"There is more hunger in this world for love and affection than there is for bread."
Mother Theresa
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Towers of Strength
"There is more hunger in this world for love and affection than there is for bread."
Mother Theresa
Sweeter Moments
The Awes in the background assisting my grandmother Ethel
who, I can only imagine is braging on them to my dear friend Doris.
Mighty Oaks, Ministers in Need
Isaiah 61:1-3
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim his good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance to of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy, instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."
There are a handful of people in my life who have demonstrated to me what being a mighty oak is all about, specific souls who have taken my hand and lead me down the path. I have been given a great gift from these souls who haven’t let their suffering stop them from being used of God, but have used the lesson’s learned in the valley to minister to others. It’s these brave souls that gave me hope, they showed me that survival is possible and so is learning to love God even in times of heartache. What I have also learned is that hope in Christ alone truly comes when all is stripped away, but the hope that grows is the most powerful, the most comforting and the most true. My hero’s of the faith are ones that grieve openly and honestly and yet choose to trust God. This may sound simple but in times of great hardship it is truly a matter of life or death. Will I lift my eyes to heaven and teeter forward one step at a time, still looking for his hand in my life?
Or will I turn my eyes downward to my broken limbs and never to trust his hand again?
Thankfully, I am learning that once these lessons are learned they will stay with you for the rest of eternity, they change you on a molecular level and I know heaven will be so much sweeter because of them. But that doesn’t mean that after learning them we are entitled to a pain-free existence. That would mean that our world was no longer broken and that won’t be possible until the return of the king. However, strengthened by our history we can move on into painful but familiar territory, with little fear of whether he’ll let us down (some regression on our part is only human.)
Today, I lift up a specific couple who have poured so much of their hearts into my life, Vernon and Marlys Awes, who took me in when I was in Madison, co-habitating between their home and the University of Wisconsin hospital. Long time ministers of the faith in Veitnam as a chaplain to the marines, in North Dakota as ministers to a small group of farmers and to my collection of family and friends, this is a small handful of the lives they've touched.
I will leave out most of the details but their hard journey never dampened their ability to love. Instead it refined them and they became incredible ministers of laughter, joy and compassion. You would never realize the hardship’s they had gone through unless they honored you with their story, but they touched lives where ever they went and with saint Theresa like courage were able love when others failed.
Today history is repeating itself and the son they almost lost several years ago has gone into hospice and his earthly body is failing him once again.Please remember them in your prayers, if anyone deserves the title of saint it would be these wonderful people and today the only thing I can do for them is pray. Please pray for them and the others like them who have already given up so much and are asked to give again. Let us soak up their knowledge so we can bring courage and hope to others, but most importantly lets carry them in our hands, hearts and prayers.
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim his good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance to of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy, instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."
There are a handful of people in my life who have demonstrated to me what being a mighty oak is all about, specific souls who have taken my hand and lead me down the path. I have been given a great gift from these souls who haven’t let their suffering stop them from being used of God, but have used the lesson’s learned in the valley to minister to others. It’s these brave souls that gave me hope, they showed me that survival is possible and so is learning to love God even in times of heartache. What I have also learned is that hope in Christ alone truly comes when all is stripped away, but the hope that grows is the most powerful, the most comforting and the most true. My hero’s of the faith are ones that grieve openly and honestly and yet choose to trust God. This may sound simple but in times of great hardship it is truly a matter of life or death. Will I lift my eyes to heaven and teeter forward one step at a time, still looking for his hand in my life?
Or will I turn my eyes downward to my broken limbs and never to trust his hand again?
Thankfully, I am learning that once these lessons are learned they will stay with you for the rest of eternity, they change you on a molecular level and I know heaven will be so much sweeter because of them. But that doesn’t mean that after learning them we are entitled to a pain-free existence. That would mean that our world was no longer broken and that won’t be possible until the return of the king. However, strengthened by our history we can move on into painful but familiar territory, with little fear of whether he’ll let us down (some regression on our part is only human.)
