Matthew finally came home yesterday. We have been missing him since Christmas Eve. It's like magic, and almost like he never existed, except that Lucy the Dog and Nathan the Little Brother look around our house with a glazed, lost look in their eyes.
It happens every time Clinton's sister and her 3 boys come to town and stay with Clinton's folks. They show up, Matthew disappears.
We do occasionally hear his laughter coming from the "secret base" in the back of their house. We sometimes catch a quick glimpse of his clothing streaking through the kitchen towards the family room and garage. And someone must be driving his 4-wheeler around the woods. If we really concentrate we can make out his outline for a nanosecond at mealtimes. But other than that, he is gone, gone, gone.
We do feel truly blessed to have at least one set of grandparents close by, and that they are in good enough health to play with the boys. I keep trying to get my parents to move closer, and I think I MIGHT be making the slightest headway, but alas, they are not here yet. So while we can't seem to have everything in life the way we want it, we make the very best of the blessings we do have. Even if it means we miss our oldest son for a week or so.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Blessings
I am truly blessed. I am writing this to you right now from...my bedroom! How is this possible, you ask, as I have only a desktop in the kitchen? The answer is... I am on the new laptop my darling husband bought me for Christmas/Our Anniversary!
Technologically speaking, writing from my bedroom even with a laptop is quite a feat, mostly because we live in the country and our high speed internet options are very limited. But through the miracle of technology (and the great brain of said darling husband) we have wireless internet IN the house and not just TO the house. It's a long, sordid tale I will not bore you with at this time. Not to mention the fact that just trying to sort out the technical terms would, for me, be quite difficult. So, because of the blessing of God and my wonderful guy (I know, shut up already) it will be much easier for me to follow the muse to wherever it leads.
Now if I can just find the time to go along for the ride...
Technologically speaking, writing from my bedroom even with a laptop is quite a feat, mostly because we live in the country and our high speed internet options are very limited. But through the miracle of technology (and the great brain of said darling husband) we have wireless internet IN the house and not just TO the house. It's a long, sordid tale I will not bore you with at this time. Not to mention the fact that just trying to sort out the technical terms would, for me, be quite difficult. So, because of the blessing of God and my wonderful guy (I know, shut up already) it will be much easier for me to follow the muse to wherever it leads.
Now if I can just find the time to go along for the ride...
Friday, December 12, 2008
Reflections from the mind of a 16 month-old boy
"What are you shouting about? It makes perfect sense to get Mommy's hairbrush and put it in the fireplace!"
"The leftovers will taste much better if I put my feet in the tupperware before she uses it."
"Dish towels belong on the kitchen floor, NOT on the hanger."
"The dog's water bowl, the dishwasher and the toilet are all acceptable places to play."
"It's not a good day unless I get a huge bruise somewhere on my head. Preferably as close to my eyes as possible."
"Throwing stuffed animals over the gate is fun. It is even more fun to watch Mommy put them away so I can do it all again."
"It is perfectly acceptable to put my shoes on to go somewhere, but NOT my coat."
"All buttons, levers, keyboards, drawer pulls, handles, and cords must be touched early and often."
"Individual packages of cookies and crackers taste much better after they've been crunched in my hands and thrown on the floor several times."
"Mommy's arrangement of knick-knacks is sorely lacking in composition and style. I must help her."
"Daddy's neckties look much more artistic in a jumbled pile on the closet floor."
"Toy remotes, keys, telephones, computers, ipods, etc are not near as much fun to play with as the real thing."
"Mommy and Daddy are starving our poor dog. I will be generous and share all of my food with her."
"Today my favorite game is 'Hide One of Daddy's Shoes.'"
"The scheduled nap time, which heretofore has been set in stone, is now negotiable, and may cease to exist in the near future."
"The leftovers will taste much better if I put my feet in the tupperware before she uses it."
"Dish towels belong on the kitchen floor, NOT on the hanger."
"The dog's water bowl, the dishwasher and the toilet are all acceptable places to play."
"It's not a good day unless I get a huge bruise somewhere on my head. Preferably as close to my eyes as possible."
"Throwing stuffed animals over the gate is fun. It is even more fun to watch Mommy put them away so I can do it all again."
"It is perfectly acceptable to put my shoes on to go somewhere, but NOT my coat."
"All buttons, levers, keyboards, drawer pulls, handles, and cords must be touched early and often."
"Individual packages of cookies and crackers taste much better after they've been crunched in my hands and thrown on the floor several times."
