Just A Bit

You remember the song from White Christmas where the four leads (Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney. . . ) are singing on the train on the way to a ski vacation in Vermont and they very harmonically sing, "Snow. . snow. . . snow. . . snow" each in perfect key in their own range? Anyway--that's been the theme song-refrain running through my mind for our past couple days here. While it is not sticking too much because it's borderline cool, it is falling plenty off and on and making everything rather wet. Needless to say, it's been a bit frustrating for the tennis team. The season is two and a half weeks in, and they have been able to have only two practices outside on the courts, and their first competition is this Saturday. Guess they'll do what they can. Son likes when they get to get some actual practice with rackets and balls and nets in; the running and exercises of "strength and conditioning" are not his favorite moments, but he has a good attitude about it all. I hope he has a fun season, despite the somewhat uncooperative weather.

Our precious daughter has been little Miss Social this year--spending last Friday evening at another birthday sleepover of a friend. Think they got more sleep this time, it sounded like, but still had fun. This particular friend doesn't live too far away and she and the princess seem to have quite a bit in common. They are in Acting 2 together this semester and both are writers too; guess they shared some of their stories with each other at the party. What fun to see kids meeting and making friends with a variety of neat people!

We're excited to see Spring Vacation coming up this next week. We plan to head out of town for a few days for a little getaway. Hoping it's a bit warmer and less wintry on the Oregon Coast. Will enjoy the waves and sounds and smells of the sea--even if in sweatshirts and needing to return to a hot tub soak and a mug of hot tea, I guess. Will be good to get away and spend a few free days with the family in "vacation mode." We'll return to town in time for the Passion days services and celebrations at church. "My Girls" will both contribute their angelic voices to the choir anthems during the many services--what a blessing to listen to!

At school, my kids have been reading this book called Loner. It's a 1963 (My--how old!) publication by Ester Wier and was a Newbery Honor book. In it, an orphan boy who has no name finds himself with a sheepherder woman in the mountains of Montana. When the boy and the sheepherder meet, she decides he should have a name, so she gets out her Bible and says for him to randomly open and put his finger down to find a good name. Of course, being as he has just wondered into the life of a shepherd, he opens to the book of Samuel and happens upon the name David. He is given that name, and of course wants to learn all about his namesake from the Bible. Along the way, of course, the story of David and Goliath is mentioned, and alluded to--in fact becomes a significant allusion toward the end of the book. But anyway, I was very surprised--and saddened-- that when I was reading this section with my kids, hardly any of them knew the Bible story of David and Goliath! I didn't physically tally the results, but out of the 12-15 kids I read with in my groups throughout the day, maybe 4, at most 5--knew the story. I was dumbfounded! I guess I expected that even if they were not Sunday School attendees or church-goers, they would at least know that story. I remember even reading it in a "fairy tale" book of giants that my Dad has from his childhood. Anyway, it was an eye-opener, and a good chance to share the story, AND its important truths about God. We've finished the book in most of the classes this week; it is a great book, and most of the kids enjoyed reading it.

So, life drizzles and rushes and sleets onward. End and beginning of the month is a busy time for beautiful bride at her work, so she is looking forward to our getaway quite heartily as well. I know the daughter needs a bit of a break from school too--lots going on this past month. Son will miss a few days of tennis practice, but it is okay. Gets pretty intense as soon as we return with tournaments or matches most every week.

Such a blessing that even though we can "vacation" from our daily routine and witness God's scenery and imagination out in His broad, beautiful world, our God is constant and true, unchanging and dependable. What a comforting miracle He is! Praying your journeys through and remembrances of His passion in the coming weeks lead you ever closer and more deeply committed to Him. May Easter Alleluias resound gloriously in your lives! Blessings of Hope, Joy and Peace, friends!

Milestones

Well, we all survived our first "prom" experience. Actually, it came off rather blessedly, I think. Son had a super good time, and looked quite dashing in the formal duds (again, no paternal prejudice--honest). We rented a black tux jacket with tails and a psychedelic stained-glass patterned cummerbund with matching bow-tie from a costume shop, very inexpensively, that he wore with black pants and shirt. His date also looked very charming in a sparkly yellow/gold-ish gown, coordinating nicely with the lovely wrist-corsage of yellow and peach carnations that a florist friend put together for us at a bargain price. We took photos of them and the friends that they rode with before they left--both formal ones and silly ones, with all four of them engaged in a sword battle. Fun. After the prom, they all came back to our house, to have some ice cream and wind down for a bit. We parents certainly delighted in getting to visit with them all and be a part of their evening too. We feel blessed that it was a simple and fun event for them without involving a lot of drama, emotion, or $. Now, we have one positive prom experience under our parental belts, so hopefully when the lovely daughter's turn rolls around, it will also be just a simple and relatively stressless occasion.

