White Snow, Red Curry

Mmm, this is my second helping of red curry this afternoon. I came home from work, ravenous and snowy. I was going to join the family at our Y, but the car I'm driving doesn't have windshield wipers. I figured the first few roads would be my test to see if it would be safe to drive in the snow without wipers. Um, nope, it wasn't! At my first red light, the windshield filled up with so much snow, it was hard to distinguish when the light turned green. So, I headed home instead. Once moving, the wind blew off most of the snow, but I decided not to chance longer distances. (Yeah, I'll call the repair shop too...)

Ahh, a quiet house to myself, which means not having to share the computer with anyone! (Is that bad?!) So I'm catching up on your blogspots, xanga posts, facebooks, etc.

Last night, my son wanted us to go Christmas shopping before swim team practice. The two of us walked around Target together, as he bought presents with his own hard-earned paper route money. It was so sweet to see him buying presents for his sister, his aunts and uncles, his dad, his new little boy cousin, and others. J even wanted to buy his own wrapping paper and tape- with his money. Scanning the rolls of wrapping paper, he found just the right one, and a good bargain too: green snowman paper. I loved seeing his generosity! "I get it, Mom," he said excitedly once this week. "It IS more fun to give presents!" Ahh, very cool. Thanks, God, for your work in my boy.

How are you guys?

Lights in the Mist Around Us

What a cool misty, foggy night out as we drove back from the Y tonight after swim team practice. Wet, cold air wrapped around us as we walked to the van. Then it enveloped our vehicle as we drove. On longer stretches of the road that dipped into valleys, the fog was so thick that I had to slow way down to peer around me on the road, wondering what was ahead. Street lights were blurry, muted yellow in the deep mist.

Sipping a V8 at home now, my kids are readying for bed, the house is quiet. Soft music plays from the computer here, as I write. It's funny how a melancholy song can make you feel melancholy, even when you are not.

I've been thinking since a Sunday School class discussion about how we as Jesus-followers are impacting the world. How are we impacting the world? In what ways are we changing our worlds? Are we bringing in a joy that supersedes circumstance? A peace that is not dependent on what is around me? A sense of purpose that is solid? Do I remember these things? Do I radiate it? Do I radiate Him--who is the source of that joy, sense of purpose and peace that lasts despite circumstances?

Sometimes it is easy for me to instead see the harried life of the instant, the urgent, and not pause and reflect back on what is eternal. Reflect back, and then reflect out the truth. Funny. That sounds a little bit like the mist I was driving in tonight.

Slowing down, pausing to breathe in the cool air, and reflect on what a cool God he is... I want to radiate him out of me more.

Want to Hear Something Sad but Funny?

So, with my family's background of living in war-torn West Africa, and then later my kids seeing their grandparents in that same situation and occasionally fleeing violent political situations, my kids and I have often talked about the fact that anyone could die at any moment. We recognize that there are "bad guys" here too where we live, and that anything could happen. I have always assured my kids, though, of three things:
1.) That God loves us and that is heart can be trusted, no matter what things may happen in life.
2.) That God will never give us anything more than we can handle with his help ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"). And he will give us the strength to go through anything we need to. ("My grace is sufficient for you.")
3.) That God promises that he will never leave us or forsake us. Ever.

Tonight, though, as my husband is sick, and feeling miserable, hunched over, walking feebly, racked with chills, and other yuckyness, my kids and I are praying for him and hoping he feels better soon. As I was praying with my daughter M for her to go to bed, she asked "Has anyone ever died from the flu?"

"Well, they have," I answered honestly, "but I don't think Daddy will," hoping to make her feel better.

"Well, it could just be Daddy's time to die," she declared matter of factly, and biblically. "True," I laughed, slightly horrified, "but I don't think he probably will."

Later, out of hearing shot, I ran to my husband and told him the story. He grinned feebly. "She learned that from you, huh?!" he laughed.

