It's 5:45 am and I'm very sad! My daughter, Jessica, along with her two little boys have driven away with Travis to catch a plane in St. Louis as they are on their return trip to Dubai. All the "children noise" is gone and the house will be hauntingly quiet again. Don't get me wrong...I like quiet, but the thought of being so far apart makes my heart ache!
The coffee is brewing, so I'll fill my favorite cup, curl up on the couch for a few precious moments with God and pour out my sadness to Him. Life will pick up again, I'll be busy with all kinds of activities, but for this one tiny blog I'll fling out a lament for my daughter's leaving!
O Jessica...que Dios te bendiga y te amo mi hijita tan, tan preciosa!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Little Woman
I'm reading the book, "The Little Woman" by Gladys Alyward, to my mother-in-law! What an amazing story of endurance and fortitude, not to mention a tremendous love for God! A must-read! Hollywood bought the rights to her story years ago and produced the movie, "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" starring Ingrid Bergman. I've watched it over and over again!
Of course, being Hollywood, they had to throw in a love story that never existed and weren't really able to portray the tremendous suffering and danger that Gladys lived through. Interestingly enough, my son-in-law's grandmother, Dora Chamberlin, actually had the opportunity to meet Gladys in England, years ago. Dora gave me a little packet of newspaper articles and an actual bookmark from China that Gladys had given to her. It's very precious to me!
Gladys was an uneducated woman...a parlor maid, who felt a call of God on her life to go to China. And she was amazingly used by the Lord to accomplish things that we can only imagine! It gives me hope for my own life! There is such tremendous hope in God! Not just a religious belief, but I have experienced His personal touch over and over and over again!
And to close...I have to let you know that I'm typing on my very own brand new computer here at home! Hey...if you want to hear more about Gladys and don't have time to read and find the book, I'll be glad to post some of her stories! :-)
Of course, being Hollywood, they had to throw in a love story that never existed and weren't really able to portray the tremendous suffering and danger that Gladys lived through. Interestingly enough, my son-in-law's grandmother, Dora Chamberlin, actually had the opportunity to meet Gladys in England, years ago. Dora gave me a little packet of newspaper articles and an actual bookmark from China that Gladys had given to her. It's very precious to me!
Gladys was an uneducated woman...a parlor maid, who felt a call of God on her life to go to China. And she was amazingly used by the Lord to accomplish things that we can only imagine! It gives me hope for my own life! There is such tremendous hope in God! Not just a religious belief, but I have experienced His personal touch over and over and over again!
And to close...I have to let you know that I'm typing on my very own brand new computer here at home! Hey...if you want to hear more about Gladys and don't have time to read and find the book, I'll be glad to post some of her stories! :-)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Mundane Days
Much to do about nothing! That's my blog for today! Lots of little things--nothing terribly significant, but I read somewhere that the mundane should be much preferred to some huge catastrophe! Nothing wrong with having days of sameness, so to speak!
We have thoroughly enjoyed having Jessica, Corban, and Joshua home from Dubai for this past month! Corban turned 9 at the end of July and is getting so tall! He's entered that age of wanting to know exactly what it was that you just said. Not content to be put off with some trite little, "We'll talk about that later." And Joshua? Oh my gosh! The terrible twos are a reality! What a busy, inquisitive little boy! One of his favorite pasttimes is trotting over to the corner cupboard, opening it up and pulling out my jars of nuts. I give him one or two, then he takes it back and gets the next one out!
Jessica's husband, Gary, was able to come for about a week and that was wonderful! He's such a blessing as a son-in-law...and so easy to have around! I can see where his sons get their inquisitive minds! He just loves searching things out and getting a good deal is a real joy to him! Ha!
Our son, Crispin, flew up from Orlando for the weekend--to see his sister and I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to have my kids home. Our home used to be such a beehive of activity, but is now very quiet. I enjoy quiet too, don't get me wrong, but I love to sit back and watch the interaction of brothers and sisters!
Jessica, Sara, Erich, and I had a garage sale last weekend and made about $350. Doesn't sound like much, but I got rid of tons of things that have been piling up in my basement. Some of the oddest things were the first to go, too! You never know what will be appealing to different people. I think I was most pleased to see so many of my books go!
I love to read and have hauled tons of books (literally) to South America and back. But, over the past few years, I feel like my obsession with having books everywhere has come to an end. I realized that I'm quite happy with or without shelves and shelves of books that I will never read again! I never thought that I would come to this--but it's really quite liberating! Don't worry! I still have lots that I wasn't ready to part with!