This past week also marked 19 years of wedded blissfulness for the lovely bride and I. To celebrate that, I took Friday off from school since beautiful bride wasn't scheduled to work, and we spent a marvelous day together. It was a sunny day --thank you, God-- so we decided being outdoors was a good plan. Purchased some tasty pastries from a bakery downtown (a coconut, almond, apricot scone and an apple oatmeal bar) and ate a breakfast picnic soaking up sunshine and admiring the breathtaking mountain scenery from a dock on a beautiful lake in the nearby national park. When the sun appeared it was going to be obscured behind a cloud for an extended period of time, we decided to continue our adventures. We stopped to buy delicious deli sandwiches from a country convenience store en route and ended up at a different nearby scenic lake eating our picnic lunch. After finishing the flavorful sandwiches, we reclined back on the gravel bar for quite awhile, simply basking in the beauty and the glorious sun on our faces. Had to force ourselves to continue on in time to retrieve son after school to take him to tennis practice. We did make it right on time. Wow! Abundance of scenic beauty, glorious sunshine, and my gloriously beautiful bride--what a blessed day!

After church on Sunday, we drove up to my parents' to help celebrate another family milestone, my Mom's 72nd birthday. Her birthday was Friday, but the weekend worked better for all the family to get together. Of course, there was plenty of tasty vittles: tacos, spaghetti, salads, chips & dip, and desserts. My precious ladies had baked an apple pie and a coconut cream pie to bring to the festivities. (Both were superbly delicious!) Plenty of family (24 in attendance, I think) to connect with too. Good to see some folks we hadn't seen for months, and have a bit of a visit--even if only brief. Lovely bride and I did manage to get in a bit of stroll in the fresh air; just walked on the road as it was too wet and slushy to try venturing on the trails through the woods, or down by the crick. Did enjoy watching the baby calves in the pasture for a bit as we wandered by. Still revel in delight and marvel at baby animals--even after 45 years of witnessing God's sweet miracles every spring.

So, even though it was snowing and sleeting and blowing again this morning, there are signs of spring in our lives. Actually, much of our snow has melted in the past few days--amazing how rapidly it can disappear! And, it is a blessing seeing God's careful handiwork displayed in our lives --through all our milestones and in the precious everyday. Praying spring sunshine seasons your life with plenty of miracles and marvels this week. Blessings, friends!

Delinquency, Decisions & Delights!

My--it has been so long since I have posted. I did begin to once during "down time" at school one afternoon, but was interrupted so frequently, I found it too difficult to accomplish. So, again, please pardon the delinquency here, and I'll see if I can complete this one before my attention is called elsewhere. Pray all are having a blessed and cheerful spring. Our spring is taking awhile to get here. Been a bit wintry (more snow and below zero temperatures) again in the past week or so, and we still have a foot or so of dwindling snow covering the ground. Still do appreciate the sunshiny days, which we have had an ample amount of this winter, comparatively. Such a blessing, soaking up the cheery warmth out in the brisk freshness of late winter air. Praying for more sunshine anytime God decides to gift us with it.

And speaking of decisions, MIT decided to reveal their application decisions on-line, posted on Saturday, March 14 at 1:59pm (Eastern Daylight Time). Clever, posting them precisely at "pi." 3.14159. . . Since our brilliant son has memorized pi out to the hundredth digit, I thought there may be some positive connections going on. We drug him out of bed around noon (we're two hours earlier than Eastern time) to log-in to the site and check it out. He was much more relaxed about the whole shebang than I was, having dreamed all night about the outcome--with both possibilities playing out rather dramatically in my subconscious. Clad only in his scant sleepwear, with both parents peering over his shoulder, he calmly input the needed user name and password to reveal a very diplomatic and professional letter informing of their regrets that they were "unable to offer" him a spot at MIT at this time. He matter-of-factly responded with something akin to "So, now we know. . ." and calmly proceeded with other web-surfing journeys. It seems that while he would have thrilled at the opportunity to study at MIT, and had the drive to go through the intense application process, he knew the acceptance statistics (about 12% of applicants) and figured his chances quite slim. He feels he probably did not have as much involvement with extra-curricular math/science activities as they would have liked to see. So, I don't think he is experiencing major disappointment, and is probably feeling relieved to finally know the decision. Looks like his plans will be to attend MSU in Bozeman, so we are looking into what scholarships are available, and continuing to meet deadlines, fill out forms, and all else that goes into finalizing and formalizing all this college entrance stuff. Calm and inquisitive son just seems excited about the whole idea--being out on his own, studying "cool stuff," and experiencing our big, wide world. And, maybe, mom and dad are somewhat more comfortable with the idea of having him be only a few hundred miles away instead of a few thousand. What a joy knowing we can all rest in the divine wisdom of our loving God!

