I Forgot

I forgot what it is like to be insanely sleep-deprived with a sick toddler on your hands.
I forgot what it was like to wish for the morning in the middle of a very long night, and then be totally sorry when it arrived.
I forgot what it was like to want to cry when the Little One cried...and that was just because.
I forgot about the emotional toll of high fevers and tepid baths and rocking, rocking, rocking a fretful baby back to sleep.
I forgot that the reason I originally started taking my showers at night when everyone was in bed was because there was NO TIME in the morning.
I forgot what it was like to have a fussy child that would not let you out of his or her sight for one second, not even to let you go to the bathroom.
I forgot that brushing the hair or the teeth might be a luxury.
I forgot that this was the reason I used to look more than a little thrown together some days because I only had time to grab the first thing in the form of clothes I could find to put on my body.

I am so sorry tired young mothers everywhere, but this grandmother simply forgot.
So I prayed for you unknown, exhausted women who might be at the end of your rope as I drove the sick Little One back to her own momma.

You can be sure that I totally remembered exactly what time she needed to go home.

It was a BOOooootiful Birthday Celebration

     Little's One's Birthday Pumpkin Patch was open for business yesterday afternoon. Spiderman, Superman, a Christmas Tree, a Cheerleader, Spiderman's Grandmother, the Football Player, and Waldo all made an appearance along with a few more characters, some of whom just came as themselves . But the indisputable queen for the day was none other the Flower Child. She stole the show. And I think you will have to agree.
                                

                  

The Daughter and Son-in-Law were there to referee the event which was loads of fun!

Some of the characters needed refereeing more than others!

The Daughter putting the finishing touches on the table decor.

Pumpkin decorating station

A very special Christmas Tree!

I am liking all of this attention!

Mmmmmm

I'm still not sure about this..

Uh oh, I made a mess!

It's always nice to have a few superheroes hanging around

Having the two Great-Grandfathers there was a reason to count our many blessings,

                                                                  All photos save one courtesy of YaYa                                        

Shameless Promotion

    I love my friends and when they do something wonderful, I want to be the first to tell everyone about it. I am a bit like the annoying rooster in the barnyard who always thinks he has something to crow about, but this time I really do.

My dear friend, Lisa Patton, has written a peach of a book that has recently come out in paperback. I love the luxury of buying books in hardback, but truth be told, I usually wait until the the paperback version is available. Lisa's book is also the featured fall paperback at Target, which means that it is readily available to a whole lot of folks who never seem to make it to a bookstore. Pick one up, or two or three and give them as  gifts this Christmas. Your friends will love you for it! This is a delightful read about a born and bred Southerner who learns what she is made of while running an inn in Vermont. LeeLee, the protagonist is a steel magnolia of the finest order. You will laugh, you will cry. Guaranteed. And doesn't the cover alone just makes you want to pick it up and take it home? You won't be disappointed! Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter...Enjoy! Oh, and look for her sequel to this delightful story -- it'll be coming out in May.

Oops, don't know who to credit w/this photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   This man has seen me at my worst. No kidding. That's what happens when you have been friends for 30 years and were neighbors for 10 of them. He is one of the most consistently kind, godly, and wise men I know. Our families are intertwined. Since I don't have immediate family in this city, he and his wife are my family. I love them. I read this book, Bond of Brothers, (which is specifically written for men, but certainly blessed me as a woman), and I boo-hooed almost the whole way through it, because I have seen this man live this book. My husband is in the book. My friends are in the book. But's that's not why I want you to read it. It's an important book. An immensely important book in a culture where men really do struggle to connect deeply with other men beyond work, weather, and sports. It's okay to use those things as long as they serve as the doorway to something deeper, something more valuable, something that allows men the freedom to show their souls to one another.
Wes Yoder isn't the least bit interested in starting a men's movement, but I think he just might. He is really on to something here...something that has already been proven true in his own life.

 

Photo by: Heidi Ross

Wes Yoder     Raised on a dairy farm in the Amish and Mennonite community of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Wes Yoder moved to Nashville in 1973 to work in the music business where he launched the careers of many well-known artists. His projects have included media representation of The Purpose Driven Life and The Shack, and media and literary representation of the #1 New York Times best seller, Mistaken Identity. He has appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC’s Prime Time, Dateline NBC, CNN Headline News and others. Wes and his wife, Linda, live in Franklin, Tennessee, and have two children and two grandchildren. Author Website: http://www.ambassadoragency.com

Check out our friend Wes Yoder for yourself. He will be appearing on the Today show on Friday, November 12, to talk about his book. 

