The kids leaned forward with curiosity as my husband set out various study skins and skulls for the class of youngsters studying animals and their environment to examine. As each specimen was placed on the table, storytelling began to fill the room.
Lent is a season for many Christians that includes prayer, soul-searching, and activities that help them rededicate themselves to their faith. Some churches also use this time to educate those who wish to formally join their congregations. Lent originated in the early days of church formation, probably in the 4th century, and it spans 40 weekdays — beginning next Wednesday and ending on the Saturday before Easter.
I absolutely love taking road trips. Suggest one and I’m there. And now that my children are busy with their own activities much of the time, road trips are something my husband and I find especially enjoyable when our schedules allow.
It was early evening and our two kids still living at home were both gone. There was a blessed quiet and I took full advantage, knowing the house would fill with energy and noise once they returned. As much as I truly enjoy kid noise, I also take pleasure in an occasional dose of quiet. In fact, my family knows if I don’t seek some daily “think time” I feel cluttered and disorganized.
For the last few weeks I’ve been telling God I want to use my time well and make lasting impressions on those whose lives touch mine. May I be bold and effective, I whisper to Him regularly.
The precious girl is Shidelene Erilien and her photo is taped, front and center, on our refrigerator. In February of last year I learned that this young Haitian lives in one of the poorest nations in the world.
This is dig out, clean out, and eat up week. It’s reorganize, rethink, and regroup week. It’s re-tune, rework, and re-prioritize week. It’s a time to look ahead and wish some things for ourselves.
It’s one of my favorite wisps of time and this year it’s enriched by Jeni Stepanek’s new book titled “Messenger,” which offers new insights into the legacy left by her remarkable son.
My Internet voyages this week have focused on the moments in 2009 caught so masterfully by photographers and writers who focus on the people who continue to take center stage as well as the cast of characters in our global human drama who have left us. I’m thinking of Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Ted Kennedy and his sister Eunice, Walter Cronkite, and other people of public note.
“Will you grab that long, skinny box from the back of the car for me?” I asked my son this week as I unloaded groceries.
I often find it hard to rouse myself out of bed when it’s dark outside. Add torrential winds pelting my bedroom window with rain, and I hit the snooze button. But early morning on Thanksgiving Day I’m racing down the stairs. I turn on the propane stove and some music. I happily pull ingredients out of the fridge. The coffeemaker is placed into action and the chopping begins. I don’t even mind washing the heavy, awkward body of the turkey or reaching down into the freezing cavity to retrieve the bag of giblets.
It’s Thanksgiving! I love people milling around the house, their hugs and conversations. I love the games and puzzles. I love the smells and tastes. I love the swell of joy that fills my heart. I love the laughter and hubbub. I love seeing cars line the street and fill driveways.
I know for a fact that not one man among the Thanksgiving crowd who will descent upon my house has made a list. If you are the meal organizer in your household, you know exactly the list to which I am referring: The one detailing who will be attending; what housekeeping needs to be accomplished before the crowd arrives; the ingredients necessary for the main courses, side dishes, desserts and beverages; the order in which the dishes must go into the oven; the table accoutrements that need to be purchased; and last but certainly not least—the time the meal will be served!
“Would you care for a butterflied shrimp?” the waiter asked as I stood at the edge of Lake Tahoe, taking in the beautiful surroundings my cousin and her fiancee had picked for their destination wedding.
I’ve spent the greater part of this week in Canada, accompanying my husband to a conference that has drawn people from all over the world. The group has focused on ways to keep our airways safer and pilots more readily aware of nearby birds with the potential to bring down an aircraft, just as we witnessed on the Hudson River some months ago.
As I drank my morning coffee on Wednesday, I watched leaves fall from trees that line the south side of our property. Stressed by a lack of rainfall, my beautiful trees are beginning to shed their foliage. In due time the mornings will chill and the leaves will turn orange and gold before returning to the earth.
