A Suspension of Summer

For those of you wondering about the word "suspension" in my title, I use it in its scientific sense. A suspension (unlike a solution) is a mixture like pepper and water in which one ingredient will not dissolve the other (small rocks and water, small children and water...things like that). This blog promises to be just so. If you, dear reader, are expecting smoothness of flow and startling continuity, you are about to be sadly disappointed. Due to my utter lack of initiative (call it summer slothfulness), I have been amassing a great host of experiences which have yet to be recorded. That, my friends, is the purpose of this blog, an absolute juggernaut of information that I hope will not overwhelm you too intensely. So here goes...

A Day With Mom
by Sonja

It was 5:15am on Saturday. Sonja was sleeping in her bed.


All at once, her alarm clock sounded. "Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"What is going on?", Sonja wondered. "Why is my alarm clock beeping?"


And then Sonja remembered. It was her Day With Mom! They were going to Yard Sales! Oh, joy!


Soon she and Mom were in the car. Mom was Happy! She loved to yard sale.


The first yard sale was pretty good, but Sonja didn't get much. She also went back to the car before Mom did.


Then it started to rain, but Mom and Sonja braved the rain. They would not be deterred. They were very proud of their bravery.


The rain came down harder...


...and harder.


But they still got a few cool things.



After they were finished, Mom and Sonja met Dad at their favorite breakfast place, The Royal Cafe. Mom and Dad love to eat breakfast. They also love each other.


Eating at Royal Cafe is finger lickin' good. Right Dad?


After their yummy breakfast, Mom and Sonja went to the dented can store to get Bargains...


...and to the flea market to get a watermelon.


Their last stop was at Staples to buy Stapley stuff.


After their big outing, Mom and Sonja were tired. It was time to relax in the Pool!


So they did. It was fun. What a great day to be with Mom.

The End.

Heidi's Wedding

Weekend before last, I flew up to Cinci to enjoy the joyous occasion of my buddy Heidi's nuptials. Heidi married a wonderful man, Nathan Easley. They make a terrific couple. The wedding was beautiful in its simplicity and sacredness. It made my heart go, "Ahhhhhhh". I also was able to spend a little bit of time with Julia, who braved the trip from Illinois. It was lovely to see her as well. Here are just a few shots of the blessed event.

Nathan with the girls.


Heidi.


Hope. (The group, not the emotion.)


The musicians...amazingly talented, all. :)


The cake (by Marianne), both beautiful and exceedingly tasty.


A really beautiful day. I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it!

Cake Decorating Lessons

Speaking of cakes... On Thursday, my mom invited some young ladies over to our house who were wanting to learn how to decorate cakes. It basically turned into a "Fun With Icing" party, but a good time was had by all nonetheless. I even decorated a little cake myself with results that weren't too terrible.

Our "class".


My cake and I. I will be taking orders shortly.


Finally...Our Backyard Zoo

Some people have to go to zoos to see critters, but here in South Florida, one never knows what one will see in the back yard. Friday morning I saw this.


An armadillo just making himself at home. He actually made it all the way up to the back porch.


Fortunately, he opted not to come in.

Well, that's about it. At least that's all I have pictures of. For those of you who have successfully made it through this entire post, I salute you! *salute* You are either extremely kind or extremely bored. (There may be a few other options in there as well.) Blessings to you all!

Subber is a Cubbid' Id...

For those of you who are completely flummoxed at the title...I've been having to talk while holding my breath today since I am now ensconced in Diaper Change Central for the summer (my mom runs a home day care). Sometimes those diapers can be gruesome. *gag*

But...I'm home! Yay! I drove down the beginning of this week, eating copious amounts of sunflower seeds along the way to stay awake. Hopefully they won't have any adverse effects. (However, I do find myself adjusting toward the sun from time to time.)

The end of the year was full of activities, so I think I'll just bombard you with some photos and spare you the brilliant discourse.

May found me at...a bridal shower for my buddy, Heidi. You go girl!! She's getting married in two weeks, and I am excessively happy for her.


