reorganizing the house (it looks great) and by calling a plummer to come out and estimate some of our nagging water issues. We have nothing desperate happening, but a lot of plumbing issues like leaky faucets and low water pressure are ongoing.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Help, Adulthood Is Killing Me!!
On Thursday morning, Tara brought Avery down to show me some sores on her skin... one behind her ear, another in the fat crease of her little baby legs. Turns out she had a staph infection, a strep infection, and roseola (sp?) all at the same time. So Avery got to spend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the hospital waiting for the anti-biotics to do their thing and kick out these infections. She came home last night but still isn't really herself.
The nice thing about being 9 months old is that you can just clear your calendar without a struggle. Except for church, Avery hasn't missed any scheduled activities!
Meanwhile, Tara and I are trying reclaim sanity in the midst of our challenging life. Tara doesn't get nearly the sleep she needs because Avery is so needy. I don't get any breaks anywhere because everyone and everything else is so needy. It is a vicious cycle at this point. :-)
So adulthood is killing me.
Of course, if you think about it, it's adulthood that kills everyone. At least all those who make it to adulthood!
My dear friend Goldie turned 97 today. She was alert and pretty lucid for our conversation this morning. It's too bad that we weren't able to make more of a big deal about her birthday, but we had Teen Challenge doing the service at our church and our senior pastor is away on a trip to see his daughter in South America.
Apparently adulthood hasn't killed Goldie yet.
The nice thing about being 9 months old is that you can just clear your calendar without a struggle. Except for church, Avery hasn't missed any scheduled activities!
Meanwhile, Tara and I are trying reclaim sanity in the midst of our challenging life. Tara doesn't get nearly the sleep she needs because Avery is so needy. I don't get any breaks anywhere because everyone and everything else is so needy. It is a vicious cycle at this point. :-)
So adulthood is killing me.
Of course, if you think about it, it's adulthood that kills everyone. At least all those who make it to adulthood!
My dear friend Goldie turned 97 today. She was alert and pretty lucid for our conversation this morning. It's too bad that we weren't able to make more of a big deal about her birthday, but we had Teen Challenge doing the service at our church and our senior pastor is away on a trip to see his daughter in South America.
Apparently adulthood hasn't killed Goldie yet.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Two Found Frozen to Death in Garage
Yes, two were found frozen in one of our auxiliary garages. But take heart. They were only guinea hens.
Part of me doesn't really see it that way. I know, they were only guinea hens, but they froze to death in full view of their 9 or so friends who also live in the garage and peck enthusiastically at any birdseed-like substance you bring to them. They froze to death because I didn't have the time (or perhaps the right intuition or preparedness) to insulate their shelter and make sure they had everything they needed. Because obviously they didn't.
It also brings me up short because of the realities of life and death. Farming, or playing at farming, which is what I'm doing, is a lot more incarnational than anything else I've done. I have built water purifiers, packed granola bars, sold used items, and taught young people. Nothing has ever died on my watch. But these guinea hens, next door to worthless, remind me that if I were depending on them for my livelihood, I should surely be in trouble.
I am getting my life back after the play. This last week has been filled with gracious words from many people in our school community about how much they enjoyed the production and how they can't wait to see another one. I suppose I will, if God grants me the strength to continue everything. I seem to be doing well in spite of the myriad of demands on my time.
A story about cookies: I arrived at school on Friday, put my lunch away, and noticed that there were chocolate chip cookies on the staff table. So I had a few. Later in the day I ate two "grandpa cookies" that my wife had packed for me. After that, there will still chocolate chip cookies in the staff room, so I had a few more. Then Cindy, one of the parents, handed me a whole plate full of peanut butter blossoms at the end of the day. (The women weren't going to use anything peanut-butter based because of the epidemic of peanut allergies.) So I had a few of those. In the evening was the Christmas concert, a fairly glorious affair at our classical Christian school. While mingling afterward, I had a few more cookies at the cookie-and-cider reception. My estimate is that I must have consumed approximately 15 cookies yesterday.
I do not think I shall try to do this again.
Part of me doesn't really see it that way. I know, they were only guinea hens, but they froze to death in full view of their 9 or so friends who also live in the garage and peck enthusiastically at any birdseed-like substance you bring to them. They froze to death because I didn't have the time (or perhaps the right intuition or preparedness) to insulate their shelter and make sure they had everything they needed. Because obviously they didn't.
