Knight in Shining Armor

It's not often that your knight in shining armor is actually a blond in a turquoise sundress, but today was one of those days.

Mr. H and I were heading home from our anniversary trip to Natchez, thinking we'd arrive around 2:30- -just in time for coffee. We were just about a mile west of the Chickasawhay River, when the rear tire went flat. In a car that's not so scary, but on a bike traveling over 65 m.p.h. it's an experience!! Mr. H saved us and got us over to the side of the road unscathed.

Motorcycles don't carry spares or tire changing equipment on board, either. So we called home and asked for help. We've got a truck and we've got a trailer, so Mr. H talked the eldest through hooking it up and what to bring. She came through like a champ, or knight, I should say. She fought with the trailer hitch and braved the rat-sighting in the shop to get the tie-downs.

Within 45 minutes she arrived on the scene, assisted with loading the bike on the trailer in the hot sun and in general saved the day. And she never said a cross word or looked put out. She's now right up there with her dad as "Hero of the Day."

SSCOSSC part 2

Em and El were involved in another SSCOSSC last night. This one was a Super Splashy Cease Of School Summer Celebration. Each year there is an end of school swim party at someone's house for the youth of our church. The just finished 6th graders are invited to their first youth event and El was so pleased to get to attend.

I arrived there a bit after 9:00 last night (had to wait for my choir practice to dismiss.) Em was spending the night with the host kid, but El was coming home (lemonade stand was a possibility for today). Note for next year: put some towels and in the car and keep them in the car until picking up children. The towel that El was planning to sit on to keep the seat from getting wet had to be wrung out before I let her put it in the car.

But a good time was had by all!!

Batteries

Seems like everything takes batteries, and some things take more than one kind of battery. I was getting a remote control Jeep of El's ready to give to someone and realized that the remote took a 9volt, but the Jeep itself used a huge thing that needed recharging. Amazingly enough, with a new 9v and a few hours of being plugged in, it works fine.

Em has a cell phone, the battery in which won't seem to stay charged. We've had this problem before with a phone used by the eldest. Here's what aggravates me: when you take said phone to the cell phone store, do they look at it? Do they grant your request to purchase a new battery? No! They disappear into a back room and reemerge with a battery. Not a new battery, but one that has been lying around for who knows how long (or possibly recently removed from someone's phone with the same problem that yours is having.)

Well, the replacement battery didn't help, but that didn't surprise me. They probably want to sell me a new phone. If this phone really doesn't work, I'll get a new phone. But if the only problem is the battery, that's what I want. So I went online and purchased a new battery. I tried the store pick-up shipping option. No deal! I guess that's why they never offer to sell me a new battery. They don't stock them. However, overnight shipping was free and the battery should be delivered by FedEx before 4:30 this afternoon.

Time will tell.

What are you doing to recharge your batteries? If you drain yourself, you must take the time to be refilled.

John 4:13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

6th Grade Sunday School

This morning I'm teaching the 6th grade Sunday school class. Over the years, I've done a lot of things with the children of the churches I've belonged to, but I don't think I've ever taught a children's Sunday school class.

This is El's class. They are out of elementary school, but haven't started at the middle school yet. It's rather a no-man's land in church-established age groups. They haven't been brought into the youth group yet, but they don't really want to be in children's anymore. After VBS, and especially after the youth get back from their summer camp, these former 6th graders will have a hard time fitting in with the children. I'm sure they'll make one more try when it comes to the children's camp at the end of July, though. Mark's camps are too good to miss!

SSCOSSC

Yesterday was the last day of school for my younger 2 daughters. Em had some friends over to spend the night (or just the evening in one case). The called it the SSCOSSC: SuperSecretCeaseOfSchoolSummerCelebration. Unlike quite a few end of school parties, the entire school was NOT invited!

They made cookies, played Rock Band, ate chips, grapes, sour patch kids and nachos and then ended up sleeping outside in a tent in the rain! I wouldn't have done it. The Rock Band session was my favorite. They kept trading instruments and vocals! Mr. H said it reminded him of the first week of American Idol! There was much laughing. It was great to see them having such a good time together. I hope this group stays this close when they get into High School next year.

Recent Life

We've had a lot of rain here in George County so far this spring. Usually it hits about the time school is out. I took this on the way home one day last week. I liked the way the clouds looked.

Along with the gray skies, other things were graying also. I thought I'd add some unnatural highlights (mostly blond) to the natural ones (white in the very front). I ended up with a rather leopard-y look. I like it.

Yesterday was awards day for George County 8th graders. Em (and the rest of the 8th grade band members) were recognized. She is the small red head in the white shirt being dwarfed by 2 large guys. I didn't realize that she was taller than Alex (2 people to the right in the maroon jacket)!!
After the awards they went out to the football field to practice for class night. I didn't realize they would be out there for several hours and neither did Em. When I picked her up after school, she looked as if her face, arms and knees had been spray-painted magenta. She didn't feel well enough to go to the class night ceremony, so we stayed home and had pizza and home made brownies. I got this cake plate from Mr. H's mom for Christmas. I use it for just about everything we bake.

Only 2 1/2 more days of school. I know they are ready for summer. Me, too.

Home Decorating Tip

Here's a hint at my next home improvement project:

Exodus 20:3-17
and
Deuteronomy 6:9

in something that looks like this.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

long time friends

This picture was taken a long time ago: November 24, 2001, to be exact.

El and Kel were 4 years old at the time. Both our families were at Dollywood for Thanksgiving. El didn't even spend the day in the park with us. She wanted to ride stuff with her buddy.

They are in the 6th grade now. They don't hang out together very much any more. (Guys and girls that age don't have too many interests in common.) But they are still friends.