Don't worry. We hug a lot and are all very close, my family of four. We're just very realistoc when it comes to death. Strange, huh? Meanwhile (back at the hall of justice), my man is not on death's door that we know of. :)

We're off to J's second swim meet just now! He will be competing in the 50 yard freestyle, 50 yard back stroke and 100 yard freestyle against his age group.

Little M is practicing for her kids' Sunday School program. She received the part of the storekeeper which has 17 lines to learn! She is eager to have fun with the "snotty" storekeeper role, kind of the bad guy in the play. Her play is Dec 16th at 7 pm. All are invited!

J's next home meet is Dec. 1 here at our Y. All our welcome. :) There are other semi-local city ones too.
Love to you, my family!

Too Cold for Sandals Now

Well, you will be happy to know that I changed out of my flipflop sandals this week into normal shoes. (Actually they were cute little black, pointy boot things, with side zippers)--But enough of the girl stuff! I sense the gentlemen shaking their heads...

So what's new? Hmmm,
sipping a nice cold cherry pepsi,
looking out my window at the awesome yellow blanket of leaves on the neighbor's yard,
laughing with my son over the Far Side cartoons (They are hilarious!),
studying the Civil war in homeschooling (Know any good Civil war movies that I could show to my kids? That's the hard part.)

I'm sending in my book proposal this week, and I'm really excited about that. I realize it's a long and probably discouraging process. That's okay.

Know any good jokes?

Pumpkins Guarding My Front Porch

Driving home from the Y this afternoon, my main plans were to get the piles of clean laundry up off my floor and to make supper before Heather came over for our wives' Bible study later on tonight. Seeing the awesome autumn leaves swirl across the highways, though, suddenly made me want to pull over and walk into a forest to be surrounded by falling leaves. My kids liked that idea, but were slightly disheartened--thinking that we might get pumpkins and carve them instead.

Stopping at the local hardware store, we paid for and chose four medium-sized pumpkins that had good face possibilities. "We have pumpkins!" my kids cheered excitedly to Dad as we got home. "Come decorate your pumpkin!"

We had a blast. It was a little too windy to carve them outdoors (our plastic bags kept blowing away), so we carved them at the kitchen table.We loved it, and talked about what a cool family time it was!

Now the pumpkins stand silent and dark, guarding our front steps. The candles, we'll add later as the wind dies down.

Hours later, Heather and I had a really nice time, learning and praying together as well. Have you ever read "The Power of a Praying Wife"? I recommend it for all marriages.

How are you all? What were you doing on this sunny, windy day?

My Dad: A Terrorist or A Spy?!

What? A terrorist or a spy? No. My dad is a missionary, but on his way to Ghana this month, he was detained at our local airport for an hour and a half. Looking at his passport, the officials studied his photo nervously, noting that the photo was cut crooked and didn't have the clear covering over it. "Is this you?" they asked. "Did you put the photo on here yourself?"

"Yes, it's me. No, of course, I didn't put the photo on there myself. This is my passport that I've used for years. See all the places it's been stamped at?" my dad asked, hoping that would alleviate fears.

"Yes, we were going to ask you about that," the officials inquired suspiciously. "Why have you been to so many African countries?"

My dad explained some more about who he is and what he does. They had him roped off in a little square cordoned area for a while, as they emptied his suitcases and searched through every item, meticulously. Eventually another more senior official came over and looked at my dad's passport. "Oh, no, it's fine," he assured the other officials. "That's just the old style of passport," he told them calmly. "He's fine, let him go."

Re-packing his things again, my dad vowed silently that new passports were the first thing he and my mom would work on once back in the states.

--Thankful for our country's security, and laughing sympathetically at my poor dad's adventures, I'm glad he's home safe. Yes, he's a black belt in karate. Yes, he's had amazing adventures and been held at gunpoint several times before... but he's still my dad. I'm proud of him, and I love him.