Today, I lift up a specific couple who have poured so much of their hearts into my life, Vernon and Marlys Awes, who took me in when I was in Madison, co-habitating between their home and the University of Wisconsin hospital. Long time ministers of the faith in Veitnam as a chaplain to the marines, in North Dakota as ministers to a small group of farmers and to my collection of family and friends, this is a small handful of the lives they've touched.
I will leave out most of the details but their hard journey never dampened their ability to love. Instead it refined them and they became incredible ministers of laughter, joy and compassion. You would never realize the hardship’s they had gone through unless they honored you with their story, but they touched lives where ever they went and with saint Theresa like courage were able love when others failed.
Today history is repeating itself and the son they almost lost several years ago has gone into hospice and his earthly body is failing him once again.Please remember them in your prayers, if anyone deserves the title of saint it would be these wonderful people and today the only thing I can do for them is pray. Please pray for them and the others like them who have already given up so much and are asked to give again. Let us soak up their knowledge so we can bring courage and hope to others, but most importantly lets carry them in our hands, hearts and prayers.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Have you called Jenny yet?
“Oh winter must be the best time to be pregnant!” I’ve heard this many times and for the most part I agree, but there is one little hiccup to this “magical time” that no one warned me about. Being pregnant over the New Year also means resolution season, which of course means any gimmick about loosing weight is being advertised every two minutes. And I can’t handle it!
As if we don’t have enough to be worried about being pregnant the entire world is becoming fat conscious. I guess I should be thrilled to be excluded from the club for once but I also hate that it seems like every body conscious thought seems in direct contrast to being a mother. Why does that have to be? Well I for now I am off to Yoga and shop for one of those Hot Mama shirts.
As if we don’t have enough to be worried about being pregnant the entire world is becoming fat conscious. I guess I should be thrilled to be excluded from the club for once but I also hate that it seems like every body conscious thought seems in direct contrast to being a mother. Why does that have to be? Well I for now I am off to Yoga and shop for one of those Hot Mama shirts.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Old friends
Me, Kristine, and Mary we haven't gotten together for years
and it was so good to see everyone again.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Happy Birthday Elisa!
Elisa Palmer (the one on the right) we love you and hate
the fact that you still look this good!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Quiet Time
"The Eskimo have 52 names for snow because its
important to them, there ought to be as many for love."
-Margret Atwood
Snow Day
Well we are definitely going to have a white Christmas this year. We have had several days where it has snowed all day leaving three to six inches each time. Its been pretty but a little overwhelming although this is our first year in our condo so we do all our association fee’s feel worthwhile when someone else has come each time to shovel the walk.
Today was the first day they have cancelled school because of snow, I think everything is worse when the news forecasts the worse storm ever, our community has been through three of these already but this one seemed to slow us down and I blame the news. It subconsciously affects us. Although the four or five inches doesn't help. For me its been strange since I graduated from highschool there have been several snow days but this has been the first one I have had since I moved back to town and it had a strange affect on me. It was my old school and it was a snow day, so suddenly all I want to do is watch movies and go sledding. I feel like a kid again
Around here we rarely get this much snow, we usually get ice, instead and so the other day I went hunting for a good pair of snow boots in my closet. I found all sorts of boots knee high boots, brown boots, ankle boots but no sensible snow boots. Why don’t I have snow boots? I wondered, and then the answer hit me, because I’m vain.
So I’ve borrowed a pair of my mothers boots that are twenty years old and you know what they really are exactly like what’s back in style now.
