Mothers and Daughters

My one and only daughter has moved away from home. I suppose it's time, after all, she is 22. It is still really hard. I was going through papers tonight and I found a skit that I wrote that Kristen and I did together at a Mother's Day Banquet at our church in 1995. She would have been about nine years old. When she called tonight I asked her if she remembered doing it. She said yes but wasn't game for a repeat performance. Oh boy:) I thought I would share it. It also gave me lots of insights into our adult mother/daughter relationship now.

I was all drippy typing this. I think I got my keyboard wet. I hope you enjoy:)

Kristen and Mommy

(Face each other)

Mom -- It’s like looking into the past when I look into my daughter’s eyes.

Daughter -- It’s like looking into the future when I look into my mommy’s eyes.

Together -- The same eyes, the same hair, the same hopes, the same dreams.

Mom -- I like to read.

Daughter -- Me too. I like to write.

Mom -- So do I.

Daughter -- I like it when we snuggle up on the couch.

Mom -- I remember doing that with my mom. I remember my mom reading stories to me from the Bible.

Daughter -- We do that -- you read to me.

Mom -- You read to me, too.

Daughter -- I like it when you pray with me.

Mom -- When I was little I prayed, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I ask Thee Lord, my soul to take.’

Daughter -- That’s silly. That’s not how you talk to a friend.

Mom -- That’s right. We can talk to Jesus just like we talk to each other.

Daughter -- Well, not just like it. I yell at you and stomp my feet.

Mom -- Oh yeah. I yell right back.

(Turn back-to-back)

Daughter -- She yells at me for no reason.

Mom -- She chews with her mouth open and makes annoying noises just to irritate me.

Daughter -- She says we’ll do something and then she keeps saying, ‘Later. I’m busy.’ Yeah, busy with my brothers!

Mom -- She wants to have all of me, all the time. She’s very demanding.

Daughter -- All I want is a little time – time to be with each other.

(Face each other again)

Mom -- There’s never enough time.

Daughter -- You have work.

Mom -- Well, you have school.

Daughter -- There’s baseball practice for the boys.

Mom -- You have piano. We sit and practice together, remember?

Daughter -- We do, don’t we? I forgot.

Mom -- I guess you do have to be demanding because I might forget and not spend that time with you.

Daughter -- I’ll try not to be a pest. I’ll help around the house so we have time to play.

Mom -- That’s a deal.

(Shake hands)

Daughter -- When I’m a mom, I want to be just like you.

Mom -- When you’re a mom, you’ll be better than me.

Daughter -- I love you, Mommy.

Mom -- I love you, Kristen.

(Hug each other)

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Pennies from Heaven

This morning I woke up to my husband warning me about my "Christmas present" from my son. "Don't yell now when you see the house."

Well, it probably couldn't be much worse than when I went to bed, now really, but I was scared. He said Nik thought of my present all by himself and was up very early in the morning following through with his plan. And considering I was up until 1:30 AM and Jim was up at 4, he didn't have a very big window of time.

I warily got up and went into our hall, ready for anything (cuz Nik is ornery and I'm just not sure where he gets that from -- LOL! That's your Christmas funny for the day:) There were pennies all down the hallway to the front room.

I know, that makes no sense if you don't know me and even if you do, that might not make sense. You see, I've been saving change. It's Mari and my fun money when she comes in 3 weeks from today! Any change that isn't hidden from me is fair game. I've discovered how fast it all adds up. It's become a standing joke in our house and it's caused some strife at the same time since getting to Ryan's new house requires a toll way (well, the way Ryan likes to go anyway.) Jim had a whole cup full of change in the car and the next time he went to pay the toll -- mysteriously it was gone. I plead the 5th!

Everyone has been very generous, letting me have their change, either willingly or unknowingly:) BUT Nik, my sweet boy, scattered 500 pennies on the floor for me. Do my kids know me or what? AND I wasn't too proud to get on the floor and pick them up by handfuls and put them in my Star Bucks glass jar, filling it up, by the way. I don't take it to the bank until it's full:) I've been there several times so far.

So much fun. Christmas, so far, has been really cool. It's 7:24 and Nik, Jim, and I are the only ones up. We're watching a movie until Ryan and Kristen wake up. Wishing all of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! And remember, Christ is the true reason for this season!

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Far Into the Everlies!

Psalm 8

A David Psalm

1 God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.
Oh yes! A name above all others indeed!
2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
Are babies looking up to You? Is that what they're doing when they grin?
3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Oh man! I do see You in Your handiwork. It is a true work of art that You created for us!
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
That's for sure. Why do You put up with us like You do? I am so small in comparison so why do I demand Your attention and get upset when I don't see You jump.
5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden's dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
And we don't do that very well, either.
9 God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.
Your Name does echo around the world - sometimes in a derogatory way and hopefully more often in praise and glory to You. I praise You Lord, in these storms raging around me and my family and friends. I praise You for who You are. I praise You for what You do and all You've done and all You will do. I praise You when things look the blackest and all seems lost. I praise You when it's the furthest thing from my mind to do.