This past weekend, I was able to take advantage of the "no sales tax" and purchased a new computer and 3-in-one printer for our home office. Our old computer still ran (sort of) but I would turn it on--go put in a load of wash, do some dishes, come back--type in a passcode, go off to do some more chores, and so forth! I'm not kidding! Talk about slower than molasses in January! It's all set up and ready to go. After the kids all leave, I'm going to paint the office and get some shelving put up to hold all of my letter-writing paraphenalia, etc. I'm really excited to have it turn into a real office and not just a catch-all!
Have you ever watched "Clean House" on STYLE? Great program! But, I don't want my home to turn into a place where those folks would come visit! I really don't have the greatest decorating style, but I'm having fun with paint! And, I LOVE color! I think I've mentioned that before.
Some real exciting news! Maria gave birth to a little girl...Madison Marie Widelko and Joah's fiancee gave birth to Ethan Cruz St. John just a few days later. So, our family stretches from newborns to 91+ years old. And we are excited with the new and blessed with caring for the old!
Well, I think I've caught you up on everything that's going on. Oh yes, my mother-in-law! Evelyn really is fading before our eyes. She takes a tremendous amount of care, but sleeps most of the time. She perks up after having a bath--tells me over and over that she loves being clean and loves the smell of soap and water! I've had some consistent breaks--usually in the afternoons when she has her extended nap. A lady comes over and is just there in case something comes up--so I come to the airport to help with mowing or run errands, etc. I still try to read to her every day and she loves listening to music on a walkman that Erich gave her!
Much to do about nothing! I love the mundane--how about you?
We have thoroughly enjoyed having Jessica, Corban, and Joshua home from Dubai for this past month! Corban turned 9 at the end of July and is getting so tall! He's entered that age of wanting to know exactly what it was that you just said. Not content to be put off with some trite little, "We'll talk about that later." And Joshua? Oh my gosh! The terrible twos are a reality! What a busy, inquisitive little boy! One of his favorite pasttimes is trotting over to the corner cupboard, opening it up and pulling out my jars of nuts. I give him one or two, then he takes it back and gets the next one out!
Jessica's husband, Gary, was able to come for about a week and that was wonderful! He's such a blessing as a son-in-law...and so easy to have around! I can see where his sons get their inquisitive minds! He just loves searching things out and getting a good deal is a real joy to him! Ha!
Our son, Crispin, flew up from Orlando for the weekend--to see his sister and I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to have my kids home. Our home used to be such a beehive of activity, but is now very quiet. I enjoy quiet too, don't get me wrong, but I love to sit back and watch the interaction of brothers and sisters!
Jessica, Sara, Erich, and I had a garage sale last weekend and made about $350. Doesn't sound like much, but I got rid of tons of things that have been piling up in my basement. Some of the oddest things were the first to go, too! You never know what will be appealing to different people. I think I was most pleased to see so many of my books go!
I love to read and have hauled tons of books (literally) to South America and back. But, over the past few years, I feel like my obsession with having books everywhere has come to an end. I realized that I'm quite happy with or without shelves and shelves of books that I will never read again! I never thought that I would come to this--but it's really quite liberating! Don't worry! I still have lots that I wasn't ready to part with!
This past weekend, I was able to take advantage of the "no sales tax" and purchased a new computer and 3-in-one printer for our home office. Our old computer still ran (sort of) but I would turn it on--go put in a load of wash, do some dishes, come back--type in a passcode, go off to do some more chores, and so forth! I'm not kidding! Talk about slower than molasses in January! It's all set up and ready to go. After the kids all leave, I'm going to paint the office and get some shelving put up to hold all of my letter-writing paraphenalia, etc. I'm really excited to have it turn into a real office and not just a catch-all!
Have you ever watched "Clean House" on STYLE? Great program! But, I don't want my home to turn into a place where those folks would come visit! I really don't have the greatest decorating style, but I'm having fun with paint! And, I LOVE color! I think I've mentioned that before.
Some real exciting news! Maria gave birth to a little girl...Madison Marie Widelko and Joah's fiancee gave birth to Ethan Cruz St. John just a few days later. So, our family stretches from newborns to 91+ years old. And we are excited with the new and blessed with caring for the old!
Well, I think I've caught you up on everything that's going on. Oh yes, my mother-in-law! Evelyn really is fading before our eyes. She takes a tremendous amount of care, but sleeps most of the time. She perks up after having a bath--tells me over and over that she loves being clean and loves the smell of soap and water! I've had some consistent breaks--usually in the afternoons when she has her extended nap. A lady comes over and is just there in case something comes up--so I come to the airport to help with mowing or run errands, etc. I still try to read to her every day and she loves listening to music on a walkman that Erich gave her!
Much to do about nothing! I love the mundane--how about you?
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