It also brings me up short because of the realities of life and death. Farming, or playing at farming, which is what I'm doing, is a lot more incarnational than anything else I've done. I have built water purifiers, packed granola bars, sold used items, and taught young people. Nothing has ever died on my watch. But these guinea hens, next door to worthless, remind me that if I were depending on them for my livelihood, I should surely be in trouble.
I am getting my life back after the play. This last week has been filled with gracious words from many people in our school community about how much they enjoyed the production and how they can't wait to see another one. I suppose I will, if God grants me the strength to continue everything. I seem to be doing well in spite of the myriad of demands on my time.
A story about cookies: I arrived at school on Friday, put my lunch away, and noticed that there were chocolate chip cookies on the staff table. So I had a few. Later in the day I ate two "grandpa cookies" that my wife had packed for me. After that, there will still chocolate chip cookies in the staff room, so I had a few more. Then Cindy, one of the parents, handed me a whole plate full of peanut butter blossoms at the end of the day. (The women weren't going to use anything peanut-butter based because of the epidemic of peanut allergies.) So I had a few of those. In the evening was the Christmas concert, a fairly glorious affair at our classical Christian school. While mingling afterward, I had a few more cookies at the cookie-and-cider reception. My estimate is that I must have consumed approximately 15 cookies yesterday.
I do not think I shall try to do this again.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Escape from the Ugliest City in the World
Well, friends, Thanksgiving happened again. To celebrate it we traveled to Sioux Falls, SD to be with Tara's family. Her sister Wendy and husband Owen own a home in Sioux Falls, and her parents also have rented an apartment there to minimize on the outdoor work that seems to befall all of us who are homeowners. I won't go into the details of the trip except to say that I'm really happy for our family members there. Tara's family used to live in Sioux City, IA, for which I coined the title "the ugliest city in the world." I said this because when we were dating (and for many years beyond) I would travel to Sioux City, entering from the north on highway 75. For what seems like miles it is all industrial... stockyards, used car lots, grain elevators, bread factories, electrical parts suppliers... it's aesthetically terrible. When you finally do run into residential, it's one of the city's roughest areas, and many of the homes are boarded up or covered with graffiti. Of course it has more beautiful parts, but they are harder to find -- well hidden.
Sioux Falls, on the other hand, just 90 miles north, is a very attractive city from its commercial districts to a beautiful downtown of striking buildings, many made out of pink granite. The residential areas also give me the impression of people who care and who are attempting to build a pleasant place to live and work. If I weren't so inextricably intertwined with my school, I would certainly think about Sioux Falls as a place to live. Heaven knows my dad would approve. Heck, we could take him with us.
Tara would like me to say that she found me a new cuddle-wrap on the trip. It is true. We hit several junk stores in Sioux Falls while we were there, and I got a new plaid one (see photo). You have to be very secure in your masculinity to wear a cuddle-wrap, but we keep our house cold and I often have sedentary work to do in the evenings.
We also have a new kitty named Lightning. It came home with us from Wendy's house because they were overrun with cats and (I guess) didn't really know what to do with her. She is the smallest cat I have ever seen. She is slender with white feet and a gray body.
We also bought Tara a new sewing machine for all the crafting she does. It's a Janome with lots of stitches and funky features of modern technology. Her birthday was not too long ago, so this qualifies as a decent if belated birthday present.
Don't forget to come to Miracle Worker this Friday and Saturday. Leave me a comment and I'll get you details for tickets. It'll be a great time!
Sioux Falls, on the other hand, just 90 miles north, is a very attractive city from its commercial districts to a beautiful downtown of striking buildings, many made out of pink granite. The residential areas also give me the impression of people who care and who are attempting to build a pleasant place to live and work. If I weren't so inextricably intertwined with my school, I would certainly think about Sioux Falls as a place to live. Heaven knows my dad would approve. Heck, we could take him with us.
Tara would like me to say that she found me a new cuddle-wrap on the trip. It is true. We hit several junk stores in Sioux Falls while we were there, and I got a new plaid one (see photo). You have to be very secure in your masculinity to wear a cuddle-wrap, but we keep our house cold and I often have sedentary work to do in the evenings.We also have a new kitty named Lightning. It came home with us from Wendy's house because they were overrun with cats and (I guess) didn't really know what to do with her. She is the smallest cat I have ever seen. She is slender with white feet and a gray body.