Love You Lord! Love You for all time! Love You forever and ever and far into the everlies because You are teaching me to love. Love You! Love You! Love You!

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God-Seeker Party!

Psalm 5 (The Message)

1-3 Listen, God! Please, pay attention! Can you make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries? King-God, I need your help.
Every morning
you'll hear me at it again.
Every morning
I lay out the pieces of my life
on your altar
and watch for fire to descend.

Oh man, you mean King David was like all of us? Seems like my prayers are nothing but groans at times. I certainly do need Your help, God. My life seems like a big jig saw puzzle that's missing pieces. And sometimes I try to fit a piece in that just doesn't fit.

4-6 You don't socialize with Wicked,
or invite Evil over as your houseguest.
Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you;
you shake your head over Mischief-Maker.
God destroys Lie-Speaker;
Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.

I am all of these things at one time or another, sad to say: maybe not wicked or evil (I hope not anyway) but I can be a hot-air-boaster. Oh man -- a mischief-maker for sure! Ugh... How many times do You shake Your head at me, God? So sorry. I can be a lie-speaker. I lie to myself mostly, I'm thinking. It takes Your light to reveal things in me that I gloss over. So happy for that light. I don't think i'm blood-thirsty and I hope I don't bend the truth too much.

7-8 And here I am, your invited guest—
it's incredible!
I enter your house; here I am,
prostrate in your inner sanctum,
Waiting for directions
to get me safely through enemy lines.

Oh man, that is crazy. I am all of those things and You still LOVE ME! You still want to spend time with me! You want me to come and wait on You. Here I am, Lord. You invited me. You let me in. I'm listening for Your directions for my life. Help me, please?

9-10 Every word they speak is a land mine;
their lungs breathe out poison gas.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Pile on the guilt, God!
Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.
Kick them out! They've had their chance.

My, what if we looked like how we acted? When we lie about something, the poison gas would knock over the listener. Gaping graves for throats - ugh... Mudslides for tongues. Please help me keep my thoughts focused on You, Lord. Give me Your wisdom so I follow You all my days and don't become like these descriptions. Please, Lord.

11-12 But you'll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight.

I can't wait to run into Your arms for cover. Oh -- God-seekers, come to the party! God is standing guard so we can party all night. I want to be clothed in Your delight, Lord, for sure and certain. I'm ready to party now:)

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SNOW DAY!!!

WE HAVE A SNOW DAY! ICY ROADS
KEPT US HOME FROM
SCHOOL TODAY! YAY!

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Domino Effect

Have you ever thought of how all of our lives intermingle with each other? Everything has to be set up just perfectly for things to work. It reminds me of dominoes. In order to get all the dominoes to knock down the one beside it, they all have to be set up just right. They need to be the correct distance from each other and standing just right.

Just think of it - because you made a decision about something a long time ago, it effects the people you interact with down through time. And the decisions I made and continue to make, effect you -- good or bad.

If one domino is out of place, all action stops. They will only keep them falling as long as all the dominoes are in their correct positions. If we make decisions that make the lasting effect of the dominoes to stop - it might be a lost blessing or a lost soul even.

But because God is who He is, He recalculates. He sets the dominoes up in a different path to get us going again. I am so glad. I would hate to think my dominoes stalled on account of me being disobedient. I wouldn't want other people that I come into connect with, to miss out on what God has for them.

He set us up before we were even born. We have freedom of choice, of course, but He knows the roads we will take because He's God. He knows everything. I can rest in that fact. It's so good to know God is watching over me all the time.

13 "For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16)

I love God set-ups. They work out so much better than any setting up that I try to do. I am so glad that God cares for us so much that He keeps us falling the right way so we can keep interacting with each other. Friends and family and even complete strangers benefit from this. We have lasting effect on people - we need to remember that as we make decisions.

Anyone want to set up some dominoes with me? Hmmm? I'll even let you be the one to knock them over! Really truly. Anyone wanna play?

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Wicked Fun!

On Sunday, January 18th, Mari and I are going to go see the Broadway play, Wicked. We found fantastic tickets, right in the orchestra section. It is going to be 'wicked' fun! I've never been to a play like this before so I am really looking forward to it.

That's probably about all we will be able to afford to do in Chicago. We weighed our options and decided it was worth it. The rest of the money will go for the hotel, Starbucks, and the dollar menus:)

Mari is flying into Midway Airport on Friday, January 16th. I'll be driving to get her so I need very good weather and I'll be waiting for her flight to come in at 1:00 PM. We're staying in Chicago until after the play and then Mari will be driving us to my house.

On Thursday, Mari will be speaking at our Ladies' Night Out at my church. I'm so excited for everyone here to get to know her. She's speaking about chocolate and friendship. She has to leave early Friday. I think we forgot about that. Oops... We were going to spend the night Thursday night at the hotel again so we would be there for her flight. Oh my goodness. We need to recalculate as Jim's new GPS unit says all the time when Jim doesn't listen to it and strays from it's calculated path:) Mari - did we mess up? Maybe go up as soon as LNO is over. We both could be up later than get up earlier, I think:) You think?

But anyway, those are our plans for January. I can't wait!

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