A last photo shoot with my Discipleship Group. Most of them are growing up and leaving the nest. :(


A "Dean Staff" photo shoot. I actually could use your help praying about this one. I have to replace some of my RA's due to the reality of graduation. Three of these in the picture are moving on. *sob* I have been so blessed with my office staff. They are top notch young ladies. One is going to nursing school, one is getting married, and one is going to the mission field. I'm so proud of all of them!! Anyway, I need God's wisdom about replacements. (Pray...hard. Yes, you...lurker.)


Moving on...Memorial Day! What an incredible day I had with my favorite brother. He is so good for my heart. What a blessing to be with someone who speaks the same language and who loves you...period. Ahhhhhhh.


We decided to have a picnic. I was so self-impressed (you may all feign surprise) that I had remembered everything. However, when we arrived, I realized that the box of matches that I brought did not have a flint strip on the side. We tried striking the matches on the grill, the picnic table, our heads, but all to no avail. We then devised a "Brilliant Plan" that involved the cigarette lighter in my car and a slow and tedious walk from the car to the grill bearing the slowly burning bag of charcoal. Anyway, it worked!! We ate the steaks to prove it.


We also had happy watermelon.




A great day!

I also had time for a day at the zoo with my buddy and his special family.







And then, my buddy had a birthday, so his family got together to worship and pay homage to the beloved Child.

There was a cool cake made by Mommy.


Although, the birthday boy had a bit of difficulty with the taste...




But he seemed to manage quite nicely...


...and enjoy all his happy presents.


All in all, it was a good month...May. Lots of good things. Lots of friends. Lots of love. Indeed, who could ask for more?

I had planned to leave you with some thoughts from my devotions this morning, but I've already had to retype part of this once for some reason (the computer gods hate me), so I think I'll leave that for another time.

Until next time, a blessed summer to you all!

Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! This post is for you...especially - thus the fact that the whole thing is addressed to you personally. Does it feel weird to have a blog written directly to you? I guess it's kind of like an open letter. (Feel free to read on, those of you not my mom - which will be most of you...since I only seem to have one of them...mothers, I mean.) Anyway, since I actually remembered to send you a card and filled it with amazingly personal, sweet, and sincere sentiments, I shall only say a few things here. I was thinking earlier tonight about some of the traits I admire in you. One especially stood out. I love the way that you make every single person you come in contact with feel like he or she is the very best thing that happened to you all day. You know just how to make everyone feel special, needed, and loved. Your well timed words and simple gestures have snatched me often from an emotional downward spiral. Showing love is as natural to you as taking a breath. Thank you for giving me a home oozing with love, saturated with grace, and brimming over with joy. You made loving Jesus look as wonderful as it is.

I love you, Mom!

National Day of Prayer, etc.

For the last few years, GBS has been privileged to be involved with the National Day of Prayer here in the Queen City. We lug all our gear downtown, and the choir and orchestra set up on the front steps of the court house. It's pretty cool. This year I was asked to pray one of the prayers in the program (The Prayer for Those Who Educate). Anyway, it was a good experience. I always enjoy partnering with various churches in the community. Although I know that there are extremely valid reasons for the existence of different denominations, etc., I think that it is a beautiful thing when different churches can come together around a common vision. Anyway, I thought I would just post a few pics of the event to give you an idea.

The gang's all here!




Praying the prayer while being distracted by the dreadful echo from the buildings across the street.


Dr. Ted Kalsbeek, former pastor of Covenant First Presbyterian. What a stately man of God!


Pastor Russell Smith, current pastor of Covenant Presbyterian and fellow Lewis fan. One can find kindred spirits in unexpected places! (Sorry the spirit of Anne came over me for a moment!)


Anyway, it was a really nice day. The only fly in the ointment was an occasional great gust of wind that took stands and music along with it. However, there was no great harm done. :)

Now to the "etc." part of the title. Just thought I'd throw in a short clip of my buddy walking. He just turned 11 months old this week. He's been walking for over a month now, but it just makes me laugh to watch him. Hopefully it will brighten your day as well.



So that's that. Just a bit of info from this past week. (Happy, Mom?)

One more thought for the day from Isaiah 35 (portions of vv. 5-10, emphasis mine), and if this doesn't encourage you, I'm not sure what will!