TRADITION, tradition, Tradition....

    My family loves traditions and we can even get a bit obsessive about them, as do many folks. Example: How many families eat the exact same foods for Thanksgiving or Easter or Christmas year after year after year after year -- and if anyone alters the menu or a modifies a particular recipe, someone else invariably makes an unflattering comment. I guess that means we are creatures of habit -- either that or we are stuck in some pretty deep ruts.

A Few Traditions that Work For Us

1. Tradition Number One:

One of our favorite family traditions has always involved The Mom's birthday. I think early on my husband despaired about what to do with the kids when my birthday rolled around each February. Make a cake? Never. Even after thirty-six years of marriage, he can only manage to rustle up about 5-6 things in the kitchen and two of them are hot dogs and scrambled eggs. So cooking was out, but somewhere along the line, good man that he is, he came up with the idea of buying a frozen yogurt cake (white chocolate mousse, yes, thank you ma'am) and serving it to our family for BREAKFAST. Viola, The Mom's birthday suddenly was elevated to star status. You can imagine the brownie points my kids earned when they went to school every year and told their friends that their mom's birthday was the one time of the year that they got to eat CAKE and ICE CREAM for BREAKFAST. Through the years many of their friends even asked me if this were really true. Keep in mind that at that point in time I was a recovering hippie who was trying not to feed my children too many refined and processed foods.  The dear man even continued the tradition the first year or two after child number four went to college, but it just wasn't the same, and besides my burgeoning hips didn't and still don't need any more encouragement at this point than they already have.

 

2. In light of our aforementioned family tradition, Little One and The Daughter and Son-in-law arose early on the morning of Little One's first birthday and took her to the iconic Pancake Pantry here in Nashvegas for chocolate-chip pancakes. Now mind you, the child has had only

one teeny tiny bit of chocolate and absolutely no refined sugar in the entire first year of her life. Also keep in mind that she is child number ONE, and my observation is that parents have a lot more control, a lot of good intentions, and many more health-conscious rules with child number ONE. Things tend to loosen up the more kids you have. Can you imagine how Little One responded to this culinary delight? You are right. She went crazy. And she made quite a spectacle of herself with her wild hair, jammies, and chocolate covered face. I think it will be a tradition that will be embraced. Oh and next year I am going to teach her to beg for some butter and syrup, too!

3. Thirteen presents when you turn thirteen!

This may sound a bit extravagant, but trust me it is not. I had friends who always gave their children the number of presents to correspond to their number of years, but I never had the money to even contemplate such a thing. However, The Dad and I both felt that the thirteenth birthday was a rite of passage in the life of a child that somehow needed to be marked with something special. So, as each of our children approached this birthday, I began to scour the dollar stores and my favorite little cheap shops for some special, but every inexpensive treats. The first gift was always a "millionaire candybar" and would have directions included on how to find the next gift. Sometimes (we did this routine four times as we had four children) the gifts were arranged around a theme (one of ours was into camping at the time) and other children just received an odd assemblage of inexpensive treats. The best present of course was always the last, and would be something that the child could get excited about (we always gave them a financial limit as to what we would be willing to spend, and they had to give us several options which we sometimes still ignored). The gifts were hidden throughout the house and clues to the next gift were always included inside the previous gift. Part of the reason we developed this tradition is that by the time we got to the 13th birthday I was usually pooped out on parties. The good thing is that this naturally became a big family celebration, and the searching for treasure component of this tradition always made it fun for everyone!

                                                                                   All photos are courtesy of Fotosearch

Teach Us to Number Our Days

     I am requesting the right to be a bit more sentimental than usual today (okay so I am 

downright maudlin). But I have good reason. Little One turns one today and Little Two is 

scheduled to make her appearance within the next three weeks. So I have been thinking all 

day about seeing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and how I feel so 

remarkably blessed. My cup runneth over indeed.

     My friend Marty Goetz has a beautiful song on his latest album. I couldn't say it better if I tried. 

