The Appeal of Children

Jesus loves the little children. I often think of that when I think of our grandchildren. I don't know that I thought about it as much when our own children were small. Maybe because we were too busy raising them, teaching them, correcting them, steering them in the right direction (in the moment). But now that the pressure's off, it's easier to see the delightfulness of children.

Andy and I were missing Christy and her family. Having spent 2 weeks together on vacation made it more poignant when we hadn't seen them for 4 weeks. So we took a trip on Tuesday to visit them. I marinated some chicken and put together a potato casserole and made a batch of pumpkin cream cheese muffins to take along. (Christy provided green beans from her garden to complete the meal.)

The kids were enthusiastic in their welcome when we arrived. I love it when they run to greet us. And weren't the children running to meet Jesus? No wonder he told his disciples to leave them alone, then took them up on his lap. I know that feeling! There's nothing like the hug of a child. You feel so loved and accepted. Children don't judge as adults do.

Kids are also spontaneous. It was almost dinner time and Grace and I were clearing the table (from earlier craft projects) and setting it for supper. All of a sudden the other kids arrived with a "ta-da" and all in costumes.

Asher the turtleAiden giving a bow

Naomi the princess

Kids are not afraid to ask questions. The dinner time conversation is quite entertaining and educational when shared with children, ages 3 - 10.

They're just cute. Asher asked me to get him a "dup." I knew he meant "cup" so I encouraged him: "Asher, say c-c-c-cup." He answered: "c-c-c-dup!"

And they love to be silly and have fun.Jesus tells us we need to be like little children to enter the kingdom of God. I don't think Andy will have any trouble with that one!

Time with Kira

I've seen a lot of Kira recently, which is a happy thing! On Saturday, Dawn & Tommy went to a wedding, so I had Kira here with me. She is such a fun little girl. She greets me very enthusiastically when she comes in the door, then heads right for the toys. She likes to dress up in the "pretty dress" and shoes, then sit down to read books. Thankfully, she does like to read because it doesn't require as much energy from her Grammy!She also likes to play outside.Andy and I are thinking of selling the trailer for our lawn mower because I think we've only used it once in all the years we've owned it. So Andy had it out to take pictures for posting and little Miss Kira thinks she can drive it!I have her again today because Dawn is having her surgery. I only worked 3 1/2 hours this morning then came home to take care of her. Right now she is taking her nap which is how I can be on the computer. She is quite a talker, repeating everything she hears, as well as coming up with her own stuff. Before nap, she told me she wanted to "watch George." That means she wants to watch Curious George on TV. Well, that's another fairly easy activity for Grammy to do with her.

Yesterday, Andy and 3 other guys rode their bikes to the shore. His mom and dad are staying in Ocean City for 3 weeks and for 4 years now, Andy has ridden his bike down while they are on vacation. It's a 72 mile ride. It wasn't a very nice day, overcast and gloomy, but at least it didn't rain while they were riding. I drove a church van down so they wouldn't have to ride their bikes back. We had a lunch of hoagies which they could all afford since they had burned around 4,000 calories.While eating on the deck of the shore house, this bird sat on a neighboring deck the whole time. No one knew what kind of bird it was. Do any of my bird loving relatives have any ideas?

Ministry Fair and Remembering 9/11

After a hectic week, Saturday was fairly restful and relaxing. I did a couple of loads of laundry but other than that, no work!

After dinner on Saturday, Andy and I both went over to church to set up tables and get the lobby ready for the Ministry Fair that was scheduled for Sunday morning. We (meaning Andy and Mark) put up the tables, then I put the tablecloths on. Andy helped me pin the banners onto the tables.It was a busy, exciting place on Sunday morning.
After church on Sunday, Andy and I went over to Laurel Acres Park where a 9/11 Memorial Service was scheduled. Several weeks ago, the township had called the church to ask one of our pastors to be involved in giving the invocation at the ceremony. So at staff meeting that week the pastors talked about it and decided Andy should be the one to do it. Since we were on vacation and absent from that meeting, we couldn't voice any objection! Actually, out of all the pastors, it made the most sense for Andy to be the one to do the honor. The other pastors had responsibilities that made it harder for them to get away from church.