"Mommy's arrangement of knick-knacks is sorely lacking in composition and style. I must help her."
"Daddy's neckties look much more artistic in a jumbled pile on the closet floor."
"Toy remotes, keys, telephones, computers, ipods, etc are not near as much fun to play with as the real thing."
"Mommy and Daddy are starving our poor dog. I will be generous and share all of my food with her."
"Today my favorite game is 'Hide One of Daddy's Shoes.'"
"The scheduled nap time, which heretofore has been set in stone, is now negotiable, and may cease to exist in the near future."
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Rings-n-things
Okay, I admit it. At church a couple of Sundays ago, when my eyes were supposed to be closed in holy prayer, mine were open. Not only that, but I wasn't concentrating the slightest bit on what I was supposedly praying about. I was, in fact, staring at my hands. More specifically, I was contemplating the rings on my fingers. I know, I'm a helpless sinner. :)
I was feeling slightly flamboyant that morning and had decided to wear some of my older, sparkly jewelry to church. Way back when I was in high school and rhinestones were "in" I had received a cocktail ring. It's about 3/4" x3/4", silver with 13 small rhinestones set in a flower pattern. It is just this side of gaudy, perfect for an evening dress. I thought it would be fun to wear it to church, you know, where you're not supposed to be gaudy or flamboyant in any way.
So I had my nearly-gaudy cocktail ring on my right hand and my small, delicate wedding ring on my left. The difference in the two rings, to me, was stunning. At first look, the cocktail ring is more flashy, more sparkly, just, well, more. The wedding ring is lovely but it's hardly noticeable against the other. Yet when you really examine them, you see the quantity of the one versus the quality of the other. While the cocktail ring has by far the greater number of stones, the wedding ring has one particular stone of a far superior grade. They are not even the same type of stone -- one is cut glass and the other is cut diamond. A simple reminder to me that sparkle and flash aren't always superior features--in jewelry, in people and in life.
So I did manage to be reminded of something good while I was supposed to be doing, um, something else good. But maybe next time I'll try to close my eyes and pay attention.
I was feeling slightly flamboyant that morning and had decided to wear some of my older, sparkly jewelry to church. Way back when I was in high school and rhinestones were "in" I had received a cocktail ring. It's about 3/4" x3/4", silver with 13 small rhinestones set in a flower pattern. It is just this side of gaudy, perfect for an evening dress. I thought it would be fun to wear it to church, you know, where you're not supposed to be gaudy or flamboyant in any way.
So I had my nearly-gaudy cocktail ring on my right hand and my small, delicate wedding ring on my left. The difference in the two rings, to me, was stunning. At first look, the cocktail ring is more flashy, more sparkly, just, well, more. The wedding ring is lovely but it's hardly noticeable against the other. Yet when you really examine them, you see the quantity of the one versus the quality of the other. While the cocktail ring has by far the greater number of stones, the wedding ring has one particular stone of a far superior grade. They are not even the same type of stone -- one is cut glass and the other is cut diamond. A simple reminder to me that sparkle and flash aren't always superior features--in jewelry, in people and in life.
So I did manage to be reminded of something good while I was supposed to be doing, um, something else good. But maybe next time I'll try to close my eyes and pay attention.
Straight lines
I was driving on the interstate recently, listening to my iPod and lamenting the cloudy day it was. In the midst of my lament I began to see some of the clouds ahead breaking apart. It wasn't a dramatic, Hollywood thing where angels sing and streams of descending light beams bathe the earth with a heavenly glow. It was simply a few clouds letting in a few Jacob's Ladders. For some reason this reminded me of something I had heard years ago, that there are no straight lines in Nature.
Even the straightest-looking natural elements bend with the wind or have a slight curve somewhere. Beams of light are the only exception to that rule.
My nature, my human nature, has no straight lines, either. No matter how hard I try to straighten myself out I can't do it.
If I want my human nature to be straight, I need to follow The Light. If I want the best plan, the most direct and most reliable path, I need to follow the straight line of light rather than the bending curves of my very human nature.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5&6 NIV
Even the straightest-looking natural elements bend with the wind or have a slight curve somewhere. Beams of light are the only exception to that rule.
My nature, my human nature, has no straight lines, either. No matter how hard I try to straighten myself out I can't do it.
If I want my human nature to be straight, I need to follow The Light. If I want the best plan, the most direct and most reliable path, I need to follow the straight line of light rather than the bending curves of my very human nature.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5&6 NIV
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