So, delightful daughter wasn't home for the big revelation on Saturday as she had spent the night at an impromptu slumber party with some friends. She was delighted to have the opportunity to "hang out" with them on a Friday night and until mid-day on Saturday. Sounds like they had a good time, snacking, watching DVD's of a favorite baseball/romance anime' series, talking about "boys," and whatever else sweet and silly teenage ladies do at sleepovers. I think it was a particularly welcomed end to a bit of a stressful week: with a couple days of standardized testing, a big chemistry assignment due, and a choir concert to perform. Her concert was on Tuesday evening, and --as usual-- was indeed delightful! Daughter was blessed to have Grandma and Aunt, Uncle and cousins attend the performance with us. The program was titled "Color My World With Music," and many of the songs performed contained color words. Daughter's Select Women's group chose to dress in all black, and the princess looked beautiful and elegant--no paternal prejudice here, I promise--as she joyfully sang their selections, some with the other all-girl choir, some with the men's group, and a couple pieces by themselves. The program was a fun and colorful collection of inspiring melodies, culminating with all the choir groups, about 100 melodious voices, joining together on "What a Wonderful World." Louis Armstrong would have gotten goosebumps. Their choir director is phenomenal and succeeds remarkably in making choral music a fun and beautiful experience for everyone involved--singers and audience!

I had a quick chance to be delighted again by their choral artistry on Monday afternoon. A choir from another high school joined them for the day to work and learn together, and they performed the two pieces they practiced together at 1:30, just before the other school's singers had to get on their bus to return home. I was able to duck out for a bit from my school to come over and listen; I was the only audience member besides the directors and a video operator, and I immensely enjoyed my private concert. One of the songs they performed which the daughter really delighted in singing was an Italian love song called "O Oki Manza Mia," and the lovely wife remembers having performed it in a choral group sometime in her choir-rich history as well. It is a soul-touchingly beautiful anthem. Again, I will declare, what a blessing having a musically gifted family is--especially for one so musically-challenged as I.

And, the spring sport seasons started yesterday. Our son's tennis team spent the first day of practice with snow shovels attempting to remove the foot of wet snow that covered the practice courts. If the weather allows them to be outside, they will be pushing and tossing snow again this afternoon as well. If the winter weather patterns continue--snowing and sleeting and blowing as I type--they will have "strength and fitness training" in whichever school's gym they can find available. Spring sports sometimes have a bit of competition with weather not necessarily spring-ish in these climes. I don't envy the track coaches dealing with 100+ track athletes when they can not be outside. As the son jumped into the car when I picked him up from school to take him to the tennis courts to shovel, he informed me he would need some money to buy tickets, as he was going to the prom this coming weekend with a girl who has been his good friend since junior high. She asked him, and he agreed to go. This is all new and foreign territory for us, and maybe further complicated because it is a "friend-thing" instead of a "date-thing." Any advice as to "expectations" and such would be appreciated. He did e-mail her last night posing a few questions, so maybe she will help us out a bit. Neither son nor his friend drive, so fortunately they plan to ride with another junior high buddy and his date who do have a car. Attire, corsages, dinner? We have lots of questions and unknowns. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out--mostly we're just praying it is a good time for them all. I did make it into the high school this morning to purchase the ticket, so so far--we're okay, I guess. Help, if you have any experiential advice!

Had to take the car in for some help yesterday, so we're transportationally disadvantaged this morning--we don't all fit into the pickup, comfortably. I made two trips from home to school as my school is on a mixed-up testing schedule so I had the flexibility to be a bit late. The wince-inducing grinding sound that has been coming from the front passenger side when I braked for the past few days forced me to call our mechanic. Fortunately he was able to schedule us in this morning and the car will be ready to go with new brakes all around today after school. Our mechanic is the father of one of our son's long time friends; he is an excellent and hard-working mechanic and a wonderful Christian man, so it's such a blessing having someone so trustworthy and honest and caring to deal with in these issues.

Well, our delinquent spring is poking his timid nose out now; God has decided to bless us with more sunshine now as I complete this post. How delightful!! Thanks for tuning in, and I pray your day, week. . . is blessed with the sincerest of delightful moments.