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy...
The scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground springs of water;
...A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it.
...But the redeemed will walk there,
And the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting joy upon their heads
They will find gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

I was blessed this morning as I read this that, even in Isaiah's day, the concept of redemption was present. There had to be a sacrifice. They looked forward to the perfect Lamb as they continued offering theirs on the altar in the temple. Praise God that the price of redemption has been paid! It is freely offered to all of us, though we will never deserve it. We can walk on the Highway of Holiness, not because of what we bring to the table, but because we have had grace showered upon us. We join the saints of all the ages - the community of the redeemed. We have been ransomed, bought back, redeemed! No wonder they experience everlasting joy. No wonder they come to Zion with joyful shouting. I'm feeling pretty joyful myself right now!!

Blessings!

Spring Fever

From my absence, one might infer that I have been on an extended vacation; sitting ocean-front with a cold drink in my well manicured hand. One would be wrong. (My cuticles are a mess.) I will simply say that the last three weeks or so have been some of the busiest I remember in some time (for a variety of reasons). In a phrase...it's spring, and spring fever is alive and well. It clouds the mind and the judgement. It makes simple rules and tasks, done with relative ease up to this point, seem impossible or, at best, unreasonable. I am surrounded by a sea of blank stares as I reiterate the precepts set forth in our Handbook (most hallowed tome of wisdom). It is as if the words are new and strange; as if they are written in some long forgotten language; ancient runes impossible to comprehend. "What? That's a rule? I'm sorry. I didn't know..." *sigh* It's spring, and summer is almost here.

The last few weeks have also been filled with a quick succession of a variety of activities. If I elaborated on each one, this post would be of such a length that it might become discouraging. Therefore, I shall simply hit the highlights.

The beginning of April found me on tour with the Symphonic Wind and String Ensemble. I'm not sure when I have been more blessed to be with a group of young people. These individuals took tour seriously. When it was time to pray, they prayed, and God heard them. Our services, as well as our devotional times on the bus, were blessed with a powerful sense of God's presence. Our tour was characterized by a oneness of purpose and heart. It was incredible. But we also had a tremendous amount of fun as well. What a great combination! Below are a few random shots from the tour. I have many more, but they would take a long time to post!

Staying with some good friends in Roanoke, VA.


One of those really funny moments.


Even the child didn't escape unscathed.


It didn't seem to take away his taste for ice cream, however.


He even got to run the sound a bit. He was fascinated!


I also happened to be on the best crew. I appreciated their serious approach to the whole "recruiting" thing.


Anyway, a good time was had by all.

Last week ushered in IHC - a whirlwind of activity in Dayton. I really enjoyed myself this year, and, as always, it was good to have even those "drive by" conversations. I really loved reconnecting even briefly with many special friends.

On the heels of IHC comes VIP Day. This signals lots of work (white glove room checks, etc.) as we put our best foot forward for visitors. It really went well this year. I appreciated the mix of good information, good clean fun, and a stirring challenge to trust God fully with our lives. I think any young person that attended VIP Day is better for it - whether they end up at GBS or not. One especially big highlight was a bloopers video played at the banquet. It was a knock-off from the video showcasing the different divisions and programs GBS offers. I believe that it showed that, along with our quest for excellence, we can also laugh at ourselves (an important attribute). If you know any of the GBS faculty, you might enjoy it. Just search for "GBS" and "bloopers" on You Tube or God Tube.

This week we had our Spring picnic, Academy music program and all night lock-in (probably too much within a 48 hour time period). However, all went well. There were no major injuries. (One wouldn't expect to have major injuries at an academy program, but you can't be too careful. Tripping over a bass drum can cause head trauma.) I also judged science fair projects for the first time in my life. I have discovered that I'm a bit of a hard grader. Who knew?

In closing (she said in a pastoral sort of way) let me share with you something I came across in my devotions this week.

Isaiah 28:23-29

Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cummin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
This also comes from the LORD of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

At first blush, this may seem like just a little aside on farming. However, I was struck by something a bit deeper. I am humbled and grateful that the God who knows exactly how to harvest grain, dill, and cummin in a way that will produce the best crop without damage knows me. He knows just how much threshing I require before I am damaged by the cart wheel. He knows that, left inside the husk, I would be of no use to anyone. But when the rough exterior is smoothed away by a creative variety of methods, I can bring flavor and nourishment to those around me. I love that! Truly "His counsel [is] wonderful and His wisdom great"!