In every generation
Day out and day in, Your love, Your grace, 
Sustains every living thing
But like the grass, these creatures You’ve made 
We grow soon to wither and fade
Then You’ll say, “Return, O children of men.” 
So help us learn this lesson ‘til then…

Teach us to number our days 
That we may gain a heart of wisdom
Teach us to number our days
To be glad to rejoice in them 

O how we love this time this place 
But it’s not our destination
We struggle we strive to run this race 
With all of the strength we can bring 
Then in what is but the blink of an eye 
We finish our years like a sigh
So help us now, Lord show us how 
We can redeem days that pass like a dream

And teach us to number our days 
That we may gain a heart of wisdom
Teach us to number our days
To be glad to rejoice in them 
For a thousand years in your sight 
Is merely a watch in the night
So before they all fly away
Teach us to number our days

We’re given to pride so unsatisfied 
Still You provide such mercy
In light of our sin, how can we begin 
To thank You for placing Your beauty within

Teach us to number our days
That we may gain a heart of wisdom
Teach us to number our days
To be glad to rejoice in them
For a thousand years in your sight 
Is merely a watch in the night
So before they all fly away
Teach us to number our days

Yes, before we all fly away
Teach us to number our days

This is My Prayer for Little One on her First Birthday: 

Little One, I pray that you will one day look back on your life and say of the Lord, 

"There was never a time that I did not know your presence, 

your goodness, and your grace." 

I pray also that your inner beauty will always exceed your outer beauty and 

that you will grow in wisdom and knowledge and understanding of the Lord 

all of the days he has marked out for you. 

I pray as well that you will know very soon how great is the love 

the Heavenly Father has for you,  

and that you will trust Him more every day that passes.

I pray that whatever your circumstances you will know that the Lord

will never forsake you and that you are His, bought and paid for with a price.

Lastly, I pray that despite what the world teaches, Little One, you will find your

 true comfort, your security, your purpose, and your lasting peace in knowing 

the Mighty One who knit you together in your mother's womb. 

For indeed you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

I earnestly pray and ask these things in the name of Jesus, my Savior. 

Amen.

                                                 All photos are courtesy of the Good Neighbor, Marjie Aldom Smith

Well I Declare

      I just get tickled pink thinking about her. In case you haven't noticed, Little One is the bee's knees, the cat's meow, and the cutest little darling ever born in this grandmother's book. She turns one tomorrow, and we will be celebrating this weekend at The Daughter's house. Little One has no clue about all of the fun that awaits her!

Sittin' pretty in the pumpkin patch

 

A perfect size for a stool!

Getting ready . . .

To try some heavy lifting!

A perfect ending to Honey's day with Little One!

Grace, Grace and More Grace.

Wishful thinking at my house

    Consistency with daily tasks is not one of my better traits. I will leave the unfolded laundry on the kitchen table until I can no longer see most of the surface before I will get around to dealing with it; I hate hanging up clothes I have just taken off so I end up piling them up in a chair where they eventually collect dust and the ever-present dog-hair; and I avoid the grocery store like the plague. Yet I have somehow managed to function as a daughter, woman, wife, mother, grandmother, college counselor, friend, sister, and domestic goddess (insert a smile here, this is supposed to be funny) for one reason and only one: the grace of God. You might think as I once did that the grace of God is reserved for the hard things one encounters in life or as a covering for the sin that so easily besets us; but I have come to believe something very different: the grace of God is at once for everything and for all of life: the mundane as well as the sacramental; the boring as well as the glorious, and the burdensome along with the transcendent.  I don't know about you, but I have just as great a need for the everyday circumstances of my life to be bathed in grace as I do the struggles that seem destined to impact my soul.
   A while back I encountered this tiny little verse that probably comes close to rivaling the ubiquitous "Jesus wept" as one of the all time shortest verses in the Bible, but despite its brevity, it has had a profound and lasting effect upon me and the way that I view my life. It is also found in one of the books of the New Testament that I have continually struggled for many years to understand and apprehend, the Book of James. I offer these words up to you today as a gift. A gift that I want to share. I also want to challenge you to meditate upon these six little words, this logos from the heart of God to you and to me to see if they will not change your perspective on living as much as they have altered mine. Without further ado, here they are:

     "But He gives us more grace..."James 4:6a

   Think about it. Never less. ALWAYS MORE. ALWAYS MORE. I cried the first time I comprehended these words. I had seen the words before, even read them before, but for some reason they were never able to get through the grey matter to traverse the distance to my heart; they seemingly never traveled that mysterious and incalculable distance to my soul. Yet somehow they did. And for that I am so very thankful this Sabbath day...that despite all that I am, he is all that He is and so it is that He gives us more grace.