A Perfect Summer Evening

Last night was a perfect summer evening. Our friends, the Reeves, invited us over for dinner. Some of our best summer memories in Abilene have been with them....volleyball, hot dogs, swimming and lots of laughter.
Last night was one more of those nights. They made us dinner that was delicious. We then played bocce ball all around Austin Elementary School. And when I say all around I mean all around. We even used the playground equipment...over the little bridge, down the slide and all over the sand. The grass was tall and we couldn't always see the bocce ball...so, we first marked the spot with a plastic spoon stuck in the ground and then Jim found a real knife that we used for awhile. The mosquitos were bad but we decided that was all just part of playing extreme bocce ball.
We went back to the Reeves and talked....lots of laughter and lots of stories. We learned something new about Jim last night. He won a contest and got to be on the TV show, Dr. Quinn. We loved that show and were so excited that he had been on it.
Good friends and some new memories made. Love it.

Ratings for Blogs

I went to a website that rates your blog for content just like they rate movies. My blog is rated G and was based on the fact that my blog only said poop one time.

Jane Goodall

I have been reading a book titled Jane Goodall since December. I am loving this book but have read many books while working my way through this one. I am now on page 619 and closer to the end. There are parts that read like a textbook and parts about real life. I am liking both aspects but find it hard to stay with it sometimes and just want a story to read inbetween. Jane Goodall is one of my heroes and I love that Dale Peterson has written about her with love and admiration but also brutal honesty.
Here is a little section from this book..... Jane has just had a terrible few days and also isn't feeling well...and gets into a cab and here is what happens....


On her way back from the last lobbying event of the last day, she settled into the back of a taxi and released an enormous sigh, and the taxi driver in front asked what the problem was. She said she was exhausted from a day of lobbying.
"Oh--what you lobbying about?"
She told him, and he turned around in his cab to look at her, whereupon his round face opened into a grin of amazement: "My God! You're Jane Goodall in my cab!"
The driver was African American, a nature lover, and he wanted to talk to his hero, driving with his head turned around so much that Jane was afraid he would crash. She made him stop so she could climb in the front seat, and they had a long and happy conversation about chimps and wildlife. "He is so nice," Jane wrote in a brief note to her National Geographic friend Neva Folk. "So interested. Wants for his kids to be interested." In the end the driver charged her only half fare, and she promised to find him some wildlife videotapes. Perhaps Neva could locate something at the Geographic offices, Jane thought, and she concluded with an uplifting idea: "The world has such wonderful people. It is NOT all bad."

Psalm 23...You've never seen it so cute

My friend, Mike, posted the link to this video on his blog and I know that not all of you read his blog...so, I had to share this precious little girl with you.

jen lemen

If you ever need encouragement or just an honest voice go to read jen's blog....http://jenlemen.com/blog/....She always makes me think and lightens my load. She is searching and creating and parenting and making mistakes and helping her neighbors and...
I love her art...
I have some of her artwork in my house and I go to it when I am feeling stressed and light a candle. As I walk by the candle later in the day or evening it takes my mind back to that place of peace.

Legacy

I just spent the weekend with the middle schoolers from our church. This weekend was Breakthrough, a in town retreat that brings the middle schoolers together...the incoming 6th graders for the first time. It was a great weekend. Michael, you planned well and brought your enthusiasm to the rest of us. Sarah, your talks blew me away. Jeremiah, thanks for bringing energy to worship. Bubbas, you worked hard and it paid off. Foy, thanks for the good food. Group leaders, those kids have been changed.
Let me tell you about the best part of the weekend....a tree. The tree was assembled by the bubbas and the parts were made by the middle schoolers. The roots were made of long butcher paper and written on that paper was a timeline...a timeline of all the people in their pasts that have influenced their spiritual journeys....including people from the Bible. These papers were scrunched into long roots for the tree. The tree was made of a real cedar trunk....peeled a little so the kids could write on it. This trunk represented the legacy of Jesus. The kids wrote on the trunk...words that describe the legacy of Jesus. Those people who are walking our journey with us now are the branches. The leaves on the tree were handprints of each of the kids with those people's names written on them that had influenced their journey. It looked kind of like a jungle when they were done. Such an incredible illustration!!!
We went outside for communion and planted a tree by an entrance to the church. We took communion together around the tree.
I know that those kids will always remember making that tree together and planting the real tree at the end of the weekend.
I am so blessed to be a part of this church family.

This song called Legacy was used this weekend. It is by Nichole Nordeman and you should listen to it sometime if you have never heard it...Amazing and honest.


I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
At such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an 'Atta boy' or 'Atta girl'
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
The temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthly list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy

Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well Done" good and faithful one...