The ceremony was at 1:00 pm. Andy and I were encouraged by the testimonies and stories of those who participated. There were the usual stories of the selfless heroics of the response teams, but almost all of them talked about how God ministered to them in that situation. They talked about their own growth and faith and hope. It was very heartening. We really don't live that far from New York, so our township was one of the first to respond in sending teams to New York. And we were given a big piece of steel from the World Trade Center as a memento. You can see it at the bottom of these two pictures.
The Mount Laurel mayor and Andy praying.The end of the ceremony: bagpipes playing Amazing Grace.
Psalm 42:3-5
My tears have been my food day and night,
while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
These things I remember as I pour out my soul;
how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Where is God when tragedy strikes? He is there: in outer space, in the deepest pit, giving comfort, glimmers of hope and glimpses of Himself. There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.

It's a good thing to remember. Great is His faithfulness.

Labor Day and Books I've Read

Vacation seems like a distant memory this week. It was a short work week because of the holiday, but the days I did work were very busy. I had to fit into 3 days what normally takes 4. On top of that, a 4 hour staff meeting was scheduled for yesterday, my first day in the office this week. Yikes! Fortunately, I have good help. Although I worked extra hours yesterday, today went better and the work got done.

Andy and I labored on Labor Day. After visiting Amy, Ricky and kids on Sunday (see Amy's blog), Monday and Tuesday we worked on a long list of jobs to be done around the house. None of them were too exciting. For instance, Andy worked on installing a battery back up for our sump pump. He also worked on correcting some electrical issues. Our kitchen light is on a 3-way switch and for some reason, the one switch wasn't working. He had worked on trying to fix that a number of times, but wasn't getting it. He finally called an electrician friend to help and now it works! These may seem like trivial and insignificant items on the to-do list, but it's a good feeling when they can be crossed off.

I puttered around in the kitchen and did errands and cleaned house and generally got caught up from being away. On Tuesday, I watched Kira while Andy and Dawn went biking. They did a 44 mile ride, preparing for the trip to the shore on Sept. 20. They seem to really enjoy their biking, but I think I had the better experience. Kira and I read books, played on the swing set, threw sticker balls in the pond, visited the neighbor's sheep and goats and another neighbor's chickens. (I do not have any pictures because I forgot all about recording those precious moments for posterity.)

I've been reading some good books lately. I gained some insight into myself from People of the Lie by M.Scott Peck.The whole book was insightful but I especially was struck in his explanation of group dynamics. He said "most people would rather be followers. More than anything else, it is probably a matter of laziness. It is simply easy to follow, and much easier to be a follower than a leader. There is no need to agonize over complex decisions, plan ahead, exercise initiative, risk unpopularity, or exert much courage."

It struck a chord with me because I am often in a leadership role, but have to confess that I would rather follow. I had never thought of it in terms of my laziness, but I have to agree that it is easier to follow than lead. There is risk in leading.

The author continues: "The problem is that the role of follower is the role of child. The individual adult as individual is master of his own ship, director of his destiny. But when he assumes the role of follower he hands over to the leader his power: his authority over himself and his maturity as decision-maker. He becomes psychologically dependent on the leader as a child is dependent on its parents."

Another book that challenged my thinking was In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.The subtitle is: How to Survive and Thrive when Opportunity Roars. It was recommended to me by a friend whose husband passed away in October. Here are some quotes from the beginning of several chapters to whet your appetite:

chapter 1 - "You are responsible forever for what you have tamed." Antoine de Saint-Exupery
chapter 2 - "How much happier you would be, how much more of you there would be, if the hammer of a higher God could smash your small cosmos." G.K. Chesterton
chapter 5 - "To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation." Oswald Chambers
chapter 6 - "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

A couple of things I underlined:
"Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God."
He talked about that there are "basically two kinds of people in the world: complainers and worshipers...Complainers will always find something to complain about. Worshipers will always find something to praise God about. They simply have different default settings."

"Here's what I've learned from personal experience. Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times. That's just the way life is. I've also learned that our worst days can become our best days."

The author stated that we can turn our adversity into a ministry. If we don't do so, our pain remains our pain. But if we allow God to translate our adversity into a ministry, then our pain becomes someone else's gain. He said he had a theory that "the more problems you have, the more potential you have to help people."

Very thought provoking.

And then I read another book just for fun: The Three Musketeers.This story was written by Alexandre Dumas who was a prolific writer in the 1800's. Another of his novels, Count of Monte Cristo, is also a classic. This is a story set in France where there is intrigue in the court of King Louis XIII. It gets pretty exciting in spots, but our hero manages to foil all attempts to do away with him and in the end, justice and right prevail. I love good endings.