A Blessing From A HOLY EXPERIENCE

This blog I've recently come across has been a blessing to me just about daily. I am posting it here for you to enjoy.

It comes from A Holy Experience (link in my sidebar).

I could benefit from reading this every day.

If you turn off the fourth line, just after you slip over the lazy Maitland River meandering down through the cedars and Brosse’s herd of Herefords, and take that gravel road north, up past the silver pond sleeping under a ring of mesmerized willows, you’ll find us there, first farm to your right. He’ll be there to meet you at lane’s end.
He’ll be the one bounding beside your vehicle, leaping and dashing for a coveted glimpse of your pined-for face. Park by the garden’s picket fence, next to the cast iron windmill with its windchimes tinkling drowsily in the afternoon’s warmth. Careful how you crack your door open: he’ll inundate you with his wild, ardent greetings, dancing friskily about with feverish, uncontainable rapture. It’s you, it’s this afternoon, it’s this moment. It’s simply how he lives, this bursting sense of bliss at whatever life brings. The UPS deliveryman making his way up the cobblestone walk, sparrows wheeling about the red maples, the clank of his dish on the back stone steps.

Apathy is inconceivable to Boaz, our golden Labrador retriever. He lives in an endless state of sheer euphoria. His wildly wagging tail cheers: “Oh YES! My favorite!” His slobbering thick tongue smacks: “Oh YES! My favorite!” His vaulting, springing step sings, “Oh YES! My favorite!”We have no cats. They wouldn’t understand. The enraptured life isn’t for everybody.

But Darryl, an unbashed dog-lover, has decided it's for him. And it’s catching. I lean out the back door to ring the dinner bell, beckoning hungry tummies in for noon meal and heaping plates of steaming goodness. Up the back walk I hear him coming, “Dinner’s on! My favorite!” Shalom bounces from the sandbox with her singsong, “My favorite toooooo!”Shadows are stretching across dim rooms and the day’s light ebbing away when I call, “May we gather it all up, folks, before snuggling in for reading time?” Levi and Kai chime in with Darryl, “Clean up! My favorite!” Big boys smirk, I chuckle… but I shyly try it on too: “My favorite!”And again, when snapping up the sheets and quilts in the early morning sunlight: “My favorite!” When brushing my teeth, and feeling that clean, when the warm maple oatmeal fills me, when stringing out a load of fresh denims, and the wind catching the cuffs. “My favorite.”

“You know,” Darryl grins, “you’ve actually been saying ‘my favorite’ since I met you—long before I met you.”My eyebrows arch, confused.“Really. You do it all the time, all day long. That winsome little way you rub your hands together, like you’re kindling something inside.”I blush.Yes, embarrassingly, it’s true. Like starting a fire, I unconsciously, like blinking, light myself throughout the day with these heat-rubbing sparks of delight. It’s a habit I caught from my Uncle Paul, short and wiry Uncle Paul, who gleefully rubbed his hands together as he talked, as he worked, as he walked. Wasn’t life brimming with irresistible possibilities? Hand-rubbing Uncle Paul was my hands-down favorite Uncle, the one who chased us around the house when we were all far too big for such games.

So my father said.“That Paul, he’s just a big kid who never grew up.”And perhaps that is the point?
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

Maybe growing up—growing up into respectable restraint, into mature staidness, into average adult apathy—isn’t desirable.Maybe radical, childlike wonder is wildly preferable.

Yes, I think I’d rather be like a child twirling and romping and somersaulting with “Oh yes! My favorite!”And unwrapping the day with hand-rubbing glee.

"This is God's work. We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it! This is the very day God acted— let's celebrate and be festive! Salvation now, God. Salvation now! Oh yes, God—a free and full life!" (Ps. 118:24 Msg)

Lord, this is the day! We throw back our heads and squeal, "Oh YES! Our favorite!" This living business--this staggering gift of today--we can't wait to tear into what You give! For You are dizzingly good.

My Niece again

Yep .... just posted about her, but how could I possibly not share this new pic I came across on my sister's MySpace today ??

What a doll !!!!

My Niece

Birth

4 months

7 months (1st pigtails ..... too tight maybe ???)

Pictures of the schoolroom

Here they are ..... as promised

And here is one of a visitor we had on the outside of our schoolroom window yesterday morning. He was almost the size of the palm of my hand. The kids were quite excited by him. He stayed a long time and then actually came back later in the evening. They decided he needed a name. It is Tom. Fancy says it's because he was "peeping" in our window.

Much To Learn

So we sort of unofficially started school today. I decided it would be best for all of us to ease our way into this homeschool adventure. The next two weeks we will be doing a modified/shortened day just to "break us in". We start the real thing August 5th.

A couple of funny things happened that I thought I would share.

First of all Fancy's dog decided to join us and made his home right in the middle of her desk. I decided not to fight it as she continued to work diligently. It made for a humorous first day of school. She will have to learn soon though that this distraction will not be a daily event. I will cross that bridge later. I wanted today to be fun.

Bubby kept me laughing as well.

We are doing a curriculum this year that incorporates all the important subjects but is greatly focused on World Geography. We have turned our office into a school room (pics to come soon) and it is almost wall papered with maps, flags, and other geography information posters. We are very excited.

Anyway, a big part of what we want to learn is that there are MANY other places around the world and MANY other types of people with cultures that are different than ours. We want to try to be less "self -focused" and see the world more in the "big picture" than as a comparison to ourselves.

Ok, so one thing we were to do today was to take a color sheet of a boy from Greece and find Greece on the map. Then we looked up a picture of the Greek flag and were to color the boy and color the flag the correct colors, etc.

Well, Bubby immediately informed me that the boy on the sheet was dressed "real weird". I explained that I could see that the boy was dressed differently than we dress, but that this year we were going to learn how not everyone is like us, etc.etc ... I really thought I was doing a pretty good job so far.

WELL ..... Bubby went to his desk to color and came back minutes later to show me his handiwork. His exact words were:

"I fixed him Mom. I felt bad for him. I wanted him to look right, so I made him an AMERICAN!"

He practically turned this poor boy into Uncle Sam.

I am thinking it might be a long year.

FINALLY !!

So, you know how kids can be SO different ?? I mean from eachother ..... and I guess different in general too. haha

Anyway, whenever Fancy would have a loose tooth, she would work it and work it for about 2 days and finally just yank it with lots of gum tissue still attached. There would always be much bloodloss. She just couln't wait for the tooth fairy. It was like that tooth was "burning a hole in her pocket" so to speak.

Well, not Bubby. He has had his first loose tooth for over 6 months now. Lately, it has literally been hanging by a thread. It has gotten to the point where when he talks, it dangles. Ewww. So, FINALLY last night he let Daddy pull it out. I was SHOCKED that he allowed this to take place as I was at work and not here to save the day. Apparently, there wasn't even a single tear.