My Mom's Here

This is my kind of vision.  There is nothing like a two year old wanting to jump on the moon.  Vision for it, that it will happen and what he will do once he gets there. "Go on roller coaster then fall down on the grass.  Then fall down on the grass.  I go be right back.  I'll be right back." And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. Mark 10:13-16 ESV I am habitually turning off our outside lights each morning.  Their insignificant glow looks like a waste as soon as the sun rises. Can you envision this? The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The found

Have you been reading your clothing care labels carefully?  Many that I have come across recently have said, "Wash garment inside out. Gentle, cold water, with like colors.  Low heat in the dryer." I can understand this for the printed tees and the beaded tops, but the basic shirts and pajamas for the kids, I'm kind of tired of turning them inside out, then right-side out, only to be turned inside out again.  Who knows the reasons for this, but since I am still learning about doing laundry properly, I read all these things and follow along. I have a few bad habits, and those who know me well already know some of them, hopefully not too many!  One really bad habit is when we come in from somewhere, a vacation, day trip, outing, I have this bag from the day and I dread unpacking it.  The most embarrassing thing is when I totally forget about it, and find it when I need the bag again. "Where's the sunscreen?"  Oh, it's in the brown bag that we took to t

You know the time of day when your bare feet and fingers are free from restriction and adornment, and subdued time reigns? You can breath a little deeper, you are used to the noises, and which seats have the best lighting and the best views of what's going on. We are here. It has taken over a month physically and mentally, emotionally and logistically to get here and call it "settled in."  We were welcomed with open arms to our potentially new church, and I have already met with about 5 moms for play dates and park expeditions at the local "Castle Park," as Naomi aptly named it.  We even had people over for dinners and desserts, which is never perfect with lots of little ones, but always entertaining.  I think the record so far was 7 kids and 5 adults over for David's 2nd birthday.  After a birthday morning of me feeling heart-wrenched that no one was here to celebrate with us, we had a house full by evening.  God supplies with more than we need, even w

After missing the road to turn right on while chatting with cousin Jamie, I made it up St. David's Road to the correct golf course.  The triangular entrance greeted me abruptly, and I slowed down which seemed to be the only way to fit in on the windy road to the main building, beyond the impressive line of trees.  The small grass landing before the building had about seven well-outfitted children each being taught privately, swinging at golf balls along straight lines, being instructed, or calmly observing.  As I saw the parking lot far off to the left, I followed the valet signs around to the main door, exchanged the ticket for my car and walked confidently up the stone steps. Once I found the room with the Cardiology group, I ran into Mike's program director and he introduced me to a well respected doctor who will be joining the company Mike is graduating from.  The program director was pleased to see me and very complimentary, since he knows all about my Myasthenia Gravis

Mike started medical school with a white coat ceremony.  I wasn't able to attend, but his parents were there to see him receive a waist length white coat, defining a medical student, not quite a doc yet.  As med school came to a close, graduation, then moving to PA, it was an honor to begin residency with a long white coat. Now try ironing the thing, because as the training continued, for the next seven years, the laundry service did not cater to trainees and their stiff 100% cotton long white coats. Well, the other day, I needed to iron Mike's white coat for a photo shoot for his new job.  The photographer even stated in an e-mail that Mike should come to the photo shoot with the "coat ironed."  This was not easy.  I'm not very skilled at this sort of thing anyway, but knowing that this particular white coat could be in a picture that is blown up to billboard size, I better start taking this ironing seriously.   So, a pinky length wrinkle could be like 10 fe

My friend Christine has had an apt word for me many times, always at prime times in my life.  I am so fortunate to be around many edifying friends and family, who have good counsel at perfect times.  I have been thinking about Christine's text from a few months back.  It was just as we were settling into the idea that we will almost definitely be moving.  So here's her text and how I'm applying it. Jo, I believe God would want you to watch a video about how a tree is moved from one place to another. Ok. This is planting a tree from a pot: This is moving a tree from one spot to another. Could it really be, that God has gone ahead of us to our new location, and prepared a place for us to grow into? Could it really be, that it hurts the tree a bit in the short term to run a blade through the outer lining of it's root ball, cutting the roots (some spiraling)? Is it true, that the roots of the tree only branch out as far as the leaves and branches?