The reason for this post is that Kel was in Birmingham last week. Some pretty serious medical stuff is happening with him and he's not done yet. Please keep him in your prayers. He is a great kid that I have known all his life. I think God has great things planned for him and I want to see exactly what that is.

I'm Thinking Orange

Last week I attended the Orange 2009 conference in Atlanta. To say that it was a mind-life-heart changing experience is an understatement.

The essence of the Orange concept is that 2 influences working together are stronger than those 2 influences individually. The color orange is used to grab your attention: think traffic cones and safety vests. It's made by combining red and yellow, which are both bright colors, but not quite as arresting as Orange. In the context of the Orange Conference, the Red represents the family, the heart, being connected by a blood relationship. The Yellow represents the church, which is symbolized in Revelation by the golden lamp stands. The family has an influence on your child and the church has an influence on your child. If those 2 influences work together, arm in arm, they are so much stronger than they would be alone. If the church volunteers (Sunday School teachers, choir leaders) understand that they are not solely responsible for the spiritual growth of that child, that the parents will teach in the home the values that are presented at church, that volunteer will not feel overwhelmed. If the parent understands that someone else loves their children, wants the best for them, wants to see them flourish and mature, that parent has a partner to lean on. We want the same things: why not become a team?

That's what mentoring at our local elementary school is all about. The school wants children to become the best students they can be. A group of volunteers who are all members of my church wants those same things. We go every week to talk to and play games with those 6th graders. I say we talk, but most times we just listen. We show them that they are valuable. And I think that they understand that the school thinks they are valuable, too. That's 2 influences working together.

This Sunday afternoon, the youth band from our church is going to practice with the... what do I call the group I'm a part of?...certainly not the OLD band...I guess we're just the adult band! We will work on music for the service that evening and then I'm hoping we can work on some music that is fresh for all of us. The students may not feel confident enough to play in the service that night, but my hope and prayer is that someday soon they will. Our adult congregation needs to see that these young people are church leaders, not just "youth" leaders.

We are all on the same team here. Let's cheer for each other, come alongside each other, hold each other up. Let's think Orange.

Life at Large

I took some pictures today and downloaded a bunch that I'd taken recently.

This is Mrs. Mac's office. She's our new secretary. This is what happens at churches in the summer. When stuff is happening, you need stuff. This particular stuff is VBS T-shirts. Mark's office looked worse than this a few weeks ago. But he and M-2 packed it all up in Rubbermaid tubs and stashed it somewhere.

The following creation was put together on the spur of the moment this afternoon. M-2 was going to redo the bulletin board, so Mark decided to give her a head start. He took all the old stuff off, and pinned up 2 funny pictures he had printed out. Well, the rest of us on the hall couldn't resist the invitation to make a contribution. The guitar stand was put up by our maintenance guru. Bro. Sparky added the Kleenix. The colored tissue paper I found in my desk and the origami elephant was left over from mentoring.

Here's a close-up of the mouse and the elephant. Under the mouse it says "The helmet doesn't help if it cuts your head off."

Here's the buffalo that joined us for dinner Thursday night. We'll call him Ted.

Saturday, Mr. H and I went to New Orleans to see a friend. When we got back, El had new furniture on the fort. She and her buddy Al had built, painted, and decorated a bench.

Here's a close-up of El's end of the bench.

Today while I was fixing dinner, I looked out the kitchen window and saw them toting a table across the yard. They are so proud that they can sit on the bench and the table is tall enough. They told me they measured. I told them that was pretty smart. Al told me her dad told them what to do. I told them it was pretty smart to listen to someone who knew what to do!

Shining Like a Lamp Forever

This morning I am reading in the 21st chapter of 2 Chronicles. It starts out with King Jehoshaphat (one of the good ones) dying and lists his 7 sons, the eldest of which he had appointed to be the next king. The first thing the new King Jehoram did was to murder his 6 brothers. And that was just the beginning of horrible things.

But in the midst of all this horror is verse 7 which stopped me short: But the Lord did not want to destroy David's dynasty, for He had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.

It made me think, what happened? Where did things go wrong? Am I raising my girls to shine like a lamp forever? Am I doing what it takes for this vision of God's to be fulfilled? God has such BIG plans for us and yet so often, we let Him down. I want my descendants to shine like a lamp forever, being a light in the darkness. That is what God wants from us: simply to reflect the Light that He is.

Home Sweet Home

As if being away from my girls for 3 days while at Orange in Atlanta wasn't enough, Mr. H and I went to New Orleans yesterday. We do have some really nice sounding (and looking, but with speakers, that's not the point) and I got to spend the day with my beloved. But the eldest is home and I had only spoken a few words to her.

So last night was family time. She wanted to play Phase 10. Em hates Phase 10, but we bullied her into it. El was not interested and we learned the last time we played Risk: family rule #7--Do NOT force El to play a game she doesn't want to play (she won't have fun and neither will you!) She'll stay in here with us, entertaining us while we play, it'll be fine. So we played Phase 10 and El entertained us with Wii air guitar while we played and listened to (as Em called it) that awful 70's music (Tubular Bells, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen) I do believe El likes Van Halen now that she has played guitar with them!

Em and the eldest decided at some point during the game that each hand needed a different accent. They started with British, then Australian, but the Swedish turned into something else and the ended up playing the rest of the game speaking Ubbi Dubbi. It was quite entertaining!!

And .....Em, who hates Phase 10 ended up winning! It was a great night all around.

Dinner with the Buffalo

This has been an incredible 2 days so far, and I have no doubt that today will be just the same.

Agricola Baptist Church might not be the same!

And we ate at a restaurant last night with a HUGE buffalo staring down from the head of our table!

added note: I did include a picture of the buffalo toward the bottom of a later post.