Dance with me

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Random Thoughts from a Sunday

In my last post I talked about all the places I had traveled and I left out one very important one...Mexico. Becky reminded me. How could I forget Mexico? Mexico shaped me more than all of those other places combined. I would go back to spend more time with the people there in a heartbeat. Their faithfulness was so evident and their strength surprised me every day. They don't have many material belongings but they are rich in joy, laughter, love, generosity, hospitality, and I could feel the Spirit moving in their lives. We didn't speak the same language but we connected...connections of the heart....probably more important than talk anyway. I am now more cautious about saving food, water and other resources after spending time with them. They taught me so much in such a short time...I think about how transforming it would be to spend more time with them.
Thanks, Becky, for reminding me....I knew that I had left out something significant but I was trying to blog too quickly.

Today has been a good day. I love gathering with the body of Christ. Singing on praise team was so fun today...it just felt right this morning. Having Lucy and Tim lead us to the table was such a sweet moment for me. Hearing Lucy's voice read from John 6 so clearly and so surely. Seeing Tim and Lucy off to the side taking communion together...such a precious time. We talked about table fellowship in class in light of I Corinthians 10 and it was a powerful discussion. I am struck by how spiritually forming and transforming the table is....also the gathering of the body. It is spiritually forming to read aloud the Word of God to the body of Christ, as Lucy did today. And it is spiritually forming to gather around the table and look each other in the eye and talk with each other and share our stories.
I loved gathering with a smaller section of the body of Christ at small group. I love the openness and the warmth. I loved having new people with us with their tiny baby boy to mingle with our band of small boys. I love that we gather with all our quirks and all our gifts, I love that we share the body and the blood of Christ and that we look each other in the eye and we remind each other every week of who we are.

It has been a good day.

Friday, March 23, 2007

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary for this blog. My first post was March 22, 2006. This has been an eventful year and a year of growth. I have a new job. Tim has a new job. Lucy is in her last year of middle school. Mary Kate started college. We have a one year old granddaughter. We bought another house. I have travelled to many places: Maryland, Virginia, D.C., Tennessee(a few times in a few short weeks), North Carolina, Colorado, Delaware, Alabama and many other places in Texas. I have shared joy here and sorrow and I have whined and sometimes rejoiced. I would love to have some feedback from all of you. You could even give me some topic suggestions or ask me to whine less...that would be okay. I have loved hearing from old friends and those steady faithful friends who are willing to listen.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Home at Last

Lucy left last Tuesday morning for Washington, D.C. with a huge group of 8th grade students from Abilene. They were supposed to be back on Friday night but there were weather issues and flights all up and down the east coast were cancelled....so....they were stuck. They had a great time and were able to see more and just be together....isn't that what every 8th grader wants...time with their friends. Lucy is exhausted but very happy. She brought me a present...buttons from the Holocaust Museum. They say "Remember the children" and "Never Again". We can say "never again" but it is happening in so many places and we have ignored it. What is wrong with us?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Connections

Today I received in the mail a wonderful surprise. My friend Pixie's husband sent me three DVDs of pictures...one of Pixie, one of Trudy and one of Lydia. Tears flowed freely as I watched these.
There are some friends who are more like family than friends. Pixie is one of those. Somehow our pain is wrapped up in their pain. Our joys have been shared. Our tragedies belong to each other. Our hearts are linked for eternity. I am glad for those connections. These are the friends who will take you in during your most difficult days. These are the friends who will cheerlead for you while you are attempting something new.

I didn't watch these DVDs in a specific order but I did start with Lydia...just happened to pick this one up first. Seeing her precious baby face and watching her grow up again as the pictures progressed made it evident again the incredible loss that we all experienced with Lydia's accident. I know that loss can never be reversed but seeing Lydia's joy after the accident...smiles. openmouthed surprise, contentment, enjoying her family, loving her mom and her sister...I have missed so much of her life and for that I am sad. She is beautiful and amazing and radiant. I would love to see that girl again sometime soon.

Next I watched Pixie's DVD. So many of those images will stay with me over the next several weeks. I need some time to process them. Tiny, precious Pixie in braids and dress coats and patent leather shoes and bathing suits...tentative smiles and serious little faces. Pixie as a teenager...beautiful and elegant and yet somehow I just can feel her intelligence shining through. College and Jim and life began to change. Pixie with her students...teaching, laughing and just taking them in. Pixie as a mother...wow, do we ever realize how much being a mother is going to grab our hearts? I can see it in Pixie's eyes...intensity, adoration, protectiveness and overwhelming love. Then the tragedy of Lydia's accident and again she is incredible. She is strong and she is the force that keeps Lydia moving forward and keeps her healthy and helps her find her place in this world. And now seeing her dazzling smile with her new husband...who, by the way, I adore...makes the tears start flowing again. As my friend, Ann, says...Happiness is a great accessory.

And last I watched my Trudy's DVD. Trudy...how do I explain how I feel about this girl? As a little girl she literally sparkled. She was intense...she could be intensely sad and intensely happy. She could sing at the top of her lungs and yet whisper the sweetest things to you while riding next to her in the car. She loved to read and dance and swim and was so smart that you could never be one step ahead of her. Trudy watched her sister as she struggled after the accident and yet wasn't about to give in to the incredible ache that such tragedy brings. She rose above it. She could make Lydia laugh and Lydia would light up when Trudy came into the room. Trudy has grown into a woman that I would want as one of my closest friends. She is fun and smart and quirky and smart and adorable and smart and stylish and smart...did I say that she is smart?

