Years ago when my children were small, I knew that someday I would be sitting at their feet learning from them. That day arrived some time back, and I couldn’t be more blessed by how God is blessing them. Here’s the latest:
Loving the Little Years now has a website, which will hopefully grow into a handy resource site.
And here’s Nate on NPR’s “All Things Considered” which aired today!
So, Mom is out of town. At Presbytery. Well, technically Dad is at Presbytery, and Mom has been out with the girls, shopping and generally whooping it up. She sent me this pic of somewhere that they went for lunch, and she’d like you all to think that it’s her front door.
This was taken after church on Easter Sunday by my nephew as we gathered for the big Easter feast at the Janks’ new house. We left the next day for Poland. As we’ve been traveling, I’ve been showing this picture (which I have on my iphone) to the folks we’ve met. Here are all my little and big busters, and I find I’m missing them all quite a lot. For those of you who need a map, it’s the Merkles on the left, Janks in the middle, and Wilsons on the right. A fitting picture to put up on Mothers’ Day!
This morning I was thinking about all the games my folks used to play with us kids. My memories make it seem like Dad played with us every night after work while we lived in Germany on the base where he served. Sometimes it was “hide the button.” We would close our eyes while he hid the button somewhere in plain sight in the living room. We were completely delighted with that one!
Then there were the “tricks” he would do with us, balancing us as we stood on his hands (he was lying down on his back on the living room floor) and lifting us up over his head. We had lots of versions of that one, and I’m pretty sure we kids thought we could have joined a circus, we were just so talented. Grab-bag was a big hit. Mom and Dad would write down funny things on little slips of paper and put them all in a hat. Then we would take turns drawing one out. We had to do whatever it said. This usually entailed singing a silly song, telling a joke, or doing some amazing stunt like three somersaults. These games were quite big doings in our little lives.
Mom was the one who made the parties happen. My birthday parties were always extravagant, full of games for all the kids, prizes for the winners, and a birthday cake that could have been a cover of a cookbook. She took a cake-decorating class, and we reaped the benefits. Our birthday cakes always had coins wrapped in foil inside, which she put in after the cake was baked and before she frosted it. A quarter, a dime, a nickel, a penny, and a button were the prizes, and I remember all the kids eagerly pounding down their cake with the hope of finding some treasure in there. The coin-in-the-cake tradition lives on in our family. Mom was my Brownie troop Continue reading ‘Simple Fun’
Rather than telling you about Nate’s trip to Florida tomorrow all in my own words, I thought I would just swipe this straight off Nate’s blog:
“This Thursday (Feb. 10) I will be hitting the Barnes and Noble in the Coconut Point Mall in Estero, FL from 4-6pm. In addition to hitting it, I will also sign books.
February 11th is going to be jammed with Celebration of Reading events, and many thanks to former Governor Jeb Bush for inviting me to participate. I will be meeting Floridian winners of a 100 Cupboards writing contest for breakfast and then heading into a whirlwind of events for the rest of the day. Hope to see some of you warm weather types there. Cheers.”
A while ago my sister-in-law asked me about a story she remembered Bessie telling about a dress. I had no recollection of the story, but I asked Jim (my father-in-law) about it later, and he filled me in. So here you go, Monica!
Back when Bessie was attending Prairie Bible Institute with her friend Dottie (she graduated in 1942), they both were in need of new dresses, and neither had the means to buy one. So they decided they should pray for new dresses. Dottie prayed for a beautiful dress, and Bessie prayed for a simple dress. Though I do not know the details of how their prayers were answered, I know that each received what she had prayed for: Dottie got a gorgeous new dress, and Bessie got a plain dress. Dottie’s exhortation to Bessie was something like, “See, Bessie, you need to ask God for big things, not just little things! You need more faith!” And so Dottie was right. Bessie, like many of us, felt reluctant to ask for anything extravagant…just the bare minimum. But Dottie had a faith big enough to enjoy God’s bountiful blessings.
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