On a side note here I sit watching the baby story on TLC while they shovel my walk and suddenly the woman on the screen is having a home birth and starts screaming and moaning. I find myself running to the remote trying to turn it down fearful that the workers will think I am dying inside and try to check on me. On top of that my dog doesn’t not know what to think of these strange people that are working on her territory. Do you punish your dog for barking I mean if it was a stranger I would want her to bark so what is the difference to her? Well we’re going to enjoy our snow day one way or another
Today was the first day they have cancelled school because of snow, I think everything is worse when the news forecasts the worse storm ever, our community has been through three of these already but this one seemed to slow us down and I blame the news. It subconsciously affects us. Although the four or five inches doesn't help. For me its been strange since I graduated from highschool there have been several snow days but this has been the first one I have had since I moved back to town and it had a strange affect on me. It was my old school and it was a snow day, so suddenly all I want to do is watch movies and go sledding. I feel like a kid again
Around here we rarely get this much snow, we usually get ice, instead and so the other day I went hunting for a good pair of snow boots in my closet. I found all sorts of boots knee high boots, brown boots, ankle boots but no sensible snow boots. Why don’t I have snow boots? I wondered, and then the answer hit me, because I’m vain.
So I’ve borrowed a pair of my mothers boots that are twenty years old and you know what they really are exactly like what’s back in style now.
On a side note here I sit watching the baby story on TLC while they shovel my walk and suddenly the woman on the screen is having a home birth and starts screaming and moaning. I find myself running to the remote trying to turn it down fearful that the workers will think I am dying inside and try to check on me. On top of that my dog doesn’t not know what to think of these strange people that are working on her territory. Do you punish your dog for barking I mean if it was a stranger I would want her to bark so what is the difference to her? Well we’re going to enjoy our snow day one way or another
Monday, December 12, 2005
Anxious Anticipation
This morning I had several tests and shots so I hung out in the waiting room of my OB and found myself staring at all the mothers and fathers with children if trying to soak in every bit of parenting. I think its finally hitting me that I am not just pregnant but that we will be having a child. I feel like Rachel on Friends when she realizes she’s read every book on pregnancy but none on childcare. For those of you who don’t know, Nate and I weren’t exactly expecting to have a baby this fast so it’s a little bit like whiplash, the most wonderful type of whiplash anyone could ask for. This morning, I went in for my gestational diabetes test and since I have O negative blood, I also needed a shot. Now I sit and wait to see if I passed, Nate and I both have family history of diabetes and this is the one that makes me the most nervous. So here’s hoping.
Anyway while sitting in the waiting room all morning I thumbed through my new bible, Parents magazine and came across these little tidbits that I had to share.
How Embarrassing:
“I was out for a walk with my 3-year-old daughter, Emily an my 1-year-old son, Alex. I needed to stop by our local sporting-goods store to get some information, but I didn’t have any money with me. So I warned Emily not to ask for anything from the candy machine. While I was talking to a sales assistant, Emily walked up to a customer and said, ‘Can you buy me some candy? Mom has no money.”
“My husband isn’t always patient when he drives behind slow, elderly drivers and his attitude seemed to be catching. I was mortified when my 2-year-old daughter, Megan, pedaled her tricycle past an older woman and shouted, “Outta my way, Grandma!”
“My 3-year-old, Christopher, asked me why babies, stay in their mother’s belly. I told him that a mother’s stomach is kind of like a house, and babies stay safely inside until they are ready to come out. The next day he asked his pregnant preschool teacher, “Can I see the door where your baby’s going to come out?”
Anyway while sitting in the waiting room all morning I thumbed through my new bible, Parents magazine and came across these little tidbits that I had to share.
How Embarrassing:
“I was out for a walk with my 3-year-old daughter, Emily an my 1-year-old son, Alex. I needed to stop by our local sporting-goods store to get some information, but I didn’t have any money with me. So I warned Emily not to ask for anything from the candy machine. While I was talking to a sales assistant, Emily walked up to a customer and said, ‘Can you buy me some candy? Mom has no money.”
“My husband isn’t always patient when he drives behind slow, elderly drivers and his attitude seemed to be catching. I was mortified when my 2-year-old daughter, Megan, pedaled her tricycle past an older woman and shouted, “Outta my way, Grandma!”
“My 3-year-old, Christopher, asked me why babies, stay in their mother’s belly. I told him that a mother’s stomach is kind of like a house, and babies stay safely inside until they are ready to come out. The next day he asked his pregnant preschool teacher, “Can I see the door where your baby’s going to come out?”
Friday, December 09, 2005
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