God is good to me

got home from work at 2:30.

cleaned my room.

worked out.

made a cake (to reward myself for working out).

cleaned the kitchen.

cleaned the livingroom.

dusted.

folded the laundry.

kissed curtis good-bye when he left.

now it's just me - ALL ALONE, THANK YOU MERCIFUL HEAVENS - with nothing to do and no one to bug me. for hours and hours and hours.

this is how i know God is good.

ignore the caption

this picture puts a whole new image in my head when i meditate on my favorite verse of the Bible these days... "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;" (ps. 91:4)

:)

time keeps on slippin...

this summer has been crazy.

crazy busy, crazy strange, crazy changes... but also crazy kid free! my in-laws (grandparents & aunts) did all the major parenting for 2 weeks while we were in canada, the lovely tamar took the girls for a week of festivities, and now tomorrow morning they are off to a week at mimi & papa's, followed by meg's solo 10th bd trip with mimi & papa to prince edward island - yes, the home of 'anne of green gables' - to spend time with mark & his family for 10 days! then she gets home and it's back to school scurrying and off we go!

this whole "it takes a village" thing is really working out in my favor this summer... although truth be told, i already miss The Girls in advance of their departure. i don't want them to go. of course, the truth is that i have so much going on in the next week that it will be nice to do it all without feeling guilty about rushing in and out on them... but still. the times they are a changin'... they have changed, without my permission. it's the eternal parental lament, i suppose, but tonight is the first time i really feel it.

so i will kiss their brown noses in the morning and pray them out the door... missing them wildly in the moments that i miss them, and loving them wildly all the moments in between.

My Girls. i love you.

look! look!

here is a link to the super fun photos of our church's trip to the rescue mission in raleigh. i hope you enjoy them! :) (and thanks to nick for taking them!)

dinner with friends

tonight our new church, ekklesia, made and served dinner at the rescue mission downtown. we had a very wise volunteer, sabrina, who suggested that instead of making the easiest large crowd dinner, we ought to cook as though we were having friends over to our home. this lead to our menu of shoulder round roast, stuffed potatoes, green beans with carmelized onion and bacon, and a variety of homemade desserts & cakes. it was cooked with love, and served with love. (hollaaa to marissa, melissa & sabrina for getting it all together!)

as we were driving home, curtis remarked that if he were going to write a script about how a church should start, it would start with a night like tonight. and just so happens that we did. it was messy and chaotic and fun... and beautiful.

i wish you could have come for dinner.

monday

i am one of the empty ones,

one of the incomplete ones,

the needy,

the dissastified.

i hide from You

in the clutter of my heart

papering over my neediness with words.

let me accept my emptiness

for what it is:

the joyful root

and measure of my longing.

(from 'God Hunger' by John Kirvan)

idealism

there is a (usually) charming website that posts funny pictures & art drawn by little kids - it almost always makes me giggle. today, though, when i looked at it, i saw this.

it reminded me that last week, while looking for a thank you card, i noticed not one, but several different "divorce" cards... both celebrating it and empathizing with it.

i am not naive enough to think that divorce isn't going to happen, or that sometimes it may even be the only road left. but looking at this made me sad. and it made me wish that we would all try a little harder to learn to love each other before we walk away.

signs that my daughter's not as innocent as i wish she was

kyra was going on and on about how much she loves her cat, satchmo. curtis finally said to her, "if you love him so much, why don't you marry him?"

immediately, she replied, "because he's a cat. and he's only 3 years old."

then there was a pause.

"plus, he's neutered."

rethinking that boob job...

the fall of literature

i went to the bookstore today to get kyra a book for the plane. i cannot believe the books they are selling to girls kyra's age. one of the quotes on the front of one was, "sexy and completely seductive... it will make your every sense tingle!"

are you kidding me?

last request

hiho, hiho, it's off to canada i go... if you see vinny, remind him to turn the air warmer upstairs...

:)

are YOU a jerk online?

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/29/my-take-why-christians-are-jerks-online/

i know i have been ... and i know that others of you, well, not YOU, have been to me... maybe it's time we starting living more fully what we say we believe?