So much joy today from those pictures. Yes, some sad memories but mostly the warm feelings of connection. They are my family and I don't where I would be without their love and support through my life's journey.

Pix, thanks for talking to me on the bridge. We didn't know then that it was just the beginning.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Ava is One







These are pictures of Ava's first birthday party. She looks so sweet and seems to be relaxed and enjoying herself. I particuarly like the picture of Corey and Cliff with their little girls. They have been best friends since elementary school. So good to have friends that you can keep for your whole life.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Middle School

We have just finished a class with Lucy at church. This class is called Faith Decisions and it is for eighth graders and their parents. Being in this class has made me think about my own middle school years....

We didn't call it middle school...we called it intermediate school. I went to Francis Scott Key Intermediate School in Springfield, Virginia on Franconia Road. The school was fairly new and the classes set up in pods...like the social studies pod, the science pod, the language arts pod. And it had the coolest home ec room and shop. I would love to walk back through those halls to jar some memories. I played tons of soccer, had lots of friends but also felt very insecure. Maybe that is just normal. My friends were mostly new friends that I made at that school. They were mostly from another elementary school but they included me. We had slumber parties and theme parties and played soccer together. We went to high school football games mostly just to people watch.
We had to dress out for gym in these awful stretchy one piece outfits that were blue on the bottom and striped on the top with elastic around the waist and a zipper in the back. They were sleeveless and didn't look good on anyone...maybe that was the point. We had to shower after gym and change in the locker room...ewww! I remember that once my friend, Yvonne, had her pants stolen by this mean girl that we were all afraid of...I don't think that she ever got her pants back but the girl wore them the rest of that same day.
I had many favorite teachers in middle school...Miss Kubiashi (our student teacher), Mr. Eckelhoffer, Mr. VanMeter and our Spanish teacher...I can picture her in my head but I can't remember her name. Mr. Eckelhoffer called me Pebbles...my maiden name is Stone.
Middle school was scary but you can tell that I have many fond memories from that time,

What do you remember?

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Mom

Today my mom is 73 years old. She is a young 73 years old. She is beautiful and fun and gracious and compassionate. She is an amazing cook...some of my personal favorites that she makes: barbecued pork chops, turnip greens, chicken dressing, cocoa and biscuits, cherry cake...I could go on but she makes so many things that I love. She loves her children and her grandchildren and great granchildren. She was the one we depended on when we were children. She taught us about Jesus. She also taught many other children about Jesus by teaching first grade Sunday school for many years. She was an excellent teacher who used many objects to tell us the stories. She even made a tiny coat of many colors that was just the right size for a first grader. It was made of jewel colored satin fabric and completely lined and we loved to try it on.
Her house is always fresh and clean....sheets dried on the line, bathroom sparkling and a kitchen used continually throughout the day and always tidied right after use. She ironed often when we were little.
Her garden is full of flowers and vegetables. She grows the very best tomatoes ever.
She loves the beach and would take us there as often as she could when we were little. She would pack our lunch and snacks and drinks and blankets and bathing suits and we would head out to play. She loved the sun and the water. She would walk on the beach or play in the water with us. I loved to hear her laugh while she played with us.
I wish many things for my mother on her 73rd birthday...first, I wish her many more birthdays. I wish for her...time to herself, a deeper presence of God's Spirit, peace, hope for the future and what it holds, time with her family and a chance to come visit me...okay, that last one was kind of selfish.
She has spent the last 18 months caring for my dad who had a stroke. He is a grouchy old man...well, he was a grouchy young man...so, not much has changed. But my mom takes excellent care of him..so excellent that he might end up being a very grouchy 100 year old. Mom, I love that you care for him...even if there doesn't seem to be any return for you. Jeff, Danny and I will owe you big time when this is all done. You have cared for all of us, even when weren't very loveable.
I hope that your birthday was just what you wanted it to be.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Where Is My Head?

If any of you locate my head, will you inform me of it's location? I am definitely not into the routine of working every single day...well, not every day...I am off on Saturdays and Sundays but life is feeling so busy. I have told you about some of my forgetfulness...forgetting Lucy's orthodontist appointment, forgetting to pick up carpool...etc.
Today was no exception to what has become my normal day. I started off at ACU's orientation. Then decided that it would be fun to go and find Katie's office and see if she had lunch plans. She did but included me in those plans...so Katie and Jeremiah and I went out to lunch to celebrate Jeremiah's news. Well, I drove to Alley Cats...oh, I didn't tell you that I started out with my car on empty today. Our celebration took a little longer than planned (the restaurant was crowded) and Jeremiah needed to run by Highland. He was so speedy grabbing his stuff and jumping back into the car. I drove them back to ACU and then headed to my hair appointment...back across town and remember I started out with my car on empty. I was very late for my hair appointment but she just said to jump into the chair and we would get started. Well, when we finished I was late for picking up Lucy for a doctor's appointment and the NP that was seeing her was leaving early. Luckily, the doctor saw her and she does have a sinus infection. And then I finally stopped at the gas station. It was the miracle of the lasting gas today for my car. Maybe this should be the start of a new holiday.