We also bought Tara a new sewing machine for all the crafting she does. It's a Janome with lots of stitches and funky features of modern technology. Her birthday was not too long ago, so this qualifies as a decent if belated birthday present.
Don't forget to come to Miracle Worker this Friday and Saturday. Leave me a comment and I'll get you details for tickets. It'll be a great time!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dude, Tara Is Amazing!!
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | |
| The Inland North | |
| The South | |
| The Northeast | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
I can't believe I just pasted this into my blog. I really don't understand how it happened (Tara walked me through it step-by-step from the other side of the living room). Multi-step processes that have to stay in order scare me. Ironically I'm a lifelong Minnesotan and should probably have a North Central accent, but oh well.
A Good Lord's Day and Skunk in the Garage
I was amazed to discover that it has already been a week since I last blogged. Good gracious, where does the time go? Oh yes, to drama rehearsal. That's where it goes. We have been rehearsing extra hours to make the difficult Miracle Worker come to life on stage. Saturday was our first tech run, including real food and a working pump. Come one, come all. It might not be perfect but it'll still be a rich experience, and at $4 for adults, it's a good cheap date too.
I also thought it was a great day at our home church, BCC. The worship set was very well integrated (if a little loud... the sanctuary volume seems to be creeping up again...) and the preaching of the type that terrifies Satan and exalts Christ in its accuracy and fervor. I get a chance to be a part of what God is doing here, too, teaching in adult ministries. We're about a fifth of the way through Doug Wilson's Future Men, which is about raising boys in the context of God's call and God's promises to us. It is an exciting series! We've had great discussions so far and I trust there will be more to come. The Lord is also bringing new people to us, and we're finding the face of BCC changing so rapidly that it's hard to keep up.
My dad invited us this evening to his church, CBC, for a thanksgiving banquet and skits, songs, etc. It is a huge event at a fairly large church, in its approach more conservative than ours, but not in a dangerous way. (When I say approach, I mean the style, not the doctrine or adherence to Scripture). We had a great time and were warmly welcomed by other brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe it also did my dad good to have us there.
After we got home (think 8:30 p.m.) I heard something ratting around in the garage and knocking stuff over. Further investigation revealed a furry black animal a little larger than a cat with a rich-looking white stripe down its back. I don't think I've ever seen a skunk from only 10 feet away, but I did tonight. I might have studied him longer, but Tara was telling me to get back in the house before I got sprayed, since she was short of tomato juice and did not want to have the responsibility of scrubbing me down anyway.
So I suspect that the skunk is still in the garage, but I'm not entirely sure what to do about it. Except for mice, we really haven't had any animal problems.
I also thought it was a great day at our home church, BCC. The worship set was very well integrated (if a little loud... the sanctuary volume seems to be creeping up again...) and the preaching of the type that terrifies Satan and exalts Christ in its accuracy and fervor. I get a chance to be a part of what God is doing here, too, teaching in adult ministries. We're about a fifth of the way through Doug Wilson's Future Men, which is about raising boys in the context of God's call and God's promises to us. It is an exciting series! We've had great discussions so far and I trust there will be more to come. The Lord is also bringing new people to us, and we're finding the face of BCC changing so rapidly that it's hard to keep up.
My dad invited us this evening to his church, CBC, for a thanksgiving banquet and skits, songs, etc. It is a huge event at a fairly large church, in its approach more conservative than ours, but not in a dangerous way. (When I say approach, I mean the style, not the doctrine or adherence to Scripture). We had a great time and were warmly welcomed by other brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe it also did my dad good to have us there.
After we got home (think 8:30 p.m.) I heard something ratting around in the garage and knocking stuff over. Further investigation revealed a furry black animal a little larger than a cat with a rich-looking white stripe down its back. I don't think I've ever seen a skunk from only 10 feet away, but I did tonight. I might have studied him longer, but Tara was telling me to get back in the house before I got sprayed, since she was short of tomato juice and did not want to have the responsibility of scrubbing me down anyway.
So I suspect that the skunk is still in the garage, but I'm not entirely sure what to do about it. Except for mice, we really haven't had any animal problems.
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