I am finally sitting down at a reasonable hour, and have my feet up.  I was going to polish the night off with a piece of Zitner's Butter Krak, with coconut covered in dark chocolate with pieces of toasted coconut jeweled in the coating- but the ever fleeting chocolate goodness left my mind when I was brought back to my Jersey roots with the bag of fresh bagels my parents brought.  An everything bagel was so soft and smelled so delicious, I couldn't bear to put it in the freezer with the others, and the room temperature butter called for me to curl onto the couch, write a blog entry, and enjoy. We are signed. The contract is signed and returned.  A few weeks ago, we visited the new area and Mike returned the contract in hand, as I circled the parking lot with the kids in the car.  We visited a local park to get a feel for one of the town, and walked through a couple open houses to get a feel for homes in person, after only knowing them online and through pictures and realtor

This four-letter word has plagued me for the last 7 years.  It has meant commitment, long nights, be ready any time, no traveling, phone can ring at any moment, minimize expectations, continue minimizing expectations, if he will or will not be called, called in, called to talk, called to read a fax, called to wake up and speak a foreign language (sounds like to me) out of a dead sleep. Who knows, with c-a-l-l. As I read Naomi one of the A.A. Milne chapters about Eeyore's Birthday, I remembered how it was just about a year ago that I was able to read aloud again.  But now we are bordering on reading books that have many words and a few small pictures every other page or so.  And I can still read aloud - through the whole thing, Eeyore voice and all.  However, in general, I have not been as spunky as I hope I could be.  You can see it around my eyes, basically Mike and very close friends notice.  As we are staging the house and cleaning a lot, making meals, planning and buying gro

I guess I should let in on a little of what actually happened at the interview.  I'll start with the morning after. Showering on the 14th Executive floor of the Hilton on Friday morning, I contemplated the seemingly endless supply of hot water.  At home, I would be hesitant to take longer than an 8 minute shower, unless I knew no one was showering for the next five hours.  Minutes 12-15 in the shower could border on luke warm, and progressively turn down the cold water until the only water showering down is from the hot spout, the water continues towards tepid, and forget the 20th minute. Cold. I understand the seemingly endless supply of hot water from the 14th floor.  I understand that it is 'seemingly endless' and one day or hour, will turn cold.  But I cannot comprehend the endless supply of water that the Lord has access to.  Streams of living water. I tend to put the amount of things the Lord can do into a water heater, and figure that it has a fixed volume, an am

There's just no tune as exciting as a show tune in 2/4. When it's played, you can just smell The greasepaint in the air.  - Jerry Herman Hello Dolly & Mame are two great shows composed by Jerry Herman, the master poet and composer. He wrote a lot of tunes for his shows in 2/4, and if you don't know what that means, just picture the conductor waving his baton frantically up and down, tons of energy, and a strong pulse from every other bass note buzzing by.  You generally cannot help but tap your foot, thumb, or toe and even though the singer may be singing slowly, an unmistakable rhythm is driving you pretty quickly into the heart of the show.  And this music moves. We're functioning on a 2/4 right now, something new being staged every other day as opposed to every other beat.  I have to be somewhat of an actress while teaching these little ones.  How else could you hedge in a 1 1/2 blue eyed boy who specializes in balancing on the couch armrest and belly floppi

As I was reading in Proverbs this morning, I was struck with a certain example.   Two different places where wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are highlighted. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20 ESV) And then later on there is a description on how to build a house, from the perspective of us here, making our homes for our families. By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (Proverbs 24:3-4 ESV) I never put these two sections together, and realized the example God gave us when He set the foundations of the earth.  You can further find information about this in Proverbs 8:22-31 if you are interested in further reading. As we embark on a likely move, and our home is being filled with blue painters tape and boxes, emptied

One might think that less events, conflicts, and chaos is the best.  Quietness and kept schedules are the foundation for normalcy.  Well, after last week's lowlight of our alleged painter/witness to a robber/robber himself/victim of being held up at gunpoint while we were off the premises, and the highlight of Mike's excellent interview, the lowlight of my swollen eyes and overwhelming tiredness, and the exciting highlight of house hunting in our prospective new area, the lowlight of watching a small paperclip fall down the back of David's throat while checking out of Whole Foods, and the highlight of my cousin moving in with us for his first job - I have never been so close to bursting into random song than now.  Yeah, there were a few tears.  But the encore-to-crying song is then sweeter and more earnest. In High School, I couldn't wait to get into the empty stairwells, and bust out a little tune while I sped up or down the stairs.  My friend Dana said, "perfec